The cheers of the audience began to die down as the voice from the loudspeaker echoed again.
"Next match! From the west side: shadow assassin, rank four: VELLIA DARKFANG!"
"And from the east side: precision shooter, rank twentieth, Damian Kade's living shield: LIAM FAULKNER!"
Damian glanced at Liam with an annoyed face.
Liam just stood there calmly, patting the revolver on his waist, then looked at the arena with a face without the slightest sign of fear.
"Just watch out, Liam, after this fight, I will slaughter you. But if you win, I will forget about what happened earlier. You can do it, Liam." Damian whispered with a smile.
Liam turned his head and nodded. "Master Damian has advanced. Now it's my turn."
As soon as the match bell rang, Vellia created large pillars around the arena to help her use her stealth skill. Then she disappeared instantly from Liam's sight.
Not long after, Vellia shot from one of the pillars she had built earlier, her dagger aiming for Liam's throat. However, Liam had already released a magic bullet from an angled position. The bullet shot into one of the pillars built by Vellia, then bounced, and headed towards Vellia with such precision that Vellia was forced to dodge.
The duel was intense: Vellia began to coat her dagger with poison, while Liam tried to guess which direction Vellia would come from, and he began to reflect his magic bullets and maintain the control zone. Every time Liam thought he had found Vellia, Vellia had already moved in another direction, too fast and too quiet to be predicted.
Liam finally positioned his magic bomb on the floor, creating a trap to make it difficult for Vellia to move. Then, unexpectedly for everyone, Liam launched a magic bullet aimed at the bomb. So that it exploded in one arena, and all the pillars that Vellia had built were destroyed without a trace. But when the smoke from the explosion cleared, Vellia was already standing behind Liam.
Her dagger was right in front of Liam's neck, forcing him to end the match.
Instructor Van raised his hand. "Liam Faulkner is eliminated. Vellia Darkfang advances to the next round."
Damian stood up from the stands, looking at Liam, who was still slumped because he could not accept his defeat.
Damian waved his hand up and called Liam loudly, "Liam, Vellia is lucky, you almost beat her, I'm sure in the next match if you guys meet again, Liam will be the winner."
Instantly, the audience in the arena fell silent for a moment. Then they all shouted and called Liam's name carefully. They appreciated how Liam fought back against Vellia
"Liam is great for giving a match that managed to injure Vellia on her cheek, because it is very difficult to injure Vellia, and only a few students can injure her, because of her speed, maybe only a few students that can touch her in a fight." Said one of the students in the audience seat in the arena.
Then Liam raised his hand and gave Damian a thumbs-up. Liam's face looked red because he was crying after being defeated by Vellia.
"I'm not strong enough to stand on Master Damian's side, but I promise that I will train harder to be able to become Master Damian's protector. I have to work harder to get stronger." Liam said in his heart.
Then Liam started walking out of the arena to return to the audience seats to watch the next match.
The next match will begin.
From the west side, Firi Puppetblade appeared, standing on the shoulders of a six-meter-tall giant puppet. On the east side, Nero Valtzreid walked calmly, hands in his robe pockets, his face expressionless.
As soon as the match bell rang, Firi moved his puppet to destroy the ground around Nero. Instantly, the ground around Nero was destroyed and became full of holes.
There, Nero was seen standing upright, as if unaffected. When Firi was annoyed by Nero's expression that seemed to belittle him, a sharp shadow emerged from underground and hit Firi's large puppet, throwing off the balance of the puppet's body, and causing Firi to almost fall from his puppet's shoulder.
Firi shook, trying to regain control of her puppet. However, Nero's shadow slipped into the gap in the torn puppet's body, then a huge explosion occurred from within, and the clash of shadow magic shattered the puppet into pieces.
Instructor Van raised his hand, his voice echoing, "Firi Puppetblade is eliminated. Nero Valtzreid advances to the next round."
The audience was silent for a moment, then cheers broke the silence. Nero stood still, his shadow reuniting with him, then he walked out of the arena with a blank expression.
Next match.
Ragnar Brimeclaw stood tall, his entire body covered in solid ground armor. Across from him, Faen Astellar radiated a silvery blue aura, forming a layered magic barrier like a glass wall.
As soon as the bell rang, Faen immediately took a defensive stance, deploying his magic shield to block Ragnar's first attack. But Ragnar, nicknamed the "Walking Fortress," showed his strength by slamming his fist coated in ground armor onto the surface of the arena. A massive wave broke the surface, the fragments of the explosion crashing into Faen's shield and destroying it one by one.
Faen tried to restore his magic, forming a new, thicker layer. But Ragnar gave no chance. With a single, ground-shaking stomp, he closed the distance, his ground armor glowing softly as it slammed into Faen's shield. The hard shoulder impact sent Faen flying into the air, then he fell tumbling and sliding out of bounds.
Instructor Van raised his hand, his voice echoing: "Faen Astellar is eliminated. Ragnar Brimeclaw advances to the next round."
Ragnar stood in the middle of the arena, his body still covered in a layer of solid ground armor, indicating he was ready for the next challenge.
After that, the next match began.
On one side, Salvius Rendar stood quietly, gathering air pressure in his hands. In front of him, Brakth Runebreaker was silent, surrounding his body with a very strong aura.
Salvius raised his hand, releasing a wave of air pressure as strong as a storm. A sharp wind whistle swept forward, trying to silence Brakth without stopping. Dust flew, and the cheers of the audience died down as Salvius' power reached its peak.
But Brakth stood his ground. He took one step forward, then swung his mana-wrapped fist towards the wind attack. A silent explosion occurred as the dense wind was torn apart. The powerful wind instantly disappeared, leaving behind a trace of emptiness in an instant.
In the next two steps, Brakth closed the distance with Salvius. With a calm movement, he hit Salvius' shoulder, then pushed him down to the ground. No words were spoken, only the sound of a loud collision between Brakth's fist and Salvius's body, which was bounced off.
Instructor Van raised his hand, his voice echoing, "Salvius Rendar is eliminated. Brakth Runebreaker advances to the next round."
In the stands, a student whispered in awe, "Crazy… he took on the wind attack with his bare hands?"
Another student chimed in, "That Brakth isn't human… he's a monster."
Brakth stood in the middle of the arena, his body completely unscathed, indicating the extent of his power.
The next match began.
Rygar Ardent stood to one side, taking off his school robe and lighting his hands on fire. His opponent, Tovar Grellin, used ground magic, forming a solid armor that covered his entire body.
As soon as the bell rang, Rygar attacked first. He swung his flaming fists at the ground, spitting out fireballs that exploded forward and created a heat wave. Tovar raised his armored arms, blocking the blast of fire with his ground magic attack, then struck the ground hard with both of his massive fists, the explosions sending dust and gravel flying.
Their duel was brutal: every fire attack Rygar made was broken by Tovar's defensive impact, and every attack Tovar made was melted by Rygar's heat wave. But Rygar had not yet drawn his main weapon. After a few clashes, he drew a large axe from his back. With a powerful swing, the axe stabbed into the ground, splitting the solid rock and sending cracks rippling across the arena.
The cracks led straight to Tovar's feet. As Tovar lost his footing, Rygar added fire support, the fireball struck Tovar's body once more as he lost his balance. So he was thrown back and passed out.
Instructor Van raised his hand, his voice echoing, "Rygar Ardent advances to the next round."
The stands suddenly fell silent, then replaced by whispers filled with amazement.
"I… I thought no one could beat Tovar's defense…"
"He… he's a demigod, huh?"
Another student whispered in panic, "If Damian or the others fight him later… do they still have a chance?"
The spotlight was still on Rygar, who stood straight in the middle of the arena—the fire in his hands was clearly visible, showing that his brutality and strength had not been much greater than what had been shown.
Damian took a deep breath. He looked up at the sky. Eight names were now left on the board. The next round would be much tougher.