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—!

didn't want him to notice that I had attached 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

Swoooosh—!

the ground around

the shield, I jumped up

"Was that it?"

lowering his shield, John looked

that the strength of your

edges of his lips tugged

anything, I touched my

'Is one enough?'

one second and a half to activate

to, I could also delay the activation of the card by ten more seconds by channeling my mana inside of a specific area that would delay the flow. This was a feature that I suggested to her a while back and

Glad she listened.

"Try attacking again."

John taunted.

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

Bang—

ground, my body shot toward the right

Smack—!

point of contact between my hand and the

think two is

John once again, I stopped. Since the time limit was only ten seconds, there wasn't

opponent's strength,

you done playing

upright, John halted his steps. Furrowing his

what you just

be careful if I were

SHUUUUA—!

his shield glowed,

to scream before

I could hear a small scream coming out

"...Oh shit."

engulfing

a lot stronger than I had

in Melissa's direction, I found her looking at John's

front of her, she scribbled a bunch of stuff

eyes met

'What did I expect?'

"What's going on here?"

then that a familiar voice suddenly

I spotted a familiar figure rushing in our direction. Long

Swoooosh—!

her hand and the flames engulfing his

"Haaa..haaa..."

was extremely rough, and a

relief

specialized in

trouble. It wouldn't be to the extent of

"Did you do this?"

eyes interlocked with Donna's. She had an icy glare on her

Gulp—!

releasing any pressure, but the aura that

it wasn't anything

the pressure she gave out wasn't anything I wasn't used to as I quickly regained

have

"Huuuu..."

and lowering my

'Monarch's indifference.'

***

of days and Donna was supposed to give a roundup to the participants about who their opponents were and how the structure

the residence, she suddenly saw a bright flame in the

she could also hear a

hesitation, she dashed in the direction

then that she saw two males fighting against each other. One seemed to be fine, while the other was completely engulfed in

her hand and quickly removed the flames away from the individual's

quickly dissipated away, revealing the features of a young

'John Berson.'

Donna instantly recognized him.

was one of the few people she paid close attention to

that he was okay, she turned to face the perpetrator of

knit as soon

never seen him

five hundred participants, and yet, the face before her was not someone

Instantly she became warier.

"Who are you?"