Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 35

The next morning had a better weather than Monday, with clear skies and enough warmth that students weren’t shivering while waiting for matches to begin. William arrived at the arena early and found the Ascendant section already populated with students who had been eliminated the day before, now serving as spectators for those who’d advanced.

The quarterfinals would reduce the field from sixteen to eight, and then semifinals would happen in the afternoon to determine the final four. Tomorrow would be essence demonstrations for the remaining competitors, followed by written exams to establish the final rankings and select the top five.

William checked the bracket board and confirmed his match against Cole Rivers was scheduled for mid-morning on platform seven. He had time to watch a few other matches first, so he settled into a seat and observed the early fights.

Adrian Vex fought first from the Ascendant group, facing a third-year student who specialized in water affinity techniques. The match was educational—Adrian dominated through superior essence control and tactical awareness, never letting his opponent establish the rhythm needed for effective water manipulation. The fight ended in five minutes with Adrian barely looking winded.

Mira’s match happened on a different platform, and William caught glimpses of it between watching his own bracket. She was fighting another upperclassman, and the match turned into a technical battle of shadow constructs versus lightning enhancement. Mira won, but it took longer than her previous fights and she looked more tired afterward.

"William Cross and Cole Rivers to platform seven," the judge announced.

William made his way to the platform and found Cole already there, warming up with practice swings. Cole was slightly shorter than William, built more compact and solid, with fire affinity markings similar to William’s own.

"Didn’t expect to fight another first-year this early," Cole said while taking his stance.

"Same," William replied.

The judge checked that both were ready. "Begin."

Cole opened aggressively, immediately enhancing his weapon with fire essence and launching into a combination of strikes that tested William’s defense. The attacks were well-executed and showed solid fundamentals, but William had spent months training with more stronger people, he’d faced far more intense pressure than this.

William blocked the combination and countered with his own enhanced strikes. Fire clashed against fire as both students pushed essence into their weapons, creating small bursts of heat and sparks with each impact.

Cole tried to maintain his offensive pressure, probably hoping to overwhelm William before the fight turned into an endurance match. It was a reasonable strategy against most opponents, but William’s essence capacity was S-tier even if his control was only C rank. He could sustain enhancement longer than Cole expected.

Three minutes in, William noticed Cole’s breathing getting heavier despite trying to hide it. The aggressive opening had cost essence reserves that Cole needed to maintain his enhancement, and now he was stuck in a position where backing off would surrender momentum.

William pressed the advantage, increasing his tempo and forcing Cole to defend more than attack. Fire enhancement met fire enhancement repeatedly, but William’s strikes were more controlled and precise, wasting less essence on excessive power.

Cole attempted a desperate gambit, gathering fire essence for a concentrated burst technique that would either break William’s defense or exhaust his remaining reserves. William saw it coming and adjusted his stance, reinforcing his guard with layered enhancement.

The burst struck his sword and sent a wave of heat across the platform, but William’s defense held. Cole’s technique had spent everything he had left, and now he stood there with essence pathways visibly flickering from depletion.

William’s counter strike came fast and clean, stopping just short of Cole’s chest.

"Match to Cross," the judge called.

Cole lowered his weapon and nodded with a tired smile. "Good fight. Your essence capacity is ridiculous."

"You fought well," William said. "That final technique almost broke through."

"Almost doesn’t advance me to the semifinals you know," Cole pointed out, but he didn’t sound bitter about it.

They left the platform and William checked the bracket. His semifinal match would be against whoever won between a third-year earth user and a fourth-year wind specialist. Both were skilled competitors, which meant the afternoon fight would be significantly harder than this morning’s match.

William found a spot to rest and watched the remaining quarterfinal matches. The skill level had noticeably increased from yesterday, these were students who’d won three fights each, and it showed in their technique and tactical awareness.

Adrian advanced to semifinals as expected, and Mira also made it through despite looking increasingly tired. The other two Ascendant semifinalists were both fourth-years William didn’t know personally, though he’d seen them around the house common areas.

Lunch period arrived and William grabbed food while avoiding the crowded areas where students gathered to socialize. He found a quiet corner and was halfway through eating when someone sat down across from him.

Claire.

"Congratulations on making semifinals," she said with her usual composed expression. "I’ve been watching some of your matches."

’What’s with these girls stalking me senselessly?’

William felt his guard go up immediately because Claire was at forty-four percent according to the last system check, which put her dangerously close to the activation threshold.

"Thanks. How are your matches going?"

"I advanced to Luminara’s semifinals as well," Claire said. "Though I have to fight Liam this afternoon, which should be entertaining in a ’getting completely destroyed’ sort of way."

"You might surprise him."

"I appreciate the optimism, but let’s be realistic." Claire picked at her food without much interest. "I’ve been meaning to ask—have you noticed anything unusual about yourself lately? Physically or with your essence pathways?"

The question was delivered casually, but William recognized it for what it was, Claire was still investigating whatever she suspected about the curse.

"Nothing unusual," William said carefully. "Why?"

"Just curious. You’ve improved remarkably quickly, and I wondered if there was a specific technique or approach you were using." Claire’s eyes studied him with uncomfortable intensity. "Or perhaps something else contributing to your development."

"Nah, it’s just consistent training," William said. "Liam’s been helping with sparring practice, and Master Erian provided some refinement guidance."

"Mm. I’m sure that’s all it is." Claire’s tone suggested she didn’t believe that for a second, but she didn’t push further. "Well, good luck this afternoon. I’ll be watching when I’m not getting demolished by Liam."

She left before William could respond, and he felt a headache forming. Claire was too perceptive for her own good, and the curse percentage being so close to activation made every interaction with her feel like navigating a minefield.

William finished lunch quickly and headed back to the arena for afternoon matches. The semifinals would determine who reached the final four, and then tomorrow’s essence demonstrations would rank those four along with the other competition elements.

His match was scheduled for early afternoon against Marcus Thorne, the fourth-year wind specialist who had won his quarterfinal. William had watched that match and knew Marcus was fast with excellent mobility and range control.

"William Cross and Marcus Thorne to platform seven."

William took the platform and found Marcus already stretching, his movements loose and relaxed despite the pressure of a semifinal match.

"I heard you trained with Liam Hemsworth," Marcus said conversationally. "Is that true?"

"We spar sometimes," William confirmed.

"Interesting. Let’s see what you learned from him."

The judge called the start and Marcus immediately created distance, using wind essence to enhance his movement speed. He circled the platform’s edge while launching quick probing strikes that forced William to defend without committing to counterattacks.

It was a smart strategy, use superior mobility to control engagement distance and wear down opponents who couldn’t match the movement speed. William had faced this exact approach from Teresa yesterday, but Marcus was significantly better at executing it.

William enhanced his sword with fire and attempted to create heat zones that would limit Marcus’s movement options, but Marcus adapted by using wind techniques to disperse the flames before they could establish persistent barriers.

Three had minutes passed with neither landing significant hits. William was burning essence maintaining his fire enhancement while Marcus spent his on constant movement and wind techniques. It was becoming an endurance match where whoever ran out of reserves first would lose.

William adjusted his approach, using what Liam had taught him about sustainable enhancement rather than constant high-output techniques. He smoothed his essence flow and focused on efficiency rather than power, conserving energy while maintaining defensive pressure.

Marcus noticed the change and increased his tempo, probably trying to force William back into wasteful high-output responses. William resisted the urge and maintained his controlled approach, trusting that his S-tier essence capacity would outlast Marcus’s reserves even with inefficient technique usage.

Five minutes in, Marcus’s wind enhancement started showing weak spots, small gaps where his movement speed dropped or his strikes came with less force behind them. The constant mobility was draining him faster than he could sustain.

William pressed forward, using fire enhancement to force Marcus into closer engagements where his wind mobility advantage was less effective. Marcus tried to create distance again, but his essence reserves were depleted enough that William could keep pace.

The fight shifted into William’s favor as Marcus’s techniques degraded from essence depletion. William landed a solid strike that broke through weakened wind enhancement, followed by a combination that forced Marcus into a defensive position he couldn’t escape from.

William’s final strike stopped just short of Marcus’s shoulder which was a clear winning blow.

"Match to Cross," the judge called.

Marcus lowered his weapon and shook his head with a rueful expression. "Damn. I thought I could outlast you with mobility, but your essence reserves are deeper than I expected."

"You almost had me," William admitted.

"Almost doesn’t count," Marcus said, echoing Cole’s earlier sentiment.

William left the platform feeling more tired than his previous matches. Marcus had pushed him harder and forced him to fight a longer, more tactical battle. The final would be even worse, either Adrian or one of the other fourth-years, all of whom had more experience and refined techniques.

He found a seat and watched Adrian’s semifinal match. The house captain fought with ruthless efficiency, overwhelming his opponent through superior essence control and technical precision. The match ended in four minutes with Adrian barely looking challenged.

Mira’s semifinal was closer, and William watched with interest as she pushed her shadow manipulation techniques to impressive levels. Her opponent was a fourth-year with lightning affinity, and the match turned into a battle of speed versus stealth. Mira won, but she looked exhausted afterward and would clearly struggle in the finals.

The final bracket posted and William found his name paired against Adrian Vex for the finals tomorrow morning. The house captain versus a first-year, it wasn’t going to be a close match, but at least making it this far guaranteed advancement to the essence demonstrations.

The top four from combat were William, Adrian, Mira, and another fourth-year named Patricia Crane who’d won her bracket. All four would compete in tomorrow’s essence demonstrations, and then rankings would be established through combined performance scores.

William headed back to his dormitory as evening approached, feeling the accumulated fatigue from multiple matches. His essence pathways weren’t damaged, but they were definitely strained from sustained enhancement usage over two days.

Kai looked up when William entered. "You made the final four?"

"Yeah."

"I’m surprised"

"Yeah"

"Against Adrian tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Good luck with that," Kai said dryly. "He’s going to destroy you."

"What are you even? Some type of God?," William replied while dropping onto his bed.

Kai just smirked and shrugged his shoulder, "I’m just background noise"

"That’s some awareness for a background noise isn’t it" William questioned.

Kai didn’t reply anymore and just smiled continuing what he was doing while William turned to get a good night sleep.

-----

Mini mass release completed!

Starting tomorrow Chapters are going to be 2 per day (only this week!)

Give me those giftttttttssssss!

1 Golden castle = 20 Mass release