"What is the advantage of blood magic?" That was the question that Ray had asked himself many times over the years.
The answer was simple: "It was good on everything, yet it didn't excel in anything!"
Combining his magic with the strengths of his own body, Ray had created his fighting style, but the problem was he didn't have the main parts needed for his full strength.
Standing there, with cold blue eyes and his long black hair dancing in the wind, he was like an arrow in a bow ready to be fired.
10...
9...
Ray closed his eyes, letting his magic flow throughout his body, embracing it to the fullest.
3...
2...
1...
In a mere second, wings grew on his back; as he flew toward Lia, only dust was left in his trail.
Lia was surprised by the speed of Ray and, to counter him, made the ground into ice with spikes growing from every direction.
He created an ice tiger from the thin air too; the tiger charged toward Ray, yet Ray didn't slow down.
The tiger and the Ray collided together; dust and stone rose from the ground upon their impact. He dodged the claws easily, but the spiky tail was another matter.
"Not bad..." He dodged another claw, followed by a swish of its tail, but this time, he took the hit with his hand, holding the tail, and blood flowed from his hands on the ground.
Icy spikes rose from the ground too; he destroyed some before they grew, but most of them had no danger to him as he dodged them swiftly.
The tiger felt the danger and jumped back, but it was too late; the blood from Ray's body rose from the ground, shaping a thousand small needles.
It rushed toward Ray again. These small attacks had no effect on it; however, Ray's target was someone else all along.
All the needles attacked Lia at the same time; his arms changed form into ice as crows came out of them. Five crows tanked the blood needles; each one upon impact exploded, leaving nothing behind.
"Scared to let me get close?"
Lia faced another wave of attacks; he took a glance at Ray's situation. Unlike his expectations, he was fighting the tiger at the same time as controlling his magic.
"How the fuck is he so calm?" Ray had no way to attack him, despite that he showed no sign of stress.
Cold sweat covered his whole body. "If this continues, my magic will run out before his..." Lia changed his formation into many crows above his head.
The tiger tried to jump on Ray, but it fell into the opening that Ray had made for it, and before it reached the ground, Ray's hand sword crushed most of its head.
The sound of wings was enough for Ray to retreat. A crow landed on his previous place, destroying the ground and the tiger.
Instead of flying away from Lia, he charged toward him. "Let me guess, you have no way to protect yourself from the explosions!"
Lia screamed from anger as he made two new tigers.
Meanwhile, Ray danced in the air with the remaining crows. They tried to land on him, yet each time he was faster.
One of the tigers stood by Lia's side, while the other one went for Ray.
Ray once more flew toward the tiger with five crows following him.
His wings suddenly disappeared, and his body fell on the ground. The crows didn't have the luxury of Ray; one by one they hit the tiger, all exploding at the same time.
Dust filled the whole arena; Lia clenched his fists. "I have no other choice..." A ring of diamonds came to the real world from his spirit.
"Not so fast..." A shadow attacked him in the dust; the tiger's tail cut it in half. The shadow dropped on the floor, returning to its fluid form.
"Was it a clone?"
Lia activated his ring as a blue light covered his whole body; a light came to his view. He was not fast enough to dodge the strike that was aimed at his left arm.
A hand flew into the air with blood splashing all over them. The tiger and blue light both disappeared too.
"You made this with your left arm, am I right?" Ray smiled at the man in front of him. He was on his knees, still in surprise of his loss.
"Ho ... How?"
"I must compliment you. You truly entertained me, but remember our bet, right?"
"Wh...what? Please ... Don't kill me.…"
Ray's expression turned serious again. He yelled at the crowd, "Sword saint, I will spare his life for 100 heart stones."
In a blink of an eye, a woman in full armor teleported between them. Her voice behind the armor was deeper than most humans: "100 is too much."
"Oh,the sword saint doesn't worth her companions even 100 heart stones..."
She clenched her fists: "Can we do this in private?"
"100 heart stones, or I will kill him right now." The killing intent in his eyes assured her that he didn't bluff.
Sword Saint was in a deadlock; Lia wasn't worth 100 hearthstones. They were a valuable item used for leveling up one's magic and refilling it. However, she had a reputation to uphold.
"I will send them to you by next week."
Ray smiled. "Your friend's life is his own from now on."
He didn't want to see what could happen to the boy. He picked up his shirt when he heard a sweet voice: "Those injuries—follow me, I have some bandages in my office. I guess you don't want to be seen like that at your after-party." Ray saw Kaine standing in front of her.
"Umm…" From his impact with the ice tiger, some part of his waist had a few bruises. "Show me the way."
She didn't wait and moved through the halls of the academy with Ray following behind her, watching her ass and legs.
"Just so you know, you are not upset, right?"
She took a glance at him. "Why should I be?"
"One of your top students nearly died, and it could have been your son?" Ray had only guessed about it.
"He is responsible for his actions, not me."
"This world is cruel, isn't it?" Ray had vague guesses about her relationships with her family.
"It is." She opened a door into a room big enough for ten people to live in. "This is my office, and from now on, you work here too!"