The prez slipped on a bracelet.

Her subordinate next to her, the same one she had yelled at, brushed something off his collar with a hand. The atmosphere around them warped. Now they all stood in a colosseum with the prez and her subordinates high up on a balcony overlooking it.

Elly figured that boy’s gesture had been a spell for mass teleportation. Pretty interesting and unique. It seemed he had linked the spell to a particular gesture instead of the usual, generic point-and-cast technique, which was the default of many spells. And to do all that without saying the incantation and spending time… He must be highly skilled.

The prez lifted her hand into the air. The bracelet glowed and a radiant magic circle appeared on the ground of the colosseum.

Gradually, the heads came up of the circle. Then the necks, torso, and feet until it stood quite tall above everyone. Summoning magic.

“PART 2 BEGINS NOW, WORMS! YOU HAVE 1 HOUR. IF YOU’RE GOING TO DIE, DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. I’D RATHER YOU NOT STAIN THE PRECIOUS FLOOR WITH BLOOD AND GUTS. IT’S MADE OF HIGH-QUALITY, EXPENSIVE MATERIAL. THANK YOU.” The megaphone squeaked and floated out of her way. The prez scanned everyone down below, holding a clipboard and pencil in hand.

“THAT THING IS GOING TO MURDER US!” someone yelled.

“Not if we murder it first!” another boy replied.

A few students began their assault, running towards it while pointing their staves and wands.

Elly wasn’t sure what to do. “Suki, what do you think I should do?”

“It seems to me that you should be fighting as well. If you do not, and the hydra is vanquished, you may not pass the exam.”

“Yeah… but…” He would feel bad for the rest of the students if he took it down too quickly. That wouldn’t give others a fair chance.

“I’ll give it some thought.” He went to a corner, sat down, and thought about it as he watched.

Meanwhile, others shot elemental spells at the heads to no avail.

The heads that were hit retaliated and swung themselves down at the attackers.

The students below screamed and ran out of the way before the heads bashed the ground.

Those who had the courage jumped up on the lowered heads. They stood on top of the heads as the heads rose and thrust their swords down at the heads, but the swords wouldn’t penetrate the skin.

That was one thing Elly hadn’t learned about: swordsmanship. Maybe I should’ve learned that? He wasn’t sure how important handling a sword was.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The heads shook them off and caused them to fall, but they levitated down and landed on their feet.

Balls of all colors flew and hit the heads harmlessly.

A group ran behind the hydra and went for the tail to sever it with swords for a distraction, but its tail swayed and knocked them across the colosseum.

They hit the wall and collapsed.

Another group stood quite a distance away with staves, whispering incantations.

They were powerful. Elly could feel the magic building up inside them.

After about half a minute, they released their spells all at once for a combination. A streak of dark energy rushed from a staff. A streak of white energy rushed from another. Another streak of dark energy from a third, and another streak of white energy from a fourth. 2 dark spells combined with 2 light spells. The 4 streaks swirled around in the air and converged into a massive spear. It was about the size of one of the hydra’s heads.

“DARK SPEAR!” they shouted and lunged their hands forward.

The spear flew to one of the central heads. But 3 of the heads noticed and blew out a gas at it. The spear corroded and disintegrated. That wasn’t a bad try.

“Who do you think stands a fair chance against that hydra?” Elly asked Suki.

“Perhaps those with the most magic potential.”

“Not necessarily. If they can’t use their mana effectively, what’s the point?”

“Well said.”

Elly took a sip from his juice box, which he had been carrying in one of his pockets. He directed his attention to one pair of students.

The first boy moved his wand in a circular motion as if drawing an invisible circle. A wind current formed. It grew in speed and power until it formed into a tornado and stood on par with the hydra’s size.

“FIREBALL!” the second boy shouted and shot a fireball from his wand at the tornado.

Once the tornado absorbed it, the fire spread, turning the combination into a blazing firestorm. The circulating flames were bright and graceful. They weren’t wild and fluctuating as if about to burst out of control. They fitted so naturally in the current, completely in sync with a loud shhh.

“That pair deserves a clap.” Elly grinned. Their combination was flashy. He was actually tempted to cheer for them.

“I suppose. Though how will their assault fare?” Suki replied.

People screamed and jumped out of the way as the fiery tornado rushed to the hydra. Those on the hydra’s heads jumped off.

The firestorm swallowed part of the hydra then spread across its body until all of it was engulfed. All the heads roared together and squirmed. Everyone watched.

When the fire faded, the heads roared again. The hydra had a few minor burns at least. Its magical energy skyrocketed. They had only made it angrier.

“Elly?”

“Hm?”

“Are you not concerned for them?”

“I have faith, even though I don’t know them.” Most of them were resilient. They tried again every time they failed. He saw some potential.

…Though 1 girl wet herself and sat in her pool, trembling…

Ew. He would pretend he hadn’t seen that. It was times like these when he wished he knew a memory spell to erase certain bits of his memory.

“And I’m keeping a lookout for potential fatalities.”

“I see. A wise choice.”

Half of the hydra’s heads opened their mouths and sprayed out a black gas across the arena, moving their heads around for good coverage.

The students conjured up air-tight bubbles around them for protection. The few who got caught collapsed. Likely poisoned.

Elly expected that the prez would give them an antidote when this was over because he didn’t have any. With a wave of his hand, he conjured up a similar bubble around him, continuing to sit at his spot. He crossed his legs, eager to see how everyone would handle the gas.