The Mysterious Black Magician

BOOOOOM! 

A loud explosion turned Kiko's opponent into dust and masked the stage with a cloud of smoke. Not long, a body reformed at the same spot together with his deity. But the person had a stupefied face before it turned into a fright.

Not only him, but all of the people inside that were also watching the competition had stunned faces. The moment the battle started, everyone heard a thunderous explosion that shook the entire arena.

The opponent could not even take a step forward because a blinding light already took over his vision. Then, a deafening explosion took his hearing. When his consciousness came back he noticed he already materialized beside his deity.

"What happened…?" The only words that came out of his mouth as he was sitting with a blank face on the stage floor, staring at the back of Kiko as he was walking away from his starting position.

The battle ended in a mere 1..5 seconds. Kiko casually walked down the stage. Like a king who just finished his speech. "You are next," he said to Yman when he passed by at them.

"..."

Yman wondered why these people had to say a line before going away. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry as a response to them.

Before the big monitor screen above the stage could announce his win, another thunderous noise came first. But this time, it was cheering noises coming from the audience.

Whooooo!

"That's liiiiitttt!"

"Incredible!"

"Hey! What is your name?!!"

"Damn! That was what a performance should be!"

"EXPLOOOOOSSSIIOOON!!!"

A young girl wearing wizard attire and an eyepatch shouted in excitement.

"Hehehe," a chuckle from a young man with medium-length scarlet hair that was tied at the back. The earring on his right ear gleamed briefly. His right hand was supporting his chin as he was watching the fight inside a room together with some other people. All of them were wearing an academy uniform from one of the Human Academy.

These people were the elite students of Human City Zone 5 Academy.

"I never thought there are some students that are worth looking forward to in that academy…" said the scarlet-haired young man.

"Hmm… just in case, what is the winning rate if the two of you will be fighting one on one, Tim?" A stoic-looking girl beside him asked the person with scarlet hair. She was wearing glasses on her eyes and her long emerald hair was tied at the back.

Upon hearing her question, the other people with them also glanced at the person named Tim. But his full name was Tim Kruz. From one of the well-known families back on the Outerworld, the Kruz Family.

"Good grief, are you asking for an impossible answer, Miss Mariemai?" He responded with a lazy face. "Since he only did that one attack, I can't tell the exact power that person has. Therefore, it's impossible to gauge the winning rate among us," Tim Kruz stated.

The stoic girl beside him was twitching her eyebrows after hearing him. A cross-shaped pulse was visible on her face. She opened her mouth once again.

"You lazybum, I'm asking about your advance appraisal ability!" She yelled.

"Ehehe, yeah, yeah, I know, I'm just kidding, you know," Tim replied with a grin. "Don't worry. Although that attack just now was truly incredible, it isn't enough to penetrate my mana armor ability, but. It's different if that person is hiding his real strength. Although my appraisal ability is of an advanced tier, it is still limited to the surface only. In this regard, my appraisal cannot appraise any hidden abilities that my eyes are yet to see."

Mariemai glanced at him before she opened her mouth once again. "I see. That's good enough."

"Regardless, it's easy to figure out if who among them are the elites of that academy," one of the elites stated.

The others also said their comments until all of them started conversing about the Zone 7 Academy.

"I wonder why we are watching a competition from a backwater academy?" A pink-haired girl asked in wonder.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Responded the boy next to her.

"What? What? Did I miss something?"

"That city is on the rise recently."

"For real?"

"That's true," said Mariemai.

"Really, Miss Mariemai?"

"Well, yes. It's something that I heard only from those guys in the faculties. Right, Tim?"

"Yeah, she's right, Melliady."

"I see. But I saw a few people with promising strength among them. Most of them are still weak."

"Although it's true, isn't it a little mean, Melliady?"

"Hahaha!" The others laugh.

"I also heard that Zone 7 will be part of the Western Camp for the coming training camp next week," Mariemai suddenly added.

"Oh, wait. Western Camp?" Tim Kruz repeated.

"Isn't that the same camp as us?"

"Not only us. The 5th academy in last year's competition will be part of it as well."

"The 5th rank, huh. The Zone 2 academy!" Tim said with a glint in his eyes. Zone two was their target to beat in this year's competition.

Not only the trainees in Human City Zone 5 were currently watching the competition in Zone 7 through a large projector. The other neighboring Human Cities were also watching it. Especially those in the western part. 

Everyone had different reactions regarding it. Not only about the trainee's power but also about the inside competition itself. Most of them thought that it was a reckless move of the admins in that City. Showing their trainees power before the real competition started was like letting their weaknesses be known by everyone.

On top of that, Zone 7 wasn't even in the rank of last year's competition. In fact, gossip was proliferating about the decline of Zone 7. Yet, what kind of reckless move they were pulling this time? They could make it private but they dared to publicize it. In fact, they did it intentionally.

"Well, since Zone 7 was recently on a decline, they have a hard time getting sponsors from the outside. But still, this move was a reckless one. Especially that they are not even a powerhouse academy," said a girl with long brunette hair to the other people around the long rectangular table.

"Exactly!" Another girl agreed to her assertion.

"I heard that in Zone 7, there's a strong sophomore."

"Ah, you mean the Ace?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, having a few strong players isn't good enough in the Resource War."

These people were the 10 elites of the first year of Zone 9 Academy. They just finished their meeting about their prospect plan when one of the members suddenly reported that he received news about an inside competition that was currently happening in one of the Human City. Most of them laughed upon hearing it.

They were wondering why now. Why did they hold such an absurd event in this time of the year in which the World Competition was coming closer?

"Look, the last pair are being called out."

While the others gave their comments about the competition, one of them reminded them that the last pair was about to come on stage.

"Crimson?"

Muttered the girl with long brunette hair as she was reading the contestant's name.