'It's my turn to impress people next...'
Is what I said, but look at my opponent.
An old man with a very bulky body, arrogant look, giant axe resting on his shoulder without a shred of mana can be felt from him.
I even infused mana into my eyes to make sure, but the amount of mana inside his body is so little that I'm convinced he can't even channel that into his weapon.
"Sigh..."
I sighed and got into position with my spear.
He frowned after seeing my reaction and said,
"You're underestimating me..."
"Hmm?"
"I'll make you regret that."
After saying that, the match started.
I took what he said as empty words, but then I got surprised by the fact that he suddenly appeared in front of me.
He swung his giant axe and because I had no time to dodge, I decided to block that attack.
But the price of blocking that attack is too much.
(Boom!)
I got thrown all the way to the corner of the arena barrier which caused a loud sound.
"Cough!"
I coughed up blood feeling my numb arms.
'That cost me couple of my ribs...'
"Doesn't your parent ever teach you, not to judge a book by it's cover?"
He said that while resting his axe on his shoulder, then slowly walked towards me.
"I'm not talented with mana at all since I was a child, so I kept on training my Axe and my body.
From morning until night, repeating the same routine over and over for years, and finally reaching this point. Just because I look like this doesn't mean I'm slow, you got that kid?"
"Hahahah..."
I laughed a bit after he said that.
"What's so funny?"
"You talk a lot for an old man..."
"YOU!"
"Shut up!"
"..."
"I admit that I underestimate you, but it's not your place to tell me what to do, you fucking old man."
After saying that, I uses body strengthening straight away and got into my stance.
I can see veins bulging from my opponent's face, then he started to move again.
Swinging his axe around, I didn't try to block it like before since it's impossible.
Therefore, I moved around to evade and doge his axe instead while looking for an opening.
"Hora hora! Stop moving around like a cockroach and face me properly!!"
I didn't pay any attention to his provocation, instead I uses his large body to my advantage by hitting him multiple times every time he swung his large axe since it creates a lot of opening.
By the time we backed away from each other, my opponent's body is covered in blood because I kept on thrusting my spear into him while making sure it's not that deep.
"Huff... huff... you damn cockroach! Stop evading and take my blood if you dare!"
"Okay, sure... come at me!"
I then said that while still in stance.
He smirked after hearing that and dashed towards me while swinging his axe in full power.
Unlike his expectation, I jumped after he swung his axe horizontally which surprises him.
I then throw my axe away and gathered mana on my fist.
"Eat this, you idiot."
I punched him from the top which cracked the ground beneath and caused him to lay on all four on the ground.
I landed safely on the ground while looking at the referee's face which basically scream 'how shameless'.
"I won right?"
"Ah, yeah."
After that, he announced that I won the match.
I turned my head towards my seat, but Kim Jaesuk wasn't there.
Then I walked towards the preparation room where I came from to see him there instead.
"Here."
He handed me a potion.
"Good job on your match..."
"What's this potion for?"
"Don't act though, you broke some ribs from that first attack don't you?"
"I can't hide anything from you huh..."
"It's Adrian."
I then exclaimed in surprise.
"Eh?"
"Adrian is the one who told me about it."
"Whoa, he's got good eyes huh..."
I drank the potion and the pain starts to fade away.
"The potions he made is starting to become more potent as well... or is it because I've never drank the potion other people made?"
"I'm the same as you then..."
"Anyway, what do you think about my match?"
"Well, not bad except for the fact that you got blown away right after the match started."
"Hey, that's because I wasn't prepared yet, alright?"
"Sure, sure... whatever you say..."
He then walked away.
"Hey... it's the truth!"
I then followed after him back to our seat.
"Good job."
After taking a seat, the other congratulate me for winning the first match.
"Thanks... will you guys be fighting too?"
I asked while looking towards the princess and Cecilia.
The princess then answered:
"No, we won't. The prince and the princess of the empire won't be participating in this fight because we can't show too much of our battle prowess.
Most followers were told not to participate either, but that Frankwell guy seems to be acting out of control..."
After saying that, the princess sighed.
"I see... how will the result be announced again?"
The princess then explained:
"There are a total of 32 matches today since this morning earlier, and starting from tomorrow morning, the matches will continue for the winner of today's match. From 16 matches in the morning, then the winner will be fighting against each other again, until there's only two people at the end."
"Oh, okay... then how do I know when's my turn to fight?"
"It'll be decided tomorrow morning by lottery..."
"..."
After that, the match is still going on although it's almost night time.
"Is it going to continue even at midnight?"
Adrian asked before I did.
Cecilia then explained that the match will continue overnight since it's the time that most adventurer will be finishing their job and come here to watch.
But it will be friendly matches only, out of the competition. Adventurers will be showing off their skills, so are most of the students who wants to.
Seems like most students are excited to not sleep through the night as well, judging from how they're still not looking tired.
Adrian then asked again, to which Cecilia answered.
"Well, are you guys going to continue watching then?"
"We won't..."
The princess complained after that.
"Ehhh... but I want to watch!"
"No, princess. You need to go to bed soon..."
"Why are you treating me like a kid?"
"Because you're acting like one..."
"Ugh!"
"Come, let's go..."
They both then walked back to their dorm.
"I'll be going too, then... you both have fun!"
Seems that Adrian won't be watching the overnight matches as well, so it's just me and Kim Jaesuk now.
I asked him:
"So? Are you staying or going back?"
"I'm staying. I'm curious about other adventurers..."
We both then stayed to watch the next match.
When midnight come, a lot of the teachers from the academy starts to join the seat as well.
Seems like they just finished their work and now decided to watch, including instructor Alex and instructor Joma.
Instructor Joma then looked towards our way and gave us a smile, to which I nodded to.
after that, the referee announced that today's competition is over, and the friendly match will begin.
Cheers erupted from the students, looking more excited than the actual competition.
Lots of adventurers and some students then showed up in the arena, showing off their skills and abilities which surprises me.
Some people are even using magic that I've never seen nor heard before.
But then, just as people were watching the shows, the ikemen Frankwell walked to the referee and said something to him.
The referee nodded and starts announcing:
"Second year of Noble class, Frankwell is challenging first year of commoner class, Alex. Please come down to the arena."
That announcement stopped all the activities happening inside the arena which upset everyone.
"Why is there a challenge at this time?"
"Damn, it's a fight between first year and second year... how boring..."
"Waste my money..."
Everyone started to express their dissatisfaction of how the shows got canceled due to someone proposing a duel.
"What the fuck is that guy thinking?"
I cursed out loud before standing up to walk towards the arena.
Kim Jaesuk followed me to the preparation room quietly behind me.
Just before I walk out of the preparation room, he told me:
"Be careful out there, I have a bad feeling..."
Hearing that, I turned serious before nodding my head.
"Okay..."
I can't disregard Kim Jaesuk's concern because his gut feeling turned out to be accurate most of the time.
Walking towards the arena, Frankwell is smiling while looking at me just as usual.
"What the fuck are you thinking right now?"
I asked while cursing out.
"Challenging you of course... why, you scared?"
"I'm afraid of course, afraid that I can't held myself back from beating the shit out of you..."
He frowned after I said that, then smiled again.
"Are you sure you can?"
"Your cheek doesn't hurst anymore huh?"
The referee then told us both to get ready and started the match after that.
I thought that Frankwell will make a move straight away, but he put something inside his mouth instead.
The referee noticed that and was about to question him.
"What are you-"
Before even finishing his sentence, a sword pierced through his chest from behind.
Frankwell is the one holding that sword from behind him.
I got surprised at that as well because I didn't see him move at all.
It's like he disappeared and the next instant you know, he already pierced through the referee's chest.
After that, it took a moment for everyone to realise that someone just got murdered.
"Kyaaaa!"
"He- he killed him!!"
"Wha- what?!"
Most people started to panic, while some started to take action.
The teacher started to gather mana straight away and dashed towards the arena to take action, but then a bunch of people appeared out of the ground around the arena and started blocking the teacher.
I then heard Instructor Alex then exclaimed,
"This- this is... it's the shadow's slave skill!"
"What?! Then..."
Nodding his head, instructor Alex confirmed other teacher's suspicion.
"Yes, seems like Argus is here..."
After saying that, all of the teacher's face turned grim.
I turned around to look at Frankwell again to see that he's emitting a strange aura.
"What did you just consumed?"
I asked while frowning.
"Curious? Hehehe... I'll tell you when you're dead."
After that, he suddenly appeared behind me.
My reaction was a little late and just as he was about to cut me, someone suddenly attacked him from behind.
"Argh!"
He flew away and turned his head towards the one who attacked me.
I too, turned to see that Kim Jaesuk is inside the arena as well.