Tournament of the Strongest, V

"Begin!" The commentator screamed into what seemed to be a microphone of some sort, announcing the start of the match between Sean and Chris who were supposedly polar opposites.

I was sitting in the middle, between Luke and Selica.

Selica's eyes kept darting between Luke and Sean on the stage. I guess she really is worried if Luke is alright.

The person in question though was just watching intently at the match happening live in front of us.

I decided to not ask him anything until Sean was done with his battle here, I didn't want him to think back to his lacking powers.

Well, about the match.

Currently, both Sean and Chris were unmoving on the wide, concrete square with quite a gap between them.

The match began like a minute ago and the audience was starting to get grilled at the lack of movement.

I think they're trying to measure each other's levels.

They're also looking for any openings and chances to strike.

But Chris was going to have quite an issue to deal with since Sean isn't the same scrawny and timid(still a little) guy he was three months ago.

But right now, on this small battlefield that was reserved for just those two, Sean was confident with his chest puffed out.

I can see Chris' expression from here, I know for a fact Sean feels like a giant mountain that is going to step on him at any minute now.

I know this feeling too well because when my father released killing intent at my request to fight me seriously, I wanted to scurry somewhere and hide in a hole.

"Move your asses already!"

"I don't know why I came here."

"This is boring, let's leave."

Oh, the public's view is changing to that of a negative one already, c'mon Seany Sean, do something to make them excited about your match.

"Oh, is it finally starting?" I asked out loud as I noticed subtle motion.

***

Sean Dayward POV:

"Sigh," I let out a breath of nervousness at the negative callouts from the watchers.

I know it's time to move, otherwise, this is going too far.

I don't want to expose my cards first, so that's why I was waiting– "Hmph!?" I dove to my left the moment I felt the faint shaking of the ground beneath me.

An earth spike?

"So you're an earth affinity mage, huh?" I asked without putting a single thought into my words.

"Huriyah!" I barely evaded a swing towards the left side of my face by bending my body to the right.

"Kgh," I'm losing balance.

I continued by dropping my hands on the ground and moving forward, lunging my approaching legs toward Chris's scalp.

I felt the ground on the meanwhile, grasping a shard of concrete that was blown away by the protruding earth spike.

Great, this could serve as a blade.

Even if the fragment of the arena wasn't sharp, it could still cause quite a severe wound if it drilled through his body.

After I tried to kick Chris, which safely gained distance between us, I straightened up quickly and made a run in his direction, evading numerous earthen bullets in the meanwhile.

"Stay away from me!" He screeched out, another earthen spike appearing in front of him but aimed my way.

"Humph," I jumped after charging my leg muscles with mana, managing to avoid the prickling top of the spike just barely, "Ah!"

It felt like time stopped as I floated midair with a slow kick motioning toward Chris's jaw.

And during that halt of time, I could only see Chris' terrified expression that wasn't prepared for my attack.

Ah, so this is how Helis feels during a fight, that's why he acted like that yesterday.

That was my only thought before I made contact with Chris, who was sent tumbling, just barely not flying off of the stage, from which he'd disqualify if he did so.

"Agh–! My… my teef?!" He couldn't properly speak after facing that attack head-on.

"Get up," I spoke with the coldest voice I could muster while leaving my eyes and face devoid of expression.

"Huh?"

"I said get up, Helis still hasn't seen what I promised he'd witness."

"N-No, stay away from me!" He yelled out as he skewed in on himself, holding his head with his arms as if he'd feel less pain.

This sense of superiority, it's fucking insane. Ah, Helis, I feel like I'm becoming more and more like you in this sense.

"Oh, dear soil of the world, please offer upon me your strongest protection, Earthen Shield!" Chris chanted in a whisper, making this perfect spheric ball that offered absolute protection.

I used the affinity I started to feel connected to as of late, "Fireball!" A ball of fire flew towards the sandy sphere, not leaving a scratch on it.

"Fire blast!" I voiced as a blast erupted from my hand when I made contact with the shield.

"Hahaha! You may try anything you want, loser, this spell offers its absolute to protect me, the caster." Chris giggled maniacally within the ball.

"..."

And when I heard him say that, I couldn't hold the grin that got etched into my face.

Ah, please, I don't want to look bad in front of the audience… I thought to myself as I covered my face with one hand.

"But I can't stop it." My voice came out high-pitched from excitement.

"Fine, fine," I said with a shaking voice, as if I was about to burst out laughing, and then gained some distance.

"I'll come here just in case, I don't want to kill you and disqualify myself from the tournament, ya hear me?" I voiced after widening the gap between us.

I shifted my neck to where Helis was watching intently, "Helis," I called out to him, "Watch this." I said and then began to process and circulate mana within me.

I envisioned mana as Helis taught me to.

The mana that I love and which reciprocates my feelings inserts itself into my body, my mana veins, and my core. After becoming one with me, the multicolored motes travel within the canals of my body and up to my brain, getting adjusted to what I ask of them, a fiery blue, and begin traversing down to the location I wanted it to. My palm.

I thought to myself and then spoke out, Transcendental Arts: "Blue Whirl!"

My hand glazed a neon blue which was soon ignited into a hungry, fiery blue flame that flew toward the Absolute Shield, disintegrating it within less than a second.

I noticed Helis standing up from the shock after I casted my first transcendental spell, and then I approached Chris who was shaking his head in all directions, wondering why his absolute shield was destroyed so easily.

I could feel my eyes gleaming a deathly blue color as I voiced with a frosty tone, "This is my win."