When Lucas saw the strange magic circle. He became weary. He went into guard mode. He prepped his mana. It only took half the time. Because Lucas had realized that Seth Thornheart was stalling for time. But only halfway through the conversation. Once Lucas was finished prepping his mana he heard Seth Thornheart shout, " Cherthus attack!"
Suddenly the flames around Seth Thornheart disappeared. And from the menacing vibrant red magic circle, fire was being conjured. Further increasing the temperature of the arena. Increasing the size of the flames around the arena as well as increasing the rate of spontaneous combustion. The fire coming from the magic circle grew and grew and grew until it became a massive flame. Once it was big enough it shot away from the magic circle as it raced to Lucas. Mid-flight the fire took on the form of fire spirit. It was in a humanoid form flying through the sky. As it came closer to Lucas, the temperature increased.
When Lucas saw this thing flying towards him he knew he was in danger. He knew he had to do something and fast. It was getting harder and harder to breathe and to think as the fire spirit come closer. Lucas cycled through many ideas in an instant. He knew water wasn't going to help. The fire had sapped a lot of water vapour in the air away. Wind was useless too as it could backfire on him. Lucas was confident in the strength of his fire. But he had never faced what he presumed to be a fire spirit. So he did not know how a fire spirit would react to fire. As such he couldn't use fire. Only earth remained. One of fire's natural counters. It was obvious at this point what element he was going to use.
So Lucas extended his right hand. Soon after a green magic circle appeared on the ground 3 meters ahead of him. Then Lucas shouted, " Earth wall!". Instantly the ground began shaking and then an earth wall erupted from the ground. Breaking the tiles on the ring. Lucas timed the wall to appear right when the fire spirit was 38 centimetres (15 inches) away. He did not know if the fire spirit had the ability to move mid-flight. As such if he raised it too early, the fire spirit could possibly move around or the wall. The wall was thick and was 3 meters tall to ensure that Lucas was safe after the aftermath of the collision.
Once Lucas erupted the wall, the fire spirit saw it but its speed was too fast to slow down. As such as Lucas planned the fire spirit knocked itself into the wall. Causing a big explosion of fire. Because earth is solid. As well as being comprised of dirt. The explosion didn't break the wall completely. The explosion got through 2 meters of the wall until it died out. When Lucas saw he was in the clear he began prepping his mana. Once he was done he released the earth spell and the giant wall crumbled into sand.
Seth Thornheart was smiling when he saw his fire spirit flying towards Lucas. Fire spirits are born in fire. They breathe fire. They are fire. So he was confident that Lucas would be overpowered by this move. He did not want to kill Lucas. Otherwise, he would lose a lackey. But he knew that the officials would save him before it comes to that. So he did not hold back and released his greatest offensive weapon he had in his arsenal. But when he saw that Lucas had blocked it with earth he bit his lip until it bled. He was furious. He knew earth was the natural counter to fire but he didn't think it would be this bad. Little did he know that the reason Lucas was able to block it. Was because Earth is his natural element. Had it not been, Lucas would have lost.
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After losing control of his emotions, Seth Thornheart began prepping his mana again. He wasn't going to give up like Silvya Rouge. Even if he couldn't use his fire spirit anymore. He would press on. He was a man fighting to become a noble after all. He had never lost before. There was no way he was going to let that happen now. His eyes became bloodshot when he thought of himself as inferior to someone. He had never thought this in his life before. Because had never lost to anyone before. But he unconsciously allowed that thought to escape. Upon realisation, he got angry with himself and with Lucas as a deep fury burned in his heart. Seth Thornheart had never fought someone who could be considered a challenge. Better yet, someone, he thought he could actually lose to. Everything in life came easily to him. The only thing he needed to fight for was his chance to become a noble.
Seth Thornheart was adopted by a family of noble status. But because of the laws of this land, he is not a noble, unlike all his "siblings". Adopted children are still not nobles as it would be a disgrace to the noble bloodline. The only chance an adopted child can have to become a noble. Is to prove your bloodline is worthy. By becoming an adventurer and reaching the appropriate rank ( Rank C Mage. Rank B any other class). This proves you have strong bloodline worthy of being called a noble. Where you will marry another noble and pass on your good genes to your offspring. Ensuring that nobles stay in power.
This is the way normal children adopted into a family of nobility claim their title as a noble. But this method would take to long for Seth Thornheart. He wanted to become a noble now! Because Seth Thornheart's father is a Duke. He has considerable sway and influence. His father used a lot of favours and connections to pull some strings. As such in order for Seth Thornheart to be considered a noble. He only needed to be dubbed The King of The First Years. Then he would be able to attend the ceremony that will classify him as a noble.
Seth Thornheart thought he would breeze through the tournament. He had a fire spirit in his position. Spirits are extremely rare in this world. So it is hard to catch one and make it yours. And if you ever do find a spirit. It's usually a low-class spirit, unlike a Seth Thornheart's humanoid type one. Seth Thornheart serendipitously stumbling upon a humanoid spirit is one of the reasons a Duke adopted him. The other reason was because of his apparent potential. If you find a low-class spirit you still need to be accepted by it. Which rarely happens. Seth Thornheart was accepted by a better one which was unheard of. So the Duke adopted him to protect him from people that would try and harm him. Even though killing the host kills the spirit. It would be better to kill someone while they weak rather than when they are strong.
The fury inside Seth Thornheart kept growing as he realized he could lose his position as a noble. As well as possibly disappoint his father. Once Seth Thornheart's anger had reached a certain level. It began influencing the spirit that was inside of him. Seth Thornheart didn't have complete control over his spirit. That's why he could only use it for a brief amount of time. The higher the class of the spirit. The harder it was to control. Because the higher the class of spirit, the more the spirit had a will of its own.
After being fueled by anger that came from Seth Thornheart feeling weak. The flames that had a will of their own reappeared. This was the spirit's flames. It came out of hibernation, responding to Seth Thornheart's rage. Seth Thornheart's eyes were still bloodshot. He looked at Lucas with a violent gaze. He only had one thing on his mind, "win." Seth Thornheart's conscious began fading as his anger increased. Seth Thornheart was screaming. As he kept screaming the sound of his voice became deeper and deeper. Until it reached a climax and Seth Thornheart was not in control anymore. The spirit had taken over him.