After Elira's match, there were a few more matches. Soon, the first round of the recruitment event ended without any suspense. Except for Elira, there were no other newcomers who had survived the second round.
The whole event took only a few hours as there were five arena stages in total and since this was the preliminary selection around, many fights were happening simultaneously.
After the last fight, the crowd started dispersing. Elira slipped out by covering her face and then met up with Liam in a local inn near the edge of the city.
The atmosphere was quieter here, filled mostly with city people who hadn't attended the fights. Liam smiled as he saw Elira hastily eating dinner. "You were amazing out there," he said, offering her a cup of wine and gesturing for her to slow down.
"Thank you, but it's far from over," Elira replied, taking a sip. "The real challenges are yet to come."
"Indeed," Liam agreed. "But today you've proven that you're more than capable. So you can ease up a little and relax. Otherwise, you will not be in the best mental state tomorrow."
Elira nodded. The two of them then ate the rest of the food in silence. Eldrin had given enough tokens to them so they did not have to think about their expenses.
After they finished eating, they paid for their meal and left the table. Liam walked Elira to the room where she was staying. Before they parted, he looked at her and said, "Get some rest. Tomorrow is another day, another battle. You'll need all the strength you can muster."
Elira nodded. "I will, thank you, master."
With that, they both retired to their rooms, and Elira entered hers, with her mind full of thoughts about the day, and the battles ahead. Thanks to the human being, her master or rather her teacher, she was no longer miserable.
However, there was one thing that bothered her. Her teacher's eyes were always sad. It did not matter if he was training or fighting a beast or talking casually. He had a lot of sadness.
"I cannot disappoint him." Elira clenched her fist. Even though she knew that she did not mean much to him, no one else had given her the chance he had given her. At least for that, she needed to repay him.
But for now, she needed to rest. Rest was crucial. She closed the door behind her, took a deep breath, and laid down to sleep for a while.
The second day of the recruitment event was more tedious than the first day as each participant had to face several opponents. This was also the last and final day when the event ended.
Apparently, because of a royal decree the recruitment event that lasted for five days typically ended only in two days this time. No one really cared about it as changes were quite common.
While Elira prepared for her upcoming fights, Liam once again sat amidst the audience, silently observing everything. The elf couldn't help but notice this and felt nervous.
Unlike the other elf who hadn't shown up after he had dropped them off, her master was sitting in the audience to cheer for her. She was touched. She knew that she had to win this no matter what.
The matches started one after the other in full swing and Elira's turn quickly arrived.
To her surprise, the opponents this time around were a lot weaker than her first day opponent. Defeating one elf after another, she cruised her way through the recruitment event.
She also did not reveal any of her cards. She only used the same attack over and over again, winning all of her matches through sheer strength.
If her opponents or anyone else watching thought she was a one-trick pony, so much the better. Keeping her other abilities a secret could give her an edge in future battles.
By the end of the day, Elira became one of the ten finalists. Out of these ten, only one elf would be chosen as a famed royal guard and she knew that these ten would not be weak.
At this point, the floating stage in the arena lit up and each match was individually conducted for everyone to see.
The crowd's excitement reached a fever pitch as the finalists took their positions. Even among the elite, Elira could sense that the competition was on a whole different level. Could she really do it? No. She had to do it no matter what.
The announcer's voice echoed through the arena, announcing the first matchup. As luck would have it, Elira's name was called first, pitting her against someone who looked seasoned, a scar running right across his face.
Elira did not wait this time around and made her move first, immediately casting the strongest wind spears she could summon. However, the opponent easily dodged the attacks as he weaved his way through the arena, closing the gap between them in a second.
The elf had a dagger in his hand and unleashed a series of quick slashes with his weapon, forcing Elira to retreat. But she was not flustered as this was never her last stand.
She sucked in a quick breath of air and once again waved her staff. Sizzling Tornado! The attack that her master had personally taught her!
The arena was suddenly filled with the deafening sound of swirling winds, and the air around her staff began to spiral violently. A tornado that howled in hunger burst forth from the tip of her staff, racing toward her opponent.
The elf's eyes widened in surprise, clearly not expecting this level of magic. This was not something he could dodge but he wasn't out of options. He immediately erected several layers of mana barriers.
The tornado was too fast and too large but the barrier held strong. Elira frowned. She still remained calm as this also wasn't her limit.
With a guttural shout, Elira infused the tornado with an additional burst of mana, causing it to surge in size and power.
Lightning bolts sizzled here and there, every single one of them extremely powerful and capable of smiting the recipient.
This attack cost her a lot of mana but Elira persevered. No matter how agile the elf was he couldn't predict the pattern of the lightning bolts that randomly surged here and there.
Within seconds, a couple hit him directly and the mana barriers shattered like glass, unable to withstand the attack.
Elira's eyes immediately lit up. This was her win!
She used this chance to send another barrage of wind spears to close the deal, but at the last moment… the bracelet the elf wore shone bright golden in color.