After witnessing four exciting battles back to back, everyone was charged up now. The students were busy commenting on which one was their favorite and was most likely to win, while the professors were analyzing the skill and fighting styles of each participant.
It was as if they were all competing against each other to see who could point out the most mistakes, But even they didn't want to talk about the previous battle. A boy could be seen being brought out of the battleground on a stretcher. Everyone ignored him and looked at the boy with the mask, who was going back to his seat.
"Everyone now knows this will be the last battle of this round. This duel would be between two rivals who have fought against each other on multiple sides. On one side will be Rajan, who impressed everyone previously and had been a strong contender, while his opponent will be Rishab, The boy who needs no introduction," said the commentator.
"Rajan is known for his hand-to-hand combat; he is a complete fighter who is good in all aspects, be it speed, offense, or Durability. His opponent, Rishab, previously had the Rnager class and used a sword and Bow as his main weapons, but now he uses a spear and a chakram as his main weapons."
"Everyone who uses multiple weapons is mostly not proficient in any of them, but he is different. He is proficient in using multiple weapons, from daggers and swords to spears and bows. He plays both the fighter and assassin roles."
Ronny's eyes lifted up when he heard the introduction full of praise. He looked at the boy who had entered the battleground and started looking at him with a look of interest. His opponent appeared wearing the same headphones; he was walking while vibing.
Rishi had seen this attitude multiple times, so he didn't find it odd. The instructor asked both participants to reveal their three pieces of equipment. Rajan revealed his items: the first was his black-colored gloves; The second piece of equipment he wore was armor; and the last was an earring.
Rishi revealed his three items of equipment: the first was his demon pendant given to him by Shadow Demon, while the other two were also pendants; they were the equipment types of magic beasts he owned. Others who looked at Rishi thought Rishi liked to wear pendants and were curious about their effects.
The effects of Rjan's items were easily found out from their appearance: The gloves gave him an attack and Agility bonus; the armor gave him defense reduction and physical strength; and the earrings gave him agility and a mana bonus. With the whistle of the referee, the battle started. Instead of mindlessly charging, both decided to analyze their opponent's moves first.
Rishi stood in his place with both hands in his pockets; unlike other participants, he didn't take out his weapon and took a fighting stance. Rajan was already in his fighting stance. At first, they just stared at each other as if battling with their eyes. The real battle started when Rishi started charging at Rajan.
Rajan waited patiently for Rishi to take out his weapon before deciding his next moves, but Rishi didn't do anything like that. He used his 'Shadow Steps' skill and approached with greater speed. Rajan thought Rishab was underestimating him and said, "It looks like this time you will not use your stealth against me."
Rishi didn't say anything when a layer of Ice appeared around his right hand before the ice element started gathering in it, making it shine Glacial blue. He used the 'Ice Enhancement' and 'Frost Strike' combo to achieve this effect. Rajan also charged up his 'fire punch' attack.
A small explosion took place when their fists met. The force shook their bodies, but it was not enough to make them step back. Rishi's left hand shone with a similar glow as he used it to strike Rajan. As if he had already anticipated it, Rajan used swift steps' to retreat, carrying a strange expression on his face.
"You have changed a lot from the previous time we fought," said Rajan as he looked at Rishi again.
Rishi looked at his right hand, which had an Ice layer filled with cracks. The next moment, the Icy layer disappeared from both his eyes. When he brought his hand in front of his eyes, a violet smoke engulfed them. Soon two gloves similar to what Rajan was wearing appeared on his hands; he opened and closed his fists to check them before nodding.
"You thief," said Rajan, as he thought they were his gloves. This was not uncommon for some assassins to have thieving skills, but the moment he looked at his hands, he could feel that he still had his gloves. Like him, everyone was surprised; they knew Rishab could summon weapons out of thin air, but no one expected him to copy his opponents' weapons.
Ignoring others, he looked curiously at his newly made gloves with a glint of golden light inside his eyes. The next moment, he had already devised a way to strengthen them. A layer of Ice appeared over his gloves before the smoke appeared again, and the layer of Ice was engulfed in another layer of Shadow energy. He got this idea from the barrier-plus combo of Kajal.
He touched his two fists against each other before looking at his opponent. "You have become weaker," he said before charging at him again.
They exchanged multiple attacks this time. Rishi was stronger than Rajan, but he was not skilled in hand-to-hand combat. If he could land two blows on Rajan, he had to eat ten blows in exchange; this continued for a while. Everyone watching believed Rajan was outplaying Rishi, and if it continued, the injuries on Rishi's body would build up.
What others thought never happened, and while it looked like Rishi was taking all blows head-on from the outside, this was not the case. No matter how durable Rishi's defense was, he would never act so stupidly; he used Ice enhancement to cover the area that was about to be attacked, decreasing the damage he received exponentially.
While Rishi was landing a few blows, their impact made a big difference. Rajan's armor had started to show small cracks. The Ice energy was also invading Rajan's body, slowing him down. With time, Rajan realized that he was losing his advantage.
His opponent was learning from each face-off, and Rishi was improving between the fights, which shocked everyone. Even Rishi was surprised; he never knew glows would be detected as weapons by his passive skills. This made him improve rapidly, and his passive 'extreme Focus' also helped him identify and correct his mistakes.
When the professors saw this insane learning ability in Rishab, they could not help but praise him. Professor Angad, who was beside Roy, was the one who was most impressed; hand-to-hand combat was his field, due to which he knew how hard it was to improve in it.
Unlike weapons, hand-to-hand combat requires more skill as you have to make full use of your body and weight, and you also need to know how to use your opponent's force against him.
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