Time flew by rapidly.

The matches continued one after another, each one showing different elements, weapons, and fighting styles.

But other than the summoning girl and his friends, none of them truly stood out to him.

Soon enough—

It was his turn again.

The fight for a spot in the top 8 didn’t last long.

His opponent tried to keep distance using his wind element.

But it didn’t work.

Theo closed the gap instantly each time.

Finally, his umbrella hit the girl once, sending her flying back.

And with that, the match was over.

The next fight for a slot in the quarter finals came within half an hour.

This time, Theo was up against someone with the lightning element.

’First time I see someone else with it,’ he thought.

For a moment, he paid a bit more attention.

But that was all.

The student relied way too much on aggressiveness, just like he’d done himself in the past.

His attacks were too direct, predictable even.

Theo used his own strength against him, breaking through his attacks within a few seconds.

"Look at that!"

The announcer’s voice rang out.

"Another win for Theo Lane! This makes him our last quarter finalist!"

The crowd burst out, almost overwhelmingly so compared to before.

Theo glanced around and raised his hand with a faint smile.

’I shouldn’t be so stiff,’ he reminded himself. ’That’ll just make me arrogant.’

He enjoyed the moment briefly.

Then, finally made his way off the arena grounds.

"This marks the end of day two," the announcer shouted out. "Be sure to come back tomorrow for the quarter finals!"

As he stepped back into the participants lobby, the arena’s noise faded behind him.

His hand immediately shot to his chest, feeling his heart pound heavily.

’...It’s getting worse.’

But he couldn’t understand why.

There were no signs anything was wrong at all.

On the contrary, it seemed like the city was even more peaceful than normal.

’Just one or two more days,’ he thought, breathing slowly. ’Then we’ll be out of here.’

He forced the hand away from his chest and straightened again.

Letting out another deep breath, he finally walked forward.

’The quarter finals,’ he thought, concentrated. ’I wonder who my opponent will be.’

As he pushed through the final set of doors, an even larger lobby opened up in front of him.

There, three familiar figures stood around a single, large display screen.

"There he is," Owen said, leaning back. "Hurry up, they are about to reveal who’s facing who."

Theo nodded, glancing at the two figures beside him.

Just like Owen, Iris had also qualified for the quarter finals.

Beside her stood a familiar blue-haired girl who’d done the same.

Theo’s eyes lingered on her for a moment.

’Lyra, huh,’ he thought. ’I wonder who gets to fight her.’

He paused for a moment.

’And... who gets to fight a friend.’

His gaze fell on the display screen ahead, just like the others. A bar was slowly loading at the top of the screen.

None of them spoke, not even the surrounding staff moved.

The lobby was in complete silence.

Then—

The screen flickered.

"Alright, everyone," the announcer’s voice echoed quietly into the area. "The quarter-final matchups have been revealed!"

Four names appeared on the screen. Thin lines slowly began forming between them.

Theo’s eyes narrowed immediately.

"In the first match," the announcer’s voice rang out again, "Iris Blackwood will be fighting... Theo Lane!"

Both of them froze.

The screen flickered again, showing their names with a simple versus in between.

Theo slowly turned his head.

Iris was already looking at him, her expression calm... but serious.

Then, she exhaled softly.

"...Looks like it’s us," she said, smiling bitterly.

Theo also let out a sigh, dragging a hand through his hair.

"Seems like it."

There was no tension between them. No hesitation either.

"I’ll be giving it my all," Iris said, her smile growing warmer. "I want to see just how far away I am from you."

Theo smiled, nodding once.

"Sounds good."

Just then—

Owen’s voice rang out beside them.

"No way!"

A grin appeared on his face, only growing larger each second.

He turned to Lyra and burst out into laughter.

"In the end, I do get to beat you up!"

Theo glanced at the screen, tilting his head slightly.

As Owen had said, he’d be facing Lyra in the second match.

’That’ll be a sight,’ he thought. ’I don’t think he’ll have it that easy either.’

Unless...

An image of a massive rock figure flashed through his mind.

’No...’ he shook his head. ’There’s no way he’d expose that ability on the big stages.’

He snapped out of his thoughts as Owen spoke up again.

"For a moment, I was worried Theo would get to take care of you first," he said loudly. "But this... is so much better!"

Lyra scoffed, shaking her head.

"Keep talking," she said sharply. "It’ll only make it more satisfying for me later."

Owen’s grin didn’t falter in the slightest.

"Oh yeah?" he taunted. "Will tasting dirt really be satisfying later?"

The two of them stared at each other for a moment longer, neither willing to back down.

Then Lyra let out a quiet huff and turned away, clearly done with the conversation.

"Try not to embarrass yourself before our match," she added over her shoulder.

Owen snorted.

"Same goes for you."

She didn’t respond this time, simply walking off without another glance.

Theo just watched the two for a moment. The wheels in his head slowly began turning.

’These two,’ he thought, raising an eyebrow. ’Why are they so similar?’

Owen stretched his arms again, still smiling as he turned back to them.

"Finally," he said. "A proper fight."

Theo glanced at him briefly, then shifted his gaze to Iris.

She met his eyes for a moment.

"Don’t hold back," she said quietly. "At least not with your water element."

Theo nodded slowly.

"I won’t," he said.

Silence settled between them.

Tomorrow, the real battles would finally begin.