Zahad and Marcus were the only ones left on the stage.
Zahad was slightly injured from his fight against Paul, nonetheless he was still strong enough to go on. Marcus on the other hand was totally fine, he hadn't taken any damage throughout the fight, so the probability of him winning this fight was high.
"You are injured, I would advise you to give up." Marcus spoke out in consideration.
"Would you give up if you were me?" Zahad replied.
"No, I would take my chances. But you're not me. I am me."
"What does that mean? Are you claiming to be stronger just because you didn't take any hits, you've been shielding yourself like a turtle throughout the whole fight. What makes you think you could stand me." Zahad utterance carried a hint of agitation.
"Oh, fair point." Marcus spoke calmly.
"Enough talk, let's..."
"Boom!"
Zahad got hit in the chest with a boulder.
"You misunderstood me, I never underestimate anyone." Marcus coated his entire body with stone and made a stance.
Zahad noticed the stance Marcus made, and was puzzled.
"Why are you taking a battle stance?"
"Like how you are a practitioner of the meagre knife arts, I'm also a martial artist."
Zahad glanced at Marcus, up and down before letting out a chuckle.
From the first time Zahad used a knife to protect himself it became his comfort weapon, leading him to learn and master the knife arts.
When he used a knife to attack his mother's killer, he was successful because the mage had exhausted his mana. Since then, he had always sought for ways to exploit the weaknesses of mages.
So he knew taking Marcus on would be easier for him if they fought at close range.
'Does he think the stones he put on his body could protect him? I would burn him up then find a weak point.' Zahad already set his actions in play.
He moved, casting a flame spell in his palm.
"Doom!"
Marcus tanked the attack also heading for Zahad.
"Why is Marcus covering himself in stones while trying to fight? That would just slow him down while draining his mana." Paul spoke up as he watched them fight.
"No it won't, he's slowing himself down on purpose." Anya replied as she also watched.
"How is that..."
"He is an earth mage, they don't need speed. Only strength and defense."
"But what's the use of close combat if he can't get a hit in?" Paul questioned.
"Who do you think were the earliest practitioners of martial arts?" Anya questioned back.
Paul realized he lost the argument so he quickly shut his mouth paid attention to the fight.
The eastern kingdom which was considered unrivaled in martial arts had a dominant population of earth mages who focused on tampering their body and strengthening their defence to make up for their lack of speed.
This in turn made them a terrible opponent to fight against because they liked to bide their time tanking hits whilst giving twofold in return.
'So is that the reason why Marcus thought of Oscar as his rival?' Paul thought to himself.
Zahad bombarded Marcus' body with different spells. None of the attacks worked. He changed his attack pattern, casting flame bolt spells as he continued to hit one spot on his body.
This caused the stone at his neck region to crack.
'Good' Zahad smiled.
Shabbily veiling his weapon in mana, he struck Marcus' neck.
Marcus grabbed the arm and stared at Zahad.
Zahad tried to move his arm but couldn't, the grip on him was too strong. So he tried to cast another spell. This was a mistake on his part.
"Boom! Boom! Pakk!"
Marcus punched him three times in the chest.
Zahad coughed as felt the air being punched out of him, he turned languid. His legs were weak from the force of the hit.
"You...guhh!!" He made incoherent sounds.
Marcus paused for a moment after the punches, observing Zahad's state. Then he continued, this time he used more power.
Zahad tried to block the incoming hit with his arm casting a flame spell to counter the attack.
"Pshh! Krak!"
Marcus doused the flame and broke Zahad's arm in the process.
"Ugh!" Zahad groaned in pain. He felt defenceless against Marcus.
'Coming close to this guy was a mistake. He has the physique of a monster. ' Regrets flowed through his mind.
Marcus gripped his hand and kept throwing punches laced with mana. He didn't bother to cast faster spells, he was an earth mage, the slowest of the bunch. Regardless, it didn't deter him from dominating the fight.
"...Covv" Marcus chanted a spell and bound Zahad's legs with stones enclosing it up to the knee level, connecting it to the ground. Zahad wanted to resist but he got hit in the face.
'I am going to...lose?' Those were the thoughts present in his mind.
'After all my training... I would lose to this ...this...'
Zahad got angry, he used the last of his mana to burn through the stones binding him.
"Hmm?" Marcus was a bit surprised, his grip on Zahad's hand loosened. Zahad cast a flame radiation spell on his body, causing fire to form around his body.
Marcus intentionally let go of Zahad. Stepping back a little, watching as Zahad's aura gradually changed. Then he looked at him and said:
"That's enough. ...max Covv" Marcus chanted his own spell.
Zahad was seething in anger, he felt the power of fire fan-out all through his body. Ignoring Marcus' spell he closed the distance.
"Hoom"
"Pow!"
"What the hell?"
"Woah"
Shock registered on the faces of the students.
Zahad, who moved with so much force was now outside the stage unconscious.
Marcus, the cause of it all. Got off the stage nonchalantly.
The time Zahad moved towards him, he casted an earth enclosure spell, not on himself but on Zahad. Enclosing Zahad's body in earth and cutting his momentum short. He then went on to deliver a punch gathering his mana to his fist before striking Zahad in the chest once again.
"The bout has ended, the winner is Marcus. The rest of you will be ranked according to how long you spent before going outside the platform." Mr Booker declared.
"So that means..."
"Zahad is second, Paul is third, Anya is fourth, Sarah is fifth and Benjamin is in the sixth position."
"This concludes your admission process into the imperial academy. In two days time, go and check out the board for your names and class placements." Mr. Booker finished talking and took Zahad who was still unconscious with him away.
"Oh goodness." Benjamin sighed as he sat down on a chair in the training hall.
"Why are you acting tired? We were the ones fighting, you didn't do anything." Paul said.
"It's my tiredness not yours." Benjamin retorted.
"What?"
"I didn't tell you to get yourself beat up. So don't try to get in my way."
"You are asking for a beating." Paul said, visibly irritated.
"I'm not the one who hugged a girl to get third place."
"!!..."
"Tone it down you two." Anya interjected.
"This guy..."
"Leave him be Paul, you knew he was a jerk yet you took the initiative to talk to him."
"Says the one whose plan landed her in fourth place." Benjamin spoke out.
"One more word from you and I'll show you how strong a light-ray spell is." Anya got annoyed.
Benjamin lowered his head in consideration, then he stared back at Anya.
"Umm...word"
"You...!!"
"Hey Anya, come on. You were the one telling me to tone it down." Paul had to hold her back this time.
"You idiot! Fxkin..." She started hailing profanities on Ben's head.
"Anya calm down. Benjamin you should apologize."
"For what?"
"Just do it!"
Benjamin stood up from his seat and sighed.
"Alright, huu... I'm sorry you lost miserably even though you tried your best."
"That's it, I'm gonna kill him."
"Hey Marcus, help me out here!" Paul called out to Marcus as he was losing his hold on Anya.
The only person Ben annoyed in the past was Oscar, and Oscar never took it to heart, because he also had a comeback for everything.
"None of you can take a joke, you are all boring. Now that Oscar's not here anymore who could I have fun with?" Benjamin spoke appearing sorrowful.
"Why don't you just go join him wherever he is." Sarah chimed in.
Benjamin looked at her then shook his head. Feeling more sorrowful.
"What?" Sarah asked.
"It's just sad that you didn't even spend up to ten seconds before being kicked out of the platform. It's like you were victory-repellent."
"You fool! You didn't even participate what right do you have to mock others?"
"At least I'm not allergic to victory."
"You stupid...!!"
"Hahaha!!" The noise was interrupted by Marcus' laughter.
The space went silent.
"I know you miss Oscar but don't take it out on these guys."
"Haa...if only Oscar were here. He would have beaten you up too." Benjamin spoke seeming mournful about the whole thing.
Marcus' face twitched then he also sighed. "Yeah, that might be true. And you would have been less annoying."
"..."