The voices of the students stopped suddenly as if a knife had cut their throats.
Even Professor Ellara narrowed her eyes slightly. Yes, she had expected Cyril to struggle, but at least not to this extent.
She had indeed watched Eon during the student exams—from the elimination rounds to the competition for ranks. He had surprised all the faculty with his strength.
Therefore, she already had a general overview of his total power.
She narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched Eon retract his fist, adjust his stance, and stand like an upright spear in the middle of the arena.
Only a month had passed since the end of the entrance exams. It was impossible that he had hidden his strength during the competition, especially against Arthur Grylmok.
Unless... only in this month had his strength increased to this level. But this remained somewhat difficult to believe. Yet it seemed this was the only explanation currently available.
She stopped thinking and directed her attention to the battle.
Cyril rose from the pit in astonishment, staring with unfocused shock. Then, as he began to regain his focus, his anger intensified, and he cursed fiercely.
"You wretch—"
But before he could finish his words, Eon approached him quickly.
He hurried to assume a defensive stance, but a look of concern appeared on Eon's face as he looked at Cyril, then he said:
"Senior, are you alright? I already told you to prepare yourself. Why did you remain standing there only to receive my strike? I know you are kind and do not like bullying, but you scratch my pride and self-respect by doing this. If you are not serious in this duel—" Eon's face frowned and his eyes shone with unparalleled sincerity.
When Cyril heard him, he nearly choked from the intensity of his anger, but he forced himself to suppress his rage. Meanwhile, the other students did not really know whether Eon was telling the truth or just talking nonsense. But his eyes seemed to tell the truth. However, his lips, which were trembling as they tried to form a sarcastic smile, exposed his lie. But it seemed Cyril had not noticed this.
"Well... yes, I was careless and did not circulate my aura before the fight... Alright, Junior, the warm-up time is over. Let's begin. I will exert my utmost effort, so try to endure," Cyril said with a smile radiating false confidence.
He had indeed decided that he would dig Eon's grave today to humiliate him.
But before Cyril could move, Eon spoke again and said: "What about the two remaining chances, Senior?"
Cyril staggered and nearly coughed up blood, remembering his previous words... By the hell, why am I so talkative? Damn it.
He could only recall Eon's punch. Although he did not want to admit it, the concentrated aura of Eon had indeed overwhelmed him, even though he was boosting his aura with mana—and this was simply cheating, regardless of whether it was ignored.
Cyril could only pressure himself as he said, "Ah, yes, I had indeed forgotten... Here is your second chance now. Exert your utmost effort. I will not be careless like the previous time." And without waiting, he circulated his aura to the maximum concentration he could muster around his vital areas, his arms, and his legs as he prepared to receive Eon's strike.
Eon could only twist his lips in a sarcastic smile as he looked at Cyril's current state... Well, it seems I will present a small show for them.
He circulated his aura concentrated in the form of a ring rotating around his right shoulder instead of his fist. This sight aroused looks of astonishment from the students and even from the professor and the yellow-haired girl, Rin Eveline, one of the heroines.
Before they could understand what Eon was doing, the ground suddenly exploded under Eon's feet into a small pit before he suddenly disappeared and appeared in the blink of an eye before Cyril.
Cyril's eyes widened and he tensed himself even more in preparation for the impact.
Eon directed his punch directly at Cyril's chest, which was surrounded by two crossed arms protecting his chest.
But—
The shock scene did not appear. Cyril did not even budge from his place, which he had indeed prepared to withstand at least a push backward of several meters.
As soon as he opened his mouth to release a mockery and try to "reassure" his Junior, he noticed a sarcastic smile on Eon's lips.
Even the spectators, before they could comprehend what was happening, less than a second later, a violent shock launched from Eon's shoulder to his fist, then to Cyril's intertwined arms, then the same scene of the first "chance" that Cyril had "honored" Eon with returned.
The funny surprise was that Cyril was pushed along the same path he had created before and stopped in the same place as before.
The spectators' eyes widened, some of them even opened their mouths to a degree where you could place a whole egg inside. Well, you cannot blame them, for this technique was created by Eon himself when he was 14 years old.