Sword Saint's Reincarnation-Chapter 71: Tournament (6)

Rylan looked at Isaac with serene eyes. No one made a sound. He glanced at the judges; they looked like they had just been slapped, especially Professor Jacob. Inwardly shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Isaac.

“Is that all?” he asked after a few seconds.

Isaac looked at him with eyes filled with anger and pain. The boy gritted his teeth and pointed his wand at Rylan, who raised an eyebrow.

I thought they would stop the fight at this point.

Isaac’s injury wasn’t severe since Rylan had controlled his power, but it still required immediate care. What were the judges thinking? He stared at Isaac, who was struggling to chant while powering through the pain, took a step to the side, and ran.

“Fire Ring!” Isaac finally said with rough breathing.

Good choice.

As Evenon had shown before, Fire Ring was a powerful area-of-effect spell that was especially effective against fighters like Rylan, who kept moving around. Isaac’s mana ignited and spread out around him in a circle. It was lacking at best when compared to Evenon’s Fire Ring, but it was enough for a battle of this caliber, between teenagers.

Even if he’s arrogant, he’s got some skills.

Rylan calmly watched the flames rapidly approaching him and lowered his center of gravity, almost crouching. Abruptly, he lunged forward, his body nearly parallel to the ground, to the point he would be able to touch it if he extended his arms. The Fire Ring expanded above him, seeking to burn anything it came in contact with, but he cleanly went under it. It didn’t singe even the corners of his clothes.

He spun, letting his feet touch the floor once more. In a heartbeat, Rylan found his footing and stood up, sliding across the ground, and pointed his wand at Isaac.

“Magic Missile.”

The flames crashed against the mana barrier and started flooding the arena, but suddenly disappeared as a Magic Shield took shape around Isaac. Rylan’s Magic Missile pierced through the air even faster than the previous one and crashed against the Shield. Spinning, it tried to drill into the Shield, but soon lost power and vanished. Naturally, Rylan hadn’t stopped casting.

“Wind Blades.”

The air twisted and gathered into crescent moons, then flew toward the Shield. Rylan snapped his fingers. The Blades lost their shape as they wrapped themselves around the Shield, still trying to cut into it. A wave of the wand later, they spun, creating a miniature storm around Isaac that sought only to slash his body.

Rylan furrowed his brow. This kind of application was quite mentally straining. He wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, but Isaac couldn’t lower his Shield until the Blades disappeared. Rylan crossed his arms and stared at Isaac.

The boy said nothing. With gritted teeth, he unceasingly funneled mana into the Shield, keeping it from collapsing. The battle entered a small lull. After a few seconds, Rylan looked at the judges and announcer. They were all silent, just like the crowd in the stands. Professor Jacob was glaring at him with clenched fists, but Rylan ignored him. Instead, his attention was drawn to the single other judge who was looking at him instead of gaping at Isaac.

She was a crimson-haired, brown-skinned beautiful woman. Her eyes held a savage glint as she stared at Rylan with a perfect smile. Dressed in black and red clothing that did nothing to hide her figure and only accentuated her curves, she didn’t wear a robe. A staff rested next to her seat, completely black with a red crystal resting on top. Rylan narrowed his eyes, looking at her up and down.

Good body.

Apart from her proportions, he could tell that her muscles were toned. She either had trained for a while or spent her Free Points on physical stats. The most likely scenario was that she did both. Rylan nodded to himself. As expected, more advanced Mages recognized the necessity of having a powerful body.

At that moment, the announcer looked at her, bringing his wand close to his mouth. The other judges followed his gaze, including Jacob. She only raised her hand, palm facing forward, and smiled. Rylan realized what this exchange had been about in an instant.

She doesn’t want to stop the fight?

He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. It looked like she knew it too.

Rylan looked at Isaac, who was still in the same situation.

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This is a standstill I’ll lose.

Both he and his opponent needed to continuously channel mana into their spells to keep them up like this. However, Isaac had significantly more mana than Rylan, who was only at the Second Circle. If nothing changed, Rylan would run out of energy first. It was a conclusion that Isaac could also easily reach if he stopped to think, but…

He won’t.

Isaac’s expression was filled with myriad emotions as he stared venomously at Rylan. In his current state of mind, Isaac wouldn’t be able to choose the best possible course of action. Rylan would fully exploit that. With a wave of his hand, the wind surrounding Isaac in a cutting storm lost its power and melted back into the atmosphere. The next moment, Isaac lowered the Shield with gritted teeth and pointed his wand at Rylan.

“Water Sphere!”

Rylan widened his eyes.

He’s faster than before.

There was no time to think about it too deeply. Mana coalesced into blue water around him, covering the arena and flooding toward him like a tide. As it approached, it surged into the air, creating walls of water around him. Rylan crouched and jumped straight up, as high as he could without using Floating or circulating his mana. It was the only way to avoid this spell. However, because water wasn’t solid, there were no footholds to step on and make himself go higher.

In mid-air, Rylan kept his eyes on Isaac as the water gathered below him in a large sphere that was capable of completely enveloping an adult. He felt as if the world were moving in slow motion, his mind racing.

I’ll fall straight down, right into the Sphere.

His concentration reached its peak as he chanted and started falling. His feet sunk into the Water Sphere, followed by his entire lower body. Once the water reached his chest, Rylan gasped the final part of the chant.

“Earth Spikes.”

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The stone floor rippled, then rose as spikes that pierced the Water Sphere, getting through the outer layer. Rylan grabbed the nearest one with his left hand and pulled. His Strength allowed him to rip his way out of the Water Sphere by using the Spike as support. Completely soaked, he rolled to the side as he touched the floor, then looked at Isaac.

All traces of the previous smug smile were gone. Instead, Isaac only stared at Rylan with a serious expression and burning eyes. Rylan recognized that emotion: the desire to win.

So there’s hope for him after all.

The real battle began now.

“Tide!” Isaac exclaimed while Rylan rose to his feet.

The Water Sphere disappeared into mana, only to return as a flood of water that slammed into Rylan, pushing him back. Rylan followed his instincts, keeping his balance without even needing to think about it. Over the past few months, he had gotten more used to Roland’s memories’ whispers.

He lowered his center of gravity, stabilizing his body, and pointed his wand at Isaac.

“Magic Missile.”

The moment he finished chanting, Isaac took a few steps to the side, almost stumbling. Naturally, Rylan easily kept up with his movement. The Missile arrived, creating a deep cut on Isaac’s right shoulder. The boy yelped and the Tide came undone. Rylan only stared at Isaac with some interest.

Did he just try to copy me?

From the start of this battle, it had been obvious that Isaac had never expected Rylan to be able to cast while moving so much. For most of it, he had stood exactly in the same spot, alternating between offensive spells and Magic Shield, completely disregarding movement. In a way, this was an improvement.

With tears in his eyes, Isaac forced his injured right arm to point the wand at Rylan and spat out the final part of a chant.

“Rupture.”

The floor shook, vibrating. A moment later, it started cracking and parting. It was as if tunnels were being forcefully carved into it. Parts of the floor rose, while others sunk as the cracks spread throughout the entire arena. They stopped once they reached the mana barrier. In this changed environment, Isaac kept chanting as he ran to the back of one of the newly formed earthen walls.

Rylan jumped forward as the floor beneath him collapsed into a hole. Lightly landing on its edge, he realized what Isaac had tried to do. This spell’s purpose hadn’t been to defeat him: instead, it sought only to introduce new variables that wouldn’t disappear the moment mana stopped being fed into it.

Resisting the urge to use the Falling Snow Steps to circle around Isaac and end this battle, Rylan ran to the side and tried to get a clear view of his opponent.

“Water Bullets.”

Mana gathered into liquid and shot toward Isaac’s hiding place as spherical projectiles. The moment they were about to hit the risen floor, Rylan waved his wand. The Bullets’ trajectory curved, going around the wall and shooting toward Isaac’s predicted position. Rylan could tell that the spell had achieved nothing before he even got a clear line of sight. Isaac had raised a Magic Shield.

The boy came out of his hiding place, the Shield around him disappearing as he chanted.

“Fireball!”

Rylan blinked. To his right were walls in the shape of risen earth, limiting his movements. Retreating wouldn’t achieve anything, while going forward would only make the Fireball reach him faster. Going to the left was his only option, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Isaac had planned this. He smiled. Finally, this had gotten interesting.

Show me what you’ve got, then.

The Fireball shot toward Rylan as a sphere of light and heat, singing the atmosphere. Rylan dashed to the left, keeping most of his attention on Isaac. The boy smiled and waved his wand. Rylan’s concentration reached its peak as he watched this happen.

The Fireball exploded in mid-air, becoming a wave of flames that scorched the ruined arena. Hot air flooded Rylan’s surroundings, making him sweat.

“Magic Shield,” Rylan whispered under his breath, creating a layer of mana between himself and the outside world.

The fire quickly dominated the space within the mana barrier, scorching the floor and stone in a burst of heat. It crashed against Rylan’s Shield, forcing him to keep feeding it mana. The fire surrounded him in a roiling wave, endlessly trying to get past the Magic Shield. The mana drain was considerable. Rylan narrowed his eyes as the realization that his Shield wouldn’t be able to block this dawned upon him.

The flames burned through the Magic Shield and reached his skin. They singed his flesh, but there was no time to be lost in the pain. With a heavy frown, Rylan tried to push the flames away from him by emitting his mana in a circle.

Suddenly, the flames disappeared, leaving behind only the damage done in their wake. Rylan didn’t even think before shooting to the side, spinning and weaving between the arena’s risen pillars and obstacles, powering through the pain. A second later, water rushed throughout the arena in a wave. He recognized it as the precursor to Water Sphere. This time, however, instead of gathering into a sphere and finishing the spell, the water flowed in his direction, as if chasing him.

I need to finish this.

It was unclear whether Isaac was just improving mid-battle or finally taking this battle seriously, but the longer this fight went on, the more at a disadvantage Rylan would be. He wasn’t able to outlast a Third Circle Mage. Resisting the urge to draw his sword, Rylan shot toward Isaac with a Magic Shield raised. He leaped straight into the water. In a heartbeat, it started gathering its currents and flowing toward him, but he only kept going.

Walls of water rose from the floor, but Rylan sidestepped them with a spin and continued to run toward Isaac. He rapidly reduced the distance between them. Isaac stepped back a few times as Rylan approached, nearing the mana barrier.

The Shield around Rylan disappeared. As if he had been waiting for this moment, Isaac waved his wand. The water surged and crawled over itself to surround Rylan. With calm eyes, Rylan observed their movements. The water closed in on him, starting to create walls around him. However, because of the way they flowed, there was a gap. A small hole was revealed, close to the floor and in the middle of the water wall.

Now.

Rylan shot forward, twisting his body. At the exact correct timing, he dove through the hole and immediately pointed his wand at Isaac.

“Magic Missile.”

The Missile reached Isaac before the boy could cast a Magic Shield, digging into his right leg’s flesh. The skin was promptly shredded before the spell sunk into his thigh amidst a burst of scarlet. Blood fell to the floor. The water Isaac had conjured came undone. Without missing a beat, Rylan cast another Missile as fast as he could. The mana arrow pierced Isaac’s remaining leg, forcing him to kneel with a pained scream. Now, all his four limbs were injured. Rylan pointed the wand at Isaac’s head.

“Stop,” a female voice immediately resounded, echoing throughout the entire arena. Rylan had heard it perfectly, as if it had been spoken by someone right next to him.

Both he and Isaac turned to the judges. The crimson-haired woman had stood up, grasping her staff. She waved it and the mana barrier around the square arena disappeared.

The arena was dead silent.

She looked at the announcer, who flinched. He then turned around, walking to the middle of the ruined arena while avoiding the holes and cracks and bringing his wand closer to his mouth.

“The battle is over!” his voice boomed. He looked at Rylan as if he were staring at a ghost. “Because the other contestant isn’t able to continue fighting safely, the winner is Rylan Flameheart!”

Nobody said anything.

Rylan could feel it, however. A rising tide among the crowd. Once it reached its peak after a few seconds, the first cheer echoed. The second one followed, then the third. In a few moments, the whole audience was cheering and yelling in a deafening clamor.

“Nice fucking battle! You fought well, Isaac!”

“How the hell hadn’t we heard of this Rylan before!?”

“Hey! Find out everything you can about Rylan Flameheart!”

“Isaac, don’t feel bad!”

“Rylan Flameheart! Remember that name, fuckers!”

“Hey, Rylan! You’re the real fucking deal!”

“Which of you were shitting on him because he said he’s a swordsman? Stand up and let me slap you in the face!”

Some yelled Rylan’s name, while others praised Isaac. Rylan looked around and tried not to let himself get caught in the atmosphere. It was the first time in this life that others apart from his family had acknowledged him. A light smile made its way to his face.

It doesn’t feel bad.

Nevertheless, he hadn’t forgotten how the crowd had laughed at him and their mockery.

So fickle.

He walked closer to Isaac, who was still kneeling on the floor and staring at him.

“You said,” Isaac suddenly said. The cheering crowd stopped its yelling as some of the people told the others to shut up. Once everything was silent, Isaac continued. “You said you were a swordsman!”

Rylan shrugged.

“I am.”

“Bullshit! A swordsman wouldn’t be able to use magic so well!”

“There was just no need to draw my sword,” Rylan replied while shaking his head.

Isaac stared into his eyes and gritted his teeth. With an expression filled with bitterness and frustration, he lowered his head, looking straight at the cracked floor.

“Don’t feel too bad. You have a lot of potential. Just keep training,” Rylan said.

At that moment, he turned his head to the right, sensing someone approaching.

The crimson-haired judge was walking closer to them, staring straight at him. The other judges trailed behind her.