Inside the Academy Arena, a chorus of awe and shock spread among the students as they gazed toward the arena's center, where the participants had once stood. The dirt field had vanished from view, replaced by a colossal dome. This wasn't a physical structure but a creation formed by compressing disturbed space.
It resembled the event horizon of a black hole—a curvature in space and time so intense that light twisted unnaturally upon contact. However, unlike a black hole, this curvature remained stable, neither expanding nor shrinking.
Hovering above the four cardinal directions of the warped space were four separate screens, akin to the ones Eredim had conjured before. Despite how few there were, the screens seemed to be imbued with a form of mental magic, each showing viewers what they wished to see, and allowing multiple students to observe different participants, akin to surveillance cameras.
Meanwhile, in the Alternate Space within the desert region, Magnus could be seen wandering about, trying to orient himself within his unfamiliar surroundings.
This place is so big; it's almost like I've been transported to an entirely different world again.
No matter which direction he turned or how many sand hills he crested, all he saw were endless dunes and towering rock formations. Yet amidst this barren landscape, Magnus found two signs that reassured him he was still within Takerth Academy. First, the sun. Although it hung high in the sky, casting its usual brilliance over the desert sands, something about it seemed off.
It took a while for Magnus to confirm what exactly it was about it, but he realized the so-called sun was unnaturally close. It wasn't some burning ball of hydrogen and helium, but instead a spell fueled by mana, an artificial sun.
Still, even if it's fake, it's definitely big—at least as big as the Academy Arena itself.
As for the second indication, all you had to do was look straight up to notice it. Instead of the usual clear blue expanse, Magnus was met with a holographic-like projection overlaying the sky. It showed exactly how much time he had left for his match, the names of his opponent, and just under that, the names of the other participants actively engaging in matches right now.
Hmm, it looks like I'm up against someone named Reimun Verdez. I don't remember that name being on the list Luden gave us, meaning they must be one of the independent students who aren't part of any faction.
That was technically good news for Magnus since it meant he didn't have to worry so much about holding back due to the agreement the various factions came to. Yet, it also left him with a lingering question.
Where are they?
Magnus's gaze had been scowling across the desert around him for a couple of minutes now, but not once had he spotted another person. It looked as if he was completely on his own. But that couldn't be right, which puzzled Magnus.
Hmm, maybe this is part of the Live Examination too? Professor Eredim had mentioned that this was to test our adaptability, after all.
If they were all simply thrown into the Alternate Space and faced with their opponents immediately, then their fights wouldn't differ much from when they fought in the Academy Arena. However, being separated by distance or placed randomly apart in one of the sixteen environments seemed to be what made it a true test.
I see. So, if I'm right, then that means this isn't just about participants fighting one another; it's about finding each other first. That's why they gave us an hour, compared to how long the first round of matches was allowed to go on. If two participants can't find each other within the hour, then that means they both lose. At the same time... whoever finds the other first without being noticed will definitely be at an advantage, and can hide to launch the first attack.
Shifting his focus from the endless desert, Magnus turned towards the towering rock pillars he had spotted earlier. Hundreds of them dotted the landscape, some as small as trees and others nearly skyscraper-sized.
I guess I should count myself lucky. After all, in an open desert like this, there are only so many places where someone could hide, but the same might not hold true in the other areas. I guess I can only hope the others got lucky in that regard and managed to figure it all out.
With these thoughts, Magnus casually made his way toward the hoodoos, unaware that he was already within someone's sights. High atop one of the rock formations he was approaching, a figure wearing a cloak could be seen, their form faintly outlined and a large bow concealed beneath. Despite the considerable distance between them, the figure seemed to have no trouble spotting Magnus as he approached.
"That's right; come right this way. You may be a Pseudo-Master level mage, but that won't matter at all once you step foot into my web."
•
"Hmm? What is this place?" Sylas's hair was ruffled in the contaminated breeze as he covered his nose, eyes scanning the obscured sky above.
Dark clouds veiled almost everything in the sky except for a projected screen, hinting at more than just a recent storm. Trailing his gaze downward, he noticed smoke billowing into the sky, and as he finally surveyed the surroundings, he couldn't help but be taken aback. The ground was muddy and unstable, with countless footprints etched into its surface, sprawling from various trenches. Craters, both large and small, marred the landscape, with debris and shrapnel embedded in the few half-standing structures that remained; the rest having been reduced to rubble.
A distinct odor clung to the air and to the inside of Sylas's nose, unmistakable—death, decay, and the stench of rotting flesh. Though there were no corpses where in sight, Sylas sensed that there should have been, almost as if they were simply invisible to him.
This... This is a battlefield, or at least it was. Judging by these craters, it was likely a site of magical warfare. But which battlefield is this? Did the academy create it randomly, or is it based on some historical event?
As he pondered, a prickling sensation alerted him to being watched. Turning towards the source, he recognized a familiar figure.
"So, you're my opponent," Sylas remarked, meeting the gaze of the young man standing atop a nearby hill of charred earth. It was Tascen, his midnight blue hair stark against Sylas's strawberry red, mirroring their contrasting demeanors. While Tascen grinned sharply, sword already drawn, Sylas's expression remained hard to read.
Still, the aura that was mounting in both of their bodies made it clear that a battle was imminent. However, before they had a chance to engage, or Sylas even drew his weapon, which was still attached to his back, they suddenly felt something. They were slight vibrations, so innocuous, that unless you were a knight with enhanced senses or a being with some form of supernatural sensorial abilities, they would be unnoticeable.
"What the hell is that?" Tascen exclaimed aloud. Suddenly, a series of loud noises echoed through the sky, like thunder reverberating in a symphony. The sounds rang across the battlefield, leaving Sylas and Tascen bewildered as they glanced around. Their confusion heightened as they heard a faint whistling sound growing louder by the second.
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They tore their attention from each other and looked up at the sky. Against the backdrop of dark clouds, they watched in disbelief as countless black dots appeared, rapidly multiplying and enlarging.
At that moment, neither of them seemed to pay the other any mind at all. Their instincts were screaming out to them that they had to run and take cover. Tascen reacted the fastest, quickly dashing toward the nearest trenches. Although he was a bit slower, Sylas had the same idea but only managed a few steps before he felt something click under his foot. Mid-run, he glanced down to see obscured runes slowly pulsing with mana as they became visible through the dirt and debris, causing Sylas's eyes to widen at the sight.
A tra-
But before he could even finish his thought, an explosive force erupted, engulfing him and the surrounding area.
•
"Tch, I really got the short end this time, huh?" Blair muttered to himself, sighing as a gentle breeze brushed across his face and water lapped at his feet. The temperature was perfect, with the sun's rays balanced by soft clouds drifting across the bright blue sky.
Despite the serene surroundings, a bead of sweat trickled down Blair's forehead as he locked his gaze onto his opponent, who was still, at the very least, a hundred meters away from him. They were walking slowly, as if on a casual stroll. But if one were to look closer, they would notice that the person walking wasn't actually touching the water.
The person wore impractically elaborate clothing for combat—long, red robes adorned with a golden, red-eyed dragon on its back. The robe's hems and the soles of their shoes remained untouched as they walked on water, as if the world itself avoided contact with them, treating them like a sacred entity. With a careless air in his golden gaze, the figure continued their approach, seemingly indifferent to Blair's presence.
But, unnoticed by either participant, far in the distance beyond the calm waters they stood in, ominous black clouds rolled closer. Illuminated by lightning flashes and echoing with thunder, heavy rain cascaded onto the almost pitch-black, shifting shadows below. They could have easily been mistaken for mountains, but the dark masses gradually revealed their true form as the light from the constant lightning showed onto them.
They were towering waves—walls of water so immense they threatened to drown out all life and drag entire islands into the sea's abyss.
•
Rhythmic footsteps could be heard echoing among the trees. They sounded so soft yet were so firm at the same time, each one crushing leaf litter underfoot and leaving behind a deep, well-defined footprint that was disproportionate to the sound they made. But as those footsteps continued and their owner entered a small clearing, the rhythmic sound ceased.
There, Seraline slowly opened her eyes. Her piercing rosy gaze remained fixed as her senses took in the rainforest around her. The large towering trees that formed a canopy akin to the roof of a building, the foliage that seemed to form a maze of greenery around her, and the soft patter of raindrops filtered their way through the tree leaves and hit the ground below.
After a silent, deep breath, she spoke, "Are you not going to reveal yourself?"
The answer she received was not in the form of words but instead a sudden attack. From the vegetation, two massive water constructs shot out like javelins from her flanks. Their velocity tore through anything in their path, even trees, yet Seraline’s response seemed almost prescient. She raised her spear, now crafted entirely from some kind of metal unlike her wooden one against Tascen, and swung it in a precise arc around her.
The force of her swing vibrated the air, generating a shockwave that caused the water javelins to shudder before disintegrating into countless droplets. Like rain, the droplets cascaded over Seraline, her maroon hair fluttering in the aftermath of her attack.
"I have no intention of facing a knight of your caliber head-on, or even revealing myself to you, for that matter. The shadows of this forest suit me just fine," Velis's voice echoed through the rainforest around Seraline. The moment one tried to pinpoint its origin, its location seemed to shift, as if the sound itself were an illusion.
After dealing with Velis's initial attack, Seraline spun her spear and slammed it into the ground beside her feet. The sheer weight of the spear and the force behind Seraline's action caused the ground to tremble momentarily.
"I see," Seraline murmured. She reached into her uniform and retrieved a thin ribbon, gathering her long hair and securing it into a tight ponytail. Once she was done, she let her hair fall loosely again, gripping the shaft of her spear tightly.
"In that case, I'll simply have to drag you out where I can see you." With those words, Seraline's will manifested, her aura transforming into a raging inferno that enveloped her body, causing every droplet of water on her to evaporate into steam.
•
"Hmm~♩ Hmm~♩ Hmhmhmhm~♩" Zilen's relaxing hum echoed across the snowy plain as he strolled joyfully. In the distance, towering snow-covered mountains could be seen surrounding the vast expanse he was making his way across. Casting a large shadow on the ice, a giant arc made entirely of ice stretched across the sky, reaching from one end of the plain to the other. Floating in the air above, completely unaffected by gravity, one could see large icy rocks. Some were in the shape of rectangular columns, while others simply resembled boulders.
Regardless of their size and shape they were all floating without any form of tether to the earth, inching their way in some random direction, and occasionally colliding into one another.
As Zilen walked under one of these floating rocks, a figure's shadow could be seen quickly moving atop it. Without making a single noise with their steps or shifts in movement, they leaped from atop the floating rock, their trajectory being perfectly led so that they would land directly on top of where Zilen would be if he kept his pace.
However, just as the figure was about to strike him, Zilen halted abruptly, fixing his gaze ahead, and only a moment later, the figure landed with a heavy crash, kicking up a whirlwind of snow and cracking the frozen that was originally hidden ground.
"Wow, that was close. If that strike had hit me, I'd have been knocked out right then and there," Zilen remarked with a gentle smile, genuine amazement in his voice.
"Yeah, but I missed, so it's kind of pointless, isn't it?" Syrna replied, rising from her landing position, sunlight glinting off the crescent-shaped weapons in her hands.
"I suppose so, but it was an impressive attempt," Zilen said kindly, causing Syrna to grin and laugh.
"Haha, thanks! Just for that, I'll make sure when I do land a strike on you, I won't break any bones." Although her words sounded like a joke, her focus suddenly intensified as she took her stance. At the same time, Zilen tilted his head, his voice carrying genuine gratitude tinged with amusement.
"Oh? Well, I appreciate the sentiment. Though, I'm afraid to say, you'll never land a strike on me."
•
"Isn't this place beautiful?" Luden's words were mostly to himself, but they echoed through the cavern. His voice reverberated off the walls as he stood before the large underground lake, its gentle greenish-blue light pulsing in response. The cavern, carved from black rock, was briefly illuminated with each pulse.
As the light continued outward from the center of the lake, it eventually reached the edge, but, surprising enough, it didn't stop there. Slowly, the algae hidden among the dark rocks began to glow, casting a bioluminescent pattern across the ground and walls of the cavern.
Turning his head slightly, Luden spoke with a smile, "Do you think if I asked the academy staff, they would tell me what kind of plant life they used to adorn this place? I think it would look quite wonderful in our garden at night, don't you?"
Resir stood a couple of meters behind Luden, his face twisted in a maniacal grin. The polished head of his giant battle-axe gleamed with the cavern's luminescence.
"You know, Luden," Resir said with a growl, "I'm glad I'm facing you instead of that masked freak of yours. I've been itching to wipe that grin off your face. You're always smiling—it's so... irritating."
His words rumbled with restrained battle intent as his grip tightened on the axe. Still, despite Resir's hostility, Luden remained nonchalant as he turned to face him.
"I'm fairly confident that the purpose of this round of the Live Examination is for students to use the unique environment to their advantage and try to gain an edge over their opponents. In a cave this dark, you probably could have snuck up on me if you were fast enough." Resir couldn't stifle his laugh as he heard Luden's words.
"Sneak up on you? Hahaha! Hahaha! You seem to be mistaken about something, Luden! I'm not interested in just winning this match against you. I plan to utterly crush you! I want to hear just what it sounds like, like when the Luden Rilhawk screams in agony! Only then will I consider this match over," Resir declared, muscles bulging as he assumed a low stance.
"Hmm, I see," Luden replied calmly, with a slight tilt to his head.
"You know, Resir, I always believed you and I were worlds apart. Incomparable. But who could have predicted that our desires for this match would align so perfectly?"