Aliana could not believe that she had made it through the first round. She finally had a chance to grant her deepest wish. All she had to do was defeat her next opponent.
When she found herself in the waiting area before the first match, she was sweating profusely. So much so, that she was worried her shirt would have become see-through. Everyone else in the room appeared to be doing just fine and were meditating, praying, or simply stretching before the match. However, there was one girl who seemed to be just as nervous as she was.
The girl had beautiful red hair and striking green eyes. Though she was trying to act calm, Aliana recognized the same anxieties in her as she did in herself. So, as a kindred spirit, the elf girl saddled up to her and started a conversation. It went about as well as she expected, but the girl did at least acknowledge Aliana was there.
In the end, she even wished her good luck! As thanks for that, when she saw an opening, she shot an arrow at someone who targeted the girl, whose name she found out after the fact, was Rena.
Near the end of the fight, Rena fought side by side with Aliana and they managed to become one of the last three fighters standing. Though she would have been among those defeated and soaking in their blood without her, Aliana had truly made it.
Now she stood in the arena again. This time, there were two raised stages in the circular coliseum. From what the announcer said, until the final fight, matches would be held on these smaller stages two at a time. The one to lose is the first to lose consciousness, be knocked off the rectangular battle area, or concede.
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Aliana glared at her opponent, bowing at the ready. She was confident she could beat this person. He was one of the pre-selected fighters, which meant he was a representative of one of the countries. She already knew who Aedrider's representative was, so that narrowed down the options, but it did not matter in the end.
What did matter was that this strange fighter had no presence. There was no emission of mana at all as if he were not even a Ranker. If that were the case, likely, he's just very proficient at the arts. The figure had summoned a strange spear that seemed to have a constant layer of frost over the blade.
"I see we both have enchanted weapons. May the best fighter win." Aliana called out.
The other fighter simply nodded and got into a ready stance. She found it strange, but he was wearing a flat, black mask with no defining features. She could see pupils through the eye slits, but not much else.
Though her match had started, Rena and her opponent with the mace found themselves distracted by the one next to them. The speed at which the masked person, Titan had moved was unbelievable.
"And that person is supposed to be Intermediate or Advanced Rank?" Rena found herself muttering.
"All right, girlie... let's get our started, eh?" The mace wielder asked while launching himself at her.
Rena sighed because he was no competition for her. Sure, he was a very strong fighter, however, he had shown a weakness already. He was not confident in aerial defense. Luckily for Rena, she already revealed that card, so it was no problem for her to fix it.
"[Ventus: Air Step]"
Rena bound into the air and held herself at the second to last step she could take. She was able to hold this spell for a handful of minutes by this point, as long as she did not use other spells. However, it was her very intention to use spells, so at most she had a minute.
"[Ferrum: Iron Spear]" "[Aqua: Water Ball]" "[Glacies: Ice Spear]"
From high in the air, Rena fired spell after spell at the mace wielder, who attempted to block as many attacks as he could with his shield. Unfortunately for him, he did not seem to possess any Shield Arts that could have granted him additional protection. In no time at all he was battered and beaten by the number of spells that she had cast on him.
Struggling to speak, he almost collapsed to the ground before saying "I forfeit..." Then he passed out.
"The First Round of the singles matches is complete! We have our winners advancing to the next round! Please give a warm round of applause to, Rena von Petra from Arcadios! As well as Titan of Eroa!"
Rena glanced over at the ring where Titan had fought and muttered to herself. "That man over there is the true fight here. Good luck to whoever faces that guy..."