The inner part of the coliseum was covered in a giant bubble made of snow. Since the snowstorm within blocked everyone’s vision, only those rank three and above could barely see anything. Oliver too was basically blind, though he was much too distracted to care.

“You’ve reached level two?” he almost shouted at Ethan.

“She did.”

“Cut the crap. If she did, then obviously…”

“Oliver!” called his brother in an unusually serious tone. “We can discuss this later.” While their friends’ progress needed to be addressed, at that moment, Arthur cared only about the fight.

Within the giant ball of snow and wind, a tall and skinny mage was leaning on his staff with one hand on his hip. A few dozen feet in front of him, another was constantly on the move.

“You should just give up!” James Brown shouted. While some snowflakes moved randomly according to the wind, the vast majority of them were headed for Ana.

If that wasn’t enough, the girl needed 12 times more mana for earth magic within this place. As a result, it was more effective to just keep it inside her body than for spells.

“How does it feel to be hunted for a change?”

The flurry of snowflakes was so thick that Ana couldn’t even see, yet the stickman’s voice still pierced through it. Every move she made covered her in more snow, and if not for her rank two mana repelling it, she might have already become a snowman.

“You can’t resist forever!” shouted the stickman. “I am a God in this place.”

However, as if to prove him wrong, the snowstorm around Ana was suddenly stopped by a thick tube made of ice. The more mana she put into her tattoo, the longer it became until the pipe like shield reached all the out of the bubble.

“I only serve one God,” the girl answered with a grin. “And, he definitely doesn’t look like you.”

Annoyed with this development, the stickman pointed his staff forward sending hundreds of ice spikes towards Ana. The girl bent her knees and summoned an ice platform beneath her feet.

Since only ice based spells worked inside the bubble, she used the platform and tube like a syringe to push herself out. In her wake, the spikes destroyed the tube, pierced through the storm and smashed into the stands on the other side. There were still some stubborn non-mages watching the show, and more than 50 of them were killed in an instant.

While Ana was reaching her peak altitude, she could see the crowds of people exiting the building. The girl had to stop her tattoos as soon as she reached the tube’s end to avoid detection from the Wilsons. To avoid falling to her death, she instead summoned a stone disc that she could ride like a flying skateboard.

‘Quit struggling and meet your fate.’ The stickman’s annoyingly high voice was heard inside her ears. ‘You’re not a bird. You’re an earthworm, a mole at most. Your kind cannot hope to best someone like me.’

‘Does this conversation have a point other than hurting my ears?’ Ana understood the concept of taunting one’s opponent, and since she was in an impasse as to what to do next, she decided to play along with the stickman.

‘How heartless,’ he chuckled directly into her brain.

‘I’m not the one who skewered the audience just now,’ the girl countered.

‘Yet, you did nothing to stop me.’

‘I am not responsible for the lives of others.’

‘If you let murder happen right in front of your eyes, how can you still claim to be innocent?’

Back and forth they went. The once magical duel had turned into a philosophical battle that only they were aware of.

“Is she waiting for an opportunity to strike?” wondered Oliver after minutes had passed without either of them making a move. Only mages remained in the coliseum at this point, meaning less than half of all the seats were taken. Vacating the building was somewhat of a yearly tradition, so nobody was surprised.

‘You let hundreds die at the preliminaries.’

‘I’m not so nice as to help out my enemies.’

‘You skewered Cora straight through her heart.’

‘You’re assuming I knew where my summon would shoot.’

‘You are a heartless wench that looks after her own self interest!’

‘Does that mean I’m finally part of the club?’ Ana answered with a chuckle. Her opponent seemed to finally tire as well. Or, maybe he ran out of ideas?

‘Listen,’ she began. ‘Cursing a 17 year old for not making the best decisions in life and death situations is a tiny bit messed up, don’t you think? You’re calling me a heartless wench for looking out for myself when this entire city, including yourself, is doing the exact same thing.’

‘You told that Ethan kid not to kill when the preliminaries began. Was that just an excuse?’ asked the stickman slightly deflated.

‘Of course not. If I can avoid killing, I will. However, I am not strong enough to save everyone. I’m also not kind enough to help bastards that try to hurt me or my friends.

I try to improve every day and make better choices, but of course, I’ve made and will probably keep making mistakes. I’ll apologize for those if need be, but definitely not to you.’

For some reason, it felt slightly liberating to say these words out loud. Ana spent the past few months not just training her body and spirit, but also her mind. In the end, she realized the only way to stay sane was to forgive her own mistakes.

The girl vowed to learn from them and improve, but at the same time, accept that in this messed up world, what she could do was limited. She had to accept her limitations or the guilt would eat her alive.

Throughout Ana’s inner monologue, James Brown was silent. Despite his gracious demeanor, the stickman couldn’t handle defeat. Since nothing he said could perturb the girl, the verbal battle was hers. If so, there was just one thing he could do to even the score.

In front of Last Heaven’s nobility and mages, the snowstorm slowly began changing its form. It condensed into a fraction of its former self, yet the mana’s quality improved greatly. As the innocent looking snowflakes formed claws and teeth, a terrifying roar was heard for miles.

Chapter 89:

Two giant wings unfurled which covered half of the arena. A giant lizard like body stood up with its long neck reaching all the way to the floating gong. It was a terrifying looking creature with blue scales, teeth the size of an adult human, and even longer claws.

“Wow, you don’t see that every day.” said Oliver to his dad.

“It’s a cheap imitation,” Ethan butted in. ‘Ana, it may look like a rank four, but it’s as fragile as a snowman. All you have to do is find the mage inside its body and kill him.’

These words were transmitted directly into the girl’s brain. It seemed like everyone could communicate through their minds except for her.

However, before she could tear Ethan a new one, there was a building sized problem she needed to deal with.

“Any last words, wench?” a loud sharp sound echoed out of the creature.

“You sound like a girl,” she responded. “If she got punched in the throat and had a can over her head.”

A loud roar came out of the monster’s jaws followed by a freezing breath as thick as an elephant. Ana focused her mana into the stone disc underneath her feet and rose up out of the way.

Fortunately, she was already high enough that the breath only touched the Laurel family’s snake statue. The frozen cobra cracked in a dozen spots before exploding into hundreds of pieces.

While protecting the family with a giant shield, the former head of the Laurel housed turned towards her granddaughter.

“What…?” asked Stella confused. “That’s not who I fought.”

“You’re still grounded.”

A few hundred feet above the now crying teen, Ana was doing her best to stay alive. The breath still chased her despite a minute having passed.

“Give up, you wench!” shouted the stickman. “The only way my dragon’s going to stop is when you’re dead!”

Of course, the dragon was not actually a living being, but just more concentrated form of the snowstorm. It used ambient mana to sustain itself and shot the excess like a cannon. So, while it wasn’t nearly as strong as the real thing, it could theoretically breathe frost forever.

“But, can it fly?” Ana asked provokingly. At this rate, her mana would run out before she could make a plan. To buy some time and test out the creature’s limits, she soared towards the sky as fast as she could.

However, to everyone but Ethan’s surprise, the monster did not follow. Once Ana was out of the breath’s range, it simply stopped and watched her from below. Not even an explanation was given as the stickman was silent.

“That thing can’t fly, can it!?” shouted Ana after quite a bit of waiting.

“Shut the hell up and get back here!” the supposed dragon shouted back. “You can’t just run away from a fight. If you don’t get down, you’re disqualified!”

James Brown was not the host and not even an adult. Those with actual power did not take his comment well, and several pairs of rank four eyes turned towards his father.

“Watch your words, brat!” Wesley Brown shouted enraged. “One more comment and you can consider yourself an orphan.”

Any other noble teen would have shuddered at this threat, yet the boy found it amusing.

“Ha, I’ve always been an orphan, you pompous buffoon! You’re no more than a father to me than a dog is to a lion.”

If looks could kill, those would have been James Brown’s final words. A vein popped out in his father forehead and the mana of a mid rank four exploded from his body.

“The match is not over.”

Suddenly, someone’s voice echoed through the coliseum. As Wesley Brown turned towards the King’s area, Julian Wilson stared back at him.

“You will lecture your brat afterwards,” he ordered.

“Ha, as if I’ll stick around for it,” laughed the stickman. He seemed completely insane by this point.

While his dragon’s head rose once more towards the sky, the boy too readjusted his focus. “You annoying little lady, where are you!? Where’re snarky remarks now, huh?”

As if to answer his calls, the clouds in the sky parted and a certain girl flew down like an angel.

“I’m right here!” shouted Ana. “Thank you for the time.”

“Well, it’s not like I had a choice.” The dragon’s wings rose slightly as if in a shrug. “So, what’s the plan? Will you summon that archer and throw him at me?”

“Not exactly.”

In the clouds Ana came out of, six strange mana signatures came into focus. Just like she had descended moments earlier, half a dozen winged humans started following as well.

Their clothes, skin, and wings were all white making their features barely distinguishable. However, while the archer Ana summoned earlier that day spelled trouble, these white stone angels felt like death itself.

Chapter 90:

God of the demon race, Amon Godfrey, had blessed his progeny with inhuman casting speed and an ability only rank 9 mages previously had access to. The ability to absorb other creature’s mana gave demons a ridiculous amount of stamina and made them incredibly difficult to kill. If a soul fell in their grasp, they could even suck out its energy to supplement their own.

However, none of this should have allowed Ana to pull off those golems. Demons could not see the planet’s soul stream. Yet, when the girl summoned a rock monster, a soul from the stream fell seemingly of its own volition and took control of it. The former being even spread its energy throughout the golem, molding it to his/her shape as if reincarnating into it.

The only way this should be possible was if a highly skilled necromancer did it. Even so, it would not be so easy. What they could do in a week, Ana accomplished in seconds.

And, to add insult to injury, the souls which chose to aid her were always of the same level as her and always useful to the situation. Meaning, the angel like humans were all mid rank two and the ice dragon’s worst possible matchup.

‘Should I be happy for stumbling over a prodigy amongst prodigies or annoyed?’ Ethan honestly did not know. But, what he did figure out was that there was something off about this entire battle.

Seeing trouble at the horizon, he got up and walked over to the Hunt family’s elder.

“May I speak to you?” he tried to be polite, though bowing or addressing someone formally was not in his repertoire. Caroline, who was sitting just a foot away, was preparing to smack him.

“What do you want, brat?” asked Samuel while adjusting his fancy hat.

“In the event that something goes wrong in the arena, how fast would you be able to intervene?”

“Hmph.” The old man found the question ridiculous. Why would he get involved in the youths’ battles? Especially when it wasn’t even his grandson who was fighting.

“As long as nobody’s breaking the rules, we won’t do anything kid,” Caroline warned. And, since there weren’t that many rules to break, this almost never happened.

“But, worry not,” added Samuel. “If something does go down, the perpetrator won’t even have time to scream.”

“Good,” answered a satisfied Ethan. “Then, I look forward to your swift intervention.”

In the meantime, Ana and her angels had stopped just above the dragon’s shooting range.

“Here for a chitchat?” James asked sarcastically.

However, time was short and the girl had no intentions of entertaining him anymore. Though powerful, her golems used mana for even the simplest of movements. They were best suited for quick, brutal attacks.

“Bobs… and Beths, kill the mage hiding inside the dragon.”

As soon as she gave the order, the angels went through a distinct change. Five of them gathered in a circle and started combining their mana. The last angel, Beth, summoned a nine feet stone spear and took on a stance.

‘It’s not enough,’ realized Ana upon analyzing the frost energy spike the angels were creating. Despite pouring every bit of their mana, their combined attack barely reached the top of lower rank three. It would have worked if the opponent’s spell was still in its snowstorm form, but now it was much denser.

“How predictable,” shouted the stickman before shooting a frozen breath towards the golems. Fortunately, her summons managed to fly through air faster than an Olympic athlete could run. Without disturbing their formation, they easily maneuvered around the attack.

“You want to kill me too? So much for learning from your mistakes.” chided the stickman.

“How is this a mistake? Your dimensional pocket is likely packed full of healing spells. Do you expect me to believe anything less than a killing strike would defeat you?”

“Does that make it any less cruel?” snickered the stickman.

“If you’re not willing to risk your life, then give up the fight now.”

After this, the stickman was quiet. Despite her words, Ana was still worried about the golems’ attack. She wanted to step in and help them but had no idea how much was needed, how much would be a waste, and how much mana would simply be overkill. The girl was supposed to save her resources, but she couldn’t afford a mistake.

’50 cores for the Bobs, 20 cores for the girl.’ a male voice was heard in her head. Ana turned towards the Hunt’s area and saw a certain mage giving her a wink.

Having received confirmation, she pumped Beth full of mana before flying towards the other golems. Trying her best to match their maneuvers was no easy task. The best she could do was grab onto one and hold on for dear life.

While the freezing ray was shooting around them and the bobs dodged at more than 90 miles per hour, Ana focused on her dimensional pouch and started taking out mana.

Soon, the four golems glowed in white light, and the spike they were creating grew three times larger. At this point, the girl would have let go but was afraid she’d get hit by her own golems or the dragon’s breath. Noticing the situation, the stickman’s attack was getting stronger and faster.

“Just die already, wench!”

“After you!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Suddenly, all 5 angels raised their palms and the spike slightly rose up as well. Then, as if delivering a sentence, their palms and the spike dropped.

Chapter 91:

Despite the spike being no thicker than a human’s torso, the hole it made into the dragon’s chest area was three times wider. Even so, it did not pierce all the way to the other side leaving the finishing job up to Beth.

As if in tandem, the final golem rushed in just a second after the spike. The hole closed behind, but it was already too late.

With the job now done, everyone could only wait for the result. For a few long seconds, the ice and snow dragon froze as if all of James’ attention was on the inside.

Then, it started having violent spasms and various parts of it body began losing shape. The giant wings slouched down as if melting and some of its claws had separated from its body. The dragon’s giant slouched down, meaning only the torso area had somewhat maintained its shape.

“F**k off!” and angry growl was heard from inside the creature. Though it was fighting on his home turf, James was having trouble defending against Beth’s spear.

The golem tore through the ice and snow sacrificing body parts without a care until only a flying torso with an arm holding nine foot spear was left. However, that was enough to corner the stickman. Despite dodging numerous times, the second he took to curse out the golem created an opening which the former angel gladly took.

Suddenly, more obscenities were heard though this time with a tinge of pain. Though pierced through the heart, the stickman had nowhere near given up.

It did everything in its power to break the spear though to little use. Not only did it hold on, but the angel’s stone body started rebuilding itself.

“How…?” Though he didn’t understand how this thing worked, James was certain it should have been running out of mana not gaining it. The explanation he was looking for came just a second later in the form of a giant ice spike which conveniently flew into Beth’s newly restored hand.

“How is this fair…” complained the stickman before the spike pierced through his skull. Immediately afterwards, both it and the angel lit up like light-bulbs.

From the outside, all anyone could see was the creature’s body rapidly losing shape. The head and neck had melted along with every single limb. The chest area lost most of its scales, so only a giant blob remained.

Then, the blob seemed to deflate also before expanding rapidly and popping like balloon. For whatever reason, Ana felt the need to avoid the creature’s remains. “Ew…” her skin crawled when a giant tendon smacked her back and started melting rapidly. It was clearly snow, but it looked like flesh.

Above her head, the host was hiding the gong while it rang from the assault. When snow finally stopped flying everywhere, Edwin Bell carefully made his way out.

“A… And the winner is…”

“Not so fast!” A pile of snow began moving from the dragon’s former center. “This isn’t over yet. I did not lose. I never lose. I am unbeatable!”

Suddenly, the snow burst apart revealing an uninjured person laughing maniacally. Mid rank three mana burst out of his body sending shivers down Ana’s spine.

“What happened to James?” she asked while preparing her reserve of mana cores.

The man in front of her was slightly shorter than the stickman. He was also bulkier and had rough features unbecoming of a noble.

“Screw that pompous little shit. I am superior!” yelled the former stickman while preparing his attack.

Up in the stands, Ethan tapped the former family head’s shoulder.

“Is that not breaking the rules?” he asked half-seriously. “If the claws and canines aren’t telling enough, then take a closer look at his mana.”

Indeed, there was something off about this new stickman. While the properties of his mana were concealed in his previous form, they were now on full display before everyone.

“It’s a accursed beastman!” shouted Caroline while rousing her energy.

At the same time, James summoned an ice disk below his feet and flew towards Ana. A shield appeared in one of his hands, while a giant ice spike reminiscent of the one that pierced him was formed in the other.

“Come take a taste of your own medicine, wench!”

Ana was just about to tear into her mana cores, when her expression suddenly turned calm. Thinking she had lost her marbles, James rushed in and pushed forward his spike.

“Where’s my son?” A chilling voice was heard as someone grabbed James by the back of his neck. At the same time, another presence stopped the spike from piercing Ana.

While holding his hat with one hand, the old man of the Hunt family sent mana into the spike making it burst into splinters.

“Guess the gig is up,” lamented James. “You’re all still a bunch of…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Wesley Brown smashed his body into the sand. A giant 15 feet trident materialized in his hand which he pierced straight through the beastman’s torso. Frost poured out of the trident, and the once proud ice mage soon turned into a popsicle.

Chapter 92:

For the first time in years, there was a long break between the tournament’s battles. The beastman imposter was taken away for interrogation while Ana was hastily declared the winner. While the king and a few rank fours went to deal with the prisoner, the Hunt family was also mulling over what happened.

“How did you know he was a beastman?” asked Samuel after things had somewhat settled. He did not see a point in going with the king. In times like these, one had to protect his family.

“I didn’t,” Ethan answered honestly. “I only knew he wasn’t human.”

There was something off about the stickman’s mana from the moment he walked into the arena. However, Ethan couldn’t figure out why until Ana brought in her golems.

The souls she summoned this time were clearly of another race. So, why did the stickman, who was supposedly a human noble, have mana that resembled Ana’s golems more than his own people?

“Are there any others like this?” asked the former family head out of concern.

“If they’re using the same type of concealment technique as that James fellow, I can only identify them accurately if they’re using significant amounts of their mana; as in large, concentrated attacks.”

The beast people’s disguise would clean up their mana of most of the qualities which set it apart. Only if enough was released through a spell could Ethan pick up on the difference.

It was similar to how Ana’s human side cleared up her mana of demon-like properties. If not for that little inconvenience, the way in which energy moved throughout her body should have tripled in speed at the very least.

“What about inaccurately?” asked Oliver from the side.

“I’ll look into it,” Ethan shrugged. Relying on vague data and assumptions didn’t sit well with him. However, he’d already gambled with the knife’s effect on Stella’s spirit and won. The boy was on a row and determined to increase his earnings.

“Also, can I speak to you and Ana in private?”

Oliver’s inquiries didn’t seem to end there. Since they had nothing better to do, the three of them left towards one of the coliseum’s corridors. Most mages flew or jumped into the building to avoid traffic, and the commoners only occupied the lower rows of the booth.

Because of this, most of the corridors in the upper area were deserted and unkempt. There were numerous spider webs in the one where they stopped making Ana wince in fright.

“I would like to propose a trade.” spoke Oliver after collecting his thoughts. “I will clear up your debt, sign over the guesthouse in your name, and provide anything else you might need.”

“In exchange for?” asked Ethan while trying to shake off the sobbing girl that was now clinging to his arm.

“For whatever technique or method you two used to reach peak level two in such a short amount of time.”

For second, Ethan wanted to refute his words and claim it was only Ana who got to this rank. However, after all that had happened, it was pointless to lie.

“It’s not going to work,” the mage advised instead. “The secret to our success is not something you can replicate. You brother already knows half of it, and the other half is merely our own abilities.”

Despite being a former rank nine mage, Ethan did not know of any cheat codes towards faster cultivation. If there were such cheats, people would have eventually learned them and they’d become common knowledge by now.

Instead, it was his centuries of study into mana, proper resource management, the joint cultivation technique, and Ana’s demon legacy that made it possible. And, unfortunately for Oliver, none of these could be replicated by his family.

“Damn…” their friend seemed deflated by the news. If Arthur could grow as fast as these two, the family’s future would be secured.

“Your loyalty towards you family is honorable,” lauded Ethan. “I’ll tell you what: After Ana whoops your brother’s ass, I’ll let him know how to fix his circuit as a consolation prize.”

For a second there, Oliver wanted to argue before realizing the true meaning behind Ethan’s words.

“Wait, there’s a problem with my brother’s mana circuit?” he asked wide eyed. The family’s mages had been raised carefully using a cultivation technique passed down since the city’s beginning. By all accounts, it was one of the best in Last Heaven.

“To put it simply, at the rate he is going, your brother will never grow past the 4th rank,” explained Ethan. “His mana pools weren’t formed in the right spots and neither were yours.”

“Is that he’s always straining?” asked Ana while sinking the webs into the ground and suffocating her newfound enemies.

Though it was subtle, thanks to her attempts at perfecting the library’s spells and Ethan’s guidance, the girl had picked up on the tiny additional pressure put on Arthur’s circuit whenever he used mana.

Due to the deviation in his pools’ positions, the boy’s circuit did not flow harmoniously. Mana smacked into its pathways at every joint making spell formation harder and putting pressure on his body.

“Unfortunately, it’s a bit late for your parents and grandfather,” Ethan continued after nodding towards Ana. “However, if you follow my advice, in a few years, the two of you can probably give that king a run for his money.”

For the comment section:

To explain further how this works, basically, if the mana pools are formed in the wrong spots in the body, whenever the mage uses mana, it doesn’t flow properly, smashes into the pathways or pools and causes tiny damage that takes time to repair.

The more pools one creates in bad places, the faster the deterioration of the circuit. Since the mage needs to repair his circuit constantly, his cultivation speed slows down. He’s going one step forward and one back. At a certain point, the rate with which his circuit deteriorates exceeds his ability to improve his circuit/to cultivate. At this point, he’ll stagnate indefinitely (which explains why no one in Last Heaven got past rank 4).

Chapter 93:

For the alchemist/merchant side of the Hunt family, cultivation had never too important. However, in order to perform alchemy and to ensure their personal safety, even the combat inept Oliver had to practice it to some extent.

Though he was merely at the peak of rank 0, it was still enough to deal with non-mage thugs. Yet, here was Ethan, claiming he could one day be stronger than the King.

“You know a cultivation technique better than ones used by the 13 families?” he asked in astonishment.

Annoyed, Ethan started massaging the bridge of his nose.

“For f**ks sake, there’re no such things as different cultivation techniques. There’s only one way to build a mana circuit. All of your bulls**t imitations are an insult to magic.”

Some things had vastly improved since his past life. However, perhaps due to humanity’s defeat and their long isolation, cultivation techniques had devolved significantly.

The sad part was that while a mage’s circuit was still flexible until rank two, it would be almost impossible to fix afterwards. This meant that all of Last Heaven’s so called elite were doomed to never reach their potentials.

Oliver still believed some unknown force was backing his friends. So, when he heard of this one way to magic, his eyes lit up as if discovering the secret to life.

“You can consider your debt paid and the guest-house yours.” The boy wasted no time sealing the deal. “Also, I’ll give you a 50% discount on all our stores and a 50 gold monthly allowance so you won’t have to worry about finances from now on.”

“So, you won’t mind if I beat up Arthur?” asked Ana somewhat curious.

“My brother is not that easily defeated. I just hope that regardless of the outcome of your battle, there won’t be a grudge and it won’t affect our deal.”

“Of course,” nodded Ana.

“Business and pleasure should never be mixed,” added Ethan while extending a hand. “And also, we’ll take a 60% discount and a 70 gold allowance.”

Oliver did not hesitate and completed the exchange. While returning to the surface, he even gave them information on some of the opponents they might face in the next matches.

By now, the situation outside had somewhat calmed down. Some of the noble families were returning to their seats, and Isaac Laurel had dropped by for a chat.

“My advice is that you keep your family close,” he said in a grave tone. “There’s no telling when the dog might bite.”

Behind the handsome man, a tiny blonde girl was awkwardly playing with her skirt. Upon seeing Ethan and the rest, Stella gave them a wave and went over to relieve her boredom.

“What were they talking about?” asked Ethan after exchanging some pleasantries. Glad he wasn’t holding a grudge, Stella related everything.

The beastman was still being interrogated, but he hadn’t said anything useful as of yet. Since his own son was replaced by an impostor, the Brown family’s head had left the coliseum to start a thorough investigation into this matter.

In the meantime, things were slowly calming down, and the tournament would likely resume soon. However, the Laurels were afraid this incident was just the beginning. They started preparing for the worst, and Isaac came to advise his friend to do the same.

“What makes you think something might happen now?” asked Samuel concerned.

“There’s no guarantee,” explained Isaac. “However, the city’s strongest mages are all gathered here. Their children are also here which is bound to complicate things in case of a battle.

Furthermore, many families have passed down their artifacts so their kids might have a better chance at winning. To put it simply, our powerhouses are unarmed, their weapons are in the hands of potential hostages, and our city is defenseless. If you were the enemy, what would you do?”

The atmosphere in the group turned sour as these words sunk in. Indeed, while there was no guarantee of an attack from the beast people, there was also no better time for one.

“Have you told the other houses?” Samson asked his friend.

“I’ve sent servants to spread the word, but I wanted to come here personally.”

Samson and even Samuel thanked the man for his thoughtfulness. Not wanting to waste any more time, the family’s Elder started sending orders.

“Given the current situation, we should move immediately. Samson and Caroline, you two will take 50 mages and retrieve all useful combat gear, artifacts, scrolls, potions, and pills from the family’s vault. David will lead a separate detachment of 100 mages to retrieve Olivia, close down the shops and bring back any fighting gear, artifacts, scrolls, potions, or pills which might be useful.”

A peak rank three mage from the row closest to the family got up and bowed respectfully.

“Remember, my granddaughter’s safety takes priority over everything else. Let her know of the situation and she will guide you towards the proper equipment.”

“Won’t that leave this place unguarded?” asked Caroline. Three quarters of the mages present would be leaving on this mission.

“And that’s a problem?” asked her father while flashing a tinge of his mid rank four mana. “Finally, you should bring back any mage you can find above rank one, and tell the rest to seek cover. Any questions?”

‘Holy crap,’ thought Ethan genuinely impressed. Not many would be willing to uproot their entire fortunes on a mere hunch, let alone trust their servants with most of their assets.

However, the old man was decisive and stubborn. Once his choice was made, there was nothing for the rest of the family to do but obey.

Chapter 94:

Once upon a time, some 10 years before the current events, there were 14 noble families ruling over the city. They kept each other in balance, and most did not dare bother the others.

However, just like there were troublemakers like Charles in the youngest generation, there was one family head back then that was known to cause trouble.

Roman Armstrong was a brash fellow despite his title and rank. While the other family heads engaged in espionage and subtle sabotage, this mid rank four mage was far more direct.

He would cause scenes in other people’s houses leading to full on fights on several occasions. He would gossip in broad daylight and throw dirt on anyone but the King.

Due to his power, most people were reluctant to start a direct conflict and simply ignored his behavior. However, all of that changed when the man took interest in a certain Lady.

Isabelle Hunt was the head of her family at the time and Samuel Hunt’s most precious love. She was an outstanding woman, disciplined and wise, and the family prospered greatly under her lead.

Unfortunately, all people make mistakes and hers were grave. When Roman started taking a liking to her, she decided against direct action and hoped the bastard would lose interest in time.

This did not happen, and Roman became more and more brash. Since Isabelle held her husband back, he took this as a sign of weakness and became even bolder.

Things escalated, until during a certain visit, Roman threatened to take Isabelle by force. An army of mages had gathered around the Hunt family’s mansion and threatened to kill everyone in sight. But surprisingly, despite the dire circumstances, Samuel’s wife was calm and even smiled.

“You’ve messed up Roman,” she said matter of factly. “Neither our children or grandchildren are currently at home. You cannot possibly threaten us.”

“So what?” asked the proud noble. “I can just find them afterwards. Don’t you worry, my love, they will soon join you.”

There was one major miscalculation in Roman Armstrong’s plan. As far as Isabelle was concerned, going with him was no different than death. And, since she would die anyway, the woman saw no point in delaying the inevitable.

“Samuel,” she turned towards her beloved husband. “Kill him.”

That day, more than a thousand mages had left for the next world. Rumor had it that Roman’s forces were about to win until a stray spell struck Isabelle and killed her. The resulting rage which swirled through Samuel could not be stopped until Roman, his forces, and every trace of his family was wiped out from the world.

Since then, nobody dared be disrespectful to the Hunts, not even the King. The title of family head had passed on to Samuel and then to his son.

But, the old mage had never forgiven himself for failing to protect his wife. So, when a new threat was on the horizon, he spared no effort in his preparations.

After Samson left with his wife and the 150 mages, Isaac no longer saw a reason to stay. However, before leaving, he thought of saying something just in case.

“I hope our commercial relationship with the Wilsons won’t cause a rift between us. I’ve heard their youngest has been a sore spot as of late.”

“Of course not, Senior Isaac,” Oliver answered politely. “It’s a merchant’s duty to serve his customers. Our family will never blame someone for seeking profit.”

“Well said,” confirmed Samuel while patting his grandson on the shoulder.

“However, we would appreciate it if you disclosed what you sold them?” Ethan butted in as if he was part of the family. Instead of taking offense to it, Isaac replied kindly.

“Their list contained the usual, scrolls, pills, a couple of fire based artifacts that wouldn’t weigh the boy down. However, if there were some things of note, they would be a couple of my prized spirit horns, fire types like the one used by my daughter.”

Chapter 95: Wholesome Match

It was well into the night when the tournament resumed. The temperature had fallen below zero, so the weaker mages began covering themselves.

Though the building was half destroyed and there was news of a possible attack, the competition would not end until the very last fight. According to Oliver, this could very well be in a couple of days.

“Next match: Ivan Reed vs. Jayce Foster!”

With Edwin’s resounding voice, the battles started once more. Besides a few lucky cases where a commoner and a smaller noble were paired with each other, most matches consisted of one of the 13 obliterating their opponents.

To avoid wasting even more resources, Ethan began paying attention to each one. Unfortunately, not even five blows were usually exchanged before a duel was finished.

“Next match: Arthur Hunt vs. Autumn Hayes!”

“Finally,” said Arthur relieved.

According to his mother, the previous opponent had heard of his exploits during the preliminary rounds. She and her entire family were so scared that they vacated the coliseum the second their match was announced.

Of course, this did not stop Caroline from tracking and beating the living snot out of them. Fortunately, it seemed like her intervention would not be needed this time around.

“Let us have an honorable fight,” said Autumn upon meeting her opponent.

While the girl should not have stood a chance against Arthur in terms of skill and level, things were different now than when Ana had fought her at the academy. A flaming red armor covered her entire body and her knuckled gauntlets were anything but normal.

The oppressive rank three aura her equipment emanated was more than enough to force Arthur to bring out his own gear.

“It’s an honor,” answered the youth while they both bowed.

In truth, as the Hunt family’s next guardian, Arthur had no need to be respectful. However, her family members were long time customers, and he respected her grandfather’s achievements. Since Autumn seemed to embody his principles, the youth thought rather highly of her.

“Finally, a proper brawl!” exclaimed Ethan from above. Of all the duels thus far, this one promised to be closest to the ones he was used to.

“Ready? Begin!”

As he predicted, as soon as the host rang the gong, both fighters engaged in melee combat. Thanks to their rank three gear, their bodies moved so fast that half the audience could only see a blur.

Fist blocked sword and sword blocked fist. Overall, Arthur held the advantage due to his weapon’s longer range, but it wasn’t just once that Autumn broke through his defense and got close.

She was faster and more versatile. He held the range advantage and had harder blows. Neither of them stooped to using scrolls or pills, so the fight carried on with no end in sight.

“Yes! Go Arthur! Go… girl!” Up in the stands, Ethan had joined Oliver in cheering for the fighters. Except, while his friend was rooting for his brother, the mage couldn’t care less about who won.

“They’re just trading punches,” commented Ana from the side. “What’s so fun about that?”

Hearing this, Ethan turned towards her with a look of utter disgust. “Amateur,” he muttered before shaking his head and turning back towards the fight.

“What the hell!?” exclaimed the girl he insulted. However, even after punching his shoulder and slapping the back of his head, Ethan no longer paid her any attention.

“This is true combat.” Finally, it was Samuel who stepped in to calm her down. “The reason your friend is so infatuated with this fight is precisely because they’re just trading punches. It’s a battle of skill not of resources, something this tournament sorely lacks.”

Having received an explanation from the rank four elder, Ana stopped pushing Ethan, and joined them in watching the match. She was not a close ranged fighter, so none of it made much sense. Even so, if two of the strongest mages she knew were into it, there had to be something she was missing.

Five hours had passed, but Arthur and Autumn were still trading blows. Their equipment absorbed ambient mana and constantly restored their energy, so the fighters’ stamina was practically endless.

However, despite being the one stepping back, Arthur held his own in terms of blows. His sword had longer range, so as long as he kept his distance, the boy had an advantage.

In exchange, Autumn started chasing him towards the arena’s edge trying to force his back towards the wall. Unfortunately, Arthur did not play into her ploy.

After a dodge to the right, he went for a piercing attack. When Autumn blocked his sword and tried to counter with a punch, he smashed the handle into her face and pushed her back.

Despite the blow, Autumn grabbed his arm and threw a kick directly towards his stomach. An inch before impact, Arthur jumped on the wall behind him, pushed himself forward, and jumped behind her.

“Do you need a minute?” asked the youth while pointing at her nose.

“No thanks,’ declined Autumn. “Let us continue.”

Chapter 96: Bloody Matchup

As the first rays of sunshine pierced through the murky clouds, Ana had finally awoken from her slumber. She’d tried to stay up during the fight but failed miserably.

While she slept, Ethan and the rest did not miss a single moment. Caroline and Samson had returned in the meantime and were also busy cheering on their son.

“You’re up!” called a bubbly girl in a store manager’s outfit. Olivia had returned as well and was dying for company.

“What happened…?” the more Ana’s eyes cleared up, the more people she saw.

The rows below the 13 snakes were now full with thousands of mages, many of them sitting on each other’s laps. Besides this mountain of reinforcements, the Hunt area had a dozen peak rank threes keeping watch while armed to the teeth. However, despite their surveillance, a much scarier person was right in the middle of the family.

“That’s Atumn’s grandfather,” explained Olivia while pointing at the mountain of a man cheering along with Samson and Caroline. No amount of clothes could hide his giant muscles, and when combined with his height, it was more than enough to make the forest’s monster wolves look like Chihuahuas.

“That’s my girl!” Alexander Hayes bellowed when she cornered Arthur for the umpteenth time.

“It’s not going to work, Lord Hayes. My son’s already seen through it.”

Though he acted respectful, Simon bickered with Autumn’s grandfather to the point of shoving. Caroline had to catch her husband quite a few times, so he wouldn’t fly into the rows below them.

“I’ll admit that you have a fine boy,” appreciated Alexander. “However, his sword will shatter long before my tigress breaks her fists.”

“Nonesense!” countered Simon trying to get in his face. Unfortunately, the family head couldn’t even reach his chest, so he gave up and continued to cheer. “Protect your sword, Arthur! You can do this!”

While they squabbled, Oliver and his grandfather had retreated to the side. They used to cheer too, but it was getting embarrassing. Finally, Ethan and Caroline were somewhere in the middle, paying attention but trying to ignore the troublemakers.

“How much longer will this take?” asked Ana as if she couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Who knows? Days?” wondered Olivia with a look of concern. “This is why I didn’t want to attend. There’s always a duel like this.”

It had already been 12 hours, and the match was still underway. Both fighters were covered in dirt and their armors were full of scratches, though otherwise, they seemed perfectly fine.

“On a brighter note, we might just go from a battle directly to a wedding,” chuckled Olivia. “Those two planned it out at around midnight. The losing family will cover the costs.”

Since Atumn’s parents had unfortunately passed away, her grandfather was constantly worrying about her future. And here was Simon, the wealthy head of one of the most respected families, with a skilled young son he was desperate to wed. If one looked past all the violence, it was a match made in heaven.

Surprisingly, while the adults bonded above, their children were bonding in a different way.

“Your sword flows like a raging river,” complimented Autumn while dodging his strike.

“Your fists are like a hurricane in motion,” responded Arthur while retreating from their range.

After an entire night of fighting, the two knew each other’s moves as much as their own. Every strike had a counter and every counter had another.

Their blows chained together in a beautiful dance whose lead was slowly taken over by Arthur. Although the difference in their skills was minute, they both knew the match’s end was near.

“I am winning,” Arthur declared flatly after another exchange of blows. For a while now, he’d been on the offensive despite needing to maintain distance.

“It’s not over until the finishing strike,” said Autumn while dodging his sword. Her every move was being read leaving no room for a counterattack. Her punches were countered by piercing strikes to the stomach and any kick she attempted was followed by a slash towards her legs. After another hour had passed, Arthur was confident he could end it.

“I win,” he declared while slashing from above. As expected, Autumn went in close and tried to punch his gut.

However, instead of backing off or slamming her head with the hilt, the teen freed one of his hands and dragged her closer into a hug. He had to endure several punches, but until they were sandwiched together, he did not let go.

“You’re taking this to the ground?” asked Autumn surprised. She was more than skilled in that area, so it wouldn’t be much of a disadvantage.

“Not really,” answered Arthur while piercing his sword into her leg. It was too long to aim for higher, but it was a debilitating injury no less.

“Argh…” Autumn winced from the pain but maintained her composure. “Not bad,” she answered before two short blades pierced out of her opponent’s back. “But, victory is mine.”

Blood started flowing out of both teens. It mixed together beneath their feet warming the ground while their bodies went cold.

“You were hiding blades in your gauntlets all this time,” said Arthur more like a compliment than a question. “However…”

Since the girl’s hands were stuck through his stomach, while one of his own was still free, the youth proceeded to stab her in any place he could. More than a dozen holes appeared in Autumn’s legs, yet she was still smiling.

“You’ll die before me,” she announced while twisting the blades in Arthur’s stomach. Going by the amount of blood gurgling in both of their mouths, it appeared she was right.

“In that case, then I should risk it.” After winking at his half unconscious opponent, the youth lifted his sword into the air and grabbed it by the blade.

However, Natalia was not an artifact one could take lightly. As soon as he touched the edge, Arthur’s gauntlet was sliced and blood flowed out of his fingers. It was a race against time between getting literally disarmed and striking his opponent. In that one second, the match was decided.

Chapter 97:

Above a pool of blood, two teens were in each other’s embrace. Both were full of cuts and holes to the point where they should have long since lost consciousness.

Autumn’s fists were half imbedded into Arthur’s abdomen, with the blades coming out of them piercing through his back. On the other hand, the boy held her tight with one arm while the other was dangling by his side.

Five cut fingers were floating in the pool of blood below. As for his sword? It was firmly imbedded in the girl’s neck.

As Autumn’s eyes lost their color, Arthur also lost the strength to hold on. They both fell back onto the sand, their fall somewhat cushioned by the red mud.

Since there were now two massive holes in his stomach, whatever blood Arthur had left was rapidly draining out. Fortunately, he had expected something like this to happen.

The youth would not cheat by using scrolls of pills during their duel. However, now that it was over, he used the last of his strength to swallow the pill he was hiding inside his mouth.

Suddenly, the few drops of blood still falling from his wounds turned into a flood. This rush reached his brain and momentarily restored his consciousness.

Not wanting to waste the precious seconds the blood pill afforded him, Arthur summoned a healing scroll out of his dimensional pocket directly into his mouth. Fortunately, while he had no energy to chew it, the damage done by the saliva and blood was enough to activate it.

The scroll glowed, and his body started mending itself back together. With newfound strength, Arthur took out another scroll and ripped it. Then another, then once more. Only after five were used was his body properly healed.

“Winner: Arthur Hunt!” declared the host enthusiastically.

However, the boy did not even hear him. He rushed towards Autumn, pulled out a stack of scrolls, and used them on her. He then forced the girl to swallow a blood pill and started doing compressions on her chest.

“Come on, wake up!”

While he was struggling to save her, a large shadow fell upon his back. It was Alexander Hayes with a somber look and his fists clenched.

“Boy,” he spoke slowly. “You can stop now. She is fine.”

As if to confirm her grandfather’s words, Atumn coughed violently before spitting a mouthful of blood. Fortunately, her soul had yet to abandon her body, so she soon regained consciousness.

“Congratulations,” she said weakly after pushing herself up.

“No, it was a draw,” Arthur corrected. “If I hadn’t used the pill, we would have both lost.”

“But, you did,” the girl answered with a smile. “So, we both win.” Since it saved her life, Autumn looked past his tiny cheat. Her grandfather nodded from behind with moist eyes she couldn’t understand.

“I still think I should make it up to you,” insisted Arthur. “Would you like to train together sometimes?”

“Of course. It would be my pleasure.”

Above the pool of blood with floating fingers, two teens in broken armors shook hands in mutual respect.

“Yes!” Up in the stands, Simon and Oliver were high five-ing each other.

“Finally, I got him a bride!”

“Congratulations, father. It has truly been a struggle.”

The fighters took their time chatting leisurely while walking up the stairs, with Autumn’s father watching their backs like a mafia couple’s monstrous bodyguard. Finally, after cheers and applause, the two parted ways and joined their families.

“Congratulations!” Simon lifted his son into the air like he’d already won the tournament. Even Caroline was holding down a tear and just tapping his back lovingly.

“Hmph, you just had to screw things up, didn’t you?” an annoyed voice was heard from the side. Surprisingly, not everyone was happy with the duel’s results. Olivia had her arms crossed and a complicated look.

“It’ll be fine,” reassured her brother. “I’ll figure something out.”

Then, Arthur’s eyes moved towards Ethan and Ana. The other family members seemed to understand what happened, as they all turned somber as well. While Ana was turning tense and Ethan readied his knife, Arthur approached them with determination.

“We need to talk.”

Chapter 98:

In the Hunt family’s area, the atmosphere was so tense it could be cut with a knife. All the members of the clan, and even some of their guards, were carefully eyeing two 17 year old teens. Though she was powerless in this situation, Chloe joined them and even walked in front.

“Showing your true colors Arthur?” Ethan asked with a cold smile while pulling back Ana’s mother.

Finally realizing his mishap, the teen sighed deeply. “I’m not going to kill you for crying out loud.”

“Not like you can, but huh?”

Some family members noticed the confusion they created and started backing off or looking elsewhere. The guards also turned though they were still listening.

“It’s not what you think,” added Oliver from the back. He awkwardly gestured everyone to calm down and take a seat. Along with his sister, they had prepared a kind of conference circle where they could talk.

With Ethan, Ana, and Chloe on one side and Arthur, Oliver, and Olivia on the other, negotiations began in earnest.

“This is your first time attending a tournament, yes?” Oliver took the lead.

In response, the opposition nodded carefully.

“Then, you probably don’t know this, but things are about to take a turn. A ‘we’re screwed if we don’t do something about it’ kind of turn.”

“Go on,” said Ethan. At this point, he wouldn’t have been surprised even if the nobles’ parents joined the tournament for a team battle.

“It happens rarely, but in certain situations, one of the tournament’s rounds can be changed into a group battle.”

‘Close enough,’ though Ethan annoyed.

“Basically, a large dome is erected and students fight it out until just half of them remain conscious.”

“Which means the others guys are dead,” added Olivia while dragging a finger across her neck.

“Indeed, the losers’ chances of survival are quite low.”

“Then, why would the nobles agree to this?” asked Ana. It was their children’s lives on the line.

“It wouldn’t be the first moronic thing they did,” Arthur explained sarcastically. “First off, the king was the one who introduced this rule as a way to play with his rank five barrier artifact. To put it simply, when battles drag on and he gets bored, he calls for a battle royale within the barrier.

There was significant resistance the first time it happened, but ultimately, everyone’s greed won out.”

From further away, Samuel’s ears started twitching. “For the record, I didn’t agree with the idea,” he said with a huff.

“Yes…” Arthur continued. “But, enough nobles did to make it a tradition. The more aggressive ones see it as an opportunity to off their competition. After all, it’s much easier to justify a kill in a giant battle than when it’s one on one.

Some of the weaker nobles were also happy with the idea, since it gave them a chance to group up. Instead, the ones at a severe disadvantage are those without connections and the commoners.”

“So, basically us,” said Ana while crossing her arms. It was already hard to take on the nobles one on one. If they ganged up on them, it would be a nightmare.

“Indeed,” said Oliver. “So, how about for this upcoming battle, you two and my brother team up? There’s strength in numbers and we’d be wasting a ton of resources if we fight alone.”

Oliver noticed how apprehensive Ethan was about wasting his scrolls. If his friend was trying to save them, then he was glad to help.

“You don’t have any allies, do you?” asked Ethan not willing to fall for a trap. This was the only one reason Arthur would be teaming up with commoners in this fight.

“Unfortunately yes,” the young guardian admitted immediately. “I’ve been the favorite to win for some time now, so it’s highly likely the other nobles will go after me. Normally, our grandfather and the threat of losing our family’s business would keep them at bay, but if all of them attack at once…”

“We can’t refuse all business or it’ll be us going down instead,” sighed Olivia.

“We also can’t fight all of them regardless of our strength.”

“However, your situation isn’t much better either,” Oliver insisted. “There hasn’t been a single tournament where the commoner students survived the battle royale. Nowadays, most of them just quit before it happens.”

Basically, Ethan, Ana, and Arthur were prime targets. Stella might have helped if she had made it thus far, but a certain someone managed to defeat her. As things stood, the three of them could either face the storm together or get run over by it one by one.

Chapter 99:

Within the arena, Charles was roasting yet another student. A cheerful glee was plastered on his face while his opponent was screaming in agony.

‘Soon... You are dead. All of you.’

Though the boy didn’t have many connections amongst the nobles, he was certain they would side with him when it came to punishing peasants. Since two of their peers had already fallen at their hands, it was everyone’s duty to deliver payback.

For a while now, the Hunt brothers and their peasants were having a conference. To Charles’ delight, their faces looked grim.

“The three of us vs. 10 nobles,” mumbled Ana.

“There’re actually 11,” corrected Oliver. “While King Julian doesn’t have an heir, the Andersons’ triplets will all be joining the fight.”

“Great. Even if we team up, how are we supposed to take on all of them?”

The first two opponents they faced had rank three and four items and artifacts that made them almost as dangerous as the adults. If several such items were to be used at a time, especially in the enclosed space of a barrier, it would be an utter disaster.

“Relax, will you?” Olivia jumped in. “You guys already beat a noble each from what I heard. With big brother here, you’ll be fine.”

However, the family’s boys did not share her positivity.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” said Arthur. “Even if I use all of my equipment and abilities, I can take on two of them, at most three. And, it’s not guaranteed that I’ll win either.”

“I’ve tried negotiating some deals last night,” added Oliver. “Some of them promised to help, but they were likely lying.”

In truth, they could only rely on themselves. Charles knew this as well, and he was busy fantasizing about his victory.

‘Just a little more…” He could already see their mangled bodies among the sand.

“If I use everything,” Ana thought seriously. “Then, maybe I can match Arthur.”

“You can’t,” Ethan cut her off. “If you use up your resources now, you won’t make it through the next rounds. Also, your summons will likely not work in this round.”

“Huh, why?” she asked surprised.

“Just trust me.” Ana wasn’t aware of the spirits which took over her golems. All she saw were tiny flames that lit up the rocks.

However, if the souls which dropped down matched her mid rank two self, and the barrier used in the match was rank five, it was highly likely they’d be blocked off too.

“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?” the booming voice of Edwin Bell was heard from above. “Due to delays in the tournament’s schedule and to ensure the safety of our youth, our wise ruler has decided on a special arrangement for the following round. As such, for the first time in five years, the grand barrier will be summoned.

Students, fighters, and beloved audience, brace yourselves. For in approximately 15 minutes, the elimination round will begin!”

“S**t.” Feeling beside himself with anger, Oliver spit to the side. “We need to speed things up. Are you in or not?” In the short time left, they had to come up with a plan.

“On three conditions,” answered Ethan after some thought.

“Name them,” prompted Arthur.

“1. I’ll need artifacts that can disguise mana, ones that can fool the eyes of a rank four mage.”

“I’ve brought a dozen rank three murky bracelets,” jumped Olivia. “But, against a rank four… They might mess up her senses a little, but there’s no guarantee.”

“Which brings me to point 2,” continued Ethan. “In case the artifacts fail, we’ll need your old man’s protection against Theodore Wilson.”

Hearing his person being brought up in conversation, Samuel raised an eyebrow.

“I can’t help you when I’m not around,” he answered easily. “However, as long as you stick close to me, I guarantee that youngling won’t touch you.”

There was a good reason Ethan put his faith in the Hunt elder. Even when he was relaxed, pools of smog-like mana formed within his circuit. They came and went like eerie apparitions which threatened to take over at a moment’s notice.

‘The mark of a berserker,’ concluded Ethan some time ago.

“Two down, what’s the third?” asked Olivia.

“This one’s quite simple,” smiled the teen. “For every bracelet you’ve got, I’ll need a dimensional pocket to match.”

Chapter 100:

14 young mages had gathered in the arena. The once red sand had been obliterated so many times it was now blackish red. The grains were sharp and hurt upon touching, but the least of the contestants’ concern.

As expected, the other commoners gave up before the battle even began. This left Ethan and Ana as the only fighters from the lower class against a dozen nobles. Having Arthur by their side was somewhat reassuring, but the situation was dire nonetheless.

“Ladies and gentlemen, these brave souls are going to put it all on the line for your entertainment,” began Edwin with enthusiasm. “However, worry not! His Majesty’s barrier will protect them from outside threats and their honor will keep them safe within.”

“The hell is he talking about?” asked Ethan annoyed. The other students were already giving them death glares. The triplets went as far as reenacting how they’d kill them amongst themselves. Seeing the mock knife stabbing one of them over and over again while the ‘victim’ made a weird face was filling Ethan with… inspiration.

“Without further adieu, I shall retreat so His Majesty may start the ceremony. This time around, the battle begins as soon as the barrier is summoned. It will block off even sound, so the gong will not be heard.”

“It’s likely that they won’t fight in sink,” explained Arthur. “I’ll take the lead, and you can back me from behind. We’ll strike where their formation is weakest.”

“…No,” Ethan answered casually. It did not seem like he felt the same tension as his comrade.

“You have a better plan?”

“Yes. You two protect me for five minutes. I’ll deal with the rest.”

Both Arthur and Ana turned towards him like he had gone insane. In accordance with their previous negotiations, his left arm had 11 bracelets placed upon it. His ring hid 11 other dimensional pockets and the surplus murky bracelet was given to Ana.

“Give me your hand,” said the boy upon remembering something. When he grabbed Ana’s wrist, 400 scrolls and mana cores exchanged pockets. More than surprised, the girl was slightly annoyed.

“How come you didn’t teach me about this? Or about speaking through your thoughts?”

“I… forgot?” Ethan averted his eyes. “I’ll teach you afterwards.”

It wasn’t like he was some perfect being. Some things he forgot. Some things he overlooked. Like the tiny, tiny golems Ana was hiding inside her blouse.

“May God almighty bless this battle!” said the old bald man as he finally got up from his pillow. He then extended his right palm revealing an egg shaped pendant of a golden barrier.

The egg glowed and so did the Arena. In just a few moments, a large oval dome had covered the sand. The barrier went a foot into the sand and barely touched what remained of the walls. In terms of height, it was around 50 feet tall, enough for the students to battle, but huge pain for anyone planning on flying.

“Let us have a fair match,” one of the nobles declared sarcastically. As if they had already planned this beforehand, all of their eyes were aimed towards the three.

“We’ll go with my plan,” said Ethan in a pissed off tone before running his circuit. The mention of humanity’s God threw his mood into the gutter.

Ana and Arthur walked forward ready to face the music. From behind the group of students, a certain some also came to greet them.

“This is your last chance to repent,” said Charles while taking on a triumphant pose. “Arthur, join the winning side, and I might just forget the little incident from before.”

Of course, neither teen moved an inch. Arthur equipped a brand new set of armor with red tint and mid rank three mana while Ana let her mini golems loose. While Ethan’s body started glowing like a Christmas tree, five stone warriors grew in an instant.

“It was all I could do in the time we had,” she explained to Arthur.

“You think your toys will save you?” asked Charles with a maniacal grin. “Or your friends?” He completely ignored the rank three aura coming out of Arthur or the phantasms splitting off from Ethan’s body.

“Hey, what are you doing?” an annoyed voice was heard from behind.

“Yea!”

“Who the hell made you our spokesperson?”

Turning around, Charles saw 10 angry mugs staring him down.

“Is he even part of our group?”

“I thought he was next after the peasants.”

“No, we take out Arthur, then him.”

The noble youths chatted amongst themselves while Charles’ expression turned from surprise to anger to worry. While all of this was going on, Ethan and his tattoos were working overtime.

‘4 minutes left…’

Chapter 101:

Inside the giant rank five bubble, this year’s so called battle royale had devolved into chatter. While the students discussed who knows what, the adults above we’re getting increasingly annoyed.

The only thing of note were the clones splitting off of commoner boy. His whole body was shrouded in murky mana that seemed to not follow any logic as it flowed like waves in a swamp.

“Why isn’t his hammer out yet?” asked Theodore annoyed. Though he was oblivious to just how dire his son’s situation was, he knew that trouble was soon to follow. If he had paid some more attention to the commoner, then perhaps a different emotion might have through his veins.

“Get out of the way or we’ll smash through you,” warned one Zoe Davis while covering her hand in a giant stone gauntlet.

“Ignore him,” said one of the triplets.

“Yea, we’ll take’m all out at once.”

“Just, refrain from range attacks so we don’t hit each other.”

The teens spread out in a large semicircle. Opposite to them was Ethan in the back, Ana and Arthur guarding him and then Charles stuck right in the middle of the two groups.

“Wait!’ the boy shouted. “I’m on your side.”

“Great, then shoot them!” Zoe mimicked a punch and her gauntlet turned into an horizontal pillar which smashed into Ana’s golems like a train. Since she created them before facing an actual threat, the souls which inhabited them were random. Fortunately, there was a shield expert among them which stepped forward and blocked the attack.

“Normal attacks won’t work,” said Ivan Reed while pulling out black staff with a skull on top. “Take out your artifacts.”

Four different rank three staffs, three swords, two wands, and a rank four hammer had been summoned at once. Arthur too pulled out a giant shield and Ana’s golems huddled behind the shield one.

“Three minutes,” Ethan told them while a fifth phantasm was slowly ripping apart from his body. The first two were almost instantaneous, but it seemed that the more of them he made, the longer the process took. While the already summoned phantasms were somehow gathering ambient mana, Ethan’s face was gradually turning pale.

“Attack!” In a split second, a giant fire ball, a water stream the size of a small river, lightning, eerie energy that seemed to decay everything in its path and numerous other spells were shot towards the group.

The golems stepped forward and took on the brunt of the attack. The four in the back channeled their energy into the shield bearer and they barely managed to hold on.

Fortunately for them, the water and fire attacks cancelled themselves out. A tornado dissipated the evil energy, and when Charles tried to roll out of the way, Zoe’s earth train slammed right into him.

“You idiot!”

“Watch where you’re aiming!”

Angry complaints were heard from the crowd. Even so, almost half a dozen attacks did hit their mark pushing the golems back greatly. To keep the shield bearer going, the ones behind him drained all of their mana and eventually collapsed into piles of rocks. The last golem’s shield was also chipped away until he was forced to take on the attacks with its bare body.

By the time the assault ended, only a torso and a pair of legs remained of the creation. Having been drained of mana it too collapsed soon after.

“Two minutes…”

This time, Arthur stepped forward.

“The warrior boy, huh?” a mocking voice was heard from the crowd. “Allow me.”

Ivan pushed mana into his creepy staff until the eye-sockets of the skull on top started glowing. He then lowered the skull towards the ground and dark blood-like liquid poured out of it.

From the side, Charles was stupefied. He watched the pool of black blood form, and then rise up into a human form. He watched it grow into a giant 20 feet tall zombie in utter confusion.

‘Do I help them or do I stay back? They’ll come after me next. F**k.’

As the monstrosity reached its final form, Ivan took out a giant club from his dimensional pocket and gave it to the monster as a weapon.

“It’s a puppet controlled by its summoner,” growled Ethan while wailing in pain. “Take out the kid or his staff and the creature will collapse.”

Even while his brain and body felt like they were splitting open, the youth still managed to accurately assess his opponent. This summon was not like Stella’s fire spirit or Ana’s golems. It was merely a soulless pile of mana controlled directly by its master.

“Ivan, get in the back,” ordered Zoe after hearing their opponent’s words. Agreeing with her decision, all nine students stepped forward in case of an attack.

Of course, as soon as the giant blood zombie charged towards Arthur, this option was obliterated from the get go. All the teen could do was slam his shield into the ground and summon its barrier. A moment later, an earth shaking blow fell on top of his head.

Chapter 102:

Booming noises were played on repeat as the zombie never relented in its assault. With every blow, Arthur’s dome-like barrier shook and another tiny crack appeared on its surface. While the shield was a mid-rank three artifact, so was the staff.

Fortunately, although the dome protecting the three looked like a baseball compared to the creature’s club, it did not move regardless of the number of swings.

“One minute,” Ethan called out from behind. He was now on his knees clutching his head while eight phantasms with empty eyes surrounded him.

“F**k this,” said one of the students out of boredom. He spun his wand three times into the air before an enormous amount of mana flew into the ether.

A second later, three human sized spheres appeared near Arthur’s dome. Two were at its sides and another in the back. With increasing speed, they began spinning in place and the number of cracks on the barrier multiplied by ten.

“You idiot, stay out of it!” yelled Ivan who had to stop his zombie mid-swing. With the three balls surrounding the barrier, he had to pay extra attention for every attack. Furthermore, the powerful gravity field they expelled not only ripped Arthur’s barrier apart, but it threatened to swallow his monster’s club also.

“Take a hike, Ivan. He is right.” Another bored student stepped forward and shot an iron spear straight between the zombie’s legs. It smacked into the already cracked barrier piercing five inches through it.

“Crap.” To avoid disaster, Ana placed a hand on the shield and started channeling mana inside it. The cracks soon repaired themselves and the spear was pushed out, but as more and more blow struck the barrier, the girl’s mana cores were drained by the dozen.

“Let’s go!”

“Kill them!”

The nobles resumed their attacks with enthusiasm, once again smashing spells into each other. Some hit the zombies legs almost toppling it over. Others were taken off course by the gravity balls and smashed into them causing massive explosions.

Soon, there were so many spells shooting off at random that the dome could barely be seen anymore. When they finally stopped, several minutes later, Ana had expended more than 300 cores.

“You did well.” A gentle hand tapped her shoulder. The exhausted girl turned around to see Ethan looking forward towards their enemies.

“Is it done?” she asked wearily.

“Yes, but…” A smile appeared on the boy’s pale face. “What the hell is he doing?”

Suddenly, a burst of flame was heard from behind the students and the giant zombie fell on its knees. Everyone turned to see a giant flaming hammer repeatedly striking Ivan’s now unconscious body.

“Ha, haha, hahahaha!” Charles laughed like a crazy person while Ivan’s zombie turned back into its liquid form. “This is what you get!” yelled the teen without even paying attention to his surroundings. Inevitable, a giant stone fist smashed into his side.

“Are you crazy?” asked Zoe after sending him flying.

“That’s one more person down tough,” muttered Dylan, the teen with the iron spear. “Now, if we can just get rid of one more.”

Ethan, Ana, Arthur, Charles, and now Ivan. These were the sacrifices they had decided upon thus far. However, only eight fighters could advance to the next round, meaning a sixth victim was needed.

Because of Dylan Fox’s words, the teens were now all paranoid with each other. They began taking distance and preparing their weapons.

“What a bunch of morons,” commented Ethan while enjoying the show. At this rate, all of his hard work would end up being a waste of time.

“Calm down!” Zoe Davis finally stepped in to clear up the mess. “We can decide on who the loser will be after we deal with Charles and those three.”

“There are a few more than three of here,” said Ethan while pointing behind him. 10 Ethan look-alikes were watching on with their hands within their pockets and a smug grin. They were identical to each other to the smallest of details including the clothes and one murky bracelet each of them wore.

“Listen, I’d love to watch this shit-show all the way to its inevitable conclusion, but my selves are getting a little restless.”

Though they failed to grasp what the clones behind Ethan meant, the students were wise enough to put aside their differences and reach a consensus. Dylan and two others turned towards Charles, while Zoe and the remaining six faced off against the three.

“Think you can afford to deal with flame boy?” Ethan asked sarcastically. Seven of his alters walked towards the group, each one squaring off against one of the students. The battle royal had now reverted to one on one duels.

Chapter 103:

When a soul first dropped into one of Ana’s golems, Ethan felt like he was losing his mind. His somewhat talented protégé had suddenly gained access to her own private army.

Numbers have never been an issue for the mage. However, unfeeling, highly capable warriors tailor made for each battle situation that would fight to the death without a moment’s remorse, were not something anyone could ignore. Ethan tried to replicate it, and when that didn’t work, he began thinking of alternatives.

“If I can’t get others to do my bidding, then I’ll just do it myself.”

Thanks to his hundreds of years into magic theory and the research he did to concoct the ultimate poison, an insane idea popped up into his head. However, it would only be a month later that he could properly put it to the test.

While Ana and Arthur were guarding him, Ethan used the intricate spell network imbedded in his tattoos to create a perfect copy of his body, down to his clothes and tattoos. Thanks to his study into the human anatomy for the former purpose of destroying it faster, this part was rather easy.

However, now that he had a rank two body, a soul of the same level would be needed to operate it. Fortunately, he already had, or better said, was one.

Splitting a portion of soul and consciousness to operate the avatar was rather easy the first couple of times. Unfortunately, by the time he split 10 parts, Ethan and his clones were in pain similar to what the fire spirit must have felt when he attacked its consciousness.

It took several minutes for them to recover, but their enemies were far too inept to capitalize on them. Now, seven identical Ethans were squaring off against the students, with four more watching their back in case of surprises.

“What are you looking at?” the Anderson triplets spoke in unison towards their challengers as if they were an affront to their brotherhood.

“A dead man/woman,” spoke all seven of the Ethans before shooting lightning towards their opponents. Zoe summoned a pillar for cover and used a piece of land to gain distance. Several others escaped also, though one of the triplets got struck.

“A water mage,” grinned the Ethan in front of him before doubling down on his spell. His brothers stepped in to protect him, putting all three of them on the defensive.

In the meantime, one of the students approached Zoe, placed a barrier on top of both of them, and then transferred mana towards her body. Thankful for the support, the girl slammed her fist into the ground and half a dozen worm like pillars burst out and attacked the two Ethans facing them.

“Good combo,” praised the clones while summoning gravity fields around them. Three feet before impact, every pillar was ripped apart as if put through a shredder.

“Maybe he won’t need our help after all,” noted Ana from behind. Three of the students were busy chasing down a now desperate Charles. The triplets were at a clear disadvantage while two other students were also doing poorly. Only Zoe and her helper somewhat held their own, but it did not seem like it would last.

“It’s too early to come to conclusion,” said Arthur carefully. “He took them by surprise, and now they’re just reacting. But, what do you think they’ll do when they calm down a bit?”

The reply to his question came just a moment later. For a while now, Elijah Clarke had tried to defend against Ethan’s wind blades with the vines he specialized in. After getting pushed back time and time again, the boy had finally decided to up his game.

Around 50 scrolls appeared in his hand which he proceeded to rip immediately. The second he did that, a veritable vine tower grow out of the earth reaching all the way to the King barrier’s ceiling. After taking the form of a giant ugly mermaid, it started attacking Ethan a spirit of vengeance.

This woke up the other teens, and they all brought out larger attacks. The triplets smashed water and fire together releasing a thick steam cloud that surrounded the clones. While their clothes and skins began to melt, the third brother grabbed onto their legs and immobilized them.

Nearby, another Ethan was suffocating as the last of the seven had created a vacuum around him using wind scrolls. As for Zoe and her helper, they were riding inside a giant peak rank three golem even Ana had to appreciate.

“Maybe, we should help out,” said Ana. These recent events were more than enough to change her mind.

“Save your strength,” advised one of the clones near them. Despite these recent developments, none of the four backup Ethans were making a move.

Chapter 104:

Up in the stands, the former excitement the audience showed for the battles was nowhere to be seen. Thousands of mages were huddled together in the upper seats, making them way too uncomfortable to care about the fights. Many of the noble houses above had worried faces which twitched and turned according to how the battle developed.

However, out of them all, it was the Wilson’s camp that was most distraught. After a sneak attack they had initially lauded, Theodore’s son was now running like a headless chicken while struggling to stay alive.

Countless steel rods threatened to kill him. Gravity bombs disrupted his movements and were about to rip out his limbs. And if that wasn’t insulting enough, the Murphy family’s brat was shooting fireballs at him as if to prove she was better.

“God damn it,” mumbled Katherine while chewing on her napkin. “It’s all those brats’ fault.”

Indeed, if not for the tree bastards who turned the other students against him, Charles would have easily dominated the round. Of course, this theory they repeated like a family motto was nowhere near true.

Nonetheless, Theodore’s venomous eyes still moved towards the three occasionally as if in warning. He knew of Arthur’s potential, but now that two unusually talented commoners had joined their ranks, the Hunt’s future power was dangerous.

‘I’ll need to nip those buds before they grow,’ decided Theodore. He was especially interested in the teen who multiplied himself. Not only could his clones fight like the original, but they used all sorts of spells with ease.

‘He is hiding something,’ the man concluded upon seeing the murky bracelets and the jumbled mana around his body. Fortunately for Ethan, while the Wilsons’ formations master had access to a multitude of spells, she kept most of them as trump cards and relied heavily on wind. As such, it was hard for Theodore to make the connection, at least for now.

Down inside the King’s bubble, Ethan’s clones weren’t doing so well. Two of them were barely avoiding being run over by a giant golem. Another had to summon his own air to avoid suffocating. A fourth was slicing a giant vine mermaid like a gardener tasked with trimming an instantly rejuvenating bush.

Finally, the last three were starting to show bones. Their skins melted at the same time as their clothes and they now looked worse than Ivan’s zombie.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t intervene?” asked Ana with a worried look.

“Save your energy,” Ethan insisted.

Suddenly, a change began occurring on every front. Instead of avoiding the meltdown, the three Ethans inside the fog burst into water and flames growing the cloud’s mass until it reached the triplets. Then, at the same time, they switched to electricity which roasting the Andersons to their cores.

The vine monster was close enough to get caught up in the attack momentarily halting its movements. Ethan took this opportunity to attack the summoner.

The clone that was previously suffocating had already turned things around and was chasing the wind mage with earth and lightning. Only the two fighting Zoe and her partner were still maintaining the status quo. However, if all the other fronts fell apart, this would be more than enough to win the battle.

Unfortunately, such a complete victory was all but impossible. As Ethan had predicted for a while now, it did not take long for one of the teens to lose their tempers and something stupid.

Elijah Clarke was not used to being on the defensive. Not only did he find it insulting, but simply too bad at it to keep up with Ethan for long. Since his mermaid monster was currently impaired by lightning, it wouldn’t take long until the clone reached his throat.

“Shit, shit, shit. Stay away from me,” he screamed while flailing his sword. Unfortunately, it was more of an accessory than anything useful. Although the clone didn’t have Ana’s knife, the normal blade he used was more than enough to overwhelm Elijah.

Finally, seeing his defeat on the horizon, the teen resorted to drastic measures. He threw the sword towards Ethan who dodged easily. However, the millisecond gained was enough for a large green orb to appear in Elijah’s hand.

He pretended to also throw it towards the clone, but instead, the boy smashed it on the ground. Just like that, before Ethan or anyone else could duck for cover, the once barren arena had turned into a jungle.