"Flame Dash!" Han shouted. Almost immediately, flames swirled around his knees down to his feet, before suddenly exploding, propelling him towards Dan.
Seeing this, a slight frown appeared on Dan's face. He let out a low hiss and immediately tried to cast a defensive spell to block Han.
However, just as Han was about to close in on him, the flames on his legs suddenly vanished, causing Dan's eyes to widen a little in surprise.
His expectations were that Han would use that spell to gain speed and then attack him with his fists.
But with Han releasing the spell, it was as if he put himself in a disadvantage.
Han cocked one of his hands backwards and immediately threw a punch towards Dan's face.
As he threw the punch, he mumbled some strange words, but Dan didn't notice.
A smug expression appeared on Dan's face. Despite the punch closing in on his face, he didn't feel worried since he already knew how he would dodge it.
He immediately moved backwards, in order to put some distance between himself and Han and then cast his spell, or at least, that was how it was supposed to go.
Just as he was about to move away from his position, his eyes suddenly widened and he realized something—his feet were stuck!
Dan's eyes instinctively moved to the ground, to see what was wrong, only to find his feet covered with a thick lump of earth that glued them to the ground.
He didn't understand... when did Han trap him with a spell?!
Thwack!
However, he wasn't given enough time to ponder on it when Han's punch landed squarely on his face, forcefully jerking his head to the side.
'I might not be a stage two Elementalist anymore! But don't you dare underestimate me you fucker!!' Han screamed in his thoughts, but didn't bother saying it out.
When he put out his "Flame dash" spell, the next thing he did was cast "Earth hold" to trap Dan to the ground.
Since Dan was so focused on humiliating him, he didn't notice when he casted the trap spell.
"Arrg..." Dan let out a groan, as he felt his nose bend to the side, broken from that punch.
The fact that his legs were stuck, only seemed to make the hit heavier.
Dan shook his head, trying to recover from the pain, however, Han didn't give him any time to think before he casted another spell.
"Rock fists!" Han shouted as he threw another punch towards Dan's chest. Midway through the air, his fists hardened and a thick, brown substance rapidly coated the surface.
While Han knew that he was more likely to lose this duel, he didn't plan on just going down without a fight.
Even if all he could use were tier one spells, he would use them efficiently and try his best to fight against Dan!
Twak!
The dull sound of Han's fists colliding with Dan's cheek reverberated slightly.
The force behind the punch jerked Dan's face to the side, and he grunted in pain. Blood bled from his nose, and his cheek reddened slightly.
The punch was so heavy—mainly because it was reinforced by the spell—that for a moment, Dan's mind got disoriented.
Even though they were technically in the same mana core stage, when it came down to physical strength, Han was still the stronger one.
Elementalists might not be as strong as combat mages when it came to physical strength, but they were still a lot stronger than normal people.
The Elemental mana circulating around their body, nourishes it, increasing their physical prowess.
Despite Han's mana core regressing back to the first stage, it didn't take away the fact that he used to be a stage two Elementalist.
It was only his mana core that regressed, his physical strength didn't drop in the slightest.
Coupled with the fact that Han hardened his fists with a spell, Dan felt like a hard rock was slammed into cheek with full force.
Seeing that Dan was still recovering from that attack, Han immediately tried to follow up with another attack.
However, just as he was about to throw another punch, a stabbing pain suddenly wracked through his head.
He grunted and subconsciously took a step backwards.
Casting three spells consecutively put some strain on his mana core, and that caused pain to spread through his soul.
That small moment of distraction by Han, caused the earth spell he was using to hold Dan to the ground to release, and Dan's legs became free.
Dan, seeing that his legs were now free, hurriedly channeled his mana to cast a spell.
"Wind steps!" He shouted, as wind gathered around his feet, increasing his speed and ability.
His speed doubled and his body became twice lighter. Without wasting any time, Dan immediately jumped backwards, using that moment to distance himself from Han.
From their earlier interaction, it was obvious that fighting at close range would be dangerous for him since Han was physically stronger.
Apart from that, Elementalists strong forte had always been in long-range attacks and not short-range.
By now, the stabbing pain in Han's head had died down and he slowly lifted his head to stare at Dan.
A deep frown appeared on his face when he saw that Dan was free, and the frown on got deeper when he noticed the wind gathering around Dan's legs.
He immediately tried to channel his mana and cast another spell, however, his eye widened when he noticed that his mana was already running low.
Another smug smile crept up on Dan's face when he noticed Han's plight.
"What's wrong Han?!" He shouted while spreading his hands. "Running low on mana?!"
Suddenly, wind gathered above his outstretched palms, before rapidly forming into two thin blades that floated above his hands.
"How dare you hit me...?" Dan said, as his expression twisted in anger. Just thinking about how Han managed to land a punch on his face, not once, but twice, made his blood boil with anger.
"Wind Blades!" The moment he shouted those words, the thin blades above his palms suddenly shot towards Han, slicing through the air with astonishing speed.
***
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