Leon was annoyed at the lack of response he received or the lack thereof. He hated the annoyed look Zen had on his face.
What's more, the boy had the nerve to be lost in thought while he stood right in front of him. It was as if he didn't exist, and that irritated him to no end.
'These bastards of Class A1 think they're all big shots simply because they have Alex in their midst. And while he is impressive, the others aren't so much.
'Even this fool who stole a kill from him thinks he's some kind of big shot.' His thoughts mirrored his expression as he let out a small smirk.
'No matter. Time to teach this Zen fellow a lesson or two.'
Leon got into a fighting stance, ready to go on the offensive the moment the countdown ended.
Watching the actions of Leon, Zen could guess what he was thinking and he wasn't worried one bit. There was a reason on he didn't put this Leon fellow in his eyes.
Yes, his ability was impressive and one of the rare kinds, but that was only in the latter stages of power. Right now, as a Class F awakened, he was as predictable as anyone on his level.
[…one!]
The countdown ended signaling the start of the second round of fights.
The stage the fighters stood on remained unchanged at the moment, however, their view of the spectators and their commotion was silenced to them.
Zen unfurled his folded arms as soon as the countdown reached zero. He watched as Leon retrieved the sword from its scabbard and charged directly in his direction with a wide grin.
'Hmph!'
Zen was not going to wait around and bolted straight for Leon. He conjured gauntlets on both hands from his metal abilities and met the sword swung in a wide arc from above.
The clash produced a loud metallic sound that reverberated in their space and the repulsive force produced by the clash pushed them back.
"Heh… You're not as weak as I thought." Leon commented and charged at him again. He reserved the use of his abilities as he more than anyone understood its weaknesses at this stage.
However, that was not to say he didn't use them at all. In fact, it was perfect for using them in surprise attacks.
For now, his sword was going to do just fine.
Closing in, Leon performed several fast-paced swings, swings and stabs at Zen. With each swing of his sword, clearly visible arcs were drawn in the air as the sword cut through it with little resistance.
Zen's eyes never moved from his opponent's body movements and sword techniques. He sidestepped those he couldn't block and blocked those that went for his vitals.
The two constantly moved around their fighting space and the weaker students only caught blurs of their movements, unable to keep up. The only time they had the chance to see them was when they momentarily paused to overwhelm each other in a few of their clashes.
"Wow, these guys are the real deal. Look at them move!"
"Right? Leon is impressive, but the thief is even better. No wonder he is in Class A."
"Yeah… But why isn't Leon using his abilities? I mean it's flawed, but still."
"I don't know. He seems to be doing just fine without it. What concerns me is why Zen is focusing on defence when he had many openings to exploit."
"Because none of them are going all out and are biding their time, especially Zen."
The spectating students commented as they enjoyed the fast-paced fight between Zen and Leon. It was definitely one of the fights that stood out from the rest.
.....
Zen's movements were fluent without any wasted movements. He knew exactly what he was doing, and after many clashes with no obvious results, Leon began to get irritated.
He hadn't missed how Zen hadn't attacked him seriously till this point. It was as if he was biding his time or to wear him out.
But that wouldn't make too much sense as from what he could tell, they were pretty evenly matched. What's more, he hadn't activated his abilities yet while Zen relied on his conjured gauntlets to defend.
"Fight back, dammit!"
Leon roared in outrage at the antics of Zen who looked relaxed even though Leon continued to press on overbearingly.
Suddenly, the terrain began to change. Zen noticed it the moment it began as he kept an eye out for when the change happened. He could have attacked Leon at any moment.
But he chose to do so when the terrain shift came. Unfortunately for Zen, he wasn't the only one wishing to use that moment of change to his advantage.
When the terrain shifted from an arena to a large forest of tall trees, grasses and weeds, Leon smiled in excitement.
'Excellent!'
The terrain was the perfect spot for him to showcase his ability. In an environment with many obstacles like the forest, his ability shined.
Zen observed the expression of Leon when the environment changed into a forest. He instantly understood what Leon planned and made his move then.
The next swing of Leon's sword moved to his left side, intending to cut him through. Already predicting the trajectory from his body movements, Zen directly moved his left hand and caught the sword.
The move momentarily froze Leon and Zen took advantage of it. To be able to stop a sword in motion like that required the person to have exceptional strength. More strength than the sword swing carried.
And because he had been blocking and dodging this entire time, the notion that he could catch his sword dead in its tracks did not cross his mind.
In fact, that should have at least pushed him back as even with his gauntlets, the kinetic energy the sword carried had more than enough energy to do that.
Without delay, Zen followed that with a right hand that aimed directly at the chest of Leon.
However, instead of the gauntlet-covered hand, the gauntlets morphed into a long-pointed blade that would have punctured a hole in Leon's chest, pushing through armour, body tissues and bones to emerge in his back.
But plans rarely go so well…