"Do I really have to come with you guys? I wanted to spend time with my brother!"
Ophelia rolled her eyes, complaining, as she was dragged to the colosseum inside the campus of Sylpheon.
"Since when do we even have a colosseum inside the campus?"
Ellen chuckled as she grabbed Ophelia's arm, pulling her.
"First off, Mr. Voidwalker asked us to spend time with you, and second, I have no clue. This campus is just so gigantic for no damn reason."
Seraphir, who was in front of the two girls, looked back, staring at them with a raised eyebrow.
"Could you please speed up, you chatterboxes? We probably already missed the first round of the tournament because of your sluggishness."
Ellen rolled her eyes, laughing, as she imitated Seraphir in a ridiculous voice.
"We already missed the first round, mi mi mi. Come on, Sera. The first two rounds are only battle royales anyway, where the last 4 standing will be determined as participants of the actual tournament. There are rarely any cool fights there."
"Still. I just don't want to miss anything out."
"Yeah, yeah. We will speed up."
Turning her head to Ophelia, she used her magic to cast a wind platform under Ophelia's leg, pulling her into the air.
"I'll help you with speeding up a little, if you don't mind."
"Wait, what are you doinn—?!"
Before Ophelia could finish her sentence, Ellen had already catapulted Ophelia forward.
"Damn, I didn't expect her to fly so fast."
"What the hell did you expect, then?"
Seraphir looked at Ellen with a questioning expression, trying to guess if Ellen was actually being so serious.
"Dunno. I haven't really thought about it."
"You used the magic on a friend without even trying it before?"
"Yeah, I did. Anyway, do you want a ride too?"
"No, thanks..." Seraphir shook her head with a serious expression, fearing for her life. "I would rather go by myself."
"Alright then." Ellen shrugged her shoulders before using wind magic to levitate in the air. "Catch up with us then!"
And with those words, Ellen dashed off, disappearing into the far distance.
"Seriously..." Seraphir sighed, massaging her temples, as she watched Ellen disappear into a dot. "...this girl..."
Waving her hand, Seraphir created an ice path. A mobility magic that was inspired by that of her older sister.
"I should probably speed up too."
***
***
"Come on, it wasn't that bad."
Laughing, Ellen clapped on the back of Ophelia, who puked into a nearby bush, sick from the flight.
"...does that seem like 'it wasn't that bad'?!"
Ophelia responded in an irritated voice, sarcastically imitating Ellen's words.
"Dramaqueen."
Suppressing a burst of laughter, Ellen turned to Seraphir, who stared at them with an exhausted expression.
"Come on guys, the second round will begin in a minute or two. Hurry up!"
"Yeah, yeah, Sera." Facing Ophelia, Ellen patted her on the back, trying to get her attention. "Come on, Ophelia. We have to go."
"...sure."
And with that short conversation, the three girls entered the colosseum, looking for their seats.
Fortunately, the second round hadn't started yet, so they didn't miss anything.
Still, the colosseum was loud, as everyone was still talking about the last round, which seemed to have been a great surprise to everyone.
-Have you guys seen that 'Lapsa' guy? He was a fucking badass!
-Yeah! The way he beat everyone with no weapon was simply amazing to watch!
-Oh god, if I could even get a fraction of his skill!
"Didn't I tell you? We missed the last round!"
Seraphir's irritated voice was drowned in the loud talking and whispering of the crowd, but Ellen and Ophelia could still hear it due to their enhanced physiology.
"Calm down, Sera. We will probably see that Lapsa guy fight again."
"More importantly," Ophelia said, following behind Ellen and Seraphir- "Where are our seats?"
Raising her arm, Seraphir pointed to three nearby seats.
"Right there."
"Ah! I see."
Only a few seconds after they've found their seats, the voice of a moderator resounded through the colosseum by using sound magic, creating a certain excitement with its tone.
"Welcome to the second round of the Sylpheon tournament!"
Cheers echoed from the audience when he started announcing the start of the second round.
"Just like the first round, the second round will also be a battle royale! The last 4 standing will then proceed to the next round. Good luck surviving, fellas!"
Immediately after the moderator was done with the introductions, the bridges that lead into the arena in the middle of the colosseum were let down.
The arena was surrounded by nothing, but water and the four bridges on each side were the only way to enter the arena.
As the bridges were let down, dozens — no, hundreds of different people came in from every side of the bridge, almost filling the arena to the brink.
After all the participants entered the arena, the bridges were pulled up again, trapping all the participants in the small space surrounded by only water.
"There is literally no space to move. No wonder that the previous round ended so quickly."
Ellen whispered as she crossed her arms, critically watching the people in the arena, trying their hardest to not slip and fall into the water.
"Seriously, what kind of round is that supposed to be? It doesn't evaluate one's combat capabilities at all."
Ophelia shook her head, carefully scanning the participants and the arena with an interested gaze.
"Not exactly. While it is true that the contestants in the middle of the arena have a major advantage, there are multiple ways to reverse that situation. For example, you, Ellen, could have just used your wind magic to propel yourself into the air and then plunged into the middle."
"Still, it is unfair, isn't it?"
"A battle is almost never fair."
Crossing her arms, Ellen leaned back in her seat and responded with a hesitant nod.
"...you're right."
Gradually, the whispers and talking inside the arena quiet down, everyone now intently focusing their attention on what happened inside the Colosseum.
As such, the moderator began to speak again, quickly explaining the rules.
"The rules are easy! No killing is the first rule. The second rule is that falling into the water would eliminate you, and the third rule is that being incapacitated would also mean that you're eliminated! If you violate any of those rules...then you will be strictly punished."
At the last words, the moderator's voice grew deadly serious, carrying a venomous weight behind his words.
A shiver ran down Ellen's spine as she heard his words shuddering.
'As expected of Sylpheon. They truly hire only fearsome people.'
Immediately after the moderator finished his threat, his voice grew cheerful again, but the overwhelming dread that almost everyone in the colosseum felt was still lingering inside their minds.
"And if you get all these rules, you guys can start the round right away! Have fun, fighters~!"
And with those words, the battles inside the arena started.
At least, that's what everyone expected.
Contrary to their expectations, however, one by one, almost everyone succumbed to their knees, collapsing at the same time.
A surge of mana couldn't be felt, but experienced mages could feel that the density of the mana increased in the arena.
Not only that, but it had some kind of sweet, dreamy feeling about it.
Neither Ellen nor Seraphir had ever felt such a mana before, and Ophelia didn't even know what was going on.
What she did know, however, was that something amazing was happening, which she deduced from the scene that was playing in the arena.
Previously, around three hundred people stood inside the arena.
Now there were only eight left.