Chapter 5: Monster That Defies The System
Half an hour ago,
"William Pierce and Andre Craft, you are the next contestants. Please come to the stage." Mark's father called out.
"I guess it's your time, William. Let's just hope things will be different this year." He said with his fingers crossed. He tried to hide it from me. I just nod my head and smiled. "He had already helped me, all that's left for me is to do my best and hope that my opponent is as bad as the last ones." I thought to myself.
Everyone surrounding the stage looked at me.
Just as I thought, I'm quite popular. All those years of failing this test made me so famous that everyone knows me, huh?" I felt all their stares, I can almost tell what they are thinking. "Is he here again?" "When is this guy going to stop?" they are probably thinking about those things, but I will persist and refuse to live the way my kind are meant to be, and this day will be the mark in history that a Void Mage won against a real mage!
I gathered my thoughts upon reaching the stage, my opponent is yet to stand on the other side. This gives me time to hope for the best. "Let's hope for the bes-" I stopped in surprise. I even rubbed my eyes for a moment after seeing the opponent that I will be facing. "Nice to see you again, loser." He said with the most pumped-up voice that I have ever heard. "This guy, he is Hannah's stalker from earlier." I grit my teeth.
Everything just went south. "I have been paired with the dangerous person to be up against in the test. Tough luck." I turned to Mark and Hannah, seeing the looks on their faces, it looked like they are quite surprised about the development as well.
"This is the first time that we are meeting but, nice to meet you. I guess." I remembered when Mark and I talked about the strongest candidates in this year's test, and my opponent is the second strongest out of all of them. "This is exhilarating. Is this his way of letting me face reality?" I grit my teeth once more, Mark's father is not the one making the matches, it's someone else.
My body shakes in fear, it acknowledges and knows that he is not someone that I will be able to take on with my current abilities. He is way up in the power scale and his natures are a mystery to me as well. "It feels like the original owner is still residing in this body, too bad. Now that the plans had gone to shit, all I can do is give everything I got. I'll just wait for the opening. Everyone is bound to make mistakes after all!" I clenched my fists.
And a few seconds later, the match started. "START!" almost immediately, arms made of earth bursts out from the ground. William evades the attack by firing the Firebolt from behind, giving him a sudden boost and flight.
KABOOM!
"Using the force of the defective Firebolt to evade my attack, you are quite crafty for a loser." Andre thought to himself.
A smile crept on his face and almost immediately, William felt something ominous. "First nature, Earth. What is his second-!" his eyes widened when he realized that he has been grazed by an attack that he had not seen.
"What in the world!" Mark exclaimed. The attack soaked William's entire arm with blood. He immediately turned to his sister who is now dying of worry. "This match-up is ridiculous right from the beginning." Mark grinds his teeth in anger. He cannot imagine the frustration that William is feeling right now.
"How is it? An attack that you can't see? Do you think you can evade that using the defective Firebolt of yours?" Andre asked arrogantly. And he has every right to be. Being able to use two natures consecutively with precise control is hard for most mages since their minds will be under a strain, but Andre is able to overcome that strain with his anger towards William, who was talking to the girl that he had taken a liking to.
"How dare a loser like you talk to the goddess. Only the ones strong enough will be able to even dream of talking to her!" Andre yelled. It was a confession in front of everyone yet he doesn't have an ounce of being fazed by what he just said.
"Kekekeke! So this is about that? What a childish bastard you are." William chuckled. Hearing his declaration made Hannah angry instead of being flustered. The heat of her anger made Mark, a fire nature mage back away. "Shit! Sis! Hold it back for now!" he yelled inside his head.
"This bastard, I will drown him soon," Hannah mumbled with a completely cold expression.
"Let me tell you something loser- the attack that you suffered from just now is-"
"-an explosion of air, right?" William cuts in. Andre's expression turned grim the moment William cuts in. Giving the latter the confirmation of the attack. "How did you know?"
William gave Andre a smug, completely annoying the latter. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out an attack like that. An attack without anyone noticing, not making a sound nor a warning, your second nature is wind."
Everyone was amazed by William's deduction. It was on point. Though William might not be blessed with being a mage, his genius lies within the things like theories and understanding of the natures of mana. It is something that most of the people of the town admire him for.
"Just as I thought, you are not someone that should be left alone." Andre figured. "To be able to figure out my second nature after suffering an injury once. This guy- he is smart." He thought to himself. Andre, despite being a Prime Mage, has difficulties using his other natures. He is more immersed and adept at using the earth nature thanks to his life as a farmer so his progress with the Earth nature is far more promising compared to his other natures. Thus, developing a spell proved to be difficult.
"It took me a few years to create a spell like that and for it to be realized for just experiencing it for the first time, how strong would this prick would become if he is a proper mage." He realized it himself.
Most of the people that saw William's progress with Firebolt the most basic of all fire spells despite being a Void Mage are left speechless. They felt it as well, the great shock that the world will experience if he were to be a real mage. The balance of power will be tilted.
"That guy, despite facing against a real mage he remains unfazed. What a terrible fate to be a Void Mage." The one responsible for the matchups said he wears a jet-black robe under a hood while watching the match. "What a waste of talent. For him to be a Void Mage is a loss for the world." He added.
"I have seen many monsters in my life as I lived in this world, and nothing scares me more than anything than a creature trying to resist the system that this world has created. Monsters defying how life should progress are more monstrously terrifying than all the monstrosities of this world." He added.
"Amazing. Your son is a genius." Albert's friend said while patting his back. "I know. He had always been a genius." He said worriedly and turns to see his wife clenching her fists. He knew that she is scared to see their son beaten.
Andre continued his barrage of attacks, but since William already knows his natures, evading the attacks has become easy with the help of the trick that he discovered while using Firebolt. "You think you can win by evading my attack?! Try dodging this!" Andre slams his hand on the ground and almost instantly, instead of hands made of Earth emerged spikes appeared and pierced the ground upward.
William smiled. "Heh~ You have gotten rougher." Magic circles surround William.
It is something that everyone is seeing for the first time. A cluster of magic circles and someone pulling that off is no other than the Void Mage, William Pierce.
"Cluster, Firebolt."
KABOOM!
All the Firebolt exploded at the same time, sending out a shock on the ground and blasting all the Earth spikes to dust around him.
It is an attempt of William to show them that he has progressed despite being a Void Mage. "This is the only trump card I have. I am all out of tricks." William thought to himself. He exhausted more than half of the mana that he accumulated by practicing Firebolt after all those years.
The crowd is shocked, he also thought Andre would be shocked as well. But he is not. He is annoyed more than anything.
"You don't fail to amaze me every time you are indeed a persisted one. But it's a shame that you were up against someone like me." Andre said as he waves his finger toward him as if he is ordering something to move.
STAB!
It's too late. The moment William realized what Andre plans to do, a metal spike struck his sides from behind. "Keuk! Where the hell-!" William saw the shining material drenched by his blood. He is sure that it was made of metal. Giving him the sudden chills.
"There was a third nature. This world is freaking unfair." William falls to his knees as his blood splatters around him.
"Stop this now!" Hannah as well as Mark moved to stop the match. The victor is clear yet a wall made of Earth stops them in their tracks. Their father stopped them from interfering with the match. "I will not tolerate any interference." He said coldly. "I'm sorry my children. But this is the only way to show William, the harshness of this world. The reality that he has been evading the entire time." He thought to himself as his children stares at him filled with dread and anger.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone