Victoria left the field soon after Uriah did and Ralph rose above the ground and watched as the power of the arena restored the grass that had been frozen and killed earlier by Uriah. About five minutes later, after the temperature had normalized and the terrain had been restored, Ralph announced another match-up.
When Victoria returned to the section, William greeted her with his usual friendly demeanor and said:
"You can't win them all."
Victoria plainly replied:
"I know."
Patrice looked at Victoria and asked:
"Why didn't you surrender even after Uriah Narco pushed you to the ground? Surely you could have after seeing that you were outclassed."
Victoria practically hissed at Patrice as she said:
"I don't ever surrender."
Patrice raised her right eyebrow in confusion and replied:
"Your opponent could have killed you."
Victoria responded to her flatly:
"So what?"
Patrice remained silent in response to hearing that and no longer spoke to Victoria. Nick glanced at Victoria and thought:
(I can understand her not wanting to surrender, not that I agree with it. I remember that there existed a Greek country in the distant past where each warrior would supposedly prefer to face death in battle rather than surrender. That was the philosophy that they were taught and it did make those warriors effective and feared. They were unreasonable and accepting of death, two things that, in my estimation, when combined can give anyone the power to carry on against insurmountable odds...and win. The kind of mentality that Victoria is trying to nurture is different from mine but admirable.)
Ten more battles were undertaken with the only notable thing being that Kirst Elthirst's and Lewis Nefari's opponents directly surrendered before the fighting even began. Varrow later remarked:
"Hmph! Kirst Elthirst and Lewis Nefari were matched up against pussies. Just because of Kirst's and Lewis' last names, their opponents surrendered without a fight."
Nick gave the two instances some thought and wasn't exactly sure that it was just because of their last names.
(Throughout the one-on-one battles so far, there have been three deaths which have been the result of significantly weaker opponents facing off against opponents from the aristocrat academies. Some students probably decided that their life was more important that winning one match in one competition. Lewis and Kirst...although I haven't fought them personally, they promise to be powerful opponents.)
Ralph soon announced the next match-up:
"William Rollins and Granger Tuscan. Come down to the field."
William immediately disappeared from his seat beside Victoria amidst a flash of white light and reappeared standing near the center of the field with both his hands kept in his pants pockets. Granger Tuscan was a student of Grim Lord Academy and Lewis Nefari's close friend; instead of walking to the field through the corridor entrance, he directly jumped from his section's railing onto the field, which was about a fourteen meter drop but he stuck the landing by bending his knees.
Granger then walked towards the center of the field in a carefree manner to meet with William. When he was about twenty meters away from William, Granger stood in place and observed his famous opponent. Granger Tuscan was a white man of average height who had a head full of well styled, blue hair, strangely pointed, white teeth and dark eyes; he wore a pair of light-grey, fitting jeans pants, a zipped up, thin, black leather jacket and a pair of black suede boots.
William wore a pair of fitting, light-blue jeans pants, a long sleeved, buttoned up, blue denim shirt and a pair of black Kickers shoes. As soon as both competitors were in place, Ralph gave a command before vanishing:
"Begin the match!"
William then asked Granger while maintaining a plain expression:
"Do you want to surrender before things get started?"
Granger laughed heartily and then replied:
"In your dreams."
Granger stretched his left hand out to his front and magic energy was exuded from his body while he cast a spell:
(Bone Source)
A spiked length of hard, white bone jutted out rapidly from each of Granger's five left fingertips and moved towards William at the speed of a slung stone; Granger clearly intended to impale his opponent at the start of the match. Before Granger's bone spikes could reach him, however, William pointed his right index finger towards Granger and a thin beam of white light rushed out from William's right index fingertip to get to the left side of Granger's head.
(Instant Light)
Following that, William disappeared amidst a flash of white light just in time to dodge Granger's five bone spikes that would have went straight through his upper-torso if William hadn't moved away. Before Granger could retract his bone spikes, William suddenly appeared at the end of the beam of white light, beside Granger's head, and then kicked out with his right leg, which now glowed with intense white light, at superhuman speeds.
(Martial Light)
William's right leg fiercely came into contact with the left side of Granger's head and Granger was immediately lifted off his feet and thrown away as a result of the impact, landing about sixteen meters away from William. Granger fell to the ground, on his back, and at that time, he finally managed to retract his bone spikes back into his fingers; Granger's fingers were then seemingly healed of the puncture wounds that resulted from his bone path spell.
When Granger lifted himself off the ground only four seconds after his fall, the left side of his head had a splatter of blood on it but he did not appear wounded. At the same time, with his hands still kept within his pockets, William landed on the ground steadily but his face had a grimace as he looked at his now injured right leg that sported a bleeding puncture wound that was about an inch in radius. William reasoned:
(I saw it clearly. When I kicked the left side of Granger's head, a short bone spike emerged from it and impaled my leg at the same time but this level of injury is nothing for me and besides, I wasn't going to withdraw my kick over the possibility that his method would do damage.)
William cast Healing Grace on his right leg, enveloping it in a soft, white light and his flesh, skin and bone mended in moments, his leg now appearing as healthy as can be. Granger had brushed himself off by that time and when he witnessed the healing effects of William's spell, he whistled before voicing an opinion:
"You won't be easy to beat. No, sir."
Granger flippantly stretched his arms and legs while a thick, white miasma begun to emanate from his body. Following that, the ground beneath Granger and William started hardening and turning white; soon, arched bones emerged from the ground, within less than two meters of Granger's and Williams immediate left and right flanks, and the arched bones rose into the air by nearly three meters in an instant.
At that point, the area immediately around and between the two battling Magicians now seemed like the ribcage of a very large magic beast that covered about fifty meters in length and four meters in width. The base of the ribcage had been entirely formed from the ground beneath William and Granger and was pale-white, hard and nearly smooth in its entirety; inwardly arched bones that had pointed ends lined its edges, each spaced half-a-foot apart, and stood firm, being three meters high after Granger's spell completely resolved.
(Bone Yard)
Granger's spell definitely gave William an ominous feeling so he did not intend to stick around to see what its effect was. William pointed towards the sky using his right index finger and cast Instant Light, following which, he disappeared from his position amidst a flash of white light and reappeared about fourteen meters above Granger's Bone Yard.
William then pointed his ten fingers towards Granger and all ten of William's fingers then glowed with a bright, white light before ten beams of thin but intense rays of white light moved towards Granger like directed lasers.
(Scorching Lasers)
Granger waved his left hand and ten of the arched bones on each side of himself quickly moved inwards to cover him in order to protect him from William's aerial attack. The ten rays of light quickly made contact with the bones that were shielding Granger and the bones were summarily sliced through at several places, leaving molten cross-sections where the bones had been split. The severed pieces of bone fell onto the floor of the Bone Yard and Granger himself was nowhere to be seen at that time.
William cancelled Scorching Lasers and somehow remained floating in midair while trying to look for Granger with his magic sense but his magic sense was indicating that Granger was situated all along the length of the Bone Yard, which did not make any sense to William until the Bone Yard raised itself off the ground, starting at the farthest end away from William, and rapidly coiled to form something akin to a 'bone wheel' that resulted in the previous bone arcs now being positioned like and somehow resembling outward-jutting, jagged spikes.
(Bone Wheel)
The Bone Wheel suddenly jumped off the ground and then turned rapidly like the wheel of a sports car moving at its highest speed. William's eyes opened wide as the Bone Wheel moved to crash into him at an incredible speed. The almost fully circular Bone Wheel had a radius of about seven meters and seemed fairly heavy, so William knew that at the speed that it was turning and moving forward, if it hit him, he would become meat paste instantly.
(Instant Light)
William pointed his right index finger towards the bone wheel's right flank, about four meters away from its side spikes, and then instantly moved there amidst a flash of white light. The bone wheel pressed its advance and soon seemed liked it was going to race away from William's new position but Granger, who had still not appeared as yet had other plans.
(Bone Saw)
The Bone Wheel quickly uncoiled in order to nearly assume its original shape and the jagged spikes at its side then started moving along the perimeter of its base at rapid speed, basically gaining the likeness of a strange chainsaw that moved like a live creature in midair; the 'chainsaw' then quickly rushed towards William. William acted quickly by using his right hand's fingers to form an 'O' and then placed them in front of his right eye. While keeping his right hand at his eye, he looked through the 'O' and cast Instant Light, following which, a beam of white light shot out from the opening of his right fingers, faster than was previously the case when William just used a single finger to cast the spell.
William disappeared and reappeared at the end of the light beam, having dodged the Bone Saw's direct onslaught and having moved to its right flank but the Bone Saw rapidly twisted its body around and rushed at William once again, moving its body like a centipede in midair. William cast Instant Light using the 'O' at his eye four more times in order to dodge the Bone Saw's seemingly sharp attacks, each time choosing to appear at the Bone Saw's right flank via a speed that truly seemed instant.
Soon, William became fed up with dodging and decided to deal with the Bone Saw swiftly and effectively.
(Who knows what that Granger fellow could be plotting while I am flying around with his massive tool.)
The Bone Saw once again moved one of its ends toward William, its 'saw' rotating around its body like malicious intent given physical form. William quickly moved his right hand from his eye and clasped both his hands above his head. A cloud of magic energy was then exuded from William's body as many rays of white light converged towards William's hands, soon enveloping them in white light.
William breathed in and then out deeply until those rays of white light as well as the white light that was currently enveloping his hands developed a deep golden hue. The now dazzling gold light at his hands then proceeded to expand and morph in order to form the likeness of a double edged broadsword that was 0.8-foot-wide and one-meter-long.
(Glorious Generations)
(My Glorious Light)
When Granger's Bone Saw was about to crash into William, William swung his gold broadsword down at it with both hands seemingly wrapped around the broadsword's hilt. When the gold broadsword came into contact with the Bone Saw, there was a momentary flash of blinding gold colored light before an intensely searing and thin column of gold light passed through the length of the Bone Saw, rapidly cutting the Bone Saw in half and leaving it with molten cross sections where it had been cut.
The Bone Saw's spikes no longer moved along the perimeter of its two pieces at this time and the two pieces did not remain in midair. The two large pieces of bone fell towards the ground like dropped stones and crashed with loud 'thuds'.
William's gold broadsword then dissipated and he rested his hands within his pants pockets again, observing the aftermath of his move. He also reasoned:
(Casting Glorious Generations in combination with My Glorious Light converts the light used in the former spell to origin light which basically triples the intensity of the attacks made with Glorious Generations for a short period of time, about fifty seconds at most for a purely offensive spell. My Glorious Light only resolves so long as I possess the Light Source talent but the power it grants justifies that stringent requirement. The combination of those two spells also cost me almost 4,000 magical units just to make one attack.)
On the ground, a section of the right piece of the destroyed Bone Saw cracked apart and Granger emerged from its innards unharmed. He appeared a bit shaky and that was presumably as a result of nearly coming into direct contact with such intense light path magic power. William noticed Granger's emergence and did not plan to give him a breather.
William raised his right hand out of his pants pocket and then pinched his right index finger and thumb together before casting another spell at Granger:
(Glorious Justice)
A bright, twinkling collection of white light was generated at William's pinched fingers and then a four-inch-thick beam of intense, white light shot out from William's pinched fingers at pseudo-light-speed towards Granger's head. Granger sensed the danger from the incoming attack using his own magic sense and internally sighed in response before making a decision:
(I surrender!)
In response to Granger's internal plea, Ralph instantly appeared in front of Granger and flicked his right index finger at William's Glorious Justice while somehow moving even faster than William's light beam, following which, Glorious Justice's beam appeared to collapse in on itself and dissipate with no harm having been done.
William creased his brows in response to his spell's forceful suppression and cancellation but when he realized that it was Ralph's doing, he figured that Granger had surrendered and that the match was now over. Corresponding with his assumption, Ralph announced the result of the battle one moment later:
"William Rollins has won this match by reason of his opponent's surrender!"
A female student that was sitting in the stands immediately shouted out:
"William is my bae!"
The other students discussed:
"Granger's bone path methods seemed formidable but he was still outclassed by bright light."
"William may not attend an aristocrat academy but his bright light inheritance is well known for its power and quality. Not to mention that he probably doesn't lack family resources to aid his cultivation"
"That gold broadsword was cool! That was the famous Glorious Generations. Who would have thought that I would be able to see it like this?"
...
The licensed Magicians also discussed:
"That Granger lad's loss was worthy."
"William's speed and power is exceptional. I heard that he has been attending Richter Order Academy for a decade in Grand Earth's time so he should have the qualification to push to rank 3."
"Rumor is that he was waiting to become a light path master before he pushed to rank 3."
"That's wise since graduating at rank 3 is far more beneficial to his career than graduating at rank 2. He would be the top recruitment target of many private companies."
"You all talk like it is easy to get to rank 3. Even if he is a light path master, he has to go through the seemingly impossible hurdle by himself in the end."
"Let's just focus on the competition. William is definitely a favorite to secure the final victory in these battle rounds."
One minute after Ralph's announcement, Granger moved to return to Grim Lord Academy's section. William cast Instant Light in order to return to Richter Order Academy's section amidst a flash white light. Patrice was the first to address William when he appeared standing within the section:
"You became stronger, haven't you?"
William smiled while rubbing the back of his head and replied:
"Yeah...that tends to happen when your attainment rises sharply."
Patrice nodded her head and replied:
"Great performance."
William silently accepted the praise with an appreciative smile and returned to his seat beside Victoria. Victoria then remarked:
"Having talents must be nice."
William shrugged in response to Victoria's words:
"Although I was born with my talents, they are not easy to control and use. Besides, from what I know, anyone can earn talents. You just haven't put any effort into doing so."
Victoria sighed:
"The requirements for gaining suitable talents are not written on the walls. My inheritance doesn't include them so I am still actively searching for information regarding decent ones but no one is just going to hand you that even if you have money to offer."
Magical talents were also traditionally a kind of legacy with the most famous and useful of them being inherited through bloodline. Other talents that could not be inherited had stringent requirements for being earned and those requirements were usually kept as secrets by families, private organizations, governments and individuals. Of course, you could always luck into earning a talent during your cultivation by training in a specific area, by interacting with magical items or by consuming certain things but the general consensus was that earning good, suitable talents was difficult and time consuming.
Nick mused at this time after overhearing William's and Victoria's conversation:
(I don't think that I lucked into gaining my talents. My Cursed Vessel talent is really a curse that was inflicted on me, Fateful Luck and Limitless Path seem suspicious and I don't even know how I earned them while the rest of my talents such as: Spacial Instinct, Spatial Awareness and Eyes of the Fated were earned during my cultivation. I have a few talents but they basically determined my cultivation progress so far. My need to obtain the Soul Cradle talent is therefore even more of a priority than it was before.)
Soon, Ralph announced the next match-up:
"Nick Capitol and Becky Dumont. Find your way to the field."
Nick stored his notes within his space band before casting Space Rift and walking through the resulting space gate in order to appear on the field, near its center. Nick then closed the space gate behind him and waited for his opponent.
Soon, a tall, white man, having about a height of six feet, walked through the corridor entrance opposite to Nick and made his way on foot towards the center of the grassy field. Becky Dumont seemed to be of eastern European descent, he had sharp green eyes, thin lips and a head full of neatly combed, short, black hair. He wore a pair of fitting, brown denim pants, a long-sleeved, white and brown flannel shirt and a pair of brown leather combat boots.
Becky eyed Nick with seriousness, that did not ease no matter what, while Nick maintained an indifferent and aloof expression that made it seem as if he did not take the event seriously enough. When Becky reached within about twenty meters of Nick, Ralph gave his command:
"Begin the match!"
Hearing the command, Nick unsheathed Failed Tool from his left side with his right hand while casting Warrior Armor and Tyrant Blade. Nick's entire body briefly flashed with sparks of red and silver light before his entire right arm gained a metallic-silver hue and metallic consistency. Nick didn't plan on saying anything but his opponent seemed to have something that he needed to convey:
"I..."
Nick didn't want to hear any useless talk so he simply mobilized his magic power against Becky in order to show him that things would not suddenly get cute:
(Dreadful Aura.)
A dark, fear inducing aura suddenly spread from Nick towards Becky, which enveloped the latter in less than a second. Becky immediately felt a shiver go down his spine and his mouth became filled with a bitter taste. Although the dreadful aura did not have enough power to affect the movements of someone of his standard, Becky was definitely inflicted with a troublesome mental pressure as negative emotions emerged within his mind.
Becky momentarily abandoned what he was going to say because of the sheer discomfort that he was feeling and this gave Nick enough time to cast Space Rift in order to open a space gate in front of himself that led directly to Becky's front. Nick took a step through the space gate with his right leg while he swung Failed Tool at Becky, moving his sword at a speed that momentarily resulted in Nick's right arm disappearing from Becky's view.
At that time, Becky's scouting spell passively activated since it was the kind of spell that could be cast beforehand and maintained:
(Moments Later)
Within Becky's mind, a scene was generated that showed himself being cut into two pieces, from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist, and dying tragically with vacant eyes. He was alarmed:
(Moments Later is a rank 2 advanced grade time path scouting spell that can reveal events involving myself that will occur within moments, so long as the other parties involved are at most of the rank 2 standard. Its passive effects could be maintained for long periods of time and triggered when appropriate, so it grants a fair bit of protection. To think that this Nick Capitol would really kill me so easily. I am one of the strongest students currently attending Ten Thousand Burials Academy and I can't even survive one attack, sigh. I surrender!)
Following Becky's internal plea, Ralph quickly appeared at Becky's left side and grabbed Failed Tool's blade using his own right hand before it bit into Becky's left shoulder. Nick was a bit caught off guard by Ralph's interference but he soon reasoned that Becky must have surrendered. Becky cringed at suddenly seeing Failed Tool's blade so close to himself:
(I could not follow the movements of Nick's sword arm, even a little, with my eyes and he moved too fast for my magic sense to track the attack in real time. My other time path methods would also not have resolved in time to effect much. How the hell does this guy cultivate?)
The speed of Nick's attack had rendered Becky helpless but it was not the latter's fault. Nick's agility had evidently increased during the past few days just like Varrow had mentioned, in addition, the physical enhancement that Warrior Armor granted Nick's right arm allowed him to move Failed Tool as easy as a tooth pick and most importantly, Tyrant Blade's advanced grade effect increased the speed and agility of Nick's arm movements in proportion to the magic power concentrated within his arms, which was tremendous right now within his right arm, because Warrior Armor was the manifestation of an advanced grade spell that made use of Nick's soul that had already assimilated one million rank 2 magic beast souls.
For these reasons, Becky had no hope of keeping up with Nick's sword attack, not even considering the fighting experience that Nick had gained in his last battle. Finally, what made Nick's sword swing so threatening that it would have killed Becky was not only the fact that it was it too fast for Becky to defend against but also because Tyrant Blade's other effect increased Failed Tool's cutting power in proportion to the magic power of Warrior Armor currently flowing within Nick's right arm; the latter having allowed Nick to have easily thrown capable rank 2 Magicians in the past.
Ralph, who stopped Nick's attack with his own hand, knew clearly how strong the sword strike was and internally commended Nick:
(His actions were so simple yet they culminated into something difficult for a rank 2 Magician to resist. This man is definitely not your average academy student or even your above average academy student...)
Ralph announced the result of the battle almost immediately:
"Nick Capitol has won this match by reason of his opponent's surrender."
Some licensed Magicians within the stands loudly grumbled in response to hearing the result:
"What, after one incomplete exchange?"
"Hmph! When did such a coward attend Ten Thousand Burials Academy?"
"Nick Capitol ended up getting an easy win this time. This young man has some dog shit luck!"
...
Other licensed Magicians shook their heads and reprimanded the others:
"Fools! You did not observe Nick Capitol's seemingly simple attack clearly enough. It actually carried enough power to cleave Becky Dumont apart."
"Not to mention the speed of Nick's sword swing. Tell me, which one of your dog eyes kept up with that attack without using your scouting method or magic sense."
"Sigh. Where did that young man come from? I don't know how to evaluate him according to common sense."
"Nick Capitol's magic power is no less formidable than many of the other strange Magicians that we have seen so far. Did the academies start serving some kind of special food?"
"Ha! I can't wait for the other matches."
...
The students siting within the stands and the sections mostly remained quiet, not knowing what to make of the situation but Ralph's judgement could not be wrong. The remaining competitors including, Kirst Elthirst, Lewis Nefari and the rest from Richter Order Academy gained an ominous feeling as they looked at Nick's sword that was still caught within Ralph's right grip.
Ralph soon let go of Nick's sword and said to him:
"Good work."
Ralph then turned towards Becky and said:
"Knowing when to give up is also part of being a good Magician. Your decision probably saved your life so you are not necessarily a loser in this match."
Becky gave a bitter nod in acceptance of Ralph's words and then watched as Nick silently took a step back into his space gate using his right leg and then closed it. Nick appeared twenty meters away in Becky's field of vision again. Following that, Nick cast Space Rift again and opened a space gate to his academy's section, following which, he entered it. Becky then openly sighed and proceeded to walk to the field's corridor entrance so that he could get back to his academy's section.
Ralph then rose into the air and announced the next match. While the rest of the event continued, Nick went back to his seat and summoned his notes again. He felt that he was very close to finalizing the list of concepts that he needed in order to properly design his new magic formation, so he did not waste time talking to the others and just started working.
Victoria, William and Patrice glanced at Nick with incredulity. Nick was younger than all three of them but in terms of power, he was apparently not lacking despite the fact that he was at the bottom of Richter Order Academy's third year ranking, despite the fact that he had access to far less resources than themselves, despite the fact that he had basically been missing in action for four years and despite the fact that he seemingly had no one to rely on but himself.
Varrow directed a brief smile at the rascal working behind him and then returned his attention to the field in order to continue watching the first round of matches. When the first round of the last event concluded, which left twenty competitors as active participants. Ralph announced at that time:
"We will take a four-hour-break before continuing the next round of matches."
Following that, spectators, which included students left their seats. Nick stored his notes into his space band and got up because he planned to return to his hotel room; Nick left the section quickly. Jessie Auburn, who had been quiet up to that time since returning to the section, silently watched Nick as he left, seeming to be thinking of something at the same time.
When Nick got back to his hotel room, he showered and then ate two bags of butter bread before going over his progress at the dining table:
(I have all the concepts that I think that I will need to produce the magic formation. The next step is obtaining materials that the formation will require which includes formation path, space path and even soul path materials. There is also the need for magic metals, woods, chemicals and fabric to include in the magic formation's construction.)
Nick summoned his laptop from his space band and researched different kinds of magic materials before compiling a list of the ones that he thought that he would need and the estimated quantities that he would require. The hotel somehow had Wi-Fi internet so there was no difficulty involved in Nick's actions. After spending approximately three hours doing that, he then he called Dewy using his inter-realm smartphone; Dewy picked up almost immediately:
"Dewy, are you close to a computer?"
"Yes...Yes, sir."
Dewy's tone was a bit stiff. He had been watching the inter-academy competition like most people in the United Kingdom had been doing and he was shocked by Nick's power; he had no idea that his boss was so formidable. Nick continued:
"Well, I'm about to email you a list of magic materials that I need you to have procured. You should know a few good agencies that can do that by now, right?"
"Yes sir, I do. Just send the list of materials to me and consider it done."
Nick emailed the list of materials over to Dewy immediately and when Dewy opened the email, he was shocked, not because of the amount of materials but the expected cost of procuring them that Nick included in the email. His voice was shaky as he sought to confirm the number with Nick:
"Sir Nick, is this right? Your email indicates that the cost of all these materials are estimated at £60,000,000,000."
Nick understood Dewy's doubt and assured him:
"That is only a conservative estimation. The real cost might be higher."
The materials didn't have such a high cost just because of the quantity but also because of the quality of the items that Nick wanted. Magic materials of the rank 2 standard that were used in construction that included metals, wood and similar resources came in many, many varieties whose qualities could differ slightly or completely.
(I made sure to include the best materials for the job that I can have procured using my student status. If I was a licensed Magician, I would be able to buy more expensive materials but the ones that I chose should suffice. Hmmm...I could also get Carla's help in buying materials but I am wary of that woman right now, so I will not easily ask her for help.)
Dewy went silent for a long time; before now, he had never thought that he would ever work for someone willing to spend this kind of money but here he was. He soon composed himself and spoke of other matters:
"A package that is addressed from 'The Royal Family' arrived a few hours ago. What should I do with it?"
Dewy didn't even bother asking if the package was sent from the real royal family because his heart would probably explode if that was the case. Nick guessed what the package was and said:
"Desmond works fast...just place the package at my work table on the second floor."
"Okay, sir...another thing. Tracy Capitol came here in the past few hours trying to get your number so that she could congratulate you on your progress in the competition so far. Of course, I denied her but she said that she would come back. I didn't bother you with this before because you said that you would be busy during the competition. Sir, I don't mean to pry into your family business but the young woman seemed to really want to talk to you."
Nick went silent for twenty seconds before replying:
"I do not want Tracy Capitol to contact me. Is there anything else?"
Dewy sighed and then replied:
"No, sir."
It was hard not to notice Dewy's obvious disapproval with his stance as it related to his sister but Nick did not need his employee or anyone else, for that matter, to approve of him or his decisions. Nick proceeded to hang up the phone before making his way back to the arena.
Nick was wearing a fitting, fully white, silk polo shirt, a pair of custom fit, dark-blue jeans pants and a pair of black suede dress shoes. Nick arrived within the academy's section about fifteen minutes later. Varrow, William and Patrice were also present.
Patrice wore a pair of fitting, purple denim jeans, a sleeveless, silver blouse and a pair of white and purple running shoes. William wore a pair of fitting pale-blue jeans pants, a long sleeved, yellow flannel shirt and a pair of black Kickers shoes. Varrow wore his pale-green magician's robe like before.
Nick politely nodded his head towards the three older Magicians in greeting and they nodded their heads in response. Nick then went to his seat and summoned a tablet computer from his space band so that he could start drawing the base of his new magic formation. The tablet computer had a glass like frame and its display was high definition and at times projected three dimensional images depending on Nick's actions.
Nick decided that drawing the magic formation on canvas paper would be too problematic since he projected that the required number of symbols for this magic formation was well over six million, over ten times the number used to construct the Speed Bubble magic formation.
By using a tablet computer to model the magic formation, he would not have to spend time moving around a large piece of canvas paper and he could work on the formation anywhere. Using special software, he could even design the physical appearance of the magic formation once the magic materials were considered.
(Including the laws embedded into the magic materials, this formation's symbols might actually end up numbering well over twenty million. That's an unreal number, even more than what Purification Echo's base consists of. I remember when I made my first magic scroll and messed up, now I'm doing this...)
Nick was so pleased with his progress that his emotions at this time could not be described accurately enough with words. Nick soon began drawing the symbols for the base of his magic formation and did so with laser like focus. Ralph soon appeared floating above the grassy field while wearing a gold and grey magician's robe.
The spectators that included hundreds of licensed Magicians and students were already in their seats waiting expectantly for the upcoming matches. After floating for about two minutes, Ralph began his address:
"The next few rounds will take place one immediately after the other so as not to waste time. Same rules apply for all of them: the fighting is to take place within and directly above the field and the fighting must stop once a competitor surrenders, at which point, I will interfere and/or declare the results. Something to note, due to the capabilities of the remaining competitors, the administrators of the competition are requesting that if killing can be avoided, then it should be avoided. Of course, we can't control how the match goes and you will definitely not be punished for killing someone but remember that each well trained Magician is a country's strategic resource and killing them reduces the country's strength."
Ralph paused for a while to let his words sink in. The licensed Magicians took no issue with the royal family's request but some people still made comments:
"The royal family is trying to protect the flowers from being killed before they have had time to fully bloom."
"That time would be when they get to rank 3 at least. I agree with the royal family's stance but like Ralph said, no one can control who lives or dies except the competitors once things get heated."
"In my opinion, the royal family is babying these youngsters. So what if a few geniuses die? A dead genius was no genius!"
...
After about three minutes of waiting, Ralph finally declared the next match-up:
"Patrice Suez and Nick Capitol. Find your way to the field, now!"
Nick immediately looked up from his tablet computer and turned his head towards Patrice. Patrice, who was also sitting in the second row, turned her head towards Nick at about the same time. She lightly smiled and remarked:
"This match will be interesting."