"I expect a good battle from you, Dash," Venton told Dash as he cracked his knuckles.
"You won't be disappointed, teacher. I fully intend to take the first place this time," Dash said as he approached Venton, starting the battle.
Two minutes of the battle passed, and Dash was still giving a good fight just like Ren had done.
It was at that time when a smirk formed on the face of Venton. He took his body down and used a spinning kick just like Lucifer had used in the last battle against Dash.
The kick landed on the left leg of Dash, making him lose balance. As Dash was about to fall, he controlled his body and used a side flip to land on his feet safely.
"Did you really think I'll fall and use my gift because of something like this again?" Dash asked, frowning. He didn't help but glance at his bracelet which already had a red light.
"Good. I see that you've learned from your last defeat against Alex. That's exactly how you should deal with it. Not bad," Venton let out, nodding in praise as he continued the attacks.
"I'll have to be an idiot to not learn from my defeat. I'm never letting myself be defeated again," Dash replied as he gave his all in the battle.
Dash was swift in movement. Every moment he made, every jump he made, all his attacks, they all seemed to have a perfect flow in them.
He seemed to be too agile, maybe because he had a good understanding of wind.
Soon, the five minutes were over, and it was the time for results.
"Good skills and execution. I'll give you one more than I gave to Ren. Five points from me," Mirali told Dash as she nodded.
"Yeah. It was a good show, further complemented by his mastery of the skills that he used. In fact, there even came a moment when I forgot that he was a third-year student only. Not bad. Five points from me too," Yovann said.
In the end, it was the turn of Dash's grandfather, Franci.
"As the others said, it was a good performance. Not perfect, but slightly better than what we saw from Ren. So five points from me too," Franci answered.
"Perfect scores. Not bad. You can go back," Venton told Dash, who seemed to be standing proud after getting perfect scores.
'No one can take away my victory this time,' Dash thought as he started walking back.
"Next, Cassius. Step forward and leave your sword behind. It'll be a hand-to-hand combat." Venton called out Cassius.
"Can you hold it for me?" Cassius said as he tried to give his precious sword to Lucifer for the moment.
Lucifer took the heavy sword without refusing.
"Best of luck," he told Cassius, who stepped on the stage.
....
"Cassius and Alex really became good friends in such a short time. Two of our strongest students," Mirali said.
"I think their future will be really bright. With the two of them combined, they'll be a force to be reckoned with after graduation," Yovann added as he noticed the closeness of Lucifer and Cassius.
"Yeah. Honestly, I expected Cassius to be a lone wolf after his past. But it looks like Alex managed to go through the barrier. I'm happy for them," Franci also chimed in.
"I agree. As long as nothing goes extremely wrong," Mirali agreed.
...
Soon, the battle between Venton and Cassius began. As Cassius was more of a swordsman, he never focused on hand-to-hand combat as much, but even still, he gave a good performance.
Unfortunately, he only focused on attacks and refused to be defensive.
It was a good tactic against most, but against an experienced teacher like Venton, this only got him to take more strikes than he managed to give.
Fortunately, he didn't fall even once despite all that and even gave Venton a run for his money.
The battle of Cassius was also over, and soon, it was the turn of his results.
"Cassius, I think you're good, but you're more dependent on your sword. Your hand-to-hand performance is lacking compared to what we saw from the previous two. Three points from me." Franci was the first one to give scores this time.
The other two also gave the same score, bringing the total of Cassius to nine points.
Unaffected by the scores, Cassius walked back.
"Thanks for holding the sword," he thanked Lucifer as he took the sword back.
"Next is your turn. I think they'll like your style a lot. Best of luck," he told Lucifer as he patted his shoulder.
Lucifer stepped back as he was called next.
It didn't take long before the battle began.
Unlike the others, his battle style seemed a bit different. He didn't focus on the strength of his attack; instead he focused on the technical aspects of the attacks, executing everything to near perfection.
His attacks were so surprising that even Venton was taken aback. Some of the attacks that Lucifer made were something that even he hadn't taught Lucifer.
Did he learn some new skills himself and mastered them to perfection?
As the battle reached its third minute, the shock on Venton's face was evident.
He found himself on the backfoot as even he couldn't predict Lucifer's next attacks. Unlike the others that used the skills he taught them, Lucifer used something different.
Even the five teachers were surprised to see Lucifer's performance. Why did it seem like Lucifer was the teacher instead? Just how was he so perfect?
Some of them even believed that Lucifer had a real chance of taking Venton down this time.
Fortunately, Venton managed to hold on too. Five minutes passed, and he hadn't fallen.
As the five minutes were over, the battle stopped. Venton glanced at Lucifer, amazed. "What were the techniques that you used? Where did you learn them from?"
"I made some of them by combining the knowledge you gave me," Lucifer answered calmly. "I've been working on this since the year began."
"Amazing. You're really great. I don't think I even need to ask the scores," Venton muttered as he smiled wryly. "You really overwhelmed me today, Alex."
"That's right. No need to ask for scores. Unfortunately, we can only give him fifteen despite such a perfect execution as that's the limit set," Yovann said as he stood up, clapping.
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have minded giving a hundred to this performance. Pretty amazing, Alex," he further continued.
The other teachers also clapped for Lucifer because of his performance.
As everyone was praising Lucifer, in the distance, Dash was standing, frowning. Even though he didn't show it on his face, inside, he felt like he was dying. This guy got the same score as him!