In any battle or duel, the first attack you use shows your capabilities and combat knowledge.
The situation in each battle is always different, so the first move you make should always be powerful for that unique situation.
Carrying out a devastating first attack and dealing heavy damage in one go is an excellent strategy that many 'awakeners' use.
Not only does it make the opponent feel intimidated, but it also establishes your dominance, thus giving you a psychological boost.
Whenever two 'awakeners' fight, they not only clash with their physical bodies; they also experience a psychological clash.
In the end, the one who can maintain their calm and think more rationally to counter the situation emerges victorious.
All this is just basic knowledge that every 'awakener' learns by instinct.
The more battles you fight, the sharper your senses become, and the better you perform against stronger enemies.
Using a 'wrong first move' can lead to devastating damage and can lead to your defeat..
…
*3..2..1! Fight!*
[Basic Non-attribute Magic: Mana Shield!]
Fade's first move was to cast a 'Mana Shield'.
This would have been an excellent first move against regular swordsmen, as it would have ensured the mage's safety.
Mages are much more fragile than warriors; after all, it's always good to keep a strong shield up all the time.
But that's only true for 'ordinary' swordsmen.
Fade's first mistake in this battle was to lump Rio together with other swordsmen.
He forgot just how insanely fast Rio could swing his sword.
*Clink*
Before Fade could complete his 'Mana Shield', the Rio figure blurred, and a sword appeared right above Fade's wrist.
Fade's eyes widened in shock as he desperately tried to dodge, but it was futile.
In an instant, Rio swung his sword downward and split Fade's wrist.
Blood flowed out of Fade's severed arm like a fountain and painted the ground red in an instant.
"Ahhhh!"
Fade lost his wand along with his dominant hand, and he groaned loudly due to the pain.
(He hasn't raised his pain resistance as he was too focused on investing in his talent…)
Without the wand, Fade's magic lost a lot of effectiveness.
In a desperate attempt to survive, Fade raised his other arm toward Rio.
[Intermediate Fire Magic: Ray of dominating fire!]
A massive ray of fire magic was fired at Rio in an instant.
Because Fade's magic proficiency was high, the color of the fire was dark blue, indicating that it was extremely lethal.
But Rio simply used his 'Darkwing Movement Art' to move out of the way in an instant.
Without waiting for Fade to react, Rio appeared beside him, swung his sword at his chest, and made a massive cut on Fade's chest.
[Elemental Sword Art: Fire type: Rising dawn!]
The impact from that attack was so strong that Fade's body flew away like a cannonball and collided with the barrier at the edge of the field before stopping.
At that point, Fade was barely conscious.
Rio's eyes flashed with disappointment as he saw Fade losing so easily.
'Is this guy really a protagonist? Don't protagonists usually like to turn a hopeless situation around?... Come on, show me what you got.'
Just when Rio was getting more and more disappointed at Fade, a huge amount of mana started to condense around Fade.
With his trembling hands, Fade barely cast a spell.
[Basic Healing Magic: Quick Heal!]
To Rio's surprise, Fade was able to use healing magic despite not being a healer himself.
The entire audience, including the SS-rankers, was shocked at this sudden turn of events.
*Amazing! Just when he was about to lose, Fade revealed an amazing trump card! He can use healing magic!*
In this world, learning a skill from another 'class' is an extremely difficult task.
It actually depends entirely on luck.
Not even geniuses like Link can go and learn the skills of a different class so easily.
It's not that Link can't use swords like Rio; it's just that he doesn't have the 'sword aptitude', His aptitude is in martial arts, and if he tries to learn swordsmanship, he won't be able to go too far.
Usually, no one wastes their time trying to learn the skills of other classes, as it will hinder their own class's progress.
Instead of wasting time on a skill that will take decades to improve, it's much better to work on your own talent.
This is such a basic level of knowledge that even elementary school kids in this world are familiar with it.
Only 'lucky' people who are born with more than one aptitude try to follow this path.
Still, learning the skills of some other class won't change your own class at all, and there are no real benefits to it.
But some people still try to do it.
And Fade is one such person.
With the help of the system, adding a few more aptitudes is not a big deal for him.
He invested in learning healing magic because he wanted to heal himself whenever the need arose.
…
Rio remained motionless, determined to discover the number of Trump cards this 'protagonist' possessed.
He wanted to measure the depths of what it meant to be a protagonist.
While Rio waited, Fade's severed arm grew back, and his wand flew back towards him on its own, using basic wind magic to make it fly back to him.
With great difficulty, Fade stood up once again, and a look of fear and hatred appeared on his face.
'Just you wait! Once I become stronger, I will pay this humiliation back!'
While Fade was glaring at Rio, Rio was also contemplating something in his mind.
'Hmm, basic healing isn't really a power skill; it barely heals you, and the regeneration it gives is slow. He likely hasn't fully healed yet…'
Rio's perception of healing magic was already broken, as he had seen Riya use healing magic.
In front of Riya's healing magic, Fade's magic seems half-baked and too inefficient.
Riya would have only needed 1/100th of her mana to do the same amount of healing that Fade just did right now.
Seeing that Rio wasn't moving, Fade decided to attack first.
He pointed his wand towards Rio and cast magic.
[Intermediate Fire Magic: Ray of Dominating Fire!]
Fade was using this spell again, as it was the fastest spell he had in his arsenal. Other spells were strong, but they were equally slow.
Before Fade's attack could even land on Rio, Rio's devilish whisper sounded in Fade's ears.
"Is this all you have? How disappointing…"
Before Fade could react, Rio swung his sword horizontally, nearly splitting Fade in two.
[Elemental Sword Art: Thunder Type: Horizontal Shift!]
Rio could have instantly killed Fade if he hadn't held back during the extremely fatal attack.
"Ahhhhh!!"
As Fade fell to the ground while screaming, his internal organs started to spill out of the massive wound.
Fortunately for him, the teleportation circle appeared just on time and teleported him away.
This marked Rio's victory.
*And with the final blow! Rio Flash is the victor!*
From the start of the match to the end, barely five minutes had passed.
This implies that Fade barely lasted five minutes, and the match concluded before the spectators could comprehend the events.
Rio shook his head in sheer disappointment and started to leave.
'Even Arner performed much better than this guy… This guy seems like a 'fake protagonist' to me, actually…'
While fighting yesterday, even Arner amused Rio more than Fade, but today was a total disappointment.
In the first place, not to mention 'sword intent', Rio didn't even get to use a single buff during the whole fight.
…
VVIP Area.
Ryul shook his head and said,
"This kid, he's really strong… Other students can't even keep up with him…"
Hearing Ryul's words, Ashtel nodded his head and said in a calm voice,
"Indeed… Today, the match was over in ten minutes, and today's match didn't even take five minutes…"
Baneas, the dwarf representative, also nodded his head and said in a solemn tone,
"Even during Arner's fight, he never even used his 'sword intent'…"
As things were just too one-sided, all SS-rankers couldn't help but sigh.
They were already expecting Link to perform overwhelmingly well, but seeing Rio dominating the field like this was really unexpected.
Ryul sighed and said,
"Unless he meets someone strong next, his amazing winning streak will keep going…"
Ashtel nodded his head and spoke in a serious tone.
"I won't be surprised if Rio made it to the finals without facing much difficulty… Aside from Link and Liam, I don't see anyone winning against him…"
Other SS rankers couldn't help but nod their heads at those words.
They didn't want to discredit their own candidates, but it's also impossible to ignore the truth.
...
…
Author's Note.
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
I know the chapter seemed boring, right? Well, it was intentional.
I want to show how bored Rio is feeling from this fight, so cut me some slack if you feel that this was a waste…
Question of the day.
Who would you rather fight?
1. Rio (Unless you are Fade or someone strong, he will simply knock you out by hitting you with the back of his sword, you won't suffer much…)
2. Link (Unless you are Fade or someone strong, he will knock you out in a single attack to the back of your neck…)
3. Liam (Unless you are Fade or someone strong, he will give you the chance to surrender…)
4. Lia (She will respect your determination to fight and will blast massive holes in your body with her sword…)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.