~Chapter 4: Magic and Cornwells~

Eve looked surprised, stunned as Chung held her dearly in his arms, kissing her forehead. She blushed lightly before hugging Chung back. Chung grinned and held her hand, pulling her towards the front of the crowd, waiting for the next announcement.

Elsword looked bored as hell, his eyes were looking somewhere else, his arms were crossed. He had fun, sparring against Raven, but then that had to end all because of these stupid battles. Students in the academy were strong, however, they lack in many things at the same time. Elsword closed his eyes for a moment to think about his strategy, but then, someone crashed into him.

"S-sorry! Are you hurt?"

He opened his eyes and glared at the idiot who crashed into him which was Aisha. Aisha looked worried and held her hand to him. Elsword stared at her hand with cold eyes before slapping it away, refusing her help. He began to walk to the front alongside Chung and Eve.

Aisha's violet eyes gazed at him with annoyance as she held the hand that was slapped away by Elsword. Aisha knew that Elsword was a difficult person to get along with, but she wanted to be his friend and support him, however, his independence and coldness was starting to get on her nerves.

'I just wanted to help him up, and yet he refused it as if he doesn't want me around. Then again, he's always like that around others... Or is it because i bumped into him? I didn't mean to, and yet he's mad at me for that? Maybe not.. I don't think he's that kind of person, but then he could be.. His face is so hard to read for his emotions! If only he's more open then it would be easy and i could find a way to be his friend and support him.. But then... I don't even know much about him, nor do i know much of his family, the Red Knights. I can't help, but feel attracted to him.. Is it because of our differences?'

"Students of Elrios Academy! Your opponents will be chosen randomly, and each battle has a time limit. 30 minutes for every battle. If you win, you will move on and your next opponent will be waiting for you. The battles will continue until the victor comes out. You may go full power if you want, don't go easy on your opponents just because they're your friends!"

'Looks like it'll be an all out war... I guess no one would be sleeping unless there is a victor. Winning is pretty much useless... After all, the prize is just a trophy, a coupon to skip out on homework, and a chance to get the gear they need according to their choice of class and weapons. It's technically useless.. I don't see any point in this, but then.. We're not normal teens..'

Aisha sighed as she moved to a corner as she waited for her name to be called to fight against her opponent in an arena. Rena clutched her sword and bow, feeling confident and excited. She looked towards Eve and Chung who were holding hands, and she softly giggled.

'Eve and Chung... These battles won't get in the way of them getting together~ Hmm.. If they're going to face each other, then it's most likely that Chung will hold back against Eve while Eve will probably hesitate in her attacks, causing low damage to Chung. If they're both standing even after the time limit, then it'll be a tie...'

"Cheve... That shall be their name for now. Eh... I should be focusing on the battle, not on Eve and Chung, but then again, those two are always so distracting..."

Rena continued on mumbling to herself about Eve and Chung, Raven looked at her with an eyebrow raised. He sighed and stared at Chung and Elsword.

'Elsword is a worthy opponent.. His swordsmanship rivals against my own. Chung, he may not use swordsmanship, but however, his Destroyer is enough to make me respect him and recognize his own abilities. Both are worthy opponents that will make me go all out against them.. If luck is on my side, either Chung or Elsword will be facing me and i get to go all out against them without tiring them or giving them any serious injuries.'

Eve's head was filled with Chung and the kiss earlier. She could still feel her face growing hot. Eve glanced at Chung from the corner of her eyes and realized that Chung had been staring at her for a while with a smile. Her blush grew darker as she pretended that she hadn't notice him staring at her.

Chung had an urge to hug Eve once again and kiss the corner of her golden eyes, her forehead, her nose, her cheek and finally her soft lips. He blushed lightly as his desire for Eve grew.

'Eve... If she still had our memories from the past... Will she accept my love for her? WIll she accept someone as pathetic as me? Eve... The fact that i'm getting possessive of her, overprotective of her is not helping much either...'

"First battle! Chloe of the Dark VS Raven of the Crow Mercenary Knights! To the rocky region of the arena!"

Raven steps out from his spot and walked towards his destination, while other students went to their seats, waiting for Raven to end the battle and their turn to fight. Chloe smirked as she held her bow up, ready to fight against Raven.

Raven sighed deeply as he stared at Chloe, knowing that she might not match up to him, but he should give her a chance. At the sound of the bell, he dashed towards Chloe and raised his blade against her. However, before anything happened, Chloe jumped high into the air and shot arrows at him repeatedly.

Chloe began to do backflips as she repeatedly shoot arrows at him. Eventually, she stopped and summoned minions to aid her in battle. Loads of arrows came across Raven, burying him under the load. Chloe stopped her attacks and her minions disappeared. She smiled as she walked towards Raven. However, that was a mistake. Raven suddenly jumped up and impaled his blade into the ground. He immediately pulled his blade out and slashed Chloe within seconds.

"Giga Drive... One Flash..."

Chloe was on the ground, her bow and arrows far away from her. The bell rang once again, and there was at least 20 minutes left. Raven walked away and went back to his position. This had continued on for a while now. Chung won his fight against Lowe. Eve won hers against Apple, Elsword won against Edan, Rena won against Speka, Ara won against Noah, and Aisha won against Lime.

Aisha sighed as she laid back against the chair, yawning, as she thought about the remaining 10 students including her.

'Chung... Eve... Raven... Rena... Ara.. Proto...Amelia... Valak... Me... And finally Elsword.. Most of the strong people are left now. The chances of me dominating this is 0%... I'm surprised that i even made it this far. I wonder who'll be my next opponent.. Eve? Ara? Rena? Raven? Chung? Or-'

"Aisha of the Elemental Masters VS Elsword of the Red Knights! To the forest region!"

'Elsword...'

Elsword looked at Aisha before heading towards the forest region. Aisha just sighed deeply before muttering to herself, and she disappeared into the forest region, waiting for Elsword's arrival. The moment she got there, the bell had rung, and Elsword was already behind her. Elsword slashed his blade down, and looked up, expecting to see Aisha injured from his slash, but however, Aisha had teleported somewhere else, evading the attack.

She smirked lightly, and soon she was behind him. She raised her staff and Elsword was frozen, unable to move. Aisha used that moment to cast a stream of lightning, knocking Elsword away while receiving full damage as the magic on him wears off.

"Binding Circle... Lightning Bolt."

Elsword turned around, holding his Cornwell, thinking of throwing it and use 'Maelstrom Rage' and then use 'Final Strike' against Aisha, however, she was already out of sight. He stayed calm and tried to sense her presense, however, by the time he figured it out, he was already in her trap.

"Shit!"

"Binding Circle! Infernal Wave!"

Elsword was frozen in his spot, Aisha slammed her staff doing some physical damage against Elsword before casting a stream of lightning and a burning fire meteor. Elsword was knocked away, his blade and Cornwell was impaled in the ground. He glared at Aisha who had smiled softly and raised her staff. Soon, the air around him was cold as he stood up.

Elsword looked up in the sky and there were ice shards falling down from the sky, and about five of them came to his direction. He decided to risk it, and ran towards Aisha. Aisha narrowed her eyes slightly, and was about to land a hit on him with her staff, however, Elsword dodged it and kicked her in the stomach before running past her, evading the ice shards just in time to pull his blade and Cornwell out.

'Aisha... She's unexpectedly good. She's actually really strong. I underestimated her way too much. I should just enjoy this battle with her. Let's see how strong she really is. Aisha of the Elemental Masters...'

"Assault Slash!"

The moment Aisha stood up, Elsword had dashed towards her, slashing her with his blade continuously. He immediately turned around and slashed her with as much force as he can. Aisha was knocked down before she knew what was happening.

"Mega Slash."

Aisha pushed herself up, and began to cast another skill of hers. Elsword began to charge his blade and flames began to swirl around it. Elsword dashed in front of her and smashed his flaming sword in the ground, causing a burning fire geyser to appear.

"Flame Geyser!"

However, Aisha was able to teleport away just in time to evade it and there was a sign of flames under her feet. Aisha was now behind Elsword, leaning against his back while holding him back with 'Binding Circle'. The flames below her feet, continuouly burn Elsword.

"Blaze Step~"

The moment 'Binding Circle' wore off, Elsword turned around to 'Mega Slash', however Aisha shot two fireballs at him and her staff released a frostbite globe towards him at the end and teleported away to evade his attack.

Elsword took that chance and slashed Aisha with his blade, dealing an additional damage with one of his skills 'Phantom Sword'. Aisha was knocked down, and Elsword decided to deal more damage to Aisha. He smashed his blade down on the ground and three flame geysers appeared and burned Aisha.

"Triple Geyser!"

Aisha slowly got up from Elsword's attack and panted heavily, holding her arm. While Elsword leaned on his blade, trying to stand up, slightly smirking.

'Aisha... She's good... But let's see if she can still stand after this attack..'

Aisha stared at Elsword's face, looking for any signs of emotions, and there was one, enjoyment. Her eyes widened slightly before she smiled and stood up straight, raising her staff.

'Elsword. I'm glad he's enjoying the fight. If he's planning to finish this battle now before the time limit, then i'd better use my own attack to counter him and finish him off as well. He's not a cold person, inside, he's a warm and generous person who loves to spar against strong opponents, to sharpen his skills... I can tell just by looking at that expression on his face... I'll make sure that this battle will be carved into his head forever.'

Aisha's eyes narrowed as she casted 'Blaze Step', internal flames appeared below her feet as she dashed towards Elsword, casting 'Binding Circle' at the same time. She stopped in her tracks as she realized the magic circle below her and the Cornwell stabbed in the ground. Aisha's eyes widened as she immediately casted 'Infernal Wave' which occured at the same time as 'Rage Cutter'. Both attacks clashed and a explosion filled up the whole forest region.

'Elsword... You better remember this moment. This is the first time i've seen you enjoy a fight and the first time that you showed your emotions...'

'Aisha, for a magician, you actually fought on even terms with me.. In fact, you're probably better than Raven.. During the battle, i could feel myself smiling, feeling emotions after so many years.. I'll remember this battle for as long as i live...'

~Author's Note~

Yes! I completed this chapter of battling to the death between our beloved Aisha and Elsword! Selecting Aisha's skills was hard though... I had a hard time choosing the skills, since this is 1v1, not multiple enemies, and some of her strong skills are for multiple enemies, so it was difficult. Same with Elsword for his strongest skills.

I'm sorry if this is boring. I thought it was so... Dull... Well, i hope you enjoy it though. _ And yes, i skipped other students' battles because i just want to jump to Aisha and Elsword's battle.

The students Chung, Eve, Raven, Rena, Elsword, and Aisha defeated were the "Epic NPC's". I wanted to let the main characters enjoy the moment of defeating "S" or "SS" rank. But a few of the "Epic NPC's" made it to the remaining 10... :D

Here are my replies to my wonderful reviewers:

TsukixnoEvernight: Yes, you got it right! :D You have won a prize! XD Well, if you want, you can make a little scene for a couple in the story, and i'll try to write it out in one of the future chapters. :P That is, if you want to. What you said makes sense to me, so no need to worry. :3 I'll try to keep up with this pace for at least about 3 months..? Or maybe until the end of the story.. :D I'll update within 2 days like always, so don't worry about my current pace. :P You better update your story, i'm currently waiting for "The Other Side" and "This World". Although, don't rush :3 I'll be waiting for your stories to be updated though, i'm supporting you!

Kat983: Lol~ *hugs back* :3 I have the next chapter ready for you now, my queen. You may now start reading. And what is it that you want my help with? I'll try to help in any way i can. :3

Thanks for reading!

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