Now was the time to keep his eyes more peeled than a potato. That unnamed Leafling chatting with Flintlock and Clavis hopped up to the center. One down. Alwin's brain threatened to spiral into a vortex of overthinking if someone else didn't step up soon. Just as he braced for a mental tornado, a nameless Furball sprang forward, meeting the Leafling with a curt nod

That just meant that Alwin would be in the final round. Got to save the best for last after all. Hold on, if Alwin was in the final round then that meant… Oh no. Alwin would be facing against Bion. Well, it'd still be the best for last—Alwin, the best of the best, versus Bion, the best of the worst. Hopefully.

"My full name is Testudine, but I'd prefer if you call me Tess for short. My Core Skill is called Impenetrable Shield," the female Leafling said.

"I'm Galeo, and my Core Skill is called Unstoppable Spear. Looks like we got paired up for a reason," said the male Furball.

Defense versus offense. This ought to be a fun fight to watch. Not that any of the fights haven't been entertaining. The previous fight was slightly horrifying now that he thought about it for a moment, but nothing a good burying it in the deepest parts of his mind never to see the light of day again can't fix. Yup, everything was going to be alright.

"Fight!" announced Milvus.

Now was the most boring part of the fight, the customary stare-off where each participant sized one another up. Neither one wanted to make the first move until one of them got impatient, and frankly, it was becoming quite boring to watch. Thankfully, not everyone subscribed to this tedious ritual. Unfortunately, it looked like Tess and Galeo were.

Alwin swore that he wouldn't fall victim to such boring practices. His fight with Bion would be legendary! Probably!

"Come on attack me!" yelled Galeo.

"And why should I do that?" shouted Tess.

"Because I want to see how weak your attack is," said Galeo.

"You've seen already seen all the other Leafling's attacked, there's isn't anything special about mine," said Tess.

"Fine then, let's see how that shield of yours holds up then."

"Unstoppable Spear!" Galeo shouted.

A spear materialized, seemingly out of thin air, hovering just inches above his head. It was a plain wooden stick, with a glinting steel tip as sharp as a knife. It's a wonder why it was called an unstoppable spear considering the fact that it looked like any plain old spear. It's a good thing that the spear could float, if not just imagine all the slobber coating the shaft. Or each time Galeo swung the spear a bucket load of saliva would come flying off. Ew. Alwin had to stop thinking about those gross hypothetical details.

Geleo charged forward, the spear following close behind. The tip of the spear aimed straight for her chest. What followed was a simple textbook stab. A lunge that was straightforward, and lacking in any sort of complex movement or flair.

"Impenetrable Shield!" Tess called out.

A tower shield materialized in the air. It was as plain as rice, a muted grey color with no noticeable pattern or design. Its only defining feature, other than being made of steel like the spear, was its sheer simplicity. It hung suspended for a fleeting moment, before gravity told it to think twice, forcing it to the ground with a thunderous boom. The spear slammed into the shield, its tip unable to penetrate the smooth plane of metal.

"Your spears looking pretty stoppable there," laughed Tess.

"Oh shut it."

Galeo pulled back his spear and thrust it forward again. The clash of metal against metal reverberated through the classroom as the spear met Tess' shield, the impact sending sparks flying like fiery embers. This time, it managed to pierce through Tess' shield, its tip piercing through the other side with a triumphant cry of metal being destroyed. Time seemed to slow as the tip of the spear emerged, a deadly gleam catching the light as it missed Tess' face by a mere fraction of an inch.

"Your shields looking pretty penetrable there," laughed Galeo.

"I'll penetrate you... you... you dingus."

Alwin couldn't help but snort at the choice words the pair were throwing out.

"Maybe work on your phrasings," said Milvus.

Galeo pushed forward with all his might, the spear continuing its path through the shield. She shoved her shield to the side, deflecting the spear's trajectory. The spear exited through the shield and hit nothing but air.

"Looks like you gotta work on your aim," said Tess.

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Galeo's spear through whatever psychic link he had with the weapon, came to a sudden stop, as if caught by an invisible hand. It spun once and aligned itself with Tess before hurling forward slicing through the air with a barely perceptible whistle. Like a javelin, it soared, closing the gap between the two faster than it took Alwin to think of a good way to describe it.

Using her own link with the shield, she willed it to block the incoming projectile. The spear bounced off her shield like a ball ricocheting off a brick wall, spinning off to the side. Then the spear came to a halt once again, before it shot back towards Tess, its tip like a guided missile searching for its target.

Tess brought the shield in front of her again, but the spear managed to punch through, the sound of metal splintering echoing throughout the room. It didn't exit the other side, instead lodging itself into the shield. The shield was skewered, stuck on the spear's point like a kebab.

"Damn thing is stuck," said Galeo.

It looked as if the spear was having a seizure, jiggling about in place. The spear struggled to free itself, trying to rip its way out from the metallic confines that held it in place. Yet, it could do nothing but wiggle around pathetically.

"What were you saying about being unstoppable? Hmm?" said Tess.

"Shut it."

The spear crumbled apart, leaving nothing but tiny shards in its place, then suddenly reappeared above Galeo's head once again.

"Two can play at that game," said Tess.

Tess' shield began to crumble apart just like the spear did moments before. In a few seconds, the entire shield had transformed into dust, a glittering cloud of metallic specks that swirled about the air. Her shield reappeared in the air, good as new, no traces of being penetrated present.

The shield slammed down onto the floor again, dispersing the cloud of dust to the rest of the class.

Gus stuck his tongue out, silver powder settling upon it like delicate snowflakes. With surprisingly nimble movements, his tongue darted about as he tried to capture as many of the falling flakes as he could. Uchronia scrunched her face in disgust, while Alwin wondered how Gus was going to react. A minuscule part of him did wonder what the dust tasted like and wanted to partake in the festivities, but a ginormous part of him decided that that was absolutely disgusting. No way was his tongue going anywhere near that.

Suddenly, a strangled cough erupted from Gus, followed by an audible retch that echoed through the air. He spat out a glob of saliva, then looked back to the match as if he hadn't just ingested a bunch of metallic dust.

Galeo shot his spear at Tess again. She blocked the attack with her shield, with the spear spinning out of harm's way again. His spear changed direction and came from a different angle, but this time it managed to pierce through Tess' shield. Galeo re-summoned his spear to his side, leaving a small hole in the shield. Tess re-summoned her shield to her side, which undid the small hole left by the spear.

There were only so many ways to describe a spear hitting a shield only for it to bounce away, and perform its own interpretation of a spinning top, before it suddenly stopped in mid-air and rocketed itself towards the shield only to pierce it but never all the way, leaving the spear stuck inside the shield. Then both parties would re-summon their respective weapons before the tussle resumed.

Technically, there were an infinite number of ways to describe it, but Alwin didn't have an infinite amount of time to think of more entertaining ways to describe it, so an abridged version seemed more appropriate after a while.

The duo battled it out in the center of the room, neither one backing down nor gaining any advantage over the other. The crowd watched with bated breath, eagerly awaiting something that would break the stalemate. Who would be the one to cinch victory? Who would be the one to turn the tides of war in their favor?

If either of them wanted to end this fight, they'd have to make a bigger move. A gamble that was sure to hurt, but a gamble that would lead to victory. Too bad neither of them were gamblers, so all they did was the same sequence of moves, the only variation being the direction the spear came from.

Sometimes Galeo would launch his spear from in front of Tess, sometimes it would be right above her, and sometimes he'd even launch it backward for whatever reason. By, backward Alwin didn't mean that the spear came from Tess' back, he meant that the spear came barreling towards Tess with the butt of the spear facing her. Why did this happen? No one knew. It didn't matter as the outcomes were the same either way.

The pair were drenched in sweat, panting and wheezing. Each breath was a struggle, rasping through parched throats as sweat dripped, stinging their eyes. Their weapons soared through the air slower than before, missing the mark more often. They were wearing thin, their stamina slowly being eaten up piece by piece. Only the toughest one would prevail, and with the rate it was going it wouldn't be long until one of them collapsed.

Alwin and the rest of the class no longer held their breath with each clash of spear against shield, their once eager expressions now replaced by heavy-lidded eyes and distracted gazes. After the umpteenth time of watching a spear charge forth only to get rebuffed, the feeling of excitement was all but extinguished, for most of the class at least. Uchronia still watched the battle intently, her gaze following the back-and-forth dance between the two.

Who knew how much longer the fight would take? Alwin blinked once, and suddenly Galeo was lying face-down on the ground, his spear nowhere to be seen. Tess stood above him, about to strike him with her leaf tail when a paper-like tentacle came in between them.

"Stand down, Tess," said Milvus.

"Huh? But... but I'm about to win," Tess slurred out her words before she collapsed face-first into Milvus' outstretched tentacle.

"Class, let this be a lesson not to overexert yourselves, and always make sure to have a Small Mana Pill on standby."

Milvus stretched out two of his tentacles towards his desk, their tips grasping two small blue pills as they slithered their way back. He popped the pills into the collapsed students' mouths and lifted the limp bodies, carrying them effortlessly across the room to his awaiting desk.

"Last two, come to the center and get ready. I'm just going to make sure Tess and Galeo are ok," said Milvus, before the tentacles carried him over to his desk. Or, more succinctly, he walked.

Last two? That was Alwin. He wasn't ready for this he was still complaining in his head about how boring and long the previous battle was. Alwin hadn't even gotten the chance to wake up. He was in a daze while watching the fight, too unwilling to get lost in a daydream, but also too bored to actually observe the fight. Thus, for the past however minutes, he was operating on autopilot, until "poof" the battle was over.

Oh, bother. This was going to be not fun.