“Hmph!”
It was impossible to miss Veronica’s voiced attitude. With a mirthless smile on his face, Jason told Eren and his team to ignore his arrogant teammate. But Eren couldn’t help narrowing down his eyes on Veronica:
‘What is up with this bitch?’
Eren thought to himself as he shook hands with Jason before both teams separated. The match was about to start.
“The battle between White Raven Crew and Stormborns commences in 3… 2… 1… Now!”
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Announced the referee to the teams and the audience watching the match. A lot of students were fanboys of Ivor and Jason. They wanted to see their stars beat down their opponents while keeping their cool.
Because that’s what has happened in their matches so far. When compared to Eren, who had experimented in his ranking matches and struggled to win every time, Jason and Ivor dominated their opponents.
Ivor was even more brutal with his opponents than anyone in the first years. He was a close combat expert like Eren. So he would get up and close to his opponents and beat them up black and blue with his uncaring attacks.
Ivor’s opponents would often spill blood one way or the other because of Ivor’s quick dagger work. And that was considered fan service for Ivor’s fans.
Just like Eren, Jason’s team had also focused on their attack potential. Jason was a battle mage, a specialized branch of the mage path that focused on mid-range attacks instead of the usual AoEs and long-range attacks the path was known for.
Jason had an affinity for wind. It made his battle style quick and fast-paced. A second benefit of having the great element as your affinity is that your ranking journey is unhindered. Therefore, his BTP value was greater than Eren’s.
Ivor was a close combat expert. But his similarity with Eren didn’t end only there. He also had a lightning element as his elemental affinity. Additionally, his dagger arts made his attacking style quite similar to that of the butcher.
His grandfather Isen Osan provided Ivor with plenty of ranking resources and extols. Plus, the guy was talented as well as diligently working. And he had a relentless drive to be the best in his generation.
Jason was already a heavy-hitter in the Stormborns. Ivor, with his BTP value of 21, was akin to a loose cannon that was as deadly as it was precise.
Veronica’s affinity for lava made her a unique first-year mage. It served her battle style that the two of the most OP members in her team were always moving. That gave her the space to cast her AOE spells without catching her opponents in them as well.
Veronica had a BTP value of 17. She was about to enter the middle stage of F-Rank. Her mana-core was almost going to enter the liquid stage. She just needed a small push.
The two extra members Jason had kept in his team were just there to fill the numbers. They were talented as well. But compared to the rising stars and one talented bitch with attitude, they were akin to cannon fodders.
*****************
Eren zeroed his eyes on the cannon fodders. As soon as he heard the referee making the announcement that the battle had started, he seemingly disappeared from his position.
Eren appeared right in the middle of the battlefield. He had travelled a sizable distance between the two teams in a fraction of moments, making it difficult for Steve and Renita to follow him in his assault.
But they weren’t worried about Eren. They had started to believe in him. He wouldn’t take unnecessary risks for short gains. And he would be the first to retreat in case he saw an unstoppable danger heading his way.
Renita fired off her rounds of mana bullets in the direction of Jason. That’s what she had been instructed to do by Eren. His instructions were to hinder Jason as much as she could while maintaining a safe distance from him.
She had wind elemental affinity too. Plus her class made her more nimble than the battlemage she was targeting currently. Jason grunted audibly before he started dodging the wind bullets seemingly homing on him.
Jason was as fast as Eren when the latter only used his movement technique. When the battlemage gave it his all, he was faster than the butcher. So when Renita started firing, not a single bullet was able to touch him.
But that didn’t prevent Renita from targeting the battlemage. She stopped advancing after spanning a few meters with Steve. The ranger then nodded at the latter, suggesting the berserker to aid in Eren’s opening salvo.
Jason was pinned by Renita and was taken out of the picture for a while. Eren could sense Steve following from behind. He looked at his berserkers and pointed at Veronica. He wanted Steve to take care of them or at least hold off the mage.
Ivor had the same idea as Eren. He had moved ahead to deal with Eren’s remaining team members Jake and Becky while they were in their metaphorical stronghold.
Team Stormborn’s cannon fodder saw an enemy close combat expert heading their way and couldn’t help looking at each other with helpless smiles.
This event was not new for them anymore. They have witnessed and gone through situations like these many times now. That’s because team Stormborn’s opponents would always target these poor fellows and their OP team members wouldn’t care much about them.
Therefore, the cannon fodders didn’t lose their confidence. They prepared themselves for what they had always been preparing for: the worst. Unfortunately for them, that still wasn’t enough.
As soon as he was within the range of his targets, Eren activated his Sedated Perception and vanished into thin air. The cannon fodders had their backs against each other. But they had kept some distance from each other for the freedom of movement.
This was the space Eren chose to seemingly morph into existence– right in the middle of his two targets.
