(Leo’s POV)
Unlike the neutral spectators in the arena, who viewed Su Yang and Minerva’s fight as mere entertainment, Leo saw it through an entirely different lens.
He wasn’t just an observer.
He was the next fighter.
And what he had just witnessed baffled him to his core.
From the moment Minerva fired her first arrow to the instant Su Yang shattered her Ice Wall, barely half a second had passed.
Half a second.
And yet, in that infinitesimal window of time—she had already moved nearly twenty meters from her original position.
Leo hadn’t seen how she did it.
All he had perceived was a blur.
A flicker of motion—so fast, so seamless—it defied logic.
Was it a movement skill? A high-level footwork technique? Or was this just her natural speed?
He had no answer.
But what he did know—was that it was terrifying.
And if that wasn’t enough, her battle awareness was even scarier.
Every single arrow she loosed was deliberate. Calculated.
Some were meant to restrict Su Yang’s movements.
Some were meant to injure him.
And the rest—were aimed at forcing him into a trap.
At first, Leo thought the arrows landing around Su Yang were just stray shots. But now, it was painfully clear.
She had orchestrated everything.
The positioning of her shots. The angle of his deflections. The way they landed around him—
It wasn’t random.
It was a carefully laid-out mana suppression formation—a setup that completely disrupted Su Yang’s ability to channel his skills. Discover hidden content at .Côm
And the worst part?
She had clearly planned all this before the fight even began.
She had walked into the arena with specialized mana-absorbing arrows, anticipating exactly how Su Yang would react, and countered him before he even threw a single strike.
Meaning—Su Yang had lost this fight before he even fought it, simply because hed opponent had read him like an open book.
"What a freak..." Leo mused, as he swallowed hard.
This wasn’t just about raw power.
The second-year circuit team members weren’t just faster, stronger, or more skilled than their first year peers.
They were also more experienced.
They had fought against both their own teammates and opponents from other military academies. They had encountered countless strategies, countless tactics, and because of that—they had an answer for everything.
Their movements weren’t just instinct.
They were knowledge.
They were execution.
*Sigh–*
Leo exhaled slowly, his mind racing.
’If my opponent is even half as intelligent as her, I’m screwed.’ He thought, as a chill ran down his spine.
He observed coldly as the medical team carried Su Yang off the battlefield after his condition stabilized.
And once they did, the head referee stepped forward, raising his voice over the lingering buzz of the crowd.
"Leo Skyshard. Khyaal. Step forward." He instructed, as the arena erupted into cheers once again, as all eyes turning to the new fighters walking out.
"Give them hell, Big Brother!"
"The pride of the first-years is in your hands!"
Mu Ryan and Mu Shen’s voices rang through the noise, but Leo barely registered them.
His heartbeat was pounding far too loudly in his ears for him to hear much of anything.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Was all he could hear, as his hands began to tremble violently.
Fear—
He was scared, as his body felt unnaturally warm, yet cold at the same time.
He could feel the blood rushing to his head, his nerves tightening like coiled steel as he realized that the worst outcome of this fight was not that he could lose his life, but that he could be humiliated like Su Yang was, and forced to endure his academy life afterwards.
’No…. No matter what, I must not be dominated single handedly in this fight. I might not remember who I was, but I surely don’t want to be a sorry loser’ Leo thought to himself, as slapping his cheeks he began jumping from toe to toe, almost out of some deep buried instinct, as he tried to loosen the muscles of his body, and prepare them for explosive movement.
"Haha. I was right to call you spunky! Look at you go! I bet you’re real quick on your feet… small boy!" Khyaal said, as he took his starting spot, and fiddled with the massive double handed longsword in his hands.
Leo said nothing in response, as he tried to steady his breathing and stop the trembling in his arms.
To do so, he closed his eyes and tried to sideline all the other emotions that he was feeling, as he tried to enter a state of pure calm and focus.
"It’s okay, don’t tremble little man, I won’t kill you–
I might break your arms and legs, and a few ribs, but you’ll make it out alive–" Khyaal said, in his hoarse giant-like voice, which made his warning sound even more scary than it normally would.
However, Leo still did not react.
Remaining calm, he only focused on settling his nerves, as although it took him a couple of breaths to regain his composure, he did manage to regain it right before the fight began.
"Fighters, ready?" The referee called out once Leo opened his eyes, as he alternated his gaze between the two combatants.
"Ready—"
"Ready!"
Khyaal and Leo said in response, as the referee gave them both a curt nod.
"Begin—" He said finally after that, as with a sharp drop of the his palm, the match was officially underway—
*Cheers*
At the start signal, the entire arena erupted into cheers, as most of the spectators expected Leo to burst forward the moment the match began and to take the fight to Khyaal in an aggressive, fast-paced assault, which would have been the obvious move to make.
However—
Leo did not.
Instead, he remained still.
With his feet planted firmly in place, and his posture loose but controlled, he locked onto Khyaal’s every movement.
For the first few seconds, neither of them moved as a strange tension settled over the arena.
"What’s he doing?"
"Why isn’t he attacking?"
The murmurs of confusion rippled through the audience.
And then—
Khyaal smirked.
"Ohhh? No flashy footwork? No spunky opening move?" His deep voice rang out, loud enough for the crowd to hear.
He tilted his head slightly, his hulking frame remaining relaxed as he gestured toward Leo with an open palm.
"Why so hesitant, Skyshard? Standing so far away like that—shouldn’t you be rushing in already?"
To the untrained eye, his words might have seemed like mockery.
A taunt, meant to bait Leo into recklessly closing the distance.
But Leo saw it for what it truly was…. Which was a desperate callout!
Khyaal had prepared for a charge.
He had expected Leo to immediately rush forward and engage in close-quarters combat, so much so that he had likely built his entire opening strategy around it.
It made sense for Leo’s primary weapon was a dagger.
And if he had sent spies to watch his training, which Leo highly suspected he did, based on how Su Yang’s fight had turned out.
He would know about how, he had no moves like [Exploding Dagger] that would help him fight from a range.
This meant that—his opponent already knew that he had no choice but to engage in close combat when the fight began, making it very likely for him to burst forward the second the fight started.
’No…. Not today—’ Leo thought, as he could see through his opponent’s strategy now.
Khyaal had likely spent the past few days planning a strategy that crushed Leo the moment he charged forward towards him.
But now—
Leo wasn’t moving.
And that?
That threw everything off.
It was a good strategy, and Leo would have likely walked into his trap had he not observed Su Yang’s fight unfold before him, however, because he did, Leo realized that something was fishy.
Minerva had read Su Yang too perfectly for it to be a coincidence.
It was like she already knew what he was and was not capable of.
And if Minerva had spied on her opponent, then Leo had to assume that Khyaal did the same for him.
He did not know when he did it–
He did not know how Khyaal did it—
However, Leo felt assured that his enemy knew every move he had under his belt, and hence it was impossible to surprise him.
From here on out, if he had any hopes of winning the bout, he needed to fight extremely unconventionally.
As that was his only chance at victory.