The next morning, during a break between classes.
Xiao Lin ran over excitedly from the second-year classrooms, pushed open the first-year classroom door, and glanced around before immediately fixing his gaze on Lin Mo, who sat by the window in the back row.
"Lin Mo!" Xiao Lin's booming voice drew the attention of quite a few students who were resting or chatting quietly in the classroom.
"Come on, come on! Fight me again before the holidays start! I'll definitely last a few more moves this time!"
Lin Mo had been staring out the window in a daze. Hearing him, he turned back somewhat helplessly.
He had known Xiao Lin wouldn't stay quiet for long.
A boy sitting in front of him also turned at the commotion, looking ready to enjoy a good show.
Lin Mo looked at the classmate who had just turned around and said, "Sorry for the trouble, but could you tell the teacher for our next class that something's come up and I need to take one class off?"
The classmate readily nodded and thumped his chest. "No problem. Leave it to me. Go ahead, don't worry."
Then he looked at Xiao Lin with obvious sympathy.
Among the academy's younger students, Xiao Lin's illustrious-or rather, fearsome-reputation was known to everyone.
That reputation wasn't because he bullied people, but because he was a notorious battle maniac who wanted to spar whenever he had the chance, seemingly never tiring.
Among the newly enrolled first-years, no one except the monster Lin Mo could last more than a few moves against him.
What gave the first-years some comfort, however, was that Xiao Lin rarely sought them out for sparring. Even when he did, he never forced them, asking for their consent beforehand.
His targets were more often students in his own year or the higher years.
And even among the entire second year, Xiao Lin ranked among the stronger students.
Only one student, whose Soul Power was two levels higher than his, gave him much trouble in a fight. The others were basically no match for him.
He had sought Lin Mo out again this time because he felt signs that his Soul Power bottleneck was loosening, and figured he would likely break through to level seventeen soon.
That was why he had thought of fighting Lin Mo again. After all, among everyone he knew, only Lin Mo could put him under such immense pressure while also being on good terms with him.
And be willing to fight him.
Looking at Xiao Lin's eyes, brimming with fighting spirit, Lin Mo didn't refuse his invitation to spar.
The reason was simple: Charmander had recently made some new gains in his control over his skills and needed a suitable opponent to practice on and test the results.
Xiao Lin was a thick-skinned, tough Power Attack System Soul Master who could take a beating, making him a good practice partner.
Looking at the training ground, Xiao Lin scratched his head in confusion and turned to Lin Mo. "Why did you pick somewhere with such high fire resistance? Isn't that bad for your Charmander?"
Lin Mo merely smiled without explaining much. "It's fine. Let's do it here."
In any case, Xiao Lin would soon experience the reason firsthand.
The two took their places in the center of the grounds, roughly ten meters apart.
"Ready?" Xiao Lin took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening.
Lin Mo nodded.
Almost simultaneously, both gave a low shout.
"Demon Wolf, possess!" Xiao Lin's body transformed again. Gray-black fur sprouted, his hands became sharp claws, and a Yellow Soul Ring rose beneath his feet as a fierce presence spread out.
On the other side, with a slight stir of Lin Mo's thoughts and a flash of red light, Charmander appeared before him.
As soon as the little fellow appeared, he spotted the "old acquaintance" opposite him, and the flame on his tail flared with a whoosh.
His bright eyes stared intently at Xiao Lin, and a low growl filled with fighting spirit rumbled in his throat.
That look made Xiao Lin's heart lurch, and he couldn't help muttering inwardly, This feels a little bad... Doesn't this little fellow seem even more excited than last time?
Lin Mo stood in the rear with his arms folded, watching silently.
He knew very well that even if their Soul Power Levels were equal, Xiao Lin would struggle to last a few moves against Charmander. There was no need for him to give any additional directions.
What was more, although Xiao Lin's Soul Power had reached the peak of level sixteen over the past six months and shown signs of a breakthrough, he had yet to actually break through.
His own Soul Power, meanwhile, had long since risen steadily to level nineteen. The gap between them was anything but small.
"Begin!" Lin Mo called.
Xiao Lin instantly focused and growled, "First Soul Skill, Wolf Transformation!"
The gray glow reappeared across his body, boosting his speed and strength.
He pushed off hard and shot forward, but rather than charging straight at Charmander, he tried to circle around the side, aiming directly for Lin Mo in the rear!
He knew perfectly well that he would be the one to suffer in a head-on clash with Charmander. Only by trying to attack the Soul Master himself might he have a sliver of a chance.
However, Charmander reacted even faster.
He opened his mouth, and with a whoosh, a string of scorching fireballs shot out like a rapid-fire cannon, cutting off Xiao Lin's routes forward and out of the way.
Ember!
Xiao Lin had anticipated this. Gritting his teeth, he had already prepared himself to be burned by the flames, planning to rely on his defense and speed after Wolf Transformation to forcibly swat aside a few Embers and charge straight through.
His claws lashed out repeatedly, trailing gray shadows as he batted apart several fireballs. A familiar burning sensation spread through his hands.
But just as he thought he had found an opening and was about to accelerate forward-
Charmander abruptly drew another breath, his chest swelling slightly. What he expelled next was no longer scattered fireballs, but a great mass of even hotter, more concentrated flames!
The flames rapidly spun and expanded in midair, forming a fiercely burning Fire Spin in the blink of an eye that completely engulfed Xiao Lin as he tried to charge forward!
"What?!" All Xiao Lin could see was scarlet, scorching currents wrapping tightly around his entire body.
The binding force of the spinning flames was so strong that his movements became incredibly sluggish in that instant.
The intense heat seared his fur and skin, sending waves of stinging pain through him. He desperately drove his Soul Power to resist, yet felt as though he had been locked inside a cage of fire.
Xiao Lin was utterly dumbfounded.
He was absolutely certain that the yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring beneath Charmander's feet hadn't lit up just now!
Besides, it wasn't as though he had never seen Charmander's first Soul Skill, Flame Charge. That was a charging Soul Skill, something completely different from the Fire Spin trapping him now!
This mass of scorching flames possessed an extremely strong binding force and the ability to wear him down continuously. Xiao Lin charged this way and that inside it but couldn't break free at all. Instead, his Soul Power was draining rapidly.
Watching from behind, Lin Mo saw Xiao Lin struggling inside the Fire Spin and knew it was time to stop.
He had more or less finished testing the skill's specific effects. If this continued, Xiao Lin might really suffer serious injuries.