"Hmm... I will try if I could learn that skill late." Souta muttered in a low voice while looking at Brando who was emitting a greenish aura.

He knew the effect of [Shielder's Aura], so it will help him in his quest. If he could learn that skill then there's a possibility that he could learn the skill of other classes.

Thinking about other classes, he couldn't help but recalled Yuko. He would try to learn the skills of Tamer class later. If he learned it then he would be able to launch a combination attack with Yuko.

He grinned thinking about Yuko.

Alice looked at him and saw him grinning. She wondered why he's always like that. Grinning without any reason.

She shook her head and put those thoughts out of her mind. She focused her attention on the fight before her.

...

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bryan fiercely attacked Brando using both of his hands.

"Ah!!"

He threw several punches and Brando received it without taking any damage.

"Stop wasting your time!" Brandon said and he used [Shield Bash] to pushed Bryan away.

Bang!

"Argh!" Bryan rolled on the ground a few times before he stopped. He opened his eyes and looked at Brando.

"I said before that you will not be able to damage me with that kind of attack." Brandon paused for a moment before he added, "I always want to become the greatest shield. I came from the Green Mythril Turtle Family. My family always boasted that they have the toughest body but I'm just a halfling. I don't have their tough body. I just train nonstop ever since I was a child to become the greatest shield."

"Why are you saying this to me?" Bryan asked as he slowly stood up.

"I'm just saying this so that you understand that I'm different from your previous opponents. I'm not gifted like other people. I acquired this strength through hard work." Brandon said. "Well, I'm going to start now."

As soon as he said those words, he dashed towards Bryan.

"Argh!!" Bryan gritted his teeth and he clenched his fist tightly. Flames emerged and coated his fist.

"[Blazing Strike]!!"

Brandon raised his shield and it emitted a blueish light.

"[Titanium Crash]!!"

A shield and a first collided causing a shockwave to swept out in the whole area. The floor beneath them cracked and debris of rocks flew away.

Boom!!

The crowd covered their eyes as they were afraid that dust would go inside their eyes.

The teachers and the rankers used their mana to protect them from shockwaves.

Boom!!

Souta waved his hand and he controlled his mana. His mana protected him and Alice, also the students behind them.

"Really powerful..." Souta muttered while looking at this scene. The students here really have strong combat arts while he only had [Dash] and [Stab].

...

Alex looked around and saw that some students didn't know how to control their mana so he took the initiative to protect them.

"What a troublesome first year..." He waved his hand and he emitted a large amount of mana. The mana covered the entire area and protect everyone from the aftershocks of the battle.

Souta and the rest who were using their mana stopped when they saw Alex covered the whole battleground with his mana.

"What a dense and powerful mana..." Souta muttered. He could see Alex's mana with his own two eyes. The mana was so dense that he could see it with his own eyes.

The teachers here in the Ladro Institute were unfathomable. They were not the teacher of the most famous Institute for nothing.

...

[Blazing Strike]!!

[Titanium Crash]!!

Boom!!

The ground continued to shake as the two used their combat arts without minding their surroundings.

Boom!!

"Argh!!" Bryan was pushed away. Blood flew out of his mouth. 'It's hard to fight without using mana.' He thought while looking at Brando.

Brando didn't escape their clashed unscathed. He took a few burn marks in his body but it was not as bad as Bryan's wounds.

"I admire you. If you can only use your mana then you would have a chance to defeat me." Brando said as he slowly walked towards Bryan.

Brando stopped in front of Bryan and he slowly raised his shield. "Let's fight again..." He said as he brought down his shield towards Bryan.

Bryan clenched his fist and used [Blazing Strike] once again.

Boom!!

Shockwave swept out like ripples in the air as both of their attacks collided.

"Give up, now," Brando said as he used his strength to push down his shield.

"Argh, I will not fall down easily!" Bryan gritted his teeth as he pushed the shield using his fist.

...

'That's right Bryan, struggle until the end. Tire him out, so that I could defeat him without any efforts.' Souta looked at the two with a smirk on his face.

If he saved more stamina in this tournament, Souta would complete some quest after the class.

He doesn't want to drain his stamina.

"Hmm... To think that Bryan would last for a long time is out of my expectations." Souta said. He still couldn't accurately grasp the strength of Bryan.

He looked at Alice and asked, "If you win your fight against Bryan, then how long do you think you can last against Brando?"

"You're not asking me if I could win..." Alice looked at Souta with cold eyes. She couldn't believe that Souta already assumed that she would lose to Brando.

"Yeah, if you could use your mana then I'm going to ask if you could win but unfortunately not," Souta said.

"Hmph!" Alice snorted and turned her head away.

...

"Fall down!!" Brando roared as he used every strength he has to bring down Bryan.

Boom!!

A large explosion occurred. It was larger than before as thick smoke blocked the vision of the crowd.

The crowd couldn't see what's happening. They just waited for the smoke to disperse to see the outcome of the match.

...

Bargan closed his eyes and said, "The fight was already finished."

"Yeah, that was a good fight." Kanda nodded his head.

...

"They showed us some spectacular fight. This shows that some first-year could already pull down those weak second year." Zac said.

"You're weak too." Rein commented at the side.

"Oi, I'm the sixth rank so I'm not that weak." Zac smiled wryly as he scratched the back of his head.

...

After a few seconds, the smoke slowly dissipated.

Everyone saw Brando was still standing holding his shield while Bryan was knocked out.

"Huff..." Brando breathed as he looked at Bryan then at Alex.

"Brando win the match!!" Alex declared that Brando's win.

Brando smiled and he raised his fist in the air.

The crowd clapped because of the great fight he showed.

...

Looking at this Souta couldn't help but smile. He closed his eyes and felt the surroundings.

"Okay, I'm next. I'm not going to show any mercy as I'm gonna knock him out as fast as I can." Souta muttered as he crossed his arms.

"Can you really do what you said?" Alice asked him.

Souta looked at her and said, "If Brando is stronger than what he showed in this fight then I would only have a few problems but I already expect that, but if he's three times stronger then that's really a problem."

"You really have a lot of confidence in yourself," Alice muttered.

"Anyway, you became talkative today, huh?" Souta looked at her with a smile.

"..." Alice looked at him with widened eyes before she turned her head.

"Don't mind me, let's just help Bryan," Souta said as he approached the unconscious Bryan.

The clerics also approached Bryan and they checked his condition. After learning that Bryan didn't receive any grave injuries, Souta left. He let Bryan rest there to recover his strength.

...

Souta checked the time and saw that there's still time before the finals. He turned his head and saw that Brando was trying to recover his strength as fast as possible.

"That's not bad..."

He stretched his body to ready himself before the match.

Alice took a distance away from Souta as he was the center of everyone's attention. After all, he was one of the fighters in the finals so a lot of people were eager to watch his fight with Brando.

Souta looked at his stamina in the system and saw that he still have a lot left. He would try to reserve his fight in this battle.

...

"Get ready, fighters!" Alex's voice echoed in the whole area.

Brando who was resting in the corner opened his eyes. He looked at Souta before he picked up his shield and stood up.

Souta saw Brando's look and he smiled. "He~ it's already time, huh?"

He then walked to the center and faced Brando. The distance between them was five meters.

Brando has a serious expression while Souta was looking as if he was amused by what's happening.

"Try to struggle as much as you can," Souta said to Brando.

"1... 2... 3... Go!!"