Metallic sounds echoed across the arena as two young warriors unsheathed their blades—one as serene as still water, the other as violent as a raging fire.
Shortly after, both rookies charged forward, slashing their tachis diagonally in a synchronized manner.
*CLANG!*
The weirdly pleasant sound of a sharp blade hitting another sharp blade sounded as Percy and Mateo clashed head-on, customarily checking who the stronger warrior was.
A few milliseconds later, the winner of the strength battle was decided as one warrior was sent sliding back—albeit slightly.
Mildly struggling to stabilize his footing, Percy looked unperturbed, appearing as though the one who lost the clash wasn't him.
Well, losing a head-on clash didn't mean that one had already lost the match so his nonchalance towards his defeat was quite understandable.
Still, It was rather unsettling to see someone so young maintain such control over their emotions.
Typically, young warriors would be deeply affected by losing a direct confrontation, which would then impact their performance, ultimately leading to them losing the match.
Hence, Percy was eerily remarkable in this regard as one could tell that the serene yet confident smile on his face wasn't the least bit fake.
'Tch, I'll break that silent confidence of yours!' Mateo inwardly thought as he once again charged forth, not allowing Percy any opportunity to catch his breath.
Swinging his tachi vertically downwards this time, Mateo empowered his attack with [Power Slash Lv.5], hoping, yet not expecting, to end the match early.
He himself didn't believe that Percy would be defeated this easily as the guy hadn't even used the weird skill that freezes his opponent.
Though a bit hurried, Percy was still able to raise his tachi horizontally, successfully blocking Mateo's skill-empowered blow.
Only, since he wasn't able to empower his blade, Percy felt blood surging out of his throat.
Luckily, although unpleasant, he was able to swallow it back down, allowing him to maintain his calm exterior.
"Hmmph! That shit hurts, doesn't it? Come, use your trump card, otherwise, you won't have the chance to!" Mateo exclaimed, immediately following up with a horizontal slash to the neck.
Aggressive and confident as Mateo's words sounded, it was far from the truth.
He was wary of Percy's "freeze" skill, hence, he planned to bait it out and masterfully dodge it before going ham.
Unfortunately for him, Percy was too calm and wise to fall for his tricks.
He couldn't hold back a mouthful of blood from spilling out.
'Tch, if not for that high-grade tachi of his, this would've been over long ago! I doubt that even Apollo would lose to this weakling if not for that sneaky freeze skill...To be sure, I shall corner him even more before using my ultimate skill...'
Mateo continued his relentless assault on Percy, using a mix of both common and uncommon-tier warrior skills.
This clearly highlighted the difference in their abilities as Percy was pushed back further and further, showing signs of weakening. In Mateo's view, this would pressure Percy into hastily and poorly deploying his ultimate skill.
Finally after three more clashes, Mateo's strongest burst-type uncommon-tier skill came off cooldown, allowing him to use it one more time on a diagonally upward slash coming from the left.
Again, Percy was quite skilled and he was able to block Mateo's attack by slashing his own blade diagonally downwards.
Unfortunately, his attributes didn't quite match up to Mateo's, hence, his battered body was sent flying backward, causing him to stagger upon landing, almost falling on his butt.
Witnessing this scene, Mateo's eyes reacted.
'Chance!'
Swiftly assuming the stance of his ultimate skill, Mateo extended his left arm forward—his palm aimed at Percy, before raising his sword hand high—his tachi, the same as his left palm, aimed at his adversary.
'Piercing Void!' Discover stories with mvl
Watching Mateo turn into the familiar, destructive purple blur as he advanced forward, the crowd waited.
Most of them were excited while a few had panicked expressions.
They bet everything they had on Percy, if he lost here, they were done for!
In the next few moments, the crowd eagerly waited for the scene where Mateo ripped Percy apart but shockingly, no such scene happened.
Instead, the match suddenly turned into a nightmare for those who bet on Mateo as a creepy smile emerged on the corners of Percy's mouth.
'Timekeeper's Fortress!'
A transparent white orb swiftly extended at the speed of sound from within Percy, successfully receiving and halting Mateo, who was in the middle of a ferocious dash, utterly disrespecting and disregarding the laws of inertia and gravity as Balkrow's 7th-ranked rookie remained suspended in mid-air with a furious expression.
"Haha, got you, idiot!" Percy said as he ruthlessly slashed his tachi horizontally, separating Mateo's head from his body, and causing him to turn into an azure ray of light.
The crowd gasped in horror as Mateo Flameheart...suffered an unexpected crushing defeat at the hands of the top-ranked rookie of this year's rookie admission exam, Percy Phone.