Jeremias arrived at Arena NE-1. He was wearing a scarlet-colored mage robe which stretched outwards due to his fat body.
His square-shaped face was plastered with a curious expression as he looked around the arena with his big black eyes. The short wavy brown hair added to his charm.
Many spectators looked at him from above. He was the subject of their discussions.
“Who is this fat boy? Anyone knows him?”
“I don’t know, but I expect a great match from him and his opponent. Hey, who do you think will win?”
“Who knows? Let’s just watch the show.”
Jeremias heard them and excitement filled his heart.
`I want to win this. I’m going to win this!`
The guy named TomatoJuice also arrived at the arena. He hooded his diamond-shaped face, with only the freckles and his brown eyes being visible to the outside.
He wore a dark navy blue color, a complete opposite of Jeremias’s robe.
`So he’s my opponent, huh?`
He was Sein Rey, a student from the Great Magic School. He came here today to check out the arena after seeing the matches on an earlier date.
He didn’t expect that he’d receive a match invitation on his first day.
The spectators silenced themselves as they awaited the signal.
‘Bang!’
`Fireball!`
Jeremias casted a spell, on which, Sein reacted fast and immediately defended himself.
`Shield Projection!`
He gathered his water mana essence and put up a shield in front of him.
`Go!` Jeremias sent the fireball to his enemy, while also casting the same spell and launched it again.
The fireball struck the shield, producing a large amount of steam. The succeeding fireball blew up to where Sein was.
`Is he defeated?` Jeremias and the spectators were awaiting the results.
A figure suddenly flew out of the steam.
Jeremias immediately attacked with a spell.
`Fire Whip!` “Hah!”
Sein saw Jeremias’s attack.
`A whip? Hmph, don’t underestimate me!`
`Water Stream!`
Sein wetted the ground below, making him slide down and evade the upcoming attack.
`Water Sphere!`
Sein gathered a lot of water mana essence, forming a large water sphere at the top of Jeremias. He snapped his fingers.
The large water sphere fell to Jeremias, as the latter became angry against Sein.
`You damn bastard! How dare you humiliate me in front of many people! I’ll make you pay for this! Multiple fire arrows!`
He impatiently sent many attacks against Sein, ignoring the large puddle under his feet.
“That Jeremias, he’s underestimating his opponent.” Edward narrowed his eyes as he observed the match. He was disappointed about Jeremias’ behavior.
“Senior Edward, what do you mean?” Victoria was confused about Edward’s comment. She shared Jeremias’s reaction to Sein’s water stream spell.
“Oh, Victoria. You’ll find out soon.”
`Here it comes.`
…
Sein evaded the fire arrows, grasping something with his left fist then raised it.
`Spout!`
The water from Jeremias’ feet suddenly rose and attack him. His neck and chin felt the brunt of the attack and he staggered backward, feeling dizzy.
`What was that?!` Jeremias couldn’t believe what just happened. He looked down below.
`Is it the water from before?!`
Sein gathered his mana essence and attacked Jeremias.
`Whiplash!`
The remaining water in the puddle formed as a large whip, smashing Jeremias’s face.
Jeremias felt that someone had slapped him on his right cheek, with teeth flying out of his mouth. He staggered to the sides and knelt.
The dizziness became severe. He could no longer stand properly as the world spun in his eyes.
The past flashed in his eyes. The mocking laughter and insults resounded in his mind.
However, before he could swallow himself in depression, he was knocked out. Sein’s whiplash had struck him again with a greater force.
“Halt! The winner is TomatoJuice!” The captain guard almost cracked his voice because of Sein’s arena callsign.
The spectators applauded Sein’s victory.
“Nice one young boy, keep it up!”
“Little brother, this big sister would like to know your name!”
Sein was bombarded with praises.
“Thank you!”
He bowed to them and went out of the arena.
“Woah! That fat boy underestimated his opponent, mocking that water stream without doing anything! If only he’d evaporated them with his fire mana essence, he could’ve won in the end.”
An old man sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He felt Jeremias’s strong mana cultivation earlier but to think that he was this stupid.
“Kids these days.”
Sein pumped his fists and posed victoriously. `Hahaha! I won my first match!`
He became confident of his talent and skills. If he ever knew that he had defeated one of the Prospect candidates on an arena match…
The guards brought Jeremias to a recovery bed outside the arena.
…
Edward was also disappointed. “That damn idiot, I told him to never underestimate his opponent!”
The other Prospects had already departed a long time ago. Only Edward, the twin maidens, and the four Prospect candidates were left.
“Luna, go get that idiot over here. I’ll talk with him later. As for the four of you, do not ever make the same mistake as Jeremias did, understood?!” He sternly reminded these girls.
They nodded at him with a look of acknowledgment on their faces. Edward remained doubtful at them.
Luna went off and returned with Jeremias a few minutes later. Edward ruthlessly scolded him.
Jeremias had a downcast expression on his face. `I failed again! But why? Aren’t I a Prospect candidate?! How could those f*ckers win against me?!`
“Victoria, Helena, it’s both your turns now. Good luck!” Edward wished them well in their matches.
“Thank you, senior Edward.” The two girls bowed at him and went off to their respective arenas.
…
Victoria went to Arena NW-10 while Helena went to NE-7.
Victoria could arrive there on time just by walking.
She was both nervous and excited at the same time. She could finally roam around by herself on a very large area. It was unlike her village in the south where people were few and there were not so many places to go and look at.
Many people roamed around. It was a bustling scene. The noise reminded her of the middle-aged men in the village who would drink all night and start talking nonsense with one another.
She kept to herself, slowly making her way to her arena location.
`I wonder how mom and dad are doing at the frontlines.`
She missed her parents. They had brought her up when they saw her on the streets when she was still a baby. She was found in a basket, wrapped in white clothing as she cried so loud that the entire village woke up because of her bawling.
`They haven’t sent me a letter for days already. Was it because of the lockdown?`
She and her parents have decided that they would send letters to each other every week.
Victoria never knew who her real parents were, but the foster parents she grew up with were all she could have ever asked for.
The villagers were friendly and everyone treated each other with respect. Although the situation in the large cities was not as good as that from her village, she had found friends with whom she could mingle.
`I hope Helena wins her match, and Amelia too.`
On the way, she looked at the magic screens above. One of them displayed a replay of the match between Zachariel and Daniel.
`I wonder how is he right now. I hope he’s okay.`
A part of her heart was full of worry about Zachariel. Ever since she met him back at the school selection event, her heart and mind had always put a space for this man.
`Just who is he? Why is my mind full of longing and intimacy with regards to him?`
Victoria shook her head. `Aaahhh! Victoria! Stop thinking about it, you still have a match to fight!`
She had arrived at Arena NW-10. The large empty area brought her anxiety. It reminded her of the cold nights where the howling of the wolves could be heard. She would shiver and hide under the bed whenever that happened.
`Victoria, you’re strong! Bear with it!`
She arrived at the platform, heaving a sigh of relief.
The crowd look at her when she arrived.
“Oh, a young mage girl this time? And her opponent is a mana force warrior. This’ll be fun to watch.”
“I sense a strong mana essence fluctuation from that gray-haired girl. I wonder if she’s a Prospect candidate.”
“Well, her opponent on the other side also has a strong physical quality, don’t you think so?”
“Yeah, that armor sure is heavy for a girl like that.”
…
Victoria stood at the left side of the arena, wearing a silver-colored robe that almost covered her whole body.
Under her robe, the white leather sleeve shirt complimented her petite body, showing the sturdy collar bones and smooth white skin underneath.
Her silver eyes looked at the opponent on the other side.
`A mana force warrior, and those leather armor. I won’t be able to easily knock her out.`
She analyzed her situation.
`I can get away with my wind mana essence, but she must have a way to deal with that. Let’s take it slow.`
‘Bang!’
The mana force warrior immediately charged at Victoria.
`Water Serpent! Constriction! Propulsion!`
She casted three spells consecutively.
The water serpent charged at the warrior. The latter tried to destroy it with a punch but it flexibly evaded her attack and constricted her body.
`What a strong water serpent!` The warrior was dumbfounded about how durable the water serpent was. She thought she could get away with it in a flash.
`Wind Pummel!`
A strong wind force struck the warrior, making her fly backward. The water serpent disintegrated because of Victoria’s attack.
The warrior tried to get back up but was dumbfounded when large amounts of fire mana essence surrounded her.
`Ring of Fire!`
Victoria diagonally raised both of her hands with wide-open palms, grasped the air then lowered her hands diagonally, crossing both of them at the end.
The large ring of fire shrunk, with the warrior at the center.
‘Boom!’
A large explosion resonated in the arena. The spectators were dumbfounded.
“What an excellent mana quality and quantity! That spell must’ve taken a toll on her, right?”
They looked at Victoria but she only stood there unfazed.
“She can still stand properly after that?”
The spell she had casted required a huge amount of fire mana essence which young people like her normally shouldn’t have.
“She’s definitely a Prospect or a Prospect candidate! How strong!”
“Halt! The winner is Spencer!”
