In front of Professor Mia, Zero unleashed an extraordinary amount of mana for his rank.
It had even startled Professor Mia a tiny bit.
Professor Mia was getting excited to test Zero's defense. Professor Mia assumed the Dark Icy armor was to increase Zero's defense.
Without taking much time, she quickly dashed towards Zero and clenched her fist. She was aiming to break Zero's armor.
While it was a simple movement for Professor Mia without enhancing her speed and power with mana, to Zero it looked like Professor Mia flashed before his eyes.
-WHOOSH!
He could still react to Professor Mia's speed and see where she is aiming her attack. Zero strengthens the part that Professor Mia was aiming for, which was near his solar plexus.
-BANG! -CRACK!
Instantly the Dark Ice armor defending Zero's solar plexus was broken and Zero was pushed back a few feet.
"Hah.."
( THIS IS FREAKING INSANE!! )
A casual punch from Professor Mia almost ended my life.
Her movement is too fast for me to see her properly and her punch was as strong as Rank-B attack.
Even with the strongest defense that I can currently muster, it does not look like it will last long agsint her attacks.
Zero thought his defense was severely lacking. His Dark Ice Armor broke even when he fully concentrated on strengthening it.
However, Professor Mia's thought was quite the opposite. Contrary to Zero's notion that Dark Ice Armor was weak, Dark Ice Armor was one of the strongest defenses that Professor Mia saw in that rank.
Just now Professor Mia used a power that is almost equal to Rank-B.
Zero managed to stay on his feet, Furthermore, taking very little damage from her attack.
Despite the punch coming from Professor Mia, who held back quite a bit of her strength, it was not something that a Rank-D could handle.
Heck, it would have even seriously injured a person in Rank-C.
Zero's defense skill was at top of its class against physical attacks. she believed not many people can harm Zero suing physical attacks.
Now she wants to test Zero using her Ice Art. Whether Zero could defend against Magic Art or not.
[ "Ice Nova" ]
A wave of cold blast appeared from Professor Mia's hand.
It would normally have enough power to blow away the whole room. However, this time around Professor Mia did not condense the mana nor did she pour in the required amount of mana.
This greatly decreased the power that it normally would have but still, it was more than enough to overwhelm a Rank-C human.
Zero at that moment looked at the force coming toward him. Ice Nova could not really freeze him even if it hit him because of resistance towards Ice. But the sheer force at which it was coming was enough to severely injure him.
( Professor Mia really wants to cripple me. )
Using Art was definitely unnecessary for Professor Mia. Even then she use it. I don't know how I can survive fighting with her.
[ "Dual Art: Icy Shadow Wall" ]
-SWOOOSH! -SWOOSH!
Professor Mia's attack was coming at a very high speed and force, freezing everything it touched on its way.
-BOOOOM! -CRACK! -BOOOOM!
When her attack collided with the Ice Shadow Wall, it was destroyed in no time.
I deployed almost 6 Icy Shadow Walls but it didn't stop the attack from advancing.
Immediately, one after another, the wall broke down and hit me.
It was a relief that the force of the attack had dwindled quite a bit. Also, the fact that I had Dark Ice Armor but it still managed to blow me over.
Though the only damage that I could have sustained was absorbed by the Dark Ice Armor.
Professor Mia was truly impressed by his defense now. While she did decrease the attack power of her Ice Nova and also kept in her mind that Ice effectiveness is lowered in front of Zero, she still didn't expect her Art to be blocked that easily.
Zero had almost used 50 percent of his mana and only two minutes had passed since the start of the battle.
That was also when he was focusing on only defending.
On the other hand, Professor Mia had not even lost one percent of her mana.
Thinking that continuing to defend will only result in him losing miserably, Zero decided to try his attack on Professor Mia.
[ "Dual Art: Glacier Shadow Slash" ]
The slash containing Ice and Sword energy moved forward at an incredible speed. It could have easily taken down Rank-C.
But what happened next has turned Zero's world upside down. Professor Mia merely used her punch to cancel out the attack which has the highest power.
She just used her bare hand to bring it down. Zero knows that Professor Mia is absolutely beyond his current power but even he didn't expect his strongest attack to be shattered by her bare hand.
Professor Mia didn't let Zero be in that state for too long as she immediately attacked after destroying Zero's attack.
He immediately strengthened his arms and legs and tried to block her kicks, only to have his armor shattered and get a severe blow to his arm.
-BANG!
Zero was blown away and his body which is currently without armor clashed with the wall.
"Uuuggghhh!..."
( She didn't really pull her punch when she kicked me. Dammit! I think my arm is broken. )
My hand was actually okay but it did feel like it had been broken.
Professor Mia's physical strength seemed to be on par with or even surpassed that of a Rank-A warrior.
Typically, Magic Art users will have higher Mana stat and lower Strength stat but Professor Mia seemed to have all her stats high.
It does not look like Professor Mia will lose against someone at Rank-A even without using the Ice Magic that she is known for.
"10 minutes of rest and we will fight again."
( Again? )
It seems like I will be a punching bag for Professor Mia for the whole training session.
She must not be satisfied with my performance. I was also not very satisfied with my performance.
I could have protected myself well if I had predicted her attack beforehand and kept myself alert.
It might be because I know that Professor Mia will not kill me but I don't feel myself being very cautious even though I am facing a Rank-A+ peak mage.
I could have also used tricky attacks rather than relying on my attack power. Even if I squeezed out every last bit of mana from my attack, Professor Mia would have easily blocked it.
What I needed to do at that time was not to attack but rather use Ice Creation to distract or divert Professor Mia's attention. It could have been better if I had concentrated only on defense.
Rather than wasting my mana for an attack that will never hurt someone like Professor Mia, it could have been better to preserve that mana for defense.
Anyway, that attack was a bad choice against Professor Mia. It might have worked on people who had weak defenses, but certainly not against Professor Mia.
Zero was reviewing his mistake and how he could have increased his chance of surviving.
Professor Mia stood there staring at the boy who seemed to have lost himself in his own thoughts.
She was impressed by what Zero had displayed right now. Contrary to Zero's assumption, Professor Mia thought Zero had performed beyond her expectations.
Zero is only 15 years old and she didn't expect him to be tricky and be able to plan ahead. Even experienced people struggle to make plans ahead.
Zero showed his superior technique and his exceptional reaction speed.
Professor Mia knows that her attack was so fast that even Rank-C would have been unable to react much less block it.
However, Zero was able to react well and use his strengthened arm to defend and he didn't completely collapse even after receiving her attack.
Moreover, while Zero saw Professor Mia use her bare hand to block his attack, Professor Mia actually strengthened her hand with mana.
She felt the impact of the attack and assumed that without using mana to strengthen their bodies, Zero's attack could even injure Rank-A humans.
Professor Mia felt more and more confident that Zero could win the Tournament of Academies.
She didn't really care about the fame and wealth that would be gained after winning.
With Zero's talent she believed that sooner or later, the whole world would know about a boy named Zero Elea.
Rather than fame, the most lucrative reward for winning the Tournament of Academies was to get The Authority's backing.
It is a precious opportunity to be protected by The Authority and also enjoy the resources provided by them.
-GULP! -GULP!
Zero took the recovery potion and waited for his injuries to heal. Soon, ten minutes passed.
"Okay, Times up!"
Professor Mia announced as she got ready in her battle position.
Zero also took his battle stance as he stared at her. He seems to have regained his fighting spirit.
It didn't seem like Zero was afraid to face Professor Mia again.
Professor Mia could see the determination in Zero's eyes. Even if it seemed like a hopeless battle, Zero had not even thought about giving up rather he was busy planning to avoid making the same mistake he made earlier.
"Good!"
Professor Mia liked the look in Zero's eyes. If someone who didn't know about Zero and Professor saw them right now, it might seem like Zero is facing someone he thinks he could beat.
He didn't show any signs of cowardice or backing away. Like he was fighting with someone who he could defeat.
Professor Mia started releasing her mana.
-SWISH!
She will now began testing Zero's willpower.
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