Two students wearing the Celestial Academy uniform were at the center of the stadium, standing on top of a stone platform they dueled it out with everything they had, their eyes showed no sign of backing down as they fought.

Sword clashing*

The resounding clash of two steel blades grew louder, accompanied by cheers from the audience.

“Where are you?” sitting among the audience is a man dressed in casual clothing, looking at the student's battle on stage with minimal attention

At first glance, his appearance was so average that you wouldn't recognize any particular feature except his sinister grin

In the waiting room of the stadium, many students from the Celestial Academy watched the ongoing match on a magic screen at the center of the room, which was broadcasting live.

“Did you sleep well, Davis?” K asked as he turned to Davis who was below him

Davis happily replied, “I slept like a baby last night, what about you?”

K chuckled at his question, “Me too, I enjoyed my sleep very much, hehe”

Davis felt uneasy hearing this but he couldn’t tell why, so he just continued watching the match

Among the audience was the Patriarch of the 4 leading powers of the Celestia Empire

It’d always been mandatory for them to participate in the yearly battle of Celestial Magic Academy battle

"They wouldn’t normally care to attend themselves, but this year is different since their family members are participating in the battle as well. It would've been a bad look for them to not appear.”

With one last clash of their sword, one of the student's blades went flying and he was forced to surrender

The winner walked forward and offered his defeated opponent a hand as a gesture of respect, his opponent took his hand and got up on his feet

The two bowed respectfully at one another before leaving the stage in the opposite direction of each other

After the two left the announcer called out the next pair onto the stage, and this time they were both magicians

2 days earlier…

Davis sitting along with many other students around him in the Academy auditorium, the buzzing room went silent the moment Principal Wuldor walked up on stage

“First off I would like to congratulate everyone here who has passed their battle and advanced to the final, your earlier battle was to reduce the size of the students down to 80, and today I’ll be explaining to you about the last test” Wuldor spoke on the podium, his words were full of wisdom

The crowds were silent, not wanting to miss even a single detail

“The final battle will be held for 2 days at the Empire's stadium of warriors, just like every year. However, this year there will be a slight difference: there are 88 students who passed. Half of them are from the swordsmanship class” Wuldor continues, his eyes scanning the room and stopping at Davis’s seat

The silent room is now full of whispers and looks of disdain toward one another

Principal Wuldor and Davis showed a knowing glance before Wuldor continued, “Ahem* Your first battle will be magician vs magician and swordsman vs swordsman, those who advance will be picking their opponent through a lucky draw”

“And the rule of the battle is simple, you will fight until your opponent can no longer continue or they surrender, and if any of you were to get thrown out of the stage you’ll be immediately disqualified”

“That will be all for today. I wish everyone the best in the future battles. Dismissed” Wuldor with a flick of his wrist dismiss the meeting before disappearing

The tension in the room only escalates in Principal Wuldor's absence. But no one wants to cause trouble before their debut so they quietly leave

K now using Davis's body for no reason joyfully walks out through the door, “M-Mr. Davis please wait up” a familiar voice came rushing toward him

K turns and with a happy smile, “Ah, Mr. Rowan I didn’t think we would meet each other again so soon”

Davis now perches atop K’s head and chimes in, “This boy also won? I never would’ve thought someone who looks so weak would advance to the final”

Unlike before, Rowan's body seemed malnourished, and his hand was covered in bruises, K noticed that the bruises came from gripping the blade handle too hard

“Look can be quite deceiving” K replied using his internal voice

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“Yes, I was surprised to see you here too” Rowan awkwardly smiled

K giggles at him before playfully asking, “Why? Am I so weak in your eyes that you would think I’ll lose?”

“NO, I didn’t mean it like that, I was… I-er” Rowan's brain almost overloaded from trying to explain to K

Seeing this K laughs, “Relax my friend, I’m just messing with you”

Upon hearing K call him a friend, Rowan showed a sigh of relief and a happy smile unknowingly spread across his face

The two continued their talk as they walked down the corridor. Finally, they reached their dormitory and bid each other goodbye before heading to their respective rooms

When K arrived at their room, K switched places with Davis. Davis attended to Skye as K flew onto the bed.

After K and Rowan's conversation, both K and Davis came to the same conclusion that Rowan is an incredibly gullible person

“K? During the fight will I be participating as well?” Curiosity gleamed in Davis's eyes as he questioned

K laughs, “Don’t worry my dearest friend, I’ll take care of it” K spoke with confidence as he rested on the bed

Back at the present

K leisurely stood on the stage across from his opponent, his smile radiating unmeasurable confidence as he calmly observed his opponent's frantic attempts to garner the audience's attention. Seeing his opponent's desperate antics left Davis and K with a mix of annoyance and amusement.

Feeling two different gazes upon him, K turned towards one of them and spotted Garrick Veltis, who was looking at him with an enthusiastic smile.

Before K could react, a yell of excitement erupted, “Ah, the patriarch of the Veltis family is looking at me! Please, look at me more!”

K shook his head and let out a deep sigh before murmuring to himself, “Idiot” While Davis nodded in agreement in K's spatial mind world

After experiencing K's mind multiple times, Davis was able to tap into his spatial mind and create a small pocket space that resembled K's old room in his family mansion.

Before long the announcer began their fight

K’s opponent was brimming with confidence as he looked at K, but not wanting to lose his chance to be the center of attention, he chose to prolong the battle.

“Humph* Since I'm in such a good mood today, I'll give you three chances to attack me first, and I won't retaliate.” K’s opponent said with mockery in his tone

K was annoyed but did not show it. Using his words, K innocently asked, “Really? You would let me attack you first?”

With a smirk, K’s opponent replied, “Of course, you have my word”

The audience was intrigued at first but they too started to get annoyed by his act

Thinking for a bit K came up with an idea and with a snap of his finger he instantly cast 3 different attack circle

The crowd was amazed as it was their first time seeing a magician cast three different magic spells in under one second

Casting one spell under a second is hard enough but 3? Now everyone's attention was on K

“Since you're such a gentleman, then I wouldn’t mind taking you up on your offer” K jokingly said

K’s opponent was sweating now as he was staring at 3 different elemental attack magic

Lightning Magic: Lightning sphere*

Fire Magic: Flameshot*

Ice Magic: Frost spike*

K snapped his finger and all his attack magic went directly at his opponent causing an explosion

The crowds cheered on, and Davis hurriedly asked, “H-How did you do it?”

K smiled and replied, “I’ll teach you later but right now let's focus on finishing the fight”

As the dust cleared K’s opponent stood with minimal injuries as he cast a protective barrier just at the nick of time, his expression was now filled with animosity at K

K chuckled at his stare, “Are you mad that I stole your spotlight? Well maybe you shouldn’t have bitten more than you can che-“

Boom*

K was interrupted mid-sentence, and his opponent used that moment to launch an explosive attack at K

Clapping*

K’s opponent heard clapping coming from the explosion and K walked out of the smoke uninjured, “I suppose we're going to be serious from now on, then?”

Another attack was launched at K but he effortlessly evaded it by dashing out of its direction

K’s opponent was enraged and launched numerous fireballs at K, but before they made contact, K smiled carefreely and disappeared

Lightning god footwork*

K’s opponent was out of breath, “Better luck next time” K’s voice came from behind him, his body covered in a thin layer of electric sparks

K’s opponent quickly turned only to get blasted away by a powerful wind attack, he was sent flying to the edge of the stage almost falling off

He fell to the ground catching his breath, he looked up to see a giant fireball floating above them

Fire Magic : Pheonix arrow*

The giant fireball turned into a giant phoenix and flew at K’s opponent in a straightforward movement

The phoenix arrow is a powerful attack, but just as the name suggests, it works like an arrow and can only move in a straight line

Unable to run away in time, K’s opponent cast many protective magic barriers. However, since they were at the edge of the stage, the explosion sent them flying off the stage, disqualifying them

K stood on the stage triumphant

Among the cheering of the audience, the man with an average appearance from earlier showed a sinister smile at K, “Ehehe, so you’re Davis Edwelt? I’ll make sure to take my time torturing a talented student such as yourself”