Chapter 7: Hidden Power
After the incident with Astrid, the arena atmosphere remained tense. Some prospective students still whispered about the brutal fight they had just witnessed, while others glanced warily toward the seat where Astrid sat with apprehensive expressions.
The academy guards, who usually stood casually in the arena corners, now appeared more alert with hands ready to draw their weapons at any moment.
Ryan, who had been treated by the academy's medical team, sat in a special chair with bandages wrapped around several parts of his body. His face was still pale, and occasionally he glanced toward Astrid with an expression that was hard to interpret—a mixture of fear and curiosity.
"Fourth match!" August's voice echoed throughout the arena again, trying to refocus everyone's attention. "Mikhail versus Derek!"
Calm footsteps echoed on the stairs leading to the arena. A young man with an upright posture climbed at a very leisurely pace, as if strolling through a palace garden. His straight black hair moved gently in the evening breeze, and most striking were his red eyes mixed with purple—like rubies illuminated by violet light under moonbeams.
His clothing was simple yet high-quality. A white shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, well-fitted black pants, and expensive-looking leather shoes. No visible weapons, no flashy accessories. His appearance contrasted sharply with his opponent.
Derek, a stocky young man with a muscular build, climbed into the arena with heavy steps and burning enthusiasm. His muscles were clearly visible beneath the training clothes he wore. Both his hands had been gleaming golden since he entered the arena—a sign that he had already channeled metal magic throughout his body.
"Who is he?" Sirius asked while observing how Mikhail moved. There was something in the young man's steps that reminded him of how predators move—calm, but ready to strike at any moment.
"Mikhail Nivara," Aeris answered in a casual tone while leaning back in his chair. His blonde hair gleamed under the afternoon sunlight, and his golden eyes observed with interest. "Old noble family. They're famous for their dimension magic."
"The Nivara family, huh?" Sirius watched the match with boredom.
In the arena, Derek was already prepared with both hands gleaming brighter. He raised his palms to the air, and his metal magic began to work. Small metals scattered around the arena—nails, iron pieces, even metal dust—began to gather and form small blades floating in the air.
"Sword Rain Formation," Derek shouted while moving both hands. Dozens of sharp metal blades floated around him, ready to be launched at any moment.
Several spectators applauded seeing the demonstration. Derek's technique was indeed impressive for an entrance test—he could control so many blades simultaneously with good precision.
Meanwhile, Mikhail stood with both hands relaxed at his sides. His face showed no expression whatsoever—not afraid, not impressed, not even concentrating. Like watching an ordinary performance.
"He's not preparing at all," one prospective student whispered to his friend.
"Maybe he's overconfident," his friend replied. "Derek isn't an easy opponent."
August observed both participants with sharp eyes. As the academy head, he could sense the magic aura emanated by everyone. Derek emanated a stable and trained aura—an experienced metal mage. But Mikhail... Mikhail's aura was barely perceptible. As if the young man didn't even possess magic at all.
But August knew better than that. People who could hide their aura to such an extent were usually far more dangerous than those who flaunted it.
"Fight begins!" August gave the signal while stepping back to the arena's edge.
Derek immediately attacked without hesitation. He swung both hands forward, and dozens of metal blades shot at high speed toward Mikhail from various angles. An impressive attack—the blades moved in an orderly formation, closing off all escape routes.
The spectators held their breath. Such an attack would surely force an opponent to use defensive magic or move quickly to dodge.
But Mikhail didn't even move from his spot.
He just stood there, watching the approaching blades with the same calm expression. Then, with a very slow and casual movement, he raised his right hand.
Not a hurried movement, not a panicked movement. Just raising his hand as if greeting someone in the distance.
And something unexpected happened.
The metal blades that were about to hit his body suddenly stopped in mid-air. Not just stopped—they began to vibrate, then slowly disappeared. Like being absorbed by empty air, or like entering invisible cracks in the atmosphere.
Derek's eyes widened. His brown eyes dilated in disbelief. "What the—"
Before he could finish his words, the blades reappeared. But this time behind Derek, emerging from empty air exactly like how they had disappeared. And even more surprising, the blades now pointed at Derek himself with the same speed as when he had launched them.
"Impossible!" Derek shouted while trying to dodge.
He threw his body to the side, but the blades followed his movements. Derek tried to use his metal magic to control the blades again, but failed. As if the blades were no longer under his control.
With good reflexes, Derek created a metal shield in front of his body. The blades struck the shield with a series of sharp sounds, creating small sparks.
But the impact force was too great. Derek was pushed back until his back hit the arena wall. His metal shield cracked in several places, and some blades managed to penetrate and wound his arms and shoulders.
"Enough!" August shouted while creating a golden shield in front of Derek. The remaining blades struck the shield and fell to the floor with clattering sounds.
Derek gasped for breath, blood flowing from small wounds on his body. He stared at Mikhail with eyes still filled with disbelief.
"How did you do that?" Derek asked in a hoarse voice.
Mikhail lowered his hand with the same casual movement. "Do what?"
"My blades... they disappeared then reappeared..."
"Oh, that." Mikhail shrugged with a very indifferent attitude. "I just moved them a little."
"Moved? Where to?"
Mikhail smiled thinly—a smile that explained nothing. "To a place somewhat far from here. Then I brought them back in a different location."
Derek still stared at him in confusion, as did most of the spectators. What they had just witnessed didn't make sense according to their understanding of magic.
August observed Mikhail with narrowed eyes. As an experienced mage, he could guess what had happened. But still, witnessing it directly was a different matter.
"Winner of the fourth match, Mikhail!" August announced with a slightly surprised tone.
The entire arena fell silent for several moments. The fight hadn't even lasted two minutes, but what they witnessed was far more impressive than the previous matches.
Mikhail, who was climbing the stairs toward the spectator seats, suddenly stopped. He turned toward Sirius and Aeris.
Those red-purple eyes met Sirius's ice-blue eyes.
For several seconds, they stared at each other. Not a hostile gaze, but a kind of mutual recognition. Like two predators recognizing each other's strength, respecting each other without need for words.
There was something in Mikhail's gaze that made Sirius feel like he was being analyzed, studied, evaluated. But strangely, Sirius felt the same thing was happening in reverse—as if his eyes were also analyzing Mikhail in the same way.
Then Mikhail smiled thinly. Not a friendly smile, not a mocking smile. Just a smile that implied 'interesting' without explaining what was interesting.
Sirius returned the same thin smile. The white fox in his lap raised its head and stared toward Mikhail with wary golden eyes, as if sensing something unusual.
Then Mikhail continued his steps and sat in a chair not far from Astrid's location. Two people with dangerous auras now sat close together, creating an invisible zone that made other prospective students unconsciously move away.
"Interesting," Sirius murmured while stroking his fox's fur.
"You haven't seen anything yet," Aeris said while stretching his body like a cat that had just woken up. "Now it's my turn to go down."
"Fifth match!" August raised his staff again. "Aeris versus Vivian!"
Aeris rose from his chair with movements that flowed like water. His blonde hair gleamed under the afternoon sunlight that was beginning to redden, and his golden eyes seemed to sparkle with something resembling excitement. He jumped down from the spectator seats with very graceful movements, landing in the arena lightly like a cat descending from a tree.
"Good luck."
"Don't worry." Aeris smiled while waving his hand. "This is just a game."
His opponent, Vivian, was a petite girl with long brown hair braided neatly. Her bright green eyes appeared cheerful and full of determination. Her gentle appearance and careful way of walking made some spectators underestimate her, but Sirius could sense a strong aura emanating from her.
Vivian wore a simple light green dress with small flower accents at the hem. A small pouch hung at her waist that appeared to contain seeds, and her fingers were already stained with soil—a sign that she often practiced nature magic.
In the spectator seats, several prospective students began betting on who would win. Most chose Aeris because of his confident appearance, but some also chose Vivian because plant magic was famously very strong in defense.
August observed both participants carefully. "Are you ready?"
Aeris nodded casually. Vivian nodded with a more serious expression.
"Fight begins!"
Vivian immediately took the initiative. She knelt and placed both palms on the arena floor made of stone. Her bright green eyes concentrated fully, and a greenish aura began flowing from her body.
"Grow," she whispered with a voice that was gentle but full of power.
In an instant, small cracks began appearing between the floor stones. From those cracks, thick roots began growing at an astounding speed. The roots moved like giant snakes, coiling with organic but directed movements.
The spectators were mesmerized seeing such rapid growth. The roots didn't just grow randomly—they moved with a clear purpose, trying to coil around Aeris's feet and restrict his movements.
Aeris observed the approaching roots with an interested expression. "Good control," he commented while stepping back several paces casually.
But the roots kept chasing him. They grew more numerous and thicker, creating a green labyrinth in the middle of the arena. Some roots even began growing from the walls, trying to surround Aeris from all directions.
"Now!" Vivian shouted.
All the roots moved simultaneously toward Aeris, trying to catch him from various angles. Their movements were very fast and coordinated, leaving no room for escape.
But Aeris just smiled. "Too easy."
Suddenly Aeris's body began gleaming with silvery light, like a water surface reflecting moonlight. The light grew brighter and more dazzling, until finally...
Aeris disappeared.
The roots that were about to catch him only penetrated empty air. Vivian was startled, her eyes moving quickly searching for Aeris's whereabouts around the arena.
"Where is he?" she murmured while continuing to control her roots to move and search.
Light laughter was heard from above. "Here."
All eyes looked up and saw Aeris—or what looked like Aeris—standing in the air casually, as if there was a transparent floor there. His blonde hair moved in the wind, and his golden eyes sparkled with excitement.
"How can he..." one spectator murmured in disbelief.
But then Aeris's voice was heard again, this time from the left side of the arena. "Or maybe here?"
Everyone's heads turned toward the sound, and they saw another Aeris standing casually at the arena's edge, arms folded across his chest.
"Wait, which one is real?" someone shouted.
Before anyone could answer, a third voice was heard from behind Vivian. "Or it could be here."
Vivian spun around quickly and saw a third Aeris standing right behind her, so close she could feel his breath.
Vivian tried to attack with the nearest root, but her hand only penetrated Aeris's body like touching empty air. The shadow smiled and disappeared like smoke.
"Illusion magic," Sirius observed with admiration from the spectator seats. "He's not just hiding himself, but creating false projections."
The white fox in his lap looked confused, its head moving following every shadow of Aeris that appeared.
Vivian began to feel frustrated. She kept controlling her roots to attack every shadow of Aeris that appeared, but they all only penetrated empty air. Meanwhile, Aeris's laughter continued to be heard from various directions.
"You can't keep playing hide and seek!" Vivian shouted while slamming both hands to the ground forcefully. "Come out and fight honestly!"
The green aura around her grew stronger. She gathered all her strength for a massive attack.
"Tracker Garden!" she shouted.
Dozens of large flowers bloomed throughout the arena in an instant. But these weren't ordinary flowers—their crowns opened wide and released pollen that gleamed golden. The pollen spread throughout the arena like a sparkling golden mist.
"Tracker pollen," Aeris's voice was heard from somewhere, his tone impressed. "That's clever."
Vivian smiled thinly. "This pollen will stick to anything that has physical mass. No matter how good your illusions are, your real body will definitely be detected."
And indeed, the golden pollen began sticking to various places in the arena. But then something strange happened—the pollen stuck to many different points, as if there were dozens of Aeris running around the entire arena.
"What is this?" Vivian spun around, increasingly confused. "Why are there so many?"
Aeris's laughter was heard louder, this time from above Vivian's head. "You forgot something important about illusions."
Vivian looked up and saw Aeris—or what looked like Aeris—standing in the air right above her with a mysterious smile.
"Illusions aren't just about hiding something that exists," Aeris said while slowly descending toward Vivian. "Illusions are also about creating something that doesn't exist."
Suddenly ten Aeris appeared surrounding Vivian, all looking equally real. They moved around the girl with the same steps, the same smiles, even the way their blonde hair moved in the wind was identical.
The golden pollen stuck to all the shadows, making them look even more real. Even their shadows looked perfect on the arena floor.
"Which one is real?" Vivian spun following the movements of all ten Aeris, her roots moving restlessly not knowing which one to attack.
All ten Aeris answered simultaneously with identical voices: "All are real. All are fake. It depends on how you look at it."
The spectators were completely mesmerized. Even those sitting in the front seats couldn't tell which Aeris was real and which were just illusions. Every movement, every expression, even the way they breathed looked exactly the same.
"This is impossible," August murmured while observing with narrowed eyes. As an experienced mage, he could sense magic auras. But what he sensed were ten identical auras—as if there really were ten different Aeris.
Vivian tried another strategy. She grew a wall of large flowers that released a pungent aroma, hoping to disrupt Aeris's concentration. The flowers released such a strong fragrance that several spectators covered their noses.
But all ten Aeris just laughed together. "Nice aroma," they said in harmonious voices. "But unfortunately..."
They raised their hands simultaneously, and suddenly the entire arena began to change.
What happened next left everyone silent in awe and fear.