Last time, when Alex faced Thee, he surrendered in defeat. But this time, things were different.
Just when Thee thought he had the upper hand, a fist-sized ball of fire came hurtling towards him. Thee was caught off guard. He had never expected Alex to possess the ability to attack from a distance. His mind raced as he quickly analyzed the situation, a slight sense of insecurity sprouting within him.
This completely changed the scenario playing inside his mind. Alex had now become a tricky opponent to handle.
But even as Thee's thoughts raced, he knew he couldn't let his guard down. With lightning-fast reflexes, he dodged the fireball and counterattacked, determined to maintain his position as the dominant fighter.
However, Alex was not willing to give Thee any chances this time. He had completely covered the circular sparring platform with a smoke screen, making it impossible for others to see inside. But Alex knew exactly what was going on.
Thee was like a chess piece within his control. If Alex wanted to, he could have easily made Thee step out of the sparring platform. It would have ensured his victory.
However, Alex refused to use trickery to win this time. He could not allow Thee to look down on him any longer.
If he was someone from another tribe with an arrogant attitude, he would not have cared. But he was from the stone head tribe. And he was doing more harm than good to his 'friends'. His action spelt trouble for Alex.
'A defeat today will let him learn an important lesson.' Alex thought while preparing to take him down a peg.
Till now, Alex's attacks were sequential and predictable. He did that deliberately to test Thee and his limits.
Now, he could begin to attack for real.
Alex could use 10 spells simultaneously. Although they were slightly weaker than an apprentice mage could cast. It was enough for him for now. Ten spells attacking a person simultaneously would deal more damage than a spell of an apprentice mage.
After thinking that, the first thing Alex did was converge the smoke screen onto a part of the platform.
Unlike before, the ends of the sparring platform were now visible. This ensured that Thee wouldn't jump off it by mistake. He didn't want that. But it also made Alex's general location visible.
Now, the smoke screen was sticking close to Alex and his peripherals. Only spreading to about three to four feet around. It was small compared to the thirty feet diameter of the sparring platform. The general outline of Alex's body could be seen now.
So, As soon as Alex became partially visible, Thee began his counterattacks.
"Che… Meru, You were hiding your skills from us. I thought we were friends. How can you do that to us?" Thee sprang forward jabbing his spear at the place where he thought the smoke screen was the thickest.
He assumed Alex would be hiding inside. After all, the smoke screen was a skill he used to hide himself. Suddenly converging it might be due to the strain it has on Alex's body. All skills have some kind of shortcomings.
Without a delay, the spear plunged into the smoke.
'As expected…' Alex sneered from inside the smoke screen. He sidestepped to dodge the oncoming attack. He could easily predict the direction of the attack due to his extraordinary sensory abilities while he was inside the smoke screen.
The spear missed him by a hair's breadth.
This was the exact moment Alex was waiting for. He had already prepared ten spells to counterattack Thee. The moment the spear plunged into the smoke screen, three water spell was released. It was a combined spell made by making three cores work together.
Like a miniature tsunami, it crashed against thee.
'First, it was fire. Now, it is water. How can a person use skills of multiple elements? What is his spirit guardian?' Thee was perplexed by the situation. This delayed his reaction.
So, the wave of water washed over him, pushing him back.
And Alex utilised the slight delay in Thee's reaction effectively. He threw three ice spells at Thee, who was drenched.
Thee sensed the danger and used the stone formation skill of the stone head tribe. Suddenly, thick stone pieces emerged all around his body forming a sturdy armour of stone.
Seeing this Alex smirked.
'Exactly as planned.' The stone armour was the best defensive skill a warrior of the Stone head tribe could use. There were only a few warriors in the entire tribe who could use it.
So, Alex was not surprised when Thee used it. He even predicted the outcome even before the battle began.
'My ice spell is not that easy to handle.' Alex smiled when he saw the stone armour forming around Thee. If his predictions were correct, it would not feel that nice inside the stone armour.
The stone armour's defensive power against physical attacks could be said as impeccable. But it could not be said to be the same for the elemental attacks. It had creases and crevices where the elemental attacks could seep into.
And this was what Alex planned to utilise the moment he attacked. These creases and crevices were the weakness of the stone head tribe. It was not something they could eradicate.
For mobility, while using the stone armour. It needs to have that weakness.
"Ahh!" A painful cry came from Thee.
Alex's two-pronged attack was effective. First, he used a wave of water to drench Thee. Before the water could flow out of the sparring platform, he used the ice spell. This startled Thee into using the stone armour.
Unfortunately for him, the water that stuck to him had already seeped into the crease and crevices of the stone armour. So, the moment the ice spell landed on him. Instead of protecting him from damage, the stone armour became a burden. He was trapped between a stone and a hard place.
The density of ice was less than water. It meant if you take the same weight of water and ice, the volume of ice was higher than that of water.
What does it mean in the current context?
When the water inside the armour froze, it expanded inside the armour. Thee felt something squeezing him from inside the armour. Even tiny sharp pieces of ice emerged trying to pierce into his skin. And at the same time, the joints of the armour became clogged by ice, decreasing his mobility by a notch.
Thankfully, he protected his body by releasing a large amount of energy. If not, it would have done tremendous damage to his body.
But his good luck ended there. Now, he was nothing more than a turtle inside its shell. He couldn't move properly much less attack.
The audience was perplexed by how quickly the match ended. Meru or Alex who was weaker than Thee by all metrics won! It was not something they could grasp.
Only Kalina looked relaxed while seeing the outcome. She expected it. But still, it felt different when she saw him using magic spells to attack.
"Did he become a mage this fast?" She thought.
"Can we end it here?" with a relaxed expression, Alex asked. He was happy to not use the remaining spells on the weakened Thee.
"NO." This incited an angry response from Thee. He screamed no from inside the armour.
"Ha! Why not? Even a kid can throw you out the sparring platform in the current condition." Alex reminded Thee. He was not in a situation to reject.
Alex's words pushed Thee anger even further. The humiliating loss riled up the remaining bit of energy inside him.
Using that energy, Thee ripped apart the ice-covered stone armour. Pieces of stone crumbled and fell off his body.
And then, he looked menacingly at Alex. This time, something seemed to have triggered inside him. Thee was not hiding the malice inside him. He wanted to rip apart Alex and kill him. He didn't care about the spar, Kalina or the tier 4 herb.
But Alex was unbothered by it. He knew the impact of his actions.
Suddenly, the feebly standing Thee sat on the ground and closed his eyes. He was exhausted, yet the energy around him warped and churned. His anger seemed to have triggered a breakthrough. An energy vortex formed over him sucking the energy from the environment.
'Was he breaking through to tier 4 in the middle of the spar?' Alex realised it soon. But he couldn't do anything. He couldn't stop the breakthrough and killed Thee. They were in a spar, not in a life-and-death battle. So, how can he do that?
Besides that, Thee was the hope of the Stone head tribe. He was one of the most talented warriors in the tribe. Harming him would not bode well for his endeavours.
So, Alex patiently waited. Until the breakthrough ended. Tier 4 or whatnot. He could still whoop his ass if he wanted. This time, he would have to put in a little more effort. Alex confidently thought.
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