Chapter 193 - Unleashing the Beast

Oli continued to pressure Jonon without end. He understood that controlling the tempo was best and giving Jonon a chance to breathe would only increase the odds of Oli losing. 

"Why is a peak-adept afraid of me, a low-adept?"

"Because you're worth keeping an eye on," jeered Jonon, playing along. "But don't assume I'm afraid of a weakling like you!"

With a better feeling for Oli's strange dark essence and his boosted speed and strength, Jonon's counterattack began. As Oli's hammers charged ahead, Jonon's blades changed coats again, one being covered in frost and the other in condensed earth. The frost blade carved into the face of Oli's first hammer while the second, earth-crusted blade smashed into the hilt of Oli's second hammer. This finally proved useful as the top of Oli's essence hammer was forcefully dispersed by the cleaving attack.

Forced to recreate a new hammer in place of repairing one, Oli understood Jonon's strategy right away. "Trying to waste my energy?"

"The sooner you're spent, the sooner you transform, right? Hurry up before you've got nothing left to show me!" Jonon cackled with a smile as he met Oli head-on yet again, repeating his defenses to destroy another hammer with his updated technique. "Come on! Don't make this too easy for me."

They repeated this one more time, exchange blows as Oli was pushed back and Jonon began to reclaim control of the battle. However, cleaving through the hammer a third time wasn't possible. Instead, Jonon felt his sword stop after entering the hammer's shaft, getting stuck and almost yanking the blade from Jonon's grasp.

Oli had turned his hammer around, never planning to fully swing it that time. With Jonon's blade stuck, it was the perfect chance to try and disarm him. At the same time, Oli's dark essence began to pour over the stayed blade.

Jonon proved forceful enough to remove the blade after repositioning his footing but he was unable to do so freely. Oli's other hammer was blocked but not parried, slamming into Jonon's side and pushing the swordsman away. However, Jonon used that additional momentum to dislodge his blade and regather himself with a cheeky grin.

"Not bad for a low-adept…"

"Only so-so for a peak-adept," remarked Oli, chuckling back at him.

After a quick examination of his sword, Jonon increased his essence output and gave Oli another once-over. He wasn't going to fall for another lure again despite his growing appreciation for Oli's craftiness.

With abundant essence, Jonon's next flurry of strikes was launched without pause. Immediately, Oli's commanding position in the fight was lost as Jonon's increased speed left the weaker combatant unable to break free. Oli was forced to focus on defense as Jonon's attacks constantly switched between swirling ice and cleaving earth essences. 

The hammers worked decently well for defense but they weren't perfect. Making sure to not lose a hammer was Oli's first priority as that would both leave him open and lessen his ability to counterattack.

"Hurry up and transform!"

Oli disregarded Jonon's impatient remark. He wanted to do everything possible before resorting to the tactic that wouldn't be acceptable within the bounds of the upcoming tournament.

Again, Oli vanished with aid of his dark essence. But his presence was quickly found as Jonon remained able to sense Oli's earth essence defenses. It then became a matter of cat and mouse, one person retreating in calculations while the other hunted and preyed upon his retreating opponent.

"What do you think? Does Oli stand a chance?" Vloz asked without looking away from the fight.

Hurman itched his beard with a small grin, also keeping his eyes peeled on the fight. "I think so. His opponents will likely be low and mid-adepts, or possibly a high-adept at best. And none will have Jonon's level of battle experience either."

"Then how much longer should we let this continue?"

"Didn't Oliver promise to fight Jonon going all-out?"

"True, true… I suppose Jonon's got enough control to not kill Oli outright," chuckled Vloz.

Unable to hear the commentary about their fight, Oli and Jonon remained locked in head-to-head combat. Both specializing in close-combat with one being clearly superior, it was only a matter of time before Oli was forced to either try his final tricks or go full-ape.

"Come on! Hurry up and--"

Before Jonon could taunt Oli once more, he pulled back and jumped away from Oli.

Just as Jonon stepped back, the wooden floor where he once stood was torn apart by a slew of spikes erupting from the ground below. Those spikes began to follow Jonon around the room but he wasn't startled in the least. However, his casual glances were jarred as the swordsman did a double-take and his body jolted around, using his swords to block a sudden lashing of dark essence from behind. 

"Mid-range control? Not bad, Oliver!"

"I guess that's enough testing…" sighed the young man, grinning in approval.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the room shifted. Grins appeared on everyone's face as Oli's body tensed and he unleashed a full-body roar. His body began to grow, filling in the mold that was his earth essence. Now standing three-krin tall, Oli's roar subsided but the attentive gazes upon him weren't done admiring his lean and jacked muscular physique. It didn't quite match up with the common depiction of gorilla beasts that the others had always imagined, but that only added to their awe.

"Come on!" Bolting forward, Oli's increased speed met Jonon head-on without fear or hesitation. "You asked for this, so show me you can handle it!"

"With pleasure!" 

Holding nothing back, Jonon unleashed the full extent of his essence, the perfect middle ground of his full essence capacity and balanced, continual strikes. The greedy grin on his face was replaced by a subtle smile and admiring eyes. The essence surrounding his body thickened as well, leaving nothing to chance when taking on a beast he had only read about during his time at the academy.