Chapter 221 Duel



"Are both contestants ready?" A voice filled with seriousness sounded around the arena that was filled with many students.

""Yes."" As the two participants of the duel waited inside the ring and spoke, the referee nodded in response.

"Then, the duel shall commerce." The voice of the referee, followed by the voice of something sharp hitting the ground, marked the start of the fight.

/TOK/ 

The arena was filled with the sound of excitement as a young man in armor sprinted towards a young boy in a black robe who was waiting on the opposite side.

/SWOOSH/ 

His speed was fast, even with the heavy armor he was wearing, showing that the boy had a considerable amount of strength.

"GRAAAA!" He shouted, as his hand immediately reached the greatsword that was seated behind his back.

In the blink of an eye, Arden had already closed a considerable amount of distance, symbolizing his speed.

"What?" The surroundings were surprised, as no one was expecting such speed from the young man considering the armor he was wearing.

"Fool." A silent mumble left Callius' lips as his eyes turning polychromatic, was locked onto Arden. 'Are you underestimating me?' He thought, getting the fire mana ready on his hands.

/FOOSH/ 

As the fire mana in his hands got violent, Callius immediately swung his hands, seeing the trajectory of the young man approaching him.

"Hmm?" Of course, being a paladin candidate, Arden was someone that was familiar with fighting, and his senses were polished to some extent. 

Suddenly, sensing that something was wrong, he relied on his intuition and swiftly halted. He managed to evade a sudden burst of flames that had materialized right in front of his face. 

/BOOM/ /CRANK/

The huge body of the young knight suddenly stopped as his armor made a strong noise. 'That was close.' He thought, as his senses were warning him to dodge.

Callius exclaimed. "Not bad. It seems it will be a bit fun to play with you." With the fire mana around his fists getting more violent once more, he started bombarding the young man with his attacks.

As the sounds of explosions ensured around, the temperature raised to the maximum, making everyone inside the arena feel hot.

"What a rapid speed of casting." An instructor watching the fight exclaimed. "Although he uses a basic one-star spell, Fireball, it appears that he has achieved a significant level of mastery with it." He added as he was looking at the fight.

"That is correct. Although mastering Fireball is not difficult, younger individuals prefer to learn spells with flashy techniques." Another one gave his opinion as well.

"He's unique. He possesses the ability to fight, even with such limited resources." Analyzing the moves of Callius, another instructor entered. "But, he is still using 1-star magic. The power output won't be enough to beat Arden." And added as he saw the young man with the armor had already started ignoring the explosions happening around him.

"Grr….." Arden gritted his teeth as he was annoyed with constantly dodging the explosions. Even though his body was rather fine thanks to the armor he was wearing, which was made of the highest quality material to counter mages, his anger levels were rising to see this disgusting assaulter standing freely in front of him.

Since even though Arden was someone with a good sense of justice, he was also a type of blockhead that only knew how to fight. "Fight me like a man, you rap*st!" he shouted, as he was trying to close the distance while avoiding the fire magic attacks being thrown at him.

"BOOO!" "BOOOO!" "BOOO!" The surroundings also agreed with him, as they were booing Callius, who was fighting while protecting his distance.

Callius thought, "I'm not sure if they're being foolish or intentionally doing this. I had high expectations for the academy, thinking it would be filled with geniuses." Considering the attitude of the audience, his thoughts were a bit raging. 'I guess they are just carried away by the atmosphere.'

"This is enough." A sound echoed,

/SHINE/ 

However, at that point, the great sword in Arden's hands started shining as his hands started supplying his aura onto his sword. "I will get serious now." He shouted as he raised his sword.

"Now we are playing," Callius mumbled, seeing the sword shining. 'What a dense aura.' He thought to himself as he observed the young man's aura. 'It is a pity that he will die here.' Already marking the fate of the young man in his mind, Callius, too, get ready for the clash.

/SWOOSH/ /SHINE/

Just as the aura of bright yellow shone around Arden, he disappeared from the place he was staying, rushing at Callius with his sword raised.

/BOOM/ /BOOM/ /BOOM/

Sounds of explosions filled the arena as Callius was trying to lock down the young boy with his magic.

However, different from the things that have happened so far, the young man with a great sword didn't even try to dodge, just headbutting the explosions.

"I guess I should increase the output," Callius mumbled to himself as he activated the necklace of blue arrows hanging around his neck. "In the end, this was what I was expecting, anyway." He thought to himself. "Time to take advantage of my preparations."

<Artifact [Muramana] is active.>

<Active Skill [Mana Surge] activated.>

As the sound of the system filled his ears, his eyes shone blue for a second, channeling mana into his 1-star spell.

/BOOM/ /BOOM/

The sound of explosions started getting more and more stronger with each passing time, making the young man trying to ignore them feel the danger.

The audience was taken aback by a sudden wave of heat that swept through the arena, prompting a collective "What?" from the crowd. 

"His mana input and output increased." The instructors watching the fight thought to themselves. "He is using an artifact." Though none of them butted in as this duel was not something that measured skill; it was a duel that had life and death.

"Gr….." As the skin was damaged slightly, Arden felt the pain of fire for the first time in a while. "You filthy heathen…." His breath was ragged as he was slightly tired of the constant fire mana around him. 'I shall end you now.' As he thought, the shining aura around him changed as the brightness increased.

"By the light's embrace….."

As his mouth started moving as well….