Chapter 550
The tension in the air is impossible not to notice.
Both inside the viewing room above the stadium, and down below in the Regional Director's viewing area too.
No one speaks a word, but their silence and wide eyed stares into the arena from everyone waiting to see what happens next says it all.
Two anomalies have shown themselves during this 4th stage of the exams.
This whole event is supposed to be a simple display of what the new talent from all 8 regions can do.
A competition to give not only the 12 applicants that pass after the exams are over a bright future, but also the 50 or so others that have come out here this year a chance to display their fighting talent to be hired for various jobs by other Regions.
It's certain that special contracts have already been drawn up and planned to be sent out to some of the promising talent in the ranks of 21 to 40; and many in the top 20 too, but not as much as there could be.
Everyone is distracted by the two Apex Region applicants that stare each other down in the center of the arena waiting for the final match to begin.
One is a healer that shouldn't have the combat prowess to have even made it past the first round on her own, but has now been blessed with great power by some unknown entity calling themselves the Flame Emperor.
The other is an Elite at the top of his class with one of the rarest combat elements awakened. He was nearly bested by a lesser region applicant in the last round. However, using a special gem, he was able to release power that even broke through unknown spells cast by the Apex Region's A-Class hunters.
It is an understatement to say every soul in this arena is looking forward to seeing what happens in this final match to come.
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The fight clock starts and a flash of yellow light burst through the ring as Trax pulls the same move he did when facing me. He's activated his ranked up buff to go all out from the start.
Nat's body fills with power as I give her the same amount of mana control that she had at the peak of her spar with Ember while upping the shared base stats to their max, imbuing 10% of my own stats into her while keeping her shared mana control at 6.5%.
The increase in her basic speed and base strength is not enough all by itself to contend with the massive boost that Trax's buff gives him; however, the mana control coursing through her veins increases her perception and mana shielding density enough that she can interpret and predict every one of Trax's strikes before they're dangerous.
Despite her being slower than her attacker, every time the lightning mage's yellow static sword comes flying down at her, a massive wall of impenetrable shielding covered in dark flames blocks it from making contact.
Her eyes track his movements and the formation of mana barriers are just quick enough despite her physical body lagging behind.
The lightning user's movements look like a blur of yellow light to everyone in the crowd, but Nat's movements are a little easier to see with their less honed eyes; however they still seem incredibly fast.
The density of mana that collides in each attack can be felt when the releases of energy vibrate through the ring. It's made clear to everyone that the walls of fire are much stronger than every attack of lightning by a very high degree.
This is the only true way they can judge the fight taking place when the exact movements are too fast for some to perceive.
However, those that are able to perceive the entire fight realize that it is even more impressive that she's able to block these attacks even when her speed and base strength is at such a disadvantage.
The mood in the arena shifts and words between the Directors and their guest hunters in the stands spread. It becomes easy to overhear them down below in the ring.
Trax's face twists with anger and he yells out for all to hear as he continues to send a barrage of attacks at the healer with his full power.
"It's impossible! I trained with you trailing behind me for almost half a year before these exams! You were never a fraction of this strength! I don't believe it's possible to gain such power from a prayer. This is all a trick! I won't be the butt of a joke! I won't!"
His anger grows and grows while Nat's eyes stay calm to track his movements and the fight clock ticks all the way down to show only 1 minute remaining.
I feel the lightning aura pour out at even more extreme frequencies than when I fought him in the ring. He's burning through his MP supplies much faster in a desperate attempt to try and catch her off-guard.
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Even so, as Trax forcefully increases his speed and power by another 30%, Nat adjusts her movements and blocks to continuously keep him at bay.
At any point during this match, Nat could release waves of fire that stretch to all edges of the dome and take Trax out in less than a second, but I'm waiting to give her the order for the perfect strike.
I want to give the crowd a show, and at the same time, see if Trax does anything rash again.
The audience is all standing up from their seats again in awe, looking down into the ring and continuing to discuss their theories on how the Flame Emperor's power could work.
Even the applicants in both viewing areas are leaning up against the mana imbued glass to get a closer look.
The pulsing light show of yellow static and dark flames goes on for another full 30 seconds before Trax's movement speed starts to slow down.
Despite throwing everything he has at the healer, not a single shockwave makes it through her flaming mana barriers. His face grows almost as red as the flame residue flickering throughout the ring.
Trax looks up to the sky, staring directly at the black box and yells out in anger.
"You know what? I don't care if it kills me. If I lose this match in front of everyone here and now I'm already as good as dead. I'm the strongest Lightning Mage in the world, no one will ever defeat me as long as there is breath still in my lungs!"
He grits his teeth and his movement patterns change.
Instead of constantly attacking Nat, his lightning step patterns start to shift further and further away from her.
He yells at her while reaching into his item box beneath his armor.
"Your friend might have gotten lucky, but nothing can stop what's about to come. If you get to artificially boost your talent with some hidden artifact, then so can I. Say your last words!"
My eyes widen when I see another stone come out of Trax's pouch, not even trying to hide what he's about to do.
This time, it isn't the same ruby red color as the one before, but a shimmering vibrant orange.
I still don't sense a drop of energy coming off of it, but Ember's words in my inner ear kick me into action.
"That one is far stronger... He could obliterate this entire arena if the guards cannot control it."
The twisted smile on Trax's face and single focused mind for showing others that he is the strongest makes me believe he'd do it without thinking twice.
I still don't understand the power in that gem, but if ember says it's stronger than the last one that competed with the power of an A-Class hunters soul energy, it's best not to test my luck in finding out what this one does.
So, in response, I instantly shift my ranked up buff's numbers and give Nat 10% of my mana control maxing it out, while shifting her shared skill from fire summoning to mythic grade extreme speed.
"Kill him, now!" Is all that I yell in her inner ear as the yellow glowing mage brings the glossy orange stone to his lips.
Nat speeds forward in a blue flash of light from her new skill through the leftover waves of flame residue, slashing her daggers across her body with the newfound mana control and increased speed stats added to her status.
Everything in the ring slows down in my perception as I watch the exchange unfold frame by frame, debating whether to let all of my power loose and burst down there to stop it myself.
I wouldn't be considering it so seriously if the Apex Region's box opened up, but Nat never surrendered; so they're allowing the fight to go on without interference.
My heart beats loudly in my ears while the orange gem touches Trax's lips. At the same time, two crescents of pure mana rocket out of Nat's daggers and collide with Trax's neck and heart in perfect unison.
The collision results in a massive flash of white teleportation magic; both in the ring and right behind me inside the viewing area.
My eyes widen and my full body turns to face the danger as I activate my own lightning magic to mask the speed and power that I'm about to release.
Despite Nat killing him and taking him out of the ring, the respawn item brought him here unharmed, and this fighter's killing intent and overflowing mana control has not wavered one bit.
I feel all 4 of the guards in the back of the room begin to react while activating their ranked up buffs to stop him, but from the fact that the orange gem has already made it into his mouth and they're all over 5 meters away; I'm positive I have to take things into my own hands.
I run forward at him while releasing static all over my body and pull my daggers from my fake item box, not hesitating to send a slash of dense mana his way over twice as strong as anything I released in the ring.
It rockets toward him over 4 times faster than his top speed in the arena, and out of the corner of my eye I watch Ember charging up a fist full of flames right behind me.
My curved crescent of lightning magic collides directly centered on Trax's face, and I use my new mythic grade telekinesis skill to curve the attack making sure I carve out only the portion of his lower jaw and the front half of his face that has the orange gem inside.
Half of his right eye is melted away and the rest of the downward moving attack slices through his flesh like butter taking off his shoulder and arm too.
I let the static energy vibrate and flow out of control while activating conceal at long range skill to give the appearance of his flesh dissolving while in reality I open up a small spatial magic portal and let the gem fall inside.
Simultaneously, a fiery fist from Ember collides with his stomach, sending the hunter's mutilated body flying backward into the outstretched arms of the Apex Region guards at the back of the room.
Fire spreads all over his body as the force of Ember's blow pushes all of the guards that catch him back to hit the furthest wall of the viewing room.
Next, there is a loud crashing sound, then an abrupt deactivation of my lightning magic. It leaves nothing of his partially lost face and limb behind, putting the whole room in a panic.
The healer woman with emotionless eyes begins work on the lightning mage right away before he bleeds out while Callum activates his skill to start putting out Embers flames with large amounts of water.
I let out a sigh and turn back to the stadium below to see the residue of flames and lightning still fading away.
The room is full of angry yells, and glares of confusion and rage hit my back, but all I see is the winner of the tournament standing tall in the center of the ring.
Nat smiles as I talk to her through my link and watch the shifting live leaderboard overhead bringing Ray Anderson, the Bedrock Region applicant up to 1st place while the loser of this match drops down to 2nd in the rankings.
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