The time limit was 30 minutes so the maximum points Baston could get if he did nothing until the end was 10 points. He was sure of this thing, but once he saw the other participants avoided him, he knew it would be no easy to do it. By any chance, the situation would become troublesome if
everyone attacked at the same time. Although his ice magic was sturdy, it would
be broken after getting much more impact from the opponents.
The fat boy thought no one would make a move, but suddenly, one person used his fire magic to his opponent. As the result of that simple attack, the opponent quickly lost and the staff moved fast to evacuate that one
person. It didn't reach one minute and the first victim had already fallen. The first person who did this smirked happily since he got 5 points for his effort. What made strange was the group was still there, protecting this person at any cost without leaving any opening for Baston.
"So, you want to play a drama like that…" he thought.
There was no need to waste more time so Baston casted his ice magic to the nearest opponent. It launched beautifully but before it could hit, 2 people made a move. They casted their spells at the same time, blocking
the attack while the rest launched themselves for Baston. Initially, it should
be easy but it changed once he must deal with several people at once.
The strategy they used against the fat boy was leaving 2 people for defense while the rest were attacking him at the same time. Once Baston saw an opportunity, his attack would be blocked by 2 people from before.
If he tried to attack for a second time, he would be hit by others from another
direction. Just by that, he could only watch his spell got blocked by their teamwork. Not only there was no chance to make a move, all of them seemingly wanted to restrict him.
"This boy is going to lose…"
"Exactly, how he can escape from 5 people at once?"
"Even if he survives until the end, I believe his opponents will have another way to defeat him…"
The audience had the same opinion when they saw Baston on the pinch. They thought the fat boy didn't have a chance to win this round. Even though he was blessed with ice magic, it would be useless if he couldn't
advance. Regarding this moment, Baston actually could break free if he was getting serious. Just by unleashing his true strength, it would dominate all his opponents. Still, he didn't want to show his true power to be the center of attention.
Six minutes had already passed, giving everyone 2 points automatically. While Baston was busy avoiding the attack, the first person from before already beat his second victim. Right at the moment, he already earned 12 points. People might not see it clearly but Baston who was at the arena could see that this person must already arrange everything. The second victim he got didn't give much effort on defending, so he basically just reaped the
points. Somehow, the group here would gladly surrender themselves for this one
person to win. Baston could sense he must be the leader of the group.
"I have to take him out first…"
With this thinking, Baston changed his way of fighting. Instead of focusing just one person, he made a random attack to anyone at the arena. Sometimes, he would target the nearby one, but when the defender came, he
changed his pattern to the furthest one. By keeping with this pace, it slowly exhausted their stamina and mana to the point that they couldn't move in the same rhythm. At that time, Baston finally made a move.
"ICE BLAST!!!"
"BLOCK IT EVERYONE!!!"
The ice magic manifested quickly in front of everyone. The solid rock protruded from the ground and headed to the person with the highest points. Other participants quickly unleashed their attacks to Baston, but it
was useless since the fat boy was protected within the thick ice wall. Knowing it was useless, they changed the direction to the ice blast. They wished they could destroy it completely together and in no time, the gathering of attacks made a crack on the ice before it was broken. At once, they heaved a sigh of relief while Baston's target was very excited right now.
"Ha… You can't defeat me!"
The boy smirked winningly and moved back to keep the distance from Baston yet unknowingly, there was a thin sheet of ice below his foot. As soon as he stepped on it, he slipped and he was already out of the
arena. The referee who saw it automatically disqualified him. Everything was quiet until the audience came back into their senses.
"Ha… ha… ha… He must already think the victory is for him, but who knows he destroys it because of his own carelessness."
"That's right! Really, I thought the match is already fixed but never we thought something like this happens."
"Exactly! I think this will be interesting to watch until the end."
People clamored and it made the loser felt humiliation. The boy couldn't accept the result and quickly argued with the referee. Even though the boy was a noble, the rules still applied on him. Either his own
carelessness or by the opponent, everything was still valid. Looking at the man who still insisted of his disqualification, the boy got angry and began to threaten him.
"Wait until my father hears about this. He will make you fired from the academy. I will see where you can work then since no one will
accept you!"
"Is your father a king?"
The boy still argued relentlessly, "Of course not, but my father has connection to one of members from the royalty. Let's see what will
happen if you still dare to disqualify me…"
"Alright, you can do whatever you want do. I'm only doing my job. As for what will the result, it can only wait until the magic competition finishes."
"What? You!"
The noble boy felt hopeless since the referee kept his decision intact. From 7 people at the beginning, the number dwindled until it became 4 people. Although he got the highest points, it couldn't increase more
since he was disqualified. Baston quickly escaped to the back since he had already succeeded knocking out the target. The leader was out and the subordinates could only think on their own. The best they could do was to avoid the attacks until the time ran out, but he wouldn't let them go easily.
Unconsciously, the time already passed 12 minutes mark, resulting each participant to get another 2 points. Right at the moment, all
people in the arena had 4 points on them. Baston could quickly defeat them eventually
but when he did so, not only he had to take guard against the other opponents, the target he faced also threatened him to jump outside the arena. It seemed their purposes was to make him lose the round completely.
Luckily, they wouldn't bail out together since the remaining time would automatically add into Baston's points. In the end, the fat boy
could advance into the next round even though his status was just a runner-up.
Since the mission was to eliminate Baston completely, they could only find an
opportunity while assessing the situation. Unbeknownst to them, the audience
focused on watching further about what the next that would happen.
"Who do you think will win?"
"I guess the fat boy has a higher chance."
"But as you can see, he's in pinch with 3 opponents at the same time. Do you think he can resist until the end?"
"I don't know but I have a hunch since he doesn't look tired while the others have already shown a sign of it."
Truth to be told, Baston really had enormous stamina since he had already advanced his magic power for a few times. If he wanted, he could quickly end this match by showing his true power. Nevertheless, he didn't want
to expose it. With this thinking, everyone already wasted so much times until the mark of 21 minutes already passed. Baston and the other three participants got 7 points for their survival. Everyone was getting exhausted but little they knew; Baston finally pushed his plan thoroughly.
"Now is the time…"
He murmured before he launched himself to attack the furthest. The other two came up to their senses slowly since their stamina and magic power had been expended. They hurriedly attacked the fat boy from behind but it was encountered by the ice blast. The targeted person also fought back, but Baston simply encountered it too. He simultaneously casted this one spell which made the crowd surprised, but it didn't shock them too much.
"Damn it, I'm leaving first!"
The boy made decision to be disqualified rather than giving points to Baston. He smirked but when he saw Baston also gave him a smirk, there was a bad foreboding struck his heart. The thought was right because when he just jumped back while still keeping his eyes in front, he didn't know there was an ice wall erected behind. It completely blocked his path which made him
terrified. There was no escape and he would bear the impact.
"WAIT! STOP!"
"BAM!!!"
Not waiting for his opponent to finish his words, Baston gave him a punch straight into the face. Once his fist connected to the
opponent, Baston felt relieved since his stressful mind completely gone. Truly,
beating a jerk provided such a satisfaction. The referee soon checked the knocked-out boy and finally confirmed it, giving 5 points as a reward for Baston. With 9 minutes left, the fat boy turned the table. At once, the
audience also clamored.
"WHOAAA!!!"
"AWESOME!!!"
"C'MON!!! 9 MINUTES LEFT!!!"
The other two participants fell in desperate situation right now. They wanted to hinder Baston but it seemed it would be hard to do. The magic power they had almost depleted. It was already amazing they could resist
until now. Even if both of them fought together, it would result their defeat. Just by looking at the fat boy, they could tell he still had enough stamina until the end. Perhaps rather than fighting them, Baston would stall for time before he finally won this round. The 12 points he had felt too far to reach right at the moment.
On the other hand, Baston breathed a sigh of relief. Since it already came this far, he should probably end in magnificent way. Still, he would become popular once again if he became the winner by beating the rest of
his opponents. Baston had a better plan to avoid the limelight so in the meantime, he stalled for the time. Once in while, he used his ice magic to attack and his opponents would block it. They also tried to attack, but since both of them were already in despair, they didn't have much motivation on it. The winner was already set and they failed the mission.
"Just in time…" Baston thought.
He looked at the time on 24 minutes mark, resulting 8 points for each of them. With 13 points, he already won the first place in this round. While everyone was still watching, they were shocked when the fat boy suddenly left the arena. One question quickly popped up in their heads whether this person knew what was he doing? Once the referee announced that Baston was
disqualified, everyone boiled up through the roof. It happened quickly without warning so many people felt dissatisfied.
"No way! Why he surrenders? He's already on winning streak, but he choses to get out of the arena!"
"Yeah, I really can't understand why he did that. Perhaps he thought he already won by gaining 13 points. So far, he's indeed the highest but did he really think that his opponents might pass him sooner."
"Sure, sure. There are 2 people now at the arena. Just by defeating one of them, you can already be the first winner."
"What a mess! Although he can still keep advancing, but the first place won't become him anymore."