A/N: Thanks to wraith for PRing this chp! Hope you all enjoy the chp!
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“There have been numerous rumors flying around the school that Azrael Celeste is a dual elementalist, possibly even being one of the legendary tri elementalist! The elements that he is supposed to be affiliated with are fire, water and darkness! If the rumors are correct and he is indeed a tri elementalist, then he will be the first one born since the legendary mage and warrior roamed in Xiosu over a thousand years ago! What do you think Rialesta?”
“I find these rumors to be dubious at best but if they are indeed proven true, then I believe that we are watching history in the making. All the Kingdoms and major guilds will desperately vie for his services of course. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is, Kevin, and I have even heard that you asked the administration about the validity of the rumors?”
“Why of course I would. The response, however, was lackluster. They only sent me a way while saying that personal information about students is not given out. Such a shame. In any case, maybe his opponent will force him to bring them out! Rialesta, could you please introduce his opponent?”
“Why of course. The next opponent is someone I know quite well. Silvia Minara, an intermediate light element user. Silvia was chosen as a part of the representative team last year, albeit only as a reserve. With three of the representatives joining the advance element courses, I believe she is a favorite to be an actual representative this year! Truthfully, this freshmen has horrible luck, receiving such an opponent for his very first match.”
“What do you think is the probability that Azrael will lose this match?”
“98 percent sure”
As the two commentators spoke, the contestants stood on the stage and began their preparations. When Azrael saw his opponent on the other side, he bowed in respect toward Silvia. In response she simply nodded in acknowledgement.
Now that they were on the stage, Azrael began to examine. Silvia was a petite female who stood at five foot four inches. She wore a red robe that covered her petite figure, making her brown hair and hazel eyes stand out. The only weapon that could be seen on her figure was the oak staff that stood at least a head taller than she was. To Azrael, she seemed as though she was one of the typical mages who focused on training their magic while not paying heed to their physical abilities.
Silvia, on the other hand, inwardly looked down upon Azrael when she saw the spear he was holding. She felt that training with weapons was simply a waste of valuable time that could be spent to improve one’s mana purity and magic spells. Like the majority of mages, she believed it was foolish to train with weapons unless one reached the bottleneck at the Hero rank as the only thing a person could do at that point was to gain more monster souls and purify their mana. Even then, she believed one shouldn’t focus too much if at all on training.
Seeing the smirk look on Silvia’s face, Azrael couldn’t help but sigh. It was simple to tell that she was a part of those who believed mages didn’t need to train with weapons and magic alone would be sufficient.
‘She is quite naïve to look down on weapons. Chunyong, for this time I will be relying on you buddy.’
‘Leave it to me master. Hmph, such an insignificant being dares to look down upon master?! Let me show her the serious folly she has made!’
Inside of Azrael’s mind, Chunyong was fuming at the disrespect he felt from Silvia. Even though he was more playful and carefree than Samjoko and Bonghwang, he would of course feel enraged at any who slighted his master. Azrael just chuckled slightly as he entered his stance.
As the two mages were finished their preparations and got into position, a middle aged man appeared in the middle of the circle and began to explain the rules one final time.
“Alright, remember you two! The fight will go on until one side faints, gives up, or if the board decides that there is no longer a reason for the match to proceed. If you hit someone in a vital area you will be immediately disqualified! Okay, Azrael are you ready? Silvia are you ready? Okay then. Ready….START!”
At those words, Azrael rushed forward. Seeing this, Silvia couldn’t help but sneer. She had already figured what he would do.
’Hmph, all the people who wield weapons are the same. They just charge forward without any plan and think mages will let them. Well then, boy! Let me show you how scary mages are!’
As she saw him charge, Silvia thought victory was hers. Saying the incantation under her breath, she stretched her right arm out when Azrael was less than ten yards away and shot out a rope shaped light. Holy Binding, a Knight ranked light spell that, as the name explained, binds the target and immobilizes them.
Seeing Silvia’s smug face and the spell, however, Azrael smiled and slashed the spear upwards in an uppercut motion. From the wakes of the blade, a dense amount of water appeared and created a wall, blocking off the rope made of light. Tidal Wave, an Apprentice ranked water defensive spell where a magicians consolidates the moisture in the area to form a wall of water.
At the sight of the wall of water, Silvia was shocked. It wasn’t the spell as it was only an apprentice level skill after all but because of how quickly he had casted the spell. The only way someone could cast a spell that quickly were people who could do voiceless incantation.
‘Shit, voiceless incantation?! How does someone so young have enough understanding of an element to do a voiceless incantation?!?!’
While she panicked, a fireball appeared right in front of her face which brightened the surrounding area greatly. Instinctively she closed her eyes and turned her head, a futile attempt to shield her eyes.
Silvia made a serious error: she turned her head away from her opponent. Azrael, not on to miss such an opportunity, rushed out from behind the wall and ran toward her before he made a slash parallel with the ground that missed her throat by inches.
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“If this had been a real battle, you would have been decapitated just now.”
“!!”
Azrael thrusted his spear backwards, hitting her on the back as he passed by. Due to the power from the impact of the attack, Silvia plummeted forward and rolled forward numerous times on the ground. After she stopped her progression forward, Silvia gained control of her body and raised herself up only to feel a cold steel on the side of her neck.
“I’m sure you’re not dumb enough to think you still have a chance in this battle right?”
Hearing the young voice behind her, Silvia unconsciously shivered. Even though he had only used two magic spells and two attacks, it had been enough for her to tell. He had gone easy on her.
If he had wanted, she knew he could’ve struck her countless times just then. That one thrust alone was powerful enough to make her roll so far on the ground. He also had enough precision with his weapon that he was able to ensure the slash never actually hit her in the throat as that would have been considered a strike to a vital area and they would have disqualified him.
Even though they were both King ranked, she knew that she wa no match for him as she did not have nearly as deep of an understanding in the element of light as Azrael did with his elements. In the time it took her to cast one spell, he could have casted two to three spells in.
“…I surrender…”
“Winner! Azrael Celeste!!”
The crowd was stunned. The battle hadn’t lasted for even a minute and Silvia had only been hit once but for some reason she already conceded. Throughout the stands, many students were trying to figure out what happened.
“Hey...why did she give up so easily? Wasn’t she supposed to be one of the favorites to become a representative?”
“Did she lose on purpose?”
“That kid must have paid her … this match must have been rigged.”
Hearing the retorts from the crowds, Silvia wanted to scream at them.
‘You guys try fighting him! You guys can’t tell from the stands how monstrous this child is!’
At that moment, the commentators came to her aid.
“Well then… that was a surprising ending. Why do you think Silvia gave up so quickly Rialesta?”
“Even though it might of seemed as SIlvia gave up too easily to the viewers, in my opinion I believe she made the correct decision?”
“Huh? Why do you say that? Azrael only used two basic spells and only hit her once though. He was even lucky enough to miss his first strike since if it hit he would have been disqualified immediately.”
“Do you really believe he missed on that first strike?”
“Eh? What do you mean Rialesta? Everyone saw the slash miss Silvia’s throat…”
Kevin expressed his doubt on his face. Rialesta had seen the same thing he and everyone else had after all. What did she mean by if he really missed that attack? Rialesta, seeing Kevin’s dubious face released a sigh before going on to a explanation.
“Azrael aimed to strike exactly where he did on that strike. He wasn’t stupid enough to aim for a vital spot and get disqualified. He wasn’t aiming to strike her neck, he was aiming to instill fear in her. Also did you notice? None of his spells were actually meant to attack her but were used to set up for his attack at her back. Even though he could have struck her numerous times, he only aimed for one. He was showing her mercy.”
“...He did that on purpose? If what you said is true then that means…”
“Yes, he has amazing precision with that spear. It is much more difficult to aim to miss than to aim for a hit after all. If you miscalculate or strike even an inch too far forward or backwards, you would hit them.
Also, the way he used his spells… He is definitely very experienced in battles. I don’t know how a nine year old child would be but there is no other way to explain it. This Azrael is very formidable. Even the representatives last year pale to his experience and instincts. With him… we might finally be able to win the Rising Stars Tournament!”
At the thought of Azrael representing Sinara Academy, Rialesta couldn’t help but be excited. Even though they were considered the top academy, last year they had been humiliated by Wezdon Magic Academy. Just one person had decimated the whole team.
‘This boy hasn’t shown even half of his strength. If its him.. he might be able to beat that bastard Jerle!’
Hearing the explanation, the mood in the crowd changed from scorn toward Silvia to awe at Azrael. To excel at magic and to be so talented with a weapon, who wouldn’t feel jealousy? At the cheers from the crowd, Azrael bowed and headed back toward the corridor he had entered from. When he entered, Winston and Zer were there to greet him.
“Yo Az, good job!”
“Haha thanks Winst! I’ll be expecting a similar result in your first match okay?”
“*groans* Come on man. I’m not a monster like you and Zer, give me a break!”
Azrael and Zer bursted into laughter when they Winston pale and groan at Azrael’s words.
“Haha anyways, I was disappointed when I saw that a reserve of last year’s representative only amounted to that much. If they are only that strong you and I should be able to breeze through this tournament and qualify to be representatives Az. Even Winston over here might be able to make the representative team.”
Azrael just nodded his head at Zer’s words. Truthfully he had also felt disappointed during the battle with Silvia. He had a lot more expectation for someone who had made the top ten of last year’s school tournament.
“Yeah, I know what you mean Zer. Well it looks like we have a bit of time before y'all's battle. Want to go eat?”
“Since you won the first match, you’re paying right Az?”
“.....Fine, I’ll pay.”
“Woo hoo! Let’s go eat steak then!”
At Winston’s recommendation, Azrael’s face paled. Seeing his expression, Zer and Winston bursted into laughter. Putting their arms around his shoulder, the two dragged the helpless Azrael out of the building and to go eat lunch.