I was in my waiting room. There were drinks and snacks and there was a comfortable couch. A television was at the center of the room and was broadcasting the current fight.

“Now then, it’s time for the first fight!” the referee shouted and the crowd cheered.

“Representing Kira, the S-class adventurer, Suzaku Yakushiji!”

“And facing off against him is AZKi’s champion, the Dark Knight, Temma Kishido!!”

Temma and Suzaku looked at each other.

“I’ll be sure to defeat you this time, Temma”, Suzaku said.

“Let’s see you try”, Temma replied.

There was a special barrier placed in the arena. Their voices could be heard by the people in the audience and the people watching TV.

“Let your blades dance and magic go wild! The first round of the Idol Fan Tournament.... Start!!”

The distance between Temma and Suzaku was closed in one second. Suzaku’s katana clashed with Temma’s sword. The sheer force of their strikes caused sparks to fly from their swords.

“Mind’s Eye! Enhancement: Arms! Enhancement: Legs!” Temma shouted and a blue aura wrapped around his body.

He managed to push Suzaku back and he backed away. However, Suzaku closed the distance again and unleashed a barrage of slashes. Temma managed to block them successfully but he couldn’t find an opening to attack.

“I wonder... Why does Temma shout out his magic’s name?” I asked.

My sword glowed and turned into a small girl.

“It helps in forming an image”, Anya answered.

“Forming an image?”

“You know that one of the requirements of magic is an image. By giving it a name, you can easily associate it with an image.”

Maybe I should try it... But shouting out the names of my moves sounds weird. What should I even call my shadow manipulation magic?

“Suzaku is strong. Temma is in trouble”, Anya said after watching for a while.

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“Mind’s Eye allows you to see the trails of the future movements of your enemies. It’s a very powerful spell that only a few mages could use. Once you activate it, you could easily dodge or even parry your opponents attacks. But take a look at what Temma is doing.”

Temma blocked another strike from Suzaku.

“We know how skilled Temma is in combat but if all he could do is block against Suzaku’s attacks, that speaks a lot on how skilled his enemy is”, Anya said.

Even if he could predict Suzaku’s next attack, all he could do was block?

“What’s wrong? All you’re doing is blocking my attack. Is your heart not in this fight?” Suzaku asked.

“... And thus the mist came. Creating something from nothing and turning something into nothing. Bewildering the enemy and making me untouchable. Let it be known, the Mist of Deceit!” Temma finished chanting.

A huge magic circle appeared and covered the entire stage. Despite being a clear day, mist covered the battlefield. It was just a light mist so everyone could still see the battlefield. However...

There were 5 blond men on the field and they all looked like Temma.

“Amazing... He managed to chant while blocking his enemy’s attack. Not to mention, it’s the Mist of Deceit”, Anya said.

“What’s going on? Why are there 5 Temmas on the field?” I asked.

“The Mist of Deceit is a barrier-type magic. Once the area is covered by the mist, the user can bring out any illusion he wishes to make”, Anya said.

One of the Temmas clashed with Suzaku. Two more followed and Suzaku avoided their strikes. Then, the ground underneath him cracked and a pillar of fire erupted from it. However, Suzaku managed to avoid it.

“Does Suzaku not know that it’s just an illusion? Why is he trying hard to avoid them?” I asked.

“The illusions of the Mist of Deceit are dangerous. If you are not a hundred percent sure that it’s fake, then your brain will think it is true”, Anya answered.

“What do you mean by that?”

“For example, he would feel pain if he got stabbed by one of the fake Temmas. His brain would think of them as “real.” That’s why Suzaku has no choice but to avoid them. Also, the real Temma is hiding among the illusions. If he would just blindly take attacks, he might get injured by the real Temma.”

“So he doesn’t know which one is the fake and the real that’s why he gave up on thinking and considered everything to be real?”

“That’s right. As long as he doesn’t get hit by any of the illusions, he would be fine.”

We continued watching the match. Suzaku was doing his best in avoiding the Temmas. When he would manage to hit one, it would turn into mist. A new one would then appear and continue their onslaught of attacks. I would have problems facing off against one Temma. Five of them at once is a scary thought.

Chains came from the ground and wrapped around Suzaku. The Temmas charged at him.

“This is a fake!!” he shouted and the chains turned to mist. He managed to hit two Temmas and they turned to mist as well. However, two new Temmas appeared.

“What mental fortitude”, Anya said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“He managed to convince himself that those chains were not real and forcefully disrupted the illusion. Despite being in battle, he could condition his mind.”

“Why don’t he just convince himself that the other Temmas are fake like what he did to the chains?”

“The Mist of Deceit makes really believable illusions. All of your senses would be fooled. He probably convinced himself that those chains are fake since thinking logically, Temma couldn’t probably make chains come to life without magic. However, he knows that the real Temma is among the 5 Temmas. As long as he can’t get rid of his doubts on whether the Temma he is facing is the real one or an illusion, he can’t forcefully dispel it.”

“So what can he do?”

“Defeat everyone.”

“That’s a tall order. Can he do it?”

“I think it’s about time he would show the reason why he was an S-class adventurer.”

Suzaku went backwards and sheathed his sword.

“The eight mountains and seven seas constitute one world. A thousand of them form the universe. And when I gather the strength from that universe, there’s nothing I can’t cut!” he chanted and assumed a stance as if he was about to draw his sword.

The Temmas charged at him.

It all happened in under one second. Suzaku disappeared and appeared a few meters away from his position as if he teleported. His stance was exactly the same except that his katana was partly unsheathed.

“Shiten Ittou Ryuu: Thousand World Strike”, he sheathed his sword and all of the Temmas turned into mist.

The magic circle was cut into two and faded away with the mist. Temma was then revealed to be sitting in one corner.

“I knew it... Managing five clones of yourself is hard and it’s almost impossible to be fighting alongside them. You were just hiding out, huh?” Suzaku asked.

“Amazing... Mikage, do you have an idea on what he did?” Anya asked.

“It’s too fast for my eyes but I was pretty sure he cut all of the Temmas at once”, I answered.

“It’s not just that. The mist cleared away. Do you know what that meant?”

I tried to think but I had no idea. Anya was shivering from awe.

“He literally cut the intangible Mist of Deceit and forcefully dispelled it without using any magic”, Anya said.

“Wait. What? How do you cut something like that?” I asked.

“There are several planes of reality. First is the Physical Plane, then the Spiritual Plane, and lastly, the Astral Plane. Regular sentient creatures can see the Physical Plane and skilled ones could see the Spiritual Plane. The Astral Plane is only for a select few of people who were vessels of Primordial Beings. The Mist of Deceit, like the anti-magic barriers and other disruptive barriers, are found in the Spiritual Plane. They use the Spiritual Plane’s powers to toy with a person. What Suzaku did was transcending his attack from the Physical Plane to the Spiritual Plane without using any chants, magic, or whatever. It was pure skill”, she explained.

“Now that’s amazing.”

Temma stood up and pointed his sword at Suzaku.

“You must be pretty exhausted from fighting all of my clones. Not to mention, you used a lot of energy in that one strike”, Temma said.

“You’re not one to talk. Your mana must be really low since you used Mind’s Eye and Mist of Deceit”, Suzaku replied.

They walked to the center of the stage and there was a few meters of distance between them.

“Why don’t we end it in one shot?” Temma asked.

“Proving who’s the better fighter by cutting the other one’s ribbon. Nice and simple, just how I liked it”, Suzaku smiled.

They both took a stance and the entire stadium went silent. Both warriors’ concentrations were at their peak.

And then, they moved at the same time as if they agreed on it. It all happened in a split-second. They crossed each other and swung their swords. However, they didn’t look like they hit each other.

Or so it would seem.

A blue ribbon fell to the ground.

Suzaku smiled.

“It seems it’s my loss this time”, the white-haired man said and sheathed his sword.

Suzaku’s ribbon was cut and fell to the ground. Temma’s ribbon wasn’t touched except that there was a small cut on the lower part of Temma’s shoulder.

“The victor is: Temma Kishido!!” the referee announced and the stadium went wild.