"Do you really want to fight me? Lowly peasant." Alexander questioned, he had no problems with dealing with one more peasant. After all he wanted to make a statement and doing so with a woman might not necessarily count.
"Stop!" Ford proclaimed, attempting to prevent any more complications.
"Contestant 507, Rai Voltia! Stand down!" Ford yelled.
Rai, completely driven by rage refused to comply. He tightened his grip even more as he focused his gaze on the ever prideful Alexander.
"Stand down now!" Ford exclaimed, he was prepared to use lethal force if it was deemed necessary.
"Now hold on just a minute." A proud and bold voice echoed through the colosseum. Everyone including Ford all directed their eyes towards the source of the voice.
From the top of the colosseum, within a small room situated on the wall of the colosseum. A window that enclosed the prince and the king opened up like a vent revealing the majestic presence of both Julius and his father.
"My King." Ford uttered softly and went on his knees paying respects to their ruler. Unlike Ford who was well aware that the king and the prince were both spectators in this match, the others had no clue which resulted in a bit of murmurs around the colosseum.
Words such as "It's the king!", "His majesty!". All circulated around.
"Now wait just a minute Ford, although this might be an exam and the protocols must be followed. We are searching for the best." The king could not help but dazzle at the fire that glimmed in the eyes of the commoner known as Rai.
Much like his son Julius, he was very interested in witnessing how this would play out. "This fire, this might. It is not something that is attained from the sheer desire to win, as a result I've decided to make it official." The king added.
"Your majesty! You can't be serious!" Ford voiced out, after witnessing how Alexander effortlessly beat the living essence out of Selena. Ford possibly couldn't consider placing the second commoner in harm's way.
The main aim of the restrictions in the first place was to protect the commoners and reduce casualties. He couldn't possibly watch that scenario all over again.
"Do not worry my dear Ford, despite your hesitations you must have sensed it too.. haven't you?" The king spoke addressing Ford.
"Sensed what?" A mild uproar began.
"What is his majesty talking about?" Another noble added.
Ford gazed at Rai for a few moments, he sighed softly as he stood to his feet. He cleared his throat as he announced into the megaphone. "As a special request from the king himself, the third matchup of the Essenmages exams is Alexander versus Rai!"
The king smiled sitting back down on his throne, for Rai this was a chance for redemption and to avenge Selena while to the eyes of Alexander and the other prideful nobles it was a chance to truly put the commoners in their place.
"I suppose I shouldn't take you lightly given you were the first in team C to emerge from the first stage. Moreov-" Alexander was cut short by left hand of Rai to his face.
"You talk too much." An enraged Rai uttered softly, he swung the tip of his katana swiftly at the neck of Alexander.
Visibly alarmed by the speed of Rai, he wasted no time in utilizing his ice construct ability and creating an ice gauntlet in his left hand using it to shield his neck from the forthcoming danger.
As the tip of the katana made contact with the left hand of Alexander, the ice gauntlet cracked. "What!?" Alexander exclaimed.
Not once had his ice gauntlet broken or cracked by an opposing force, much less by a commoner. This scene left all the nobles and even the king himself flustered.
Rai applied more force behind the blade and completely broke through the ice gauntlet, he slashed through the chest of Alexander who became completely overwhelmed by the pressure utilized by Rai.
He rolled several times on the ground before coming to a halt, blood slowly seeped out of the semi-vertical slash on his chest. "Argh.." Alexander groaned, mesmerized that he had received this much damage even without Rai using his essence.
"What's the matter?" Rai said softly with an intimidating voice masking his annoyance.
"Nothing makes my skin crawl more than ignorant fools who trample upon those weaker than them." Rai added as he approached Alexander who stood to his feet.
"How dare you.." Alexander murmured as he touched his face with his right hand.
His head faced the ground as he spoke. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on me!" He shouted out in rage and disgust, cold vapor began escaping his wounds as they closed up slowly and healed.
"What? Cryogenic regeneration?" Rai said in his thoughts, in theory it was possible but this was the worst case scenario for it to be happening. Unfortunately for Alexander, Rai discovered a huge flaw in his ability to regenerate.
"Cryogenic regeneration, a certainly interesting ability. However..." Rai said as he dashed forward at Alexander whose eyes widened in astonishment as he could barely read the movements of Rai.
The moment he sensed Rai behind him, it was already too late. Rai stabbed his abdomen in one swoop causing Alexander to cough out large amounts of blood. "The deeper the wound, the more strain on the regenerative process. There's a limit to which your body can heal itself, I was merely a bad match up for you taking my speed into account." Rai addressed Alexander with an expressionless look on his face.
Alexander slumped to his knees, the crowd flustered as they all assumed he was done for. "Assassins code 12: if you cannot beat an enemy in terms of strength, probe for his weaknesses." He said in his thoughts.
"You have one of the greatest weakness of all, and that's why you lost." Rai added.
"Lost? To you?" Alexander scoffed as he lost his cool. "Don't get cocky, you damn peasant!!" He screamed at the top of his voice as a large amount of steam swiftly escaped his body and engulfed them. Sensing the danger within the steam, Rai instinctively leaped out of it's range and watched from afar what was coming next.
As the steam cleared out, his eyes expanded with terror. His eyeballs grew dimmer and wavered as he laid his sights upon what stood in front of him.
"Ice essence: Dragon Emperor." Alexander said with a monstrous voice, the entire structure of his being had changed. He possessed blue ice scales, talons and claws. His whole body had transfigurated into that of an ice dragon.
He possessed two large dragon like wings made completely out of ice, on top his head were two horns and his eyes glowed a reminiscent red color.
"What the hell...are you?" Rai uttered, as that was the only thing he could say given what his opponent had transformed into. Was it the end for him? He was unable to answer with certainty.