Sparring!

I lead the five new members into the arena. I walk to the center of the arena and look around. I see there are about thirty feet from me and each of the walls. The walls surround us in a circle and the ground is just dirt. We thought of using stone but decided this would be better since most Dungeons are outdoors. There's a magic device underground that can repair the floor. So if we blow it up, or break it during training, it can be repaired. I turn to the others after seeing Asami, Marlo, and Irene in the stands.

"Okay, would any of you like to go first?" I ask them while swapping into my armor. Chase steps forward after a moment.

"I will if no one else wants to." He says, and none of the others speak up. I nod and ask them to give us some space. I ask Mavis to start us off.

"Three... Two... One... Start!" Mavis shouts a little awkwardly. Since Chase uses strength-enhancing magic, I should fight him up close. But let me Observe him before we start. I think before Mavis starts the match.

Chase Storm Lvl 14, Class: Strength Mage, Title: Newbie, RP: 49, Hearts: 0, Weak: None

HP: 350/350 MP: 200/200

As soon as I finish reading, he rushes me. He doesn't move too fast, at least compared to Luna, Innu, and I. But he reaches me from nearly fifteen feet away in a matter of seconds. I wait for him to get to me. I dodge his first punch by stepping to my left. He swivels on his feet and throws another at me. I grab his right arm and pull while moving to my right. He stumbles past me and turns back around. He doesn't seem to be able to handle changes to his momentum. He stumbles so much from me pulling him. Then again, he probably doesn't have much combat experience, if any. So he doesn't know how to handle himself against something that'll fight back. Then again, what monster gently pulls someone like that? I think before raising my arms. I block his next punch, wanting to get an idea of his strength.

-13 Dmg

13 damage? I am wearing my armor and I have Iron Skin. Not to mention the Milestones and Augment Body upgrades that raised my body's natural defense. That might not be as bad as I thought then. I think as I step back. I raise my left leg and perform a high kick, aiming for his head. I make sure to slow my kick down a bit. He notices and stops before jumping back. I did have to slow down more before he dodged. He saw my kick coming before he reacted. He either panicked or he couldn't react on time. He'll need to train his reaction time them. Chase takes a deep breath before rushing me again. I do notice he's breathing a little heavily. I Observe him again and see he's almost out of mana. He punches me again, and I block with my arms again.

-19 Dmg

19? He increased his damage by 50%. That's pretty impressive, but it seems to use all his mana now. Then I'll test his speed next. I think before rushing him. I throw a punch for his head and he ducks. He counters, going for a sucker punch on my jaw. I grab his wrist with my left hand and pull while raising my right knee. I go to kick his head with it before stopping before I connect. That counter was impressive, he reacted faster than when he dodged my kick. Was it because he enhanced his strength or is he just good at hand-to-hand combat? He might've tried boxing before, he fights like the boxers I see on TV. I think before stepping back and helping him up.

"That was great Chase. You surprised me with that counter. Do you have experience boxing?" I ask causing him to sigh.

"Yeah, but you still managed to stop it. How do you keep grabbing my arms like that?" He asks.

"Because I have more experience. I predict where you're attacking and move accordingly. I knew you'd go for my jaw from below since you didn't go for my chest." I say causing him to nod and walk over to the wall with the others. "So, who's next?" I ask the others. Abigail steps forward right away while raising her hand.

"Me please!" She says and I nod. She walks over to me and we take our positions. She pulls out a wand that was sheathed on her back. Her robe hid it from view earlier. It's made of metal and has a blue gem on top. She takes a deep breath before gripping her robe on her shoulder. She activates a spell causing it to ignite. Fire covers her like an extra set of armor. "This robe can cast Flame Mantle once a day. It uses the mana it gathers from the air. While it's active it boosts my fire Spells and Skills while also protecting me from attacks." Abigal says, impressing me. I ask Mavis to start our match again. She does so and Abigal points her wand at me. The moment Mavis says start, she casts a spell. Fire jumps from her wand and turns into a Wyvern. It's made of flames and seems to take a lot out of her.

"That's impressive Abigal. What kind of spell is this?" I ask her while the flames finish creating the Wyvern.

"This is called Beast Of Flame. The amount of mana it uses changes depending on the beast. This one uses all of my mana, and I can only use it while my Flame Mantle is active." She says causing me to smile. She wasn't kidding about that mana cost. This Wyvern is relatively weak though. It's probably around a quarter of what Innu was before she became a Hybrid. Still, this is impressive. If she could produce multiple of these, or even one and ride it in the sky. Then she'd become much stronger. I almost feel bad about this, but I do want to show off a bit. I think before raising my hand.

"Well Abigal, what do you say we compare our beasties?" I ask while casing Hydra. The three Hydra heads appear and I make one roar. Abigal looks at them in shock before raising her staff again. Her Wyvern takes off. I make one of the heads go to bite it. I make sure it's too slow and misses. I continue this for a bit, trying and failing to bite it. I'm testing her control, wanting to see how well it can dodge. She continues to impress so I pick up the pace. She struggles to deal with the increased speed. She can't get close to me, as one of the heads stays by my side to attack. I'm trying to **** her to use a ranged attack. However, it dawns on me that she might not be able to since it'd require mana. Suddenly her Wyvern lights up brightly before charging me. It dodges my Hydra before the third one at my side attacks. It bites down on it, and the Wyvern explodes. It creates a large vortex of flames about twenty feet wide. I take out my wings and beat them as hard as I can. The resulting wind is enough to blow the flames away from me. I make Hydra disappear after checking its health. I see the flames only did 70 damage, even though Hydra was biting it when it blew. I guess her magic isn't that strong yet. Still, she has a lot of potential. I think while walking over to Abigal. She's panting and on her knees. It seems she used the last of her mana to make the explosion.