Even in ordinary times, Sven was a taciturn person in team Sea God. His talent and his looks were both very ordinary. Yet, he usually trained extremely hard. He was always the first one in the training field, and the last one to leave.
He was in the same year as Joyce. He was going to graduate next year. This year was also the last time he would participate in the Hegemonical Cup of Starry Sky Braves.
But the difference with Joyce was, he was the definition of a diligent self-made person in Sea God Academy, a late bloomer. He never had the strength to join the team in the previous three years. Only in his fourth year did his strength slowly surpass almost everyone. On top of that, he finally became proficient in several arcane skills. Only then did he soar into one of the main members of team Sea God.
It was his last time participating in the tournament this year. It was also his first time.
They immediately met an outstanding team like Dragon Breath Academy, the defending champions. So everyone in Sea God Academy could understand his feelings.
After walking in silence to the center of the field, his head down, this third member of Sea God Academy gestured at referee Kleis, indicating he was ready, that the match could begin at once.
"Is he too disappointed, so he doesn’t have any fighting spirit left?"
Seeing Sven’s appearance, even Kleis sighed in silence. When he saw Audrey indicate she was ready as well, he just waved his flag and declared the start of the fight.
"Ice Arrows!"
Exactly like in the previous fight, several dozen snow-white ice arrows appeared in front of Audrey as soon her voice rose. Whistling through the air, the cloud of them shot in Sven’s direction.
"She’s fighting exactly the same way!"
"She doesn’t feel like changing?"
"The difference in level is too great. He can’t rush and use an arcane skill before Audrey does, even if Audrey clearly shows she’s using the same tactics. He’s still going to be stifled all the same. I’m afraid this Sven won’t be able to break free of her pressure either."
"Sea God Academy, there’s probably only their captain Joyce who can struggle a bit against Audrey."
Comments and discussions descended from the stands when Audrey once again opened with Ice Arrows.
"Starfall!"
Sven suddenly lifted his head at this moment. Beams after beams of arcane particles shot out of his fingertips, charging towards the sky.
Countless silver starlights suddenly appeared in the sky between Audrey and him. They dropped rapidly, becoming one streak of silver light after another.
"Puff puff puff…"
Five or six ice arrows immediately embedded themselves inside his body. His two feet left the ground under their impact. Five or six bloody stains blossomed all over him.
"What!"
Whether the members of team Sea God or all the spectators in the entire stands, the teams participating in the tournament included, all of them couldn’t help but stop breathing for a second.
"This guy…"
Even Audrey, in the middle of her sprint, was greatly taken aback.
Sven actually didn’t use any defensive skill whatsoever when faced with her attack. This "Starfall" was an arcane skill that required a great deal of arcane particles to invoke!
"From the very beginning, he had no thought of defending himself. He wanted to pose a threat to Audrey even at the cost of severe injuries to himself. At least he’ll force Audrey to consume quite a lot of arcane particles!" Ayrin understood then. He couldn’t stop himself from looking at Chris beside him.
"That’s right." Chris nodded.
"Sven actually used that kind of method. He…" All the other members of team Sea God also understood. For a moment, their eyes became blurry. Only now did they realize that this silent teammate hadn’t lost his fighting spirit. Instead, he used such a method to carry out a fierce and resolute counterattack!
"Aria of Ice!"
Audrey continued to sprint closer to him. Dense, snow-white slices of ice appeared on top of her head, flowing like musical scores. They intercepted all the streaks of silver light pounding on top of her head.
Sven’s feet landed on the ground.
A medical team was already on standby, not far behind him.
The blood on his body was already frozen. He swayed on his feet, as though he couldn’t keep his balance. Yet, he still remained silent.
"Fool, don’t fight anymore!"
"You’ll die if you continue!"
All the members of team Sea God started roaring, tears flowing on their faces.
Yet, he still didn’t give up.
"Shark Impact!"
A deep and low chant gushed out of his mouth. Arcane particles gushed out of his body at a speed that exceeded his limits. Fresh blood sprayed out of his arms.
A huge blue stream of water appeared in front of him out of thin air, rumbling as it struck in Audrey’s direction.
Audrey flashed. When her figure reappeared beside this stream of water, this blue stream immediately transformed into the shape of a huge shark. It twisted around and immediately tried to bite her.
"Ice Wave Sting!"
White ice and snow suddenly filled the air around Audrey.
She stretched out her hand, and a huge beam of ice battered ferociously forward. In the space of a breath, she attacked three times in succession.
This white beam of ice formed from the snow and ice around her also enlarged violently three times.
"Boom!"
This huge white beam of ice shattered the entire blue shark.
Sven had stayed silent ever since the previous fight. Now he suddenly said in a soft voice, "I still have some arcane particles left…"
A faint, strange smile floated at the corner of his lips.
"Sting of the Flying Shoal!"
He watched Audrey break through the huge shark and rush in his face. Once again, he lifted his hands.
Radiant light akin to a shoal of small silver fishes swimming densely together appeared in front of him, enveloping Audrey’s entire figure inside.
Shattered ice floated around her. Wild gusts of wind rose in front of her, blowing the blocks of ice and striking them against the "shoal."
She appeared in front of Sven, stretched out her right arm horizontally. The power of the ice wrapped around her right hand could easily press Sven down to the ground.
Sven watched Audrey appear in front of him, watched the hand of ice and snow come increasingly closer to his chest. He didn’t make the slightest motion.
Audrey looked at him. Her hand didn’t land. She fell back instead.
"The fight is over!"
"Audrey wins!"
Kleis breathed in deeply and declared the end of the fight. At the same time, the medical team rushed inside the field.
The stands were strangely quiet. Ayrin couldn’t help but start shouting, his voice exceptionally clear and startling in the huge arena: "Sven, you fought bravely!"
"Do your best, Sea God Academy!"
One second later, cheers and encouragements exploded from the stands like a volcanic eruption.
"I never thought this member of team Sea God who’s participating in the tournament for the first time would show us such a performance." In team Dragon Breath, captain Morgan shook his head and faintly said, "This way, it’ll be hard even for Audrey to sort them out in one fell swoop."
"Fourth fight between Dragon Breath Academy and Sea God Academy. Audrey against Pitt."
"Look, the Sea God fighter who’s coming out, even his eyes seem different now," Moss couldn’t help but say when he saw the fourth contestant representing Sea God Academy.
"Sven didn’t only force Audrey to consume her arcane particles. He also used his fearless courage to thoroughly rouse his teammates’ fighting spirit," Sophia whispered, also very admirative.
No matter the final result, those from Sea God Academy should have shed the burden inside their chests, because Sven’s performance alone was already enough to garner everyone’s respect for Sea God Academy.
Audrey smiled faintly.
Previously, she had the feeling everything was in her grasp, that she could fight any way she wished against the members of team Sea God.
But Sven’s performance moments ago suddenly dispersed her feeling.
Now, she probably couldn’t seize victory by repeating the same stereotyped method.
That said, wasn’t that why the tournament was interesting anyway?
Opponents worthy of respect, opponents fighting better than expected, hotblooded yet fair duels, wasn’t that the genuine interesting part of this tournament?
"Let’s begin." She gestured at the referee, indicating she was ready.
"Ship-Bewildering Storm!"
When referee Kleis declared the start of the fight, the fourth contestant for Sea God Academy didn’t pay any notice to Audrey’s actions. He merely used his fastest speed to spray his arcane particles out of his palms and his ten fingers.
Dazzling magenta particles immediately combined with arcane energy and transformed into countless white granules.
More and more white granules shuttled back and forth in a chaos, becoming a storm quickly expanding through the entire field.
"Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!" "Puff!"…
The minute granules actually created strips of sparks when they rubbed against the ground.
"This arcane skill is actually so powerful! Each tiny granule actually contains such power! There’s no way you can block it without a powerful defensive skill."
"This is simply an arcane skill that combines attack and defense. You can’t even see where he’s standing inside."
"With an arcane skill of this level, an arcane master with two open gates will probably consume all their arcane particles just by using it once."
"Basically, he only planned to use it once, to use this kind of one-shot skill to force a confrontation with Audrey!"
A brouhaha swept through the stands. Even though Audrey fell back twice in succession, the huge storm of granules was already drawing near her face.
"Frozen Boundary!"
Audrey clearly hesitated for a second. Her steps entirely halted.
Layer upon layer of transparent crystals covered her body.
In the black-red arena, her entire person transformed into an immobile sculpture of ice.
"Puff puff puff puff…"
Countless tiny particles battered the transparent crystal, again and again.
"She wants to withstand it with such a method." Chris’ eyes flashed. She said in a soft voice, "Her opponent has to continuously consume a great many arcane particles. Also, her arcane level is higher than her opponent’s, so she only has to persevere for a little bit, her opponent won’t be able to persist for too long."
"It looked like she hesitated just now. Maybe she has an even better way to dispatch her opponent, but she didn’t want to expose it in this match." Ayrin nodded. He couldn’t stop himself from asking, "Chris, do you think you can beat her?"
T/N: Looking back, I regret not calling team Sea God team Neptune instead. I didn’t do it because Neptune isn’t part of this novel’s mythology, but Sea God just sounds… blah.
