Ling smiled as I joined her. "Ready?"

I nodded. "As ready as I will ever be."

"Hailing from the windswept plains of Vandavale is the dashing prince, Aurelius Olivarius Villan!"

"P-prince?" Carter said as I walked away from them.

I chuckled. "I'm only a chieftain's son, but I guess that's close enough."

"Waiting for her opponent like a champion is none other than the Xianian lady, Liu Ling!"

Ling stepped toward me and snickered. "Feels like we're in the Superdome, doesn't it?"

I tilted my head. "Uh, what's that?"

She pulled her hair behind her ear. "You've never heard about it?"

"No, not until now."

Ling scoffed. "And people say that Xian is isolated. It's where the best of the best athletes go. It's most known for its boxing matches."

I chuckled. Wonder how she learned about it.

"Done exchanging words? If so, then begin!" Ms. Key yelled.

Ling smirked and slammed her hands against the ground. "You heard her, enough talk. Time to begin this!" Vines sprouted from the ground like a mighty wave.

I jumped back and forth, avoiding as many as I could. The wind danced around my fingertips as I got closer to my opponent. The vines were becoming thicker and thicker the further I went. I would need to cut them down to size.

"Ventus Perseco!" I yelled, contracting the wind I had gathered into sharp daggers. With one swipe of my right arm, the razor blades slashed through the vines. To make sure that they wouldn't cut Ling down, I had them explode as soon as they got too close to her. The force of the explosions sent her flying back as well as me. A wall of dust separated the two of us.

"Not bad," Ling said, wobbling as the dust contracted into her hands. Green prana surrounded her entire body, healing the wounds on her cheeks and arms.

Seems that this match will go on unless I can knock her out in one go, or she runs out of prana before I do. Not to mention, she has two elements.

I snickered. Well, this would've been boring if it ended with one spell.

I held out my hands and formed a spherical wind barrier as roots sprung out of the ground. The woody appendages slammed down on me as they passed through the intense gales without more than a couple scratches.

I gritted my teeth as I flew toward the edge of the rings. "Pluma," I mumbled as I plucked one of the feathers on my shirt.

A giant white feather appeared behind me, catching me and propelling me toward Ling as if it were a trampoline. By feeding prana into my shirt's feathers, I could alter their size and even their physical qualities, such as their hardness and elasticity.

"What kind of spell was that?" Ling asked as she formed a wall made up of stone and roots.

I chuckled. "It's a secret. Vortex!" A giant funnel of wind tore a hole into the wall and pulled Ling toward me.

Ling's eyes widened. "Such force. You're a lot stronger than I'd expected."

"Hopefully, it's not because you had low expectations coming into this."

She chuckled. "No, they were already rather decent." Ling pointed her index finger at the center of the vortex as she had stone weights slow her descent into my wind tunnel. "Shuǐshé!" A single bubble emerged from her fingertip and took on the shape of a skinny serpent.

I closed my hands and jumped out of the way. That spell, it was one often used by the people of northern Mina. I heard stories of how it was central to the Minese subjugation of southern Vandavale. Why they stopped south of our lands instead of continuing northward while they had the momentum was a mystery. Though, they did ally themselves with some of the neighboring people. That might've satisfied them enough to have chosen peace over war.

"Sublimis Aquila!" I yelled, clapping my hands. Verdant prana covered all of the feathers on my shirt just before they flew off. The emerald feathers came together to form the shape of a golden eagle covered in a green aura.

Ling jumped aside as my eagle tore through her snake with its mighty talons. No sizable droplets remained to reform the serpent.

"Jíliú!" she yelled as she slammed her hands against the ground. Geysers of waters tore through the ring as if a volcanic eruption were imminent. I leaped on top of my eagle and ducked as the upward streams of water arched. The falling water tore new holes into the ground.

Had she put the water on a loop or continuously created more water on the spot?

Ling chuckled as she stood up. She raised both hands into the air, causing geysers to bust from the ground. Even the floor underneath her crumbled. Yet, she walked on the torrent of water as if it were a stone pillar.

No wonder she wasn't afraid of missing the boat. If she had fallen into the sea below, she could have the water grasp her, or she could land on her feet as if it were solid ground.

I gasped as the water receded in the center of the ring, forming two enormous walls that hugged the barrier protecting the audience. Did she plan to hit me with a twin tsunami? If she did that, she would get hurt too. Or, maybe she wouldn't be. Some had low resistance to their elements, such as Carter, while others were basically immune.

"Hongshui!" Ling said as her yellow eyes glowed blue.

I held both hands out, forming another wind barrier, and had my eagle aim for the uppermost point I could go.

The water crashed down, destroying the entire battlefield and sending wave after wave at me.

I gritted my teeth as the tips of several of the waves slammed against my eagle and me. Ling was nowhere to be seen within the churning water. However, she was probably at the very bottom as she was nowhere to be seen up where I was either.

"Cornu Visioni Zmaragdinae!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. The green glow around my golden flowed into its wings, making them a brilliant emerald color. "Break the waves!"

My eagle flapped its wings, tearing through the waters.

A dome made up of vines and stone waited at the bottom.

"So, she was hiding there all along," I said as the attack pierced through Ling's defenses.

She flew out of the rubble and raised the now murky waters, slamming me against the ceiling of the arena's barrier. Did this count as a loss?

No one said a thing, and Ling continued attacking, so I figured it wasn't disqualifying. I looked over my shoulders and noticed that some feathers had cushioned me. So, that was what saved me.

I chuckled. "Thanks, Alita," I said, patting my eagle's head. Even though she wasn't in its self-aware form, she was still defending me. I would've used it, but it would've been unfair as no one else had a familiar.

We flew down as the waters began to recede. Was Ling finally running out of energy?

The waters spun around, forming a giant whirlpool. By launching waves of wind toward all sides, I managed to keep us from crashing into it.

I raised my hands into the air and gathered the feathers that had cushioned me to form a sword. "Ventus Gladius!" I yelled, swinging my swing toward the center of the whirlpool where Ling likely stood.

A pillar of earth rose up to block my attack, but it was cut in half too. "Burst!" The wind my sword produced exploded just like how my Ventus Perseco had, bringing down the whirlpool. The water disintegrated into a sea of blue dots before fading altogether.

Ling glanced up at me with a slight smile. She had fallen to her knees.

"Are you alright?" I asked, jumping off of Alita's back.

She chuckled as she lowered her eyes. "Why are you concerned? We're in the midst of a battle here."

I sighed. "True, but I don't want to hurt you more than I have to."

Ling clenched her hands into fists. "So, you held back. Seems that I'm still too weak."

My eyes widened. Weak? Why does she think that?

I chuckled. "You aren't weak." I fell to one knee. "To be honest, I'm out of steam too."

She smiled before falling forward.

"Hey!" I yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Is the match over?" Ms. Key's voice blared throughout the now quiet arena.

Ling's eyes closed, and her head fell forward, hitting my chest.

"Looks like it is," I said, picking up my unconscious opponent.

"Woah! In a stunning upset, the winner of this match is Aurelius Olivarius Villan!" Ms. Key yelled.

The crowd broke into cheers.

I sighed as I walked over to where Cart and Jude had gone. They waited for us by the entrance opposite the one we used to get here. The others were there too.

"You did it. You won!" Carter said, grinning.

I put a hand on my mouth and pointed toward the unconscious Ling.

"Oh, yeah," Carter said, covering his mouth.

Koukyuu chuckled. "Seems like you keep on having to carry people."

Carter blinked. "You were the one who carried me back?"

I nodded. "Both you and Rob."

"At the same time," Jude said.

The now recovered Huo gasped. "Really?"

"Wait, at the same time?" Rob asked. He glanced at Carter. "Think he might be stronger than you in the physical department."

Carter's left eye twitched. "What do you mean? I can carry you and myself, if that were possible, too!"

"Here, let me heal her," Adela said, walking over to us. Lei accompanied her too.

"Here you go," I said, handing Ling over to her.

Adela sat her down on the bleachers and started her task.

"I'll patch you up," Lei said, smiling at me.

I smiled. "Thanks, but I'll be fine."

Lei's eyes widened. "You sure? I know that the next round isn't until tomorrow, but I don't think your prana's holding up too well."

I took a seat next to Ling and nodded. "Nothing a nap won't fix."

"You aren't watching the next match?" Kanja asked.

I grinned. "I will." Probably all I had energy left for.

"Here, at least drink this when you're feeling like passing out," Adela said, holding a red liquid toward me. "It will restore some of your prana."

I took the bottle and smiled. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Adela said, letting go of Ling.

I blinked. She wouldn't look at me at all. Why was that? Come to think of it, Ling kept trying to keep her focus on my eyes during the match too.

"Hey, you should probably wear a shirt around the Xianian girls," Lei whispered. "In their culture, you come off as an exhibitionist."

I tilted my head. "An exhibitionist?"

He nodded. "Would be akin to a girl being shirtless."

I blinked. What did he mean by that? Back home, it wasn't odd for either gender to go shirtless or show their chest, especially on the hottest days of the year.

"Well, looks like the next match is about to begin," Lei said, shifting his eyes to the battlefield. The ring had been restored to its state at the beginning of Huo and Jude's match. "Nate versus Kanja, right?" He smirked. "Hope it's another fun one."

Kanja gulped and walked forward.

"Kanja!" I yelled, waving my arms in the air.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning around.

I smiled. "Good luck out there and give it your all! Remember what you learned during our training sessions, okay?"

She grinned. "Yeah, I will!"

Carter narrowed his eyes at me as Kanja ran off.

"What?" I asked, blinking.

"Nothing!" he said, looking away.

I smirked. Could he be jealous of our bond? Not that he had anything to fear, he was close to Kanja too. Probably more so than I.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Overall thoughts on the two matches? Next up are Kanja vs. Nate, Mira vs. Tamara, and Carter vs. Jude! Any predictions on who will win?**