As Jericho stepped back into the crowd of candidates, his system screen flickered to life in front of his eyes. The screen displayed his reward for his fight with Drake the Fishman.
[Side Task Has Been Complete.]
[Your reward will be allocated to your current stats.]
[Rewards for defeating the enemy: Three Experience Points have been awarded to your point tab. Your Speed and Agility have been increased by six points. Your Strength has also increased by five points.]
The screen shifted again and displayed his updated stats before his eyes.
[Stat Tab.]
[Strength: Ten.]
[Speed & Agility: Ten.]
[Stamina: Ten.]
[Endurance: Five.]
After showing him his stats tab, the screen shifted and displayed another tab.
[Point Tab.]
[Health Points: Ten.]
[Magic Points: Ten.]
[Experience Points: Eight.]
As his stats were updated on the screen, a faint shimmer of energy surged through Jericho's body.
He instantly felt his muscles tighten, pulsing with new strength. His limbs grew just slightly firmer, like every cell in his body had been upgraded.
Jericho glanced down at his hands and began flexing his fingers. He looked back at the screen, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
As soon as Jericho returned to the spot where he had been standing before the fight, Cody rushed over, grinning widely from ear to ear.
He clapped a hand onto Jericho's shoulder with a burst of enthusiasm.
"Dude, you were awesome out there!" he said, laughing. "Didn't know you had that in you. Looks like you didn't need my help with that Fishman after all!"
Cody's laughter echoed through the arena, cutting through the tension that still lingered in the air.
"I was just lucky out there," Jericho chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
Cody scoffed. "Lucky?" He shook his head with a grin. "Nah, man. That wasn't luck. Your movements were sharp and precise. That was all you."
The arena grew quiet for a moment, the tension settling like dust in the air. Then, the silence was broken once again by the booming voice of the announcer.
"Will the next fighters please step forward to the combat area!"
Cody grinned and gave Jericho a quick nod. "Looks like I'm up. Wish me luck!"
Without waiting for a reply, he dashed toward the center of the arena, his opponent strolling out behind him.
When they reached the combat area, Cody and his opponent stood face to face, both completely still as they waited for the signal to begin.
Cody's opponent was a towering elf with a very muscular physique and broad shoulders. His physique was surprisingly muscular for an elf, with his frame stretching close to nine feet tall.
"That body of yours makes you look like a giant," Cody said with a grin. "That's why I picked you, because you look strong. Please don't disappoint me."
The elf's lips curled into a faint smile, his voice cool and measured. "You picked me because I look strong?" he asked. "You should know... muscles aren't what make someone truly strong."
Cody's grin widened. "I know. And that's exactly why I'm going to beat you."
The elf stepped forward, the smile fading from his face. His tone dropped, his smile replaced by a serious expression.
"Well then..." he said, "let's stop talking and let our fists speak for us."
Both candidates dropped into battle-ready stances, their eyes locked on each other as they sized up one another.
The announcer raised his hand and shouted,
"Begin!"
The moment the word rang out, the elf launched forward, driving into Cody with a barrage of solid punches. Each strike carried the weight of a battering ram as it struck Cody. Cody gritted his teeth and braced himself, raising his arms in a tight cross over his chest to block the punches.
The sheer force of the punches forced Cody backward, his boots sliding across the arena floor as he was pushed several meters away. A small cloud of dust kicked up between them, momentarily separating the two fighters.
Cody straightened his posture, shaking out his arms as he let out a sharp breath.
"You're strong, I'll admit that. And I can tell you've got a powerful ability." His eyes narrowed. "But I'm not going to let you use it. I'm ending this in under a minute."
He spread his arms wide and inhaled slowly through his nose. As he did, a fiery glow ignited across his skin, red flames flickering to life around his body.
The flames surged across Cody's skin, wrapping around his body in a swirling aura of heat. The flames radiating from his body were intense, so fierce it could melt steel.
Cody exhaled sharply and released a wave of searing heat across the arena, raising the temperature in an instant, as if a volcano had erupted right in the middle of the colosseum.
The stone floor cracked beneath his feet, and the very air shimmered with distortion.
As the heat wave swept through the arena, Jericho shielded his face with one arm, sweat instantly pouring down his forehead.
"It's so hot. This heat can melt even steel," he muttered. "At this rate, he might burn everyone alive."
All around the arena, candidates staggered back in alarm, their expressions shifting between a mix of awe and panic.
"So hot!" one boy shouted, backing away.
"Is he trying to burn us all?" another yelled, shielding his face.
Cody's grin slowly faded, replaced by a serious and focused expression. His eyes locked on the elf and, with a sudden burst of energy, he released his ability.
"This is only a fraction of what I can do," he growled. "Hellfire's Spiral!" he yelled at the top of his voice.
The moment Cody shouted the spell, a roaring tornado of flames exploded from his chest, spinning violently as it shot through the air toward the elf with blinding speed.
The swirling inferno carved through the space between them, leaving a burning trail behind it like a comet streaking across the arena.
The elf's eyes widened as he saw the attack approaching. He tried to activate his ability, raising up his hands instinctively to defend himself.
But due to the speed of Cody's attack, he was unable to activate it. The flames blasted into his outstretched arms, burning straight through his defense before slamming into his chest with brutal force.
The impact hurled the elf across the arena, sending his body crashing into the ground with a sickening thud. He skidded and tumbled across the arena before finally coming to a halt in an unconscious state.
For the next five minutes, the entire arena was stunned, and silence swept through the crowd of candidates. Even the announcer was left stunned by how powerful Cody was.
Jericho stared in disbelief. "What the hell? He ended the fight with one move."
He glanced at Cody, who stood calmly in the center of the arena, the flames around him slowly fading back into his body.
"Guess he wasn't kidding when he said he'd finish it in under a minute. If Drake had fought him, he would have been obliterated before he laid a finger on him," Jericho said in total awe.
It took a moment before the announcer found his voice again. Then, his voice echoed through the arena, slightly shaken but loud.
"Please return to your stand. Medical personnel will take care of the unconscious fighter!"
A wave of murmurs rippled through the crowd as Cody walked back into the crowd, his usual grin returning to his face.
"This guy's a monster," one dwarf said with a frightened tone.
"I wouldn't want to get on his bad side," another said.
Almost immediately, a group of healers clad in ceremonial robes rushed onto the combat field, casting soft-glowing healing spells as they surrounded the unconscious elf.
They worked quickly and quietly, stabilizing his condition before gently lifting him onto a stretcher.
Without interrupting the flow of the exam, the healers carried him off toward the medical ward to continue treating him.
As Cody returned to Jericho's side, a single question burned on Jericho's mind.
"Just how strong is this guy? And he said he failed the exam twice? That means the Demon Slayer Academy doesn't just accept anyone," Jericho thought in his head.
Immediately as he reached where Jericho stood, Cody wrapped his arms around Jericho's shoulder.
"With a feat like that, I'm guaranteed to get in," Cody said with a wide grin.
Without wasting any time, the announcer called for the next fighters to take their positions.
Jericho's eyes followed a male giant with bright yellow hair as he stepped confidently into the combat area.
He towered above candidates from the other races and even some giants like him, standing easily over twenty-seven feet tall with a giant axe on his back. Immediately he entered the combat zone, something remarkable began to happen.
His massive frame began to shrink, his body and the giant axe condensing until he stood at the height of a regular human.
Jericho raised a brow in surprise.
"The giants... they can alter their size?" he muttered to himself, watching in awe.
It was a unique trait of the Giant Race, the ability to compress their bodies into human scale, allowing them to fight on equal footing with smaller opponents without losing their raw power.
Jericho was impressed by the giant boy until he saw who he was up against. It was the white-haired elf from earlier, the one who had effortlessly flown higher than anyone else during the magic energy assessment.
"He's up against that guy?" Jericho's brows drew together.
Cody crossed his arms. "There's something about that guy. There's no doubt about it, he'll win this match effortlessly."
Jericho nodded slowly, locking his gaze on the elf. "I feel it too. That giant might be powerful... but that guy's on a completely different level."
The moment the white-haired elf stepped into the combat zone, the announcer wasted no time and called for the match to start.
"Begin!" his voice rang out loud and clear across the arena.