Theo narrowed his eyes.

’Dark crimson flames?’ he thought. ’Does everyone here have a fire mutation?’

Even Darius seemed to have some kind of mutated wind element.

’’Good,’’ the judge’s voice rang out, pulling him out of his thoughts. ’’I don’t think I have to explain the rules to any of you.’’

Without another word, he raised his arm into the air.

The screens all around the arena flashed brightly before revealing a countdown in golden numbers.

’’Three...’’

Theo let out a breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

As they snapped open again, the surrounding noises had completely vanished.

’’Two...’’

He pulled out his umbrella, water swirling wildly around it.

’’One...’’

The judge’s arm sliced down.

’’Begin!’’

CRACK! WHOOSH!

Both Darius and Kara vanished from their spots.

They split up immediately, each heading for one of his sides.

Theo’s eyes narrowed further.

’That’s annoying,’ he thought. ’But expected, I guess.’

Darius shot towards the left side of the arena, streams of wind wrapping around his body.

Meanwhile, Kara blasted towards the right, crimson flames fracturing the ground with every step.

Theo flicked his fingers.

Eight large lightning bolts appeared by his side.

In an instant, all eight shot off, following Kara and Darius like homing missiles.

The crowd barely had time to react.

Darius was first to move, sliding to a halt.

His gaze calmly settled on the incoming lightning bolts.

SHING!

His sword flashed once.

A powerful gust of wind erupted from the blade.

The gust swirled around violently, swallowing the lightning bolts before tearing them apart.

Meanwhile, Kara reacted completely differently.

’’HAHAHA!’’

The tiny girl laughed manically.

She slid to a halt and spun around towards the lightning bolts.

CRACK!

Crimson flames erupted underneath her feet.

She shot forward in an instant, both her axes low by her side.

BANG!

The first lightning bolt went straight through the fire, only losing a little of its size before hitting her.

To everyone’s shock, the lightning disintegrated a hole straight through her arm.

Yet, Kara’s grin only widened.

’’AGAIN!’’

BOOM!

A second struck her shoulder.

Only as the third and fourth went for her head did she finally dodge them.

’’Now that’s no fun!’’ she shouted.

Theo couldn’t help but stare at her in shock.

’What the fuck?’ he thought. ’Is she crazy? And why hasn’t the barrier popped up yet?’

That’s when he noticed the veins on her body lighting up, becoming visible even through the crimson fire.

Then, as if a dam had burst open, blood began pouring out of the disintegrated parts.

For a second, Kara’s grin flickered to a look of confusion.

’Why aren’t the wounds healing?’ she thought. ’His lightning?’

Without another thought, she raised one of her axes.

WHOOSH!

The axe buried deep into her wound, cutting up the disintegrated parts.

Plop! Plop!

Pieces of black flesh landed on the ground.

Immediately, the blood began filling in the holes again, reconstructing her flesh.

’’HAHAHA!’’

Kara’s laughter echoed through the arena.

The remaining blood began gathering around her hands, legs, and even her axes.

’That’s... disturbing,’ Theo thought, brows furrowing. ’But a blood affinity, huh?’

WHOOSH!

His instincts screamed at him to move.

He immediately unfolded his umbrella and slung it over his shoulder.

CLANG!

A longsword bounced to the side.

’’Tsk!’’

Darius had already reached him while his attention was on Kara.

Crack! Crack!

His longsword fractured into several pieces.

Theo’s expression darkened slightly, being extremely familiar with that move.

’Metal element!’

The fractured pieces shot forward instantly.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Each metal fragment curved through the air at strange angles, carried by powerful streams of wind.

CRACKLE!

Lightning burst forth underneath Theo’s feet.

In an instant, he vanished from where he’d stood.

The fragments sliced through the space he’d occupied only a fraction of a second earlier.

Reappearing several feet away, Theo immediately found them heading for him again.

’It’s a metal petal storm,’ he thought. ’Only their speed is amplified by the wind.’

Water burst forth around his unfolded umbrella, creating a large spiked shield in front of him.

Plop! Plop! Plop!

The metal fragments splashed into the water.

In an instant, the water’s pressure set in.

The fragments visibly slowed down before coming to a complete stop inside.

Theo’s water continued applying pressure, slowly gathering them up in the center of the water shield.

’Caught you,’ he thought, smiling.

Darius’s expression changed slightly.

The young swordsman jumped back, his body surrounded by wind.

Just then, the metal fragments began trembling inside the water.

Streams of wind wrapped around each piece, trying to force them free.

But they barely moved.

Theo’s smile widened slightly.

’The pressure is too high,’ he thought. ’You’re not pulling those out without a lot more mana.’

CRACK!

He poured in a bit more mana, crushing the metal fragments before turning them into dust.

For the first time since the battle had started, Darius’ brows furrowed completely.

BOOOOOM!

A loud explosion rang out behind him.

Theo felt a wave of scorching heat approaching.

His instincts screamed at him.

Lightning immediately crackled beneath his feet.

Just as he vanished, a crimson explosion swallowed the place where he’d been standing.

BOOOOM!

A deep molten crater appeared with a single small axe stuck in the ground.

’’Why go? Why go?’’ Kara’s voice rang out. ’’Running isn’t fun!’’

Theo reappeared several yards away.

His eyes immediately locked onto the source of the voice.

Kara stood in the middle of the crater.

The tiny girl slowly straightened herself, crimson flames pouring off her body.

’She’s using two Silver Core spells simultaneously?’ he thought, raising an eyebrow. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Both the blood and flames that stuck to her seemed to raise her speed and strength immensely.

At the same time, a massive green arc began gathering above Darius.

It had already reached the size of a car, yet it didn’t seem to be done growing.

’Another one,’ Theo thought.

After a moment, he let out a deep breath.

Water began swirling around his umbrella, slowly growing into a massive vortex.

’Seems like we’re done testing each other then.’