Lia internally smiled after hearing the announcement. She, and everyone else in this portion of the tournament, had successfully been enrolled. So far, the experience has widened her horizons, allowed her to meet new people, and granted her a level of experience she didn't previously have.
Lacey smiled next to her. She had never expected to make it this far. She didn't expect her life to change so much, let alone so swiftly. They were reminiscing, and casually chatting when Lia began to glow. Her first match was beginning.
Her face took on an air of cold calculation as she was whisked away to her fight. All of the emotions that had run through her during fights were now gone. The rage she felt at Ruinia and the frustration she experienced against Yura's Spirit was gone now. She could have a relaxing fight for once.
Her eyes adjusted to the sudden light, and she looked around. She was standing in what appeared to be a coliseum arena. There was the distinct glow of teleportation magic ahead of her. She waited as her opponent came into view.
It was a girl with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes. She had a sword on her hip and a small shield in her hands. Her gaze sharpened when she saw Lia.
Lia lightly stretched as her large imposing bat-like wings unfurled behind her. She was about to draw Hysteria, but stopped. 'I guess using her would be counted as cheating? She's an extremely powerful artifact. Bare hands it is.'
The nails on her right hand extended and she stood nonchalantly in place. The opposing girl drew her sword and entered a stance. There was a loud countdown that echoed in everyone's ears.
5...4...3...2...1
The girl dashed toward Lia with extreme speed, and a sword came down on her. She tilted her body to the left, and avoided it entirely. Her non-clawed hand snaked out, hitting the girl in the stomach and sending her rolling across the arena.
Lia looked down at herself. 'Saro, did you activate "Limit Breaker"?'
There was a brief moment of silence in her head before she spoke. 'No. I think You're just really strong compared to these people.'
Lia sighed before flying into the sky. The girl looked up at her in fear. Her mind was a chaotic mess. 'Fuck. Fuck, that hurt a lot. If she hit me any harder, she would have punched right fucking through me.'
Lia raised her left hand as magic swirled around the arena. 'Guess I could just end this exceedingly quickly, let's make it a large spectacle.' She smirked as a large red sigil appeared above her, covering the arena in its ominous glow.
The girl's eyes widened, and the crowd was stunned into silence. The sigil pulsed, once, and again moments later. It was mimicking Lia's heartbeat. She slowly lowered her hand as it began to rain blood.
She was consuming her mana at an alarming rate. It was always more efficient to control it, rather than summon it. Regardless she pressed forward with her spectacle. The sigil continued to rain blood down on the arena and clenched her outstretched fist.
The sigil pulsed, sending a wave of malevolent mana throughout the stadium. The blood rain continued, but spears made of solidified blood fell alongside them. The force they fell with was enough to cause small craters on impact.
The girl dropped her sword and shield, raising her hand in defeat. Who was going to fight against something like this? Who would even attempt? No, this kind of power was purely overwhelming, and she had no intention of dying or getting seriously injured. She had heard the stories from her friend from school, Lione, but she didn't believe it. Who even would?
Faced with this kind of overwhelming strength, she only saw one option, and she forfeited.
Lia's magic dispersed as soon as she saw the other girl forfeit. No one was injured, but the arena was a mess. Craters were left everywhere, and blood covered everything; the ground, clothes, and even weapons. Nothing was spared.
Lia slowly descended, once she touched down, the blood on her clothes fell off as if leeched by the ground. It formed a small puddle beneath her. She flashed the girl a warm smile and turned around, disappearing into fragments of light.
"W...Winner: Lia Darkova!" The announcer stated. It sounded as if they were shocked. The crowd remained silent for a few moments before erupting into cheers.
.....
Lia was the first person to return, and she calmly sat down, Hysteria appeared within a glow of light next to her. She looked annoyed.
"You didn't use me..." She was almost pouting in annoyance.
Lia chuckled and pat her head. "You're too strong for them, plus this should convince weaker opponents to forfeit if they see that they're facing me."
Hysteria nodded. "I see..." She leaned into Lia's pampering like some kind of cat eagerly wanting to be petted.
Lia obliged, pulling the girl onto her lap, she began stroking her hair. The two of them waited for other "contestants" to start appearing.
It didn't take very long, the two of them waited for probably five minutes. The first person to appear was a boy dressed in edgy all-black clothing. A dark black hood was pulled up, hiding his features. He walked to a corner and leaned against the wall, standing with his eyes closed.
Lacey was the fourth one to arrive. She was covered with a sheen of perspiration but looked otherwise unharmed. She wandered over and sat next to Lia and Hysteria.
"Did you win?" Lia asked out of curiosity.
Lacey smirked. "I did, but it was a bit harder than expected! My opponent was really tough." She sighed and leaned back, stretching her legs out on the floor.
Lia smiled warmly at her. "That's good. Tough fights are a great way to improve your fighting skill."
Lia knew that Lacey was talented. She wasn't experienced, but the level of talent she had made her very strong. With experience, Lia suspected that she could begin to rival her own prowess in combat. Lia didn't actually know what her attunements were.
"Hmm, I never asked, Lacey what's your attunements? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I'm just curious."
"Hmm? Oh, I have good attunement in Black and White magic. Unfortunately, I have none in Dark." She responded half-heartedly.
Lia nodded, it was a pretty good set of attunements. One could increase them at a much later date, but doing so would be extremely difficult and require the rarest of items.
Lacey looked at Lia. "I'm curious what yours are."
She smirked in response. "I'm pretty much only proficient in Black Magic, though I do have very very limited use of the other two."