"Both of them are Elementalists of the same Element. It will be a good match to watch."
"Do you mean, 'Who is better, native of foreigner?'"
"Magic belongs to anyone. Ethnicity doesn't matter."
"I can't believe you say that at something our ancestors invented."
"Do you think our ancestors invented Magic?"
A humorless chuckle resounded through the area where the two discussing people sat themselves. Some of the audiences turned their heads at the duo before realizing who the duo were.
"Earl Woster and Earl Ilchester are at it again."
"Avoid getting caught up in their 'discussion' at all cost!"
Surprisingly, the two discussing people were Ansley Woster and his acquaintance, Darwin Ilchester. They weren't enemies or some sort. However, they often clashed opinions due to the different perspective they had on almost anything.
As it was already well known among the Nobles, it was already an open secret to avoid them at all cost when they were 'discussing' among themselves.
"Our ancestors didn't invent Magic, Darwin. They merely inherited it."
"I guess you forgot about the Four Heroes, Ansley. They invented Magic."
"I am aware of that fact. Are you suggesting that the Four Heroes are our ancestors?"
"Do you think otherwise? Hah! You need to learn more about history, it seems."
"Pfft. Our Ancestors are the Exonets. But, there was no mention of the Four Heroes being Exonets. It seem YOU are the one who need to learn more about history!"
Just like the surrounding people had predicted, the discussion became heated. Harold — who had come along with his father — sighed helplessly. He had intended to meet his brothers who were also parts of the committee. However, he was forced to watch the match together with his father.
He had been reluctant to follow his father, however his father's expectant gaze had left him no choice. Luckily, he could enjoy something other than his father bickering with his acquaintance. He could watch Basil's match.
He sighed to himself at his history with Basil. Thinking about it now made his blood run cold. For the past six months his father had grounded him for his mischief and he couldn't thank his father more.
If he were to keep his ignorance, he would have ended like that Jackson guy. A gruesome death would have been his end if he had decided to bother Basil. Luckily, he had managed to behave himself.
Looking at the bright youths competing in the match opened his eyes even further. Mages were independent. Therefore, he couldn't hide behind his father's back forever. A time where he could only rely on himself would surely come.
Looking back at his front, he completely tuned out his bickering father and watched the ongoing match.
...
"Kuuhh.. this prick!"
Fairfax looked down at his bloodied hand. Xiu Li had managed to hurt his hand. The foreigner had the audacity to launch a sneak attack on him. He was extremely mad about it.
Calming down his raging heart, he looked at Xiu Li in deep resentment. He couldn't drink any potion to heal his wound, it was forbidden in the tournament. Therefore, it left him no choice but to injure his opponent too.
"Let us see how you fare against this. [Sandstorm]!"
The Mana surrounding Fairfax surged before wind swirled around him. Not long after, dust surged upward and joined the swirling wind. The previously invisible wind was now visible due to the sand mixed in it.
Clasping his hands tightly, Fairfax stabilized his control over the sand mixed whirlwind. Then, he spread his hands forward, and sandstorm occured.
Whoosh!
Vision was instantly obstructed. Nothing could be seen from the arena except the brownish sand floating around. The inexperienced Mages and the obnoxious incompetent Nobles clicked their tongues in annoyance. They couldn't see anything but dust!
In the other other hand however, the experienced Mages nodded their heads in appreciation at the strategy Fairfax was using. Surely, Basil was one of the appreciative people.
"The more I see their capabilities, the more I am baffled about how much the quality of the Mages back then had fallen."
Basil had been frustrated in the past due to the incompetence most Mages had showed. The quality of every Mages had been dropping each year that he had been left puzzled in the past.
Therefore, he was baffled at how much competence the young Mages had showed him up till now. They could easily exceed many self proclaimed prodigies from his past life in his latter years. It had successfully picked his interest.
The situation back then had been as bad if not worse than the Age Of Chaos. Competence was needed to survive. Given the situation, human should've evolved to adapt to the environment. However, what had happened had been the exact opposite.
Basil frowned lightly. He had been thinking about too many things lately. Thanks to the Guide, his curiosity over something could be easily provoked. Shaking his head to clear the thought, he sent his gaze to the arena.
He had promised himself to stop his pondering and enjoyed the tournament, therefore he observed the ongoing match to spare his brain from any hard thinking.
"This is troublesome. I am not worried about the lack of vision, but his scattered Mana. Every floating dust has his Mana signature, and it prevents me to detect him."
In the Arena, Xiu Li muttered to himself. He was observing his surrounding cautiously while thinking of a way to get out of the predicament. Like he had said, he couldn't detect Fairfax's present anywhere.
"Aha, I got an idea! If I can't do it on the surface, why not from below?"
As expected of a prodigy, it didn't take long for him to figure out a way. However, as soon as he was about to execute his idea, the rumbling ground below him attracted his attention.
His flight response was instantly provoked, and not even a second later, something emerged from the ground.
"Exactly what I am thinking, Prick!"
"Hm!!!"
Xiu Li was forced to dodge the close range attack with everything he got as he didn't expect it in the least. How could he not? Fairfax, a Spellcaster, decided to fight like a Battle Mage? The idea was as unusual as it was ridiculous!
Still, it was happening in front of him. Xiu Li looked in front of him and calmed his beating heart. If he hadn't managed to dodge earlier, he would've lost a good chunk of his abdomen.
Observing Fairfax calmly, he could notice Fairfax had covered the hand he had injured with a lance like earth structure.
"You are integrating your body with your Spell to stop the bleeding."
"Wow. I didn't expect you are smarter than you look!"
"Sadly, you are dumber than you look. Everyone knows injuries are to be sanitized not covered in dirt!"
"This insolent pri—!!!"
Fairfax who was irritated with Xiu Li's comment couldn't finish his retort as an earthen pillar structure emerged from the ground and was aiming for his chest. He had to sloppily explode the Mana under his feet to make a quick escape.
"Again?! Can't you do anything aside from sneak attack?!"
"I'm sorry, but everything is fair in love and war! [Earthen Clap]!"
Xiu Li didn't plan to end his attack right there. Two hands like structure emerged from the ground and chased the flying body of Fairfax. The hands were parallel against each other. Therefore, when they managed to catch up to Fairfax, he was completely surrounded.
Clap!
Boom!
Like its name suggested, the hands bumped to each other and sandwiched Fairfax right in the middle. The audiences winced as they were sure another gruesome death had occured.
"Aaahhh! Freaking bastard!"
However, the audiences were proven wrong when they heard Fairfax's enraged voice. They were slightly taken aback as they couldn't properly see what happened right after the earthen hands clapped.
In the other hand, the disheveled Fairfax couldn't be anymore furious. He was furious beyond measure. His eyes were bloodshot and his blond hair was flailing madly. Raising his Earth covered hand, he gathered the sandstorm back
Whoosh!
The sandstorm swirled and condensed. It wrapped itself around Fairfax's raised hand while swirling. Looking ahead, Fairfax snorted coldly.
"Behold! This is the level of mastery you will never reach, Xiu Li! [Desert Nightmare]!"
The condensed sandstorm around Fairfax's hand extended forward. It shot at Xiu Li at an insane speed that people could only see his attack instantly reappeared in front of Xiu Li.
Poosh!
Right when it arrived in front of Xiu Li, the condensed sandstorm exploded and created a blanket of sand that was ready to wrap Xiu Li to death. Surely, it happened just like what everyone had predicted.
Clap!
Fairfax clasped his hands tightly together despite how painful it was. Ahead of him, Xiu Li was perfectly engulfed in a sand cocoon. Not stopping there, Fairfax twisted his hands. Along with that, the cocoon also twisted itself.
"Gahhh... This bastard is quite resilient."
Fairfax gritted his teeth. He couldn't ground Xiu Li who was inside the sand cocoon to death. A strong resistance could be felt from him. Infusing all of his Mana to the cocoon, Fairfax empowered the crushing power of the sand cocoon.
However, he didn't stop there, he also casted [Earthen Lance] and sent it upon the cocoon.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
The cocoon became a porcupine. Many of the audiences were cringing while thinking about how Xiu Li's body would look. However, it was always when they had expected the worst when the unexpected occured.
"Hm? I am losing my control over my sand. This is...?!"
Fairfax's entire body trembled. His gaze was firmly planted on the cocoon. It was no longer twisting. It was squirming instead. Not only that, he could also see it getting brighter each time. It was as if it was about to —
Boom!
— explode.
Fairfax covered his eyes with his hands. Disbelief was strongly conveyed by his eyes. He was bewildered at what had just happened.
"Huuh... showing me the highest level of mastery? I would take that as a joke. However, I will still thank you for calling my name."
Fairfax who couldn't believe what he was seeing could only stare dumbly at Xiu Li, who was encircled by a ring of fire. Indignation and slight terror filled his heart.
"A Dual Elementalist?! Were you toying with me for all this time?!'
Still, Xiu Li didn't answer Fairfax. He merely extended his hands and flipped open his floating Grimoire. Three Magic Circles floated behind his back as they shone intensely.
"Daoism is the act of understanding Dao, the way how the law of the world works. Wind, lightning, water, sword, and many of them have their own Dao. To comprehend Dao, one needs to be patient and in tune with the world."
Three pillars were rising from the ground slowly. All of them were set ablaze and the cracks on them were giving a strange oppression toward anyone who saw them. They felt like they were standing in front of the hell's gate.
"To comprehend Dao, one needs to throw away any human logic. I can't do that, therefore I am a failure at Daoism. Whenever I tried to be in tune with the world, I comprehend the way everything works through logic and common sense."
"What are you—?!"
"Just like earlier, you must have felt you lost your control over your sand, right?"
"..."
"I will take that as a yes. It will never happen to Daoist as they learn anything but common sense. That means, their power doesn't follow common sense. However, your power follows common sense."
The three burning pillars were finally standing above the ground fearsomely. They were positioned in a triangle formation. An orb of blazing fire were conjured from the air, and settled in the middle of them.
"Do you know what happens when you heat sand?"
"Shut up! I don't need to be lectured about something I don't need to know."
"They hardened and turned to glass. That was the reason you lost the control over your sand. Next time, make sure your sand doesn't contain any glass particles in them."
Fairfax merely gritted his teeth and casted [Earthen Sphere]. He was fully intending to defend himself. At this point, he no longer cared about his pride. He would get through out of this first!
"Fairfax Stafford! Will you yield?"
"Dream on!"
"Very well."
Raising his hand to the air, Xiu Li squinted his slanted eyes. The fire orb burned brighter and anyone could almost see the air itself was burnt.
"It is going to be painful, but you will survive... [Tower Of Purgatory]!"
Bringing his raised hand down, the fire orb shot forward. Due to its size and the intense atmosphere, everyone felt like it was traveling slowly through the air. Many people gulped dryly at the scorching heat and could only imagine the pain it brought.
At last, the waited moment came.
Boom!
Not long after, a bloodcurdling scream resounded through the whole arena.
"Kuuuuuaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!"
Anyone could feel Fairfax's pain. His scream conveyed the immeasurable pain he was feeling. Some of the weak minded audiences turned their head away and covered their ears. However, all of the experienced Mages looked at the scene with a neutral eyes.
In their eyes, they were seeing reality. It was what happened when one took a wrong decision. None of them felt any sympathy for Fairfax. He reaped what he had sow.
The world consisted of two kinds of people. The victor and the loser. The victor gets the right to write the history. While the loser, gets the role to be the devil. What happens to the devil?
They are sent to the purgatory.