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Part Twenty-Two (Chapter 6)

Nick was already making his way back to the stands when Matthew was coming down. Nick could see that Matthew had a fire in his eyes that he has personally never seen before.

Matthew was walking by with his left hand in the air. It was like he was saying something to Nick. Maybe, tag me in?

Nick smiled and hit Matthew’s hand with his own as he walked by him.

“See you in the finals.”

Matthew did not say anything as he continued to walk forward. As for his opponent, it was a young lady with silver colored long hair that was curled at the end. The tips of her hair were dyed greenish blue.

She had a holster attached to her long slender legs. She walked a few feet behind Matthew. When Nick said ‘See you in the finals,' she was not angry as Matthew would be a tough opponent for her. No one thought she would win, but she would prove them wrong. All of them.

Flipping her hair lightly as she passed by Nick she said some words very softly.

Nick heard it as clear as day; she threw his words right back at him.

“See you in the finals.”

He laughed to himself as he continued his way to the stands. He was curious as to how she would make it to the finals.

If she could make it this far, it showed she had skill. Nick saw her previous fights. Just like him and many others, her EXO had something to do with her eyes. There were so many different things a person could do with an eye ability and even for himself there was no way to tell what the ability would be.

Nick was no idiot; he knew that his EXO had its own flaws and one of them would be what would he do if he could not see or sense the essence flowing through others body?

He would not be able to tell what her eye ability did precisely, and since she would only use the essence for her eyesight, he could not dodge her attacks.

No matter who won this next match, Nick thought they would be a good opponent for him.

Darius saw Nick’s figure come up the stairs and he called him over. Matthew and the young lady whose name was Isabel both were on the field. Darius pressed a few buttons on the terminal, and the environment down below started to change.

An enclosed area, no exit in sight. Broken pillars leaning to the side and spiderwebs all around. The white area below now looked like ruins.

“Yes, Darius, did you need me for something?”

Nick asked him.

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Nick thought it was strange for Darius to call someone over as he has never done so before. Besides him having interactions with his students inside the classroom, he never once called anyone to his desk. It didn’t even bother him if his students were arguing. Unless he got annoyed, he would not tell them to stop.

Darius did not look at Nick as he watched the field below.

“I’m curious as to who you think will win this match. Care to give me your opinion?”

“It may sound a bit bias, but I'm inclined to think Matthew will win the match. With his control over gravity even I would have a hard time dueling him. Since Isabel’s EXO has something to do with her eyesight, I can’t determine the exact usage of it. Unless it is something that can negate his control or see the weak points in the flow of essence, it is hard to believe she will win this.”

Darius nodded his head. Many people would come to the same conclusion as Nick had.

“She is like you in a few ways. It is quite hard to get a grasp on her ability from a bystander's point of view. If you don’t know what to look for or have a deep understanding, you will mistake her EXO for something else. That is the reason why she is not what your class calls one of the freshman four royals.”

Nick himself could not determine the ability of her. He was not some god, but with his EXO it would help him find out what her EXO was. Darius sounded like he understood exactly what her ability was.

He was planning on paying attention to this match, but now it seemed like he needed to pay attention to all the details.

Unlike others who used melee weapons, Matthew used a medium range weapon. He could use it for melee combat, but that rarely happened.

He reached behind his back underneath his jacket pulling out two small sickles like objects. At the base of each sickle was a metal chain.

Matthew pulled them apart, and the chain unwound itself.

This type of weapon was known as a Kusarigama. They were not widely produced since not many people used it. Even in its home country Japan they were barely used.

With the sickle itself, he was able to attack at close combat and unleash a flurry of attacks. Now that the chain was attached he was able to swing it as well.

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“I hope you’re ready.”

Isabel grabbed her sidearm from the holster revealing a revolver.

“Bring it on.”

Her black eyes turned golden in color.

Matthew unleashed pressure on her causing Isabel to feel like her body weighed a ton. Her body lowered as she withstood the weight, she forced herself to look up at Matthew.

Matthew felt something off when he gazed into those golden irises of hers. A grin spread across her face, he did not mistake it.

He started finding it hard to breathe, then the pressure around him suddenly increased dramatically. His legs began shaking about to give way at any moment.

Isabel stood up as if she was perfectly normal. A few of her bones made a popping sound, but other than that she was okay.

Nick was surprised at the scene he saw before him.

“Essence manipulation?”

Darius couldn’t help but smile when he heard Nick’s words. This child was indeed something else in his eyes being able to see the real worth of Isabel's EXO ability.

“As I said, she is just like you in some ways. The stronger her opponent, the easier it is for her to use her ability. If it her opponent's ability is not strong she won’t be able to manipulate it much. However, if her opponent is stronger than she is and has a good control over their ability, it is much easier for her to reverse the situation. In front of her, it is useless to use your ability.”

Darius explained as he continued to watch the fight.

“However there is a fatal weakness in her ability.”

At this point, Darius once again agreed with Nick.

“Every EXO has its strengths and weakness’ yours is no different. I’m curious as to how you overcome yours.”