Thwak!
A loud bone cracking sound rang out as Nash's fists collided squarely with his jaw.
The force behind the punch pushed Hart's head backwards, his mouth opened and a few strands of saliva flowed out of his lips.
Nash didn't stop there but he followed up with another punch to the side of the Lightning Elementalist's face.
Hart's face turned forcefully to the side, his mouth opened slightly as a few pieces of broken teeth flew out of it.
By now, his consciousness was slowly slipping away. Each of Hart's punch felt like a heavy rock was being smashed on his face.
His face was now swollen and blood dripped from his lips, even the other students felt pity for him.
Apart from their defense. Earth Elementalists were also known for their heavy and nasty punches and they could only imagine how much pain Hart was in.
Nash stared at the weak figure of the Lightning Elementalist before smirking evilly.
He had been waiting for this moment, it wasn't that he was unaffected by the stunning effect of Hart's lightning attacks, he simply developed some resistance towards it.
He was an earth Elementalist and the defense of his element was naturally stronger than that of other elements, however, Hart had underestimated him too much.
The second time he was hit by the lightning ball, he didn't really feel the 'stunning effect' as much as he did with the first attack so he recovered from it rather quickly.
But even though he recovered, he waited… waited for the Lightning Elementalist to let his guard down before attacking.
He wasn't just a waiting though, he was channeling his mana, preparing himself to cast a spell immediately he found the chance.
And just as he had expected, his opponent did let his guard down and he didn't waste the opportunity to finally launch the spell he had been preparing: "Earth Bind!"
The rocks binding Hart's legs to the ground finally crumbled and Hart's feet were now free.
The Lightning elementalist's eyes dilated as he fell down weakly to the ground.
He bit his lower lip in regret and regretted his decision to act cocky.
If only he hadn't relented on his attacks, then maybe he might have won; even if he didn't win, at least he wouldn't be in this embarrassing position.
Unfortunately, he had completely underestimated estimated his opponent and had gotten rather proud in his useless achievement.
The blue haired instructor in charge of the match approached Hart, he nodded his head as he observed the state Hart was currently in.
However, he wasn't nodding because he pitied the Elementalist or anything of the sort but because he was quite disappointed with Hart's fight.
He didn't understand how stupid one could be to make such a senseless 'mistake'.
"Do you want to admit defeat now?" He asked as he crouched slightly.
Hart bit his lips painfully when those words drifted into his ears. To him, it sounded like the instructor was mocking him.
Even though he didn't want to give up, he knew he was in no position to continue the fight against Nash. Not only did his whole body feel weak but his mana reserves were also quite low.
He tried to open his lips and accept defeat, but they seemed too heavy for him to open so he tapped on the ground twice; surrendering and accepting defeat.
The blue haired man placed a small pill into his mouth, the fight was already over as Hart had already surrendered.
Hart quickly swallowed the pill as if his life depended on it, immediately, his face started returning to their former appearance.
His swollen lips reduced in size as they rapidly regained their slim and plump appearance.
Within a very short period of time, all his injured had completely healed and if not for his ruffled uniform, one could never guess that he just got his ass handed out to him few seconds ago.
The instructor stood up after making sure that the Lightning Elementalist was fully healed and then announced the unsurprising result. "Nash Wins!"
Hart gritted his teeth as he stared at the black haired figure standing in the middle of the stage, he clenched his fists in anger, however there was nothing he could do.
Another round of cheers erupted from the students, except this time it was mainly from the Earth Elementalists.
Since Hart—the same person the Lightning Elementalists had bragged to them about—had not only lost the fight but was also been utterly overwhelmed, it was now their turn to brag and insult the Lightning Elementalists.
The students from the Lightning hall that had bragged the most earlier could only keep their heads down and curse at Hart for losing so stupidly.
Lightning was well-known as one of the most powerful, rarest and versatile elements in the world, compared to it, earth was quite lacking.
The earth element was very common as the it had the highest percentage of awakeners every year with light—followed by lightning, having the lowest percentage.
Apart from that, it wasn't as versatile as it mainly excelled in strength and defense.
In a fight between a Lightning and Earth Elementalist at the same mana core stage, it was believed that the former had a 70% chance of winning as they could always overwhelm the latter with their higher speed and more destructive element.
So to the second year students of the Lightning hall, Hart had not only brought disgrace to their hall but also to their prestigious and wonderful element!
They all glared daggers and spears at the blonde haired boy who was slowly climbing down from the stage.
Hart felt a chill run down his spine when he noticed their gazes that were basically screaming, "You're dead."
Cold sweat dripped from his back as he gulped harshly, he immediately picked up his speed while trying to avoid their piercing gazes.
A slight smile appeared on Harry's face as he watched Hart leave the stage, he wasn't surprised that Nash won the fight; he had already expected it.
He chuckled silently as he noticed the bickering and debate going on among the second years about the strongest element hall in the academy.
Though he found it childish, he couldn't help but wonder if he would be acting similarly to the students if he had awakened his affinity at an earlier age and didn't register so late.
Just then, a loud voice resounded from the stage, breaking him out of his thoughts. "I challenge Harry Morton!"
Harry's eyes squinted slightly as his gaze moved back to the stage, to say he wasn't surprised by the turn of events would be a lie.
On the stage was Nash panting with slightly bated breaths while screaming about challenging him.
He wasn't the only one that was surprised though as the students beside him subconsciously turned their gazes to him with their eyes flashing with weird expressions.
It didn't take long for murmurings to rise among the crowd of students again when they heard Nash's choice.
Unfortunately, the instructors didn't give them such 'freedom' as they immediately dispelled the murmurings by releasing a little of their mana pressure.
The students could only keep their mouths sit while trying their best to communicate with their eyes and body.
To them, Nash's decision to duel with Harry was like a professional boxer choosing to fight with a newborn baby.
It was nothing short of cowardice. Their impression of Nash immediately dropped from an all time high and became very low—before they viewed him as the Elementalist who won a fight by using his quick wits, but now he was simply a big coward.
Most of them simply saw Harry as the student with great talent who registered late and yet advanced very quickly across classes.
However, there were still a few who still believed Harry bribed the academy instructors in order to get unmerited promotion.
But while their views on Harry were all different, they were all sure of one thing: Harry had never engaged in a real fight with an Elementalist and by 'real fight', they meant one that involved elemental spells.
None of them even believed Harry had successfully mastered his first attack spell. After all, he had only gotten promoted literally a day ago.
Meanwhile on the stage, Nash stood on his decision to challenge Harry even though he was currently receiving a lot of hateful and disgusting stares.
Even the instructor in charge of the fights and duels stared at him weirdly, however, it wasn't in his place to give advice or interfere with the student's decision.
All he had to do was act as the referee and watch over the Elementalists on the stage.
Harry's eyes drifted to some of the instructors closer to him, he had expected them to interfere and perhaps, render Nash's request null but they simply stood in their place as if they didn't understand any of the words Nash said.
Though Harry was allowed to join the combined elemental class, the instructors never said anything about him participating in the fights or duels. In fact they never
A smirk crept up on Harry's face when he noticed this. 'So it's my choice to accept or not…' He mumbled inwardly.
While any other student in his place would have outrightly rejected the challenge, he saw it as an opportunity… an opportunity to engage in a 'real' fight with an Elementalist.
Suddenly, a notification flashed across his eyes.
——
[Sudden Quest!]
[Manaless Mage Pride!]
—You have been challenged to a duel by an Elementalist!
—Show your power as a Manaless Mage and win the duel!
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
[Rewards for completion: +5000EXP]
? ——
*****
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