Under the heavy gossiping of the crowds, Fike walked over to the center of the arena with his head down to take his position next to the host.

Sertia also walked to the stands in embarrassment.

​​

"Alright, with that, all of our competitors for today have arrived. Now, let us begin the duels to decide the top ten out of the twenty gathered here today for the third day of the freshmen trials!"

Just like yesterday, a piece of cloth unfurled from the mast in the center of the arena, detailing the order and arrangements for today's matches.

Fike would be going against a male student from the Summoning School who had obtained third place in the internal battles, and his match was behind Rowan's and Serena's.

After a brief wait, it was finally time for Fike to take the stage, and the boy from the Summoning School followed as they faced each other in the arena.

With the familiar sounding of a gong, their battle had begun.

Fike leaped effortlessly into the air before landing directly behind the boy in the blink of an eye.

Swiftly drawing his demonic blade, a surge of Sword Qi once again erupted, circulating viciously around the Hermes' Curse.

The blade slashed forward at breakneck speed, and the competitor from the Summoning School was completely unable to parry.

He had no choice but to take the fierce attack head on.

At the same moment, a towering gorilla appeared in the arena, obviously called forth by the Summoning School student.

As Fike gazed at the great ape, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

'He summoned this kind of creature that only relies on brute force... I'm afraid its strength won't even be comparable to Truman's!'

Taking the gorilla head on, the Sword Qi on his blade burst forth in a malicious arc, and the ape was mercilessly shredded to pieces.

Because he had spent the entire night talking to Zhao Ruoxian, Fike was currently both physically and mentally exhausted.

He only wanted to end his matches quickly and return early to rest.

As the gorilla was still being torn apart, another intense ball of Heavenly Fire eclipsed the sky.

Like a meteor falling, a countless number of comets broke off from the initial ball of flames as they all came crashing toward the trial arena.

His opponent had no time and nowhere to dodge.

After a few meaningless exchanges, he was finally hit by one of the falling flames, causing him to collapse onto the ground.

Seeing that the youth had lost consciousness, Fike withdrew the rest of his spell.

The referee's voice rang aloud.

"Congratulations to Fike from the Spell School for entering amongst the top ten of the freshman!"

The stadium once again erupted into a cacophony of roars and cheers, but Fike did not care for it at all.

The only thing on his mind was a desire to lie back onto his bed and rest for a bit.

Fike walked straight into the lounge and lay heavily on one of the benches there. Just as he had been about to close his eyes, he saw Serena walking towards him.

A potion bottle containing some black liquid was thrown to his side.

Seeing Serena do this, Fike asked warily.

"What do you mean?"

Serena was direct.

"It's not bad for you. Drinking it will help relieve you of your sleepiness."

Although he was suspicious, Fike drank it anyway.

Sure enough, the heavy drowsiness that he had been burdened with also gradually dissipated.

"Why are you helping me?"

Fike continued to ask.

Serena only glanced at him as she answered.

"Because we have a common enemy, right?"

Upon hearing this, Fike instantly grew interested.

"You mean Rowan?"

"That's right!"

Serena laughed.

"I have a sure-win method that will ensure your victory over him. However, you have to give me your first place prize!"

Serena offered.

"But of course, I won't mistreat you. I'll give you a large sum of money in exchange. What do you think?"

Fike smiled politely in reply.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in money."

Fike turned around and was about to leave as Serena called out anxiously from behind.

"Fike! Don't regret this!"

Fike walked out of the lounge.

His mind was reflecting on what Serena had just offered him.

"It seems that Serena knows something about the rewards of this freshmen trial!"

As he was caught in his thoughts, not long after, the five matches determining the top 10 from the group of 20 soon concluded.

The 10 remaining now could all be considered to be first-class experts.

After all, those who had depended on luck to get into the top 20, had been whittled out. How could they have even hoped to stand as opponents against this group of elites?

At this moment, the host spoke again.

"Now, let us begin the matches to find our top 5!

"First, let us welcome Fike, from the Spell School!"

"And the one who will be Fike's opponent for this round, Jesper! Ranked second among the Melee School!"

Upon hearing the name of Jesper, Fike was stunned for a moment.

Only after a while did he recall that the red-haired youth before him now was the one who had taken first place on the day of the mountain climbing trial.

"Long time no see, Fike!"

Jesper smiled warmly at him.

Truthfully, Fike had thought that he wasn't too familiar with Jesper. In the face of his sudden warm greeting, Fike could only politely nod his head in response.

The gong sounded, once again signalling the start of a match.

Jesper made the first move.

A few darts shot out unexpectedly from his sleeve. Although they were fast, they didn't cause any damage to Fike.

Fike unsheathed his blade before pulling off a fierce combo of slashes directly onto Jesper's body. The Sword Qi ravaged his opponent's figure as his bladework came to an end.

However, at the end of the combo, Jesper suddenly turned into a wisp of smoke before disappearing right in front of Fike's eyes.

"Is this another trick?"

Fike muttered, but he was calm.

Jesper's real body had already flashed behind Fike.

A malicious glint sparked on the sharp edge of his blood-red blade as he aimed a strike directly at the back of Fike's neck.

However, Fike had already long since sensed Jesper's presence behind him. Nevertheless, he allowed him to attack as he pleased.

The blade made contact with his skin.

Jesper was taken aback as he found that his crimson blade had not been able to penetrate his opponent's body at all.

The weapon had even bent around, a large dent formed from the force of the powerful slash.

Fike abruptly turned around.

Grabbing Jesper's wrist that was still holding the now deformed crimson blade, Fike said to him.

"It seems that you've shown all your moves."

"Now it's my turn!"

Fike laughed as he slashed his demonic blade at Jesper.

At this moment, Jesper felt that the Fike standing in front of him now had changed into a completely different person from the one whom he had met previously, on the day of the mountain trial.

A solid slash caused Jesper to collapse onto the ground, and he was unable to stand up at all.

Following a ten-second countdown, Jesper was still unable to move.

A referee announced the results.

"The first of the top five contenders of the freshmen trial has been decided!

"Contestant Fike from the Spell School!"

Fike wholeheartedly basked in the glory of his victory, savoring the rowdy cheers of the crowd. Seemingly intoxicated, he was unable to peel himself off his high for a long time.

[Hidden Information: You have been poisoned! You have been poisoned! You have been poisoned! Please detoxify immediately!]

Looking at the hidden message in confusion, he thought to himself.

'How am I poisoned? Am I not doing just fine?'