About thirty minutes after our match, the sound of battle stilled and I heard the announcer commence the next phase.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Now that the final selection has been decided, the quarter finals can begin!

The first match will be held between…team B5 and A9!

Please cheer them on as they enter the arena, everyone!”

On one side…

I tuned out the rest of the announcement, uninterested, since I would hear the winners’ introductions later on anyway.

“Isn’t Arcellus part of A9?” I asked, turning towards my partner.

He nodded. “I doubt B5 will last long. There aren’t too many strong teams in the doubles tournament this year, from what I’ve heard. Pay attention to the next match. Whoever wins it will be going up against Arcellus in the semi finals.”

Sure enough, the announcer called out the end of the battle just a few minutes later.

“With a dazzling finish, Peter finishes his opponents off! Another dominating display from one of the top contenders!

Now…

Before I could make out what the announcer was about to say next, an attendant entered our waiting room.

“T- Team A3?” the young lady asked shyly. “Your team will be coming up next. Please prepare yourself accordingly.” she finished, managing not to stumble over her words.

I stood up and stretched my body. “Looks like we’re up next. Ready to go?”

Cerion didn’t even bother replying and was the first out of the door. Something told me he was starting to enjoy combat almost as much as I did.

“Dear spectators, this match’s competitors are ready to battle!

This time, team C6 and A3 are competing to see who will be fighting A9 in the semi finals!

There you have team C6 now! This team, composed of [Mace cavalier] Iray and [Fire shaper] Ertal, defeated their opponents handily in the previous round. By relying on Iray’s maneuverability and Ertal’s versatility, they set the tempo of the battle to their own pace!”

“On the other side, we have team A3!”

As our names were called, the spectators started to chant our names, competing to see which team’s supporters became the loudest.

“A3’s [Tidal swordsman] Cerion and [Overloading Death Knight] Arthur use their overwhelming strength and skill to win, leaving their opponents no recourse! Few have been able to go blow for blow with either of these combatants, let alone both at the same time! They’re the favorites to win this match, so C6 will have to pull out all of their tricks and tactics if they want to eke out a win.”

“Since both teams are in position, the match will begin in 3…2…1… start!”

With the countdown starting, Cerion and I drew our swords and took on our stances.

As the starting signal was announced, both of our teams shot into action.

The opposing team’s mace wielding melee combatant was the first to rush into action, charging in our general direction by using a skill. His body shimmered with green light as he shot forward, his speed tripled in just one moment. As he reached the both of us, he twirled his body and swung his mace with it, forcing Cerion to block.

The mace itself lit up green before the impact, striking Cerion’s sword with full force. You would expect the heavier weapon to win that exchange, but Cerion’s own swordsmanship skill broke through first, shattering the mace’s green coating like glass.

I moved to retaliate and sent out a sword arc in his direction, but before it landed, a flame in the shape of a person appeared, blocking my attack’s path.

I expected my strike to cut straight through it and continue to my target, but I was disappointed.

As the black half-moon shaped trail of energy made contact with the flaming person, it disappeared, as if sucked into the clone. For a brief moment, the clone turned black, before it exploded.

As I turned to the flame’s creator, I noticed him heave, as if struck by an imaginary blow.

At this point, Cerion had taken matters into his own hands and sent the cavalier into the arena wall, carried by a wave.

Unfortunately, that only did superficial damage, because both of our teams regrouped afterward. The flame shaper was still grimacing from before, and the cavalier was breathing heavily, so we had won that exchange.

From a distance, I heard them whisper to each other.

“I can’t block the death knight! For some reason his mana explodes when my flames absorb them.”

Then focus on the water guy. You might be at an elemental disadvantage, but better than nothing!”

“We can hear you, you know.” Cerion said mirthfully.

C6 didn’t bother replying, the cavalier shooting forward again instead.

This time, he was obviously aiming for me, and he wasn’t holding back anymore.

Three green images of maces appeared behind the original as he twirled, sending waves of mana into the area, which were so thick that my [Weak mana sense] just barely managed to pick up on them.

Clearly, they were willing to spend all of their mana to make this assault work.

I decided to play it safe and created my maelstrom, which whirled into existence just before the opponent’s weapon struck.

The strike figuratively dented my maelstrom, though the green mana was torn apart before it came even close to breaking through. That was just the initial impact, though. Before I knew it, the phantom maces struck my barrier as well, each hit stronger than the last, by an order of magnitude. My maelstrom was reliable to be sure, but it excelled at outlasting long assaults, not repeated impacts in the same spots.

I knew the final hit would break, so I decided to drop my shield and counter with my own weapon.

As the maelstrom disappeared, the final illusory mace was headed straight for me. It would have been easy to apparate away and flank him, but I didn’t want to lose my trump cards too easily. Instead, I braced myself and shifted my body so his horizontal swing would land on the side of my waist.

As I did so, I saw the look of glee on the cavalier’s face. Too bad he hadn’t expected what came next.

The final mace struck true and hit just above the right side of my waist. I counterattacked its force by using aura step with my left foot, creating just enough momentum to counter the mace’s. Then, I grabbed the mace by the handle, ignoring Dark form as it started to heal me.

My opponent, now stuck and stunned, just stared at my sword as I brought it down on his shoulder, cutting halfway through his torso, the tier 4 sword practically ignoring his plate armor. Using a two handed weapon with just one hand was a bit of a faux-pas, but desperate times and all that.

As my opponent fell unconscious from the pain, I tossed his body to the side with my sword. I had gone easy on him, the healers would be able to save him.

I looked in the flame shaper’s direction and saw Cerion still in a heated battle with his opponent. Every time Cerion used a melee skill, the flame shaper would disappear and switch spots with one of his clones. When he used a ranged attack, a flaming figure would appear and absorb the blow, turning into water afterwards, for some reason. I guessed the whole ‘mana absorbing’ part wasn’t an exaggeration.

Still, finishing this wouldn’t be difficult. I launched myself across the arena towards one of the clones and casually stabbed it, my sword coated in mana.

The flame shaper hadn’t expected it and coughed up some blood as his clone turned black and exploded.

Before he managed to refocus, Cerion’s blade was at his throat.

He stared defiantly at Cerion for a moment, before announcing his loss.

“Fine. You’ve won. Now fuck off.” he spoke frustratedly, causing Cerion to lift his eyebrows.

“Another battle, completed! Arthur’s mana was too difficult for Fire shaper Ertal to absorb, and his constitution proved too much for Mace cavalier Iray to overcome! Despite this, applause for their strength and efforts, everyone!”

The arena cheered for their showing. While not exactly sportsmanlike, I didn’t have a hard time imagining C6 making it further in this tournament, if we hadn’t participated. My overloaded mana was a hard counter to Ertal’s flames, but builds like mine weren’t exactly common. Even Cerion had struggled, despite having the elemental advantage. Iray wasn’t weak either. His explosive power alone had more than warranted their quarter final placement.

Both of them were far stronger than your average run of the mill tier 2 classer. Yet, they had lost. We had won. That was all that mattered, for now.

Cerion and I didn’t stick around and returned to our waiting room.

~scene transition~

Pov: Uncle Robart.

As I stood in the royal booth overlooking the arena, his majesty grumbled.

“What was that, Robart?”

“What was what, your majesty?” I asked mirthfully.

“What your nephew did. His mana moved to heal his wounds automatically the moment that mace struck. I had wondered what his mana was doing before, coursing through his body permanently. Is it there just to facilitate his healing skills?”

I smiled. This was typical of his majesty. His inquisitive nature when it came to the system hadn’t waned, even after all these years. I couldn’t help but tease him a little.

“I thought your majesty had seen his tier 2 status page, mailed to us by the witch hunters’ guild?” I asked. I knew he hadn’t read it. He didn’t want to, alway preferring to find things out by himself. Sure, he would act like he knew if anyone asked. He was king, after all. People expected him to know things, remember things.

His majesty sighed. “You know me, Robart. I just checked if he had any insanity skills at the time and forgot about the rest. Now, what tier 2 skill is that good at healing?”

“Do you remember why [Death Knight]’s are so difficult to deal with, your majesty?” I asked leadingly.

“Of course I do. As long as the necromancer feeds them dark mana, they can’t be destroyed permanently, save for a select few high-tier spells.”

“Indeed. That property isn’t tied to a title or perk as you might think at first, but rather to a skill. Since my nephew has his own source of mana, he’s rather difficult to take down permanently.”

I smiled deviously as I explained this, my grin growing even wider as I saw realization dawn on my old friend’s face.

After a moment, he burst into laughter.

“Should I say he got very lucky or unlucky? I don’t even know at this point. Are you sure your nephew won’t join the royal knights? I remember you saying that when I gave you that affinity crystal.”

I sighed.

“I would love nothing more, but the political ramifications for stealing the witch hunters’ guild’s talent…” I replied hesitantly.

His majesty nodded sagely.

“You’re right. It’s too late for that. Well, allies are half as good as subordinates, anyway.