A few minutes earlier, on the Northern entrance of the public training area.
“Wow, it’s so big!” Victoria stared at the very large building in front of her. She was a village girl and haven’t seen much of the Imperium Capital City or any other cities.
Seeing such a majestic structure up close brought awe in her heart.
“We’ve arrived. Just follow me inside, don’t stray too far away, especially the Prospect candidates. Got it?” Cody led the Prospects and the Prospect candidates into the public training area.
“Yes, senior!”
“Oh! So many people!” Victoria was very curious about the public training area. She would usually point out to the magic screens, and ask what they were about.
“Senior, is that the leaderboard for the entire alliance power ranking?” She pointed at a very large screen above.
“Hmm, that? Well, it’s not really the entire alliance, but more on the rankings about those who are less than 50 years old and who were once students in the Supreme Academy.”
“Sir Matthias’s name is there. He must be so strong!” Helena was awed about Sir Matthias’s strength.
The rest nodded and then looked at the other magic screens for the leaderboards. Amelia had a cold look on her face, however.
“Senior Cody, how come yours and the other’s name is not there on the Imperium leaderboard?” Victoria’s question struck a deathly blow to Cody’s self-confidence.
He twitched his mouth as he tried to reply.
“Well, there are still people stronger than us, you know! That’s all, that’s all!”
`You want me to fight those old fools? Dream on!` He cursed in his mind.
They continued walking on the path. After a few moments, Cody approached one of the counters for the arena registration.
“Hello, what can I do for you, sir?” The female staff greeted him.
“I’d like to register my juniors here to the arena. Kindly help them out please.”
“Yes sir.”
“Jeremias, you first,” Cody called out Jeremias.
“Yes.” He followed the instructions the staff given to him and he was done.
`That fast?` Jeremias thought he would have to wait for hours before he could get his arena emblem.
“Sabrina, Victoria, Helena, Amelia.” He called out the other girls.
After a few minutes of waiting, the five Prospect candidates finally have their arena emblems. Cody led them to a grook gathering point and introduced the demon beasts to them.
“Wow, these beasts are so fast!” Victoria rode along with the other three girls. The grook they rode was 8 meters long, large enough to fit the four of them together. Jeremias was along with senior Cody and senior Edward.
Cody led them to the northern circular area.
On the sides were different counters. There were decorations scattered around in a beautiful pattern. On the center of the floor was the large Imperium insignia where a golden-colored helmet was placed on the middle and large golden-outlined wings spread on the sides of the helmet.
On the far side of the circular area was an arched doorway where a big spiral staircase could be seen that led to the second floor. Some people gathered there.
The circular area had a diameter of 1 kilometer. Magic screens floated and displayed different information with regards to the arena matches.
Cody approached one of the empty areas.
“This magic screen will allow you to randomly schedule an arena match using your arena emblem. Of course, you can also go to the counters to specifically schedule a match but I won’t recommend it for now. Anyway, you don’t know anybody else except for us for you to do that.”
Cody tapped “Insert Arena Emblem” on the magic screen. A short pedestal emerged from the bottom in front of Cody with an empty slot on it. “Jeremias, insert your arena emblem here.”
“Yes, senior.” The pedestal shone after he inserted his arena emblem. The information displayed on the magic screen changed.
[Arena Callsign: JPick
—
Class: Mage (No specialization)
—
Age: 16 years old
—
Power-level: Undetermined
—
Standing: 0W 0L 0D
—
Available Opponents:
‘YourDaddy’ – Select
‘Shaddow’ – Select
‘TomatoJuice’ – Select
‘DaemonBeach’ – Select
…
—
Refresh Opponents
]
`What kind of an idiot would name themselves TomatoJuice? Also, YourDaddy? Are they picking up a fight against those old fools?`
Cody was bewildered about some of the names on the list.
`If those old freaks saw this name, they’re going to beat this guy’s ass.`
“Over there is the list of possible opponents you can have a match with. You can select their name first so that you can see their other information such as their class, arena standing, etc.”
Jeremias followed Cody’s instructions. He selected an opponent with the name “TomatoJuice”.
[Arena Callsign: TomatoJuice
—
Class: Mage (No specialization)
—
Age: 16 years old
—
Power-level: Undetermined
—
Standing: 0W 0L 0D
—
Select as Opponent
—
Return
]
Jeremias immediately selected the “Select as Opponent” option.
[ Awaiting confirmation from the opponent. ] [ Please wait a moment. ]…
On the other side of the circular area, a tall guy examined the magic screen in front of him with his.
[Opponent ‘JPick’ invites you to an arena match
—
See Opponent Details
—
Accept
—
Decline
]
`Arena match invitation?` He selected the “Accept” option. A loading screen was displayed after he selected the accept option.
[The match starts at 12:00.
Venue: Arena NE-1.
]
`12:00, I have to wait that long? Well, I guess it doesn’t matter anyway. I wonder who this JPick is.`
…
“So, how’d it goes?” Cody asked Jeremias.
“It said that the match will start at 11:00 in the Arena NE-1.”
“NE-1? That’s just west of here. There’s a magic screen to help you out where NE-1 is. Click on that Map on the top right of the magic screen.”
{Author’s note: They are facing southwards so…}
The map displayed the hexagonal dimension of the public training area. There were 6 different entrances, the north, the northeast, southeast, south, southwest, and northwest.
There were 6 big triangular quadrants where each occupied 12 different arenas. NE-1 was located at the top-left of the NE quadrant displayed on the map.
The arenas were numbered from left-right.
“Alright, you four, you’ve listened in well, right?” Cody looked back at the four girls. They nodded back at him.
“Good, your turn to pick your match now. Also, you guys can do your own thing.” Cody looked at the other Prospects and gave them his signal.
After a while, the five Prospect candidates have finished their matchmaking process.
“Let’s wait there and watch other matches while you wait for your turn. Use it to learn something new or enhance whatever knowledge you have in you right now.”
Cody led them to the center of the circular area. 6 big magic screens encircled it. It displayed the live matches in the different arenas that were noteworthy to watch.
“Hey, look at that! Isn’t that Daniel from the Lowthorn mercenary group?” A commotion started on the other side of the circular area.
“Daniel? Hallvard’s lackey?”
“Yeah, look! He’s fighting against a young student. What the?! He’s wearing a school uniform?”
The people laughed. What kind of student was this? Isn’t he a bit too diligent?
Cody and the others looked over. `A student?`
Amelia’s coldness thawed when she saw Zachariel on the magic screen.
“Wow, it’s Zachariel! How’d he gets to match up with someone like that?” Helena realized it was Zachariel.
They looked at the information from both of the fighters.
[Arena Callsign: Daniel Rigg
—
Class: Elemental Mage
—
Age: 66 years old
—
Power-level: Peak Platinum
—
Standing: 24W 16L 10D
] [
Arena Callsign: Sentinel
—
Class: Weapon Master (No specialization)
—
Age: 16 years old
—
Power-level: Undetermined
—
Standing: 0W 0L 0D
]
“Hey, what’s Daniel thinking about? Bullying a new student? Damn it, I’m going to beat his ass up later!” Some people frowned when they saw that Daniel’s opponent was a student who didn’t even have any matches yet.
Amelia returned to her cold personality when she heard that this D-Reid guy was going to bully Zachariel. “Senior Cody, we should stop this match, now!”
“Wait, Amelia! There has to be a reason why Zachariel and D-Reid matched up in the arena right now. Look at that friendly disposition of Zachariel’s opponent, I think he just wants to duel with him competitively.”
“Really?” Amelia looked at Cody. The latter gulped nervously as he tried to find an excuse for the current situation.
“Oh, they’re starting now!”
…
Arena NE-12.
The arena had a total of 250 meters in diameter. The platform below took 100 meters and was 2 meters high, while the rest of the area was for the spectators to watch. There were also counters and small magic screens that allowed spectators to bet on the match before it starts.
The platform was engraved with different array formations to allow the fighters to battle with their hearts.
Several guards were stationed around, ready to stop any interruptions to the fight above. They would also move if they assumed that one of the fighter’s life would be in danger.
Zachariel looked at Daniel with his red eyes. “Senior, isn’t this a bit too small for a 1km arena?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Arenas are just like training areas. Their dimensions could be changed. Didn’t you see those flat areas outside? When gold-level warriors and above start a match, those flat areas would become part of the arena, and the stands below it would protrude out.” Daniel reprised
“Anyway, don’t you need a weapon to fight?” Daniel asked Zachariel.
Zachariel scratched his head for only realizing it now. `Ah, I’m actually a student of the Great Weaponry School but I don’t have any weapon…`
There were some spectators around the arena. One of them generously handed out his weapon to Zachariel.
“Hey kid, use this polearm of mine. Use it to beat that bully in front of you! I’ll bet 20 silver coins on you so fight well!” A middle-aged man shouted at Zachariel.
“Thank you, senior!” Zachariel bowed at him and reached out his hand to the big and heavy polearm.
“Hey kid, be careful, that’s heavy-?!”
They were dumbfounded when Zachariel received the middle-aged man’s polearm with a single hand without stepping back or suffering injuries.
“What kind of strength is that?”
“He must be a Prospect candidate, no doubt about it. But which one of them is he?”
“Probably that guy named Hagio?”
“No, Hagio isn’t as thin as that student! He must be that Zachariel Strom! It was said that he’s a student of the Great Weaponry School!”
“How did you know it’s him?”
“Look at that Great Weaponry insignia on his right chest!”
“Oh, right! So, he’s Mr. Albert’s grandson? Haha! What an interesting match!”
Even his classmates and other Prospect candidates could not believe the extent of how strong Zachariel’s physical attributes were.
“Hey, can Vargas and Diega do it like that?” Luiz asked his classmates.
“I think they can, but it would come with a great price,” Luka said without confidence.
`That polearm is the real deal. Those war hammers and great axe provided freely at the school are just substandard and are only fitted for our use.`
Lia, as usual, looked excitedly and incessantly praised Zachariel on her mind.
On the arena, Daniel had a smile on his face. `As expected of a Prospect candidate, you didn’t disappoint me well!`
Zachariel checked out the polearm. `How long and heavy. It’s nice to the touch.`
A small explosion resounded at the center of the arena, signaling the start of the fight.
`Windwalk. Propulsion.` Zachariel gathered wind mana essence on his feet casted two skills at once.
`Immo-, what the?`
Daniel was about to cast Immolation: Firestorm at Zachariel, but the latter immediately arrived at him without a signal.
`He’s that fast while holding a heavy polearm? That’s crossing 50 meters at once!` Daniel was shocked.
`Slashing Wave`
Zachariel gathered dark mana essence and layered it to the polearm. He also gathered another batch of dark mana essence and sent it out to Daniel.
`Shockwave!`
Daniel casted shockwave on his side, pushing himself out of Zachariel’s slashing wave.
At the same time, he had conjured fire mana essences and casted another spell.
`Rain of Fire!`
Big fireballs rained down on Zachariel.
`Shield Projection!`
Daniel was confused about Zachariel’s move. `You’re going to use a dark shield on that? Those aren’t normal fireballs, you know!`
`Immolation: Firestorm!`
He also casted another spell, putting Zachariel in a difficult situation, or so what he had thought.
“Oh no, that kid’s in trouble!” the middle-aged man who handed out his polearm shouted in worry.
“Cody, we have to stop the match now!” Luna hurriedly reminded Cody. If something were to happen to Zachariel while still developing, it would be a big loss for them.
However, she saw that Cody was calm. “Cody, are you not worried about his safety?”
Everyone looked over to Cody.
“You’re underestimating Zachariel’s talent too much.” He shook his head and just continued to watch. He didn’t bother to give them an explanation.
For him, seeing was believing.
“That Daniel! How can he think that Zachariel could take that?” Florence was angry about Daniel for not holding back. `That’s a student, not a veteran!`
“Leader, we must-!” Hallvard had a calm look on his face.
“Leader, why are you not-?!”
“Florence, never underestimate a Prospect candidate, especially if it’s Zachariel Strom.”
Hallvard remembered clearly now.
“He’s that Prospect candidate who had an undetermined dantian and mana grade. Rumors said his talent is superior to Prince Kane. Earlier, he even had great battle analysis. I bet not many freshmen have that kind of prowess early. Interesting.”
On the arena, Zachariel retracted his shield projection. `Those fireballs are stronger than I thought. However…`
`He’s retracting it?` Daniel was confused again, but his confusion didn’t last long.
`Windwalk. Shadow steps.`
He escaped the area, faster than how he approached Daniel before. `Again? Just how fast is he?!`
The fireballs exploded, and the entire area of 100 meters around was reduced to ashes.
`So you’ve evaded those fireballs, but I’ve already locked you in with my immolation-?! Where’s the immolation spell?`
Daniel looked at Zachariel. He had a dark outline on his body.
`He layered his entire body with dark mana essence? F*ck, how strong is his mana control?`
Zachariel raised his free arm and casted a spell. `Dark Light`
The entire arena was devoid of light.
`Where is he? Spread out!`
Daniel spread his mana essence 25 meters around him. Any disturbance would allow him to locate where Zachariel was or any attack Zachariel have launched.
`Even if I’m blind, I still have my other senses!`
`Multiple slashing waves`
Daniel felt the disturbance. `Left and right? No, it’s everywhere!`
The dark light’s duration had ended, and Daniel could see again.
He casted a spell in front of him and casted shockwave behind him. `Fire Blast!`
The dark slashing waves in front were canceled. He somersaulted and tried to regain his balance on the floor.
However, he was stumped when a strong suction force originated behind him. `This is… vortex? So this was his plan all along?`
He immediately conjured the wind essences behind him, trying to counter the pulling force from Zachariel’s black vortex.
`What a strong sucking force! My mana essences are also being drained!`
While all of this happened, an immolation circle flashed below the ground where he landed.
`F*ck, how crafty! Freeze!`
The ice mana essence obstructed the gathering fire mana essence, thus canceling the fire trap spell that was about to set off.
`He knows formation arrays? Which one of us is a mage, really?!`
The vortex ended and Daniel could move freely again.
He looked above him and saw Zachariel hovering in the air. `Above?! How come he’s up that high?`
He wanted to attack him, but he felt that his mana essences were contained inside his body.
`What’s happening?!` Dark chains protruded from where the fire trap spell came from. It bounded Daniel’s body, preventing him from conjuring any mana essences within his body.
`Duplex array formation? Furthermore, he combined it with a dark trap spell?`
Before he could deal with the chains bounded on his body, Zachariel landed in front of him.
“Senior Daniel, you’ve lost.”
