Once they were all teleported to the arena. Lucas looked at his fellow participants then he looked at the crowd. The stadium was full there was no empty seat. All 200000 seats had been filled. Yet some people were still filling in, standing in empty spaces.

Once they arrived Ivys Vinnay began her speech like usual, " Welcome, welcome everybody! Welcome to our first ever mixed quarterfinals. I'm sure you have all thought long and hard as to who you plan on voting for. Remember the polls end the second the first match begins." Then she turned to the participants and said, "Good luck for making it so far. I promised you that I would reveal to you what your rewards will be. For those that made it into the top 200 will be given 20 gold coins. A free lesson of an hour on the essentials of becoming a great Mage from me. Valued at 100 gold per hour. Further, those that made it to the top 100 will be given an extra hour. Plus 20 gold coins. Those that made it to the top 50 will be allowed to choose an artefact from the school's shops. The top 20 will further be allowed to choose an artefact of a higher grade. Top 10 will be able to choose from one of a higher grade. To all of you who have made it this far. You already qualify for all these rewards. The next prizes are only for a select few. The top 5 get an extra 30 gold and an hour-long lesson on the essentials of being a battle mage. The top 3 gets an hour-long lesson on how to lead a battalion. And last but not least. First place gets an extra 50 gold. A chance to choose an artefact of a higher grade. And four hours extra with me as your personal teacher. Teaching whatever you wish. As long as it's within my capacity. And a chance to take the Battle Mage exam in 8 months. They will also be called the King or Queen on the first year. This is a title but there are perks to the title too. As the King, you don't need to stand in lines. You are able to train longer in public training facilities. Your student card clearance level is one level higher than the rest and more revealed later. That will be all. Good luck."

With that Ivys Vinnay and 6 other people disappeared from the Arena. Only Lucas and his opponent stayed in the arena. It was then that Lucas realized that he was fighting first. Lucas looked at his opponent and saw that it was not one of the powerhouses but someone else. But it didn't matter who his opponent was. He wasn't going to hold back. So Lucas got ready and stood the position allocated to him. Placing him 12 meters away from his opponent. Clearly, this was set up so that Lucas's opponents would have more time to counter Lucas's dashes. Lucas looked at his opponent and then got into his dashing stance. While the timer went off. The opponent did the same thing and get ready, prepping his mana. He was determined to fight. He felt there was no need to concede. Now that the distance between himself and Lucas increased. He had time to counter Lucas's dash and kick. He prepped his mana and lifted his hands ready for Lucas whenever the timer ran out.

Lucas prepped his mana and ran it through all his muscles. This time he had increased the amount of mana by leaps and bounds. Once he was done he saw he had 5 seconds left and so he got into position. Once the timer ran out Lucas screamed, " Starting speed leap." Suddenly he was immersed in a massive flame as his body shot away and disappeared leaving behind two after images. He was going much faster than he did before. As he switched from starting control dash to starting speed. Which focused solely on speed. With Lucas's added strength and dexterity. He could control the F rank skill a lot better than before. While travelling through space in blinding speeds. Lucas got ready to kick his opponent that was still standing still. But just as he was in front of him a large wall of earth erupted from the ground. Blocking Lucas's view as his opponent stood behind the wall. Lucas's opponent had screamed, " Gaint Earth Wall" the second the timer ran out. Resulting in this wall that was blocking Lucas from his opponent.

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When Lucas saw the wall he scoffed at it. Because it only protected him from a frontal attack. So while still in the dash Lucas ran around the wall. Ending up on the side of his opponent. And like before he roundhouse kicked his opponent hard. But this time he never kicked him in the gut but on the right ribs. As that was the side Lucas was standing on. With that kick, his opponent was sent flying through the air. His opponent was unconscious in the air because the power of Lucas's kick resulted in inertia rocking his brain. His opponent flew through the air and then disappeared mid-air before falling outside of the ring. His opponent had underestimated Lucas. Because Lucas had only been dashing straight in all the previous times. He assumed that was all he could do. But that wasn't the case. Lucas had full control over his F Rank; < Fire Dragon's leap>. If it was E Rank he would only be able to go straight until he increased his attributes till that level.

Once everything was over Lucas waved to the crowd thanking his voters. He now had 20000 votes under his name. They were happy to see that Lucas was still instantly wiping people out even in the quarterfinals. After everything was over Lucas was teleported back to the waiting room. When he got there he kept to himself. He didn't taunt anyone. He was going to let his prowess to do the talking. Soon after 2 more people disappeared. It was Silvya Rouge and another opponent. Silvya Rouge won that fight 1 minute later.

After that Brutus Maximus and another person fought. A minute later he had won. And after that, it was Seth Thornheart and another opponent. His fight ended in a few seconds. Once everyone had fought Ivys Vinnay appeared again. Then she said, " With that, we conclude the quarterfinals of this year. It is clear to see that the powerhouses and the newly appointed dark powerhouse are far too formidable for the students of this year. But what happens when they face each other? Find out in 10 minutes as our Mages need to replenish their mana and calm their nerves."

After she said that she disappeared. In the waiting, on the screen, the tournament roster appeared. It showed that next Lucas would be facing Silvya Rouge. Where Brutus Maximus would be facing Seth Thornheart. When Silvya Rouge looked at the screen she glared at Lucas and then smirked.

In a luxury box in the arena, an old man asks a younger woman, " What do you think about Lucas Lightningstorm?"

" Well, I don't have much to go on. But he is clearly capable of competing for first place. He is holding back, that much is clear. But so are the other powerhouses. They haven't shown the entirety of their arsenal. That's about all I can say for now. However, if he does win it will cause quite the upset. Every year either someone from the palace wins or a noble family. It's how we the royal family have shown the commoners the gap between us and them. To ensure that they swear fealty to us. But if a commoner wins. Better yet someone from outside the walls where most of the trash is produced. It will give them hope to reach for the stars. If that's the case who is going to serve us of higher class. It could cause an imbalance of jobs. As people try to become adventures rather than craftsmen. Or servants and miners... But we will see what happens from here. Luckily his potential is only E rank. In the end, trash is trash."