Irene was surprised to know I could use the same technique as her. Not only Irene, but the students watching the match were also surprised.

  "Why can Rid use the Ice Princess's technique?"

  "This isn't the first time, right? When Rid fought Princess Amelia, he also used the Ice Princess's technique. Rid can certainly use that technique because he was taught by the Ice Princess herself, who is his partner."

  "No, I don't think so. Because even the Ice Princess seemed surprised to know Rid could use that technique," said the students who were chatting.

  "Why are you so surprised, Irene? I've used your ~Freezing Air Slash~ technique before, right? Isn't it natural that I can use the ~San Lucia Art, Snow Blade Dance Technique~ too? Especially since I've seen you use this technique many times in sparring," I said.

  "I see. I thought you could use ~Freezing Air Slash~ it was just a coincidence. So that's one of your skills, huh? You can copy other people's techniques you see. It seems I was careless in showing you my family's technique," Irene said.

  "It's okay, right? We're a couple, after all," I said.

  Irene then swung her rapier at me again. But I swiftly blocked it with my sword. Then we attacked each other with our weapons at close range. The ice rapiers surrounding us also joined in the attack. The battle between us was very intense.

  "That couple's battle was very intense," said Noa, who was watching our match.

  ~Electric Shock Arrow~

  Suddenly, Julie shot an electric arrow at Noa. But Noa realized it and immediately dodged it.

  "Your opponent is right in front of you. Wouldn't it be rude to turn away from your opponent?" Julie said.

  "You're right, then forgive me. Let's fight again," Noa said.

  Noa immediately activated his ~Magic Martial Arts~ mode, and his entire body was filled with wind magic. After that, Noa immediately shot towards Julie. With a wind spear attached to his arrow, he immediately intended to launch an attack at Julie.

  ~Great Wind Thrust~

  A thrust from his wind spear was aimed at Julie. However, Julie managed to dodge the attack and prepared to counterattack.

  ~Electric Conductor Shock Arrow~

  Julie fired her arrow at Noa, but he blocked it with his spear. When the arrow touched Noa's spear, Noa suddenly dropped the spear he was holding.

  "Suddenly, the spear I was holding became electrified and shocked both my hands. I think it was from your arrow attack just now," Noa said.

  "You're right, my arrow just now can conduct electricity to any object it touches. It doesn't matter whether the object normally conducts electricity or not," Julie said.

  "What a troublesome technique. My hand went numb from your attack just now. But it wasn't enough to stop me," Noa said.

  Noa immediately charged back toward Julie and attacked her with his punches and kicks. However, Julie nimbly dodged all of them. Even though Noa dodged all of his attacks, his combos would still count. Finally, Noa reached his 49th combo.

  "You can't possibly dodge this attack. Experience this, ~Wind Champ-," Noa said.

  Noa intended to attack Julie with his strongest wind punch. But before he could, he was hit by mine.

  ~Glacier Strike~

  Noa was sent flying into the training ground wall by my attack. Smoke appeared where he hit the wall.

  "Rid? How did you get here?" asked Julie, surprised by my presence.

  It was understandable, since I had been engaged in a fierce exchange of blows with Irene. While Noa was executing her combo, I immediately approached Julie and Noa, leaving Irene to battle with the ice rapiers I'd created. I wanted to explain this to Julie, but I didn't have time because Irene quickly caught up to me and prepared to attack me again.

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  ~Glacier Strike~

  ~Glacier Strike~

  Irene attacked me with her technique, and I countered it with the same technique. Our attacks clashed. As Irene and I were exchanging blows, a wind spear suddenly appeared from where Noa had hit the wall, heading towards me.

  "~Wind Ballista~ huh, at this moment," I said.

  I immediately strengthened my attack to knock Irene out of the fray. Irene was finally sent flying backward. Meanwhile, Noa's ~Wind Ballista~ was about to hit me. However, I quickly slashed the spear with my sword technique.

  ~Secret Sword Art : Wind Slayer Slash~

  Because the spear Noa used for his ~Wind Ballista~ was made from his wind magic, I easily cut it. The spear split and disappeared into a gust of wind.

  "Really? He can cut through wind magic this time?" said a surprised Master Alan as he watched our match.

  Then Noa emerged from the cloud of smoke where he had hit the wall.

  "You easily destroyed the ~Wind Ballista~ I created from my wind magic. Princess Irene, there's no point fighting Rid alone. We must attack him together with all our strength," Noa said.

  "You're right," Irene said.

  Noa readied his ~Magic Martial Arts~, rewielding the wind spear he had previously released after being hit by Julie's arrow. Irene, meanwhile, readied the ice rapiers surrounding her. They both quickly approached me.

  "It looks like their target this time is me. Get behind me, Julie," I said.

  "Okay, I'll support you from behind," Julie said.

  Noa and Irene began attacking me with their attacks. However, I was able to withstand all of them, especially with the rapiers I'd made from imitating Irene's technique. Meanwhile, Julie continued to fire her electric arrows from behind me at Irene and Noa. The arrows successfully distracted them from attacking me, allowing me to strike them lightly.

  "These arrows are really annoying. I think it's best if we defeat her first," Noa said.

  Noa stopped attacking me and moved past me to Julie.

  "Wait, Noa," Irene said, trying to stop Noa.

  Noa moved and jumped toward Julie. He appeared to be preparing to throw his spear.

  "At this close range, there's no way you can dodge this. Try this ~Wind Ballista~," Noa said.

  Noa immediately threw hisbspear. But just as I was about to let the spear out of his hand, I quickly approached him and kicked him in the waist, sending him flying onto the arena floor. Although he fell when he hit the floor, Noa immediately got back up.

  "It was just a normal kick, but somehow it hurts so much. How did Rid get here? What happened to Princess Irene?" Noa said.

  Noa immediately looked over and saw Irene struggling with the ice rapiers I had left behind to trouble her.

  "This is my family's technique, but why am I having so much trouble facing these ice rapiers?" Irene thought.

  "Then I'll fight Rid alone," Noa said.

  I immediately advanced toward Noa, and Noa advanced toward me. We exchanged close-range attacks.

  ~Great Wind Slash~

  Noa launched a wind slash from his spear.

  ~Water Sword Art : Great Water Slash~

  Meanwhile, I launched a water slash from my sword, which I had transformed into a water sword.

  Our two attacks collided, producing quite a powerful effect. However, our exchange of blows was short-lived, as Noa was sent flying several meters back. As Noa was knocked back, I immediately rushed towards him to defeat him. As I neared him, I immediately prepared my attack, but Noa also seemed to be in the middle of something.

  "I knew you were coming at me, Rid. This is my chance to defeat you. Experience this ~Wind Ballista~ up close," Noa said.

  Noa then threw his ~Wind Ballista~ from a fairly close distance. It probably only had about 2-3 seconds for the ~Wind Ballista~ to hit me. But I reacted quickly and prepared my technique to counter the ~Wind Ballista~.

  ~Secret Sword Art : Wind Slayer Slash~

  I slashed the ~Wind Ballista~, causing the wind magic coating the spear to dissipate and lose its power. Because it was a real spear, not made of wind magic, it didn't split after my attack.

  "I knew you could handle my ~Wind Ballista~, but I didn't expect you to react so quickly to counter it at close range," Noa said.

  "It's your loss, Noa," I said.

  I transformed my sword into a frozen ice sword and launched an attack at Noa.

  ~Freezing Air Slash~

  Noa was struck squarely by my attack and sent crashing into the training ground wall. Noa fell with ice slashes all over his body. Meanwhile, Irene seemed to have successfully destroyed all the ice rapiers I had created, while her own ice rapiers still surrounded her.

  "It looks like you've destroyed my ice rapiers. Should I have created ice swords to make them stronger? Copying your technique, I ended up creating ice rapiers myself," I said.

  Then I created more ice rapiers to surround me.

  "I'm already feeling tired, let's end this match quickly, Rid. I'll defeat you with my family's secret technique, a technique I've never used before," Irene said.

  "You want to use a new technique, huh?" I asked.

  Irene prepared to attack me. I could feel the rapier she held and the ones surrounding her imbued with powerful mana. Then Irene swiftly dashed toward me.

  ~San Lucia Art Secret Technique : Ice Dragon Slayer's Seven Slashes~

  Irene's rapier and the six surrounding her attacked me simultaneously. However, I prepared to block the attack with another attack.

  ~Flame Sword Art : Great Flame Slash~

  My flame sword collided with Irene's ice rapier, while I blocked the attack of Irene's six ice rapiers with my own six. The impact was so powerful that it made the building tremble.

  But the impact didn't last long, as my ice rapiers suddenly cracked, and so did my flame sword. Eventually, all my ice rapiers that were blocking Irene's ice rapier were shattered. The sword I used to block Irene's ice rapier was also shattered. Nothing could withstand Irene's attack. The seven ice rapiers managed to attack me, severely injuring me.

  -To be continued