The third day of the qualifiers had begun, and the participants were already gathered. Enrico was the third to fight, so he would be one of the first to enter, just like yesterday.
'He's taking too long.'
[He's acting like a protagonist.]
'If that's the case, then this is going to be annoying.'
If Nicholas was using something from his own world to improve overnight, the difficulty of the battle had risen to an unknown level for Enrico.
"If participant Nicholas doesn't arrive within three minutes, the match will be canceled, and participant Enrico will be declared the winner."
[I hope he doesn't show up, that way we'll move on quickly.]
'How cowardly of you, system.'
The system seemed nervous, probably because it had seen many moments like this in other stories, but Enrico thought differently. In fact, he was quite excited.
'Maybe he's the protagonist of his world, but I don't care at all. If I can defeat him, it'll mean my level is good, and I'm on the right path.'
[You're insane.]
'Come on, don't you want to prove you're a better system than his?'
[You're right, I am better.]
Wrong—Nicholas's system was definitely superior, and Enrico's wouldn't help at all besides pacts he couldn't use right now. He only said that to calm her down. With only a few seconds left, he began stretching while staring at the door.
"Time's up—"
"Wait, I apologize for being late!"
"You're late, boy, so get up there quickly!"
Because of his delay, the audience in the stands was probably complaining a bit and paying attention to the other fights. When Nicholas stepped into the arena, they appeared in a different location—a forest with a mountain, and both Enrico and Nicholas were standing on the flat part of the mountain.
"If you're ready, you may begin."
Nicholas placed his hands on the ground, and several sharp chunks of earth rose and shot toward Enrico. With fiery steps, Enrico moved among them, the attacks hitting only the afterimages he left behind.
'What kind of technique did he use?'
Even though he wasn't hit, Enrico noticed that this spell was better than many regular ones; previously, Nicholas should've only had mid-level earth magic. It was absurd—his mana hadn't increased, but his earth magic had clearly evolved.
'Could he teach me that?'
[I doubt it. Guys like him usually don't reveal their secret techniques.]
Nicholas looked somewhat innocent, but that didn't mean he was completely naïve. Appearing behind him, Enrico landed a kick that sent Nicholas crashing into the terrain he had created.
"Triple Fire Arrow!"
Firing three arrows, each hit the ground and formed a closed triangle of fire around Nicholas. Raising his hand, Enrico spun, gathering magic at one point of the triangle.
"Explosive Triangle!"
'This is dangerous.'
Sensing the threat, Nicholas hardened his earthen skin as much as possible. With an explosion, a cloud of smoke filled the area. Not wanting to waste time, Enrico aimed where Nicholas had been and fired a blazing shot.
"Gahh!"
The arrow was so powerful that it blew away the smoke, revealing Nicholas with a wound on the right side of his abdomen. It wasn't lethal, but judging by the size, he'd better be careful.
"Improved Earth Sword!"
His sword was different from the one he used against Sakura—it had a refined form and constantly emanated magic.
"Mana Thrust!"
Thrusting into the air, a brown wave shot from the sword at a ridiculous speed—too fast for a normal second-circle mage to dodge easily, unless it was someone with a body like Enrico's. Stomping hard, Enrico leapt over the attack, surprising Nicholas, and while still in midair, he brought his foot down with charged momentum, sending out a fiery strike.
'What is this feeling?'
Enrico's attack hit Nicholas, knocking him to the ground, wounded. As he struggled to rise, something began to swell inside his chest.
'I, who was once considered the strongest in the world, am losing?'
Enrico appeared beside him, delivering a punch that sent Nicholas flying sideways. Before he could go far, Enrico appeared again with a kick. This repeated four more times as if Nicholas were just a rag doll.
'This can't be happening.'
While flying through the air, Nicholas created a hard wall of earth in his path, stopping himself and avoiding another hit. As if refusing to give up, Enrico appeared above him and kicked Nicholas's head, slamming him into the ground.
'I can't allow this.'
Covering his fists with fire, Enrico began pummeling Nicholas's body with a flurry of punches. The air around Nicholas shifted—and then several rocks burst from the ground, protecting and attacking at the same time. Quickly retreating, Enrico saw that Nicholas seemed to be defended by the very element of earth itself.
[I knew he'd pull something out of nowhere.]
'I don't think that's it—he seems aware of this power.'
When Nicholas stood up, Enrico noticed his eyes glowing a deep brown. Every fiber in Enrico's body warned him to be careful.
'This is getting interesting.'
With his heart pounding, Enrico took his usual fighting stance, already activating his circular breathing to use this as training.
"Dragon Rocks!"
All those stones took the form of a Chinese dragon. With a movement of Nicholas's hand, half of the dragons attacked while the other half stayed to protect him, Even the attack coming from Enrico was calm, became more and more excited.