"Arin Vale versus Lina Vale!"
Lina had won the first round of the tournament. As for the second round, it seemed she also won, but Arin didn't remember seeing her fight.
'What was I doing when she was fighting?'
He now understood why the teacher paused when he was calling their names. After all, it was brother versus sister.
Lina stepped out with a slightly confused expression on her face. She walked towards where the weapons were kept and picked a wooden sword.
After that, she slowly began walking towards Arin, her confused expression slowly turning into a smirk.
Arin stared at her as he gripped his sword.
'I guess she'll just have to lose in this round,' he thought.
Meanwhile, she was already standing right in front of him.
She made a cute expression as she blinked. "My dear brother, I know you love me so much, don't you?"
Arin smiled wryly. "Of course, I do."
"Yes," she said, staring at Arin emotionally. "Not everyone gets to have a cute twin sister like me."
"So don't you think it's only right to show your love by letting me win?" she added, shifting closer. "Or do you want to hurt your dear sister?"
Arin winced, moving backward a bit. 'I knew it...'
'She wants to manipulate me into letting her win... exactly what a villain would do.'
'She has been showing signs of being a villain for a while now, and this is even a much bigger sign.'
Before Arin or Lina could say anything else, the teacher announced, "START!"
Arin then moved backward, staring at Lina.
Lina squinted her eyes as she gripped her sword. "Well, let me see how well I can fare against my brother."
She dashed towards Arin, her movement swift.
Arin focused on her. 'So, she's already a Grade 1 Master Mage, huh?'
That was when he noticed that as she was running, a thin line of ice was forming below her legs.
'A new spell... I guess that's what's boosting her speed.'
Lina leaped up into the air, as ice spikes formed above her.
At the same time, a thin layer of ice formed around her wooden sword.
Seeing the incoming spikes, Arin instantly stomped his foot on the ground, summoning a water bubble.
The spikes connected with the bubble, but they weren't enough to destroy it.
Lina spun her body, adding to her momentum as she descended, with her sword ready.
The sword connected with the water bubble, but it still wasn't effective enough because Arin added more mana to it.
Without wasting time, Lina leaped back, and at the same time, Arin deactivated the spell.
He dashed towards Lina with a speed similar to hers, his eyes fixated on her.
Lina instantly raised her hands, forming boulders made of ice and hurling them towards Arin.
Arin didn't stop even after seeing the incoming boulders. He continued dashing forward, and immediately as the first boulder got close to him—
A water wall formed in front of him, blocking the boulder.
Without wasting time or losing momentum, he leaped above the water wall, continuing his dash.
As he ran, he formed more water walls, blocking each of the boulders.
But Lina wasn't just standing idly as he drew closer to her. She had already prepared her next spell.
As soon as she clapped her hands, Arin suddenly felt something from below with his enhanced senses.
He quickly moved to the right, and a spike made of ice came out from the ground in the spot he was standing before.
Before he could even think about it, he had already sensed more coming from below.
He began evading them, dashing from left to right.
'Shit... If I continue , she'll see an opportunity to strike me.'
But another thing he was concerned about was the speed and accuracy he was exhibiting while dodging the attacks. If it continued , it would eventually be noticeable.
Knowing that, Arin did the next possible thing.
He moved to the left, dodging another spike that shot out from the ground, and before the next one he was sensing could even come out, he suddenly dashed forward and jumped up.
As soon as he jumped up, he formed a water wall directly below himself. He stepped on the water wall, and then—
He used it as leverage and boosted himself upwards, heading straight towards Lina.
Though, to the students and the teachers, it seemed like the water wall was what made him able to move upwards like that, it was actually his own physical capabilities.
The water wall was just a facade.
Lina's expression hardened as she sent ice spikes towards Arin, who was mid-air.
Arin instantly formed water spikes and water balls, sending them towards the ice spikes.
Both attacks destroyed each other as Arin descended rapidly.
Seeing this, Lina clenched her wooden sword in her right hand, and an ice sword formed in her left hand.
With two swords, she dashed forward, the ground beneath her feet cracking and freezing due to a spell.
Before reaching Arin, she swung the ice sword, sending a slash of ice towards him.
Arin remained calm as a water shield formed on his right hand.
Both the ice slash and the water shield got destroyed as Arin's legs finally touched the ground.
The same time he reached the ground, Lina had also reached him.
"Ugh..." she grunted as she swung the wooden sword towards Arin.
Arin reacted quickly, also swinging his own sword.
Both swords connected, making Lina stumble backward.
Taking the opportunity, Arin spun his body, as his right leg whipped forward towards Lina's stomach.
But just before his leg could hit her stomach, he made eye contact with her.
He immediately stopped his leg from moving further, his leg just a few inches away from her stomach.
The look in her eyes made him unable to bring himself to hit her.
Slowly, he lowered his leg.
"Thank you, brother..." Lina muttered.
Before Arin could even process what was happening, a pillar of ice suddenly shot out with incredible speed from the ground beside him.
The pillar knocked the wooden sword out of his hand, and Lina moved at the same time.
She lunged at Arin, her ice sword ready to strike, but well...
Arin ducked, evading the sword.
Before Lina could even do anything else, Arin grabbed her outstretched arm, twisted it behind her back, then formed a water spike in his other hand and pressed it against her throat.
'I didn't want to hit her, but I also wasn't planning to lose...'