After the end of the last match, a loud horn resounded throughout the Arena.

“Everyone! Congratulations to all who advanced to the next round. The second round will begin in 4 hours so I suggest you make the necessary preparations” The announcer said smilingly.

“The next round will also be the final round and the matchups will be based on your previous performance”. He then clapped his hands and the list of all the remaining participants was shown.

“Are these the listed based on our rankings?”. Phaeton asked confusingly. Azrael then analyzed the list and replied.

“I don’t think so, if that were the case, why would you be on the bottom of the list.”.

Phaeton paused and thought back to his match. “That makes sense, I won my match easily.”.

“Anyway you do you, I’ll be leaving for a bit, I need to fine-tune my spells.” Azrael said as he prepared to go.

“Will training right now even make a difference? You will only exhaust yourself” Phaeton asked.

“Not necessarily, I will simply be doing image training with my Magic circle drawing, as long just using a small amount of mana it will barely affect my reserves”. Azrael pointed his finger upwards and a thinly drawn magic circle appeared gradually in the air. The visibility of the circle was barely noticeable.

“At this point, I’m only aiming to warm myself up before my fight”.

Phaeton sighed. “Pure Magic users have it tough compared to warriors, our weapons are already imbued with magic spells as such we don't need to learn drawing circles. Well suit yourself, I’ll fill you in with the results later”

________________________

Azrael then made his way to a test facilitator and asked.

“Would it be possible for us to practice during this time?”

“Sure just go down to the left-wing inside there should be a training room. Don’t go crazy kid, the rooms there aren't designed for heavy-duty use unlike what the military uses, anything gets damaged, you’re paying for it.” The facilitator strictly said.

Azrael walked to the inner hall is of the Stadium, then he made his way to the training room He then reached his hand to the knob and pushed the door open. A loud thud sounded as he collided with another person.

“Watch where you’re going,” Azrael said annoyingly as he looked towards the other person.

He had pure purple eyes, Black hair, and a fairly slender build, and a foot taller than him.

The boy slowly got up then grumblingly said in a low voice. “Piece of trash”.

Taken aback at what he said. Initially, Azrael was supposed to apologize however now he couldn't help but be annoyed. “You’re the one who wasn't paying attention, I thought there was no one using this room, the door was unlocked.

The boy’s eyes shifted towards Azrael. In an instant, Azrael felt a chill and an intense feeling of danger.

As Azrael instinct kicked in, he readied himself for combat, however as all this was happening, he noticed that the boy kept walking.

“Are you done here?”, Azreal asked. The boy didn't give a second glance and walked past him.

“I can feel any magic him but Where is this Pressure coming from.” Azrael thought.

“I remembered, he must be one of the participants who defeated the noble, space I did not notice him during the first test”

Azrael then entered the training room. He discovered that the training room was quite spacious. It had a few training constructs available for use.

“I should take this time to practice my spells. Aside from Phaeton, Isabella and there are no other participants that might pose a serious challenge to him.

That boy as well, he felt that out of all the participants, he was the most dangerous of them all.

“I wonder if he was indeed the one who defeated Isabel’s companion?” Azrael wondered.

________________________

In the long corridors of the training area, the boy was slowly walking towards the tall man. The man was wearing a military officer uniform, he had a stern expression on his face.

“The royals are watching, make sure to put on a good show. We need you to get noticed so you can get closer to the royal family.” The man said. (less e1xplicit)

“Make sure that there are no problems, and don't go overboard”.

The boy then looked towards the man. “Don't worry, I know what I have to do”, he bowed and walked past the man.

A soldier then came running. “General!, you have indeed arrived, we have been looking for you all morning, General Escariot was looking for you regarding some matter, “

“Very well, lead the way”. Before following the soldier, he then turned to glance at the boy. The soldier then escorted the man to the Observatory platform.

Upon arriving, the soldier saluted to general Escariot and bowed towards Hildegard. “General Zarathros has arrived”. He then saluted and left quietly.

“What took you so long? I heard you were supposed to be here early, you’ve kept the princess waiting.” Escariot mused jokingly.

Zarathros bowed towards the princess. “I apologize for being late your Highness, I had to meet with one of the participants. I’m his sponsor after all.”

Princess Hildegard was taken aback. “General, I didn’t realize that you had an interest in recruitment.”

“This is indeed a surprising matter.” Escariot interjected. “You usually don't have a hand in these matters especially now, when you’ve been assigned to the border.”

“I simply wish to make my army stronger, our control over the neutral zone is already weakening as it is.” Zarathos replied.

“It looks like you’re concerned,” Escariot smirked.

CLAP! “I for one am looking forward to the one you’re sponsoring with that said let’s leave this matter for now.” Hildegard interjected.

Zarathos coldly glanced away towards the arena and thought to himself. “I’m going to have to endure this situation for a while longer, just until Thanatos gets settled in”

________________________

After the first round was completed and the break was announced, flocks of people swarmed the Stadium.

One of Cygnus’ squad’s duties was the inspection of the entrance area of the stadium. A line queue was formed together with soldiers checking each person who entered.

As all this was occurring a black spiky hair man with a full arm-sleeve tattoo was making his way to the stadium and was carefully blending in with the crowd. He scanned the surroundings.

“Aside from the Demetrius, the overall high-ranking soldiers here are low, security is average. Hmmm” The man then caught sight of Cygnus lazing on the sides.

“This is unexpected, however, it should still be manageable. It's not like I’ll be fighting everyone at the same time.” He then scanned at a few locations on the stadium exterior and a few guards. “I see everything mostly is in place.” he thought to himself. He then proceeded to the checkpoint while crushing a coin.

Despite the glaring appearance of his arm and overall appearance, the soldier at the checkpoint couldn't see a thing and thought that he looked normal. The soldier gave a light nod and waved for him to enter “Next”.

While Cygnus was lazing around he detected a subtle surge of magic, his eyes locked onto the entrance area. “What was that? It felt like someone cast a high tier magic”. Cygnus stood up and made his way to the entrance.

The squad was generally complaining. “Damn, how long is this going to take”, Cygnus then approached the soldier. “Hey, did someone out of the ordinary passed through here recently.”

“No one sir, “ The soldier shook his head, “Honestly captain, everyone who passes here is civilians, if it was any other, they would have already gotten a ticket beforehand.”

Cygnus with a puzzled look went through the logs, it did seem no one out of the ordinary passed. He then looked to Marcus. “I’ll be entering the stadium, I just need to check something out”.

Marcus looked annoyed “You just want to slack and go to the princess” .

________________________

On the training ground, Azrael was concentrating on drawing multiple circles. “I already have a few spells in my arsenal, however, to win this tournament I need to be able to use everything in perfect coordination. I don't have many strong spells right now”

Azrael had LIGHT STEPS (Lesser), LIGHT BEAM variations, and a few other minor spells. Generally speaking, the strength of spells were categorized as lesser, greater, and finally, true.

For example, a Lesser Light Step will allow the user to move at 1/50 of the speed of light and Light Steps on the highest theoretical level, can move at the speed of light.

The light beam spell is the basic offense of light magic, versatile and easy to use.

What he was severely lacking however were defensive spells. “I’ll just concentrate on dodging. I’m sure that there's no one as fast as me.

Light magic-users are faster than wind type potential-wise, as such Azreal was confident in this regard.

Azrael then completely focused on gathering light on his body. I have to use all this time to accumulate light energy so I can spam multiple spells from the start. That way, my opponent will have no time to react.

“It wouldn't hurt to have a weapon, but I still don't know which weapon is the best for me.” Azrael thought while he remembered Phaetons sword.

“I wonder how strong that guy I bumped into is? I couldn't tell based on his appearance, but damn he gives me the creeps”

________________________

Back at the audience stands, the hooded man made his way to the central area. He then cast an incantation. An invisible aura spread through the stadium.

“That should be enough, with this the operation has officially begun”. The hooded man then sat on an empty seating.

The magic cast was a unique signal type. Only people who have the same magic can detect it. Unless you did not learn it before, you wouldn't know what it meant even if by some off-chance it was detected.

After the aura spread, several people have begun to move. A private in charge of patrolling the stadium then initiated a communication with his team.

“Everyone, get in your places, and wait for the runes to be triggered”. This man was actually planted soldier including the others.