"Start!"
The word finally came after some more introduction was done, but since nobody actually cared about the things he was saying, they hardly even heard it.
Their eyes were focused on the geniuses below, all of whom were waiting for the moment they could let loose.
August was also focused on his peers. He'd hardly looked into the crowd, and he completely tuned out the man above.
He was something of an "announcer," but he didn't exist for anything but providing entertainment to the crowd.
The real indicator for when the event started was as Rakon told him.
He had to wait for the horns to blare.
'I wonder what happens if we move early.'
Rakon's wording was curious when he spoke about it, so August was naturally confused. What kind of fatal mistake could be made in such a nonlethal setting?
Sadly, nobody who'd made it to this stage was stupid enough to let recklessness ruin their opportunity.
It seemed to go over a lot of people's heads. In many circles, the heir wars were viewed as a competitive event that existed for entertainment purposes only.
No.
This was an event where the future of the dragon kingdom was at stake.
This was an event that gave commoners the chance to become the Dragon Emperor's disciple, and gave those who failed opportunities far beyond their station.
It was an unbelievably important moment for every single genius in the arena, regardless of their individual goals.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Therefore, none of them even moved a muscle when they were teleported into the arena. They surveyed those around them with predatory eyes, circulating their mana calmly in preparation for the moment to come.
The announcer's drivel in the background eventually came to an end. The crowd went silent too.
The geniuses took their stances, and…
The horns finally blared, filling the arena with a cacophony of sound.
August took a single step and released his mana instantly.
'There are three nearby who could be a threat. Ten people have their eyes on me, but they're all being eyed by others. It'll probably be less of a group battle than I expected.'
There were too many people for them to team up and target others, at least, for now.
August could sense the hostility coming at him from every side. As he whipped his eyes around to find a target, the arena exploded into battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clouds of dust rose as some geniuses immediately put all of their power into their attacks.
The announcer's voice came back as he commentated about the most interesting battles taking place.
Chaos enveloped the arena, but for August, it was still quiet. His attention had focused in on his surroundings. All unimportant information was filtered out. His mind entered a battle state.
'There.'
August found his first target. He wasn't aiming for weaker participants. There were only a few that August felt could actually challenge him in the vicinity. They were the ones he needed to eliminate first.
He shot forward with a plan in mind, but executing it was an entirely different story.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Boom!
A boy and a girl had approached him from behind, one to each side.
They didn't have weapons, since weapons dragons were not beings who used weapons, but their extended claws were more than enough to cause damage.
Whoosh!
August ducked down and dodged both of their swings. He pivoted his foot on the ground and summoned a stream of water, letting it turn solid as it jutted up and stabbed towards the boy among them.
Unlike the thugs he faced before, these geniuses had some ability. The boy dodged his attack with relative ease and drew out more mana, obviously planning to counterattack.
'Not happening.'
Bang!
August dodged another attack from the girl and twisted his body to get behind her.
He grabbed her head and slammed it into the ground, dealing a massive blunt-force trauma that made her world spin.
The boy had arrived in that time. He swung his claw down again, but when August dodged, he found another attack waiting for him. The boy was an earth dragon like Melania. He'd used his mana to tie August's feet to the ground so that he couldn't keep moving out of the way.
'Solid.'
August complimented the move.
The boy's other claw was coming down at him with heavy force. If it struck, August's flesh would definitely be torn apart.
But, they underestimated his flexibility. Like water, his movements could not be defined by his shape.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})He bent his back strangely and used his knees to pivot the angle he leaned in.
'Tch!'
The boy's claw still managed to swipe his shoulder, but only with the force to cause a flesh wound.
August had prepared for this. His momentum was already too high for him to bring himself back to a standing position. He summoned pure mana into his legs and expelled it, breaking the rock that kept him captive into shards of rubble.
His body kept falling backward. The boy saw this as an opportunity, but it was nothing of the sort.
He approached closer so that August wouldn't be able to evade His body kept falling backward. The boy saw this as an opportunity, but it was nothing of the sort.
again, but that was exactly what his opponent wanted.
August kicked his feet off the ground. A pressure wave was released from his soles, pushing the boy back several steps.
Meanwhile, a small stream of water appeared below August's back and flipped him onto his stomach. Before he fell, completely to the ground, he got his feet and hands down and used them to propel himself forward, recorrecting his strange position.
Bang!
It didn't help that all of this was done above the nauseous girl he'd taken down before. All of the residual force from his movements slammed down on her, knocking her completely unconscious.
'Dammit!'
Realizing that he was in over his head, the boy tried to run. There were better fights for him, ones that he could actually win.
However, this was not a street brawl.
This was a competition.
And August didn't have a single thought of letting his competitor escape without suffering the consequences of attacking him.
The elimination round didn't have many rules.
The geniuses weren't allowed to kill each other, but any degree of damage that wasn't fatal was accepted. Those who suffered could be healed back to full health by the staff on-site, so it wasn't a problem even if they lost a limb or two.
Mana and the physical body were the only weapons allowed, but there were no limits on how they could be used.
And, though all of the geniuses had started in their human forms, they were given the right to transform into their true forms. However, if they did so, they wouldn't be allowed to return to their human forms until the battle was completely over.
The boy that August was chasing, Jason, wasn't a great genius. He managed to barely pass the qualification test, and he was planning to get good sponsorships and offers by attacking those who were weaker than him to seem stronger.
That was how he'd gotten by in life until now. It was the same for the girl whom he'd allied with.
But, the first person they'd attacked was far beyond their level, and as he looked around, he realized that there was no such thing as people who were weaker than him in this place.
He was at the bottom of the barrel.
And if he wanted to survive for more than five minutes of this fight…
…then he had no choice but to go all out before others started doing the same!
He saw August chasing him at a speed he couldn't match, and that was when he made his decision.
He planted his feet, turned around, and changed.
August was no longer charging towards a humanoid being.
He was charging towards an earth dragon who was ready to risk it all to defeat him!
