(Arin's POV)
The world had never been this silent amidst such a crowd.
Now, in my eyes, the world was no longer merely static shapes and colors, but a flow of energy that pulsed, streamed, and collided. Every movement of the opponent's muscles, every blink of an eye, even the flow of mana in the air, everything was clearly visible in slow motion.
In my ears, the thunderous cheers of the audience sounded muffled, as if behind a thick wall of water. What rang clearly against my eardrums was only my own heartbeat. Not a panicked beat like a hunted rabbit, but a slow, heavy, and terrifying thud like the footsteps of a giant approaching the apocalypse.
THUMP... THUMP... THUMP...
The blood inside my body, forcibly driven by the residue of the fully decomposed Life Magic Stone, now roared within my veins. My heart was no longer pumping ordinary red blood; it pumped liquid magma that burned every cell, forcing them to work far beyond human biological limits.
The aura around me condensed. It was no longer the shaky transparent blue of a beginner's Senior Aura. This was darker, heavier, and far more savage. This aura pressured the surrounding air, creating visual distortions that made my figure appear larger than reality.
Before me, the three honorable "nobles" retreated step by step. Their strides, usually full of confidence, now became unsteady, as if pressed down by invisible gravity.
"W-What the hell is this pressure?!" Gareth shouted hysterically, his voice cracking behind his thick steel helmet. "Why can he still stand?!"
He raised his Tower Shield chest-high, trying to build a fortress of defense. But this time, the hand holding the shield trembled violently, betraying the fear creeping through his bones.
"Advance," I whispered softly.
There was no time to wait. Every second was a life burning away. I stepped forward, then vanished from their sight.
Not magic teleportation. Just pure running movement where every fiber of my leg muscles was flooded with Aura to the breaking point. The marble floor where I had stood exploded into a small crater.
In the blink of an eye, I was right in front of Gareth's nose.
"Huh?!" Gareth panicked. His eyes widened behind the helmet slit, his pupils shrinking at the sight of approaching death.
He immediately took desperate action. A thick yellow aura enveloped his shield, the absolute defense technique Iron Wall that had previously succeeded in shattering my ribs into splinters.
"Don't hope to pass!" he roared, trying to convince himself.
But that applied to the Arin of five minutes ago.
I did not use any tricks. No Feather-Touch to lighten the blow or manipulate vectors. I rotated my waist, channeling all the running momentum, body weight, and Aura explosion into a single pure horizontal slash.
My Mithril Longsword met Gareth's Steel Shield.
BOOOM!
The sound was not like clashing metal, but like a close-range cannon blast. A shockwave swept the dust around us.
There was no parry or recoil that I received. Even Gareth's Shield, an object three centimeters thick of solid steel forged by Dwarves, dented inward as if made of a cheap fish can.
The kinetic force penetrated the shield, struck Gareth's arm behind it, shattered his ulna and radius bones instantly, and threw the ninety-kilogram body five meters backward.
He was flung back flying through the air, then landed rolling on the floor with the painful sound of clashing metal. His heavy armor that once protected him had now become an iron cage torturing him.
"Arghhh... my arm... my arm is broken..." he groaned while holding his arm which was now oddly shaped, bent at an unnatural angle.
"Gareth!" Gordon roared in shock.
However, instead of fear, anger took over Gordon's logic. He jumped from the side, his black Greatsword swinging at my neck with thick killing intent.
"DIE!" he shouted. "YOU ARE JUST CLASS C TRASH!"
Gordon attacked recklessly. was he so confident in that expensive Dwarf-made armor? To me right now, all of that was just tin foil.
I did not need to parry it because it was too slow.
I just ducked slightly, letting the large sword blade pass an inch above my hair. The wind of the slash ruffled my bangs, sharp and cold.
Then, into his wide-open defense gap, I sent a left fist. A fist wrapped in an iron gauntlet and dense Aura, striking right into his solar plexus.
THUD!
The sound of Gordon's chest plate caving in was horrifying. The air in his lungs was forced out, creating a painful wheezing sound.
"Cough!"
He coughed thick blood behind his helmet. His eyes rolled white for a moment. He staggered back, losing balance, his feet tripping over themselves.
"Move! Let me burn him!" Maya shrieked hysterically from behind. Her beautiful face was now distorted by fear and hatred.
Second Circle Magic: Flame Lance (Minimum).
Three spears of fire launched toward me. Shooting fast, hot, and deadly. The surrounding air vibrated from the heat. However, in my eyes flooded with adrenaline and enhanced perception, the movement of the fire looked slow.
I could see its heat trajectory in the air before the fire even hit me. Red lines on my retina predicted the attack path.
I stepped to the left casually; one fire lance missed past my shoulder, scorching the fabric of my clothes slightly.
I twisted my body to the side; the second lance passed under my armpit, its heat licking the side of my body.
And finally, I just tilted my head slightly to the left. The third fire lance passed an inch beside my ear, only singing the tips of my hair which instantly turned to ash.
The three deadly attacks failed completely.
"You missed," I muttered flatly, staring straight into her trembling eyes.
"W-What was that?!" Maya jolted in shock, her hands trembling until her magic staff almost fell. "How... how could he see the trajectory?! That is impossible!"
I did not run, just walked casually toward them. Yet to them, every step I took might have felt like the approaching toll of a death bell. The pale blue aura enveloping my body was no longer just a shield; it was a declaration of war. A statement that this academy's hierarchy had just collapsed in the face of pure power.
They could not touch me.
Gordon trembled while holding his tight stomach, trying to straighten his body in pain. He looked at me, the kid with no magic talent whom he had trampled on all this time, now standing tall and dominating the duel arena with a body that should have been a corpse an hour ago.
"Who..." Gordon retreated, his breath ragged, blood dripping from the slit of his helmet visor. "Who are you really?! You are not Arin the Cripple!"
"Stupid question," I hissed.
However, just as I was about to step forward to finish Gordon, my world flickered. A cold sensation pierced the nape of my neck cruelly, as if an ice needle were stabbed into the brainstem.
Black. White. Black.
Neural signals cut off for a moment.
My foot tripped on the flat marble floor and my balance was lost.
"Cough!"
Thick and hot blood spurted from my mouth, staining the white footing with an abstract pattern of death.
The "invincible" sensation began to crack. Bones, muscles, and tendons felt incredibly painful, as if forcibly pulled until nearly torn from their hinges. This was not because the drug ran out, but because my body chassis had reached the limit of absolute usage.
I had been fighting non-stop for 24 hours. Without sleep, without proper food, and with fatal wounds. Fighting Golems, Kobolds, Lizardmen, Sect Knights, and now the Class B elite team. This body of mine was starting to break.
My left shoulder, which I had forcibly popped back in earlier, now shifted down again with a sickening pop. My ligaments had surrendered to the pressure. Even my vision began to blur. Gordon in front of me now looked like three people, spinning like a top.
"He... he is slowing down!" shouted Gordon, his eyes lighting up seeing my weakness. False hope appeared on his face. "Attack now! He is at his limit! Do not give him room to breathe! Kill him!"
Gareth, with one hand still functioning, rose while roaring like a cornered beast. Gordon raised his sword again with remaining strength, ignoring the pain in his chest. In the back, Maya began chanting her biggest magic, her mouth moving fast.
I had to end this now or I would die a foolish death here. My body would not last another minute.
I bit my own tongue until it bled. The sharp metallic taste and pain jolted my consciousness to stay awake.
I ran to meet Gareth who charged first.
"Taste this!" shouted Gareth, swinging the remains of his shield like a sledgehammer.
He slammed his remaining shield toward me. Instead of dodging to the side, I performed a low slide forward. My knees scraped against the marble until my pants tore and my skin grazed, my body sliding under his raised shield.
When I was right under him, in his blind spot, I kicked Gareth's inner knee with all my might using the heel of my iron boot.
CRACK!
His knee ligaments snapped.
Gareth fell to his knees with a suppressed scream, losing his footing.
I rose behind him with lightning speed, spun my body, and slammed the pommel of my sword into his nape, right in the gap between the helmet and neck armor.
THUD!
Gareth's head rang loud, his eyes rolled white. His massive body collapsed forward and fainted completely.
One down.
One second passed. Gordon was already in front of me, his eyes red with rage.
"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Gordon stabbed straight toward the heart. A desperate, fast attack.
I deflected his sword with my left hand, sacrificing my palm to be sliced by the sharp blade so his sword would veer to the side. Blood spurted, but the sword did not hit my vital organs.
Now our distance was zero. Our faces were face-to-face.
"Eat this!"
I headbutted his face hard, crashing my helmet against his forehead unprotected by a visor.
BAM!
My head spun violently, stars dancing in my vision, but Gordon was worse. He staggered back, his nose broken, blood flowing profusely from his face, covering his vision.
Without pause, I slashed diagonally with my sword.
SLASH!
The armor on his chest split like butter. Blood spurted along the path of the wound he received. Gordon fell on his back, groaning in pain, unable to rise again.
Two down.
"ARIN!!!"
Maya's voice shrieked hysterically, full of panic and despair.
I immediately turned to her. In the corner of my eye, Maya stood with a stiff posture, her staff raised high. Her face was deathly pale, but her eyes were crazy.
She was casting Third Circle magic: Fiery Explosion.
A killer attack with a wide area of effect. Unfortunately, the magic was not cast perfectly because she cut the chanting time short. This risked causing overheat to the mage, similar to what happened to Erika.
But more than that, her position... she was in my blind spot. I could not dodge her attack in time.
A giant, unstable fireball, churning wildly, had already formed three meters behind me. Its heat was already burning my back. There was no gap to run anymore. The explosion would cover a ten-meter radius and roast every student in the arena, including me.
Strangely, the referee seemed to turn a blind eye. He did not move to stop this violation. In fact, there was a hint of satisfaction in his smile seeing the explosion magic about to roast me alive. He no longer cared about Gordon's team lying in the arena. To him, my death was more important than the safety of other students.
"Stop her! That is illegal!" shouted someone from the stands.
The audience panicked. They knew the impact of that imperfect magic. Their breath hitched, unprepared for the sight of deadly fireworks. Elena in the VIP stand was about to launch magic to save me, her hands already glowing, only to be stopped by Rose who panicked trying to calm her down so as not to disqualify us both.
I would be charred and my bones would turn to ash.
No. Remember. Remember that pain. Remember the technique of that black-robed person.
How did he cut the tree without touching it? How did he erase the mana around me as if it never existed?
I closed my eyes for a moment, blocking out the noise of the outside world. Remembering the terrifying sensation when fighting the heretic in that forest. An Aura that did not cut the physical, but cut the concept. An Aura that rejected the existence of magic itself.
Mana Redaction.
That was not magic. It was Aura compressed to a certain frequency that disrupted the structure of mana bonds.
Very well. If I can't dodge... just destroy it.
I regulated my breath, and pulled all the remaining Aura in my body. From the tips of my toes, from the bone marrow, from the drug residue settling in the blood. I forced it to flow into my right arm like a flash flood.
CRACK!
The blood vessels in my arm burst, spurting fresh blood which instantly evaporated into red mist due to the heat of the aura. My humerus bone cracked, unable to withstand the pressure. The pain was excruciating, but the Aura on my sword changed color.
From dense blue... to a deadly dark blue that was almost black.
"DIE!" shouted Maya, releasing her explosion with a hysterical scream.
The fireball launched.
I swung my sword. Not to hit. But to cut the reality in front of me.
"VANISH!"
I slashed the empty air before me.
RAIT TECHNIQUE: VOID SLASH + Maximum Professional Aura.
ZRRRRT!
My blue sword blade met the fireball.
There was no thunderous explosion. No heat wave. There was only a strange sound, like thick silk fabric being torn forcibly.
My sword split the fireball into two neat parts. Its magic structure shattered instantly, decomposing back into harmless raw mana particles. The fire extinguished, vanished like a candle blown out by a storm wind, leaving thin smoke.
And my slash did not stop there. The aura wave glided forward, cutting the air, and hit Maya's magic staff.
TING.
The Elderwood staff worth thousands of gold coins was cut neatly into two parts. The top piece fell to the sand. The tip of my sword stopped one millimeter in front of Maya's nose. The wind of the slash parted her bangs, leaving a thin scratch on the skin of her nose.
Maya stared at the falling piece of her staff with a blank gaze. Her mouth opened soundlessly. She was not physically injured severely, but her mind was totally destroyed. She fell to a sitting position, her legs limp like jelly. Her pupils shrank from shock.
"Ah..." she hissed softly, her voice trembling. "Monster..."
Her eyes rolled white, then she collapsed backward, fainting from pure mana overheat and overwhelming fear.
The atmosphere became silent. The fireball that had threatened the lives of everyone in the arena was gone without a trace, as if it never existed.
"Argh..."
My sword fell from my grip, clinking on the stone floor. My biceps muscle was partially torn. My left arm hung limp and broken in two places from withholding the aura recoil just now. My right arm trembled violently, fresh blood dripping profusely from the burst skin pores.
The pain... the pain made me want to scream hysterically.
I dragged my heavy legs. Stepping past the fainting Gareth and the sprawling Maya, toward Gordon who was still conscious but helpless.
Gordon looked up at me from below. In his eyes, I was no longer Arin the crippled student he could bully, but a monster crawling out of his nightmare. He tried to retreat pathetically. He crawled on the floor with his elbows, his eyes wide staring at me as if I were the angel of death coming to collect his soul.
"D-Do not come closer..." Gordon whined, his voice shrill with fear. Tears and snot mixed with blood on his arrogant face. "I... I am a Baron's son! My father will punish you! He will—"
I grabbed the collar of his armor with my trembling right hand. Lifting his upper body until our faces were level. The smell of blood and sweat of fear wafted from him.
"You are noisy, Gordon," I said hoarsely, blood dripping from my mouth onto his face. "In the forest, your father's rank cannot save you from monster fangs. And here... that rank cannot save you from me."
"Please... mercy..." he whispered trembling, his guts already crushed to dust.
"This is not about mercy. This is about a lesson!"
I clenched my right hand. Remnants of blue aura still glowed dimly there, the last remains of my strength. I slammed my fist into his jaw with all the remaining power.
THUD.
Gordon's head jerked to the side violently. His eyes rolled back, and he fell unconscious beside his friends who had already fallen first.
The wind blew softly, carrying flying arena dust and the smell of residual magic ozone.
I stood alone. In the middle of the destroyed arena. Among the five bodies of the best Class B students now sprawling at my feet like broken dolls.
I turned to the referee. The old man stood frozen on the sideline, his mouth gaping wide, his eyes looking back and forth between Gordon's body and my ruined face. He was speechless as if disbelieving what just happened. Or perhaps he was too scared to announce it. He looked toward the VIP stand in panic, looking for instructions or help, but no one dared to speak.
To hell with formalities.
I did not need that cowardly referee's acknowledgment.
With the last remaining strength dredged from the bottom of my soul, I bowed slowly. My hand trembled violently as I picked up my Longsword lying below. I straightened my broken back, refusing to hunch.
I raised the sword high. The tip pointed to the bright blue sky, contrasting with the hell I had just passed through. Blood dripped from my elbow, falling onto my face, mixing with sweat and dust. But I smiled.
Silence for one second. The world held its breath.
Then...
"WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
The entire stadium exploded.
The vibration was felt right to my bones. Class C students jumped up and down and hugged each other. Elena cried sobbingly on Rose's shoulder who laughed while giving a thumbs up. Even some nobles in the upper stands stood up, giving stiff but sincere respectful applause, acknowledging undeniable strength.
"ARIN! ARIN! ARIN!"
The name echoed throughout the stadium, bouncing off stone walls, drowning out the egos of the nobles in the VIP stands. They did not see an ordinary tournament winner. They saw the birth of a future legend who broke fate.
A thin smile carved on my cracked lips.
Sweet.
This victory tasted so sweet. Sweeter than any medicine, more intoxicating than the most expensive wine.
I Won!
Slowly, gravity won its battle. Suddenly my knees became weak as water. My vision darkened at the edges. The sound of cheering slowly faded away, replaced by a long peaceful hum. My legs, continuously forced to stand, finally gave up.
I fell backward.
My body floated for a moment before hitting the floor. But I did not feel pain when my wound-covered back met the hard stone. All I felt was profound satisfaction.
And for the first time in my life... I could sleep and rest peacefully without nightmares chasing me.