Entha

Chapter 24: Drowned in Adrenaline

-Bang

Two consecutive shockwave filled the arena, one accompanied by a loud clang of metal and another by a shrill of the flesh, Mordo had blocked the punch I aimed at his thorax, and had tightly grabbed ahold of my hand,

-huff

I had this sudden need to win, I want to win no matter what, that's right, everything can be healed now anyway, so I spun my body and landed a mana-filled kick on this monster's face, twisting my knuckles and breaking my wrist in the process, which Mordo reflexively released, naturally a shriek escaped me, it was much painful than I thought but all was worth it since the smug from Mordo’s face had disappeared and he staggered backward for a bit giving me time to gain distance and draw a magic circle and heal my arms,

“Hahaha you’re one crazy kid”

Mordo laughed, but there are more from where that came from, I gripped Asporeas tighter and dashed forward,

“Overhead strike”

I yelled, but in the midst of it, I shifted Asporeas from my left to my right to act as diversion…and directed mana towards my left foot…neither a s***h or a stab it was a kick, I kicked Mordo's face causing another shockwave, it was a brutal a technique involving trickery which would anger Heather if I used it on him but I simply didn’t care, I want to win, my body was tingling, I can’t stop, I am now on the verge of laughing out loud, never in my whole life have I thought that fighting would be this fun, again formulate another strike, After the kick, I regained my balance and reared my arm to strike Mordo in the face for the third time, but he responded with his fist, resulting in us both hitting each other in the face.

I threw my sword and resolved to fight a brawl without a weapon, so I drove my fist into Mordo's right flank, which he caught and clutched tightly, I knew this would hurt, but I couldn't care less, I turned face up, twisting and ripping my triceps in the process, and held Mordo in a triangle choke, to which he responded by biting my foot, I kicked Mordo's head to break free from his bite, but it resulted in my foot losing some of its flesh. I swiftly stepped aside and casted another magic for recovery, but Mordo lunged forward before I could recover and kicked, sending me flying for a few meters, it was beneficial for me since I was able to cast another magic for recovery, but Mordo had already reached me and had his fist reared,

Mordo began a savage assault; unlike previously, he now has a glow in his eyes, indicating that he had activated the eye of Plegia, which I had been using from the very start; I could see hundreds of mirages, but I chose the mirage my intuition had warned me to avoid, I was able to evade some of it and counter, but the majority of Mordo's blows were striking a hit, with a ratio of ten of his attacks landing for every one of mine... I swung and swung like a lunatic immersed in adrenaline, it wasn't a sword match anymore, it was a contest of raw might.

-More

More I desperately needed more, so I added more mana to the magical circle in my arms and began screaming, not in pain because I'd been numbed for quite some time now, but to gather willpower. Screaming really does bring out that extra boost I need, I threw one and Mordo threw ten, resulting in a nearly one-sided beating. The white-colored arena had already turned crimson at one of its corners, and I could see Mordo's blood dripping from his face, but surely I was already soaked in my own.... crap I’m nearing my limit, one more just one more strike, I inhaled deeply and garnered as much mana as I can and concentrated it on one hand, I have to make sure this would connect, so I waited for the right moment eating Mordo’s heavy punches in the midst of it… gotcha!

-

“Where’s Calix?”

Duke Areath, who had teleported back to the castle holding Anna in his hand, had allowed the child's request to see Calix, and like a doting grandfather, he had heartily laughed and had succumbed to his Granddaughter's cuteness, or that is how he views her, Anna is a child brought by his son, so he thought of her as her granddaughter,

"Calix is now training at the arena, MiLord."

The butler replied, which made Areath proudly smile. He urged the butler to take him to his son's whereabouts...

As he approach the arena, Innumerable shockwaves and the shrills of flesh ripping could already be heard,

The arena to which was empty minutes ago were now filled with countless demons who were nearby and had heard the yells and shockwaves, brought by their curiosity, they were now watching the fight unfold alongside their King,

Areath had arrived in the perfect moment when Calix twisted his arm and locked Mordo in a triangular choke to which resulted in gasped escaping the mouths of the spectators, quickly he covered Anna’s eyes and started to get engrossed in Mordo and his son’s battle,

‘Was Calix that fast and reckless?’

Calix was performing above and above what he had done in the duchy, he was much faster, his strikes carried weight and his fighting style was far more savage than he remembered, and he remembered Calix not being one to chuckle during a fight,

Areath didn’t have the eye of Plegia thus it was unbeknownst to him that Calix was recklessly supplying mana to countless parts of his body to boost his physical strength, The king and the other Grandifs, on the other hand, had their eyes wide open and their jaws dropped, they were baffled at the impossibility of such feat

“Is that even possible?”

Asked Farrah to the nearby Alec, Calix's way of fighting was breaking the very laws of what is understood in magic formation and mana, as the simple action of using magic to boost a caster's physical strength siphons tremendous amounts of mana, resulting in instant fatigue or unconsciousness of the caster but Calix was constantly supplying mana and on multiple parts of his body at that,

“Yes it is possible, if someone has an immense reserve of Mana”

“Then that means”

“Yeah, Calix is that someone”

Replied Alec as he gave it his all to observe the unfolding battle,

The spectators gasped at the savagery with which the combat was developing; the two Grandifs weren't even moving from where they were, they were just throwing blows, but it was clear that Mordo had the upper hand.

‘You’re the best Calix, this, this is how a man should fight’

Mordo felt exalted during this fight; past trainings had not been as tough and exhilarating, and it was truly the greatest he had ever had; he saw Calix in a different light than before, and he wanted to stop since Calix is already dyed in crimson, but he, too, was drowning in adrenaline, some time later Calix had stopped punching which made Mordo suspicious, an alarm went through his nerves as he glanced at the reared arm of Calix with his activated eye, the blue mist of mana was gathered and concentrated in a much larger amount compared to before thus he swiftly made sure to evade such strike and backed away but Calix had already thrown his fist which made its way toward Mordo,

A thunderous sound stunned the spectators, Calix had missed but the area to which Mordo had been standing a while ago had a hole large enough to engulf Mordo in whole,