Twin Soul

Merlara rolled herself toward Githa regardless of the Earthen Hawk repeatedly casted [Earth Blast] spell toward her. She has dodged it all so far using [Thunder Step] since her speed was increased to a hundred times faster. Merlara could feel her mana pool is getting closer to depletion and she will need to defeat Githa as soon as possible. Merlara successfully rolled back into fifty feet radius of Githa’s location. Even so, she continued to roll around to avoid being hit by the [Earth Blast] casted by Earthen Hawk regardless of how many new injuries she received from the [Earthquake]. Merlara’s [Storm Bringer] has finally broken through the Earthen Hawk’s defense and killed it. A minute later, it also broke through Githa’s [Stone Skin]. Githa has been prepared for it that was why he had [Tree of Life] as the next spell in her ready to cast list.

Githa casted [Tree of Life] and the Healing Tree appeared. The Healing Tree was instantly received a [Thunder Strike] spell created by Merlara’s [Storm Bringer]. The Healing Tree healed Githa and itself while angrily sprinted toward Merlara. Because Merlara was rolling on the ground, she couldn’t see the Healing Tree sprinting due to her eyesight being reduced by the [Sandstorm]. At the time Merlara noticed the Healing Tree, it repeatedly punched her in the stomach using various branches while continuously healing Githa and itself from new injuries caused by [Storm Bringer].

Merlara refused to be defeated by the Healing Tree, she activated [Mana Infusion] and casted [Thunder Claws] toward it. Twelve out of the thirty-seven Thunder Claws were created and killed the Healing Tree within seconds. The other twenty-five Thunder Claws flew toward Githa. Githa was managed to finish chanting and casted the [Stone Skin] spell four times to create four layers of [Stone Skin] to help her survive against the Thunder Claws because the twenty-five Thunder Claws broke through three layers of Githa’s [Stone Skin] and definitely kill her if it can break through the last layer.

Merlara’s mana pool was depleted, but her [Storm Bringer] still had more than six minutes left. Merlara slowly crawled her way toward Githa. Githa stopped her [Earthquake] spell because her mana was also near depletion. The thing she needed to focus on now is to survive until Merlara’s [Storm Bringer] spell duration expired. If Githa’s mana pool gets depleted then she will lose this match.

Because the Earthquake had stopped, Merlara gained balance again and ran toward Githa using her normal speed since she has no mana left to use [Thunder Step]. This gave Githa enough time to chant for [Stonefist] and she casted it before Merlara could step into the fifty feet radius. Merlara quickly dodged to the side to avoid the [Stonefist] but another [Stonefist] was immediately casted and broke her ankles. Merlara fell on the ground but she refused to give up. Merlara had trained very hard for a dream and her dream was about to be achieved. She won’t let the broken ankles get in her way. Merlara slowly crawled herself toward Githa regardless of how painful her ankles were caused.

Githa tapped into her mana pool and saw it had about five percent left. Githa quickly calculated and understood that she can cast another [Stonefist] then use the last of three percent of her mana to maintain the last layer of [Stone Skin]. Thinking so, Githa casted [Stonefist] again and this time it hit Merlara on the chin that broke her neck.

The arena announcer patiently waited for four seconds and confirmed Merlara was no longer moving, he announced, “Merlara was either killed or-” The announcer stopped as he saw Merlara started moving again.

“I still have five minutes left in my [Storm Bringer], I can do it.” Merlara told herself while she continued crawling toward Githa despite having a broken neck and six teeth falling off caused massive bleeding that occurred in her mouth. Githa calmly walked back to keep her distance away from Merlara but there is a limit. If Githa stepped out of the arena’s boundaries then she would be disqualified.

“She can’t crawl all the way over here.” Githa thought to herself as she walked toward the arena boundaries line.

“Four minutes left, I can do it.” Merlara continued to convince herself while she was crawling toward Githa’s location.

Whatever should happen, will happen. Merlara crawled into the fifty feet radius and the [Storm Bringer] repeatedly casted powerful [Thunder Strike] on Githa but unable to break through her last layer of [Stone Skin]. There is still more than three minutes left, Merlara was confident that it will be enough to break through Githa’s [Stone Skin]. Both Merlara and Githa are level 30 Mages. They could both guess each other's maximum mana pool. Based on Merlara calculation, Githa only has approximately two percent mana pool left. Each time a [Thunder Strike] created by [Storm Bringer] hit Githa, she will have to infuse more mana to keep her [Stone Skin] spell going. Merlara knows how powerful her [Storm Bringer] is, it will only take another minute to either break through Githa’s [Stone Skin] or eat away the remaining of Githa’s mana pool. Either way, Merlara will win this match.

However, things won’t always go as planned. Githa secretly activated [Infused Blood] to tap into the blood pool of her Blood Pendant and used it to maintain her [Stone Skin]. Unlike Kain and Alek, Githa had never used the Blood Pendant until now. Githa has been winning every match in the battle tournament of this year using only her mana pool.

“This is the first and will be the last time I use the Blood Pendant for this battle tournament.” Githa thought to herself while continuing to maintain her [Stone Skin] spell using [Infused Blood].

Githa has been very careful about her true identity as a Blood Mage. Githa has not once used [Infused Blood] for this battle tournament until this match. An Earth Mage gets defeated by a Thunder Mage is unacceptable. Her popularity will go down the drain if she loses. Githa has been working too hard for the battle tournament of this year. Unlike Kain, who was picked for this battle tournament regardless of his recent advancement into Master-tier because Professor Biersack favored him too much. Githa didn't join the Student Mages Battle Tournament ten years ago because she was recently advanced into the Master-tier at the age of eighteen. There would be no chance for Githa to win in the last battle tournament that was why she didn't get chosen to be a contender.