They got to the arena quickly thanks to their speed and Lynx supporting them. Lira was the fastest among the girls. Surprising the girls but not Lynx. He already knew she was fast.
They met Teacher Thomas there on the stage.
Thomas was huge. 60 years old. SSS Rank Earth. And he was smiling like he’d been waiting all day.
Lynx knew instantly why he was called.
He knew somehow after his trending fight with Teacher Jace many Teachers would want to have a duel with him. It won’t even suprise him if Year 4 teachers come to him.
"I knew you’d show up," Thomas said, cracking his knuckles, the sound echoing, "Smart Kid. Now you’re here, let me get straight to the point." He paused "Let’s have a duel."
Kira and the girls shifted uncomfortably, this Teacher was know for his brute strength rather than his affinity. They saw Lynx face and knew he expected it. The three girls just walked over to the stands hugging Lynx and telling him to be careful.
Lynx rolled his shoulders and stepped on the stage, the silver mark on his forehead glowing faintly, "Alright. Don’t hold back."
Thomas laughed, deep and loud, "Like hell I would."
He sealed the stage with a translucent barrier to avoid destroying things in the arena.
Lynx looked at the ground. Looked at Big Muscled Thomas. Looked at the girls watching from the stands
This was going to be fun.
Only five people were inside the Arena. Lynx, Kira, Emily, Lira, and Teacher Thomas Brutus. The barrier was up, a translucent wall sealing them in, and the air was already heavy, like before a storm.
Thomas cracked his neck. The sound echoed. Throughout the Arena. Lira flinched from the sound.
"You showed up here late kid. Read my text and still showed up late." he said, smiling, but it wasn’t a nice smile. It was the kind that said he’d been waiting to hit something, "I don’t like it when student do that you know."
Lynx rolled his shoulders again. His silver mark caught the light, "My bad. Got distracted."
"Distracted," Thomas repeated, and he laughed, deep and loud, "By girls? By fame? By the fact that you just took five slots from the Academy?"
Lynx didn’t answer.
Thomas pointed at Lira, who was looking at Lynx with a worried expression, "You green haired girl. Record this match. But don’t livestream."
Lira nodded fast, hands shaking as she lifted her phone. Her green hair fell over her face. She was nervous like this was the first time she’d ever been in an arena.
Kira and Emily stood off to the side, arms crossed. They weren’t too scared. They’d seen Lynx fight Jace. But this was different. This was Earth. Thomas’s domain. Although Kira had seen how good Lynx was with his Earth Affinity, she was still worried.
Thomas was huge. 60 years old, built like a mountain, every muscle carved from years of training. SSS Rank Earth Affinity. And he had a blessing that made him even worse.
Lynx checked him one last time.
[Name: Thomas Brutus
Age: 60
Affinity: Earth SSS Rank
Blessing: Mountain’s Endurance - damage taken reduced by 40%, stamina drain reduced by 50%
HP: 100,000/100,000
MP: 110,000/110,000
STR: 80,000
AGI: 30,000
STA: 70,000
INT: 15,000
DEF: 70,000
Title: Teacher at AETHER Blessed Academy. Known for his brute strength.]
’The guy is fucking strong,’ Lynx thought. ’But I’ve killed and Eaten that Behemoth when k was weak. This is nothing.’
Thomas slammed his foot down. The ground shook.
"Rules are simple," he said, "I won’t kill. Nor cripple you. But Everything else is fair game."
Lynx nodded once.
Thomas moved first.
He didn’t run. He didn’t need to. He drove his fist straight into the ground, and the entire stage buckled. A pillar of stone shot up, thick as a tree, aiming right for Lynx’s chest.
Lynx sidestepped. The pillar missed by an inch and crashed into the barrier behind him, dust exploding everywhere.
"Fast," Thomas grunted, already moving again. He was on Lynx in the next second, fist coming in straight, no tricks, just brute strength behind it.
Lynx caught it.
The impact sent a shockwave through the arena. And the stage was sealed. The stone under their feet cracked. Lynx’s feet dug in, but he didn’t move back. He looked Thomas in the eyes and smiled.
"Not bad," he said.
Thomas’s eyes widened for half a second. Then he roared and swung with his other arm.
Lynx ducked. The wind from the punch ruffled his hair. He came up with an uppercut of his own, straight to Thomas’s jaw.
The sound was like a boulder hitting a wall.
Thomas skidded back five feet, shaking his head. Blood on his lip.
"You’re not using lightning," Thomas said, wiping it away, "I watched your fight with Jace. I though you could use only Lightning. You’re a lightning monster. Why use Earth?"
Lynx shurruged "Because you’re an Earth teacher. And I wanted to see if you were worth the title. Common sense."
Thomas laughed, but it was angry now, "You arrogant little—"
He slammed both fists into the ground.
Spikes erupted everywhere. Ten, twenty, all of them aimed at Lynx. But Lynx was already in the air, jumping, twisting, landing lightly on top of one of the spikes and then driving his foot down. The stone shattered under his weight.
He landed in front of Thomas and threw a jab.
Thomas blocked with his forearm. The force still pushed him back.
They traded for the next five minutes like that. Punch, block, kick, dodge. No big spells. No fancy techniques. Just strength against strength.
Thomas was a tank. Mountain’s Endurance meant every hit Lynx landed did 40% less damage, and he barely got tired. But Lynx didn’t feel pain. His body calculated every hit, every angle, and when he connected, he connected to break.
"You’re strong," Thomas said between breaths, "Stronger than any student I’ve trained or most Trained Blessed I’ve fought. But I’ve been doing this for forty four years."
"And I’ve been doing this for a month... a year technically but still a month," Lynx replied, and he moved.
Feint left. Thomas bit and blocked. Lynx’s real strike came from below, an elbow to the ribs that lifted Thomas off his feet and sent him crashing into the barrier. Cracks spiderwebbed across the translucent wall.
Thomas got up slowly. Breathing hard now.
"Again," he said.
He drove his fist into the ground and the floor turned to magma, glowing red, heat washing over the arena. He pulled the molten stone up, shaping it around his fist like a gauntlet.
"Let’s see how you handle this," he growled, and charged.
Lynx met him head on.
Their fists collided. The shockwave blew dust across the entire arena. Lira’s phone shook in her hands. Kira stepped forward instinctively, then stopped herself. What was she even going to do there.
For ten minutes they didn’t stop.
Thomas would slam the ground and try to bury Lynx in rock. Lynx would shatter it and hit back. Thomas would grab him and try to crush him with brute strength. Lynx would twist out and counter with two hits to the ribs.
Blood was on both of them now. Thomas’s lip was split. Lynx had a cut on his cheek, but it was already closing. Primordial Healing working in the background, washing away fatigue, washing away pain.
"You’re not even tired," Thomas said, panting, "How?"
Lynx shrugged, "I don’t get tired."
Thomas’s face twisted, "Then I’ll make you."
He stomped, and the entire floor rose up, turning into a wave of stone that crashed toward Lynx. Lynx didn’t dodge. He ran straight into it, punching through, and came out the other side with stone dust in his hair.
He was in front of Thomas before the teacher could react.
First hit: liver.
Second hit: ribs.
Third hit: jaw.
Each one landed with a crack that echoed off the barrier. Thomas flew back and hit the ground hard, sliding.
He pushed himself up on one arm, blood dripping from his mouth, "You little—"
Lynx was already there. He grabbed Thomas by the collar and pulled him up, then drove his knee into his stomach. Thomas doubled over. Lynx let go and hit him with a straight right that sent him spinning.
Thomas caught himself on the barrier. He was breathing hard, really hard now. Mountain’s Endurance could only do so much.
"Thirty minutes," he muttered, "We’ve been going for thirty minutes, and you’re not even winded."
Lynx tilted his head, "Is that all you’ve got, teacher?"
Thomas roared. It wasn’t words. It was pure frustration. He slammed both hands down again and the ground beneath him exploded upward, turning into a massive fist of stone, easily ten feet wide, and he swung it at Lynx.
Lynx didn’t dodge.
He stepped in.
He caught the wrist of the stone fist with both hands, muscles straining, then he drove his own fist into the center of it.
The stone shattered.
And his punch kept going, right into Thomas’s stomach. He wasn’t going all that out. He had his Blessings, he had his demon strength and skills, he had other affinities even a rare one that no human has. He was just going Earth to Earth. Strength to Strength. Human to Human.
The barrier cracked.
Thomas dropped to his knees, gasping, staring up at Lynx with something between disbelief and respect. Blood on his chin. His arms shaking.
"You..." he wheezed, "You’re not even human."
Lynx offered a hand. Pulled him up.
"You’re strong, teacher," he said, "Really strong. But I’m stronger."
Thomas looked at him. Looked at the silver mark, at the eyes, at the body that wasn’t even bruised.
Then he muttered, barely audible, "This kid... he might be the strongest Blessed in human history."
Lynx’s Primordial Healing flared. The cut on his cheek vanished. The dust on his body fell off. He looked like he’d just woken up.
The arena was silent.
Lira dropped her phone.
Kira exhaled like she’d been holding her breath.
Emily just stared, mouth open. They had one thought. "This guy is a monster."
Thomas rubbed his jaw, then laughed, a real laugh this time, "Alright. Alright. You win. You beat me."
Lynx nodded, "Thanks for the fight."
Thomas looked at the cracked barrier, at the destroyed stage floor, then back at Lynx,
This need’s to get fixed. Thank goddess shiva I sealed the stage in the first place. The Arena would have been destroyed."
Lynx just smiled.
Outside the barrier, the girls were already running to him.
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