Ren took a step forward... directly toward the flas.
A collective gasp arose from the stands.
"Has he gone mad?!" exclaid Roran, rising from his seat.
But just when it seed Ren would throw himself directly into the fire, he executed a fast jump to his right and slightly upward, rotating in the air with a spatial maneuver that Lin had taught him during their intense training sessions.
In what felt like a long succession of events but had taken only an instant, Ren had approached to reduce the cone's effective area and launched himself outside the attack from the side where he had detected the greatest weakness in the mana pattern...
Ron's left hand.
Ren landed just two ters from his opponent, closer than the salamander boy would have wanted any opponent to be.
"Impossible," he murmured, his eyes widening with disbelief. The surprise made him interrupt his continuous attack, but he quickly regained his composure. With a defensive movent, he created a wall of fire between himself and Ren, a burning barrier that waved forcefully, turning the air around it into a furnace.
"Good control for Iron rank," acknowledged Ren, stepping back and speaking for the first ti since the combat began. "But this level of control will cost you all your energy in a short ti."
"I don't need even a full minute to defeat you!" replied Ron, though the sweat beading on his forehead and the slight tremor in his arms betrayed the truth of Ren's observation.
The fire wall expanded, forcing Ren to take another step back.
From the stands, Liora analyzed the situation.
"Ron is good," she comnted. "For an average Iron-rank beast and a first-year student, that fire wall shows great control."
Larissa nodded, her eyes never leaving Ren's figure. "But Ren is already several levels above that... He could have knocked him out quickly. I wonder if he's playing with him because of so past grudge."
Liora rolled her eyes, "I don't think he's as vindictive or devilish as you. It seems to he's asuring his capabilities compared to more normal people than Jin or Klein who have Bronze beasts, or us with Tier 3 beasts..."
Larissa placed her hand on her forehead, pretending to be hurt, "How can you call evil and vindictive... I just have a good mory and sense of humor."
Liora narrowed her eyes...
In the arena, Ren seed to be considering his options against the wall of fire.
"Ready to surrender?" asked Ron, his scales shining intensely while he aid his next attack. "There's no way you can get through this without getting burned... I warn you, it hurts a lot."
A slight smile appeared on Ren's face. "I could do it without suffering much damage but... I have no need to go through it."
Before Ron could process these words, Ren crouched and pulled a lump of earth from the arena floor. His eyes glowed with a tone that combined the light of his hydra and sothing else, sothing that slightly resembled the earthy radiance of the mineral fairy.
After all, their natures were similar.
In his hand, the earth began to compact slightly, quickly forming a sowhat denser projectile the size of a fist.
It was very poor elental control, but it existed in his beast and Victor had prematurely awakened it.
The earth projectile rose a few centiters above his palm. Ren studied it for a mont, calculating angles and trajectories.
Then, with a 'subtle' wrist movent, he launched it.
The compacted earth piece flew through the air in a straight line directly at the fire wall. Ron, concentrated on charging his next attack while maintaining his burning barrier, barely registered the projectile's shadow as it passed through his barrier, hitting him precisely between the eyes before disintegrating.
Ron staggered, his eyes montarily unfocusing as control over his fire wall and the attack vanished. The flas diminished and then extinguished completely, leaving only wisps of smoke as witnesses to their existence.
Ron tried to remain standing, his pride fighting against physics, but it was a lost battle. His knees gave way and he fell forward, unconscious before touching the ground.
Astonished silence spread throughout the arena.
Lin stepped forward to check Ron's condition, quickly confirming that he was simply knocked out, without serious injuries. She looked up at Ren, admiration and reproach in her eyes.
"Victory for Ren Patinder," she announced, her voice resonating in the sudden silence. "By incapacitation of the opponent."
The audience remained in shock for a mont longer, unsure of understanding what had happened... But soon applause began to spread, first tentatively and then with growing enthusiasm.
While the dical auxiliaries entered to attend to Ron, Ren allowed himself a mont of introspection. The battle had been more revealing than he had anticipated, not about Ron, but about himself.
The small increase in earth and fire elental control he had acquired, though still in its initial stages, promised possibilities and perception that even he hadn't fully considered.
Luna observed with intensity, her eyes narrowed in analysis. Her defeat in the team combat seed forgotten as she studied each of Ren's movents, every detail of his style.
Selphira Ashenway smiled that enigmatic smile that made even the professors uncomfortable, as if she knew sothing that no one else could see.
Ren headed toward the exit, his calm walk contrasting with the storm of speculation he had unleashed. Min and Taro were waiting for him at the entrance, their faces lit with triumphant smiles.
"I thought you'd knock him out with a punch as usual, that was unexpected!" exclaid Min.
Taro, more versed in earth control and observant, looked at him with admiration and curiosity. "Since when can you manipulate earth like that?"
"The hydra is light and earth... Though it should be more mature to demonstrate good control, but I've been practicing," replied Ren with a modesty that didn't fool his friends.
"Cheater," Taro gave him a light push, though there was no real accusation in his voice. "Now you're stealing my identity not only as an armored fighter but as an earth elent tar too, what's next, a long mouth?"
"It makes sense," intervened Min, feigning seriousness. "The hydra lives in depths, it's good at digging. But if tomorrow you tell us your fungus can control water and heal, then I'll have to protest for identity theft too."
Ren burst out laughing, giving a light playful tap on each of their heads.
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