No Leader - 53
Before Bell could react, Juro began ruffling both Bell's and Marc's hair.
"You two did well!"
Bell immediately pushed Juro's hand away from his hair and fixed it.
Marc, meanwhile, simply stood there with a bright smile on his face.
It was his first victory against real opponents.
And he couldn't have been happier.
..
The woman from earlier walked over to them and congratulated the three.
"Well, looks like you three can manage, huh?"
Juro smiled. "Of course we did. It's expected."
"Still having that high confidence of yours, huh?" the woman scoffed.
"Yeah, and it's never leaving," Juro replied with a cocky smile.
Before their conversation could continue, one of the staff members announced that the second round of the competition was about to begin, requesting the two parties to prepare and head toward the field.
"Looks like that's our call," the woman said.
"Don't suddenly lose out there," Juro commented.
"Hah. I should be saying that to you. It'd be a shame if we didn't get to fight your team."
With that, she and her party members headed out.
Juro, Bell, and Marc returned to one of the couches. Bell and Marc talked among themselves while Juro simply rested, taking a moment to relax before their next match. However, his attention eventually shifted toward the party sitting across from them.
Their next opponents.
Juro looked them over and instinctively noticed that they were Novice rank, just one rank higher than Rookie.
One of the party members noticed Juro looking in their direction and whispered something to one of his teammates. A swordsman then stood up and approached him.
Stopping in front of Juro, the man reached out his hand.
"Hey there. I'm guessing you're gonna be our next opponents. I just wanna say, let's do our best out there, no matter the outcome!"
His tone was determined, but there was a friendly smile on his face.
Juro smiled, stood up, and shook his hand. "Alright then. Let's do our best out there."
He then looked at the man curiously. "Are you perhaps the leader of your party?"
The man shook his head with a smile. "There are no leaders in our party. We just work together collectively and listen to one another whenever we're in a situation that's someone's specialty."
Juro's eyes widened in genuine surprise.
"Oooo, that's interesting. I like that! Hahaha! Well then, good luck to all of you."
The man nodded before walking back toward his party members.
Juro sat back down on the couch with a smile on his face, resting once again. Meanwhile, Bell continued talking with Marc, though his attention had also drifted toward their next opponents. From what he could tell, this party was more experienced than the first one they had fought.
Bell looked back at Marc.
"Hey, Marc, wanna try doing a combo?"
Marc immediately brightened the moment he heard those words.
"Really???!! A combo between you and me?!!"
Bell smiled and leaned closer, whispering the plan to Marc. Marc listened intently the entire time, nodding nonstop as Bell explained it to him.
Some time passed, and the first match of the second round eventually came to an end.
The party that returned afterward was the same one with the woman Juro had been talking to earlier.
"Hoh, you didn't get eliminated. I'm impressed," Juro commented.
The woman scoffed. "Hah... save your praises for when we defeat your party."
Juro only smiled as he stood up.
At that moment, one of the staff members began calling for the next parties to head toward the field.
Bell, Marc, and Juro got up and made their way outside, heading toward the field once again.
As they arrived at the field, Marc couldn't help but admire his surroundings once again. Even though they had already been there for their first match, the sight of the arena and the large crowd surrounding it still excited him. It was his first time being seen by so many people, after all, and he was ecstatic to be standing there.
While Marc looked around, Bell turned his attention toward their opponents. Unlike the first party they had faced, this team looked far more organized and balanced.
"The classic party. One warrior to tank damage, one swordsman, and two mages... If I had to guess, one of them is mostly an offensive mage while the other is a support mage."
Marc excitedly looked toward Bell. "Bell! We're gonna do it???"
Juro noticed the two of them and raised an eyebrow. "Ooo, looks like you two got some kind of plan."
Bell smiled confidently. "Yeah. You don't even need to step in. Me and Marc can handle this."
"Hoho, alright then," Juro said with a smile, crossing his arms as he relaxed.
Then the bell rang, signaling the start of the battle.
Immediately, one of the mages from the opposing party began chanting. She directed two magic toward the warrior and swordsman standing in front of her.
"Estahkam Khob! Buona Velocita!"
The magic enhanced both their strength and speed for a limited duration.
The two immediately sprinted forward.
Straight toward Juro.
"What???" Marc exclaimed, surprised that they had completely ignored him and Bell.
The swordsman and warrior closed the distance quickly, swinging their sword and mace toward Juro. Bell immediately flowed mana through his legs, pushing himself forward before jumping directly in front of him.
"Megen!"
A blue barrier appeared before Bell just as the two attacks came down, blocking both the sword and the mace.
At the same time, Marc sprinted forward. Mana gathered around his fist as he piled more and more of it into the punch before throwing it directly at the warrior.
The warrior quickly turned and raised his shield.
BAM!
The shield blocked the attack, but the impact was still powerful enough to send him stumbling backward.
Meanwhile, the swordsman twisted his body, using the opening to angle around Bell and strike toward Juro's side. Bell immediately dispersed the barrier and moved with him, planting his foot against the swordsman's shoulder before forcefully pushing him away.
The swordsman lost his balance and stumbled.
"Wow... these kids sure are something," he exclaimed.
Juro smiled proudly. "I know, right?? Hahahah!"
Bell and Marc looked at one another.
Both nodded.
Then they sprinted toward the enemy party.
Bell immediately chanted, "Grothia tis rok."
Dense rock formed around both of his fists.
He jumped forward and threw a powerful punch toward the swordsman.
But just before his fist could connect…
"Megen!"
The support mage cast a barrier directly in front of the swordsman.
Bell's rock-covered fist slammed against it.
The swordsman immediately took advantage of the blocked attack, quickly moving around Bell and positioning himself behind him. He raised his sword and slashed downward.
"Megen."
Bell cast a barrier behind himself, stopping the blade.
The moment the sword struck it, Bell dispersed the barrier.
He turned his body.
His left fist slammed into the sword, knocking it away from its path, while his right fist shot straight toward the swordsman's face.
The swordsman panicked and barely managed to dodge, quickly jerking his head away.
"I dodged it…"
A smile appeared on his face.
But when he looked back at Bell….
Bell was smirking.
"?!"
Bell twisted his body and swung his left leg.
The kick landed cleanly against the swordsman's neck.
The force sent him crashing to the ground.
As Bell landed on the ground, he immediately sprinted forward, intending to finish the fight. The swordsman hadn't lost consciousness. He was only down and was already beginning to recover.
But before Bell could reach him, a fireball came flying directly toward his path.
It was the other mage.
Bell glanced at the incoming fireball and immediately cast his magic without slowing down.
"Megen!"
A blue barrier appeared in front of him, blocking the fireball as he continued sprinting forward at full speed.
The mage's eyes widened in surprise.
"He thought of that that quickly?"
The swordsman was still on the ground, slowly trying to push himself back up.
Then—
BAM!
Bell's kick slammed directly into his stomach.
The force of the blow knocked the breath out of him and sent him back down, this time causing him to lose consciousness.
"Well, that's done," Bell thought to himself as the rocks surrounding his fists dispersed.
Meanwhile, Marc was still facing the warrior.
The moment he had sprinted toward him, both of Marc's fists had been covered and supported by mana. The warrior raised his shield, blocking Marc's punch before immediately swinging his mace toward him.
Marc quickly noticed it coming.
Mana covered his entire arm as he raised both arms to take the attack.
BAM!
The impact pushed Marc off to the side.
The warrior remained where he was, shield raised as he waited for Marc's next move.
Marc clenched his right fist.
Mana began pouring into it.
More and more of it concentrated around his fist as Marc focused everything there.
The warrior noticed what he was doing and immediately turned toward his teammates.
The support mage quickly understood.
She nodded and cast, "Buena Defensa!"
Magic covered the warrior, increasing his defense.
At the same time, the other mage raised his hand.
"Harba Wuta! Harba Wuta!"
Two blasts of fire shot toward Marc.
Marc looked at them.
And smiled.
Still concentrating mana into his right fist, he raised his left hand and compacted mana into his palm before transforming it into a powerful ball of water.
The water ball shot forward.
BOOM!
It collided with both fire blasts.
But even after the collision, the water ball didn't disperse.
It continued forward at incredible speed.
The two mages panicked.
The support mage immediately reacted.
"Megen!"
A barrier appeared in front of them.
The water ball crashed against it, finally stopping.
Marc immediately poured mana into his legs and sprinted toward the warrior.
The warrior's expression turned serious.
He raised his shield and swung his mace.
Marc poured mana into his left arm.
Dense rock formed around his arm just as the mace came down.
BANG!
Marc blocked the weapon.
The impact pushed against his arm, but the rock held.
At the same time, Marc moved his right arm.
His fist shot forward.
Straight into the shield.
BOOOOM!
The concentrated and condensed mana Marc had been accumulating in his fist released through the punch.
The impact was far stronger than his previous attacks.
The shield couldn't withstand it.
Marc's fist punched straight through, blowing a large hole through the shield.
But his attack didn't stop there.
His fist continued forward and slammed directly into the warrior's armor.
BANG!
The impact rang out across the field.
The warrior's mouth opened from the force as his body was sent flying backward.
He crashed into the wall.
And lost consciousness.