The Author's POV

"Huuup!"

Jumping down from the building and softly landing on the ground, I walked over to Hein.

"You okay?"

"…Yeah."

He replied, his eyes darting all over the shield. My brows furrowed at his actions.

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing."

Taking out a handkerchief, he slowly wiped away the dirt that was on his shield.

A sigh escaped from my lips once I saw this. Ever since Henlour, he had always been acting up like that whenever his shield got dirty. I didn't even know how to react at this point.

That aside, apart from minor dust on his body and shield, he truly did look fine.

"We'll talk more later. For now, step back."

"Wai—"

Cutting him off, I extended my hand and turned my head.

"Don't worry, I'm only borrowing him. You can fight him later."

My goal was to test the magic cards. I wasn't going to kill him. Hein could easily fight against him in the future. Plus, at the moment John was still stronger than Hein by one minor rank.

"…fine."

What I said seemed to have some effect on Hein who eventually stepped back. I nodded in satisfaction.

Looks like he still had some respect for me.

"You still didn't answer me, who are you?"

John's voice rang from behind as a powerful wave of mana sprung from his body.

Ignoring him, lowering my head, I stared at the cards in my hand.

'Fireball, Ice wall, quake, and blind.'

They were the spells enchrypted in the magic cards. They were quite the simple spells, but they were still quite powerful. At least, they were powerful enough to deal with the person in front of me.

The reason why Melissa chose to encrypt these spells was because the others were just too complicated for her current level of development.

Lifting my head and staring at the place which was surrounded by people, I looked back at John.

"Looks like a big crowd has formed around us."

"That's good."

John lowered his body and took out his shield. He took a stance that looked similar to that of Hein. But, if I had to say, It was a bit more refined. Not sure if it was a bit more efficient though.

"I'll keep you in check until the others come. See how you can explain the fact that you are here despite not being one of the people participating."

I rolled my eyes at his words.

Honestly, if I explained to him properly, I could resolve this whole conflict, but…why would I?

Had the perfect testing material right in front of me. Why would I miss such a good opportunity?

Turning my head, I looked at Hein and softly muttered.

"Pay close attention."

Bang—!

Then, pressing my foot onto the ground, I shot in John's direction. Within a couple of seconds, I was already before him.

"Huuup!"

Reacting to my sudden burst of speed, taking a step forward, the ground beneath John cracked apart and small pieces of rock shot upwards.

Dodging the pieces of rock, I swiftly arrived before him. As I arrived before me, in my view, all I saw was a massive shield. It looked as though I was facing a massive tortoise.

Quite frankly, despite my experience, I saw no openings. Still, I wasn't disheartened by this.

'Let's see.'

Taking out the 'fireball' magic card, I channeled my mana into it. Then, turning my body sideways, I skid before the shield and smacked the card right on it.

Smack—!

I put quite a bit of force into my attack. The moment my hand smacked against the shield, a circular pressurized wind gale outwardly shot from the contact point

Swoooosh—!

result, the ground around

the shield, I jumped up

"Was that it?"

him, lowering his shield, John looked at

the strength

once again questioned. The edges of

anything, I

'Is one enough?'

me, it would take one second

inside of a specific area that would delay the flow. This was a feature that I suggested to her a while back and the one that I wanted

Glad she listened.

"Try attacking again."

John taunted.

magic card and once again dashed in his direction. The speed at which I was going was the

Bang—

on the ground, my body shot toward the right side and I once again smacked a

Smack—!

of contact between my hand and the shield. Despite

think two

away from John once again, I stopped. Since the time limit was only ten

my opponent's

you done playing

upright, John halted his steps. Furrowing his brows tightly, he

know what you

if

SHUUUUA—!

finish his sentence, his shield glowed, and

have enough time to scream before his whole body was

could hear a small

"...Oh shit."

and the flames engulfing John grew, my eyes opened

flames were a lot stronger than I had originally

my head in Melissa's direction, I found her looking at John's burning body

stuff on it. Next to her, Amanda had a helpless

her head, our eyes met

'What did I expect?'

"What's going on here?"

that a

I spotted a familiar figure rushing in our direction. Long black hair, amethyst color hair, it

Swoooosh—!

right before John, Donna waved her hand and the flames engulfing his body completely

"Haaa..haaa..."

extremely rough, and a part of his hair was burnt. Fortunately, that was the extent of

relief

he specialized in

he truly been heavily injured, I would've found myself in a bit of trouble. It wouldn't be to the extent

"Did you do this?"

out of my thoughts was an airy voice. Turning my head, my eyes interlocked with Donna's. She had an icy glare on her face as she

Gulp—!

releasing any pressure, but the aura that her body gave off was no

it wasn't anything too

close to ranks before, the pressure she gave out wasn't anything I wasn't used to as I quickly regained

I have

"Huuuu..."

and lowering my head, I muttered inside of

'Monarch's indifference.'

***

up in a couple of days and Donna was supposed to give a roundup to the participants about

just as she was about to arrive at the residence, she suddenly saw a bright

she could also

hesitation, she dashed in the direction of where the noise

she arrived, it was then that she saw two males fighting against each other. One seemed to

hesitation, she raised her hand and quickly removed the

away, revealing the features

'John Berson.'

Donna instantly recognized him.

paid

that he was okay, she turned to face

as soon as

never seen

the faces of all the five hundred participants, and yet, the face before her

Instantly she became warier.

"Who are you?"