“NOW LET’S GET GOING WITH THE NEXT MATCH. OSWALD AND JOSHUA PLEASE STEP INTO THE ARENA.” Lola said.
Inside the VIP section Oswald’s friends were excited to see Oswlad’s performance in the tournament.
“Too bad our little Carmen lost, Darling!” Hannah could hear the voice of an older woman right behind her. “At least she did excellent considering she went against such a powerful opponent. Hopefully, our Oz can win his match!”
Hannah took a look back and saw an elderly couple happily talking to each other. She recognized them as Oswald’s maternal grandparents from the pictures that Oswald had shown her. She could tell they were enjoying the tournament so far.
“Hello! You must be Oswald’s grandparents!” Hannah greeted them.
“Oh, you’re Hannah! You look more beautiful in person! I am Juanita, Oswald’s Grandmother!” Juanita said with a big smile.
“And I am Eusebio, Oswald’s Grandfather!” Eusebio said with a big smile. “Whenever I talk with him, he is always enthusiastically talking about you! And the others must be Jack, Amy, and Aurora. Please continue to take care of Oswald!”
“Leave it to us!” Jack said. “He is a good friend, so I don’t plan on leaving his side!”
“He is always helping me with my homework.” Amy said. “And when we get our Adventurer’s License, we will go into dungeons together!!”
“Although I've been in the group for two months, Oswald is a great friend!” Aurora said.
“Alondra, Melanie, you two are also here! It’s nice to see you!” Eusebio said as soon as he spotted Alondra and Melanie. “I am glad you two are Carmen’s friends! You are good girls! I’ll be counting on you two to watch over Carmen!”
“THANKS!!” Alondra and Melanie said.
“Let me give you all some of the cookies I made.” Juanita said as she gave Hannah a box full of homemade cookies and another one to Alondra. “I hope you enjoy them!”
“Give me one cookie, Hannah.” Aria said as she grabbed a cookie from the box in Hannah’s hands. “This match will be fun!”
“IT LOOKS LIKE THE TENSIONS ARE HIGH FOR THIS MATCH, FOLKS!! THIS WILL BE ANOTHER FUN MATCH!! LET’S SEE HOW THESE YOUNG GUYS SURPRISE US!!!” Lola commented. “START!!!!”
“OZ, DO YOUR BEST!!” Hannah yelled at the top of her lungs.
In the arena Oswald and Joshua were glaring at each other. Seeing what the other would do.
“Here I go!” Oswald yelled as he rushed towards Joshua. As he ran towards Joshua Oswald applied a weakened self-buff to make himself 2 percent stronger. When he got within a couple of feet Oswald noticed that Joshua was ready to throw a fire punch after observing his Mana Flow. As Joshua started to throw his punch, Oswald decided to use a kick. Oswald’s kick connected with Joshua and pushed him back. Joshua was visibly upset.
“IT LOOKS LIKE OSWALD GOT THE FIRST STRIKE!” Lola commented.
“You fucker!” Joshua yelled. “You’ll pay for that!”
“Don't get too mad. I just took advantage of your short limbs.” Oswald mocked Joshua. I wonder how much self-buffing I can get away without having anyone notice it.
“You won’t escape this!” Joshua said as he started to concentrate Magical Energy on his palms. Sensing the Mana Flow of the Magic, Oswald created distance between him and Joshua. “FIRE TORNADO!!!”
From his right hand Joshua conjured Wind Magic and from his left hand he conjured fire magic. He brought his palms together and aimed at Oswald. Thanks to the Wind Magic, the flames were going towards Oswald in a spiral pattern. Oswald had a worried expression.
“JOSHUA STARTED USING MAGIC! HOW WILL OSWALD RESPOND TO THIS?” Lola said.
After this fight, there are two more fights before my next fight that should be plenty of time to rest. Oswald thought. SPEED! DEFENSE!
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Oswald ran towards the Fire Tornado and right before the Fire Tornado hit him head on, he slid right underneath it. As he slid towards Joshua, Oswald could feel the heat above him and began to feel some pain. Oswald’s momentum was not enough to reach Joshua and he had stopped a couple of feet away from him. So, Oswald rolled to the side and Joshua finished his attack.
“OSWALD WAS ABLE TO MINIMIZE THE DAMAGE TAKEN!” Lola said. “WHAT A CLEVER TRICK TO USE!!”
“That didn’t damage you as much as I would have liked.” Joshua said, glaring at Oswald. “I am surprised your little trick saved you!”
“What can I say? I am great at Magic Theory!” Oswald said. “Although I can’t use Magic, that doesn’t mean I can’t study how it works.”
Joshua started to cast Fireballs and started to throw them at Oswald. Oswald dodged the Fireballs as he approached Joshua. As he came closer to Joshua, Oswald found it harder to dodge the Fireballs from such a close distance. Oswald blocked a Fireball with his arm, which caused some pain. Now Oswald found himself in front of Joshua and he punched him in the gut. Joshua quickly responded with a kick to Oswald’s left side, but Oswald blocked it with his left arm. Using his right hand, Oswald threw a punch towards Joshua, but Joshua also threw a punch. Thanks to Oswald’s longer arms, he was able to punch Joshua on the cheek before Joshua’s punch reached him.
“IT SEEMS THAT OSWALD HAS THE STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE IN THE FIGHT!” Lola commented. “HIS LACK OF MAGIC DOESN'T MAKE HIM A LESS OF A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT!”
“DAMN IT ALL!” Joshua screamed. “I can’t beat you in close combat, so I’ll have to fight like this.”
Joshua covered both of his fists on fire and rushed towards Oswald. Oswald and Joshua exchanged blows, but it was noticeable that Oswald was taking more damage. Sensing Joshua was charging up an attack, Oswald moved out the way by stepping to the right and managed to dodge the Fireball. Oswald took this small opportunity to kick Joshua’s left arm. Joshua’s expression was full of pain.
“OSWALD IS OVERPOWERING JOSHUA DESPITE JOSHUA USING MAGIC!!” Lola said.
“FUCK!!” Joshua yelled. “You’ll pay for that, BASTARD!!”
Joshua started to throw punches with his right hand, while trying and failing to move his left arm. Oswald dodged all the attacks that Joshua was throwing his way with ease. As Oswald dodged the attacks by stepping back, he didn’t notice that he was approaching the wall. Joshua quickly used Wind Magic on his feet to propel himself forward. He struck Oswald with his fist and with the momentum he had, he sent Oswald crashing into the wall. Joshua began to frantically throw Fireball at Oswald. Oswald could feel the pain from all the attacks he was receiving. The pain started to become unbearable and he knew the bracelet would break soon, so he started to quickly think of a solution. Oswald decided to use the wall to propel himself towards where he could sense Joshua. As soon as Oswald propelled himself, he put all his strength into his right hand and formed a fist. The fist connected directly with Joshua’s head and Joshua stepped back.
“THAT WAS INTENSE!! BUT OSWALD MANAGED TO GET OUT THAT PINCH!” Lola commented. “IT LOOKS LIKE BOTH FIGHTERS ARE AT THEIR LIMIT AND THE NEXT ATTACK WILL DECIDE THE WINNER!”
“FUCK!! THAT HURT!!” Joshua screamed.
“TIME TO END THIS!” Oswald said as he punched Joshua in the gut, which made Joshua recoil. Oswald then grabbed Joshua and used a hip throw. Joshua ended up on the ground, his bracelet broke and he lost consciousness.
“FOLKS, THE FIGHT HAS ENDED WE HAVE A WINNER!!!” Lola announced. “OSWALD DEUS WINS!! THIS FIGHT WAS AMAZING!!! I HOPE EVERYONE ENJOYED AS MUCH AS ME!!”
“That was for what you lackey said about Hannah!” Oswald said glaring at the unconscious Joshua. “I been holding onto that for awhile and it feels nice to finally have let it out!”
Inside the VIP room Oswald’s friends and his grandparents were celebrating his victory.
“I told you guys Oz would do well!” Amy said. “See Nana! I told you to have faith!”
“Well I never imagined, Oz could go like that against someone who is a candidate for Duke!” Hannah responded. “Then, I hope he wins against Selene.”
“It will be tough! I heard that Selene is an excelnet long range mage.” Jack said. “And during her fight against Carmen, Selene just played around with Carmen, so Oswald could not see the full extent of her abilities.”
“Then we can only cheer for him!” Aurora said.
“I am so proud of him!” Juanita said, smiling. “My little Oz has come so far!”
“Yeah, four years ago, he failed the Qualifiers and this time he will be fighting in the semi-finals.” Eusebio said.
Inside the waiting room, Selene was chatting with Leon about Oswald’s performance.
“If that is the full extent of his fighting abilities, then I will wipe the floor with him quite easily.” Selene said. “I hope he doesn't disappoint me! I have been looking forward to fighting him for a long time!
“You better not underestimate him! Or else he will be fighting in the finals instead of you!” Leon said. “He knows you prefer long range attacks, so he will change up his tactics.”
“I never underestimate my opponents!” Selene protested.
“And because of what you did during your fight, now Oz knows you can use Electric Magic.” Leon stated. “You revealed your trump card. I don’t think I will need to use my trump card until the final match. Even the it will be an overkill.”
“Your trump card, an overkill!?” Selene questioned. “Don’t … tell me … how could you?”
“That’s a secret, Selene.” Leon said. “You’ll have to wait until I reveal it.”
The healers entered the arena and healed both Oswald and Joshua. Joshua remained unconscious, so they took him towards the infirmary. As Oswald entered the waiting room he could see everyone’s eyes on him. He could see Selene staring at him intently.
“NEXT UP LEON AND ELLIE!!” Lola said. “PLEASE COME OUT INTO THE ARENA!!”