Path to Transcendence

As he was walking down the hallway to the field, he started to hear the roaring voices of the crowd as fights went on all around him.

It already felt like a much different atmosphere than the prelims. There was an electrifying energy in the air; he could sense it even from the tunnel.

For the first time, he started to feel a little anxious. It wasn't because he was afraid of losing but because he was more nervous about so many people looking at him. It was funny; he had faced death many times and fought against a Tier 5, but the idea of embarrassing himself in front of a crowd was still a scary prospect.

What if he accidentally blew himself up in front of everyone? He was known to do that from time to time, so he couldn't entirely rule out the possibility of that happening.

He took a deep, calming breath before exiting out of the tunnel and was shocked at what he saw.

It was like exiting the tunnel of a massive football stadium and being flooded by every light and sound imaginable. So many people were packed into the seats that they all seemed like a blur of faces, and their roars had suddenly become deafening.

Like how it had been set up for the prelims, large, slightly opaque barriers separated the fights. However, what really caught his eye were the massive images he saw floating above each match.

Lily had already explained to him that there would be mirage projectors set up all around the stadium, but he didn't know what she was really talking about until he saw them for himself.

He had been expecting something similar to a television or a crappy misty image, but what he saw was a fantastic sight.

Each individual fight was displayed right above the match in such clarity. Not only that, but someone must have controlled the image or set up an enchantment because the image was set up so that the audience wasn't just looking at a stationary position. It was almost like watching from the point of view of someone moving around and filming the fight themselves.

He had no idea how they had created such a complex working, but he had a good feeling that the large and powerful runes he sensed above were a big part of the reason.

If his old world had something similar, he would have been sure that sports events would be forever changed. The projector also did a great job of showcasing the fight to people who might have been too far away to see the fighters up close.

With an excited grin, he headed over to his predetermined spot and saw that his opponent was also making his way to the same area.

He looked around and finally saw Edgar's match still underway. From what he could see, a good portion of the crowd was watching Edgar's fight, their eyes glued to the overhead projection.

Edgar looked utterly at ease, and Julius noticed he wasn't using his more explosive attacks. It was almost as if the older student was purposefully trying to avoid using them.

Still, even with that, Edgar found himself in an excellent position against the other fourth-year, who was also a warrior.

The other boy was quite slim and had a head of really bright blonde hair that sparkled in the daylight. He had two shortswords in his hands as he tried to slash Edgar, but Julius also observed that the blonde was already quite red in the face.

Julius had no clue how long this fight had been happening, but the blonde boy was visibly exhausted. He could see the giant heaves of his chest with each swing, showing that he was running on fumes.

Still, he was fighting with everything he had. Even when fighting on practically empty, he kept on being aggressive, not allowing Edgar to control the pace of the fight. However, considering his current state, he might have been better suited not to do that.

On the other hand, Edgar remained patient and let the other boy come to him. To Blonde's credit, he was fast, but that was just about it. He didn't have the level of mastery that Julius had seen from other speed-focused fighters.

His movements showed a distinct lack of control. A lack of control that Edgar was slowly punishing one exchange at a time.

Just as he was speaking, he noticed the boy had wrongly gauged the distance between him and Edgar. Edgar then smashed a single fist into the boy's shoulder, sending him sprawling once again.

Before Edgar could follow up, the boy used some kind of skill to blast himself away from Edgar's reach. This must have used a lot of resources because the boy looked even more tired afterward.

Seeing that the fight was practically over, he reminded himself to stop getting sidetracked and headed over to his field.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

After passing through the barrier, he was surprised to hear the crowd's sounds muted. The barrier didn't block out all noise, but it significantly reduced the loud sounds from the outside.

He also wondered how people managed to hear individual fights. He was sure that if they had listened to all of the fights, it must have been a sensory overload for the spectators. What if they wanted to listen to just one fight and ignore the others?

He shrugged to himself as he tried and failed to come up with an answer. It was something he noted to ask Lily and the others later. Actually, Kyle would probably be the best bet. The older boy was quite passionate about enchantments after all.

As he walked onto the field, he made eye contact with his opponent. Julius believed his name was Keldon or something.

Keldon wasn't what he had been expecting. The older boy was quite small and thin. Julius would have thought he was some kind of mage if not for the lack of magical focus and the light armor covering the boy. By all appearances, Keldon looked like a warrior.

With that being said, appearances could be deceiving, so for all he knew, the smaller boy could still have been a mage.

He was barely paying attention as the official introduced the two of them. He was too busy staring at the fight right next to theirs, where a girl was using some weird magic to cover another girl in a greenish liquid.

At first glance, it looked like the girl was throwing slime on the other poor girl. A thick, mucousy liquid drowned the opposing girl, who was doing everything in her power to stay clean.

He winced as he watched the girl desperately try to avoid the liquid. He didn't think the opposing girl was worried about losing anymore; it seemed like she only cared about avoiding any more of that nasty goo.

He was so distracted that he almost didn't hear the official when he started the fight and his opponent came at him.

So he is a close combat fighter, huh? He thought to himself with a grin as he prepared himself.

He blocked the surprisingly snappy leg kick that tried to go for his legs with his own knee. However, when he made contact with the smaller boy's leg, it was like his leg was being sucked into a whirlpool. He got caught off balance and took a punch in return for his troubles.

However, he looked at the boy confusedly. The actual strength behind the blows was quite weak, especially for a Tier 3. He would have thought that a Tier 3 would have more power. The punch barely did anything except knock his head back.

Frowning, Julius continued to examine Keldon as they exchanged another series of blows. He couldn't help but grin as the boy showed brilliant skill and mastery. There was no opening for him to counter and he felt like he was being funneled into wherever the other boy wanted him.

Realizing that this was precisely what he had been hoping to experience during this tournament, he totally forgot that he was fighting in front of a crowd and enjoyed himself for the next few minutes.

They danced around one another, each trying to get the upper hand. However, he couldn't help but feel bad for the smaller student. His opponent had evident skill, and his hand-to-hand combat abilities were well polished. This had been clear from the very first exchange.

However, it was just a shame that his physical abilities were not on the same level. Not even close. This meant that Julius didn't suffer any damage, even if his opponent landed a blow. There was no need to activate his enhancement skill to higher levels to protect himself.

It was starting to make sense why someone of such skill had fallen so low in the rankings.

With that being said, there was much Julius could learn from the boy's fighting style. He was particularly interested in how his opponent managed to utilize small amounts of force to destabilize his balance and create an opening.

It was a creative technique that must have required immense skill to pull off.

That was why he took the time to patiently observe how the boy used his skill in tandem with his close combat abilities. He imagined himself as a sponge, desperately trying to absorb as much information from the fight as possible.

Like in his fight with Bethany, he was learning that just because he was stronger than these other students didn't mean they had nothing to teach him or something for him to improve.

His opponent in front of him was proving it firsthand.

Julius threw another kick that flew over Keldon's head and observed as the other student used his skill to slightly tug on his limb, offsetting his center of balance.

Then, while he was rebalancing himself, his opponent sent out a rare punch covered in water mana, something he had only done when he felt like he had a perfect opening. Like his fighting style, his mana control was polished. He created a vortex of swirling water mana over his knuckles and drove them at Julius's chest.

Luckily, Julius was still faster and parried the blow with his left hand, but he could feel the vortex around the fist attempting to tear through his skin.

They went at it like this for several minutes, and while Julius hadn't been powering his enhancement skill as he could have, he still had to maintain absolute focus. He didn't want to waste a single second of this fight, especially when it was something that he could use when it came to his own uses of kinetic energy.

He felt he could implement his opponent's technique and fighting style into his own. It also had the additional benefit of not being costly on mana. Unlike his immobilization technique, which used a lot of kinetic energy and willpower each time he activated it.

Unfortunately, his opponent wasn't able to keep up with him in the long run. His stamina and mana had run out, and he was left swinging even slower punches at Julius.

He realized that he wasn't going to get any more out of the other boy in this fight and decided to end it.

So, with a surge of mana, he increased his speed and smashed through his opponent's defenses, ignoring the pull-like effect from his skill.

After his opponent got knocked back, Julius stepped forward and delivered another crushing blow that activated the enchantments, protecting the other boy from any more damage.

Noticing he was more tired than he had realized, he took a deep breath and relaxed as he listened to the deafening cheers from the crowds who had watched the conclusion of his fight.