"Ugh, this thing's dragging on forever...it's been almost five and a half hours now, and we're only just getting to the final match of the first round," Sighed Arkiela, sounding bored.
Well, considering that the first round consists of thirty-two matches, of course it was gonna take a while to get through. Some of the fights went on for as long as around twenty to twenty-five minutes, I'd say on average it's taken somewhere between ten to fifteen minutes per match, plus an additional minute or two in between matches.
The second round will also be held today, and will almost definitely end well after the sun sets at this rate. The rest of the tournament will be held tomorrow, with the sixteen participants who make it through today's leg of the competition.
I arrived at the stadium today a few minutes before 8 AM, and my first match started at around 10 AM or so. It's currently more or less around 3:30 PM, and the final match of the first round is about to start.
After my match, I returned to a pretty quiet waiting room, a whole lot of people staring at me with wary looks on their faces. Guess they weren't expecting the guy with no Magic to win so easily and overwhelmingly.
Wish I had a camera, I'd have loved to snap a pic of their dumbfounded faces, frame it and then hang it up on a wall. Damn it, why'd I have to be reincarnated into such a backwater world?
Guess there's no point in complaining about it, huh?
Well, anyway...there's a large balcony outside the waiting room that has a pretty good view of the arena, I've been hanging out here and watching the fights that followed mine, so that I'll know what to expect of my opponents in the coming rounds.
And I'll be paying especially close attention to this last fight, as one of the participants is Aura. I'm curious to see what she's capable of...from what I've seen in the previous fights, the majority of these people rely too much on their Magic and neglect their physical skills, their movements are inefficient and wasteful, amateurish at best.
That's the main reason why my first win was so easy, that guy's Magic might've been strong, not that he got to use much of it, but once the fight got into close range, I had a ridiculously overwhelming advantage, his agility and reaction time were absolute dogshit. He was less of a threat to me than some people in my previous world.
"The final match of round one is set to begin, in...Five! Four! Three!" The ref began counting down, as Aura and her opponent took their places in the arena.
Aura looks pretty eager and raring to go, though her opponents looks fairly confident too. Gotta say, I like her outfit...she was wearing a white sleeveless undershirt under a red, unzipped jacket that had a black collar, along with black shorts and black boots that went halfway up her thighs.
She also had black gloves on, gloves with sharp metal claws over the tips of each finger and stubby metal spikes over each knuckle. I'm definitely liking her whole aesthetic, it's got this vibe that's both cool and hot at the same time.
Now, then, the countdown's almost over now, let's see what she can do...
The instant the ref finished counting down, Aura shot forward with impressive speed while keeping low, her opponent chanting and firing out a massive blast of flames at her.
I hummed in intrigue as she didn't slow down, sparks starting to crackle around her as the flames closed in on her. She suddenly swung her arm across in front of her, chanting as she got within inches of the incoming flames...
"[Emerald Black Lightning Blast]!"
A powerful, intense bolt of lightning burst out of her right hand, shooting through the middle of the flames and dissipating most of it, my eyes widening in fascination at the sight I was gazing upon, the blast continuing on as it dispersed the flames and shooting past her opponent as he just barely dodged it, hitting the floor of the arena with a thud as he leapt out of the way in alarm.
His face went pale as the lightning struck the wall of the arena behind him and blasted out a large chunk of the concrete upon impact, deep scorch marks left behind in the indent as dark smoke billowed out of it, the air around it crackling slightly.
Woah...what kind of lightning is that?
It's got an electric, dark green hue to it with a voltaic, jet-black outline around it, it's...it's beautiful. So delightfully destructive, that would've done a whole lot of damage to her opponent if it had hit...
"Hey, that's not normal Lightning Magic, could it be...?"
"Yeah, it has to be. Damn, I'm jealous."
"I know, right? Talk about lucky..."
Tch, come on, you damned NPCs, if you're gonna be doing running commentary, be more specific with it, assholes.
I then glanced at Arkiela, inquiringly raising my eyebrow slightly at her to prompt her to explain.
"Oh, right, you have no idea what you're looking at. Fine, I'll grace you with an explanation, shithead...that right there is one of the Black Elemental Arcane Magic Classes, Emerald Black Lightning Magic. She's a real powerhouse, not only does she possess a powerful Arcane Class, she's got a massive Mana Pool for a Sapien, and some serious Mystic Pressure around here, especially for her current age. And all her Skills are Advanced too; Greater Appraisal, Energy Conversion and Total Immunity. She's quite the formidable individual, by mortal standards, of course," Remarked Arkiela in fascination.
Huh, is that so?
Still, I'm more interested in seeing what she's physically capable of instead of just how powerful her Magic is.
So far, she's looked pretty competent overall, she'll probably be the most difficult one for me to defeat in this tournament, especially since I'm going to try to defeat her while avoiding killing her...of course, if that proves to be impossible, then...
Oh, looks like her opponent is attacking again.
He rapidly charged up a massive, swirling sphere of flames and sent it shooting towards her with a rapid spin as he let out a loud roar of determination.
As the swirling mass of flames barreled towards Aura, she didn't bother to back away or attempt to dodge, she simply raised her right hand, lightning crackling around it intensely before she fired out a rapid, powerful bolt of lightning at the flaming sphere as it closed in on her, her Spell shooting right through the middle of the sphere and cutting its momentum short, the flames dispersing before they reached her.
Her opponent began to leap away hurriedly as the bolt of lightning came shooting towards him, before letting out an agonized yell of pain as it struck the side of his left arm before he could fully get out of the way.
He stumbled back shakily as he clutched the spot where he'd been struck, his skin severely burnt with thick wisps of smoke billowing out of from that spot, his face pale as he trembled with pain.
"[Emerald Black Lightning Cloak]," Aura chanted as she tilted to head across to crack her neck, the dark green lightning spreading out and crackling around her entire body as a slight pop echoed out from her neck, her hair standing up on end as she then shot towards her opponent rapidly, with an immense increase in speed compared to before.
Her opponent grimaced with a pained look on his face, before gritting his teeth and swiftly chanting under his breath, unleashing a wave of flames from his mouth towards her as she rapidly closed the distance between them.
As the flames closed in on her, she didn't bother slowing down, leaping up and forward with sharp, nimble agility and fired out a bolt of that dark green lightning straight down at her opponent.
He abruptly halted his flame attack and scrambled out of the way in alarm, letting out a stunned cry as it grazed his left shoulder, scorching off his armor around that spot and burning his skin, his body stiffening up sharply as it electrocuted him.
He planted his feet with a pained grimace and formed swirling masses of flames around both his fists as Aura closed in on him, unleashing several fiery strikes at her.
She easily evaded his fists before channeling lightning around her fists, the metal claws on her gloves conducting and enhancing the intensity of the lightning as she ducked under her opponent's flaming fist as he swiped his arm across towards her head, before swinging her right hand up, the metal claws piercing through the man's leather armor and digging into the skin below.
She then rapidly dragged her arm up and across, tearing through the skin across his torso and eliciting a stifled cry of pain from him as she tore his skin and the fabric of his armor to ribbons, streaks of blood splattering across the floor of the arena and briefly coating her metal claws before the lightning crackling around the claws evaporated the blood.
As he gritted his teeth and swung one of his feet up towards her side, he gasped in pain as she swiftly raised her right hand in that direction, her opponent inadvertently impaling his left calf right into her metal claws before she slashed her left hand across, striking his right side and digging her claws in.
A wide smirk spread out across her lips as she dug her claws in ever deeper, and as the man let out a yell of both anger and pain, starting to form an arrow of flames, she violently twisted and tore out a chunk of flesh from his side, a deafening scream of agony ringing out from the man as his Spell dissipated, blood bursting out and pouring down the side of his leg as he stumbled back in agony.
She then unleashed a vicious throat punch against him, eliciting a choked gasp from him as the spiky metal knuckles left shallow puncture wounds across his neck before she slashed his face with her claws, destroying one of his eyes and slicing off the side of his left nostril before he could even react.
He stumbled back while gasping in pain and fear, as she began to prepare herself to launch the finishing strike...when suddenly, he reached the edge of the arena and lost his balance, falling back and off the large platform.
A thunk echoed out as he hit his head and lost consciousness...ooh, had there a bit more of an angle when his head hit the ground, his neck probably would've snapped like a twig and killed him.
"Out of bounds! The winner is...Aura Lunabell!"
Heh, after my win in the first match, the ref was stunned silent for a while and took a few seconds before announcing my victory. That was fun, his wide-eyed look of disbelief at me winning was hilarious.
And as for this fight...not bad, she's quite skilled. Her agility and how nimble she is is seriously impressive, she's not as acrobatic as I am, but to be fair, I've specifically trained my body with that in mind, using training methods that don't exist in this world.
And while my mobility may be higher than hers, her speed is a fair bit greater than mine. But more than her physical abilities, her fighting style...it's so vicious and brutal, I love it!
I have to admit, I found it to be quite attractive and eye-catching. She's definitely someone I can't let my guard down around, once she gets an opening, she exploits it relentlessly and doesn't give her opponent a chance to recover.
Well, if I do face her in the tournament, it'll only be if we both make it to the final, so there's still plenty of time before that possibility arrives.
"She's like a wild animal or something."
"Yeah, she may have Arcane Class Magic, but the way she fights is so feral, talk about scary."
"Hope I don't have to fight her, she's so vicious..."
What are they talking about? That's the best part.
Well, whatever...with that, the first round of the tournament is over. There's a five minute break before the second round, and I'm gonna be fighting in the first match.
I mean, assuming I make it through all the rounds, I'll be in the first match of every round with the way the brackets have been set up. Alright, now then, I should get ready for my next match...
...
"O-oh, wow, he just smiled at me!"
"I love you!"
"Please marry me!"
"Kick that guy's ass, we believe in you!"
Ugh.
"Why, thank you kindly, ladies! I shall dedicate this victory to all of you, my lovely roses!" Responded my opponent with a wide, cheesy smile, waving at the women cheering for him.
Gag me.
Seriously, fuck this guy.
Damned hot guys, they've got it so easy. I mean, this guy's not even an Adventurer yet but he's still got a legit fan club, solely because of his appearance...I mean, from what I saw in his round one match, his combat abilities are nothing special.
But because he's got an attractive face, he's got himself a cheering squad who are totally infatuated with him. I wanna kill him.
"Hey, you about ready to start, pretty boy?" I inquired in exasperation, as he began blowing kisses into the crowd.
"Hm? Oh, my apologies, but I simply couldn't neglect to respond to the heartfelt cheers of my admirers. Ah, but as someone with a rather, er...mediocre face, I suppose you couldn't begin to comprehend such a thing, hahaha!" He replied with a chuckling smirk.
Excuse me? Ohh, this means war...
"Hah...hahaha...can we fight now, asshole?" I muttered through gritted teeth and a strained smile.
"Wh-what did that guy just call him?"
"How vulgar..."
"Damned savage!"
"Go die, you ugly bastard!"
Watch it, you mewling bitches, I'm not above coming up there and breaking some skulls.
"Hm, ugly both inside and out, I see. I shall at least strive to make your defeat beautiful," Sighed my opponent with a shake of his head, further irritating me as I felt my eyebrow twitching.
"Hey, you gonna start the countdown sometime today, or...?" I prompted the ref icily.
"Er, right...the first match of round two will begin in five! Four! Three! Two! One!"
"Whatever cheap trick you used in your first match won't work against me! I shall blast you away before you can do anything, there's no dodging this! Let the glorious, beautiful glow of my Spell shine some light on the ugly darkness in you...here it comes, [Plasma Ray-...]...!" He began to exclaim as he charged up his Spell...before abruptly cutting off as a loud bang echoed throughout the stadium, drowning out his voice.
His Spell dissipated, his arm slumping down as blood trickled out of the hole through the middle of his forehead, before he collapsed onto his knees, his upper body falling over and hitting the arena with a thud, blood pouring out and pooling around his head, seeping into his hair as a stunned silence washed over the crowd.
"H-huh? Wh-what...what just happened?"
"Where did that bang come from?"
"H-he's...he's dead! Th-that guy killed him!"
Heh, yeah I did. Shot the prick right through the middle of his handsome fucking head, hahaha! Ahh, I feel a whole lot better now...
"N-no, this can't be happening..."
"NOOO! H-HE...HE CAN'T BE DEAD!!!"
"Th-this is a nightmare...y-yeah, that's right, this isn't real, i-it's just a dream...r-right?"
Hahaha, suck it, fangirls! No more obnoxious hot guy for you to simp over! Go get a life, you dumbasses.
"You really should've launched that attack right as the fight started instead of blathering on and on...and on, and on, and on, and on, before finally firing it. Well, not that it would've made a difference...just like how me talking to your corpse makes no difference," I muttered under my breath as I put my before glancing at the ref and adding with an exasperated sigh, "Hey, fight's over, guy. Mind doing your job?"
"Wha-...? Tch...ahem, the winner is...Jaedfern Meraled!"
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