Although more and more battles were raging on in the arena, those in the Hunt family's area were not exactly tense. Only Oliver and Simon were watching the fights for reference, while the rest of the group was relaxing however they could.
Ana chatted with her mother while Ethan and Arthur were eating. Samuel crafted a pearl bracelet for his daughter who was now showing it off to the guards. This carried on for quite some time until Edwin announced a certain match.
"Next fight: Arthur Hunt vs. Eliana Robertson!"
"About freaking time," mumbled Arthur with his mouth full. After a pat on the back from his mother and getting cheers from all around, the youth made his way down towards the sand.
"It would appear Miss Eliana has forfeited the match," the host announced after the youth made it all the way down. "Winner: Arthur Hunt!"
It took several seconds for the boy to comprehend this announcement. The rest of his brain power was spent on keeping calm.
"What the f**k!?" the angry voice of a woman was heard from above. Caroline was not so keen on discretion, so she ran after the Robertsons to tear them a new one.
Eventually, Arthur returned and the family had no choice but to resume their routines while waiting for another round. Weirdly, exactly 64 students entered the main event each year. What happened to the other applicants was something only the organizers knew.
As a result, when the first round of battles concluded in the afternoon, only 32 students were left in the competition. As if foreshadowing the next rounds, dark clouds were slowly gathering above the coliseum.
"Things are finally getting fun," grinned Oliver while looking at his friends. From here on out, there was a huge chance Ethan or Ana would get matched with someone from the 13 families.
"We will now begin the first fight of the second round!" announced Edwin Bell. "Everyone, give a huge round of applause for Ethan Masalis and Stella Laurel!"
Even the host seemed more excited about the upcoming battles. Ethan got up, did a light stretch, and walked down towards the sand.
"She's Isaac Laurel's daughter!" Oliver's voice was heard from behind. "She'll use healing magic."
As expected, the 14 years old girl's mana was purified to the extreme. Not a single shred of negative energy or emotion were mixed in, and this was perfectly reflected in her stone cold expression.
"Ready?" asked the host before ringing the gong. "Fight!!"
Cheers erupted from the audience as everyone expected the magic duel to reach new heights. However, even though 20 seconds had passed since the start of the duel, neither contestant had moved an inch from their spots.
Ethan was wary of his opponent's healing magic and was unwilling to get close. Stella was also the youngest opponent he had faced in this lifetime which made things rather awkward. As for the blonde young girl, her poker face was too perfect to figure out her thoughts.
"Let's make a deal." After a full minute of staring each other down, Stella finally spoke. "As a healer, getting my hands dirty would scare away customers. And, you don't seem like an easy win, so…"
"You want to flip a coin or something?" It was such an absurd idea that Ethan would've actually accepted.
Unfortunately, his opponent was thinking of something else. With no prior warning, she pulled out a plain looking horn from her pocket and blew it.
Suddenly, the entire Coliseum shook as mana began rapidly gathering towards its center. After its quality and quantity reached rank three, it started emanating a strange aura which threatened to suck the life out of all those who witnessed it.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but for a brief second, the world's stream flickered into existence and one of the countless souls awaiting reincarnation was ripped out. Instead of finding its way to a new life and body, the ethereal existence got sucked into the newly created vortex of mana.
"Necromancy…" muttered a wide eyed Ethan.
"Nonsense," countered Stella. "This is my father's spirit summoning horn."
As if to prove her words, the giant pile of mana burst into flames taking the form of a peak rank three flaming human more than twice Ethan's size.
"Where did your dad get that?"
"He makes them himself," smirked Stella. "It's his hobby."
The more Ethan tried to comprehend this situation, the more he felt like his brain was failing him. He wanted to laugh at the insanity of it all, but sweat starting falling into his mouth.
'Several races, nightmarish forest critters, and now a healer necromancer. Just… how?'
Ever since he'd reincarnated in Last Heaven, the ancient mage was hit by one curveball after another. Unbeknownst to him, even this absurd discovery was nowhere close to being his last.