Belti recognized his defeat and exchanged a friendly bow with Erick for the good fight. He then called his teammates to leave the place, wanting to focus on fighting other participants. As for Erick and Sylfi, they headed in another direction, trying to find a different environment and seeking new fights.
Raziel continued to watch them until a guy sitting beside him, who was talking with his friend, pointed to another screen and said, "Hey, look, isn't that Anya over there?" Hearing this, Raziel turned to look at the screen the guy pointed to.
As he focused on the screen, he saw Anya standing in a swampy environment surrounded by five girls. Their eyes were filled with malice as they glared at her, hurling nasty comments.
"You think too much of yourself, don't you, Anya?" the leader of the girls said, standing in front of Anya and laughing at her.
"W-what are you p-people doing? I-I'm just passing by. I-I don't wanna fight," Anya said in a fake trembling and stammering voice.
Upon witnessing her 'scared' expression, the leader of the girls wore a satisfied look as she looked down on Anya, which led her to draw a sword and say, "But I want to fight with you. So sorry, but we're going to beat you."
The aura user girl charged at Anya with her sword, but before she could strike, Anya disappeared from her sight. A swift foot collided with her face. Anya seized the opening she created, swiftly disarming the girl while delivering a precise kick to her stomach, sending her flying back six meters and slamming into a tree.
Anya's speed and strength struck fear into the hearts of the other four girls. The two mages in the group began chanting enchantments, while the other two moved forward.
One of them summoned her spiritual beast, a gray wolf, while the other wielded a mace.
Before they could get near, Anya lunged forward with incredible speed, closing the distance in a blur. With precision, she delivered a powerful kick to the head of the girl wielding the mace, knocking her off balance and sending her crashing to the ground unconscious.
The gray wolf tried to sneak up and leap at Anya, but she noticed its approach. Swiftly pivoting, she delivered a powerful punch to its stomach. The blow incapacitated the spiritual beast, causing it to vanish.
The mages girls, even after witnessing such a scary sight, still continued casting their spells, launching a coordinated magical attack. Anya jumped, swiftly dodging the fire and wind spells. As she landed, she sprinted toward the duo. With lightning-fast reflexes, she kicked one mage in the stomach and followed up with a spin kick to the other's chin, incapacitating them both instantly.
The summoner girl, having lost her wolf and friends, glowed light white with essence energy as she sprinted to escape from Anya, who also radiated a bright white light throughout the entire fight. Suddenly, something struck her, throwing her unconscious into the dirty swamp water.
It was Mojnir, Anya's spiritual beast, who had delivered the blow.
Anya dashed to her spiritual beast and hopped onto his back. Nestling into his cozy fur, she patted his head and said, "Thanks for dealing with this bitch, Mojnir. Now that you're here, Have you found the two I told you about?"
The big white wolf nodded, prompting Anya to put a slightly mischievous smile on her lips.
"Good, so let's find them after I visit someone."
With those words spoken, the wolf began to run, leaping through the trees with Anya mounted on its back, ready to set her plan in motion.
The spectators cheered as they watched her fight, with Anya's fan club shouting her name wildly and waving flags adorned with her photo.
Raziel watched the fight with a look of surprise. In the game, she was described as very strong, but he never thought she was this strong.
'Damn... she really could have kicked my ass if she didn't fall for my lie,' Raziel thought to himself.
His thoughts were then interrupted as he turned his attention to another screen. It displayed a striking girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail, clad in a black kimono and wielding two black-bladed katanas. She fought alone against three opponents in a jungle environment.
Her movements were fast and precise. She knocked out a summoner and its spiritual beast almost instantly after they recklessly decided to rush towards her. The two others, a mage and a warrior holding a spear, froze in place, realizing they had chosen the wrong person to fight.
To Raziel, who recognized the girl, it was clear that the three were doomed. That young woman was essentially one of the five strongest swordsmen in the academy, ranked 2nd in the Pharefal Rank List among aura users in the second year, known as Kazenari Nozomi, also known as Eclipse.
'Ooh, look who I've found. It's the second heroine to join Erick's group, Nozomi from the Eastern Continent. The plot seems to be unfolding somehow, even with Anya there. I'm curious to see what happens next,' Raziel thought, now focused on watching Nozomi, aware of her upcoming battle against Erick and Sylfi.
The girl on the screen swiftly defeated the mage using the back of her katanas and quickly dispatched the guy wielding a spear with two light blue aura slashes. He accepted his fate and fell unconscious to the ground.
Raziel watched this with a bored expression and decided to head to the bathroom. He thought he probably wouldn't miss any important fights, as the protagonists and other heroines were just dispatching 'extras' for a while.
As Raziel got up from his seat and walked through the arena corridor to find the bathroom, Sylfi and Erick engaged in minor fights with other students, easily besting them. Meanwhile, Nozomi leaped through the jungle trees for a while when she suddenly sensed something speeding towards her, like a bullet. Reacting swiftly, she jumped into the air as if supported by an invisible platform, landing gracefully on a sturdy tree branch.
Nozomi looked at the figure that passed through her, mounted on a large white wolf with patches of red fur, landing on another tree branch in front of her.
"A-Anya?" Nozomi asked with surprise in her voice,
"Yes, it's me~ I'm sorry if I scared you, Nozomi," replied Anya playfully.
Nozomi then jumped from the tree branch and landed on the ground, followed by Anya who did the same with her wolf.
These two began talking in a friendly manner because, to Nozomi, Anya was her friend. However, the same couldn't be said for Anya, who was cautious with everyone.
Her facade had never been discovered, not even by her father, whom she considered the only person she trusted. But somehow, someone found out about her true personality and dark secret.
Such a variable had to be eliminated, but for now, there was nothing Anya could do. So, she decided to mess with Raziel to uncover what he truly wanted, because his request of simply send her away didn't make sense at all.
So, Anya decided to join the tournament mainly to vent her anger. She knew that winning would be impossible, especially since that woman from the fourth year was also going to participate.
"Hey Anya, did you accept my proposal that I suggested in the waiting room?" Nozomi asked, eager to hear her friend's answer.
"Well... Yes! Let's form a duo for this qualifier. It'll be easier if we work together," Anya replied, forcing an enthusiastic expression.
After hearing her friend accept the proposal to team up, Nozomi broke into a bright, innocent smile. She had few friends due to her difficulty in communicating with others, but with Anya, she had no issues.
Anya had always been there to help her since they enrolled in the academy together, which made Nozomi trust that girl almost completely.
"Hey Nozomi, now that we're fighting together, let's head to the desert. I've found an interesting duo to challenge to a duel," Anya suggested.
Nozomi put a hand on her chin and, after thinking for a moment, said, "Okay!"
The two then started to run towards the desert, eliminating other participants along the way.
While an important event was about to happen, Raziel was coming from the bathroom, pondering how to start training mana and aura efficiently, as these fights had sparked his desire to grow some strength. His thoughts were interrupted when he bumped into someone, nearly causing him to fall to the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't look—" Raziel began to apologize but stopped mid-sentence when he saw the person he had bumped into.
A guy with bright blond hair, wearing black round glasses, was looking at him with a frown while picking his book up from the ground. That person was Castyel.
"I... I'm really sorry for bumping into you. I was lost in thoughts and didn't pay attention," Raziel apologized sincerely, not wanting to anger Castyel. After all, he knew little about his personality since in the game he only appeared four times, and only if Alizze acknowledged you.
Castyel always seemed uninterested in talking with others besides his sister; even when he met Erick, he maintained the same reserved behavior.
Castyel nodded his head after hearing the apology and said while cleaning some dirt from his book, "Don't worry, I wasn't paying attention either."
"Hey, I think I've already read that one. Isn't this a novel about an immortal cultivator who returns for revenge after his disciples betray him?" Raziel asked curiously, recognizing the book that Castyl was holding.
Castyel's eyes widened, surprised to find someone else interested in reading novels from the Eastern Continent. He then replied, "Did you read Wuxing Novels too?"
"Yes, I like to read them." Raziel answered with a slight smile.
"What's your favorite character?" Castyel asked with an anxious expression.
"Of course, it's The Empress of Darkness!"
Upon hearing his answer, Castyel put a slight smile on his face and adjusted his glasses, mimicking an anime character. The lenses of his glasses even glowed bright white for a second, adding a dramatic touch to his expression.
"Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well," Castyel replied, acknowledging their shared appreciation.
He extended his right hand in a gesture offering a handshake and said, "My name is Castyel Marsheil, a wizard apprentice from the first year."
"Pleased to meet you. My name is Raziel Harvestead, a wizard apprentice from the second year," Raziel introduced himself warmly after accepting the handshake.
And so, after that firm handshake between the second king and one of the worst students of Revery Academy, a future beautiful friendship was born.