Elapsed time since the battle started– 1 minute.

While in battle, rankers could enhance their perception with mana. Therefore, the fast-paced battle felt like it had been carrying on for a while for both the rankers involved in the duel.

"If this is how you want to play it, so be it."

Miranda said to Eren before raising her hands in the air. A distinct mana pulse was felt by Eren and the audience as they saw the large volume of water around Miranda get divided into multiple water spheres. These floating water spheres then grew spikes before starting rotating around their respective axes.

Eren gulped as he understood what was coming for him. He was able to see that there were more than 40 spiked water spheres around Miranda. Additionally, 6 of them seem to be more active than the others.

Miranda knew that sending all 40 of the mana spheres to the target could be seen as overkill. She wanted to test his limits, not brutally assault a rookie like him. Plus, controlling all 40 of the water spheres at the same time using her mana sense would also be taxing for her. So she chose to send six water-element spheres to close in on Eren.

Eren retrieved his Tachi and imbued it with his lightning element mana. The sword started buzzing and vibrating when it was coated with sparks of electricity.

'Mana barely enough to sustain another 2-3 minutes. Damn. I must have overdid it.'

Eren felt the mana storage of his regular mana core and sighed. For these three months, he had been practicing all alone using his infinite mana core.

At that time, the only limit placed on his body and spells came from his mana circuits. As a result, he had never experienced being tapped out of mana so soon.

'A quality martial artist is always ready for any move.'

Eren decided to reveal the tip of the ice iceberg that was his infinite mana core as he saw the six spiked water spheres encircling him.

'To hell with circumstances. I create opportunities.'

Another thought rippled in Eren's head as he executed his movement spell.

Miranda felt Eren's presence trying to escape from her trap using her mana sense. It was difficult to keep track of him using normal vision. But she had a good sense of mana, so she didn't completely rely on it.

A ranker's mana sense was akin to a sixth sense. It combined the feedback of all the five senses and offered a 360-degree perception for rankers. The mana sense was faster and better in most cases than any of the five senses. It offered a comprehensive understanding of the real-time world to rankers when they spread it around themselves.

The mana sense had its limitations. Its field was limited to a radius of some 30 meters around the ranker in the Meta rank. Some exceptions and prodigies could breach that limit. Also, rankers could use artifacts and potions to temporarily boost their range perception.

The mana sense would grow along with the ranker's advancement in the ranking journey. Its range and the level of detail it provided would also increase as the ranker kept on breaking through their ranks.

Mana sense was also seen as intrusive in non-battle scenarios. Therefore, rankers had some written and unwritten norms for using it outside of battle. The use of a mana sense could create a conflict between two rankers who thought that the other was trying to breach their personal space.

That's why Aunt Rumi had warned Eren against using the mana sense carelessly.

Miranda's mana sense was better than Eren's because of her higher ranking status. She also knew how to tweak it so that it would only provide her with the information she needed.

Therefore, she smiled when she understood Eren's intention. She waved her hands and sent another six spiked water spheres to block Eren's way.

Eren was trying to outrun the spheres that were targeting him before trying his luck in a close combat fight with Miranda once again. But it seemed that Miranda had already figured out his plan and blocked his way of coming towards her with six additional spheres.

"This.. this is cheating. You are kind of cheating here, cap!"

Miranda chuckled but didn't say anything.

Eren stopped in his tracks before speeding up at 3 O'clock. But he was set for a rude awakening as 2 more spheres had come out of nowhere to block him once again.

'Two? I can deal with two.'

Eren said and gripped the hilt of his sword with both his hands before executing Blitz Wave. He did not release the Blitz spell from the sword. It gave the artifact the ability to overcome Miranda's mana within the sphere, which had made it as durable as a metallic sphere. Maybe more.

Swoosh.historical

Eren chopped the two spheres in half. He was about to celebrate his victory when he felt a sharp pain in his back. Miranda had adjusted the spikes' length so it wouldn't penetrate deep inside Eren. Still, the damage that was inflicted on him at that time was enough to get a wailing response from him.

"Aaaaargh fuck!"

Eren pursed his lips and executed his movement spell quickly before he could face any more of Miranda's attacks. He felt the wound that was inflicted on him with his free hand and experienced something warm and wet coming from his body.

Blood.

With a shocked expression on his face, Eren looked at Miranda's stoic face. She didn't flinch when he decreased his speed and looked her in the eyes.

'Be prepared to shed blood indeed.'

Eren thought to himself before his eyes started showing the cruelty he was hiding within him. He stopped caring about the retaliation from Miranda and approached her with newfound determination.

This time, Eren was ready to receive a blow so that he could land a bigger blow on his opponent. Unbeknownst to both the rankers, the match had stopped being a test and started to look like an actual life-and-death battle.

Rankers were emotional creatures. Their emotions would also get heightened when using mana for battles. As such, Eren and Miranda both started treating each other as real opponents after finding out that they had underestimated their opponents.

Elapsed time since the battle started– 2 minutes.