Chapter 118 - Lokreem Entrance Exam (1)

"Anyway, let us not waste any more time and announce the group placements for the tournament. Like previous years the field will be divided into six sections," as the old man said this walls made of earth divided the colosseum into six different parts.

"Twelve fighters will participate at the same time until the quarter-finals where the arena will be divided into three parts ."

"Although you are already guaranteed a spot within the Academy if you make it past the first half of the group stages, I advise giving your all in order to make it to the finals." continued the old man, his smile getting wider in anticipation.

"The academy is very competitive as we have a ranking system. By placing first here you will have an early lead."

"With all that said here are the placements." the old man raised both his palms into the air, and names written in a translucent blue light made of mana appeared in a massive font for all in the colosseum to see.

'Group A, it seems the person I'm going to be fighting first is,' thought Luca as he turned to his side.

"It seems we are going to be battling each other in the first round of the group stages," said Syndren with a cocky expression on his face.

'I can't believe my luck,' thought Syndren, he had been hoping to get an easy opponent, and getting paired with Luca was like a dream come true for him.

"May the best man win," said Syndren shaking Luca's hand.

A few minutes were given to the contestants to prepare themselves before all the fighters from group A till F were called to the center of the colosseum and the different pairs were placed into their respective sections.

"Try not to get hurt," said Syndren with a wide smile on his face as he and Luca faced each other getting ready for the duel.

"You to," said Luca, afraid that he would hurt his new friend.

'Pfft, my casting time is faster than most my age. I'll end this before you can even get a spell in' thought Syndren as the old man gave the signal to begin.

"Oh mighty mother Merrum, giver of-" before Syndren could finish casting his spell Luca appeared behind him and hit him in the neck, effectively knocking him out.

'Why would you chant a spell when the distance between us is so short? Did you really think I would wait for you to finish?' thought Luca as he stared at the passed-out Syndren in confusion.

Since Luca was what one would call a prodigy, he couldn't understand Syndren's poor reasoning.

'He must've made a mistake,' thought Luca as the healers carried Syndren off the stage.

"Amazing, the fight lasted less than five seconds," shouted some of the people in the crowd in amazement.

"Indeed, what family is he from?" asked another.

"It says his last name is Draquerth. Perhaps he's a noble from a foreign kingdom," analyzed one of the spectators.

Luca walked off the center stage back to the waiting area in wait for his next fight.

The next fighter finished her fight in less than a minute, however her face showed anything but satisfaction. As she looked at the scoreboard she noticed that someone had finished before and shook her head in disappointment.

'It seems I'm fighting someone called Ashante next' thought Luca as he looked at the new list of names.

"Fighters please move to the center stage," announced the old man, prompting Luca to move with his next opponent into the third block.

A girl with red hair was watching him intently from the sidelines as the old man signaled for the fight to begin.

'How did he win his last battle so fast? Perhaps his opponent was w-' before she could even finish thinking Luca ended the battle by punching his opponent in the stomach, winding him and knocking him out.

'W-what is this speed? He's like a mid-level knight,' thought the girl with red hair in awe before trying to sense the mana signal that Luca emitted.

'A one-star mage with small amounts of mana huh. Perhaps that's why he trained himself in hand-to-hand combat. But still, to think that someone our age would be so fast. I have to find a way to restrict his movements if I ever have to fight him,' thought the girl with red hair before she was called to the sixth block for her fight.

"Begin" announced the old man, signifying the start of Lyn's battle.

"Of mighty fire, rage, rage, rage burn all those who stand in my way," chanted Lyn at an incredible speed, so fast indeed that her opponent had only said three words in that time.

A large pillar of fire consumed her opponent, causing first-degree burns all over his body.

'Just you wait,' thought Lyn as she walked off the stage remembering how Luca had finished off his opponent.

A few hours passed and all of Luca's battles in the group stage finished in less than a minute, with him never having to chant a single spell.

All his opponents made the mistake of trying to chant spells in front of him, which to be fair most mages in a fight would do. However, in front of Luca who had trained in hand-to-hand combat extensively casting became a weakness in front of him.

"Congratulations to all those who managed to get a place within the Academy. This is simply the beginning, strive to become stronger within the academy so that you may place higher later in the year."

"Now with that out of the way, let's move on to the quarter finals," announced the old man excitedly as the six different partitions became three simply by a wave of his hand.

'Hmm, my next opponent is that guy huh? He doesn't seem all that strong,' thought a blonde-haired competitor as he looked at Luca stretching.

"Eristo watch out while you're fighting against that guy. Make sure to create space before trying to chant, or you'll be out before you can even get a word out," warned the red-haired girl as she approached him.

"Oh Lyn I didn't see you there," said Eristo turning to look at his comrade.

"But what do you mean watch out? Do you really think there's anyone here who's worth a warning, apart from you of course," replied Eristo, seemingly appalled by the notion of him having to watch out for someone who looked as weak as Luca.

"His speed is comparable to a mid-level knight, and what's more is he hasn't used a single spell since the start of the tournament," warned Lyn, staring at Luca with a determined gaze as well.

"Pfft, stop joking around there's no way th-" Eristo stopped laughing when he realized that his comrade still had a serious expression on her face.

"C-come on, there's no way that someone got this far without using magic. Perhaps he doesn't have mana and that's why he hasn't used any spells," stuttered Eristo, now warier of Luca as he stared at him with an astonished gaze.

"No, I watched several of his matches in my free time. He's emitting a mana signal, although very weak. He's probably at the level of a one-star mage or maybe even lower," continued Lyn.

"T-then perhaps he has mana but can't use magic. Like some of those knights," said the blonde-haired boy trying to find a logical explanation to it all.

"Perhaps, but something feels off about his mana signature. Like it's been tampered with," said the red-haired girl before leaving her comrade.

'No way, mana cloaking is an advanced technique, there's no way that this guy was able to master it at this age,' thought Eristo, however, the fear in his eyes remained.

"Contestants please take to the field," announced the old man before the quarter-finals began.

All three pairs walked to their respective blocks, the blonde-haired boy walked behind Luca, still contemplating what his comrade had told him.

'Pfft, come on. Even father said I'm a genius for my age, the only person I would ever lose to is Lyn. Yeah, no way this nobody whose last name I've never heard of can beat me.' thought Eristo, steeling his gaze and looking at Luca with determination.

'Sigh, I'm starting to believe that perhaps everyone here is weak. I hate to say it but I'm kind of bored. Maybe I should let him cast his spells to see what kinds of magic he's capable of casting. After all, I wanted to see what kind of magic other people are capable of' thought Luca as he looked at the blonde-haired boy with a nonchalant expression on his face.

"In block one, Luca Drequerth vs Eristo Chantelot. In block two Lyn Asterosa vs Drimwel Rerarith, and in block three, Dayante Strelo vs Kim Trelik, let the quarterfinals begin.." announced the old man.