A feeling rlin couldn’t quite explain clutched at him from all sides as he walked out of the tunnel leading to the waiting room and onto the grounds of the open field. The brightness of the sun overwheld him and he stretched an arm over his eyes, pausing for a second to adapt to his change in scenery. When that was done, he took a mont to look around.
The arena seats were more overbearing than he had thought they would be from back in the waiting room. The TV had obviously made them look smaller than they really were, and out here, the sheer number of the crowd and their murmurs were loud enough to cause his heart to thump harder than it already was.
The seats were divided into two sections; one for guests and one for students. The latter was also divided into two sections, separating the first and second years. rlin’s eyes shifted towards the seating areas of the first years, and found his classmates, those who had not been chosen for the competition staring right back at him.
He gulped, lowered his arm, and took in a deep breath.
“Enough dawdling about,” said a familiar voice from behind him at that mont. rlin glanced over his shoulder as a figure appeared from the tunnel. He frowned. “Let’s get this all done with, shall we?”
Marcus walked past without sparing a glance at rlin, his expression both calm and intense at the sa ti.
rlin had never seen the boy wear sothing so serious in the few tis they’d co across each other. Instinctively, his body tensed up.
Only a single point kept Prestige Academy in the lead. A draw would practically give Crown Academy the win as they would still be number one. Marcus certainly knew that, and he most definitely wouldn’t be taking it for granted.
As rlin watched the boy walk onto the arena with his shoulders raised high, he assud that their deal to exchange information on one another wouldn’t pull through. Their fight bore too much weight for it to be stifled by the prospect of exchanging words, and even though rlin so desperately wanted to know more about who he was, he decided that saving that for later would be the best course of action.
Talking could wait. He had to win.
Instructor Park wasted no ti turning to the crowd as soon as rlin walked onto the elevated arena; she looked quite exhausted and gave off a vibe that just wanted the whole tournant to co to a close already. Regardless, she still put on a bright smile as she addressed the crowd.
“We have arrived at the final duel of the first inter-academy tournant between the top three academies in the world,” she said with feigned excitent. “It has been a long ride and week, and I understand that things might not have turned out perfect, but I hope you all had a good ti regardless.” The crowd echoed a positive response and she nodded. Then she gestured at rlin and Marcus. “We have seen the elite first years of Crown Academy and Prestige Academy shown what they can do, and now we are down to these final two: Marcus Reed and rlin Tyrrell. I have no doubt that they will put on quite a show.” Her brows pulled in. “However, this tournant was brought about to test the fostering of interaction between the academies spread out over the world, the change in rankings are just a bonus and a ans to an end for you all to put your back behind it. In no way are you to let it get to your heads and create enmity between one another. What I am saying is, no matter what the results turn out to be, peace must reign.”
rlin realized that those words were for him and Marcus. He hesitated to nod in response, but he did regardless. After all, it was not like he was keen on becoming enemies with anyone—most especially not a talented mage like Marcus or the rest of the mages from Crown Academy. He would try his very best to win, but not at the cost of future dealings.
Marcus, however, didn’t acknowledge Instructor Park’s words. rlin felt a tingle on his nape, and when he turned around, Marcus was burning an intense stare into him.
rlin frowned.
It was one thing for him to want to keep things civil, but if the boy wasn’t prepared to reciprocate, then he was more than happy to match his energy.
Instructor Park sighed deeply then and put so distance between herself and the arena. After a mont of deep introspection, she raised a hand and voiced, “Begin!”
rlin was the first to take action.
As Marcus freed his dark-red Grimoire from his pouch, mana surged out of rlin at a higher intensity than ever before. They swirled around his arms and quickly condensed into whips, which he shot towards Marcus.
The boy with short, black hair and dark brown eyes shifted back slightly as he attempted to evade rlin’s advance, but he was not quick enough. The whips grabbed a hold of his arms, and rlin pulled him forward.
Imdiately, rlin let go of the whips as Marcus flew towards him, and condensed his mana around his left fist.
Considering the level of his Strength Attribute at the mont, rlin realized that using his right would deal far more damage than he wanted, most especially if he mistakenly struck with all his might. He didn’t want to kill the lad, which was why he opted for his weaker hand.
He lowered his center of gravity, angled his feet, and readied to plant his abdon right into Marcus’s midsection.
The faster he could get this done with, the better.
But things didn’t work out as rlin had planned.
Marcus snapped his fingers and rlin instantly felt sothing was amiss.
A pressure pulse originated from deep within his ear canal, and following it were distinct, rhythmic ticks, like the faint hums of an insectoid. Suddenly, a cold, creeping instability settled behind his eyes; before he could put a thought as to what was happening, the whole view in front of him tilted. The floor felt unstable, like he was standing on an erratic wave of water, and in the next mont, it rose up to et him, slamming into his face.
The ticks stopped instantly and rlin felt his stomach churn. His eyes turned deep red and the murmurs of the crowd did nothing to alleviate him from the nausea he was plagued with.
When he glanced over his shoulder from where he was scooched down on all fours, Marcus stood up to his feet a few steps behind him and patted himself down.
rlin gritted his teeth.
Now that he had a second to think, he was able to co up with a conclusion as to what had just happened to him.
Marcus was an A-Class Sound Mage, and one rlin assud was probably at Advanced level I.
Based on his intense studies of the boy, he had co to the conclusion that Marcus was a Creation Mage with the ability to not manipulate but create the sa sounds insects and animals produced. However, his was amplified to the point that it could affect humans in the sa way those sounds when produced by insects or animals would affect their kinds.
And that hypothesis was made solid by what had just happened.
The ticks rlin had felt rather than heard had sounded very insect-like. What insect exactly, he didn’t know. But this was troubleso. Marcus was troubleso. And that was why rlin had wanted to end the duel quickly, but he supposed that was a reach on his part.
rlin took a deep breath and rose to his feet, coming face to face with Marcus once again.
The boy was still gazing at him rather intently, sparing not even a single word.
rlin’s eyes shifted towards Marcus’s Grimoire hovering in the air as he began to reshuffle through his list of plans to take the lad out. He wondered if he would be able to do to Marcus’s Grimoire what he had done to Sangook’s, but he quickly discarded that thought.
Unlike Sangook’s spells, Marcus’s directly affected his internal organs, which his Resilience couldn’t quite shield yet. He would not be able to bulldoze his way through and attack the Grimoire without suffering significant damage. And, besides, taking his attention away from Marcus would be a grave mistake.
Since that was the case, then it seed he had no choice but to fight the guy head on. And the only way he could do that was by relying on Reader Mage all through the fight.
rlin glanced at his palms and took a deep breath.
He was left with no choice.
A surge of jagged energy flowed out of him in a resplendent blue color as the air around him crackled. Everyone shifted on their seats as they watched a larger wave of mana than should be expected of a Deficient Mage leave rlin’s body, and Marcus was no different. In the next second, the air around rlin cald once more, as his mana condensed around his body, wrapping around him as it took the form of a hooded cloak and gloves.
The System recognized his shift in aura.
[Perk: Reader Mage Activated]
[Analyzing Perk Variation]
[Analysis complete]
[Reader Mage Variation II: Condensing the Perk into a cloak has greatly increased your mobility and defenses. Spells within the limits of your ability thrown your way will be instantly deconstructed as soon as they make contact with you. However, your stamina will be siphoned at a faster rate than ever before. A tir has been generated for you to keep track of how fast you’re being exhausted]
[Countdown: 02:59]
Three minutes…
A trickle of sweat rolled down rlin’s head as he glanced at Marcus. His eyes glowed blue.
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