With the conclusion of the fourth round, Captain Fuegoleon of the Crimson Lions squad took the stage for the final and decisive round. This was the final round where the Captains would assess the examinees on the most important aspect of being a Magic Knight; their battle prowess.
"This is the fifth and final test you all will be taking on. One that determines your selection to the Magic Knight squads." Fuegoleon began. "The final test will be a one-vs-one combat round."
This was also the stage where the fates of the majority of the examinees rested. Combat assessment is given more importance than any other field since those fields can be improved with practice but in real-life combat scenarios, the opposing mage won't give their opponent any time to practice. A Magic Knight needs to always be ready to fight and lay down their lives for the sake of the kingdom. It is their sworn duty as the honorable soldiers of the nation.
This was the very reason why a good number of participants are rejected after their performance in the final round by the Captains and asked to return the next year with improvements. The captains who dedicate their lives fighting in the frontlines know much better than anyone the hardships and challenges one has to face in the battlefield. They do not wish for loss of lives due to a single person's carelessness.
"In this round, you examinees will be fighting against one another, with each examinee being allowed only one battle. You are free to choose your own opponent and allowed to use all the spells present in your grimoire to showcase your battle prowess." The Captain stated before pointing to the robed mages who stood nearby the walls of the arena. "We have skilled healers lined up here which means you are free to fight to your heart's content. Go forth and show us your determination!!"
One by one the matches started to take place. Those mages who were confident in themselves started off first with their bouts. Since the examinees were given the freedom of choice regarding their opponent, most of them chose their opponents who, either are on the same level as them according to their judgement or someone weaker than them to show off their magic.
A few nobles used this chance to downgrade commoners and peasants to show off their superior magic prowess, in hopes of impressing the captains present by picking on the commoner or peasant applicants as their opponents. The latter group, out of fear for repercussions did not object in any manner.
With the same thought in mind and confident about their victory, a boy from a well-known noble family made his way towards Varre.
"I, Langris Vaude from the house Vaude, challenge you to a duel." Proclaimed the boy with thick wavy brown hair and aquamarine eyes. "A simple flying competition matters to nothing when everybody can do it. How about we compete on the field where it really matters? Or are you chickening out?"
'Judging from his expressions, he is confident about winning. I wouldn't mind knocking him down a peg or two.' Varre took note of the boy that challenged him before answering with a confident smirk. "I accept your challenge, sir nobleman."
The said commoner's grimoire opened up wherein he put in the rapier he had been carrying with him before making his way towards the center of the colosseum. The grimoire closed on its own after having absorbed the weapon within itself.
"Won't you be needing that stick of yours?" Langris inquired, wondering what his opponent was planning. In the second round, he did see Varre use the rapier to cast his magic.
There have been cases of mages using some kind of weapons or specific items to cast their magic such as Captain Yami who uses his katana to cast his spells. Other cases include mages using different types of wands to cast their spells more effectively.
"I won't be needing that to beat you." Was Varre's confident reply and that was Langris' last straw. He had made up his mind to show this commoner brat his place no matter what and had no intention of holding back.
"When I am done with you, you won't be running that mouth of yours any longer." Langris retaliated, his grimoire flaring up beside him. A thick layer of purplish mana covered both his hands.
'Why does he always provoke people like that.' Altria spared a worried glance at his friend, sighing at his usual habit of pushing the buttons of his opponents. This time, the mage he was up against wasn't the run-in-the-mill kind.
Not only Langris is well trained in his element, a perk for those born in the nobility, he hailed from the house of Vaude, a noble family renowned for housing the most capable offensive Spatial Mages in the entire kingdom.
From what Altria had seen of her friend's fighting style, most of his attacks involved him getting into close range of his foe in order to strike a decisive blow. In this match, Langirs held the distance advantage.
'Then again, he is much better than that to let a simple disadvantage work against him.'
"Engage!" The referee gave their signal.
Without wasting a single second, Langris raised his right arm before bringing it down with a swing. A column of high density spatial mana flew towards his foe who had already conjured a simple sword in his hands. Sidestepping from the spell's trajectory, the sword-mage swung his sword only to have the blade carved in half in perfect symmetry.
"Neat." Varre whistled before tossing the sword away and materializing a pair of swords in both his hands. Channeling his mana to his feet, the hazel-eyed mage dashed towards Langris with his speed doubled.
The spatial mage didn't stop there. He continued to launch more of his space-distorting attacks towards his opponent, only to find the latter narrowly dodging them at the very last second, avoiding any sort of contact with the spell. Occasionally, his swords would take the brunt of the spells but that didn't slow him down as he would materialize another pair of swords in quick succession.
"Don't get cocky!" Swinging both his arms, Langris sent another wave of spatial mana towards his incoming opponent, this time from all the four directions, showcasing his degree of control. Anything that came in between his spell was neatly carved upon contact.
Rather than panicking, Varre pointed his swords on the ground, releasing a burst of mana, launching himself in the air using the impact. Langris' attack collided with each other, exploding upon contact.
"Sword Magic: Origin Flash!"
Airborne for a few fleeting moments, Varre swung his sword, releasing a slash of mana towards his foe before making a landing on the ground. In counter, Langris quickly conjured a dense layer of purplish spatial mana that floated in front of the Spatial Mage like a sentient shield. Varre's spell collided with the shield. Much to the commoner's surprise, the defensive spell proved to be quite sturdy as it withstood his spell though Langris was pushed back a little.
The spectators were awestruck witnessing the intense exchange of spells that took place in front of their eyes. For them both the examinees were equal in terms of utilizing their respective magic. This thought was shared by the Captains as well. From this short exchange, they were able to gauge their abilities to an extent and were confident that these two mages will be great assets to whichever squad they end up becoming a part of.
But for the mages in question, this battle had just begun. For them it wasn't just a simple demonstration of abilities anymore.
Reinforcing his feet with magic, Langris leapt towards his foe, his spatial shields sticking close to him. Despite him not wanting to admit it, the nobleman knew that Varre was faster in terms of both offensive and reaction speed, having observed how he was able to properly counter his spells while simultaneously doing a counter-attack. Distance, which was usually his greatest advantage, didn't seem much of a help at all.
Which is why he sought out to reduce the distance between them, in hopes of limiting Varre's array of options and not giving him time to make any counters.
The sword mage raised an eyebrow, creating several mana swords around himself before sending them towards his incoming opponent. The spatial shields acted on their own, shielding their caster from the incoming sword barrage. With one swing of his arm, Langris wiped off the remaining wave of swords.
'Is he trying to close the gap? Not a bad move.' Observing his opponent getting closer at a fast speed, he created another wave of mana swords and launched them towards the spatial mage, in hopes of buying time for his next counter. He had figured that outrunning him wasn't an option since he can limit his options with those spatial attacks.
Conjuring a shortsword with a curved edge, Varre ran his hand through the blade. As he did, red runic markings covered the blade. Grabbing the weapon tightly on his right hand, he took a stance by putting his left foot forward while keeping the shortsword ready for a counter slash.
'He did something on that sword. Not like it matters.' Langris did not fully close the distance between them. He was being cautious of Varre's weapon. After all his last attack had pushed him back despite him having his shields. He wasn't reckless enough to walk into the striking range of a swordsman.
Swinging his arm, he sent a wave of dense spatial mana at his opponent's direction. Waiting for the right moment, Varre swung his sword at the incoming attack. This time upon coming into contact with the edge of the blade, the weapon didn't vanish into nothingness. Rather the spell was repelled right back to the caster.
"What?!" Out of options at the sudden repelling of his own spell, all Langris could do was levitate his shields right in front of him. His two spells clashed with one another, resulting in an explosion that sent him flying backwards. His shields had been destroyed and ironically it was done by his own spell.
'Experiment successful!' Varre glanced at his weapon, beaming with pride at his own handiwork. The runic markings dissipated from the blade. The effect of the rune he had applied on the blade seemed to be a one-time effect one. 'I do need my proficiency with runes to make the effects last longer.'
"I will admit that you are slightly better than these trash around. But...." The atmosphere began to change as Langris's magical energy flared up, getting the sword mage's full attention. His expressions clearly showed that he wasn't just simply irritated. "....you are going to lose here. I will make you regret accepting my challenge!"
If looks could kill. Varre would already have been six feet under the ground.
Langris was the type of person who hated losing more than anything else. And today he felt like he had been humiliated in the presence of the captains, his parents and other people of Clover Kingdom watching this match. Now that he is losing, he won't be getting his parent's love and acknowledgement anymore and will end up being like 'him'. That wasn't the most favorable outcome for Langris Vaude. He did not want to be on the same level as the failure of the family.
Which is why he needs to win this match at all costs.
"Spatial Magic: Archangel Shootdown!"
'Right, he has always been a sore loser.' Varre gulped, feeling the immense surge of magical energy from his foe. He observed as several sphere of spatial mana were formed around the mage, ready to be launched like missiles at any given moment.
The cloaked mages who were in charge of maintaining the arena soon set up barriers around the stadium, especially for the audience since they could sense the surging magical energy being emitted from Langris. It almost rivaled that of a captain. They casted barriers in order to prevent anything worse from happening.
"Even I can feel his anger and hatred, and loneliness."
"Oh yeah, he is pissed no doubt." In counter to Langris's spell, Varre conjured several levitating mana blades, all around himself in the same fashion his opponent has casted his own spell.
Without an ounce of hesitation both launched their spells at the same time, resulting in a deafening explosion when the spells clashed. The impact of the explosion almost made the spectators avert their eyes and even the barrier crafted by the mages had cracks in them as a result.
When the smoke cloud got cleared, the spectators were welcomed by a sight they had never witnessed in any of the entrance exams prior to it. A raised spiked platform was made in the middle of the arena and from the looks of it, the platform had taken the brunt of both the spells. The caster of the spiked platform was Captain Diavel of Aqua Deer.
Captain Fuegoleon had Langris pinned down on the ground, while Captain Yami had his katana pointed right at Varre's neck, having the latter's hand bound with a rope of darkness.
"It's high time to call this match over, flashy rookies."
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