Fight

As Ray walked through the streets of the capital, he thought about what he should do next. He wanted to devour knights and quickly increase his strength right now, but he wasn't sure if that was the best move. He probably didn't have enough money to buy them, and he had no clue about where to find the rogue knights. 

'I guess I'll just head back to Magnus' place and wait there. I'll figure something out after I finish whatever fighting I have to do,' He thought. The date Magnus set was only a day away anyways. As for joining the shadow organization, that would have to be put on hold. Until he gained more information on them, he wouldn't take the unnecessary risk to join them.

After he reached Magnus' mansion, he sat down to train his soul in an empty room. After a minute passed by, a frown started to appear on Ray's face. He realized the energy density in the capital was not good at all, it was barely better than the normal outside world. 'The potential for increasing my bodily strength is very high, but It will be hard to progress my soul this way,' he thought. 

He was surprised since he expected the density to be very high in this area. Otherwise, why would so many mages gather around here? Although he was disappointed, he kept on training until the time for the fight came since the energy density was the least of his worries.

A day later, a loud noise woke Ray up from his concentrated training. "Everyone, get ready, we are leaving now!" Magnus' voice rang throughout the house.

Ray quickly got up from his position and walked to the front door. Magnus had his arms crossed as he waited near the front door. He didn't have his usual calm expression, although Ray couldn't say he looked nervous. 'He must have a lot to gain or lose with these fights,' Ray thought.

Once all of Magnus' other apprentices arrived, he said, "Get ready." The familiar feeling of floating in the air came back to them as Magnus flew them toward the inner part of the capital. 

As they were flying, Magnus said, "You should all know of the 6 major houses, right?"

The apprentices all replied with a, "yes", or nodded their heads.

He resumed, "At the fights today, members of each house will come to spectate your performance. If they find any of you capable, they will offer to join them." His expression became serious as he said, "If they offer you a position, you have to say yes! Joining them means access to a lot more things within the capital and many more potential resources; it is good for you and me both. Not to mention if you reject them, that means offending a massive force openly! None of you want to do that."

After making sure everyone understood the importance of accepting their invitation if they got one, he said, "I can't help you anymore from here on, just try to defeat your opponent they match you with. You will only have 3 fights, so it won't be too long."

A few minutes later, they stopped flying next to a large arena-shaped building. The arena was completely closed off on all sides and had a shiny marble appearance. 

Magnus led them through an opening to the arena where a dark pathway emerged. After walking for a short while, they reached an opening that led to the major part of the arena. It was shaped somewhat like a stadium on Earth: with the pit being in the middle of the arena, and rows of seats for spectators to sit in. The room in the middle was also around the size of a football field but in a circular shape. 

Magnus led the apprentices to a group of seats away from anybody else. Many official mages and their apprentices had already shown up, they seemed to be waiting for something to happen. Ray sat down where Magnus told him to sit, and he quietly waited for something to happen. 

He didn't need to wait long since an official mage floated to the center of the arena only an hour later. For a normal person, it would be a long time and they would be irritated. But for mages who have to train for very long periods, 1 hour is nothing. 

The mage who stepped into the middle of the arena looked like your generic wizard from Earth. He was old, had a long beard, and was wearing a robe. 

He coughed a few times which reverberated throughout the entire arena, letting anyone who wasn't already paying attention to him start doing so. 

After seeing everyone's eyes turn to him, he said, "Greetings teachers and students. I, Grayn, will be the director of this decade's apprentice fights. There aren't many rules, but for starters, any outside resource is not permitted for use, for example, energy-increasing potions. However, you can use some basic artifacts and a few basic potions. Of course, the goal is to defeat your opponent! Don't hesitate in trying to kill your opponent, you will be stopped before you can kill anyone anyways."

"Each of you will have to fight against three other apprentices here. The only people who will be watching the battles will be representatives of the 6 houses." After listing the rules, he paused for a moment before saying, "Now, once you hear your name, come on down to the arena." 

"Ray Diant, Brett Wilkin."

Ray's ears perked up after hearing his name being called. Magnus had a surprised look too. "I've never had a student go first before, although it won't make much of a difference." He reassured Ray. 

Ray nodded his head and jumped from the seats to the walkway that leads to the arena. 

After he passed through the door frame that led directly to the pit of the arena, a translucent blue sphere spread across the entire pit, isolating Ray and the other apprentice from the outside. 

He tried to look outside the sphere, but all his vision seemed to be blocked by it; all he saw was a dim blue light. 

He switched his attention to the apprentice he will be fighting. It was an average-looking teenager with an average-looking physique. Of course, judging someone by their physique is not a smart idea in this world. 

As he was looking at his opponent, Grayn popped into the sphere. He looked at Ray for a few seconds, as if he was inspecting them. Then he turned to his opponent, Brett, and started staring at him. As he was looking at Brett, he frowned as if he found something wrong. A blue potion was ripped out of Brett's pants and landed in Grayn's hands. 

"A potion for better casting power? Nice try." He said while pocketing the potion. "Okay, everything looks good. On the count of 3, start your match."

"1… 2… 3!"

Both Ray and Brett's spells released at the same time, causing the dim arena to instantly light up. 

Before Grayn announced the fight to start, Ray already had his aura locked into Brett; he already saw the spell coming. But he decided to tank it head-on so he can release his light pillar. He could tell from the opponent's aura that he was a level 2 mage. Also, the spell they were casting didn't have a high energy consumption, so it probably wouldn't be immediately threatening. With these factors in mind, he was confident in ending the fight quickly. 

A stream of magma started spraying from Brett's hands toward Ray. It wasn't very fast, so Ray could have dodged it with his quick reaction speed, but he chose to ignore the attack and focus on his spell. 

While the magma started eating away at Ray's shield, a pillar of light erupted from the ground underneath Brett's feet. He also saw it coming and decided to ignore the attack, but he quickly realized he made a mistake as the light disintegrated Brett's shield in less than a second, and started touching his body next. 

He let out a shrill scream as the light started disintegrating his feet into nothingness, while Ray's shield had yet to break. To make matters worse, Ray used the ability of the shield to reflect the projectiles of magma toward Brett.

His innate reaction made him jump out of the light and cancel his channeling to focus on the damage dealt. By the time he jumped out of the pillar, his feet to his knees had already disintegrated into nothingness, leaving him unable to get up. 

Brett screamed even louder as he saw his lack of legs; he was inexperienced with real-life fighting experience! A second later, he saw the magma that he cast being flung back to himself. His eyes became desperate as he used his hands to move out of the way. But it was too late, the magma still hit his arm.

The molten lava burnt through his arm, giving off the terrible smell of burnt human flesh. Ray took the chance of Brett being distracted to use a lightning bolt and finish him off. He didn't have any crazy body strength like Zay, so the ray went through his chest easily.

Just as it was about to pierce his heart, the light ray hit a shield and was completely absorbed. Ray and Brett were immediately teleported outside the arena; the battle was over. 

Right after the fight ended, Grayn called out the names for the next fight; it seemed like they would cycle through the fights quickly. 

He walked back to where Magnus was sitting and took a seat. Magnus had a happy expression on his face, as if he just won a battle and not Ray. "Good job, keep fighting like that for the rest of the battles." He encouraged Ray. 

Ray nodded, then quietly sat down to review his fight. The light pillar had done a good job in the real battle, especially against an inexperienced fighter like Brett. He only had to use it for 1.5 seconds, but it won the fight for him. If Brett had kept his cool and cast another shield, the results would be slightly different, but Ray was still all but guaranteed to win with his increased level. As for the reflective ability of the shield: it is also something great against beginners, but questionable against experienced fighters. 

Overall he was quite satisfied with the fight; he hoped the rest of the fights could be against level 2 apprentices too, but that was probably wishing for too much. It's unlikely that nobody else could become a level 3 mage in the time he did too.