ONE PUNCH MAN!(not the actual one, of course)

"I'm sorry, a what?"

"Just as that woman said. That's why Ben should give up immediately. You have any idea about it?" the general asked me. I gave it some thought then shook my head.

I turned to the thing and tried to imprint the image into my mind. With a rocky face that strangely looked like one of the elder generation of wizards, it's head was just about as wide as a basketball pitch.

It's eyes were glowing in a powerful blue, so much that I could feel the magic edged deep into it. It had a build of a pro wrestler, if, of course, the wrestler was about twenty stories high. The color dark grey printed into its body gave it a more superior look, almost godlike.

"...sorry, the only thing I've heard about it are just legends. Nothing concrete has yet to be proven," I finally answered the general.

"Just how ignorant are you?" Nephis asked with a smirk.

"Don't start with me, Queen. I'm ninty nine percent sure I'm in the same class as you," I shot back. Her mouth twisted to a frown and the room turned a shade colder. Well, if she's angry, then that must mean I'm right!

"Well then kids, watch how one of the elder guardians fights," Mrs Kelly said, trying to diffuse the situation.

We returned our attention back to the fight. Most of us did anyways. The wizard in our group was still breathing ruggedly after this surprise. Speaking of wizards, just about every representative who was from that race also looked to be more surprised that anyone else.

"There it is. You know, I've tried going against that thing in my younger years, Fenrick. Not one of my brightest moments," King Jason commented.

"Hahaha! I'm sure it didn't even consider you as a relevant person, did it? So, how did it go?" King Fenrick laughed as he asked.

"Just as you'd expect. I couldn't get a raise out of the damn thing. Made me question what I was doing in the first place. Also, I realized that would be an unnecessary fight too,"

Mr Ben couldn't even stare up at the golem unless he tilted his head a bit further. I could see his face had turned serious, contrary to how he was fighting the elf previously. The dark elf was still below the golem's feet, but he touched its right leg and he was immediately absorbed by it.

A loud laughter soon ringed from within the golem. The laughter itself shook the ground, making another earthquake but a bit smaller than when it rose. Our poor ref was just hanging on by a thread of his life near the barrier. Strong guy.

"I WOULDN'T BLAME YOU IF YOU GAVE UP NOW!" it thundered loudly in a deep strong voice.

"ARE YOU GONNA FACE IT HEAD ON, BEN?" a voice screamed from the top of the golem's head. Guess Kanon perched himself a top his golem. A good idea.

"YOU KNOW MY ANSWER BY NOW. SO WHY THE STUPID QUESTION?" he screamed back.

Kanon's confident smile turned to a frown. He placed his hand on his chin like he was deep in thought, then finally stared back at Mr Ben.

"How about this? Why don't you charge up one final attack at the golem? I promise I'll stay put when you do that but if the golem survives, and it will, you'll have to do the same. Fair deal?"

"Well, if the ref agrees, might as well do so. I don't think I can charge up anymore power if I keep on dodging anyways. I agree to your terms."

"See, I knew you would. Let's have us a drink when this is over,"

"You just read my mind."

"GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT PUNY ONE!" the golem roared in challenge.

The ref was in no position to agree to the challenge, but both Kings nodded their heads in acceptance. Mr Ben took a stance and began charging up an attack.

A lot of mana began collecting around his right hand and it looked like a mini tornado began forming around him. He continued building his mana with his breath getting more strained as the tornado intensified around him.

Thankfully, Mr ref had somehow managed to reach the other side of the barrier, sweating profusely and heaving like a dog on a hot day, but nonetheless safe from the two freaks that were about to decide the outcome of the fight with one attack each.

"AAAAAH!"

Ben screamed as he leaped up into the air and gained a good height, around the golems chest. Then, he threw out his fist and punched the large guardian with all his might.

A resonating shock wave vibrated deep into the ground, shaking the very foundations of the arena. The punch was so powerful that even the kings barrier was having trouble keeping the damage to a low. Dust blasted around the entire field, masking the outcome but I think I heard a large wisp of wind, like something large was falling.

Due to the recoil of the punch, Ben found himself sent to the barrier. Judging from the way his hand looked, he actually did give it his all in that one attack. We all held our breathes as we all waited for the dust to clear. Even Ben squinted his eyes to see what damage he had dealt.

A mighty hand suddenly swept all the dust away. The golem was on one of its knees, a deep crater formed around its chest area. The dark elf was just barely hanging onto it, on top of its head but having more difficulty positioning himself back on top.

Collective gasps were heard from everyone, the wizards screaming in outrage. Even both of the kings eyes widened in shock and surprise.

The guardian's eyes were squinted like it was straining, and rightly so for I could feel a lot of mana start draining from that crater on it. Kanon had finally managed to attach himself at the top. He immediately placed both hands on the guardian and his face showed concentration.

Sand dispersed from the attack slowly began gathering on the crater , then it built up until the wound was quickly covered up. The golem rose to its full height again, good as new.

"What the hell, guardian?! Did you just lower your shield so that you could take that attack head on?!" Kanon screamed at the golem in anger.

"LEAVE ME BE, KANON! I WANTED TO TEST HOW STRONG THIS HUMAN WAS!"

"Well congratulations, you almost died! If I weren't here to fix you up, what would you have done?!"

"BUT YOU WERE HERE SO THAT'S THAT. PUNY MAN, WELL DONE ON HITTING ME WITH YOUR POWER! I COULD FEEL THE DEDICATION AND AMOUNT OF MANA YOU PUT IN THAT ATTACK!" the guardian congratulated Ben and laughed another one of that earthshaking laughter.

"BUT, ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN SURVIVE ONE OF MY ATTACKS?"

Mr Ben was already grasping his right hand in pain, his face showing no shock that his attack was easily healed. In fact, I think a slight smile was forming around his mouth. I bet he's satisfied that at least he was able to deal a good hit on an unbreakable monster.

"Come on. Don't take my bruised hand as a handicap. Let me have it!" he shouted confidently, then unceremoniously coughed up blood.

"Sorry my dude, no dice! I can't attack you now. You don't even have enough mana to defend yourself," Kanon said.

Ben might be acting tough, but maybe he suffered more that his letting on. Clearly, an attack from the guardian will kill him.

"HEY! Don't go back on your words now! We agreed, didn't we?!" Ben screamed in anger.

"Well, I agreed to disagree. This is a normal battle after all. And no one here is an enemy of each other so no, I won't attack you," Kanon was stagnant in his decision. The guardian nodded its head in agreement.

I could see the frustration on Ben's face. At this point, I'm not sure if he'll concede defeat or just go on with the fight. Most of us around here were thinking the same thing. The kings frowned when they heard what the competition entailed. I'm sure they too wouldn't want any unwanted deaths in the fight for a seat in the elites.

Ben looked like he was having an internal battle with himself but eventually, he sighed.

"...Fine. I concede defeat. It's cause of the lack of mana, nothing more," he finally muttered.

Kanon raised his arms and and the mana inside the golen returned to him. The large empty husk of it began disintegrating back to sand, which Kanon came surfing down in.

"You made a good choice, dude. I didn't want to kill you just yet. We still have that drink I talked about," he said as he supported Ben to the door.

"Yeah, well, you were right about me dying with one hit. But you owe me for this one," Ben said.

"Hahaha! Of course I owe you one, drinks on me?"

The ref entered the arena once again and proclaimed Kanon as the winner. Ben limped up to us with a defeated smile, Kanon supporting him all the way.

"Sup guys? Guess I couldn't bring home the win," Ben joked then entered a fit of coughs.

"Hey, no one here is going to blame you. What matters is that you gave it your all. No offence, but even with all the mana in the world, you wouldn't be able take that as thing head on," the general encouraged him.

"Yeah I know. Would have been nice to feel its power though," Ben muttered.

"Hey, Mr Kanon, or should I say Master Kanon, how did you come to possess one of the guardian golems?" the high wizard asked him as he directed both guys to the med bay.

"Well then, monsters, fellow elves and other races, this brings us to the end of the first part of the competition. Most of us are still reeling with adrenaline after watching those fights, I am too. But let's all call this a day." King Jason said.

He then snapped his fingers, and we were back in the hall we entered.

"Now, everyone's accommodations have already been prepared to you liking. Well then, enjoy you stay at the castle," he thundered and together with king Fenrick, the vanished into gods know where.

We were all directed to our rooms by the maids of the castle, different rooms at least. I saw many grownups been directed to other halls, so this was also planned before hand.

On our way, the maid that was escorting me kept glancing back, then when she made eye contact with me, she quickly turned back to the front.

We finally made it to a corridor that looked much smaller as compared to the other ones we passed. What was more surprising was the fact that I couldn't get my sense of direction in this castle. It was much larger than out school, that's for sure.

I didn't even get to view it from the outside. We were just teleported in a corridor where we parted with the rest out the warriors before I began following my maid. Speaking of which, there it is again! She turns back to me, then when she's sees me staring at her, she quickly stared back to the front!

Or is something on my face? Oh, nah. Something's not right.

***

<Obviously, something is not right. She's turning you in circles>

[Wha–Bradley?! What do you mean?]

<We've passed this hall around three times, that's what I mean>

[Wait huh?!]

***

I came to a complete stop with my guard up. The maid paused in her steps too, but didn't turn to face me.

"Why have we stopped, sir?" she asked in a sweet voice but I could pick up the hesitation and fear in her voice.

"Don't give me that, girl. You know why,"

She turned to face me with tears in her eyes. Then she slowly went to her knees and bowed down.

"Please don't kill me!"