The second day of the tournament.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Magnus appeared again, confusing the many scouts who were asked to track him down. They could not locate where he lived, his trail of expenses, or even his digital footprint.
Magnus was a ghost.
Well, he was already floating around the place like one, so if someone said that he was actually a ghost, these scouts wouldn't be surprised.
The setup was similar to the day before, save for two things.
The first was the lack of an opening message. Everyone went straight into the battles. That, and there were quite a few more stares locked onto Magnus.
"Mr Avary?" A Spring-like voice shook Magnus out of his thoughts.
The latter opened his eyes as he floated closer to the ground.
"What do you need me for?"
"Uhm, I just wanted to ask," The speaker was a girl around 14. One of the youngest ones in the competition. "What school do you go to?"
"I don't go to any," Magnus replied, gently. "Though I do plan on going to one if they would accept me."
"Oh?" The girl's eyes seemed to shine, "Then, which school would that be?"
"Archaeon University," Magnus replied, making the girl stiffen up.
"You're not planning on going to a high school first..?"
"Nope." Magnus smiled, "I have my reasons for such a decision, so don't worry, alright? By the way, may I ask for your name?"
"It's Amber, and thank you for answering my questions, Mr Avary."
"No problem, Amber. Tell your friends I said hi." Magnus waved off the young girl as he gestured to the young boys and girls in the distance. They all wore the same clothes that Amber was.
"I will," Amber smiled and waved back as she scampered away.
After that, Magnus experienced a few more people approaching him, seeing that he was pretty friendly.
They all had questions. Some, Magnus answered, while some, he avoided.
'These people are helping me with my plans without them knowing,' He inwardly cackled like a witch concocting her masterpiece potion over the ugliest pot there is.
Magnus then put his focus back on himself.
The Spirit Energy he had consumed yesterday was just about done regenerating. The difference between a 4-line Curse and a 5-line one was huge.
It was safe to say that it was practically an exponential increase. Or perhaps a factorial instead.
Five lines equalled 5! (120) which was a good 100 points higher than 4! (24) and Magnus found sense in such a difference.
'If I did not have to fight, I could have continued training my body.' Magnus thought to himself as the battles went on.
He watched some while ignoring others. That girl, Amber, was one of those fighters that he watched. She was a wonderful spear user, and the martial arts she practised had a lot of beautiful yet useful moves that she used to bombard her opponent with stabs and slashes.
Her moves were akin to a swan on a lake. Gentle yet deep. Artistic yet realistic.
Needless to say, Amber won her fight in both combat and beauty.
"It's finally my turn," Magnus muttered to himself as he floated over to the platform.
His opponent this time was a young woman, perhaps at the age of 20, who had a sword at her hip. A sharp aura emanated from this young woman as she brushed her long, wolfish, black hair back. Her expression was that of tranquillity and focus.
Magnus was treated as air despite his observant gaze. But he did not mind it.
He was interested in the school she came from.
'Havenboiled Academy again? What a coincidence...'
The white uniform was shining brightly like a star in Magnus' eyes.
.
.
.
"Hey, Amber," One of the boys in the group walked up to Amber as Magnus was rising up the platform. "Who do you think will win? Hei-ran or that Mr Avary you befriended?"
"I'm not sure," Amber said with scrunched brows. "Mr Avary is a mystery, right? There is a chance for him to win, but Hei-ran has a different style when compared to Valentine. There won't be any flames for Mr Avary to play with."
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.
.
"Fighter 262 is on stage once again," Hal nudged her sleeping companion. Bonny sprang up in his chair at the painful nudge.
"Jeez, Hal. You didn't have to use your elbow like that!" Bonny complained, "I would still be able to sense his gravity manipulation even in my sleep, you know?"
"There you go again with sensing things in your sleep. What are you a psychic? Your Blessing is of sensory sure, but haven't you been unable to evolve it into a four-liner?" Hal scoffed playfully, "Just watch. He's up against the belle of Havenboiled. Someone is pulling strings, but that works well for us."
"We can see how he will fight without the support of his opponent's abilities, is that it?" Bonny smacked his lips, "So his creativity will be put to the test..."
.
.
.
'My creativity is what is needed here,' Magnus thought the same way. Which made sense, since he was the one fighting and under pressure. 'Should I expend Spirit Energy to summon the elements myself?'
'No...'
Magnus instantly reconsidered.
'That's beyond what I can both show to the masses and apply in combat...'
Thus, Magnus was in a dilemma, up until the shout caster opened his lips to speak.
"Here we have Fighter 262! Our orbital master of the cosmos! Will we see his Event Horizon once again, or will he have to resort to a different work of art this time?"
"Orbitals?" Magnus felt a light bulb bloom in his mind. "That works..."
As the countdown started, Magnus already primed himself for combat. He floated upwards, meeting Hei-ran's gaze as he looked down on the entire playing field as if he wasn't the one fighting.
"3... 2... 1... BEGIN!"
Upon hearing that, Magnus instantly invoked his Blessing.
"I am the cause of creation!
The maker of stars!"
He then poured Spirit Energy aplenty out into his right hand. A dense sphere of gravity that pulled and bent the air around it was coming into existence. His first strike would be a massive one.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, Hei-ran just stood in place. Her brows scrunched in worry.
"How can I reach him?" She whispered underneath her breath.
This had been her problem since way before the fight.
Hei-ran had studied all the strong competitors as they appeared, and Magnus was the only one she did not have a clear solution for.
The ability to stay in the sky for an indefinite amount of time stumped her.
'I'll have to beat him in beauty if I cannot win in combat,' Hei-ran thought, only to see the sphere in Magnus' hand get sent out.
It floated towards the centre of the stage, relaxedly as if nothing would ever bother it.
The audience held their breaths. They worried for Hei-ran who was unable to reach her opponent.
"Let us dance," Hei-ran heard those jarring words as she wondered just what Magnus was thinking.
Whoooom!
Suddenly, the sphere exerted force. A powerful gravitational pull swept Hei-ran off of her feet and pulled her into the air.
"Hm?" Hei-ran sensed the intent in this attack. It wasn't an attack as it turns out. It was something else.
"What a generous fighter. Is he planning on using me for his own means as well?"
The sphere of gravity wasn't there to harm her. It was there to change the setting of the battlefield. Both Magnus and Hei-ran began orbiting the sphere, spinning around as they stared each other down.
Then, several more gravity spheres flooded out of Magnus' hands, placing themselves at different places on the field. From afar, those gravity spheres looked akin to moons as they circled the main gravity sphere at the centre.
"That cost me a lot of Spirit Energy, Miss Hei-ran." Magnus smiled as he adjusted his body in midair.
Instantly, he was caught by the pull of a different gravity sphere and was pulled towards it. Hei-ran saw this and tried doing the same. To her pleasant surprise, she was sucked in a certain direction.
"I see," She muttered as the announcer and shout caster went crazy.
"Look at that! Fighter 262 did not disappoint! It's a sight we can only marvel at in outer space! We don't have to mention the way Fighter 262 moves, now do we? He truly fits the title Gravity Fairy! How will Havenboiled's belle, Miss Hei-ran respond to Fighter 262's mixed intentions? Let's find out!"
"How much Spirit Energy does Fighter 262 have? His Curse is a powerful one for sure! Could it be... 5 lines? It's possible folks! What we're seeing now is a 2-line Blessing and a 5-line Curse in the flesh!"
Hei-ran unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Magnus. Instantly, she felt a pull that brought her closer to him. She spun in midair, supplementing her speeds and swinging her sword in a manner that first seemed random.
But with every swing she made, her speed grew.
"What violent intuition and battle sense," Magnus couldn't help but compliment. The speed at which Hei-ran acclimatized was prodigal.
Fwooosh!
Just as he was about to be stabbed, Magnus drifted to the right. Hei-ran's sword flashed past him, just barely missing his clothes.
Tap!
Magnus gave Hei-ran a light push on her shoulder. Instantly, a chain reaction occurred and Hei-ran was sent flying away.
Magnus smiled, irking Hei-ran ever so slightly.
Like this, Hei-ran struck with a flurry of movements that dazzled the audience. Her long black hair looked akin to a cape as she spun and did flips in midair. She was akin to a sword-wielding acrobat, putting on a show.
But Magnus continued to float around. All of Hei-ran's strikes just barely missed him each time, constantly making people's hearts leap in their chests.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Hei-ran did all she could, but she could not hit her opponent no matter what. It felt like an insult to her status as a prodigy.
Until she realised,
"I have been deceived,"
At some point in the battle, she wondered how Magnus was dodging all her attacks. It was then that she noticed a certain behaviour Magnus displayed.
'He makes it seem like it's an even playing field, but it's not. He can still move around freely, while I have constrained movements using the orbs. He knows all the paths I can take.' Hei-ran suddenly felt a headache.
The intelligence of the young man before her was beyond her imagination.