(Julius POV)

The signal to start the match rang and I raced forward. Amina immediately pulled her bow back, launching 5 arrows simultaneously at me. I dodged the first three while deflecting the other two.

I lost some momentum during that, but I still moved onward. Since she was at the back of the court she could only dodge to the left or right. I slowed down to see which direction she would go or engage in close combat.

"–!"

She suddenly jumped.

'What is she thinking? She cannot move in the air.'

I also jumped, ready to swing at her. I wasn't worried about injuring her, as these courts were equipped with special barriers that could negate the damage I deal and convert it to mental damage.

Just as I was about attack her, she jumped again.

"Huh? No way! You learned {Skystep}."

"Heh."

She fired three more arrows midair. I couldn't dodge midair so I tried to block all the arrows. However, the last one got through my defences and I crashed on the ground.

'Shit! These are not normal mana arrows.'

I felt a pain that I had never felt before. I'd been physically and mentally pushed to the limit, so I was confident in my ability to tolerate pain.

Yet, I had felt these arrows affected me on a spiritual level.

'Did she use her soul attribute? I don't think these barriers can defend against soul-based attacks.'

I didn't she would cripple me, but I still had to be careful.

Amina landed at the centre of the court, switching her weapon into the naginata configuration.

Subtly, I created water and spread it across the floor. Not noticing this, Amina surged forward naginata in hand, ready to bring down her weapon on me.

However, as soon as she stepped into the puddle, instantly jumped up to avoid the water. However, it was too late. The water rushed forward, grabbing both of her legs. I then froze the water, trapping her in place.

I knew she'd be able to break free by the time I got there, so I used {Mana Slice} to at least get an attack in.

The ice shattered as the force of the attack knocked her backwards. Even though Amina reinforced herself, getting hit directly like that would've hurt, especially since oscillation was my strongest mana property.

Before she got up, I used {Burst Step} to appear in front of her and swung my sword down. She countered the attack with her naginata, though she was on the back foot.

"Fuck, I didn't want to use it this move this early."

I soon felt a large amount of mana building up from Amina. Recognising the technique she was using, I immediately jumped back, reinforcing myself. She was going to use {Mana Shockwave}.

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This technique allowed the user to store up a large amount of mana in their bodies and expel it outwards in shockwave. This technique allowed the user to escape if they were held down or trapped and dealt massive damage to the enemies.

However, this technique had a massive drawback. Its mana consumption. It burned over 10 times the amount of mana than usual compared to techniques that dealt the same amount of damage.

*BOOM!*

I was sent flying backwards from the force. But I managed to catch myself with my sword before I hit the ground.

'Shit, I underestimated the power of the attack and it hurt more than I thought. How much mana did she use in that attack?'

Amina struggled to get up, her legs wobbling. She was leaning against her naginata so she could stand up properly. It seems she used more mana than she wanted.

I used {Burst Step} once again, to get close once again. I swung for the neck.

'Wait, this seems weird, she's barely moving.'

'SHIT! It's a clone.'

I sensed a slight mana fluctuation to my right and instinctively swung my sword in that direction. Not expecting me to see through her clone, Amina blocked in a hurry.

But she was propelled away from me since she was in the air and I used more mana in that swing.

Amina bounced as she hit the ground, tumbling away. The mana she was emitting was decreasing and she was on the verge of defeat. Using {Mana Shockwave} and {Illusion Clone} must have drained her mana significantly.

Though I was sure of my victory, I exhaled and focused on Amina. She has a lot of tricks I don't want to be caught off guard.

I created some water, froze it and launched the ice spears at her. She stood up again, weaker than before and somehow managed to cut down all the spears.

She switched to her bow configuration and tried to form more mana arrows. However, the arrows she created were much weaker than one before and launched at a slower speed.

I easily avoided the attacks. Even with her amazing aptitude for the construction mana quality, it still takes a substantial amount of mana to create objects.

Releasing she was wasting mana, she swapped back her naginata. She could only win by beating me with a speedy offence. With her low amount of mana remaining, she couldn't afford a drawn-out battle.

However, we both knew this. Because I had mana to spare, I used more mana to further enhance my body, beyond my 'maximum'.

It was a commonly known fact that the more mana you used in a technique, the greater the power and quality of the technique.

However, for some techniques, there is a 'maximum'. A maximum was when you used more mana in a technique than you can handle.

Though it won't necessarily injure you, exceeding the 'maximum' becomes a waste of mana. For example, any technique that uses the enhancement or reinforcement mana property had a 'maximum'.

For example, if my maximum was 100R per second, increasing the mana to 200R would only increase the power by only a factor of 1.1 times, while doubling my mana output from 50R to 100R would also double the power.

Even though I knew this fact, because our maximums were nearly identical, to have a speed and power advantage, I had to bypass mine.

Though I was burning over 5 times the amount of mana she was, Amina still kept the offence. She had no other option. If she retreated, I would stop enhancing myself beyond my limit and force her into a drawn-out battle in which she had no chance of winning.

Amina tried to find an opening but with my superior speed, power and close-combat skill, I was overwhelming her.

*CLANG*

Amina's weapon was sent flying out of her hands. I used even more mana in the previous clash, catching her off guard.

Without her weapon, she had no means of defending herself against my sword. With a final swing, she was thrust across the court.

She tried to get up but failed due to her low mana. Blocking that last attack used all the mana she had. I walked up to her and offered my hand. She hesitated before grabbing it.

Though the crowd was cheering due to our fight, I could see the disappointment in her eyes. Not because she lost, but because of how she lost; using too much mana in {Mana Shockwave}.

"It's fine Amina, everyone makes mistakes. Don't beat yourself over it."

"Yeah, I know. But if I make such a mistake in a real battle, I'll surely die."

"But you didn't. Learn from your mistakes and improve."

"You don't need to tell me that!"

I saw her smile after that small conversation.

Amina lifted my arm and I was declared the winner. The crowd roared in excitement. I looked up and saw amazement on their faces. They were surprised to see such a high-level battle from students their age.

Amina and I waved to the crowd as we snuck out of the courts.