As I was walking toward the arena to attend the final match, I thought to myself.
Damn I should remember not ever to piss off that old man his presence is similar to my master's
But that ability was quite impressive, the power to rob life…it sucked energy from everyone within the room, at first I taught it was some ice spell, but after analysing it, I am now sure that that spell is some sort of a death spell. I don't know about the regulations concerning Alikh's country on the use of Death magic, but if I can remember the penalty for using it at Alsa was death…
Anyway, the final fight is about to begin, and I do need some rest, that fight with Lori drained me more than I could hope even using the Mana flux for that short of a time has strained my body.
Although I think I can afford to have a few more bouts, I guess I should speak to Vessma about the arrangements of the combat.
Oh, speak of the devil she is here.
Vessma hastily ran toward me, and with a fidgeting pointing finger she said
"Y-you idiot do you know who that was? Do you have any idea what would have happened if Ryouka-sama has not intervened? Oh my god, how many times do you have to prove that you are an idiotic brute that thinks of nothing but making trouble for others? Damn it"
Well, that was not the kind of words I was hoping to hear.
I answered her back, calmly.
"Well, I had to do that I would hate if a stranger were to do this to a comrade and before you continue ranting I would have done the same if he came after you."
At the end of my words, I saw a bright blush on Vessma's face. I have no idea why that happened, though.
I continued before this discussion get any more awkward.
"Now I want to know, in what order will the fighters be in the next rounds. Should I start first and take out as many as I can? Or would you prefer that someone else make my job a little bit easier?"
She coughed a bit and spoke in a way that was much more professional.
"Hmm I would like to send you first, but it seems that you are still fatigued…I want to send Shiki-sama and Yuna-san first then you if they are to tire what do you think?"
Is she asking my opinion? This is rare I taught that she was all bark and orders.
"I agree to let them go first I think that Shiki wants a go as he only participated in the race. As for Yuna-san, she needs not to stress herself. I will tap in if she is to tire."
She walked away, saying.
"Good I think we agree on this. Good luck in the next game. I was supposed to win the group fight to make this easier. I think that we will have to rely on your brutality to win this. quite inelegant but this is all we have."
I keep wondering why does she always consider me as a brute and barbarous yet she has a summon that is the epitome of savagery huh…quite ironic isn't it…I'll never understand this girl.
Passing the entrance to the arena, I felt a wave wash over me: heat and noise, the sound of thousands of people shouting in demand for battle. The smell of dirt and sweat…quite lovely actually.
Taking our seat at the booth that is next to the round platform, I saw Shiki that was barely containing his excitement. What gave him away was his shaking hands and probably the sparks that were occasionally emitted from his hair.
The announcer then disrupted the chaotic noise from the audience with his boisterous voice.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I will be the commentator for this game as you can guess. This is indeed the final fight for the Alsian team and the team from Astora sadly the latter will not be benefiting from winning this game as much as will the Alsian team as they have a huge difference in points. But fear not ranking third is still far better than ranking last and will still gain them some favours and rewards from this competition. So Fight well and FIGHT HARD let the strong rise and the weak be trampled."
The first to walk up to the arena was a skinny girl from the Astorian team her blue hair was cut short barely reaching her neck while her vivid blue eyes and plump lips gave her a sweet looking allure.
Shiki walked up the stairs, confident as ever with sparks still coming from his hair occasionally.
They stood in front of each other waiting patiently the for the judge to announce the beginning of the fight, until the commentator said
"FIGHT START"
Then just like a Deja-vu the announcer once again said
"FIGHT OVER, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE???"
Shiki was still standing in his spot sow as the girl. But on a closer look, the white of her eyes was showing while smoke was rising from her body.
"Damn that was fast, what little monsters Alsa has brought us this year…too bad I cannot reveal the technique that Mr Youtaro has used without his consent so anyone who has seen what happen you are. Wait, wait it seems that Mr Shiki also wishes that his spell be revealed. What a weird bunch these guys from Alsa."
OH…another 1 second victory, hah, way to go Shiki.
The screen started showing what happened. It was almost instantaneous at first, but after the replay 'well I didn't need the replay I already clearly saw everything the first time' the scenes slowed down and showed what truly happened.
Shiki ignited his right arm with an electrical charge and had a small Mahojin on his other arm.
He crossed them in an x shape and pulled them apart with frictional force. This somehow created another Mahojin under the girl that had the same symbols of the one he had in his left arm.
After that, she was out. A massive current of electrical discharge spewed forward from under the girl almost frying her if it was not for the barrier.
And what is amazing that all of this happened in under a second.
I would really suffer against a mage that could use spells with this degree of potency at this speed I still wonder, if there was no spell limit at our school would I even have won all those games?
It seems that Shiki will be fighting for the second match his new adversary was a good looking boy almost as tall as Shiki with short wavy hair and a robust physique.
"Fight start" the beginning of the round was announced.
The beginning of the game was almost a replay of the other one but with only one difference.
Shiki somehow missed. The guy managed to dodge at the last second while sending an air blast towards Shiki who surprisingly took it head-on.
It sent him flying a few feet away but never did he lose his cool, he still had that creepy smile on his face as if he was beginning to enjoy himself.
And as if nothing happened he stood up and walked forward confidently. The other guy seems to be of level as he was able of a feat not many can mimic, the sole fact that he was able to dodge an attack at that speed was impressively beyond belief.
The other guy charged forward while zigzagging some of Shiki's rapid lightning bolts' attack.
I still had my hyper-recognition active when I noticed that Shiki began to charge his entire body with electric power.
This was the same magic he used when he fought against the twins on that day.
He began to stroll toward an almost frozen enemy as he started moving too fast for normal eyes to witness.
Once he was close enough, he tightened his grip, making a fist. With apparent exhaustion on his face that must have been caused by this obviously overtaxing ability, he still gritted his teeth and swung a punch aimed at the abdomen of his enemy.
Alas, that would have been a victory, but surprisingly his foe disappeared from sight the instant the attack was about to make contact. Instantly appearing behind Shiki with a well-placed roundhouse kick to the side that sent Shiki rolling on the ground. Not waiting for him to stand back on his feet he charged again at him with a stomp to where Shiki was laying, a stomp that only met the hard platform but was strong enough to cave a considerable portion of it in.
Shiki, who was now wary of his opponent, took a somewhat of a defensive pose. He had both his arms forward and his hands in a dragon claw-like form with occasional kinetic discharges that sparked from finger to finger and from hand to hand. His posture was one of prudence and probably based on counterattack. Sadly if you can't see an attack coming, you can't counter it.
He was now being tossed around. The man started appearing and disappearing from sight each time a hit was connected to Shiki. He was using the same tactic as me; only his was not based on a spell-like Shunpo…no it was pure speed. I taught that warrior-mages were a hard thing to become, but this one was excelling at it.
Hit after hit Shiki was being toyed with.
After receiving a trashing, Shiki shouted "ENOUGH!!"
And with it, an impressive discharge of electricity erupted from his body making a shockwave that submerged the arena with its power.
The other guy who should have been fried received but a slight reduction in his hit points, however, Shiki was well in the danger zone.
After some of the dust cleared up, his figure showed up. The guy was crossing both his arms in front of him. The cloth of his uniform that was on his arm was wholly burnt. But he suffered little damage to his physical body.
But what was impressive that the amount of power that Shiki displayed was phenomenal as even the platform started spewing some occasional sparks.
Shiki, on the other hand, looked utterly exhausted. However, I know that he is not someone that would give up that easily. Shiki began to channel some of the Mana in his body to recreate a spell that I have seen before. The one where his aspect became lion-like.
He began to run near the rim of the arena, circling his adversary. More and more sparks started spewing forward then the shape of the lightning beast begun to materialise.
Crackles and roars of a thunderous beast were blasting through the arena. Shiki increased his speed and began to enclose his encirclement on the guy in the middle of the stadium.
This one, however, did not feel the least threatened as he was smirking and waited patiently.
Before Shiki could fully close in, the figure of the guy disappeared making Shiki pass on empty space. Shiki is now heading toward the rim of the stage with nothing to stop him from getting out of bounds yet he didn't panic and somehow managed to slow himself enough to stop at the edge of the ring barely. Sadly his small success was met with utter disappointment as at that time and probably because of the lack of speed the lion shape figure disappeared and with it most of Shiki's remaining strength.
Not to waste the chance he was struck from behind with a strong kick that sent him out of bounds and disqualified him on the spot.
The man now faced the audience and shouted loudly and proudly "WHO'S NEXT?"