"James, gear check complete!" Before entering the combat room, an instructor who favored James stepped forward, advising, "James, you have a Battle Chief watching this next fight. This is your chance to shine!"
James's eyes lit up. A Battle Chief was watching? For him? While he didn't know which Battle Chief it was, making a strong impression could smooth his path forward. Wasn't his previous overture to Jessica because her grandfather was a Battle Chief? Now, another opportunity was before him, and he was determined not to waste it.
"James, prepare to enter the combat room!" The door opened and then shut automatically behind him. The walls blocked the view of everyone outside, leaving them clueless about what would transpire within. However, in the hearts of most, the outcome was already decided—James would win. James, with his A-level talent, level 10, and A-class Mage, seemed unbeatable. Mike, with his D-level talent, likely hadn't even reached level 10.
Inside the combat room, Mike stretched lazily, yawning widely. "What's taking so long?" After a few more minutes, his opponent finally entered the combat room. "James?" Mike frowned slightly. If he won against James here, could it cause issues? After all, he still had three chances left; the outcome of one fight wasn't critical. Mike pondered how best to lose this match appropriately when James suddenly spoke, "Mike, do you know Cain's secret?"
"What? Cain has secrets?" Mike looked puzzled. Even if Cain did have secrets, they couldn't escape Mike's Eye of Truth. Besides, why would James bring this up?
"Heh, seems like you don't know," James said disdainfully. "I once saw Cain's name deep in Thunder Valley, etched into the ground."
A memorial? That sounded like something Cain might do, likely writing something like [Cain was here]. Mike considered this and then suggested, "Maybe it's a coincidence. There are many people named Cain in the world."
"I checked afterwards; Cain was indeed in Thunder Valley that day!" James continued, "And just now, someone mentioned that Cain seems to have learned Windstride Slash. And you call yourselves close friends, yet you don't know this?"
Mike thought: This is hard to explain. Let Cain take the fall.
"Even if Cain has secrets, what does that have to do with our fight?" Mike tried to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand. "Indeed, it has nothing to do with it." James raised his staff, aiming at Mike. "After I beat you, I'll challenge Cain. I want to see for myself what secrets that kid is hiding."
As soon as he finished speaking, James stiffened for a moment, and the temperature in the combat room seemed to drop, filled with a deadly aura. Mike's demeanor also changed drastically, no longer lazy or languid but dangerously sharp, like a hunter eyeing his prey.
"I'm telling you, don't cause trouble for others," Mike said. Then, unexpectedly, he charged at James! Although he had originally planned to deliberately lose, hearing James's words made him reconsider; it seemed he could no longer go through with it.
So fast! James was startled by Mike's speed but still had time to react, raising his staff defensively. "Fire Shield!" As he sprinted, Mike also cast a spell, his casting speed not slow. "Wind Blade!" Three Wind Blades whistled through the air, but their aim was poor; two were deflected, and the last one hit James's fire shield, just breaking through.
This was Mike deliberately restraining his power. Otherwise, a single Wind Blade would have been enough to break through all of James's defenses, even his gear, resulting in an instant kill.
"Wind Bind!" Invisible ropes bound James, slowing his movements as if he were stuck in mud. James immediately stopped his chanting and switched to a teleportation skill to maximize the distance between them. He had a bad feeling that if Mike got close, it would be extremely dangerous.
Just... this feeling seemed irrational. They were both mages, not skilled in close combat; why would Mike be better?
Driven by instinct, James tried to flee. From the start of the battle, he had been on the defensive, unable to mount any effective offense. "Flame Jump!" His figure vanished from the spot, reappearing three meters away as a burst of flame. "As long as I keep my distance, I'll be safe..."
James was about to regroup and show Mike the power of an A-level talent when suddenly everything went dark, and a fist thundered down! Mike had anticipated his move, accelerating to position himself perfectly to catch James off guard.
Using all his strength and speed to cast, James roared, "Flame Burst!" Releasing the skill at such close range was a double-edged sword, potentially fatal to both if it was a real fight. The dangerous fireball at the tip of his staff exploded uncontrollably.
Bang— A loud explosion echoed in James's ears. Smoke filled his nostrils, he was thrown backward, his vision going dark as he lost consciousness.
What happened next, James couldn't remember. When he came to, his gear was flashing red, shocking him. I... lost? To a D-level talent?
James looked around dazedly, noticing Mike standing not far away, his clothes emitting wisps of smoke, with ash on his shoulder. Mike's gear showed 25% integrity remaining. "Fuck, so close!" James gritted his teeth, unable to comprehend his loss.
What he didn't know was that the slight difference he perceived was actually an insurmountable gap. If not for the presence of an audience, which could cause unnecessary trouble, Mike would have ended the fight with one move. Did he really need to drag it out like this?
Mike glanced at the surveillance camera, thinking, "Old fox, you must be watching, right?" "Performing like this probably won't fool the old fox..."
Regardless, Mike had done what he could, and his objective was achieved. In the control room, Blaze Morrow's eyes sparkled with excitement. "This little fox is definitely hiding something!" "I guarantee, if it came to a real fight, James couldn't withstand even three moves from him, no, not even five!" "Since the little fox wants to hide his strength, I might as well help him out, for Jessica's sake."
With that thought, Blaze Morrow clicked a few times on the mouse. "Delete this battle's recording?" "Yes." "Deletion complete." From a storage perspective, it was clean. But Blaze Morrow, known for his meticulousness, extended his hand, and a flame consumed the hardware storing the recording, turning all the disks to ash. Now, truly deleted—in the physical sense.
Under Blaze Morrow's manipulation, a door in the combat room automatically opened. Many students had already lost three matches and were eliminated, standing aside to watch the final outcomes, increasingly focusing on Mike's combat room.
As the door opened, someone noticed.
"The door's open! James won!" "Wait, isn't that the door James entered?" "What's going on, he didn't concede again, did he?"
Under the gaze of the crowd, James walked out of the combat room looking dejected, quickly surrounded by instructors. "James, what happened?" "Why are you out here, where's Mike?" "Why do you smell burnt, and your gear... this..."
Soon, someone noticed that James's gear was breached. He had actually lost? Surrounded by instructors, James managed a bitter smile and said hoarsely, "I... lost..."
Silence rippled through the area like waves on water. The entire venue fell into a deathly quiet. Everyone was shocked by the news, struggling to come to terms with it. James... had lost to Mike, a mere D-level talent?
Meanwhile, an aged voice from inside the combat room reached everyone's ears, clear and distinct. "In this combat test, the winner is... Mike!"