"You." Varian pointed to him.
The young man felt his heart stop for a moment. He was afraid.
The students distanced themselves from Varian. But no one tried fighting him. Almost all were Level 2s. They didn't dare fight Varian.
Maybe Varian was weak. But there was a good chance he had strength to back up his ranking. He didn't want to be the one to see the truth.
The few Level 3s had their own pride and didn't want to seek a fight with someone below.
"We'll fight without star treasures." Varian said.
'So he doesn't have high-level star treasures. Good for me.' The young man thought. But he was still hesitant.
He then glanced at Adir. Adir glared at him. He understood and nodded reluctantly.
The lackeys behind Narcis and Ryan snickered. They were all in the same position. But just yesterday, he offended Charles Xander.
'I must perform well and make up.' He thought and reached the Dueling area.
Varian arrived a few minutes later. He visited the infirmary, and since the injuries were for formal reasons; he was treated for free.
Under the three statues of founding fathers, there were dueling stages.
The stages were made of expensive alloys that could withstand the impact of Level 6 attacks.
Naturally, there was a price for duels. Narcis did all the payment and Seth, the instructor, took their space rings. Varian's opponent also removed the star treasure accessories on his body.
"Why are you so confident?" He smiled at Varian and walked up to the stage.
Varian didn't answer and jumped onto the stage. He felt the aura coming from his opponent. It was higher than him. A step shy of level 3.
But he had three advantages. His natural talent was changed by system. It might increase his strength. Second was his Space path. If the situation deteriorated beyond control, he would just use his space powers and win. Third was his experience.
'I'll need to win this and prove myself. Although I can't bet on students forming a team with me, I can at least pay off the penalty.'
Varian took a breath, and the stage under him moved. The tiles shifted, and he was moved to the end of the square. At the other end stood his opponent.
'Why this formation?'
A thin, but firm, white hemispherical barrier enclosed the stage.
Seth, Narcis and Ryan, along with others, stood outside. No one was on Varian's side. They wanted to please Narcis. Even Adir, the one opposing Narcis, wanted Varian to lose. After all, Varian was fighting his henchman.
Seth wasn't really happy with how things were going.
If it was anyone else proposing the duel, he'd slap them.
'He's like his dad. Goddamn bastards. Calling themselves Guardians of earth, Xanders only want this planet, not the people.' Seth cursed inside and looked at the stage.
He could intervene if the fight turns fatal. The barrier wouldn't stop him.
"Before I beat you to the ground, I thank you." Varian gave a sunny smile, but his eyes were cold.
Even though he understood his opponent was pressured by Charles to slander him, he didn't show any remorse.
Varian wasn't strong enough to knock Charles down at the moment, but he could collect the interest from this guy first.
"You…!" The young man was furious and the temperature on the stage rose.
On his fingertips, there were large spheres of fire.
"I'll roast you." He said and shot the fire balls at Varian.
'Fire Awakener. Peak of level 2.' Varian clicked his tongue and jumped to the side.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The fireballs blasted the stage behind and it shook a little.
Just as Varian landed, a dozen fire balls the size of his fist reached him. They formed a semicircle and made his lateral dodging useless.
'Just how is he following my movements? His five senses aren't as high as mine…'
Varian rolled on the floor and dodged the fire ball.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Before he could get up, the fireballs were already at his doorstep.
"Damn!" Varian almost used teleportation, but thankfully, the training helped him restrain himself.
Instead, he leapt to the side.
Despite it being only a few dozen seconds, the intensity of attacks was high.
"Ha..Ha" Varian panted as sweat rolled down his forehead and dropped onto the stage.
"Looks like you're all talk." His opponent said in a scornful tone.
But only the ones outside could see his back was full of sweat.
'Damn. How did this guy dodge my strongest attacks?'
Seth also noticed the situation and commented, "Varian is stronger than I expected. That kid won't be able to win directly. But… Varian has less aura than him. So his opponent will do what he must for victory"
'I'll tire him out and win with my excess aura.' The young man decided and let go of all inhibitions.
He channeled the mana in his body and felt the fire element everywhere around. Through this sense of 'fire', even if he couldn't see Varian, he could keep track of him and attack him.
Then he pointed his hands at Varian and dozens of fire balls appeared out of thin air.
"Go!"
Varian wanted to approach his opponent and fight in close combat. Low level Elemental Awakeners were weak in close combat.
But the fire balls were quick, and he couldn't move past them.
Every time he wanted to move from another direction after dodging, the new fireballs were already about to hit him.
Even with all his focus, he was only barely dodging. After all, Varian wasn't the peak of Level 2.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The fireballs scorched the stage but thankfully, the material of stage absorbed heat or Varian wouldn't be able to step on the large burnt areas for a long time.
'Looks like I have to sleep in the infirmary.' Varian gritted his teeth and dashed forward.
"Give up." His opponent said and waved his hand.
"Shuaaa"
Varian glanced at the dozens of fire balls shooting at him and knew he wouldn't be able to move forward and dodge at the same time.
Each fire ball was bigger than the last and was the size of a football.
But…
"Ha!"
He sprinted forward without dodging this time. One hit and he'd injured. If he loses his agility, he'd lose without doubt.
As he rushed forward, there was one fireball that was about to hit his left arm.
'Space binding.' He channeled all the space power he could around his left arm and set the defense.
The space around his arm was frozen right at the moment the fireball was about to contact.
The fire ball staggered a bit but broke the frozen space. Varian used this miniscule time and dodged most of the attack. Most didn't mean all.
"Bang!"
"Hiss!"
Varian cried out from the burning pain. His shoulder was scorched, and the searing pain from it made him want to stop all this.
'No!'
He couldn't ignore the pain, but his feet kept moving. Due to his reckless action, he got a few moments, and he closed the distance by half, thanks to his Greater Human stats.
"You...you're done." His opponent was baffled and enraged. He suspected Varian was more stronger before the match, but after the match started, he knew Varian was only a Level 2 beginner.
So he didn't fear Varian. Instead, he was humiliated when Varian closed the distance.
"Burn!" He yelled and shot bigger falls at Varian. His face was slightly pale, and he was sweating.
Despite a higher aura reserve, he spent way more mana per each attack than Varian for his each defense.
The dozen fire balls reached Varian in the blink of an eye. These were bigger and a complete hit would burn off a whole section of his body.
Varian's brain was screaming at him to stop. But he dashed forward without hesitation.
The fire ball bigger was aimed at his chest.
"Come!"
He channeled his space power and froze the space at the right moment.
"Ha!"
The fire ball staggered almost imperceptibly to the audience and Varian swerved to the side, dodging most of the attack.
To the audience, it was as if Varian dodged the fireball at the final moment.
Almost dodged.
"Bang."
The periphery of the fireball hit below his right chest, and the skin was burnt immediately.
The flesh on his chest was charred and his blood vessels ruptured. His liver was damaged under the high temperature.
The pain filled his mind, but Varian's body charged forward without stopping. His brain was flooded by the pain, but his eyes were alert and his feet were moving.
He was in front of the young man in the blink of an eye.
Varian clenched his fist and was about to knock him out.
"No!" His opponent yelled and spewed all the mana.
A huge wall of fire stood before Varian.