17 – The Festival (3)
The arena tournament returns after a year.
A typical arena tournament would not receive much attention.
Because it would not be held during a festive period like the present.
Consequently, the audience would only consist of the regulars who usually attended.
But not this time.
Perhaps because it was held during the festival period.
– Wowww!!
The stands were full, with more people than usual.
The participants had decided to give it their all this time.
Showing a good performance in the arena tournament could lead to a meteoric rise.
And naturally, Crimson, one of the favorites to win the tournament, was no exception.
I had intended to give my all in this competition.
But suddenly, a strange entrant appeared.
Unlike the others, he wore a mask, hiding his identity.
Moreover, his body appeared to be incredibly frail.
The other participants, including myself, couldn’t help but feel offended.
It felt as though we were being underestimated.
We planned to teach him a lesson together in the match.
But contrary to expectations.
“Argh!”
“Get him!”
The masked man was mercilessly beating the participants.
He looked ordinary on the outside.
Yet, the strength behind each of his strikes sent the participants sprawling to the floor.
“What on earth…”
A situation far different from what anyone had anticipated was unfolding.
While Crimson was at a loss for words at the sight unfolding before him.
“Gah!”
Kael had grabbed a participant by the throat.
Then, overlaying his hand with magical power.
– Boom!
He unleashed the magic in a burst, slamming the participant into the ground.
The participant was knocked out cold.
‘Hmm, he must be robust because he’s in good shape.’
A normal person would have died from that attack.
But these participants must be quite sturdy, true to their form.
Thanks to that, it was much easier to control the strength of my blows.
“Now then.”
Kael quietly regarded the participants before him.
They wore expressions of panic.
Judging from their looks, they hadn’t expected to be on the receiving end.
Carael looked at them and posed a question.
“So, what did you say earlier? That I’m frail?”
For the record, he exercises every day.
But, unlike them, he doesn’t do it foolishly.
It’s certain that his body isn’t in bad condition.
He’s undoubtedly robust and very strong.
Yet, it’s not efficient.
Such muscles that are all show have their limits.
“Sorry, but these are compact muscles.”
Saying this, he knocked out each one of them with a single punch.
Crimson bit his lower lip so hard it might bleed, watching the participants continue to fall unconscious.
At this rate, including himself, all participants would be disqualified against this man.
‘It seems this guy must be a warrior mage.’
Carael, enshrouded in magical energy, took down one after another.
Though strong, he clearly had a weakness.
If they all attacked together, even he would have to allow a hit through.
“Everyone, charge!”
Hearing this, all participants nodded in agreement.
The next moment, the whole group of participants charged towards Carael.
Carael murmured to himself, watching them come.
“Hmm. Seems they really think I’m a warrior mage.”
Certainly, there would be no surprise in the misunderstanding.
After all, for a magician, the movement he displayed just now was exceptional.
‘And.’
He thinks this strategy isn’t too bad.
Because the common weakness of ordinary warrior mages is ganging up on them.
But, that’s only when talking about the ordinary ones.
-Hmm.
Carael promptly began drawing a magic circuit.
A complex spell formation appeared before Carael.
Upon seeing it, Crimson instinctively felt it.
That the man before him was not a matador.
He immediately drew on his magic.
In a moment, as the magic wrapped around his body.
– Blizzard.
– Shhssshhh!!!
The temperature in the surroundings dropped drastically in a moment.
At the same time, the bodies of the participants excluding him froze.
“Heugh. Heugh.”
Crimson was gasping for breath, unexpected magic effect.
If he hadn’t just released his magic, he would have turned into the same state as the other participants.
“I knew I adjusted the power, but you held on well.”
Kael looked surprised as he watched Crimson gasping for breath.
Unlike them, the participants’ bodies are all frozen stiff except for their faces.
However, in contrast, only one arm was frozen.
The other half was in relatively good shape.
Of course, it looked like he was about to collapse soon.
‘On the outside, it looks different but the inside is a mess.’
Whether it was because he had just released his magic with all his might, the circuits inside his body were completely tangled.
It’s clear that he had overdone it to block the attack just now.
It was then.
“You. What’s your identity? You don’t seem ordinary.”
Crimson looked at him and asked.
Kael replied to him in an emotionless voice.
“It’s not going to do you any good to know.”
With those words, he struck the back of Crimson’s neck.
– Thud!
The next moment, he collapsed on the spot.
At the same time.
– The winner advancing to the main game is Participant Kael!
And then, the preliminaries came to an end.
***
At the same time.
There were those in the audience seats observing the situation.
They were none other than the nobles in the VIP room.
“Did such a magician exist?”
“What is that man’s identity?”
“More than that, what was that magic just now? It was my first time seeing it?”
It was no wonder the nobles were reacting this way.
The overwhelming power that Karel just displayed was a level that even the fairly composed magicians couldn’t match.
Where on earth did such a magician suddenly appear from?
For a moment, they all harbored the same question.
“……..”
Jane, the leader of the hero party, was closely observing Karel.
She couldn’t identify the man behind the perception-inhibiting mask.
However, one thing was certain.
‘The magic just now was completely different.’
The surrounding nobles were amazed by his magic, but from her perspective, it was not just that.
‘Does such a magician really exist?’
From the start, to call him a warrior mage wasn’t an exaggeration.
And he wasn’t just a regular warrior mage but an existence of a completely different level.
‘He was definitely controlling his power.’
If it had ended here, she too would have found it understandable.
However, she thought he was a warrior mage, but suddenly he used magic.
Not just ordinary magic, but enough to freeze the entire auditorium.
Yet, he managed to control his magic so well that the faces of the participants did not freeze over.
‘I didn’t have high expectations, but who knew I’d discover such a magician.’
Pleased with the unexpected talent, she wore a content smile.
-‘Karel, I’m sorry, but can you leave the party?’
For an instant, Karel’s face sprang into her mind.
A sense of guilt needlessley welled up within her heart.
However, she soon shook her head, casting off such thoughts.
‘I cannot stay idle here.’
There was a sense of regret towards him, but she could not simply stand still.
Would they be able to defeat the demon clan just by idly standing by?
Having collected her thoughts, Jane turned her head towards Livia and Seria, her fellow party members.
Then, she brought up a question.
“What do you think by the two of you?”
“I find it fine. Even for a Gladiator, his movements were decent, and the magic he was using earlier was too. He seemed superior to the mages we’ve seen up to now.”
At that question, Livia earnestly gazed down at the man named Kyle in the amphitheatre, as if she was surprised.
If the saintly girl had said that much, it was fair enough to consider her words conclusive.
Jane now turned her head towards Seria.
Then, she looked down at Kyle and raised a question.
“What do you think?”
“There’s no need to doubt his skills, that’s for sure.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. But the most important thing is to find a rhythm together, isn’t it?”
Exactly as she said.
No matter how excellent one’s skills may be, if the rhythm was not matched, it could actually spell trouble.
At those words, Jane nodded, and Seria spoke in a serious tone.
“Shall I test him out directly?”
“Test?”
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“Yeah. I think they’ll permit it if it’s from a sponsor. What do you think?”
Upon hearing those words, Seria silently looked at Merial.
Then, Merial stared at the man named Kyle in the amphitheatre.
‘Why did this guy participate here?’
Unlike others, she recognized in an instant that the masked man was Kyle.
Others might not know, but she had seen Kyle’s magic countless times.
So, there was no way she could fail to recognize him.
‘Hmm, it doesn’t matter.’
Although I know a fair amount about Kael’s past, as far as I know, he isn’t particularly concerned with the Hero Party.
He’s overcome his past, so it’s all fine now.
And yet…
‘I honestly want to see it once.’
His re-education of the Hero Party in action.
Meria, who had sorted out her thoughts, nonchalantly nodded her head.
“Well, if you, a member of the Hero Party bring it up, it would be better for us.”
“Did you hear? I’ll test it myself then?”
“Haah, understood.”
With that said, Seria, the ranger of the Hero Party, was set to participate.
Unknowingly, the person they were trying to recruit was Kael.