After about forty-five seconds of Leo not moving a muscle, the crowd’s excitement began to wane.
What started as murmurs of confusion quickly turned into boos and jeers, as the impatient spectators grew restless at the lack of action.
"Fight already!"
"Stop standing and do something!"
"What is this, a staring contest?!"
The noise surged, but Leo remained unaffected.
His instincts told him that charging at his opponent was not a smart option in this fight, and hence despite the crowd pressure he held firm, and did not move a muscle.
"Booo! Skyshard you coward, Booo—"
"Come on Khyaal, he’s just a kid! What are you so afraid of?"
"Khyaal charge damn it! The kid literally weighs half as much as you!"
The audience continued to pester, as Leo could see how Khyaal looked disturbed because of it.
The jeering grated against his nerves, as slowly but surely he felt himself being forced to abandon his carefully crafted strategy.
"Alright then, little bunny," Khyaal growled under his breath. "If you won’t come to me—"
"I’ll come to you."
He declared, as with a thunderous stomp, he launched himself forward.
*WOOSH–*
Despite his massive frame, his acceleration was absurd, as the sheer force of his movement sent dirt and gravel flying in his wake, his colossal longsword gleaming in the morning sun as he closed the distance between himself and Leo in mere seconds.
*BOOM!*
Khyaal’s first swing came down with terrifying force, but Leo dodged it with his nimble feet.
*BAM–*
The blade slammed into the ground, carving through the stone floor of the arena like it was butter, leaving a deep fissure in its wake.
The earth shook.
The audience gasped.
And Leo’s heartbeat skyrocketed.
’Holy shit—’ Leo thought, as although he had expected the senior to be powerful, this was on another level.
Even without direct contact, he could feel the air splitting as the attack missed him by mere inches, the shockwave whipping against his skin like a near-miss from a guillotine.
"Ha–" Khyaal grinned, as without a pause, he wrenched his sword free from the ground and swung again—sideways this time.
*WHOOSH*
Leo ducked as the arc of steel passed over his head like a stormwind, the sheer momentum behind it sending out a pressure wave that made his ears pop.
’Fuck… I’m fucked’ Leo realized, as he found Khyaal unreasonably fast for someone his size.
His frame was massive—his reach almost double that of Leo’s—And his strength?
Easily three times greater.
Which gave him the ability to T.K.O Leo with a single hit, if he landed it clean.
’I can’t afford to exchange blows with him,’ Leo realized, his mind racing as he continued to evade, weaving between Khyaal’s massive swings like a shadow dancing through a minefield.
*Boom*
*Crack*
*Bam*
The ground shattered beneath each missed strike.
The earth split when his sword struck the floor.
And the air itself screamed when his swings narrowly missed their mark.
The sheer destructive capability of Khyaal’s sword was unlike anything Leo had ever faced before.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
The worst part was that despite his destructive spree, Khyaal wasn’t actually fighting carelessly.
Every movement—every attack that he launched—was measured, and even when it looked like he was swinging wide, he never actually left any openings for Leo to exploit.
The guy was an absolute unit.
His footwork was solid, and his defense was impeccable, as psychologically, it felt like Leo was facing a fortress on legs.
’The fucker is like a literal armored rhino that is impenetrable, relentless, and lethal.’ Leo thought, as he understood that if he tried to forcefully attack this rhino, he would be undoubtedly crushed in an instant.
So instead—he waited.
Dodging. Weaving. He kept moving just outside of Khyaal’s destructive range as he stayed alive in the fight, refusing to take any unnecessary risk.
"Khyaal is eating him raw!"
"This fight is going to end the same way as the first one!"
"Ohhh, this is a massacre—"
The crowd mused, as to the average audience member it seemed like Leo was struggling hard.
However, where the audience members saw struggle, Yu Shen saw genius as unlike them he could understand Leo’s strategy for what it truly was.
"...Clever." Yu Shen mused, as a smirk tugged at his lips.
He understood that Leo wasn’t just blindly dodging Khyaal’s attacks—
No, he was buying time.
He was adapting and waiting for his chance to turn the tide.
Su Yang had lost his fight before it even started because he played into Minerva’s hands.
But Leo?
Leo had recognized that Khyaal had set a trap for him and instead of stepping into it—he had forced Khyaal to change his approach.
’He’s got a good head on his shoulders,’ Yu Shen admitted.
’Most first-years would have crumbled under the pressure of the crowd. But this one—he’s patient. He’s disciplined. And above all—he’s aware.’ Yu Shen acknowledged as he felt impressed by Leo’s performance.
Leo had no delusions of winning in a contest of raw power and instead, he was focused on surviving, as he bided his time and waited for an opening.
However, the question was…. For how long could he do it? Find your next adventure on .Côm
Or was Khyaal never going to provide him with the obvious slip-up that he was looking for?
—-------
"You’re a cautious little bunny, aren’t you?"
Khyaal’s voice rumbled with amusement as Leo dodged yet another massive swing.
Leo remained silent, refusing to take the bait, as he continued to run and backtrack.
His mind was running at overdrive, searching, scanning, analyzing—
Looking for any opening.
But there were none.
Khyaal’s defenses were rock-solid.
No overextensions. No wasted movements.
No weak spots.
It was like fighting a tank.
’Damn it… there has to be something I can do.’ Leo thought, as he tried to come up with an innovative plan, however, before he could formulate a counter-strategy—
Khyaal smirked.
"Alright, little bunny…" he said, as his grip on his sword tightened.
"You’ve had your fun. But it’s time to end this now—" He declared as with a sudden explosive movement, he changed the tempo of the fight.
"[Berserkers Rage]" Khyaal mouthed, as suddenly, his veins started to pop out and his skin started to turn extremely red, as if the blood flow to his skin had increased tenfold.
*WHOOSH–*
As he swung this time, he chopped off a handful of Leo’s hair, which fell to the ground right before his eyes.
His swing speed and recovery time had both improved significantly after he activated the skill, as Leo felt an impending sense of danger.
[Mirror World]
Leo activated a decoy skill in response, as he summoned roughly 50 clones of himself, each running haphazardly, with the real Leo blending amongst them seamlessly.
To the naked eye, it was impossible to discern the real Leo from his clone, however, Khyaal was not fooled for a second.
He moved towards Leo’s real body without hesitation, and launched yet another sword slash, which Leo dodged by the thinnest of margins.
*BAM*
"Basics of perception class chapter one. [Full Vision]" Khyaal declared, as Leo’s pupils dilated.
Khyaal had used a standard academy perception technique to determine the real one amongst the fake, as although one could be fooled if they saw through the naked eye, to the mana eye it would always be clear as to who he really was.