As Kyran suspected, the mercenaries did enjoy watching a fight even if it was meant to be a practice.
‘No. I don’t think this is considered a practice,’ he thought wryly after hearing the excited shouts coming from the crowd.
He stole a glance at Celine and saw her smiling at him as if she was a very delectable dish.
Kyran gulped. ‘This is what uncle meant about her having a weird appetite, huh.’
“Let’s see what a mage of Regis is capable of.”
Dante said, breaking Kyran’s thought.
He looked at Dante just as he took off the greatsword from his back and pierced it on the floor.
“Don’t worry, I won’t use my partner. Let’s fight with pure magic, how about that?”
“I’m not sure I get what you mean.”
“We simply use magic to compare notes.”
‘Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping to avoid,’ Kyran thought with concern. But he still answered, “Sure.”
“Good.”
Without waiting for Kyran to reply, Dante dashed forward. He lifted a hand in Kyran’s direction as light-brown magic arrays appeared and circled his wrists.
“Break!”
Kyran braced himself waiting for Dante’s attack. A light-brown magic array suddenly appeared on where he was standing and engulfed him with its light. The floor broke as spike-like earth shoot up to him.
‘How!’ Kyran jumped, but because he was a second late to respond, one of the spikes grazed his right leg and he gritted his teeth as the pain penetrated his sense.
Dante sneered. He stopped and spread out his arms. Light-brown magic arrays circled his wrists and he shouted, “Burst!”
Kyran’s eyes grew wide as two magic arrays appeared on both of his sides while he was still in midair. Arrows made from earth magic shot out from the array and attacked him.
Kyran shielded his head and urged all the defensive techniques he learned from military school as Dante’s attack rained on him.
“Here’s another one!” Dante stopped and knelt on his knee. He placed both his hands on the ground and shouted. “Crush!”
Light-brown magic arrays appeared above and below Kyran’s position. A huge boulder appeared on both arrays and pressed on him.
When all of Dante’s attacks hit Kyran, a huge explosion occurred.
The crowd went wild.
Dante stood straight with an arrogant smile. He was always a crowd favorite during this kind of ‘practice’. His continuous magic attacks had always thrilled them.
Celine in particular enjoyed the sight of Dante’s opponent after his ‘trashing’.
Today, however, was extra special. She really liked Kyran’s ‘body’. Added it to his indifference, she could not wait to see him covered in blood and begging for mercy. She really wanted to see the look on his face.
‘Yes, the face he is hiding, adds more to the thrill,’ she thought and licked her lips.
“That hurt, damn it!” Kyran’s voice growled as he shot out from the explosion and flew toward Dante.
Dante’s eyes grew wide and barely lifted his arms and formed a barrier to block Kyran’s punch.
“Ugh!” Dante was shocked and got thrown back from the force of Kyran’s punch.
The noise from the crowd slowly died as they stared at Kyran in shock.
Kyran landed on the floor with a loud thud and fell to his knee. His right leg was slightly bleeding, his cloak had a few holes and he had little cuts on his arms and legs. But overall, he looked fine.
Celine’s eyes narrowed. She did not expect Kyran to have such a formidable defense.
‘But I did not feel any magic from him, is it a pure physical defense?’ She wondered, her smile widening. ‘Interesting. But Mr. Regis, you are here to provide proof of your magic attainments, not combat.’
Kyran on the other hand was looking at Dante.
A few meters behind Dante, a magic array appeared and a wall made of earth shot up to break his momentum.
‘What’s that?’ Kyran wondered after seeing a thin light-brown sheen, covering Dante’s arm.
It was also the one that blocked his punch earlier. When his fist hit Dante, Kyran had the impression of punching a solid surface. ‘Is it a magic barrier?’
Before Dante could even regain his balance, he already roused his arrays once again.
“You sure can punch. Are you sure you’re a mage?” He asked.
Kyran frowned as another array appeared on the spot he was on.
Pikes made of earth shot out from the array beneath him. He jumped to avoid it, but another array appeared in midair, three feet away from his back. More pikes shot out.
“Tsk,” Kyran was getting annoyed with this random appearance of arrays. He twisted his body in midair and kicked the incoming pikes. Another array appeared on top of his head while he was still in midair, and another set of pikes shot out.
Kyran grabbed a half-destroyed pike and deflected the incoming pikes on top of his head.
Dante frowned as he regained his balance. His arms were still numb from when Kyran hit him. Even though his magic barrier was done hastily, it was still enough to block most high-tier magic. But with Kyran’s punch, even with the barrier, his arms still felt its force.
‘Is he a combat mage? But his movement gives off a seasoned combat specialist. I also did not feel any magic from his punch.’
“Are you planning to just defend using your physical strength? Need I remind you that I’m here to test your magic attainments?” Dante said as he ran forward.
The moment Kyran landed on the ground, three more arrays appeared in midair from his back, left, and right. A meter-wide boulders shot out from the arrays and attacked him.
Kyran simply stood and punched the boulders on each side and kicked the one coming from the back.
“Sorry, it’s just that your attack is too weak for me to use my magic.”
Kyran did his best not to cringe at his own words.
What too weak? He could barely avoid them.
Dante was also able to continuously summon his magic. How was he able to do that? He even created arrays at random spots and direct attacks that are away from him. It was really annoying.
Then there was also that barrier he used.
‘Is it a difference in magic level? Or, can magic be applied in different ways, and different forms regardless of one’s magic level?’ A thought started to form in Kyran’s mind.
A vein popped at Dante’s forehead. It did not help that the crowd erupted in laughter.
“Weak, huh. Then I’ll use more than half of my strength, so you can use your magic.” Dante said mockingly.
He glanced at the gallery where Celine was.
She told him to trash this man, but make sure to keep his limbs intact. After all, he was a Regis.
‘I don’t think he’d break that easily Hall Master. I’ll have to fight more seriously.’
Kyran ignored Dante. He was too focused on sorting his thoughts. He remembered how Nolan’s black mist could turn solid and pierce things. Then there was Celine’s magic. He was not sure what her magic attribute was, but he knew that the weird sensation wrapping his body was its form.
‘Can I also change the form of my magic?’ Even as he wondered, Kyran had already roused his magic in his body.
So far that was all he could do, circulate his magic within his body. Nolan said that his rings were conspicuous, and if a Master mage saw it, problems might surface. Inside the Mercenary Hall as well, the amount of magic his rings carried would definitely trigger its defensive array.
Thus Kyran could only rouse it within his body. To be honest, he was not sure how he could do it, he just knew he could. Anyway, if his idea was correct, his void magic would take a different form. And he would be able to hide it from others.
Dante frowned when Kyran remained silent.
“If you’re not going to attack then it’s your loss!” he told him as magic arrays appeared on his wrists again.
This time Kyran did not focus on Dante’s hands, but on his surroundings.
A large magic array appeared on the floor with Kyran in the center.
Celine’s eyes narrowed as she felt the Mercenary Hall’s defensive array stirred, ‘Dante, you’re actually going to use ‘that’ here?’
“Confine!” Dante shouted and eight smaller arrays formed around the outer part of the array. The floor quaked and earth shot out from the smaller arrays, forming a circular wall as if to imprison Kyran.
Kyran remained still, he was still urging his magic, and at the same time, he also activated the defensive technique of the Regis Clan that his father had taught him.
Dante saw Kyran’s attitude and was a little peeved.
‘Humph. Let’s see if you can use your physical strength to defend from this!’ He thought and slammed his palms together.
“Erupt!”
Kyran clenched his fists as the array rumbled around him. Soon, lava-like earth appeared and erupted.
‘Now!’
Kyran finally released his magic and defensive technique. Small purplish dragon-like scales, formed around Kyran starting from his feet to the top of his head. The speed on how it formed was almost the same as the lava-like earth’s rush to smother him.
The crowd all looked at the scene below in anticipation. It was their first time seeing Dante’s large-scale array. Moreover, he combined two elements, earth, and fire. This was no small feat. Only mages that had reached the threshold of Master Mage would be able to do this.
Dante sneered as a huge pillar of lava erupted from where Kyran was standing.
Celine stepped closer to the rail. Her eyes were fixed, to Kyran’s location.
The light from the array dimmed and the wall made of earth started to crumble.
Then the crowd gasped.
Dante and Celine also gaped in shock.
As the lava subsided, they all saw Kyran at the center with purple dragon scales dancing around him.
When the lava made contact with these scales, the lava would sizzle and vanish.
Kyran looked at the purple dragon-like scales revolving around him and grinned, ‘Cool.’