Arcane Era-Chapter 42: Exam Progression

The second day of the Combat Exams rolled around, and it took on a similar format as the first—though, since the contestants had already picked their opponents the previous day, the event went straight to the action.

Arlet was the first to fight, and he faced off against a girl who used a bow and arrows. They weren’t Armaments, but she wore gloves that were. The gloves imbued the arrows she shot with a certain lustrous light that improved their speed and piercing power.

None of that mattered, however, since Arlet was able to destroy all of her projectiles before they got dangerously close to him. In order to finish things very quickly, he quickly released an incredible burst of lightning—causing it to surge all over the battlefield.

The young lady didn’t have a chance and lost rather quickly.

After Arlet won, he returned his Arcane Instrument—the lightning stave—to the inner pocket of his suit and retreated to the seat of contestants, eyes peeled for the next match.

—Theo’s fight.

His opponent was a man who had a mask that could turn him invisible, or, more specifically, allowed him to perfectly blend with his environment. Like a chameleon, he would fuse with his environment, imperceptible to the sight.

However, this was another terrible matchup for Theo’s opponent.

’I can detect things with more than just my eyes.’ He smiled, easily spotting his target. ’Any normal person may have been thrown for a loop, but my senses are too sharp to be tricked that easily.’ freewebnøvel.com

Without an ounce of mercy, he sent his most powerful wave of flames flying in the unsuspecting man’s direction. Since he was a member of the Mercenary Crew, Theo had no intention to show him any mercy. And so, upon seeing the intense flames charging in his direction—possessing no defensive Armament—the man was consumed by the flames, screaming in agony as the second round ended.

Arlet noticed Theo’s brutality and smiled slightly—completely misunderstanding the situation.

A few members of the audience were disturbed by the cruel display, but most of them cheered for Theo and made a standing ovation. This was a fight, in the end, and the people who attended desired to witness violence in its rawest form.

Arcane Instruments were meant to elevate fights beyond the realm of normalcy and display even more of the savagery that mortalkind was capable of. Arlet’s fights were graceful and swift—offering a brutal, but brief conclusion to the exchange. However, for an audience, they appreciated more showmanship... more intensity... more pain.

And Theo’s burning flames were a perfect conduit for those seeking to fulfill their desires to place their expectations on.

Judging by the noise the crowd made, they weren’t disappointed at all.

The rounds continued, and once Liyah’s turn came, she was able to better display the effectiveness of her Arcane Instrument. Unlike the previous opponent, who was too swift and slippery to be properly aimed at, her new adversary was a bulky man who wielded what resembled a forger’s hammer.

That was his Armament, and it had the ability to shatter even metal with a single strike. The recoil from using such a weapon would cause most wielders to shatter their bones upon use, but the wielder had a very muscular physique and his huge figure made many to mistake him for a giant.

His Armament was perfect for him.

However, this wasn’t a problem at all for Liyah, who was much too fast to be hit by such a slow Armament, and who also had a long-range weapon of her own which she could fire from her preferred distance.

It only took three consecutive shots of ’Stun’ and one of ’Damage’ to send his Arcane Instrument crashing down, and with it... the man as well.

Everyone else fought, until only eight people passed the next round.

"It’s time for our quarter finals, everyone."

Claudius jumped on stage, calling all of the contestants back as he beamed with delight. The just-concluded series of rounds were certainly much better than the previous day’s. The audience was electric with anticipation for what came next, and the collective mood of excitement within the hall was soaring.

Without wasting any time, the third series of rounds would begin.

Just as before, the first half of the remaining contestants picked their next opponents from the bowl that Claudius’ assistant placed before each of them. For the first time ever, Theo nervously opened his, while also peeping at Arlet’s so he could see what he drew.

The root of his nervousness dwelled in the fact that either of them could pick the number of his friend. They finally unrolled their paper, and fortunately, none of them chose Liyah

’But... looks like I’m facing someone problematic too.’ Theo glanced at his next opponent. The man had a burn scar on his face, making it appear a little deformed.

From what he remembered, this was the leader of the low-level Mercenaries he and his friends saw that night. However, after observing his demeanor—during fights and outside the ring—Theo was certain this was a different person. Still, unable to expose his identity or even explore further into the truth, he kept quiet and waited his turn to fight.

As always, Arlet made light work of his adversary.

It was too unfair to even be called a match, and while the audience was amazed by the power he displayed, the fight ended too quickly—and it was too boring—so they were not even close to being satisfied.

Then, Theo’s round came.

"Next we have a match between Number 2, Theo, and Number 5, Freddy."

Eyes were already shining in anticipation as the small, black-haired boy stepped on the stage and stood face-to-face against the man with the deformed face.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1...!"

As soon as the last number was called, both opponents charged at each other, causing the audience’s excitement to surge. Careful matches were boring to watch, but full-blown confrontations like this were the best to watch.

Theo activated his flaming dagger and sent his most intense wave of heat charging at his opponent. However, Freddy had already activated his own Armament—one that coated his body in a metallic sheen—and dived headfirst into the flames, hoping to emerge from it and surprise Theo with a fierce right hook.

However, not only did Theo avoid his opponent’s powerful swing, he also responded with an equally devastating uppercut.

No, his blow was actually more acute.

"Guh!"

Despite being shrouded by a layer of defense, Freddy stumbled back upon receiving the hit—his eyes wide with shock as he stared blankly into space. How had he—who was being protected by an Armament—been hit by the mere blow of a child?

Did Theo have a third Armament that granted him immense strength? One that didn’t come at the cost of his physical wellbeing?

Many thoughts rampaged Freddy’s mind in that fraction of a moment, and by the time his mind jerked back to reality, he saw Theo already in front of him—ready to deliver another ardent blow.

"Tch!" Raising both hands, he protected his face.

Unfortunately for him, Theo was not targeting his upper body, but rather somewhere lower... much lower.

BAM!

"A-Awoooo...!" Freddy howled as his eyes bulged, nearly popping out of his sockets as soon as he felt a tingling sensation spread from his nether regions. Within a second, immense pain traveled through his body and he found legs trembling as he fell to his knees.

Theo mercilessly took that opportunity to grab his face and use his knee to crush his metallic nose. A crunching sound echoed within the arena, but was soon silenced by multiple noises formed by the impact of his fist on the man’s face.

BAM!

POW!

BAM! BAM!!

More and more strikes, each having an equal measure of strength in them, flew towards the man’s face. It almost seemed like his metal skin was only for display, as his painful cries filled the air as he received blow after blow from Theo.

Some members of the audience pitied him, but their murmurs of concern were drowned in cheers for Theo to continue. And he would have gladly done so.

However—

"Your opponent is unconscious... you win." Claudius climbed the stage right as Theo raised both hands, clasping them together as he aimed for his opponent’s bloodied face.

The metal skin was gone, leaving his scarred face that had gotten even more deformed after receiving all of Theo’s blows. Upon hearing Claudius’ voice, feeling his hand on his shoulder, he groaned and rose to his feet, leaving the unconscious man rolling on the ground.

"Okay..." He muttered silently.

He left the stage, his hand covered in blood, as he sat among his fellow contestants—most of which stared at him in horror and shock. Even the audience, who had previously cheered for him, became taken aback once they witnessed just how battered he had left his opponent.

The same question coursed through everyone’s mind.

How could such a small, scrawny boy, beat a man to such an extent without flinching for once?

Many of them suspected Theo had used a hidden Armament, so they considered it believable to an extent. One could only imagine how shocked they would be if they ever found out he was able to overpower an Arcane Instrument with merely his own strength.

Such an existence... how could they exist in a world ruled by the Armaments?

*************

"Congratulations to you four who have made it this far." Claudius smiled as he addressed the contestants who stood in a straight line before him and faced the audience.

Arlet, Theo, Liyah, and Austin.

Theo glanced at the latter, recognizing him as the man whom he witnessed burning to death. Whoever had taken up that name was most certainly not Austin, but an impostor—just like every other member of the Mercenary Crew.

"Tomorrow will be the last day of the Combat Exams and it will feature both the semi-finals and finals. Be prepared, everyone... it’s going to be the most exciting series of rounds you’ve ever seen!"

Hearing all those words from Claudius, Theo felt conflicted emotions.

’Seems I’m either facing Liyah or Austin, and either way... it’s complicated.’ A sigh escaped his lips as he had the thought. ’Liyah has already displayed enough to show that she will be a capable Combat Staff of the Guild, so even if she loses here... it’s perfectly fine. At the same time, if I end up fighting and eliminating this Austin fellow, that pretty much rules out everyone affiliated with the Mercenary Crew. Doesn’t that mean that their plan is affected?’

As he was having this thought, ready to pick from the bowl that was placed before him, a voice suddenly caused all action in the room to cease.

"Wait!"

Everyone froze as they raised their heads, their eyes focused on the man above who spoke.

It was none other than Shen Ak’ashi.

"Things will end up getting too stale and predictable if we go on like this." The Supreme Lord of Tyranny said with a smile, staring at the contestants lined up beneath him.

"I have a more interesting arrangement."