From the very moment the battle began, a myriad of magic circles emerged on the combat arena, as the mages on the combat platform raced to cast the first spell.

And yet, the first spells cast were those of body-casting.

And the very first spell to be cast was from none other than Mira Mierta.

The short lady's eyes sharpened fiercely as she almost instantly activated her speed magic before launching herself at Virlyd in the blink of an eye.

WHOOSH!

One moment, she was standing at the very edge of the giant combat arena in the vertir, the very next moment, she had already made her way to the other side of the combat arena, arriving before none other than Virlyd himself.

She had already cast her second spell in transit, using her speed to accrue momentum and enhance the force with which she struck Virlyd.

And yet, as fast as she was, the time she took was just enough for Virlyd to cast his own magic, enhancing his defenses at the final moment.

BANG

Mira's yellow eyes widened as her prosthetic arm's metal fist simply struck against his gut uselessly.

She couldn't even get him to budge.

Their eyes met for just the briefest of moments as Virlyd's fist coursed towards her at viscerally high speeds, threatening to blast her out of the stadium with a single blow.

WHOOSH

She just barely evaded the attack despite her speed, running away just in time.

Just in time to avoid the volley of magic that the other students unleashed on Virlyd after their magic had finally activated.

A volley of rocks.

A blast of wind.

A visceral inferno of flames.

A blinding beam of light.

A barrage of chain attacks.

Virlyd's stoic expression grew intense as his eyes flared with determination.

He didn't so much as even attempt to evade the incoming attacks.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

From the very moment that the battle began, the other five immediately unleashed a potent, destructive onslaught of attacks on the giant boulder of a man.

Less than a second has passed in real time, and the seven finalists had already gotten serious right from the very get-go, concentrating their efforts to take him down right from the very moment the battle began, making the battle that much more intense.

"Oh! That happened so fast that I couldn't even keep up with it!"

"They're so fast!"

"They're all just built different from all the other contestants!"

Virlyd's eyes flared with serious determination as his body posture and expression all made it clear that he was not only not holding back as he had in the preliminary tournament, but was going all out from the very beginning.

Not only had he already cast several magic circles to enhance his defense, but he also went as far as using body-casting for maneuvering, allowing him to speedily zip across the entire combat arena very freely.

CLING CLING CLING CLING CLING!

The metallic rattle of chains drew his attention even as he moved across the combat arena at high speeds, throwing off many of the spells aimed at him. Accuracy was just as important in long-range magic as it was in any projectile weapon or combat system.

The chains, however, could be manipulated to home in on him. They rattled, converging on him from all directions. It was clear that Kyrell Singe intended to capture him early and toss him out of bounds as quickly as possible so that he could eliminate the largest threat to them.

Unfortunately, his attempts had proven to be far too wishful.

BOOM!

With a spreading gesture of his arms, Virlyd unleashed a destructively powerful omnidirectional attack that swept over the entire combat arena, clashing with incoming spells and even its targets.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The student body froze in awe and amazement at the sheer amount of power that the mages displayed for them. The air shook and danced from the collisions of magic from the seven strongest mages of the Elendir Institute of Magic.

The six mages defended against Virlyd's first wide-scale attack with an expectant expression.

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Most of them used a form of barrier, while others hardened their body.

Cæ did both, applying a magic spell with the fundamental form of change to imbue upon his body the most basic form of durability enhancement taught even in the Apprentice Program, while also conjuring a shield of heaven just in case.

While he had already concluded that he would likely not get attacked, if he went with the assumption and didn't put up any defense, there was a possibility that one of the other six would see the opportunity to catch him off-guard and eliminate him from the conflict on the spot.

His stormy gray eyes flared with determination as he, along with the others, unleashed an onslaught of magical offensives on Virlyd. With a single wave of his hand, Cæ unleashed a destructive fire with immense intensity.

Virlyd's eyes sharpened as the bright inferno surged forth, threatening to consume him then and there. And yet, he simply wound his fist back before throwing a simple straight punch.

FWOOSH!

The motion body cast a spell that unleashed a blast of wind that was even more powerful than Cæ's inferno, effortlessly dispersing the attack in the blink of an eye, only to find himself facing a chain attack from the left from Kyrell Singe and a bright golem from his right.

"Woah!"

"Look! It's their signatures!"

"They won each fight yesterday by abusing those unstoppable attacks!"

Virlyd's expression hardened as he stepped forth, pushing his hands forward in the direction of the two attacks.

The simple gesture was enough.

BOOM!

It body-cast a wave of wind that was so intense that it singlehandedly destroyed the conjured chains and the earth golem, reducing them to fading pieces and sand.

Kyrell and Miranda widened their eyes with shock at how effortlessly Virlyd dealt with their attack. They knew that he was strong, undoubtedly, but what they hadn't expected was just how easily he was able to bring about this level of strength against two opponents.

And yet the attacks that came next were even more difficult to defend against.

WHOOSH

With a single wave of his hand, Dranst cast ten spells all at once.

Each of them came out of nowhere without any magic circle to read, making it even more difficult to react to them in time.

And yet, not even that was enough to take down Virlyd.

He simply spread his feet, planting himself at the very center of the combat arena before pulling his fist back for a powerful swing.

BOOM!

His fist didn't even need to make contact.

His heaven magic could carry the impact through the medium of air, allowing him to blast his magic far away from him with the power of his fist alone.

Yet, not all the mages he fought confronted him from afar.

There were those who had the courage to face him head-on.

WHOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, Mira and Seol arrived before him. Mira's fist was empowered by the momentum she had gathered while Seol simply double-cast with magic circles and body-casting in a close-quarters strike.

BOOM!

The powerful collision sent tremors across the combat arena, only for a barrage of powerful spells to emerge from behind them, targeting all three of them simultaneously.

WHOOSH

Mira moved out of the way with her speed magic, leaving only Virlyd and Seol to face the powerful onslaught of spells.

BOOM!!

Virlyd held steady, defending himself without moving so much as an inch while Seol gritted his teeth, struggling to defend with just his body-casting alone.

He couldn't.

"Rgh…arghhhh!" He screamed in pain as ten magic offensive spells pushed him out of bounds, sending him flying out.

THUD

He landed outside the combat arena, unconscious.

"And contestant Seol is disqualified!"

The students grew wild at the first disqualification in the first five minutes of an intense battle.

"Damn! I lost money betting on him!"

"HAH! It's your fault for betting on the weakest of the seven!"

"Show some respect, he is still ranked seventh and is way stronger than any of you fools!"

Regardless of the noise from the student body, the battle continued on as the flow of the battle became more and more stable and recurring.

Virlyd remained on the defensive for the most part, relying exclusively on guarding, evasion, and counter-offensive when somebody got close.

'Well…' Cæ sharpened his eyes as he unleashed a barrage of magic against Virlyd. 'It makes sense if he wants to minimize risks.'

His magic was powerful enough to withstand being blasted by six mages. In which case, there was no need to rush the battle and try to take them all out at once or very quickly. In a battle with six opponents, he was very liable to have some vulnerabilities that could be exploited by one of his opponents.

The other five also realized that there was no clear path to victory by simply spamming normal spells.

Rather quickly, the number of attacks on Virlyd reduced as many of the five opponents he had began chanting incantations.

Virlyd's eyes sharpened.

"Now."

Several magic circles emerged before him as his fist surged forth with blinding speed.

The others reacted, but his timing was perfect.

BOOM!

Dranst's stoic expression morphed into one of pain as his thick glasses fell off while he dropped his grimoire.

A deep dent formed in his belly as Virlyd's projected impact burrowed deep in his body.

SPLAT

He coughed up blood before staggering and falling unconscious.

For a moment, not a single person could move.

In the blink of an eye, Virlyd had nailed Dranst, knocking him out then and there. The powerful attack had shattered his tough defensive magic effortlessly, despite it being body-casting.

"And the second contestant has been defeated!"

Before Virlyd could even take another step to launch the third attack, the other four immediately returned to an offensive assault, blasting him with all manner of attacks across the combat arena.

CLING CLING CLING!

Virlyd took to the air as he evaded the blasts from the chains that Kyrell unleashed against him. Evasion often saved energy if the attack was of great offensive power. On top of that, Kyrell's real chains were mana conductors. Thus, they effectively increased the range at which he could cast magic, allowing him to span his magic much farther away from him than any of the other contestants.

Mira and Miranda surged upwards together as the former dashed through the air in a blur, allowing them to attack him in close quarters with high-speed attacks while Miranda used her spirits to give chase, unleashing an onslaught of magical attacks.

Cæ, on the other hand, continued chanting even as he unleashed a volley of the six elements together.

'I just need a little bit more time,' he gritted his teeth as he continued chanting, even as several magic circles emerged before him, unleashing massive fires at Virlyd.

Virlyd's attention shifted to him as his eyes sharpened when he noticed Cæ still chanting.

Instantly, he ignored Mira, the chains, and Miranda, instead swinging his hand at Cæ with a heavy blow.

BOOM!

A heavy collision erupted as Virlyd's powerful attack crashed into the ground of the combat arena.

And yet, he couldn't tell whether the attack had landed.

"Look! A cloud of darkness spread across the surface of the combat arena."

"He's making it harder to aim!"

Cæ had barely managed to get out a darkness magic spell before Virlyd could target him with a pre-prepared magic circle waiting for activation. He maneuvered about the combat arena erratically, making it harder to target him.

'I knew it!' Cæ's eyes sharpened. 'He's targeting people who chant incantations because he knows that those spells are powerful enough to defeat him. He is trying to guarantee his victory without giving anybody the chance to chant!'

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