Chapter 99: The Quarterfinal II

Chapter 99: The Quarterfinal II

The crowd was in an uproar. Leos nonchalant demeanor had awoken a new hope in the spectators. A single attack like that was far from enough to take him out. It seemed he was made of sterner stuff.

As you wish, Emil said. Dont say I didnt give you a chance to surrender!

This time, it was Leo who moved first. The line of sight between the two was broken as a pillar of stone shot out of the ground. In the next moment, the earth shifted. The ground of the stadium rumbled as dozens of pillars rose from the ground all over.

Emil looked around. He had summoned two fists. The two spells now hovered behind him, ready to strike. He whipped his head left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of his opponent. Out of the corners of his eyes, he spied movement to his right. He immediately launched one of his fists toward the threat.

The fiery appendage rammed its way through three pillars before finally dissipating upon colliding with a fourth. There was no sign of Leo anywhere. Emil cursed and started searching again. The ever-shifting and expanding forest of pillars had him on edge. He whipped his head left and right, convinced he had seen his opponent. Every time he was disappointed to find out that it was just another pillar that had started to rise.

A sudden impact knocked the boy off his feet. Emil was tossed through the air and landed gracelessly on his back. He immediately sent out his newly summoned fist in the direction of the attacker. The spell collided with the wall of the arena harmlessly, not even leaving a dent. Again, there was no trace of Leo.

Another spell graced Emils shoulder, but he was able to stay on his feet this time. He looked in the direction the spell had come from. No movement! He slowly started to turn. He was surrounded by a forest of stone pillars. The grinding noise of stone on stone made it impossible to hear anything.

The Fire Mage tried to calm down his wildly beating heart. There was no need to panic! Leo wouldnt be able to keep this up for long. The mana expenditure of something like this had to be enormous. It didnt even matter how proficient the other boy was at the spell.

You cant keep this up for long, Leo! He called out. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to keep the nervousness out of his voice. How about you come out, and we finish this like men?

Another [Fire Lance] was his only reply. Emil managed to block it with one of his fiery palms. He would not be able to do that often. The extreme power of his spell came at a severe mana cost.

Emil stayed alert as he awaited the next attack. This time, he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the spell in flight. He dodged away, but inwardly he was stunned. Leo was curving the spells midair to strike at him from unexpected angles. The ability to adjust the trajectory of spells was an advanced technique that Emil himself had not even begun to master. Somehow, Leo had figured out how to do it by himself.

Still, he had figured out how Leo managed to attack. If he could trace the spell back to his origin, he would be able to strike at his opponent directly. He endured another three attacks before he finally managed to pinpoint Leos position. Emil didnt hesitate and immediately swatted both of his palms down on the spot he expected Leo to hide.

With an earsplitting crash, the spell impacted the location. Emil was certain he had seen Leo throwing himself on the ground before the spell landed. This brought a smile to his face. No matter what, Leo wouldnt be able to endure a direct blow of two of his palms. The match was won!

He hurried over to the location he had attacked. The palms had already turned into a flaming fire. The moment the flames died down, the charred body of his opponent would be revealed! The Fire Mage found it strange that the healers were not on their way already. Could he have killed Leo by accident? His face went pale at the thought. He had sent out both of the spells in a panicked attempt not to miss his opponent, but that might have been too much.

Emil came to a halt right in front of the fiery crater. The flames went out. He stared at the spot Leo had been, only to see the broken remains of a vaguely human-shaped statue.

The moment Leo stepped back into the private area. He was greeted by the applause of Zeke, Sophia, and Viola. Wordlessly, he walked over to his armchair and dove right into its velvety embrace. Finally, with a content smile on his face, he addressed the three.

That was fun, he said.

Zeke, your friend is weird, Viola said. Sophia also nodded at the comment. Even though Leo had been restored to good health, it was not long ago that he had suffered severe injuries. Zeke merely smiled, he had long gotten used to Leos personality. Sometimes, it felt to him as if Leo was the one with the Dragon heart.

It would be another half an hour until the next fight. The four of them started to talk about potential strategies that Leo could have used against Emil. Time flew by, and soon it was time for the next fight to begin. Felix Feuerkranz was facing off against Katja Brennbar.

Zeke was excited to learn what the two could do if they went all out. The match started with them trading spells. They seemed to feel each other out. It was Felix that dominated these exchanges for the most part. They both seemed to have a greater affinity, but Felix had a slight edge when it came to the mastery of the spells.

I was hoping to save this for the semi-finals, but you leave me with no choice, Katja said with a sigh. In the next moment, she summoned a blue flame to her hand. Her rapid breathing and pale face indicated that this one spell had taken a lot out of her.

The ball of fire was only about the size of her fist. It hovered over her outstretched palm and Zeke got the impression of a coiled snake ready to pounce. It was immediately obvious that there was something different about those flames. The longer Zeke observed the dancing tounges of fire, the more a feeling of unease began to spread. He was certain that those flames were not something that he would be able to confront head-on.

By the expression on Felix's face, it seemed he was wary of those blue flames as well. Zeke had never seen the spell before. If he had to guess, then this was probably the secret Magic of the Brennbar family. It was said that this spell could burn anything. Zeke was excited to find out how powerful their specialty Magic really was.

I didnt expect you to have mastered it already. Very impressive! Felix praised.

Its not too late to give up, Felix, Katja teased. The girl seemed excited upon finally being able to show off her trump card. Zeke didnt know how difficult a feat it was, but by the expression on Viola and Sophias faces, it seemed this was nothing to sneeze at.

You jest, Felix replied with a smile, As if I would miss out on the chance to measure my trump card against yours!

Katja snorted, Nice try, but bluffing is going to get you nowhere. The only spell that could rival my [All Consuming Flame] is not available to you until the Grand Mage level.

Then you have nothing to worry about, Felix said with a smile before his expression also turned serious. He closed his eyes in intense focus and his entire body began to shudder. Zeke had seen this phenomenon before. This was the consequence of channeling too much mana through ones magic core. If Felix kept this flow up for too long, he would irrevocably damage his core.

A moment later, his eyes shut open again and his breathing also stabilized. A smile slowly spread on the Fire Mages face.

Feast your eyes on the pinnacle of Fire Magic! Felix proclaimed as he spread both of his arms wide in a dramatic gesture.