Chapter 270: Aria Nightwind
Among Eleanor’s group, aside from herself, Ophelia Blanc, Maira Arara Neblina, Marsha Kirana Tidebringer,
Phoebe Juno Solstice, and Izumi Tsuki Kuroda had all made it to the final round.
They spent a long evening analysing the fights from the first two rounds after the videos were posted on the
Academy forum. Many cadets had left comments on the threads... sinsightful, sspeculative... but they
all helped the group to understand each finalist’'s strengths and weaknesses better.
Jaciara Moara joined their discussions as well, despite having lost her match in the primary round to the top
ranker of the initiation ceremony, Ignatius Aurelius Emberfall. Coincidentally, Phoebe had once been on
Ignatius’s team when they had formed a temporary alliance to defeat the Troll King. At first, Jaciara had been
disheartened by her defeat, but after hearing Phoebe describe Ignatius’s formidable combat prowess, she
accepted her loss with a shrug and blamed it on bad luck.
Kiara also joined them later on. She was not so disheartened by her loss to a fire user, rather she spent some
ton her own to identify her shortcomings of her fighting style.
From sunset until dinner, they gathered in Maira’s room, the air filled with animated chatter and the faint hum of
magical projectors displaying fight replays. Together, they dissected every move, counter, and ability of the
remaining finalists.
After dinner, Eleanor returned to her room to prepare for her next match. Her first opponent was a werecat
named Aria Nightwind. From the recordings of Aria’s previous battles, Eleanor concluded that she had an earth
elemental bloodline and was also a sword user.
Eleanor had observed that most cadets relied heavily on their bloodline abilities... raw, innate powers rather than
refined combat techniques. These were effective, but often predictable. Aria, for instance, could form stone
armour over her body, raise the ground beneath her feet to gain elevation, unleash localized shockwaves, hurl
stone shards, summon a massive earth fist, and erect defensive walls from the ground.
Having catalogued all of Aria’s known abilities, Eleanor crafted a strategy tailored to exploit her weaknesses...
and even prepared contingency plans in case Aria revealed any hidden techniques.
She would have four more matches the following day, each demanding its own careful planning. By the tshe
finalised her battle strategies, the night had grown late and silent.
The next morning, Eleanor met Aria in the arena for their first match. Across the ring, Aria Nightwind stood
poised in a battle stance, her sword gleaming under the lights. Her slitted eyes, sharp and golden, reflected a
predator's focus... and a flicker of curiosity towards the calm, unreadable girl facing her.
As soon as Eleanor stepped into the ring, Aria bowed slightly and said, "Miss Raynor, I've heard much about your
clan... and about you. My elders say you are the wealthiest among the younger generation. | hope we might
cooperate when we return."
"Thank you," Eleanor replied with a small bow of her own. "Please contactwhen we're back in the secular
world. If fate permits, we may find a way to work together."
Aria smiled faintly. "I watched your fight on the forum. You surprised us all. We always thought the Raynor clan
was non-elemental. You proved otherwise... and you fought beautifully."
Before Eleanor could respond, the countdown began.
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Aria moved first. She didn’t charge head-on but began to circle Eleanor with a refined grace, her movements
silent and precise. Her Feline Agility rendered her footsteps ghostlike, each stride smooth as a whisper of air.
Eleanor stood her ground, perfectly still... a statue awaiting the storm. Her Mind Acceleration was already active,
the world slowing into a deliberate, measured rhythm.
Aria flicked her wrist. A small pebble shot towards Eleanor’s knee with uncanny accuracy. Eleanor shifted her
weight just enough to let it pass, the stone grazing her trouser leg with a faint hiss.
Then cthe real attack. With a powerful stomp, Aria sent a shockwave rippling through the ground. The arena
floor buckled like disturbed water, trembling violently beneath Eleanor’s feet... a disorienting pulse designed to
break her balance.
Eleanor didn’t falter. Her muscles absorbed the tremor, her stance flowing with the motion, her feet adjusting in
near imperceptible micro-movements. To an onlooker, it appeared as though she hadn't moved at all.
A flicker of surprise crossed Aria’s eyes. Her heightened senses told her Eleanor should have stumbled... but she
stood utterly composed. Without hesitation, Aria raised her sword and brought it down in a sharp, precise arc.
The blade never reached Eleanor. Instead, it struck the floor, shattering a slab of stone. From the fracture, shards
erupted in a chaotic burst, flying toward Eleanor at unpredictable angles.
Eleanor was forced into motion. She weaved between the shards, twisting her body with dancer-like precision,
deflecting the larger ones with her forearms. The impacts thudded heavily against her guard... solid, punishing
blows that rattled her bones. Her enhanced physique endured them, but she could feel the sheer force behind
each fragment.
Aria closed the distance in an instant, her claws extending with deadly precision. She slashed for Eleanor’s torso,
a strike that could have shredded any armour. Eleanor ducked and pivoted, the claws slicing through the air just
inches from her skin. She knew taking such a hit head-on could cause serious injury.
For several minutes, the arena rang with the rhythm of combat... the crash of stone, the whip of wind, the
metallic rasp of blades meeting bare fists. Aria’s onslaught was relentless, a storm of earth and precision.
Eleanor countered with pure agility and disciplined technique, every movement calculated, efficient. Yet even
she found herself slowly driven back towards the edge of the ring beneath the unending pressure of Aria’s
furious assault.
Just as Aria’s relentless assault began to slow, Eleanor seized the moment. She knew that her mixed martial arts
would be at a disadvantage against an earth user who could reinforce her body with elemental fortification... but
she decided to strike regardless. Testing her limits was part of the fight.
Aria sensed the shift instantly. She slammed her foot down, sending a visible ripple of force coursing through the
arena floor in a wide cone, aimed to unbalance and buckle Eleanor’s stance.
This time, Eleanor didn’t brace herself. Instead, she launched upward, her muscles coiling and releasing in a
single, explosive motion. She soared clear of the shockwave in a graceful vertical leap, her hair whipping through
the air as the tremor rolled harmlessly beneath her.
As she descended, Aria was already ready... knees bent, sword raised, prepared to counter.
But Eleanor had anticipated it. In mid-air, she twisted her body, electricity crackling faintly along her leg. She
channelled her Bolt Step... not for speed, but to add devastating weight to a descending axe kick aimed straight
at the crown of Aria’s head.
Sensing the imminent danger, Aria abandoned her stance and rolled aside with a blur of feline agility. Eleanor’s
heel struck the ground where she had been standing, cracking the arena floor with a deep, thunderous boom
that reverberated through the stands.
Aria countered immediately. Slamming both hands onto the floor, she summoned an Earthen Fist... a massive,
sculpted hand of rock that erupted from beneath Eleanor, reaching to crush her in its grip.
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed. In the half-formed structure, her ability identified its weakest point in an instant. Her
right fist flashed forward with precise, sharp, unstoppable force. The impact shattered the construct before it
could close around her, fragments of stone exploding outward in a violent spray.
Aria had already leapt back, widening the distance between them. She thrust her hand toward the sky,
summoning a hail of stones that rained down in a merciless cascade.
Eleanor spun into motion. Her body beca whirlwind of strikes, fists and feet blurring too fast for the eye to
follow. Each rock that descended met a crushing blow, splintering into shards, dust, and grit before touching her.
The air filled with the staccato rhythm of shattering stone and the swirling haze of pulverised debris, a storm of
dust and power centred around a single, unwavering figure... Eleanor Raynor, calm within the chaos she created.
Just as the last fragments of stone clattered to the floor, Eleanor made her decision. The fight had dragged on
long enough. She had no intention of wasting energy against a fortress of earth.
With a calm exhale, she activated Mental Lock, Mind Acceleration, and Overdrive... all at once.
The world around her vanished into
abstraction. The dust, the falling
gravel, the N9YELY.. glossed
toes here Was only Aria
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Nightwind, frozen within Eleanor’s
sharpened focus... her rhythm, her
motion, her next move already
written. The content is on
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Her Bolt Step ignited, and she surged forward in a tight, zigzagging pattern, her feet brushing the ground for
barely a heartbeat each time. The air crackled faintly with each instantaneous displacement.
Sensing the charge, Aria raised an
Earth Wall, a slab of solid earth broad
- p
as a fortress gate. Yi Eeapanduint
Ray itpstesd sh ran up it... three
small bolt steps up the sheer vertical
surface before vaulting over its top, a
flash of white and gold arcing above
the barrier. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Aria looked up just in tto see Eleanor descending. Panic flickered in her eyes.
With a desperate growl, Aria slammed both feet into the ground, channelling a surge of raw power. A massive
Earthen Fist erupted upward, a clenched giant's hand punched the airborne girl.
Eleanor twisted mid-air and vanished in a flash of lightning. A perfectly timed micro Bolt Step displaced her body
mere inches... just enough to let the stone fist roar past harmlessly beneath her.
She lightly landed inside Aria’s guard. Aria froze for half a second, startled and exposed. Then she swung her
sword in reflex.
But she was too slow for Eleanor who was on overdrive.
Eleanor’s right hand was already glowing with arcs of electricity dancing across her palm. The air cracked, the
sound sharp and surgical.
Aria’s Stone-Skin Infusion shimmered across her body, coating her in mineral armour... a powerful defence
against blades and flalike. But against lightning... it was the perfect conduit.
, s .
Eleanor's palm met Aria’s sternum in
a single, precise thrust. All that could
be seen was a flashy Tien. @ SUhY
like glass $Aabping under pressure
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cfrom Aria’s body. The scent of
ozone and scorched stone filled the
arena. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
The surge of lightning bypassed the armour entirely, conducting through it, spearing into Aria’s core. Her
muscles seized; her sword slipped from her fingers; her eyes went wide in a single frozen instant.
The convulsion lasted only a breath. Then she went still and the arena was silent except for the faint hiss of
dissipating energy.
Eleanor lowered her hand, her expression unreadable. The fight was over long before Aria’s body hit the ground.
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