Jim Halberg strutted into the arena proudly.

He waved to his friends in the stands, a wide smile on his face.

But he quickly realized no one’s attention was on him.

Murmurs spread across the stands.

’’He uses an umbrella?’’

’’I didn’t even know they had those here.’’

’’What a dumbass...’’

’’You can’t even injure someone with that.’’

Only then did Jim look across from him.

Theo walked onto the field calmly, a closed umbrella leaned on his shoulder.

A frown immediately appeared on his face.

’’Are you trying to humiliate me?’’ Jim shouted, turning red. ’’Go back and choose a proper weapon!’’

Theo tilted his head slightly.

’’I’m fine,’’ he responded, smiling. ’’Instead, you should worry about yourself.’’

Jim’s eyes almost popped out of his head.

His face turned beet red as he pulled out a rapier.

’’Do you have a death wish?’’ he shouted, pointing the tip at Theo.

Theo shook his head calmly.

’’Not really.’’

Hearing that, Jim almost couldn’t contain his anger anymore.

Just then, a loud mechanical voice echoed out above them.

’’The fight between Jim Halberg, rank 121, and Theo Lane, unranked, will begin in 10 seconds.’’

For a moment, both of them were silent.

Jim’s face slowly returned to its normal color.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, lowering his body into a proper stance.

Theo did the same, though the small smile remained on his face.

’A rapier,’ he thought. ’First time fighting that with an umbrella.’

The same mechanical voice echoed out above them again.

’’5... 4... 3—’’

A bright yellow light began radiating from Jim’s rapier.

’Light element,’ Theo thought.

Water immediately began swirling around his umbrella.

’’2... 1...’’

’’Go!’’

...

Silence settled over the arena.

Neither of them moved.

Jim raised his rapier slightly higher, a thin light shining around his body.

’’Come on then, peasant,’’ he shouted.

Theo’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’He didn’t lose his composure...’ he thought. ’Really unexpected.’

But that only meant he wasn’t stupid.

Not that he was as strong as him.

Theo smiled slightly.

Without another thought, he dashed forward.

As he closed the distance, Jim’s rapier shone brighter.

Then—

Small lights shot forward, almost like bullets.

Theo snapped his umbrella open, water swirling on top of it.

PUF! PUF! PUF!

The light bullets hit the water one after another.

’Weak,’ he thought, pushing forward.

Finally, he closed the distance.

He pulled his open umbrella back slightly.

A thin light barrier began glowing around Jim as he raised his rapier defensively.

Theo smiled.

His umbrella snapped shut—

And shot forward.

CRACK!

The tip pierced into the light shield, fracturing it.

In an instant, the swirling water crashed forward.

BOOM!

The shield shattered completely.

’’WHAT...?!’’ Jim shouted, stumbling back.

Light began glowing around him again—

But it was already too late.

Theo stepped in and spun his umbrella towards his side.

BAM!

The water collided with Jim.

Instead of sending him flying, Theo purposefully used calm water to pull him in.

Jim’s eyes went wide.

’’Argh!’’ he shouted, feeling an immense pressure crush his side.

A blue barrier instantly popped up around him, pushing the water away.

At the same time, a mechanical voice rang out above them.

’’Match winner, Theo Lane.’’

Theo pulled his umbrella back, nodding with satisfaction. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Just as he was about to turn around, Jim’s voice echoed out behind him.

’’W-what was that?’’

Theo turned around, tilting his head slightly.

A small smile appeared on his face.

’’You see, my water is a little special.’’

With that, he turned around and went back to the exit.

At the same time, in the stands, a group of students looked on with deep frowns.

’’He lost?’’ one of them muttered. ’’To an umbrella?’’

Another frowned deeply. ’’That’s very strange and suspicious.’’

’’Right,’’ the first one said again. ’’Could he have cheated with some item?’’

Only one person sat there in silence with a raised eyebrow.

The girl’s eyes remained locked onto Theo.

’Water element?’ she thought. ’Wasn’t he supposed to have a crazy lightning element?’

Her mind churned for a moment.

’It’s also impossible for anyone our age to have reached Silver Core already...’

She fell silent, narrowing her eyes further.

’If it’s like I think it is...’

A sweet, but dangerous smile grew on her face.

’Then he’ll be quite the useful puppet.’

It wasn’t just her who thought like this.

As Theo stepped through the exit, the noise of the arena slowly faded away behind him.

He quickly walked down the corridor, humming slightly.

’’That was a fun change of pace,’’ he muttered, smiling. ’’Though I hope there’s someone tougher next time.’’

Jim had been clean, controlled... and even with a good strategy.

’But he’s never fought actual real battles,’ he thought. ’Once his strategy was broken, he couldn’t adapt at all.’

He fell silent for a moment.

’’I guess a lot of them are going to be like that, huh.’’

As he reached the end of the corridor, an employee stood in front of him.

Theo glanced up, tilting his head faintly.

’’Congratulations,’’ the man said, bowing politely. ’’I came here to inform you that your rank has risen from unranked to number 121.’’

Raising his eyebrow slightly, Theo quickly took note of the number.

’’I directly replaced his spot?’’

The employee nodded quietly.

A small smile appeared on Theo’s face immediately.

’’Would you happen to know what I need to do to climb the ranks?’’

The employee straightened himself and nodded once again.

’’You are free to challenge any rank above you,’’ he said. ’’But only those within ten ranks of you are required to accept.’’

’Interesting...’

Theo nodded slowly.

’That means I’d have to reach the top ten before I can challenge number one.’

It made sense in a way.

If someone was required to accept all challenges, lower ranks could spam them and tire a top rank out.

’’And if someone doesn’t accept that required challenge?’’

The employee remained calm.

’’You’ll forfeit automatically.’’

Theo nodded again, taking in the information.

’That also means there’s no use in challenging anyone before I come back...’

’’Thank you,’’ he said, smiling faintly.

The employee nodded, returning to his station.

With that, Theo left the arena.

Only one thing was on his mind.

’The tournament back home... that’ll be my next fight.’