While watching the fight, I also make sure to use the noer Gabe had given me. It only takes a little Uua to activate, but in return, large amounts of Uua begin to flow into me from somewhere. When I feel like I can’t handle it anymore I reluctantly stop using the noer, the feeling of Uua flowing into me in such amounts is very pleasant and if not for the knowledge that too much of it can lead to dire consequences, I doubt I would have stopped.

The first-round ends and from sixteen, the amount of people left drops to eight. The second round is quickly arranged and promptly begins. Once more Keldin fights first, and quickly brings an end to the battle. The speed at which he is finishing his battles worries me, since no one seems to be pressuring him I haven’t had the chance to learn how much stronger he has grown. From how things are looking, if I have to fight him again, I will probably lose, but I will still do better than my first fight with him.

As he leaves the stage, my name appears on the screen along with another familiar one. Noah. Tobi and the rest wish me good luck as I take a deep breath and send my Uua into my seat. I appear in the room with the teleportation circles along with Noah. He smiles and nods at me.

“Good luck,” he says.

“Thanks,” I say the first thing that pops into my head. To be honest, I kind of expected him to be quiet like the girl I had fought before. “Good luck to you too.”

Gabe doesn’t appear this time, but we already know the drill. We stand in our respective circles, and after a few seconds we are teleported to the stage. Gabe announces the start of the fight and then vanishes.

Noah wastes no time in initiating an attack. Fortunately, my experience with the girl before ensures it doesn’t surprise me. Since the moment my name appeared on the TV screen, I had been planning and preparing my moves. Activating D-three, I dash forward to meet him. As I do so, I also remember to turn on second sight, just in case he decides to use his illusions on me.

The moment I do so, I notice that for some reason he doesn’t have an aura. Before my brain can process that information, something slams into the side of my head. For a moment I am stunned, not mentally, but physically. The blow was that heavy. By the time I recover, the Noah I had been attacking had disappeared, and one appeared to my left, where the blow had landed. If not for the strengthening noer in D-three increasing my resilience, there is no doubt that that hit would have done more than just stun me.

Thankfully I recover quickly. Not wanting to give Noah the chance to land another hit, I turn around and attack, swinging my arm and aiming a sharp wave of telekinesis at his neck. I am mid-attack when I realize that what I am attacking doesn’t have an aura. I had been in such a rush to counterattack that I ignored something so obvious.

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Before I could course correct, Noah launches a series of attack. The first one is to the back of my knees, causing me to briefly lose my balance. The second one is just below my sternum. Pain, along with nausea flares within me as I involuntarily hunch forward. Then the last one uppercut me. My head snaps back, and blood fills my mouth as my teeth mistakenly clamp down on my tongue. My vision darkens for a moment I feel as though I am floating outside my body.

Then I snap back and do the first thing that pops into my mind. The area around me heats up as a large explosion occurs. I had detonated the Uua focused on me in a bid to get him to give me some breathing space. Next, I summon Hilla’s Barrier around me to keep him out as I recover. Lowering myself to my knees I begin to take deep breaths, clearing my mind, and the nausea that had started when he hit my abdomen.

Outside the barrier, Noah attacks furiously trying to break through, but anytime the barrier weakens I just supplement it with more Uua. Some part of me even wishes he would keep attacking and waste his Uua in the process, that would just make things a whole lot easier for me. Unfortunately, he realizes his efforts are futile and stops, having no choice but to wait for me to drop the barrier. Some people might call what I am doing unfair, hiding behind a barrier while recovering, but I couldn’t care less.

Once I recover, I look up. This time, I can see his aura around him. He’s not too weak, being just slightly weaker than Keldin, but his Uua still can’t compare to mine. I shift my body a bit, and the moment I drop the barrier I use Burst to dart toward him like a speeding bullet.

He reacts quickly, also using Burst to dart out of my way. But this time, I see how he uses his illusions. When he moves, he leaves an exact copy of himself behind, while going invisible. Without his aura showing me his exact position, I would have been deceived. His illusion also shifts out of my way, dodging my attack. My momentum carries me past both of them, but instead of stopping, I keep moving forward. I want there to be a certain amount of distance between the both of us before I turn around. This way, I have enough time to find out where he really is.

When I feel there is enough distance, I rapidly turn around and spot him running toward me. I begin to attack when I realize that he doesn’t have an aura. Against all my instincts, I force myself to look away from the illusion, then I finally see his aura and focus on him. He stops. I breathe in deeply and then let out a shout, using it to release a large blast of telekinesis mixed with Uua.

The blast sweeps toward Noah, wreaking havoc on the surroundings in the process. Noah wastes no time summoning Hilla’s Barrier to block the blast. Seeing this as an opportunity, I use Burst to dash toward him. If I could keep him in one spot long enough, I might be able to mount a suitable counter-offensive against him.

The blast sweeps past him and dissipates, leaving the originally smooth ground uneven and full of slightly charred pockmarks. He drops the barrier and brings his hands together, as though offering a prayer. Next, he raises his hands in the air and separates them. Bright light blooms from the space between his hands and fill the stage while stabbing right into my eyes.

I shut my eyes as my brain throbs with pain, leaving me almost incapacitated. Thinking quickly, I summon Hilla’s barrier, just as a series of attacks slam into them. I open my eyes and then panic fills me. I can’t shit. I blink rapidly but nothing changes. I’m blind. Rage fills me.

An attack slams into my barrier. I turn toward that location and stretch out my hand, recklessly releasing large amounts of telekinesis in that direction. I clench my fist, causing the telekinetic wave to shrink until it catches something. Noah.

I make a pulling motion as I will him to come to me. At this point, my actions are dictated by nothing but pure rage. This was meant to be just a competition, and yet he had no qualms about blinding me. I wouldn’t… couldn’t kill him, that’s not who I am. But by god, I will make him feel pain. And since I have so much Uua, I am going to put it all to damn good use.