Michael and Ralph stepped into the arena.
"So, you're my second-to-last opponent!" said Michael.
"I hope you put on a better show than last time... in the forest!" Ralph replied with a smirk.
"Yeah, I've gotten stronger since then, and you won't beat me that easily this time!" Michael responded.
"We'll see about that!" said Ralph with the same grin.
"Enough talking! Begin, my friends, begin already!" shouted the old man.
After that, Michael quickly ran to the center of arena, and Ralph, still smirking, followed.
Once in the center, they both decided to use only basic hand-to-hand combat for now — Michael because his magic wasn't fully awakened yet, though he was close, and Ralph simply because he was curious to see what would happen if he didn't use magic in the fight.
After exchanging a series of blows, Michael realized that even though he landed slightly more hits, he was still facing a 9th-rank mage. That meant Ralph probably had much higher resistance to damage. Michael had no idea what kind of power Ralph truly possessed, but he knew Ralph would show it eventually to secure his victory.
That's why Michael decided to rely on his intuition — his ability to sense surrounding magic. He could guess Ralph's position by determining where the magical energy was most concentrated within a few meters.
"There!" Michael thought, blocking an incoming strike. Then, after Ralph's punch landed on his block, Michael countered and hit him.
"What was that just now?" Ralph asked.
Michael responded with a question, "Shall we continue?"
"Yes!" replied Ralph, and the fistfight resumed.
This time, Michael blocked almost all of Ralph's attacks, and most of his punches landed successfully.
"No way! You really have gotten stronger!" said Ralph with a wide, almost crazy smile, "You're not the same person from a month and a half ago — excellent! The idea of beating you suddenly feels so much more exciting!"
"What exactly are you getting at?" Michael asked.
"That it's time I used my magical abilities… and showed you what I can really do," Ralph said.
"This is it! Now he's serious! I've been waiting for this!" Michael thought.
Michael stayed alert — he still didn't know what kind of magic Ralph used, which meant he had no idea how to approach this fight… or even if he could win it.
"Wind Magic: Wind Fist!" Ralph announced, and something invisible began to move around his hands.
"Wind Magic? So that's his element! Wind Fist… is that the name of the technique? I guess that movement I see around his hands is the spell's effect," Michael thought. "I wonder… will I be able to use my own magic like that one day?"
"Well then, let's begin!" said Ralph with a grin.
"You mean… continue!" replied Michael.
Ralph dashed toward Michael and unleashed a flurry of punches. Michael barely managed to block them, but he noticed something — the hits were getting stronger and harder to block. That's because now Ralph's fists carried muscle and compressed air through magic — and air has weight.
Michael realized that his arms wouldn't hold out much longer at this rate. He needed to switch tactics—stop blocking and start dodging.
"I can't last much longer like this," Michael thought, and an idea struck him, "I should start dodging!"
He began evading attacks when possible and didn't forget to strike back — slowly regaining the upper hand.
But then Michael noticed something strange — Ralph had suddenly stopped moving, just out of reach.
Before Michael could figure out what was happening, Ralph shouted, "Explosive Wind Wave!" and the attack hit Michael directly.
"What?! He can do that, too?" Michael thought as he felt the impact.
From that moment, Michael understood Ralph wasn't just dangerous in close quarters — he could hit from mid-range, too.
By knowing this, it would be even harder to land a hit on Ralph. Michael started circling around him, getting closer little by little and striking when he saw an opening.
But Ralph wasn't done showing off — the next time he let Michael get close, he activated the same spell again.
"Explosive Wind Wave!" he called out — but this time, he cast it on his elbow and aimed it in the opposite direction of the strike, using the spell's knockback to reposition.
"So he can even use the spell like that?" Michael thought, impressed.
The fight went on. Michael was starting to feel tired, while Ralph — who still hadn't gone all-out — showed no signs of exhaustion.
"Hah… hah…" Michael panted, pausing for a moment.
"What's the matter, Michael? Already tired? I haven't even shown you everything yet!" Ralph said with a grin.
"No way! I'm just getting started!" Michael smiled back.