Tournament of the demonic

When demons gather, a tournament of the demonic is bound to happen. It not only represents the strength of the demon academy, but also determines the hierarchy. It is an event where anything goes in the arena, except death of course.

I mentioned it to Risa in the past and though it was just a slip of tongue, I later found out that she had told Elaine and that was how this whole thing started. Although it was a tradition in my first life, I didn't really care much for it as I was always focused on practicing magic, but it seemed like a big deal to the others of the academy so I agreed to hold it.

It was also a good chance to see how strong the clan has gotten over these past few years and I'll also be able to gauge when we can expose ourselves to the world.

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[CLANG!]

"Your sword is weak Jargon!"

The large man swings his axe and kicks up a bunch of dust, creating a small wind like blades that rush towards his opponent.

The man with brown hair who stood before him swings his sword. On first glance, he looked like he had swung his blade blindly, but upon closer inspection, one could see that he meticulously avoided every single one of the little wind blades while blocking those he couldn't dodge.

It was then a large dirt cloud appeared in front of the man's face. From which the large man came charging forth, swinging his axe right down towards him. He manages to block it but is taken by surprise by the oncoming attack, a kick to the knee.

He stumbles and his left knee bends, causing the large man to be able to overpower him.

[SWOOSH!]

His protection emblem had nearly broken, which would meant that he would lose. Luckily due to his superior evasive skills and movement techniques he was able to fall back. But he can't rest for long. The man hastily holds up his blade in a defensive position as he watches the large man lunge towards him.

The large man was full of openings due to jumping high in the air, but the man knew that because of his leg he would never be able to hurt him much at this point, unless...he baited him to come towards him.

The man took a stand. If he could block this attack from the large man, using his newly learned art he would definitely be able to win this battle, on the other hand, if his sword fails, he would lose and would not have a chance to enter the quarter-finals.

"AaaaaAAAAHH"

Both men scream as one and their blades clash.

On the other side of the arena the audience watches in amazement as the two duke it out. The men had swept up a large amount of shock faces as they battled.

And finally, a young lady who watched from the opposite shouted.

"Winner! Jargon!"

The battle has ended. Jargon plunges his sword into the ground to maintain his balance and looks up directly in front of him to face the young man dressed in black sitting on the stone like throne.

He stares at the young man who glances upon him, looking down. The young man has been resting his head on his arm the entirety of the battle, without saying a word. But as soon as he locked eyes with Jargon...

"That was a good fight."

At least that was what Jargon thought that the man was saying. He could not hear that well due to being extremely exhausted so he just assumed while looking at him mouth the words. Jargon falls to the ground with a satisfied face. Finally after a whole year of joining he can say that he gained the attention of the most superior being of the clan.

The clan leader had finally recognized him.

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That was a good fight. Well at least for their level.

Their names were Jargon and Frang, both of them were around second rate. That means we have more fighters close to reaching master now which is great.

In hindsight they were taught demonic arts, so if they can't even reach this level after me handing down techniques to them, they are better off dead.

Now the quarter-finals are beginning, I'm honestly quite excited for them. Let's see how well everyone does....

The tournament rankings weren't really much of a surprise.

Elaine came in first as I thought she would, she's probably as strong as the highest ranking mages of the royal mage corps as of right now, maybe even stronger.

Second was Zalfious, with the technique of the first pillar I taught him, he managed to destroy everyone without even as much of a fight.

Third was Shim. He's been getting better and better at using demonic arts but out of the 3 pillars so far I would say he has the least talent for magic, however his outrageous speed and strength makes up for it. His spear techniques are nothing to scoff at as well, he's the strongest spear user I've seen so far in Eval. Additionally, I taught him a few demonic spear arts from my past life and he picked it up in less than a day.

Fourth and fifth were Risa and Ries. It wasn't a surprise to see them both in the top 5. Risa is a candidate for the third pillar and although that means she isn't as good in combat as compared to the other pillars, her ability to control demonic arts still stands out even at the top levels of the clan. Not to mention that her healing ability is probably the greatest I've seen in this world thus far.

Ries was the most interesting. He has a high affinity for different weapons, including dual blades, daggers and even chains. It's too bad he couldn't be a pillar.

But out of all the rankings the most surprising one I would have to say is that guy called Jargon. He showed immense skill in the quarter finals even with his opponent being Zalfious.

3 times. That was the amount of times he managed to use the 31st demonic art, Hex stance. It's a spell that drains a lot of mana but causes your attacks to debuff opponents.

With his ability and unusually huge mana reserve, he would make a great division leader.

But that would have to wait after we find the last pillar.

Anyways, the tournament has ended. It was good to see everyone's performance and I even managed to find a good talent. But this still isn't enough. It would take far too long to reach my ambition at this state. We need to really find the fourth pillar quick and establish the array.

I wonder when that will be...

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In the vast forest of Etelia, next to the Pelunia forest, an explorer named Stanley stumbles upon a ruined cave in the deepest part of the forest. Before he makes his way inside, he chants and a light appears above his index finger. He slowly makes his way inside all the while observing the scribbles and paintings on the wall.

Stanley had been searching for this place for the past year. Being hailed as the "best explorer in Dougan city", the city of explorers, he made a vow to find this cave. But what was so special about it, he himself had no clue. No records, no nothing, the only thing he had was an ancient map given to him by "that man".

He treads carefully, making sure not to trigger any random traps that could be laid out. Even if this cave was ancient, there was no telling what kind of creature could appear or what kind of mechanism would activate. This was after all the deepest part of Etelia, which was shrouded in mystery on the continent of Aias. To step foot in the deepest part of the forest, let alone an unknown cave within it would be considered suicide to most people.

He walks further and further inside until he finally he reaches a dead end.

"Is this it?"

"No it can't be."

His senses are telling him that something is beyond this wall. It was the intuition he had piled up over the years of being an explorer. He touches the wall and for the next few minutes searches for any clue on how to get over to the other side. He finds a switch buried four feet under him and pulls on it, triggering the wall to go down.

"This is?"

He stares down at the seemingly endless staircase that appeared in front of him. It spiraled down and down, from his perspective he would never be able to tell how far it led.

"Superior light lead the way."

The man lifts his index finger and throws the light down the staircase, the light triples in size and changes color from a bright yellow to total white.

10 seconds pass, 20 seconds pass, a full minute passes. The man gazes down upon the large hole in the center. He felt as though he was staring at the abyss, total nothingness. Even though It was daytime outside, not even a single ray of sunlight could ever hope of reaching this place.

His tracks continue for another full minute before finally reaching the bottom. The light returns to his index finger and he shines it on the huge statue in front of him.

"ThhhhHIS IS!"

A large statue of a wyvern, sovereigns of the sky. Wyverns are an extremely powerful species second to only their cousins, the dragons. They are judged based on their size, and the one in front of him, seemed particularly bigger than the one "that man" tamed.

Looking at such a magnificent statue, the man couldn't help but feel his jaw drop.

Why was something like this sealed here? For what purpose was such a creature, strong enough to level a city doing here trapped? Who did it?

The man couldn't help but get lost in his thoughts. He didn't even notice the eyes of the statue turning red and the cracks appearing on the statue, before it was too late...

[WRYYYYY!]

The scream of the ancient creature made the walls echo, and hundreds of meters away, even small vibrations could be felt.

The wyverns had broke free of the seal and had awoken from it's long slumber.

The man looks up mortified of what was happening, but before he could even react, he realized his body was far up into the air.

He felt light.

Why? He didn't cast an aerial movement spell.

As the man's eyes moved downward to scan the ground, he finally had the realization. He sees his body and the wyvern, towering over it.

He head had been cut, he was dead.