Appointment for a Duel

Ever since Yan Jin obtained her Spirit Ring, Icewind Primary Soul Master Academy had been in an uproar. Eager to reestablish her place in the food chain, she got into two or three fights a day.

Some upperclassmen who had obtained Spirit Rings long ago, but whom she had not been confident enough to challenge before, all became her targets.

After she defeated more than a dozen people, Usman, the acknowledged strongest student in the sixth grade, finally accepted her challenge at the urging of others.

Their duel was set for after school one day, in the small woods behind the academy.

There were quite a few witnesses, from first through sixth grade.

Most of the sixth graders stood behind Usman as his supporters. He had come to represent the sixth grade's honor. If they were all beaten by a first grader, they would truly become "the worst class ever."

Quite a few students from first through fifth grade stood behind Yan Jin instead. They had all been beaten into submission by her.

Combat was the standard by which Soul Masters were judged. Though it was not the only standard, driven by their admiration for the strong, they recognized Yan Jin's position as the big sister of the academy.

Usman was a handsome young man with tawny hair and blue eyes, except his pupils were strangely shaped—vertical slits like those of certain reptiles.

"I didn't want to fight you in the first place. This kind of dispute is meaningless, but you've gone too far," Usman said coldly. "For a first grader to do this, you're practically grinding our faces into the dirt."

Yan Jin raised an eyebrow. "The strong are honored, and the weak are humbled. That's the universal rule among Soul Masters, and the universal rule of this world.

"We're both Soul Masters, so conflict between us is unavoidable. Isn't it only natural to test the results of our cultivation through battle?"

Whoosh... Flames ignited around her fist, then quickly went out. Magma seeped from her skin like water stains spreading through a wall, wrapping around her hand.

After all these days of fighting, she had become increasingly proficient with her First Soul Skill and could already control her Martial Soul very well.

Yan Jin had discovered that covering both hands with a layer of magma of moderate thickness was the most cost-effective fighting method. It could bring out the destructive power of her Magma Martial Soul while reducing the expenditure of Soul Power.

The more she fought, the more she understood, and the more grateful she became to Amon.

The Spirit Ring he had helped her choose was a perfect match for her Martial Soul!

"Yan Jin, Level Fourteen Power Attack Battle Spirit Master."

"Usman, Level Fifteen Power Attack Battle Spirit Master."

Usman stared gravely at the molten lava radiating intense heat from his opponent's hands and shouted, "Martial Soul, possess me."

A dark green lizard phantom appeared behind Usman and merged into him.

Fine, dense dark green scales grew across his skin. His hands turned into claws, his tailbone extended, and under the infusion of Soul Power, it became a thick, powerful tail.

Level Fifteen Soul Power surged, filling the air with invisible pressure.

"Oh? Finally, someone decent."

Rather than being alarmed, Yan Jin was delighted. The previous opponents had all been too weak; whenever she threw a full-force punch, she had to worry about killing them.

"Take this." She rushed forward and threw an ordinary straight punch.

Usman answered with an ordinary straight punch of his own, using Soul Power to reinforce the scales on his hand.

Bang!

Yan Jin's strength ultimately could not compare with Usman's after his Beast Martial Soul possession. She staggered back several steps before regaining her footing.

Usman looked at the scales over his fist, more than half of which had already been scorched away, and his heart sank.

Just a moment of contact had caused such an effect. If it had lasted any longer, his hand might have been ruined.

"Heh, not bad." Thicker magma covered Yan Jin's hands, as though she had put on a pair of heavy gloves.

Usman's Spirit Ring suddenly lit up. He opened his mouth wide and fired a green ray from his half-lizard mouth.

Yan Jin's expression changed. She created a large amount of magma before her, forming a shield, while simultaneously sliding sideways with a sidestep.

The ray hesitated slightly before piercing through the shield.

Pure attack-type Soul Skills had this advantage. In battles between opponents of the same level, they were nearly unstoppable.

The brief moment bought by the shield was enough for Yan Jin to evade the attack, and she immediately counterattacked.

"Magma Shot!"

Despite the name, she was merely shaping the magma into a ball the size of a baseball, then swinging her arm hard to throw it.

In Amon's original conception, this was supposed to simulate a volcanic eruption, blasting magma out like bullets through an eruption of Soul Power.

However, Yan Jin did not possess such refined control and could not achieve that, so she took a shortcut by substituting the force of her arm swing.

Naturally, it did not have much offensive power, but it could create an effective distraction.

Usman swept an arm before himself and blocked the ball that had been flying at his face.

The magma scattered under the force of his arm. Scattered droplets landed on his body, scorching black patches into his scales.

"What a troublesome Martial Soul." He frowned.

Amon had appeared among the watching students at some point. He adjusted his Monocle, a smile on his face.

"Teacher Amon, why are you here?" A student recognized him and grew somewhat nervous.

What they were doing could be considered gathering to fight, something the academy explicitly prohibited. He worried that if Amon reported it, the academy would punish them.

Amon said gently:

"Don't be nervous. I'm only an assistant instructor, not the dean of discipline. Besides, I teach combat techniques. Students are still earnestly seeking sparring partners after school and practicing through actual combat. Shouldn't I be pleased by such a motivated attitude?"

"Tch..." A sixth grader sneered.

Many upperclassmen did not think much of Amon. They were about the same age, and some even had higher Soul Power than him, so naturally they looked down on this unofficial teacher.

Amon did not care about their attitude in the slightest. He merely watched the battle in the field.

Seeing that his Soul Skill had failed to secure victory, Usman did not use it again. Though pure offensive Soul Skills were nearly unstoppable, they also consumed a great deal of Soul Power, and he could not use it many times.

The battle once again became close-quarters brawling.

Yan Jin expanded the area covered by magma, forcing Usman to invest more Soul Power into strengthening his scales' defenses.

Due to the characteristics of his Martial Soul, Usman had to expend far more Soul Power than Yan Jin to offset the effects of the intense heat with each contact. Otherwise, extensive burns awaited him.

The scales of battle continued tipping toward Yan Jin. Usman used his Soul Skill again, attempting one last gamble, only for it to be blocked head-on by the large amount of magma Yan Jin created.

In the end, he was knocked to the ground by Yan Jin's punch, unwilling to accept defeat.

"Oh, I won!" Yan Jin raised both hands and waved to signal to those supporting her.

The sixth graders, meanwhile, fell silent.

They were generally five years older than Yan Jin. Yet despite that five-year gap, this was the result. Even Usman, the most talented and strongest among their grade, had lost. It was difficult for them to accept.

"Heh... As expected, there really is a gap between people." Usman got to his feet with a bitter smile.

He had quite a few burns on his body, but none were serious.

Another girl with a healing-type Martial Soul hurried over to treat his injuries.

"Hehe, what do you think?" Yan Jin looked at Amon, an eager expression appearing on her face again.

"Not bad." Amon extended his thumb and index finger into the shape of a gun and pointed it at Yan Jin.

Yan Jin shuddered, recalling the brutal beating from before, and immediately calmed down.