As I sat on my seat, a wave of relief and chills washed over me.
The reason for my relief was even though I, an unknown variable, existed in this universe, the story hasn't gone stray.
And the reason for the chills I got was Cain and Olivia's fight.
Seeing it in real life is really different from simply reading it.
Their clashes and unrelenting fighting spirits... They were overwhelming. It made me realize just how terrifyingly real this world was.
But even as the fight ended and the arena began preparations for the next match, the crowd was still buzzing with excitement.
After a while, my thoughts were interrupted by the announcement of the next match.
***
The AI referee talked:
"The next match is, Lena Hemelmaan vs. Ruby Bianca."
"The fight will start shortly, please get to your places."
Unlike the fight between Cain and Olivia, this match was one I was less familiar with.
Although I knew a lot about Lena, I didn't know that much about Ruby since she only appeared as a side character.
In the original story, she had an air of mystery around her. She was known for her ice affinity and aloof personality.
As Lena and Ruby stepped into the arena, the atmosphere shifted.
Suddenly, the cheerful demeanor of the audience stopped and everybody went silent.
Ruby stood calmly, her icy gaze fixed on Lena.
Her demeanor was cold, almost dismissive, as if she had already won the fight.
However, Lena wouldn't be discouraged just by somebody looking down on her.
Lena stood on the opposite side, her gaze filled with determination.
The AI referee signaled the start of the match.
"Start!"
Ruby didn't waste any time, and with a simple move from her a ton of icicles started coming from the ground with incredible speed.
Lena, created a shield out of water to defend against it and succeeded in doing so, but soon she realized something that made her heart drop.
Her water... started to freeze.
That was right, Ice was the solid form of water and any water source could be turned into Ice if enough heat was taken.
The crowd gasped in awe.
But Ruby wasn't done. She raised her hand, and a wave of frost began spreading across the arena floor.
In reality, these spells could be done without the hand movement.
And most mages but doing it focused your mana into the hand and made the spell faster or stronger, depending on the spell.
Ruby didn't care about that though. She only did it because she thought it was cool like the mangas she read.
Lena quickly realized she had to depend on her second affinity which was wind.
Her footing became unstable but she tried a move she had been practicing for a while.
Air Steps.
It wasn't perfect, but it was enough.
She dashed towards Ruby in the air, catching her off guard.
Pretty much everybody could understand what she was trying to do, since she cant use her water affinity and she isnt thay good in the wind affinity, she has to go for close combat.
She managed to land a kick on Ruby, but Ruby wasn't fazed. Her expression never faltered even for a moment as if she was emotionless.
With a snap of her fingers, a massive ice spear began forming above her.
The temperature around her dropped even more as the spear grew larger.
Lena's face paled, but she didn't back down.
She summoned as much wind as she could and sent it hurling towards the spear.
At the same time Ruby sent her Ice Spear towards Lena, their wind and spear clashing in the middleground.
The Ice Spear was getting pushed back by the winds Lena summoned.
At the same time, Lena started throwing countless punches and kicks towards Ruby.
Each punch and kick was met with subtle movement from Ruby, resulting in her dodging with minimal effort.
Lena grit her teeth as she pushed her wind affinity to its limits while continueing attacking Ruby.
She knew her lack of proficiency with wind put her at a disadvantage, but she couldn't afford to lose here.
Ruby could tell the Ice Spear was going to get pushed back, so she put the minimal effort required to go against the winds of her opponent, aiming to tire her out.
However, what Ruby didn't expect was the Ice Spear slowly melting and taking on a liquid form.
Lena quickly took control of these liquids and hit Ruby with those.
The sudden splash of water caught Ruby off guard.
It wasn't a particularly powerful attack, but it disrupted her focus even if it was for a moment.
Lena managed to land some hits on her with her rapid punches and kicks before Ruby escaping to the edge of the arena.
Her expression faltered a bit for the first time.
"Impressive." Was all she said before her look of uninterest returned back to her eyes.
Lena, breathing heavily, didn't reply.
She was resting in this brief moment of peace, knowing she had to fight more.
Ruby raised her hand, and frost began to crystallize around her once more.
This time, instead of forming a single weapon, she created multiple small ice shards that floated in the air, each one sharper than the other.
"Good job on pushing me this far." Ruby commended
"But this ends now."
With a flick of her wrist, the shards shot towards Lena.
Lena summoned a whirlwind around herself, deflecting the majority of Ruby's shards.
However, a few managed to get through, grazing her arms and legs. Blood trickled down but she didn't care.
She couldn't afford to give up now.
Ruby remained unfazed by her persistance.
She raised both hands this time, and the temperature in the arena dropped drastically.
The crowd gasped.
Hundreds of small shards, like the last one she sent hurling at Lena, were in the air waiting to be fired.
Lena's eyes widened. She had never seen so much mana put together in one go.
Realizing she couldn't dodge all of it, she summoned every ounce of mana she had left, forming a barrier around herself.
"I respect your will. That is why I put my all onto this spell" Ruby muttered before firing off countless shards.
The shards collided with the barrier Lena set up.
Ice and wind scattered everywhere and as the dust cleared up, the winner was decided.
The AI referee's voice echoed across the arena.
"Participant Ruby Bianca, Advances to the next round."