"Alright… [Tidal Strike]... [Water Manipulation],"
First, a wave of water swung out of my arm, and just as it coated the lizard, I heard the laughs of a few kids in the stadium.
I chuckled a bit myself before tightening my fingers and creating tens of water spears that stuck out from the lizard.
"Oh, a porcupine has appeared," I muttered as the lizard dropped to its stomach and its eyes rolled into the back of its head.
I chuckled a bit once again before seeing the next monster come into the stadium.
Round three and four were pretty boring as I was able to finish them off almost instantly, but the fire lion was such a giant leap in power that I couldn't comprehend the person who wanted this to be here.
I knew they were strong… but not this damn strong!
CRASH
The fire lion deflected my armory of water weapons with just a swing of its paw, and then using its other paw, it swiped me across the arena.
It felt like my ribs had cracked just from that, but I wasn't done yet.
[Mana Manipulation]... [Water Manipulation]
As I circulated the mana within my body at high speed, I felt a spike of adrenaline, and my mana core began to pump like a heart.
My chest was on fire the longer I did this process of building up my final move… and yes, I was actually going full power now.
I never thought I would have to do this, but here I am, about to overload my mana core with mana so I can have a chance at doing a large amount of damage to this thing.
I knew it was impossible to actually kill it, but I wanted to impress the teachers sitting arrogantly on their seats way up high, next to the ceiling.
FWOOSH
But, everything suddenly stopped, and my mana had been expelled out of me, causing me to cough up a large amount of blood.
"That's enough. You're going to severely damage your mana core if you keep doing that," I heard a woman's voice whisper into my ear, and when I turned around… nobody was there.
I snapped my head back around, and I noticed the fire lion was being dragged off while a beautiful woman with black hair, wearing a neat tuxedo, helped to direct the chains.
She was wearing a familiar golden oni mask that made my breathing calm down slightly.
"Why'd you stop me?" I asked after walking up to the woman who I doubt even acknowledged my presence beside her.
"Didn't you hear me before? You were going to severely damage your mana core if you continued on like that,"
"I know… But why you? Are you related to the other guy in the physical test room?" I asked as it seemed they came from the same school or organization.
"Yeah, and he said you're a good prospect. You've already the teachers here with your strong capabilities, so try not to show off too much… one-shotting an emerald snake isn't that easy… well, I guess if you call it one-shotting," She muttered.
The fourth round was an emerald snake which is essentially a thirty-foot lone snake that has scales that look like sharpened emeralds.
It spits poison and has a body that can lunge at you with extreme speed… but I just coated its face with water and then created tens of water spears that stuck out from its face.
Its defense was pretty weak, so it's obvious I was able to pull off such a simple move.
"How should I contact you in order to go to the school?" I asked the woman just as she was about to return to her rightful position.
Her dim black eyes with gray circles spiraling down into the center of her pupil glanced towards me.
The intimidation practically radiating from her was enough to tell anybody to back away… which I assumed was also made for the teachers watching me from up there.
"Hello?" I muttered as she didn't reply, even after staring at me for a few seconds.
"Ah, my bad. Uhhhhh… We'll contact you when the school year is about to start. If you already signed up for this, then that means your parental guardian already provided your address and shit…."
"Oh, okay. Thank you very much," I said before exiting the arena as I wasn't allowed to return to the audience.
…
(Asger POV)
Seal had already finished the fight, but he got his ass beat by a giant fiery lion, and I'm sure I can beat that thing since Seal wasn't trying.
"Hey, you kids, whatcha doing?" A large boy who was large and bulky sat right behind the three of us while massaging our shoulders.
Ah… That feels good.
"Asger, stop. He's about to do something," Mari said, interrupting my relaxing moment as his bulky hands were perfect for digging into my sore muscles.
Training is super fun, but the aftermath with the soreness hurts a lot… I don't like that part.
"What do you mean? I'm not doing anything… I'm just trying to hype you guys up," He said as other kids began to surround us in the bleachers.
Mari, for some reason, didn't want to get massaged by them and tried to push them away, but the more kids that came who blocked us from the sight of the arena, the more we became more trapped.
"Can't see… fight," Petra muttered as she was entranced by the massage she and I were currently getting.
Mari just doesn't understand the pain that my muscles have to go through to be stronger.
BAM
All of a sudden, the massaging stopped, and when I looked to my left, I saw Mari slowly falling back into the seats behind her.
"Mari, what's wrong?" I asked, but suddenly, I felt something connect with my chin, and my eyes rolled back into their sockets.
My mind was dazed, and the only thing I could feel was pain… absolutely barraging my body.
"Seal… It hurts…"