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—!

the card to his shield, 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

Swoooosh—!

the ground

on the shield, I jumped up and did

"Was that it?"

myself from him, lowering his shield, John looked at me. Confusion flashed across

that the strength of your

edges of his

I touched

'Is one enough?'

one

inside of a specific area that would delay the flow. This was a feature that I suggested

Glad she listened.

"Try attacking again."

John taunted.

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

Bang—

before the shield, stomping my left foot on the ground, my body shot toward the right

Smack—!

shot out between the point of contact between my hand and the shield.

think two is

I stopped. Since the time limit was only ten seconds, there

considering my opponent's strength, this was

done playing

his brows tightly, he glared in

don't know what

careful if I were

SHUUUUA—!

finish his sentence, his shield glowed, and

scream before his whole body was

faint, I could hear a small scream coming out

"...Oh shit."

engulfing John grew, my

were a lot stronger than I had originally

found her

front of her, she scribbled a bunch of stuff on it. Next to her, Amanda had

her head, our eyes

'What did I expect?'

"What's going on here?"

then that a familiar

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

Swoooosh—!

Donna waved her hand and the flames

"Haaa..haaa..."

down on the ground. His breathing was extremely rough, and a part of his hair was burnt.

sighed in relief once I

specialized in

injured, I would've found myself in a bit of trouble. It wouldn't be to the extent of me getting kicked out by the Union or anything like that, but it would still be

"Did you do this?"

voice. Turning my head, my eyes interlocked with Donna's. She had

Gulp—!

have not been releasing any pressure, but the aura that her body gave off was no joke. It felt

it wasn't

she gave out wasn't anything I wasn't used

have no

"Huuuu..."

breath and lowering my head, I muttered inside of

'Monarch's indifference.'

***

couple of days and Donna was supposed to give a roundup to the

arrive at the residence, she suddenly saw

could also

direction of where the noise

that she saw two males fighting against each other. One seemed to be fine, while the other

she raised her hand and quickly removed the

the features of a young

'John Berson.'

Donna instantly recognized him.

of the few people she paid close

okay, she turned to face the perpetrator of

brows instantly knit as soon as

never seen

of all the five hundred participants, and yet, the

Instantly she became warier.

"Who are you?"