Overwhelming Firepower

After Elyra’s victory, the next matches weren’t nearly as exciting.

Even the next ducal heir, Evander Judicar, repeated his performance from the first day.

He simply stood there, allowing his opponent to strike him again and again until she exhausted her aura and collapsed to her knees.

The crowd, who had hoped for something new, fell silent. What had once been awe now turned into a little bit of boredom. It was still exciting, true, but not as exciting as they had hoped.

A few bouts later, Lucen stepped into the arena. The atmosphere immediately shifted, whispers rose from the audience, eager to see what he would do this time. This was a person known to make the impossible possible, someone who had time and again made people change their perception of him.

The referee looked at the two contestants. ”Are you both ready?”

Lucen gave a small nod. His opponent swallowed hard and mirrored him.

”Begin!”

Lucen moved the instant the word was spoken. One step forward. A single punch to the gut, the sound cracked through the air as his opponent doubled over, breathless. Before the poor boy could even fall, Lucen’s hand rose and chopped cleanly at his neck.

Thud.

The opponent crumpled, unconscious. The referee blinked, momentarily stunned, before raising his hand.

”Winner! Lucen Thornehart!”

The crowd erupted, some cheering, others murmuring in disbelief. Lucen didn’t stay to bask in it. He simply turned and walked off the stage as calmly as he’d entered.

***

Elyra sighed when she looked at how Lucen won. ”He didn’t even use aura this round.”

No one around her responded. The other students stole brief glances in her direction but quickly looked away. No one dared to speak to one of the ducal heirs without invitation.

Elyra didn’t seem to notice, or perhaps she didn’t care. Her eyes stayed on the arena floor, where Lucen had stood a moment ago.

Yesterday, he had at least allowed his opponent to fight. Today, he didn’t even give that courtesy.

’Without even battling him, am I actually thinking that I would lose?’ Elyra shook her head. She didn’t need to devalue herself this much.

She straightened her back, her expression returning to calm composure. There was no point in comparing herself to him here, not yet.

’I’ll prove, once we face each other,’ she thought, her fingers brushing the hilt of her sword. ’When the time comes, I will show him how much I have improved.’

***

The next few matches were rather lackluster until Eisen got on stage. This was the commoner who was said to be a match for the four ducal heirs.

The way he won the last match by using a simple rock and the basic Telekinesis spell was one that many talked about.

The crowd stirred the moment his name was announced. Whispers spread like wildfire across the stands.

Some cheered him on as a symbol that even a commoner like them could become something more than they were. Others sneered, calling his earlier win nothing but luck.

Eisen walked into the arena with steady steps, his expression calm but focused. He was wearing the school uniform, his posture lacking the sharpness of noble training, and yet, there was something in his eyes that made people quiet down.

Across from him, his opponent, a third-year and the son of a Viscount from the Eastern Province, smirked as he drew his blade.

”Try throwing a rock at me, commoner,” the noble sneered.

Eisen didn’t respond. His gaze drifted briefly to a small pouch hanging by his belt, then back to his opponent.

The referee raised his hand.

”Begin!”

The noble lunged immediately, aura flaring around his blade in a sharp blue arc. The crowd roared, eager to see what would happen.

Eisen did not do anything and waited for the noble to come to him. The noble had dashed forward and swung his sword towards Eisen, but Eisen simply raised his hand, and the sword stopped.

Eisen wasn’t even touching the sword, but it had stopped. ”Using such a basic spell as Telekinesis again!”

The noble used the full power of his aura mantle to slash down, but even then, he could not move his sword.

This could only mean one thing. Eisen’s telekinesis spell was stopping his blade, enveloped in his aura mantle. This could only be done if one’s quality or quantity of mana was far beyond that of their opponent’s mana or aura.

”This can’t be!” The noble could not accept what was happening before him. ”This person is cheating! Disqualify him!”

The referee and the judges did not respond to the noble’s shouts, meaning what he was saying was wrong.

Eisen looked at him calmly. ”If you’re not able to move your weapon, will you yield?”

”Never!” the noble roared, aura flaring violently as he tried to overpower the invisible force restraining his blade.

The ground cracked beneath his feet, his muscles strained, veins bulging from his neck. But no matter how much aura he poured out, the sword didn’t move an inch.

Eisen sighed softly, his voice barely above a whisper. ”I told you... It’s useless.”

”Damn it! If I can’t move my sword, then I’ll simply discard it!” The noble let go of his sword and was about to kick Eisen in the head.

Eisen flicked a piece of rock, hitting the noble in the ankle and thigh, making his kick change direction. Eisen flicked another piece of rock and aimed at the noble’s abdomen. The noble was quick to react and strengthened his abdomen with his aura mantle.

The rock struck the noble’s abdomen with a dull thud, not enough to injure but enough to make him stumble a step back.

”Pretty good reaction speed.” Eisen gave praise with a deadpan expression, which just infuriated the noble even more.

”You b*stard!”

The noble shouted, rushing forward again. His aura flared violently, his movements faster now, wilder, less controlled. Each step cracked the stone floor beneath him as he charged with a furious roar.

Eisen easily evaded his attacks and, to everyone’s surprise, countered by punching the noble in the face.

The fact that a mage punched an aura user was surprising enough, but what surprised those skilled enough was how Eisen punched the noble.

Normally, to match the physical abilities of an aura user, a mage could use physical enhancement spells, but those spells use a lot of mana. It would be better to use other spells instead.

But Eisen did not use any enhancement spells. Instead, he used the same basic telekinesis spell on himself and controlled his hand with the spell to punch the noble. To use the telekinesis spell in such a way was something no other mage thought of.

Seeing as it was hard to control one’s body using such a spell, and because it made no sense to do it.

Still, the power of the punch using telekinesis was incredible. Eisen was slightly in better shape than most other mages, but nowhere near that of an aura user. But using telekinesis, Eisen was able to move his body in an incredible way that ignores his own physical limits.

The noble staggered backward, eyes wide in disbelief. ”You... You’re using telekinesis on yourself? That’s insane!”

Eisen dusted his sleeve with a calm expression. ”Insane, is it?... I don’t think so, seeing as it works.”

The noble gnashed his teeth as he attacked. Eisen continued to control his body using telekinesis and was able to dodge quite a few attacks, but of course, he needed to take a few hits every now and then.

”I guess this form of combat needs more fine-tuning, but for now, this is good enough. Thank you for helping me with my experiment.”

The second the noble heard what Eisen said, he felt very ashamed and furious. In Eisen’s eyes, he was not even worth being seen as an opponent, but someone who could help with his experiment.

The veins on the noble’s head looked like they were about to explode. Eisen then looked at the time and saw that there was only a minute left before the match ended.

”Better finish up,” Eisen murmured to himself.

The noble heard it and roared, aura flaring to its peak. Blue light erupted from his body, the air around him trembling from the sheer pressure. A few audience members gasped as the ground beneath the noble cracked and splintered like a spiderweb.

”Stop mocking me!” he bellowed, charging forward with everything he had left. His aura surged wildly, enough to make nearby mana lamps flicker.

When Eisen saw the charging noble, he was reminded of the wild boars back home. Eisen simply stepped to the side, evading the charge. He then fired a few rocks at the noble using telekinesis; each rock, which flew faster than an arrow, hit several vital areas.

The noble’s body twisted unnaturally with every impact, his thigh, shoulder, ribs, each strike sharp, precise, controlled. The crowd winced with every sound of impact.

The noble let out a guttural cry, blood spilling from his nose as he fell to one knee. His aura flickered violently, trying to stabilize, but unfortunately, that only sealed his loss.

The noble, who had recklessly poured out his aura since the very start of the match, finally collapsed face-first onto the arena floor. The noble fainted with only a few seconds left before the ten minutes ended.

”Winner! Eisen Terre!”

It took several seconds before the crowd roared in cheers. Many started clapping their hands while cheering Eisen’s name.

As Eisen headed back to the waiting area, Lucen approached him with a serious look on his face.