"Nice, we made it just in time!"
Sol hopped over the couch and took a seat just as Victor and his opponent, Evan, entered the arena.
"Hooray…"
Nataly followed not far behind, flopping onto the couch, frazzled and exhausted. Though Sol controlled the stone platform to move at half the maximum speed, for Nataly, who invested most of her attribute points into intelligence and wisdom, her body was barely able to handle the wind pressure. If not for Sol holding onto her, she would have fallen off immediately.
'Maybe I should have cast [Tailwind] on her… whoops.'
Though not intended for such usage, [Tailwind] does negate wind resistance, which would have made the ride much more comfortable for both of them. He would keep that in mind next time he decided to pull another stunt like that.
Turning his attention back to the arena, he heard Oeser announcing the start of the battle.
A colorful array of lights emanated from his wand as he yelled, "Begin!"
Sol's eyes were wide open as he carefully watched Victor's every move. He even used [True Sight] to further analyze the movement of his mana. It was then he noticed something peculiar.
'Why is his mana so dense?'
If normal mana usually appeared as a transparent liquid, Victor's looked like a red orb in the middle of his chest that radiated highly concentrated mana.
'I haven't heard or seen this mana core before. Is that some kind of talent skill, or is that how I can take my magic to the next level?'
As Sol tried to gain any further insights, the fight began with Victor's opponent launching a volley of arrows towards him. They all flew true, guided by Evan's skill, making them extremely accurate.
Victor didn't show any reaction as a thin layer of fire appeared around him. The arrows all burned upon contact, leaving only small fumes of smoke.
Oeser commented for the spectators, "Victor's fire is too hot for arrows! Will Evan find a way to overcome that barrier?!"
Evan frowned, but he already expected this outcome from watching yesterday's match. That was why he went into the city yesterday and bought five heat resistant arrows. They cost him a good amount of coin, but the arrows had a high melting point of 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. It was 50% more heat resistant than iron, which he hoped was enough to get past whatever defenses Victor placed.
Nocking one of the heat resistant arrows on his bow, he used [Penetrating Shot] to further increase its power and released it.
Oeser announced, "Are those metallic arrows I see?! Evan came prepared after watching yesterday's match!"
The arrow flew fast and collided with the shield, but what happened next shocked the unaware spectators and even Oeser.
"The arrow bounced off?! How is it possible for [Flame Barrier] to do that?! The flames of the barrier also have physical properties?!"
Even Oeser was unable to understand how that was possible. He couldn't just attribute it to Victor's advanced version of the spell, as it didn't explain how he made the fire tangible and solid enough to bounce the arrow off.
Sol, who kept a watchful eye on the mana through [True Sight], knew.
'Just before it collided, Victor fed the barrier a large amount of mana, causing it to burst flames outward. He then controlled the force onto one point and blasted the arrow away. It wasn't the fire but a concentrated burst of hot air that did it.'
The amount of control required to do such a thing was impressive, to say the least. Sol understood that Victor wasn't just a strong opponent but a smart one too. There was one more detail that alarmed Sol.
'He didn't even use his own mana. All of this just now had been ambient mana he was controlling…'
Not a single wisp of mana left Victor's body during the fight. So far, it was all done from ambient mana, essentially casting with no mana cost. Sol knew if Victor wanted, he could command all the nearby mana and create a large spell to crush whoever stood before him, but he hasn't. Victor had only used beginner level spells that he modified to handle more mana.
Back at the fight, the arrow clanged on the floor, which Evan looked at with a grimace on his face. He knew it didn't matter if he used all his heat resistant arrows if they couldn't get past the barrier.
"You done?" Victor yawned as he asked.
Evan didn't respond as they both already knew the answer to that question.
"I su-"
"[Fire Bolt]."
Before Evan was able to finish his sentence, Victor chanted a spell. What would normally be a six-inch ball of fire became a six-foot flaming sphere that traversed across the arena, instantly slamming into Evan.
"GAH!"
Evan was sent flying and landed in the exact same spot where Victor sent his previous opponent. The crater that was fixed by colosseum staff the day before was created once more as a half burnt man slumped onto the ground.
Oeser announced the results, "We have a winner, folks! Victor once again dominates his competition!"
"VICTOR!"
"VICTOR!"
The audience chanted his name once again as the winner himself looked at Evan with a disgruntled look on his face.
Oeser had an eye for drama and immediately jumped at the opening, "Victor doesn't look too happy even though he won! Could it be that his opponent left him dissatisfied?! Is there anyone who can match him in this arena?!"
As Victor walked out of the arena, he laughed in his head, 'Acting is kinda fun.'
"Hmm, doesn't it seem a bit forced?" Sol asked Nataly, who managed to recover during the fight.
She nodded with a serious expression, "He looks constipated to me."
"Pffff! Haha, what?! Take this seriously!"
"I am! At the very least, it looks very fake."
The two of them, who had a closer view of the arena, were able to better see his facial expressions and could see it wasn't very natural. The rest of the audience, on the other hand, with the exception of a few individuals, believed it and ate it up.
Nataly continued, "Still, I hope you win. At least then you become a captain and I can join your squad."
"You want to join my squad? Wouldn't you rather have someone more experienced?"
She shook her head, "I'd rather join someone I know and trust. Maybe an experienced knight captain would be better, but I don't know them. Who knows what kind of person they are? Maybe they will relegate me to only doing menial tasks or maybe the other extreme of being ordered to do constantly risky tasks and missions. Maybe they will directly take advantage of me and do even worse—"
He stopped her before she spiraled further. "No one will do that. I'm sure they wouldn't make someone like that knight captain."
Nataly disagreed, "You say that because you wouldn't do that. That's why I trust you. You really think they wouldn't promote a bad person to knight captain? Didn't you just see that fight? I swear I heard Evan about to surrender, but Victor didn't even let him and hit him with a fireball instead. If he wins then that type of person will become a captain."
Because they were close enough, the two were faintly able to hear Evan try to surrender before being attacked by Victor. The audience, on the other hand, were too far away to hear him properly.
"Yeah, I get what you mean."
"Good! Then make sure you win against him. Become knight captain and put me in your squad."
"Haha! I never intended to lose to begin with, but sure, once I win, I'll put you in my squad."