The crowd made a noise. Half gasp, half confusion.
Kol skidded to a stop. "What the hell..."
Lynx tilted his head. "That it?" He smiled. "Yo Kol. Be honest. You fight like this against everyone, or you don’t wanna mess me up because you got your mom waiting for me. I can tell she’s hot, or am I wrong?"
Kol’s face went red. "You piece of shit..."
"What? I’m just asking," Lynx shrugged. "Does your sister fight better? Maybe I should fight her instead."
Kol roared and slammed his blades into the ground.
"GLACIAL FOREST!"
The Stage exploded. Ice pillars shot up everywhere. 15 of them, they were huge. Trying to trap Lynx, trying to cut him off.
People in the stands leaned forward. His classmates knew this was Kol’s signature move.
Lynx walked through it.
The pillars near him melted before they could touch him. Steam hissed. He wasn’t even looking. He just walked straight, hands still in pockets, like he was taking a stroll.
He stopped behind Kol.
"Bro," Lynx said right in his ear. "Your Ice is cold and all, but it ain’t doing shit. You got anyone at home that can fight better? Your mom? Auntie? Cause this is embarrassing."
Kol spun around swinging. Lynx caught his wrist.
CRUNCH!
Kol yelled. The sound echoed. His wrist snapped and the ice blade fell and shattered.
"GET OFF ME!" Kol tried to pull away but Lynx held on. Frost started crawling up Kol’s arm. From Lynx’s hand to Kol’s shoulder. Cold as hell.
"Stop this fuckin..." Kol gasped.
Lynx let go and stepped back. "Alright alright. Didn’t wanna break you yet."
The students In the stands was dead quiet now. You could hear people breathing. But phones were still out. Nobody in the academy whose not present here right now wanna miss this.
Up in the stands, Peter was standing. His jaw was clenched. "He’s playing with Kol," he muttered. "He’s not even trying."
Daniel next to him was pale. "Dude... Kol is top 10 in your class."
Peter didn’t answer. He just kept watching. Hate in his eyes, but also something else creeping. Fear? Nah... He don’t think so.
On the other side, Ava was on her feet. Both hands cupped around her mouth. "LYNX!! YOU GOT THIS!!" she screamed. Her voice cracked.
The Year 1 students surrounding her were not even paying attention to this pretty hot lady. Their focus was on the godly being on stage right now.
In the Judge Booth, Selene was writing in her notebook. Then she stopped. She stared at Lynx for a long time. Her expression changed. The cold look was gone. Now it was calculation.
"I thought Rose was exaggerating," Selene thought. "Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe."
Back on Stage, Kol was on one knee. Breathing hard. His arm was messed up. Blood was starting to freeze on his skin. He looked up at Lynx with pure hatred.
"You think you’re funny?" Kol spat blood on the ice. "I’m top 10. I’ve beaten people stronger than you."
Lynx laughed. "Dude shut up. You’re top 10 in your class. Not the entire Year 2. Try fighting against some other class and see how you’ll fair"
Lynx crouched down in front of him. "Tell me something. If I beat you this bad, what are people gonna say about your family? ’Oh that’s Kol’s brother, he got washed by some guy who wasn’t even trying.’ That gonna feel good?"
Kol’s eyes went wide. "Don’t you dare talk about my—"
"Or maybe I should meet your mom," Lynx cut him off. "See if she’s got better Ice than you. What you think?"
Kol snapped, his eyes blood red. "This motherfucke-". He slammed both hands on the ground.
"ABSOLUTE ZERO DOMAIN!"
The whole Stage turned white. -40 degrees. The air hurt to breathe. Frost covered everything. This was it. His last move.
Lynx stood in the middle of it.
And the ice around him melted. Not causing even the slightest damage. It Just melted. Like he was a heater.
Kol was on his knees now, out of mana, out of everything.
Lynx walked up to him. Slow and steady.
He raised his hand and hit Kol right in the chest.
It wasn’t fancy, or some heavy ice punch. It was just a causal punch.
For him though.
BOOM!!!
The sound cracked through the arena.
Kol flew.
He went 50 meters across the Stage, skipping off the ice like a rock. He hit the barrier and fell off the Stage.
He didn’t move.
His chest was frozen. A solid sheet of ice from his neck down to his stomach. He was out cold.
For some minutes the whole Arena was silent.
Then chaos.
"OH MY GOD!!"
"DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
"ONE HIT!!"
Ava was screaming. "THAT’S MY— THAT’S LYNX!!" She was jumping up and down.
Peter sat down slowly. He wasn’t looking at Daniel anymore. He was looking at Lynx. Really looking at him.
"Shit," Daniel whispered. "This guy is strong as fuck."
Selene stood up in the booth. She looked at Lynx, then at Kol who was on the stretcher now. The medics were breaking the ice off Kol’s chest... and they weren’t doing a good job. He was breathing but he wasn’t waking up anytime soon.
"Match over," Selene said. Her voice was quieter than usual. "Winner: Lynx Azarion."
Lynx was already walking back. Hands in pockets. Uniform still neat, but colder and more cleaner. He wasn’t sweating at all.
As he came down from the stage the whisper flooded again.
"That really just happened"
"He didn’t use anything else..."
"Who is this guy..."
Lynx sat back down next to Ava. She grabbed his arm immediately.
"You were amazing! That punch! And what you said to him! I thought I was gonna die laughing when you said the thing about his mom!"
Lynx grinned. "Told you to watch, princess."
On the Stage, they were carrying Kol out. Still frozen.
The next match was announced but nobody cared.
Everyone was still talking about the guy who just ended a top 10 student Year 2 Ice Affinity student with one punch and a few jokes.