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　　The first round of the tournament is halfway done……the previous match, the eighth of the round, was between one of our Vampire Knights, Cleon Radomir, and a Halfling from Liberty, and the latter ended up as the victor. And now, it's time for the ninth match…… 

  　　"Alright, we're just about halfway through round one of the competition, and it's been pretty exciting so far, wouldn't you say!?" Exclaimed Belia, pumping up the crowd, "And now, let's kick off the second half of round one, match number nine will be Prato of Abyss versus Oreg of the Rustlands!" 

  　　Oreg Dinwiy, he'd been a third year at the Adventurer Academy during my first year, and as I remember, he's quite a formidable fighter. 

  　　He uses Flight to stay in the air and out of his opponent's reach, and a crossbow attached to his arm to attack……but it looks like he's got a crossbow on both arms now, so he can attack more than he could before. 

  　　It only makes sense to assume that he's improved since his time at the Academy……I know he became a high level Adventurer upon graduating, but I never really saw him in action after that. He doesn't have any power boosts, no Demonic features or anything like that. 

  　　Meanwhile, my power level has now risen to a little bit above 25,000……I have the advantage in that regard, but I've beaten opponents with higher power levels than my own, I am not so foolish as to believe that someone with a lower power level than my own is incapable of defeating me. 

  　　Such thinking can prove to be fatal…… 

  　　"Alright, let the ninth match……BEGIN!"

  　　Oreg immediately flew up, firing out a couple of arrows at me, wind swirling around them. I swiftly deflected them by forming an Absolute Defense barrier, the arrows harmlessly bouncing off……gaining this Cross from Kuro has really widened my arsenal and gives me a lot more options to work with. 

  　　I then took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, before opening a small gap in the barrier, combining my Fire and Obliteration Magic and firing out a pinprick, rapid beam of purple heat up at him, which grazed the top of his left shoulder as he quickly flew down to avoid it, wincing as it seared his armor and burnt his skin. 

  　　Hm, this attack is pretty much impossible to dodge at close to mid range, but with how high up he is, it looks like he has that extra split second to react. And he's just about agile enough in the air to dodge. 

  　　I need to focus and concentrate harder……figure out exactly how quickly he moves, his movement patterns and habits, the speed of his attacks……understand all of those, and then lure him in using that knowledge. 

  　　This barrier won't last forever, but it doesn't need to……the longest I can keep it active is a minute, and once I do, I can't activate it again for a hundred and ten seconds. So, I'll end this within a minute. 

  　　I formed another gap in my barrier after deflecting a second volley of arrows, before firing another piercing beam at him, followed by another as he evaded it……okay, I'm starting to get a feel for his timing and speed. 

  　　He really does have impressive control and mastery over the Flight technique, but his attacks are too weak. Even without using my barrier, I could probably dodge those arrows without too much trouble. 

  　　I then slowly exhaled as my concentration peaked, heightening my senses and enveloping my mind in a sense of calm focus. It's time to end this. 

  　　As he fired another arrow at me, I decided to take down my barrier before using up the time limit, and without moving even a step, took aim and fired another piercing beam directly at the incoming arrow, burning it to ash and continuing on rapidly. 

  　　He began to respond in alarm, but the brief instant where he was surprised by me shooting down his arrow with such precision was all I needed……that fraction of a second of hesitation, proved to be his downfall. 

  　　He evaded the beam that scorched his arrow, but there was no dodging next attack, which struck the middle of his chest……before the safety barrier activated and teleported him out, before my attack could pierce through and kill him. 

  　　"Damn, that was pretty cool! And those attacks were hot, pun intended! The winner is, Prato of Abyss!" Announced Belia with a grin. 

  　　She's way too enthusiastic……it's somewhat annoying…… 

  　　———————————————————————————
　　Point-of-View: Jhin

  　　———————————————————————————
　　It's still quite early in the competition, but those of us representing Abyss have performed quite well to start off. With the exception of Cleon Radomir and Ekai Zabel, three of us have progressed to the next round, namely Azeria Folix, Rain and Prato Cichudde. 

  　　Lord Kuro did express his desire for our representatives to not dominate this tournament completely, so I believe that this is an adequate start. 

  　　And as for myself, I intend to win this competition……I have no particular reason, it is simply that I do not want to be defeated by anyone, that is all. 

  　　I have trained quite extensively with my new weapon, Excalibur, I am yet to fully master my use of it, but I believe that I have reached a reasonably competent level in wielding it. 

  　　It is finally my turn to fight, in the eleventh match. The tenth match was between two Halflings, one from Idyll and one from Liberty, the latter ending victorious in that encounter. 

  　　"Things are finally getting spicy, we've got the participant with the highest power level in this competition, Jhin of Abyss, versus Hefric of Idyll!" 

  　　My opponent is a Dwarf, this should be a rather easy fight. But I will not be so rude as to toy with my opponent, nor shall I underestimate him. 

  　　He must be aware of our difference in power levels, and yet, he appears quite determined and unshaken in his resolve. Impressive. 

  　　I shall not sully his resolve by refusing to take this fight seriously……no, I shall instead go at him with everything I have got. I clutched the handle of my sword as I prepared for the start of the battle, keeping a close eye on my opponent. 

  　　He weilds a short, heavy spear, and appears to be quite skilled with it……however, an ordinary weapon is useless against a weapon like Excalibur. As he will soon find out…… 

  　　"Let's go, BEGIN!" 

  　　I shot towards him at top speed, closing in on him rapidly, his eyes widening in alarm as I met his gaze from just a few inches away, my sword raised and poised to strike. 

  　　I then tightened my grip around the handle and swung the blade down at him, as he raised his spear defensively at an angle, aiming to parry my slash. 

  　　My blade struck his spear and cut through it, but because of the angle, he managed to partially change the line of my slash, the edge of my sword grazing his right shoulder as the blade of his spear was cut off. 

  　　He let out a determined roar as he then drove the blunt handle towards my throat, but before he could connect, I quickly spun my grip around and blocked his thrust with the base of my sword handle. 

  　　He began to spring back in response to his attack failing, but the moment he took a step back, I fired out a Destruction Magic blast from my mouth at him, which he was in no position to dodge. 

  　　Before my attack could blast a hole through his chest, he got teleported out, as I quickly dissipated the blast to prevent it from causing any damage to the arena. 

  　　Hm, not bad, that Dwarf was reasonably skilled……I expected it to only take a single attack to win this fight, but he managed to parry my slash and even attempt a counterattack. I did not think that I would need to resort to using Destruction Magic so early in the tournament. 

  　　I could have opted to use my Fire Magic instead, but a simple flame attack would likely have been insufficient to trigger the safety barrier, Dwarves are a rather sturdy and durable race, after all. Well, I emerged victorious in the end, so I suppose that it does not really matter…… 

  　　"Well, that was kinda one-sided, huh? The winner is……Jhin of Abyss!" 

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  　　Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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