The Greatest Sinner

Draven defeated another student and waited for his next opponent. So far Fien`s result was the best one - as much as six seconds, even for the others it seemed something unbelievable.

Evan originally wanted to enter the arena, but he decided to wait. He still wasn't sure he could last ten seconds.

<His fighting style is too flexible. He is vastly superior to us in strength, which means he can win even with a simple stone throw. Neither offense nor defense will work against him, I need something in between or a different approach altogether.>

Evan watched the next contestant come out and wondered how he should proceed.

<Fien was able to last more than five seconds and it was the speed of her spell cast which helped her. He had to dodge and spend a fraction of a second doing so. But, there's one big problem that makes all my plans fall apart. If you miss one hit, you can say the fight is over.>

Evan wasn't sure if he could continue the fight if he took Draven's punch.

<I wonder how many seconds Roland would last? This guy's strength can grow of his own accord. I think that if he had wanted to, he would have lasted.>

Bam.

Another contestant dropped out and Draven calmly said: "Four seconds, next."

Immediately after his words a young man with thick black hair entered the arena. It was Bernt Vignes. You could tell at a glance that he was a hundred percent sure of himself and had no intention of losing. Bernt had no weapons as well as Magic Artifacts.

He stood in front of Draven and attacked first.

Whoosh.

Bernt struck Draven, but he ducked lightning fast. Of course, Bernt knew that his blow would not reach the examiner, his task was to buy time, even if he had to suffer for it.

Draven attacked quickly, and Bernt was ready for it. He was going to take Draven's punch, but not completely.

Whoosh.

Suddenly three thick wooden poles appeared out of the ground in front of the young man. Normally one would have been enough to block the rookie mage's attack, but now his opponent was many times stronger.

Crack.

Draven did not react at all to the wooden poles.

Crack.

His fist went through the three wooden pillars like through a piece of paper. The force of his punch shattered the poles into splinters.

Whoosh.

Draven's fist instantly reached Bernt and sent him flying. The young man rumbled into the wall, but the fight didn't end there. As he had planned, he was able to withstand one punch.

While Draven was destroying his wooden posts, Bernt managed to take half a step back, thereby reducing the maximum force of Draven's blow.

Brent felt a great pain, blood was dripping from the corners of his mouth, but he wasn't going to wait a second.

Immediately after the blow, while Draven had not yet reached him, Brent began casting another spell.

<Hmm, what's that?> Evan thought to himself. He had never seen a spell like this before.

Whoosh.

Smoke quickly appeared at Bernt's hand, it instantly turned into a sphere. Bernt clenched his fist tightly and slammed the smoke sphere into the ground with all his might.

Bam.

The sphere shattered and all the smoke inside came out.

< The smoke screen? He decided to buy time with a trick like that? It's actually very clever and effective, but somehow I don't think even that will work.> Evan thought to himself as he watched Bernt's actions.

Bernt quickly plunged into the depths of the smoke, yet Draven had no intention of stopping. He had a very simple way to get rid of all the smoke.

Whoosh.

Draven waved his hand and the next moment the smoke headed toward his hand like the water flowing into a funnel. Two seconds later, all the smoke was enveloped around his hand.

Whoosh.

He shook his hand and all the smoke disappeared. Draven got rid of this spell quickly, but it had done its own good. Bernt gained quite a bit of time.

Whoosh.

The ground beneath Draven's feet cracked and he reached Bernt in one spurt. The young man no longer had time to do anything. All he had to do was take another punch.

Bam.

Bernt flew aside and that was the end of their fight. Not only was he strong, but he also approached this fight with intelligence. That helped him last much longer than the other contestants.

"Eight seconds, very good, next." Draven said calmly.

Unfortunately, Bernt's actions were not enough to last the full ten seconds. But eight seconds was also an excellent result.

Most likely, after one or at least two tries Bernt would become an "Inner student", and that was very good. Some of the teachers watching the fights in the stands immediately wanted to take Bernt as a student.

<Very good, but as I thought tricks are not the way to achieve the right time. Hmm, although, maybe if Bernt had been a little stronger he could have lasted. So what should I do?>

Evan tried to choose a strategy that was right for him. Naturally, he, like the others, wanted to become an "Inner student". But, so far, no one had managed to last ten seconds. No matter what spells the student used, no matter what tactics he came up with, nothing worked.

<This examiner is indeed the personification of a force and we all are equally helpless in front of it. No matter what you do against such a force, it's all useless>.

Sure, Draven didn't use spells and controlled the force of his blows so he wouldn't kill the students, but this was the first time Evan had ever seen an experienced mage in combat.

<I wonder what stage the examiner is at? How many ends does his "Star" have?>

While Evan was thinking about Draven's power, the next contestant entered the arena. To the young man's surprise, it was Enni.

Today she was more confident than ever. Her "Warp" turned out to be purple, and her Class was "Amplifier". For her, it was the perfect coincidence. She`d bet everything on the fact that she was an "Amplifier" and she didn't lose.

Like last time, her weapons were brass knuckles. She stood in front of Draven and prepared to fight. Enni didn't attack first, but she wasn't about to retreat either.

Draven nodded and at that moment, their fight began.

Whoosh.

Enni's brass knuckles were enveloped in crimson flames, and she attacked first. Draven ducked and the next moment swung his fist, aiming for the girl's stomach.

Enni knew that Draven would do exactly that, so he was already casting the next spell as he struck. Her legs were enveloped in torrents of wind, though with difficulty she was able to dodge Draven's attack.

The newbie magicians were surprised by the girl's abilities, but Draven still remained unemotional. Not a second later, he was already striking the next blow.