"Let the match begin!" The announcer announced, and Lily's eyelids fluttered again. Yet, she didn't wake up.
'Such a deep sleeper,' thought Arthur. If it were him, he would awaken at the sound of a pin drop. His senses were trained to the extreme to avoid dangerous situations, and couldn't be nullified even with an immature body.
Shifting his attention to the battle, Arthur watched with peeled eyes.
The showdown would be interesting, as both contenders were within top ten in the intelligence and knowledge test. As they were well-versed in knowledge about the world, they should be powerful warriors, too.
"It's nice to meet you," Felix greeted warmly, lowering his spear. He walked forward slowly, indicating his wish for a friendly handshake before the battle began.
Sarah, noticing the lowered spear, smirked. She infused her feet with mana, causing the ground beneath to crack slightly. As the wind swept by, it carried Sarah along with it, since she practically disappeared from view.
Unsheathing her katana and in a swift motion, she swung at Felix horizontally, ignoring his wish for a friendly interaction. It was a great and underhanded move, but the wind practically gave away her location and intentions.
Clang!
Sarah's eyes widened, and her trail of mana was disrupted. She quickly withdrew her katana and retraced her steps.
"Did you think I was weak just because I showed friendliness?" Felix inquired, revealing another gentle smile. His smile was so charming that it attracted the squeals of many girls and women from the stands.
Sarah gritted her teeth, noticing the slight scratch on her katana. Had the weapon collided with Felix's skin, the scratch would have never appeared, and the man's torso would be rolling on the floor.
Of course, the teachers wouldn't allow a potential student to perish, so they would definitely interfere. But that would indicate an instant win for the aloof Sarah.
Of course, Felix deflected her strike with a single motion of his spear. It was as if the strike wasn't worth his time. Sarah found such overconfident men disgusting, as they believed in their strength too much.
"I'm still willing to shake hands," said Felix, lowering his spear again. The sight was disgusting to Sarah, who wished nothing more than to rip the man to pieces.
"Kill yourself," Sarah spat in indignation as she rushed forward. Her movement was difficult to follow, but nothing was impossible. Felix's pupils darted across the place, finding all flaws in her movements.
He smirked for the first time, brushing his hair to the side, covering his hand in gel. Then, he did the same with the other hand.
'What the fuck is he planning?' Arthur wondered, forming an expression of exasperation. What kind of person applied hair gel to their hands during an intense battle? Could it be some sort of hand cream for men?
Felix clutched his spear with both hands, but surprisingly, the weapon didn't slip out from his wet hands. Instead, it seemed to add extra support to his grip. Felix channeled mana across his body, allowing it to empower itself.
Suddenly, Sarah manifested from behind the man.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two exchanged blows, and the fact that none of the strikes came into contact with Felix's skin allowed the crowd to assume the winner.
'But it's not so easy to determine winners,' thought Arthur. 'Although Felix can guard her strikes easily, if he gets carried away in overconfidence, he's done. With katanas, it only takes a single strike.'
Since first years were only just introduced to combat, their battles were quite short. In reality, such an intense battle between veterans could continue for hours upon hours. Once, Arthur fought someone on the 66th floor, and it took several weeks of battle to defeat them.
'Worst battle of my life,' thought Arthur. 'Except my last one.'
Shifting his attention to the battle, he calmly spectated and observed the combatants' tendencies and battle styles.
Several marks had appeared on Sarah's weapon, and it seemed it would shatter if hit with a direct strike. The woman's expression had gone from aloof to downright crazy, and she now seemed like a psychopath.
It seemed like murder was the only thing existing in her mind.
And that was a major flaw. If one could not control their emotions, one was determined to lose. It didn't matter if there was a slight difference in power or speed. Emotions were what decided the outcome.
Of course, raw strength that surpassed bounds was an exception.
Suddenly, Sarah tapped something in the air that no one could see.
'Why is she checking her status window in such a situation?' Arthur thought, furrowing her brows. A few seconds passed, but Felix did not pursue her. 'Is he that confident in his abilities? Isn't he worried that Sarah might have a backup plan?'
Arthur cringed at the minds of young, amateur warriors. 'They're completely out of the loop.'
Such combatants did not know what battle entailed. They were unbeknownst to even the ABCs of battle.
Battle was an art, a philosophy that one indulged in. The reason could be pleasure, necessity, or a grudge. It didn't matter. Battle was battle. Arthur didn't like how Sarah and Felix were treating it as a joke.
'It might be quite easy to get first place,' thought Arthur. If all combatants were immature children, then he could easily sit on the throne without many problems. He might not even need to use [Judgment Regeneration] to win.
After a few seconds of silence, an orange gleam ignited in Sarah's eye.
Felix was immediately alerted, and he clutched his spear while waiting for the woman to make a move.
'Does he not realize it's an elemental skill?' Arthur thought, shaking his head in exasperation.
A few more seconds passed, and Sarah gripped her katana with both hands. The temperature around her rose severalfold, and her katana exuded sparks of flames while her pupils turned orange-red.
'Oh, shit,' thought Arthur, leaning in in excitement. 'This might be a bit more interesting than I expected.'
Sarah had a backup plan.
