Shang was stuck between three choices.
Charge at Astor with his Ice Blast.
Try to evade the strike and counter.
Try to evade with his Ice Blast.
All of them had different advantages and disadvantages.
In the end, Shang went with the second option.
Why?
Because he needed his Ice Blast to end the fight.
He couldn't reliably end the fight by charging in now.
If he evaded with his Ice Blast, he would be on the safe side, but he would lose his best shot at winning against Astor.
Astor's defense was incredible, and without a severe speed advantage, Shang couldn't break through it.
So, Shang ran into the distance.
Astor had already built up his momentum, and he would soon jump forward with his sword.
It was essentially the same situation as when Shang had first fought Astor.
But this time, Shang's instincts had been honed a lot more. On top of that, he had seen that attack before, and he knew of a good way to evade it.
By widening the distance between them, Astor's momentum would weaken on his way to Shang.
And then, Astor unleashed his strike.
BOOM!
The earth cracked beneath him as his body was thrown forward with his sword.
Shang saw Astor approach, and he was sure that Astor was even faster than back then.
Obviously, Astor hadn't unleashed his full power in their first fight.
Shang jumped to the side.
At that moment, water appeared beneath Astor's feet, and he slid to the side while keeping hold of his sword.
Astor had slid more to the side than Shang due to his higher momentum.
Shang could only jump to the ground to let the sword pass above him.
Astor's strike missed, and Shang quickly slashed at where Astor should be.
Yet, Astor had already passed by Shang.
More water appeared beneath him as his body rotated.
Then, the water vanished.
"AAAHH!" Astor shouted as he changed the trajectory of his sword while adding more power to it.
Shang's eyes widened.
He couldn't stop Astor before he charged at Shang again like a bullet.
Just by using some water, Astor had been able to completely conserve his momentum!
Who said a Water Affinity was only useful for healing?!
Shang jumped to the side again.
Water appeared beneath Astor's feet again.
And then, Shang's eyes shone.
This time, he was prepared!
Shang pointed his left arm at Astor and unleashed an Ice Blast.
BANG!
A wave of Ice Mana washed over Astor's entire body, but it only counted as a cool breeze.
CRK!
But then, Astor's eyes widened in horror as the water beneath him hardened, and in just a moment, it had transformed into ice.
Astor lost control over his water, and his feet hit the ground unexpectedly, completely ruining his equilibrium.
Shang's eyes shone as he charged at Astor.
Shang's Ice Blast definitely wasn't powerful enough to freeze that much water instantly.
But then why had it suddenly frozen?
Shang remembered something he had learned in teacher Niria's class.
Since beasts in the Empress Cobra Zone had a partial Water Affinity, they avoided the Ice Wyvern Zone.
Why?
Because Ice Mana could transform Water Mana into Ice Mana as long as there was more of it.
The water beneath Astor's feet wasn't natural water, but water created with Water Mana.
So, as long as Shang could blast it with a lot of Ice Mana, it would transform into Ice Mana.
Astor didn't have an Ice Affinity, which meant that he wouldn't be able to control it anymore.
And it had worked!
The water had turned to ice, and Astor lost his equilibrium.
Shang charged forward.
Astor's knees hit the ground as he slid forward. He was trying to regain his balance.
Shang closed in.
It was impossible for Astor to regain control of his sword in a short amount of time.
Astor's eyes widened, and he threw his sword away.
His sword began to rotate, and the rotating hilt came between him and Shang.
BANG!
Shang blocked the hilt with his sword and quickly slashed forward.
But he missed!
Astor had sidestepped on instinct, and he was approaching Shang with a raised fist.
Then, Astor released his fist towards Shang's face.
Shang hadn't expected this attack.
He had always been the one to throw his weapon away. He hadn't met someone else that did that.
At that moment, Shang's mind shut down.
His instincts honed over years of training took over.
Out of habit, Shang dropped his sword.
At this moment, Shang wasn't even thinking about his sword.
Shang's hands pushed Astor's arm away by the elbow while taking a sidestep.
Astor's eyes widened.
His attack had missed?!
Out of habit, Shang jumped upward.
His left knee went to Astor's back as Shang pulled his arm to the side.
Astor's balance was destroyed again, and he hit the ground.
BANG!
Shang landed with his left knee on Astor's back while clinging closely to his arm with both of his arms.
Shang had essentially created a pseudo-armbar!
Silence.
The students that weren't in a fight yet watched on in shock.
Astor looked with shock forward. He couldn't see Shang from his current position.
His arm was extended towards his back, and he knew that Shang could break it.
"One strike to your head and you're dead," Shang said.
"I won."
A long moment of silence passed.
"Mana Transformation," Astor mumbled. "To think that Mana Transformation could also be used in this way."
Astor was obviously referring to how Shang had frozen his water with his ice.
"Can you let go? I lost," Astor said calmly.
Shang nodded and stood up.
Astor also stood up and cleaned his uniform.
Then, Astor smiled brightly.
"I learned something today," he said. "It's been a while."
"I also learned several things," Shang answered. "This was my first proper fight with a powerful warrior."
Astor laughed.
"Let's go again!" he shouted with a wide smile.
"Sure," Shang answered.
"But don't believe that I only won due to a fluke."
"I won't," Astor answered. "However, don't expect to win again."
"We'll see," Shang answered with a smirk.
Astor also smirked.
Sadly, Astor was right.
Over the next three hours, Shang would lose all of his matches.
Astor had adapted to Shang's powers.
Shang had been able to win two times, but with his surprise advantage gone, it was clear that Astor was still the more powerful one of the two.
However, Shang was now equal in power to Mattheo.
Well, as long as he only fought as a warrior.
Astor finally had someone new to fight against, and Mattheo could finally relax from constantly losing to Astor.
That was Shang's job now.
And before they knew it, the lesson was already over.
