Asher Williams, currently ranked third in the Magic Knights entrance exams, approached Giovanni with an air of superiority.
"Well, well… Look what we have here." His voice was smooth, yet laced with disdain. "Hey commoner."
Giovanni didn't flinch, didn't even blink. His icy gaze met Asher's with unnerving calm.
"My name is Asher Williams," Asher continued, puffing his chest. "from the proud Williams family. You see, my dream is to—"
"I couldn't care less about what your dream is," Giovanni cut in flatly, his voice cold like steel.
"And I have a name too. It's Giovanni."
'Damn this bastard!, how dare he interrupt me when am speaking,' Asher thought, grinding his teeth until his jaw ached, veins pulsing visibly on his temples.
'But I must maintain my noble manners and not let a filthy commoner rile me up,' Asher reminded himself as he forced his lips into what he believed was a gracious smile, though it came across as more of a pained grimace.
"Oh right, Giovanni. What I was getting at was that, you and I have the same fire attribute so I was wondering if we could duel to find out..."
"Challenge accepted, let's get on with it," Giovanni declared flatly, stepping forward as if the stage already belonged to him.
'He interrupted me again!, this fucking bastard!. But don't worry, he may have a four leaf clover, but I bet he's still stuck at the first circle. I'm a second-circle mage. Am gonna beat the shit out of this arrogant peasant blood!' Asher's thoughts boiled with rage as he strode toward the stage with exaggerated dignity, his ceremonial cape fluttering dramatically behind him.
"Alright. The first contestant, Giovanni Versus Asher Williams," Lucas announced, his voice carrying across the arena as the opponents locked eyes, their mutual animosity crackling in the air between them like electricity.
"Now begin!" Lucas's command echoed through the suddenly silent arena.
Without hesitation, Asher summoned his grimoire, the book materializing before him, hovering in the air and glowing with power as its pages fluttered open of their own accord.
"Flame magic, Fire ball!" His voice thundered as he thrust his hand forward. Immediately, a blazing sphere of concentrated fire rocketed toward Giovanni, cutting through the air with a sound like an angry wasp, its speed almost too quick for the eye to follow.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted where Giovanni stood, flames and smoke engulfing the area completely. The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the arena floor, causing spectators to shield their faces from the intense heat.
"Damn, that guy is toast. What made him pick a dueling match with Asher Williams?" The crowd murmured anxiously, their eyes straining to see through the thick curtain of smoke that veiled Giovanni's fate.
"That serves you right, filthy commoner!" Asher shouted triumphantly, his voice laced with venom. But his victory was short-lived as his eyes suddenly widened in horror - a flash of crimson light pulsed within the swirling smoke screen.
'Wait, that light, I've seen it before,' Asher thought, his heart beginning to race with a primal fear, and just then...
"Vermillion Nova," Giovanni's calm voice emerged from the smoke, followed instantly by a devastating beam of red fire that shot forward from his hand with terrible precision. Asher barely managed to dive sideways, the heat from the passing beam singeing his hair as it missed him by mere millimeters.
"I've seen that trick before, it won't work on me!" Asher yelled with false bravado, frantically turning a page of his grimoire, sweat now dripping from his forehead.
"Nice dodging that first attack, but let's see how you handle this!" Asher challenged, his grimoire glowing intensely. Giovanni's gaze instinctively shifted upward, where he discovered multiple fireballs suspended in the air like miniature suns, each one pulsating with deadly energy.
Giovanni's eyes widened slightly - the first sign of genuine emotion he'd shown during the duel.
"Flame magic, Dance of the fire balls!" Asher commanded, his face contorted with malicious glee. Instantly, all the hovering fireballs descended upon Giovanni like a rain of meteors, each one striking with thunderous force, creating a spectacular explosion that lit up the entire arena with blinding light.
"Looks like Asher got him pinned down," Anita von Britton observed with casual interest as she stood beside Damien, a small chuckle escaping her perfect lips.
"Is that what it looks like to you? To me, he's just playing with the poor guy," Damien replied, his eyes never leaving the smoke-filled spot where Giovanni stood, his expression utterly unconcerned.
"Huhhhh," Anita exclaimed, her delicate brows furrowing in confusion.
"For fuck's sake Gio, just get it over with already!" Damien shouted impatiently. He couldn't stand watching Giovanni's theatrical performance, acting so nonchalant as if he owned the entire arena. Besides, time wasn't something Damien could afford to waste watching his brother's showboating.
A heavy silence fell over the crowd, so complete you could hear the soft flutter of a grimoire's pages...
"Screaming like an idiot, and here I thought you've changed, brother," Giovanni's voice drifted through the dissipating smoke, carrying a hint of amusement.
"What! He's still standing after that!" Asher exclaimed, his face a portrait of shock and disbelief, legs nearly buckling beneath him.
"Wait, he's your brother?" Anita asked, her crystal blue eyes widening with genuine surprise.
"Yeah, he's my twin brother" Damien said nonchalantly. That came even more as a surprise to her, her mouth forming a perfect 'O' of astonishment.
"Well, I guess playtime is over," Giovanni declared as the smoke fully cleared, revealing him standing tall without a single scratch. He reached for his grimoire for the first time in the match, the book materializing in his hand with an ethereal glow. If this was to be his grimoire's debut, he intended to make it one hell of a spectacle no one would soon forget.
"You think you've been playing with me all this time? Fine then, I'll give you the strongest spell in my grimoire!" Asher snarled, his face twisted with rage and humiliation.
He flipped frantically through his grimoire until he found what he sought, his entire body beginning to pulse with an intensely bright mana. He thrust both hands forward, veins bulging on his forehead from the strain.
"Flame magic, gigantic flaming boulder!" he roared. The air itself seemed to catch fire as a massive fireball, easily the size of a small house, manifested before him. With a deafening roar, it hurled toward Giovanni, scorching the very air in its path.
Giovanni regarded the approaching inferno with an almost bored expression, as if someone had merely tossed a pebble his way rather than a blazing meteor.
"That's your strongest spell in your arsenal? Tsk, don't make me laugh," Giovanni said with quiet disdain as he opened his grimoire. A brilliant golden light immediately engulfed his form, so bright that onlookers had to shield their eyes.
"Fire magic," Giovanni intoned, raising his hand with deliberate grace. A bow crafted entirely of dancing flames materialized in his grip, its form perfect and deadly. He drew back the fiery string, and an arrow composed purely of concentrated mana took shape, its tip gleaming with otherworldly power.
"Dragon's Arrow," he announced calmly. The moment the words left his lips, the blazing projectile launched forward with impossible velocity. It tore through Asher's gigantic flaming boulder as though it were nothing more than morning mist, leaving the spell to dissolve uselessly in its wake.
Asher's eyes grew wide with absolute horror as the arrow approached him, its path unstoppable. He didn't even have time to attempt an evasion before—
BOOM!
The impact was cataclysmic. Rather than piercing through Asher's body, the arrow exploded on contact, sending him flying backward as if shot from a cannon. His body carved a trench through the arena floor before finally coming to rest nearly a hundred feet away, consciousness fleeing him instantly.
The arena erupted into a cacophony of shocked whispers and exclamations.
"What! Asher Williams was defeated by a commoner!" One student gasped, clutching the person next to them for support.
"And with just one spell at that," another added, voice trembling. Lucas, the examiner, merely nodded, unsurprised. He had anticipated Giovanni's victory from the beginning. It was clear to his experienced eyes that Giovanni was far more than just a novice mage.
Every spectator's attention suddenly fixated on Giovanni's exposed wrist. He had been wearing long sleeves that concealed his status, but the intense heat of the battle had burned away the edge of his cuff. What was revealed caused a collective gasp of disbelief, the shock even greater than witnessing Asher's crushing defeat.
"Wh-what! A-a third circle mage!"
"Impossible!"
"Isn't that the same as princess Anita von Britton? Does that mean he's on the same level as the kingdom's greatest talent?"
Damien studied Giovanni's wrist with only mild interest. It was surprising, certainly, but after witnessing Lark as a captain, he doubted anything could truly shock him anymore.
"Well done. 1000 points have been awarded," Lucas announced as Giovanni descended from the fighting arena with casual grace, as if he'd done nothing more strenuous than take a leisurely stroll.
"Next, Anita von Britton vs Damien. Step forward," Lucas called out.
The announcement sent fresh ripples of excitement through the crowd.
"Wait, isn't he the brother of the commoner who just defeated Asher Williams?" a student whispered loudly.
"Is princess Anita going to be alright?" another wondered, concern evident in their voice.
Damien's eyes shifted toward Anita, and what he saw made him pause. Her beautiful face was contorted with unbridled fury, her delicate hands clenched so tightly that drops of blood trickled from where her nails dug into her palms.
'Tsk. I guess she's just like everyone else. Being compared to a commoner must have really shattered your facade, huh bitch!' Damien thought, a knowing smirk spreading slowly across his face.
Anita stormed toward the stage, each step radiating murderous intent. Meanwhile, Giovanni approached Damien with measured strides.
"You surely took your sweet time. I could've made breakfast with that time," Damien commented dryly, mocking his brother's theatrical display.
"Oh, no one would eat your tasteless meal anyway, why bother," Giovanni fired back without missing a beat.
"Oi!" Damien protested.
"If you have that much time, why don't you devise a plan on defeating her. You're an idiot, but am sure you can see and sense it right?" Giovanni's tone shifted suddenly, taking on a gravity that sent an involuntary chill racing down Damien's spine.
Damien closed his eyes momentarily, then reopened them to focus intently on Anita. Of course he could sense it - the overwhelming surge of mana emanating from her in visible blue waves, so dense it seemed to distort the very air around her. Even when she had stood beside him earlier, his hands had trembled uncontrollably at the sheer magnitude of her power.
He had instinctively mapped out dozens of martial techniques he could employ to end her life if she had made any threatening move while standing near him - a habit born from his previous life's experiences.
Her energy was beyond ridiculous. It was menacing, oppressive, almost suffocating in its intensity. And oddly, she made no effort to conceal it - either a deliberate display of dominance or, more worryingly, an indication that she couldn't fully control the vast power she possessed.
"Of course I can see it. Well, I'll be going now. Wish me luck," Damien said with forced nonchalance as he stepped forward to meet his fate.
'Tsk, luck? You're gonna need more than that to defeat her. Just what in the hell were you thinking picking her as your sparring partner, huh, Damien,' Giovanni thought, genuine concern etched across his features despite his efforts to maintain his usual composed demeanor.
Damien took his position, standing several meters away from Anita. Their eyes locked in silent challenge, neither willing to break the gaze first. Anita's earlier rage was now carefully masked, though traces of it still flickered in the depths of her crystal blue eyes.
"Now..." Lucas said, raising his hand dramatically while glancing between the two combatants.
"Shit, this fight might get messy. Better I stay back," murmured some of the more perceptive students, hastily retreating to what they hoped was a safe distance.
'My best plan now is to lunge at her faster than I've ever been and knock her out as soon as Lucas says begin. Because if she managed to open that grimoire of hers, am absolutely fucked,' Damien strategized, dropping into a sprinter's stance. The veins on his muscular legs bulged visibly, thin tendrils of steam rising from his skin as he channeled every ounce of physical power he possessed, poised to explode forward at the first syllable of Lucas's command.
"Begin!!!" Lucas's voice rang out like a thunderclap.
But before Damien could move even a fraction of an inch, his eyes widened in absolute horror.
'Wait, where the hell is she!' his mind raced frantically. She had been directly in front of him just a heartbeat ago, but now she had vanished completely, as if she had never existed at all.
Then, with chilling clarity, Damien felt the unmistakable sensation of two piercing blue eyes boring into him from behind, accompanied by that same overwhelming, suffocating aura that sent ice through his veins.
It wasn't possible - no human could move that fast. His trained eyes hadn't even registered a blur of movement. With a growing sense of dread, Damien slowly turned his neck...