"Ready to get crushed by this great Malkoc elf?" Malkoc taunted as he faced the elf.
"You are quite boastful for a mere braindead giant," the elf responded in kind.
Malkoc did not respond, but the veins showing on his forehead clearly showed how angry he got. It is evident that creatures of this time are weak against psychological attacks.
"{Body Limit: Weighted Bash}!" Malkoc cast as he dashed to the elf, shoulder first. His entire body glowed red as Arcane filled it. The resistance of the wind became significantly higher as he dashed to the elf.
The elf easily responded with his own magic, "{Nature Arcane: Strangling Vines}!" Dark green magic circles appeared from the ground, and from there, thick vines came out, which intercepted the charge of Malkoc.
However, they did not last for even a second under the might of the {Body Limit: Weighted Bash}. The force carried by Malkoc was immense enough to nullify the defense from the elf. This took a lot of spectators and even the elf he was battling with by surprise.
In a rush, the elf leaped away to dodge the attack as much as he could, but the edge of the force still hit him, making him crash to the edge of the stage. The elf quickly stood up and wiped the blood that dripped out of his mouth. "The {Body Limit} cannot be underestimated. Let me see you fare up with this {Nature Arcane: Nether Flowers}!"
Flowers with red and green petals bloomed out of the magic circles. They opened their petals to the sky and released green gasses that quickly filled the entire stage. Hethor had already set up a barrier around the contenders, so the green gasses filled up the entire barrier.
Despite Malkoc's lack of knowledge of what the gas was, he still refused to breathe it. Using Arcane, he covered his entire body to prevent exposure. Giants are well known for their tenacity; even if he does not breathe for an hour, he will be fine. Not to mention, even if his lung capacity runs out, he can just use Arcane to supplement the energy he needs.
"Fool! The Nether Gas tears through Arcane!" the elf remarked, and just as he said so, the Arcane that covered Malkoc slowly corroded due to the Nether Gas.
"Child's play," Malkoc sneered as the rings on his body glowed. The Runes engraved on them glowed as they channeled the inner power contained in them.
This was when Hethor commented, "The rings the giants use are not just to lessen their body sizes, it also contains their power which was suppressed when they lessened their sizes. It was said that only when they return to their base forms would they truly showcase their true powers."
Meanwhile, on the side, Aeiz's eyes suddenly turned gloomy. The image of a 75m giant ravaging his home returned to his mind. He was still six years old back then when the giants came to uproot a human stronghold on their island. His father was one of the brave men who died during that raid. There were flames burning all around the island. Bodies were floating in the air as blood got sucked out of their bodies. It was dark times back then when the giants and vampires colluded to bring down their homes.
"So giants were the ones who raided your home, huh?" Ethia asked with consoling eyes.
"Yes."
"Your chance will come; maybe you will be lucky enough to fight a giant now. Destroy them!"
"That was my thoughts before as well, but we were an advocate of peace. I cannot forget the dying words of my father, 'A spear will only yield to more blood. Take the high road to the top, my dear son.' We believe that we can co-exist with the invaders," he said with hopeful eyes.
"What? Blood must be paid with blood! That is justice!" Ethia responded. Despite their difference, the two still continued to converse in a spirited manner, talking about their plans moving forward. Through the last five hundred years of suffering, especially the earlier years, humans learned that they need to learn to co-exist and set aside their differences in beliefs to progress. After all, it was their refusal to work together that made the invasion so much easier.
Meanwhile, the fight against Malkoc and the elf reached its climax. After Malkoc unleashed part of his full power, it did not take long for him to charge through the elf, like a juggernaut.
After the speedy conclusion of the fight, a lot of the forty who climbed up tried to get as well, figuring out it was simple to do so. However, almost all of them met a speedy end. That was when they realize just how powerful Malkoc is. For him to make a victory look easy against a Prime Student of The Paragon Academy made the spectators forget how terrifying their students were.
However, the quick 23-0 retaliation of the Prime Students against the candidates reminded everyone that they are not just some folks you can mess with.
"It seems like the real battles are about to start," Hethor said after looking at the remaining candidates. All the remaining people were the 17 individuals involved in the fight outside the academy, and the remaining specially admitted individuals.
"Why not let these humans show us what they can do? Surely they are not just here for a spot in the academy," the specially admitted elf said with a mocking grin. He looked at his fellow elves who are still on the stage for support, but all of them feigned ignorance which baffled not only the elf, but the other specially admitted races as well. "What?" the elf asked.
"Uhm, sir Velneist, they--" Eilik had not finished answering when Marcus interrupted.
"Let me start it off for humans, then. I want to fight!" he said with a cute and childish voice.
"Is it just me, or was that statement really bone-chilling?" Aeiz whispered to Ethia.