From the fight between Mu Bai and Xu Zhao Ting, I understood what I should strive for in my training: the same beautiful evasion without unnecessary movements as Zhao Ting. I wouldn't say I was much worse than him, but definitely worse. His dodges were honed in battle with a superior opponent, which over time only increased his accuracy. So Zhao Ting had to learn to dodge without using unnecessary movements and energy to wear down the enemy, and also learn to attack accurately and direct the battle in the right direction. Without these skills, Mo Fan would definitely have the upper hand over Zhao Ting.
The next fight was no less interesting to me, as Zhou Ming's skills remained a mystery to me, and He Yu's abilities were completely unknown. However, even despite this lack of knowledge, I bet on He Yu's victory. Yes, she had water magic, but mid-level water magic, meaning she could attack, and secondly, based on my feelings, she should also have chaos magic.
The fight began, Zhou Ming immediately went on the offensive, attacking He Yu with a fire stream. However, not a single fire wave could hit He Yu. She either dodged by jumping aside, thus showing great combat experience. Or she created a water shield in front of her, which nullified all damage from the fire wave. He Yu did not show chaos magic, nor magic of another element. In fact, Zhou Ming also did not show anyone that she possessed ice magic. Because He Yu could not build a star map due to the constant bombardment, the fight resembled battles of initial-level mages.
This was far from the majestic spectacle that my fight with Mo Fan or the fight between Mu Bai and Xu Zhao Ting was. Because of this, I began to analyze the fight, as there was nothing else to do. Firstly, I was very interested in why He Yu didn't use her second element; she should definitely have it. I remembered that the first spells of chaos magic were changing the vector and power of magic.
After that, I decided to look more closely at He Yu's actions. After all, chaos magic is hard to notice if you don't know about it from the start. And indeed, after another minute of fighting, I realized that some fire waves slightly deviated, allowing He Yu to easily dodge. Others, which could not be escaped, weakened as they approached the water shield. He Yu used chaos magic so that even I could barely notice it! I bet that in Zhou Ming's battle, she absolutely doesn't understand what's happening.
However, unfortunately, even so, the fight did not become much more interesting; it remained a battle of attrition. Nothing special. Zhou Ming couldn't hit, and He Yu, due to the constant bombardment, couldn't create mid-level magic and attack. I wonder if there are such combinations of water magic stars that can create attacking magic using seven stars? Maybe after the battles, I should detain He Yu and ask her to try to build stars like when creating a wind blade? Although I consider the wind blade more of a supporting effect of my seed, it also has its own star configuration.
Inspired by this idea, I took out a sheet of paper and began to transfer everything required for the correct creation of a wind blade. Meanwhile, in the arena, the battle of attrition had been going on for five minutes. Both Zhou Ming and He Yu were considerably tired, but the latter looked fresher and more combat-ready. But the climax of the fight was still far away, or rather, I thought so.
Zhou Ming stopped her fire bombardment, apparently deciding that He Yu also couldn't use mid-level magic, and decided to rest. This became her fatal mistake. He Yu, seeing that the bombardment had stopped, immediately began to create a star map. When Zhou Ming realized what was happening, it was too late. She didn't manage to interrupt He Yu.
A wave five meters high and ten meters long, starting from He Yu herself, rapidly advanced towards Zhou Ming. I clearly saw that if they were not stopped, Zhou Ming would be severely injured, so using a wind rush, I knocked her off her feet, simultaneously moving out of He Yu's attack range.
"He Yu won," I said, landing on the ground.
"Cool, how did you react so quickly?" Xiao Hou asked excitedly. I noticed that the others were also standing, almost with their mouths open. Exactly, I used all my strength to save Zhou Ming.
"Apparently, it's due to the stressful situation," I said, shrugging. "It was a reflex, as soon as I realized that He Yu would be able to use the storm wave."
"I see, that was incredibly cool!" Xiao Hou said enthusiastically. "Are you ready for our fight?"
"Yes, of course," I smiled, after which I realized that I was still holding Zhou Ming in my arms like some princess. Quickly putting her on her feet, I saw that her entire face had turned red.
"Ahem, ahem... Thank you, Jiaxing Yun," she said shyly, standing up.
"I'm sorry, Zhou Ming," He Yu ran over with tears in her eyes. It was strange, of course, that she was apologizing; it was a duel after all. "If it weren't for Jiaxing Yun, I would have..."
"It's okay, He Yu," Zhou Ming said with a smile. "It was a fair duel, so anything could have happened. It's good that Jiaxing Yun was watching, otherwise it wouldn't have ended so well. By the way, what is your cultivation level and what is your second element?"
"I'm a first-stage mid-level water mage and a first-stage initial-level chaos mage," He Yu replied shyly. "I think I'll reach the second stage soon. And you? Haven't you reached the mid-level yet?"
"I..." Zhou Ming hesitated, realizing that she was the weakest of all who had decided to fight. Although Xiao Hou was still left, he was fighting me, and he volunteered, so he couldn't be weak. "I'm a mid-level fire mage, but I still cast spells too slowly, and also..." At this point, she hesitated. Would she really deny until the end that she possessed ice? "A first-stage ice mage, but I still handle it poorly, so I didn't use it."
"An interesting combination of elements. It's as if two opposites are afraid in you," Mu Bai said thoughtfully.
"Oh no!" Zhou Ming snapped sharply at his words. "It just happened that way."
"Zhou Ming, I think you just need to learn magic control, and there won't be any problems using two elements at once; you don't need to be so shy about it," Xu Zhao Ting said awkwardly, deciding to support her.
"Yes, I know myself," Zhuo Ming sighed. Right now, what bothered her more wasn't what elements she had, but that she was so weak. I think after this, she will take up training with triple the effort. "There's still the duel between Jiaxing Yun and Xiao Hou left; I can't wait to watch it."
"Well, if brother Jiaxing Yun isn't tired from the previous battles, then I'll be happy to fight him," Xiao Hou said with a smile.
"I'm not that tired; I can manage one more fight," I said, stretching and showing that I was ready for battle.
"Be careful, Xiao Hou, he's very strong," He Yu said, approaching Xiao Hou and kissing him on the cheek.
"I know, that's why I want to fight him," Xiao Hou said, kissing her on the forehead.
From this scene, Zhou Ming, Mu Bai, Zhao Kun San, and Wang Pan stood frozen, not believing their eyes. I, Xu Zhao Ting, and Mo Fan simply ignored it, already accustomed to their behavior.
"Are you dating?" Zhao Kun San asked the question that was on most people's minds.
"Yes, we started dating almost immediately after the catastrophe of the city of Bo," He Yu replied confidently, hugging Xiao Hou tighter and looking at Kun San as if ready to kill if he said anything wrong.
"I see, I'm happy for you, but we didn't rent the arena forever, so let's hurry," Mu Bai urged, although I was paying, it was clear that money and time were very important to him.
"Yes, we'll be quick; we're both wind mages," Xiao Hou said, standing opposite me. Meanwhile, the girls left the arena, freeing it for us.
After the signal, Xiao Hou immediately rushed at me, first using just a wind step and then helping himself with an earth wave. He held daggers in his hands, the same ones as at the Gong family tournament. Damn, I'm also using the same daggers! Although, it's worth noting that mine have become quite worn out over these two months and don't look like they did back then.
Xiao Hou aimed to hit me directly in the heart, but I dodged, directing my dagger at his stomach. He, to defend himself, jumped aside, after which he attacked me again. Our fight was more like a regular dagger fight between ordinary people, with one exception: we had much greater speed. I was holding back, remaining only slightly faster than Xiao Hou, otherwise he would definitely have realized that Asura and I were the same person. I wasn't playing with him like Asura did then; I was fighting him with full strength, but not with full speed.
After a minute of fighting, I noticed that he used the wind step and the earth wave differently. Moreover, both uses differed from the standard ones. In search of greater speed and power, he achieved enormous control over spells, which was not much inferior to mine, although a chasm separated us. One could say that I surpassed him in control just as he surpassed ordinary mid-level wind mages. Xiao Hou used the earth wave to increase his running speed and slow me down simultaneously. And the wind step, in addition to the standard acceleration, was also used to enhance blows, just like me.
Our fight lasted about two minutes in total, which was already quite long for wind mages. I ultimately won; after all, my skills in dagger fighting and spell control far surpass Xiao Hou's. I put one dagger to his chest, blocking his dagger with the other. His second dagger had just been parried by the one that was now heading for his heart.
"I surrender," Xiao Hou said, taking a couple of steps back by inertia. I managed to stop the dagger at the last moment, otherwise he would have died. Xiao Hou understood this perfectly. "Brother Jiaxing Yun is still stronger than me. I need to train more, and one day, I will definitely surpass you."
"Try, and maybe that day will come," I replied with a smile. If only he knew how much I surpassed him, he wouldn't say that. But for his development, it's better for him to be unaware of this. "However, remember that I am also getting stronger."
"Of course, brother Jiaxing Yun, otherwise our competition would lose all meaning," Xiao Hou said with a smile. "Of course, we won't be able to join you in your young mages' competition, as it's held separately for military universities, but we will definitely meet again, and I will show you everything I'm capable of."
"I look forward to it," I replied with a smirk.
"Don't you have entrance exams today? Then let's continue our meeting at a cafe," Mu Bai suggested, clearly feeling like a sort of organizer of the reunion.
"Yes, I'm all for it," Xiao Hou said, heading towards Mu Bai.
"Me too," Mo Fan supported the idea, and Xu Zhao Ting also agreed, as did everyone else.
"I'll join you later. I need to meet with Lin Yun Er," I said, trying to politely refuse. "I'll join you later."
"Alright, good luck," Mu Bai said. "I'll send you the location where we stopped later."
"Okay," I nodded, then stopped He Yu by her shoulder. "Can you spare me a couple of minutes?"
"Huh? Is something urgent?" she asked. Everyone else had almost left the arena for the locker rooms.
"Yes, it's very important. I can offer you a way to attack using water magic," I said, being very serious. "But no one should know about it, so I'll ask you in exchange for this knowledge to sign a master-disciple spiritual contract."