"You may begin."
"Ice spear!"
As soon as the organizers declared that the fight had officially begun, Damian immediately released his ice magic that formed several sharp shards to strike Elijah. Ice magic is one of the rarest magic to find. So, once Damian used it, not a few spectators were amazed by his magical abilities.
"Body Enhancement."
Unfortunately, Damian's opponent was Elijah, who had been forcing himself to always fight enemies stronger than him for the past few days. His experience when facing them made Elijah able to dodge the attack easily. Elijah dodged by shifting his stance, then immediately proceeded to counterattack Damian.
"Thunder!"
"Magic shield!"
Although Elijah should be much weaker than Damian, who had already reached level 35, the elf was still a little overwhelmed when it came to blocking Elijah's attacks. Elijah made dodging and attacking seem effortless. His attacks are also marvelous, even though Elijah only uses basic magic to fight his enemies.
The battle between Elijah and Damian proved that the experience of fighting the enemy head-on did bring some differences in this battle. Damian clearly did not expect that his opponent could move so fast as a human mage. Elijah didn't have a light step like him. But as the fight progressed, Damian finally realized that Elijah never had trouble keeping up with his fast movements.
"Wind!"
"Thunder!"
BOOM!
A big explosion occurred, and it could have hit both Damian and Elijah. Even the other participants watching them could have been hit by the magic blast if the organizers hadn't set up a barrier first. Damian immediately dodged by putting up another magic shield. Meanwhile, Elijah was not injured in the slightest due to the effect of the Body Enhancement skill that was active on his body.
Elijah only had two magics, so he had to make the best use of both. The battle in the mages' entrance test made him unable to use other skills besides his magic skills. Elijah struggled very hard. Not to mention, he still used his great reflexes to avoid Damian's attacks or the explosion that arose from his and Damian's attacks meeting at one point.
"Ugh. Thunder!"
Damian had a lot of magic, but using various powerful magic would only make his mana run out faster. Running out of mana made him panic faster. Because, unlike Elijah, never once had Damian been faced with a situation where his mana was depleted in battle.
"Fire!"
BOOM!
Another explosion occurred, and Damian did not have enough mana to form another magic shield this time. Damian bounced quickly until he crashed into the barrier layer that separated them from the outside world. The elf coughed loudly from the collision. Because of how hard he was hit, Damian felt like his bones were crushed as his body finally fell to the stage again.
"The fight is over!"
The organizers saw no benefit in letting the fight continue, so they stopped the fight as soon as possible. The barrier separating them was immediately lifted. The medical team rushed over to Damian. Meanwhile, Elijah was immediately declared the winner of this battle.
"Wait! I'm not done yet!"
Everyone, even Elijah, was immediately surprised when Damian, who should have fainted, was still conscious and had the will to drive the medical team away. The elf looked at Elijah with great determination. As someone who came to a completely unknown world just to turn back time, Elijah immediately realized that Damian was also trying to fight for something as he fought together with him.
"I can use magic well too!"
After Elijah heard Damian's shout, the teenager finally understood what Damian's problem really was. Elijah looked at Damian, who was still trying to fight, even if his body was already battered. Damian had no mana left at the moment. Just like the organizers, Elijah also felt that there was no point in continuing the fight between them.
"Fight me, human!"
Elijah took a deep breath, then approached Damian, who was surprised by his actions. Seeing someone who kept trying even if he knew he would lose only reminded Elijah of himself. Elijah thought NPCs didn't have to do that. Because, no matter what, in the end, the destiny of this world was only shouldered by himself.
"You-"
"You've already lost. Can't you see that? Will you only be satisfied if I kill you? Is that what you really want?"
In Elijah's eyes, all the people living on the Rhodes Continent were just NPCs living according to the program that had been given to them. Hence, Elijah was not afraid as he spoke disrespectfully to Damian, who still refused to stop the fight.
"You don't know anything!"
Damian, who did not accept being scolded by a human, shouted back as he finished listening to Elijah's words. Damian's eyes stared at Elijah with hatred. Until now, Damian couldn't believe he had even lost to a human who could only use basic magic such as fire and thunder magic.
"You ... You don't know what kind of shame I have to endure just because I can't use magic as well as my brothers ...."
Damian was frustrated, and he ended up venting in front of everyone. Fortunately, he was far enough away from the audience that only those who were close enough could hear him speak softly.
Elijah heard him, and Damian's words and expression reminded Elijah of his situation when he lost his parents. Everyone blamed him at the time. They had no idea that he also blamed and hated himself at the time.
Elijah let out a long breath, no longer ignoring Damian after that.
"However, aren't you great at physical combat? If fighting in the warrior section, you could probably defeat anyone easily with your abilities."
Elijah was not lying. With the physical skills Damian had, he could have easily passed the warrior fights. Elijah didn't want to know why Damian had chosen to take the magic test so stubbornly. But to Elijah, Damian should have had more opportunities to improve if he had taken the warrior class.
"...Don't you know that elves pride themselves on their magic more than anything else?"
"Then, does doing what they want to give you any satisfaction?"
Damian was silent because he had never felt that way. Elijah turned to face Damian after he finally realized that he had just entertained an NPC that moved according to the program's commands. But after taking a few steps, Elijah finally stopped again to say his last sentence to Damian.
Let's say that Elijah was just venting something he wanted to say to himself in the past to Damian. The teenager turned around, then looked at Damian, who was still pensive in a kneeling position.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with being proud of your abilities. After all, it's you who will be living this life and not them."
Damian is a person who gets carried away easily. Therefore, when he listened to Elijah's words about his physical abilities, Damian finally realized what he really wanted. The prince no longer rejected the medical team tasked with healing him. The elf's eyes did not leave Elijah. Until his gaze slowly turned into a bright gaze.
"My idol...."
At that moment, Elijah hadn't realized that he had just made the youngest prince of the elven races his first loyal fan.