Kael stepped through the next door expecting another opponent.

Instead, he found an elf lying on the ground

without a care in the world almost carelessly.

She looked completely out of place in a tournament.

Long silver-blonde hair spread across the floor beneath her like a blanket. Her pointed ears twitched occasionally while her emerald eyes remained half-closed as though staying awake required tremendous effort. She wore the academy uniform slightly carelessly, and even while inside a battle arena she looked moments away from falling asleep.

The air in the room was cooler than the others, faint traces of wind mana drifting lazily around her like invisible ribbons. The domain had rendered the space plain and white, but her presence gave it a strange softness, as if the entire arena had decided to take a nap with her. Seeing her immediately reminded Kael of a certain character from the game—a notorious slacker who somehow became a monster when forced to move.

"Who are you?" the sleepy elf asked, rubbing her eyes.

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"Well that’s a question we should both be asking because I don’t really know who you are."

The elf stared at him.

Then continued staring while seemingly drifting in and out of sleep.

Then yawned.

Kael wasn’t entirely sure she had processed his answer.

"Well I’m asking because you seem like someone that’s here to kill me unlike regular students that are meant to be ready to spar."

She pointed lazily toward him.

"I can feel your bloodlust. Try to conceal it."

Kael scratched the back of his head.

"Well, you could say that I just came from a rather exciting battle."

The image of the terrified Wolf Beastkin flashed through his mind.

"But for now, you have all my attention."

Kael observed her carefully.

"No need to bother with the ranking system though. It seems like you don’t really care about ranking up."

The elf slowly stood up.

Stretching lazily.

Several magic circles appeared around her body.

Floating quietly.

"I guess you’re an elf who has already awakened her class."

Kael grinned while drawing his blade.

"That should make things interesting."

The elf stared at him.

Then began reciting an incantation.

The spell failed.

A small gust of wind exploded beside her.

She blinked.

Then yawned.

Kael stared.

"Did your spell just fail?"

The elf looked embarrassed for exactly one second.

Then returned to looking sleepy.

"It happens."

Kael suddenly understood why she wasn’t higher in the rankings.

The next moment the air around her compressed.

A sharp gust of wind shot toward him.

Kael immediately lunged sideways.

The attack narrowly missed his face.

Before he regained his footing another wind blade appeared.

Then another.

Then another.

The lazy elf who looked ready for a nap suddenly attacked with frightening efficiency.

Kael’s eyes sharpened.

The first blade was avoided.

The second was blocked.

The third forced him backward.

A fourth clipped his shoulder.

A thin line of blood appeared.

The elf blinked.

"Oh."

"It hit."

She sounded surprised.

Kael looked down at the cut.

Then back at her.

"You know, most people normally celebrate when they land a hit."

The elf shrugged.

"Too much effort."

Kael nearly laughed.

She resumed chanting.

Several wind blades formed around her.

The blades compressed and became nearly invisible.

Kael’s instincts screamed.

Danger.

The next moment the attacks exploded toward him.

The floor cracked.

The walls were sliced.

Several blades arrived simultaneously.

Kael dodged left.

Then right.

Then ducked.

One passed over his head.

Another skimmed his shoulder.

A third struck his blade.

The force behind it surprised him.

"What are you doing?"

Kael asked while blocking another attack.

"Silent spell casting or are you just reciting spells to throw at your opponent?"

The elf lazily pointed at him. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

A new wind blade formed instantly.

Kael twisted his body.

The attack passed by his ear.

He landed on the ground holding his sword in a reverse grip.

Another blade rushed toward his face.

Clang!

He blocked it.

The elf finally stopped attacking looking at Kael curiously.

"You are quite fast."

She yawned.

"It’s a bit tedious."

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

The compliment sounded more like a complaint.

"I guess I just need to increase the speed of my attacks."

The elf raised her hand.

The air around her suddenly began swirling.

The room trembled slightly.

Multiple wind blades formed behind her.

Far more than before.

Their speed was visibly increasing.

Kael sighed.

"Guess I have to take this fight seriously."

The first blade reached him.

Kael vanished.

Vanishing Step.

The world blurred.

The elf’s eyes widened slightly.

Kael appeared directly behind her.

His blade rested against her neck.

Silence.

The wind blades immediately dispersed.

The elf froze.

Feeling the cold steel against her skin.

She slowly turned toward Kael.

"Why didn’t you try to cut my head off?"

The sleepy elf asked.

"Your killing intent is off the charts."

She looked genuinely curious.

"I’ll try to keep that in check."

Kael smiled.

"You’re a bit too lazy."

Then he corrected himself.

"Actually, Sylphie is probably the better description."

The girl’s eyes widened.

For the first time since meeting her she looked completely awake.

"How do you know my name?"

She immediately complained.

"I’m meant to know everyone that does know my name that makes things fair."

Kael simply patted her head.

"It’s okay, Sylphie."

"You don’t need to know everything."

"You should just go back to sleep."

Sylphie frowned.

Kael suddenly reminded her of someone extremely annoying.

"Tch."

She kicked his leg.

Not very hard.

Just enough to express her annoyance.

"I quit."

The moment she spoke, her body vanished from the room.

Kael stared at the empty space she left behind.

Then chuckled.

"I think I understand a lot more about the tournament settings."

He turned toward the next door.

"Meeting Sleepy Sylphie here was quite odd."

Kael recalled her character from the game.

She had practically slept her way to S-Rank.

Missed most of her lectures.

Ignored rankings.

Ignored responsibilities.

Ignored common sense.

Yet somehow still became one of humanity’s strongest individuals during the Great Demon War.

A truly ridiculous character.

The domain’s white walls seemed to hum with leftover mana from her wind spells. Kael could still feel the sharpness of that last barrage in his shoulder, a thin line of heat where the blade had grazed him. He rolled the shoulder once, testing it, then let it fall. Fighting her had been like fighting the wind itself—lazy until it cut you open.

"But meeting her here confirms something."

Kael stepped forward.

"The opponents are random."

He opened the next door.

"As the opponents you meet are a bit random, you don’t exactly meet the person immediately above your rank."

He entered another room.

"Stepping into the next room could lead you to someone either more powerful than you or weaker than you."

Kael nodded to himself.

"But overall it seems balanced."

"Or at least balanced enough for a tournament but I feel it more careless since the principal didn’t put much thought into the tournament after all this is just the entry point of the tournament."

His thoughts stopped.

Because someone was already waiting inside.

A beautiful young woman stood opposite him.

Long blonde hair flowed down her back.

Sharp emerald-green eyes watched him carefully.

She held a sword comfortably in one hand.

Her academy uniform was immaculate.

Elegant.

Graceful.

And familiar.

Very familiar.

Kael stopped walking.

"Verdia."

The girl visibly froze.

A complicated expression flashed across her face.

Then she smiled.

"Guess you are my opponent in this round that makes things a bit ironic."

Her smile softened slightly.

"You’ve grown stronger if you’ve made it all the way here."

Kael grinned.

The atmosphere instantly became different from his previous battles.

This wasn’t just another opponent.

This was someone from his past.

Someone important.

Someone complicated.

Verdia slowly entered her stance.

The elegant movement showed years of sword training.

"So Kael."

Her green eyes met his.

"Are you prepared for this battle?"

Kael drew his sword.

A grin appeared on his face.

"Don’t you think I’ll use this opportunity to get revenge for the rejection I faced, my dear ex-fiancée?"

Verdia immediately bit her lip.

The smile on her face weakened.

"I’ll say this again."

"There were reasons for our engagement cancellation."

She deliberately avoided his gaze.

Kael noticed.

Just like he noticed the hesitation in her voice.

"It’s obvious what the reason."

Kael’s tone became calm.

"It’s Leon."

Verdia’s eyes widened instantly.

Shock spread across her face.

For the first time since entering the room, she completely lost her composure.

And Kael ignored her expression he had played the game multiple times although it didn’t specify on Verdia’s past life it is obvious that she had loved the main character of the game for a long time.

And it’s a bit annoying that in every run of the game Verdia always ends up dead it’s like a cannon event at this point in time but she is quite strong so this fight might be interesting.

Kael held his blade up facing Verdia