"W-Wait, I wasn't ready! Again!"

"Huh? Are you stupid?" Hal sneered in disdain, finding great vindication at the desperate and disoriented look on Clive's face.

The idiot knew he had lost fair and square. He couldn't even come up with a decent excuse.

"I took out your barrier with a [Weak Mana Blast], plain and simple. Also, how can you not be ready when you're the one who made the move first? Or maybe you mean you're not ready for the fact that you're not as fast as you thought you were?"

Clive gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in utter fury.

"You bastard! There's no way what you used was a weak mana blast!! I know…you…you used a high-grade spell talisman, didn't you?! Despicable!! And you call yourself a Ma–"

Before the ashen-gray-haired young man could finish his words, however, the voice of a woman in her mid-thirties echoed sharply:

"Enough!" roared Raiz, who was struggling to control her emotions, her chest heaving up and down in agitation and anger.

She, too, found it difficult that Clive lost just like that.

The S-ranker knew that what Hal was saying was correct. What he used was indeed a Weak Mana Blast.

However, how could such a mediocre spell be that fast?!

There might indeed be something underhanded at play here…

"Headmistress Isolde. While I acknowledge that my subordinate's barrier was shattered, I, too, somewhat find that Weak Mana Blast strange. There wasn't even a mana fluctuation when your student fired the spell."

Isolde's eyes narrowed.

"And? What are you trying to say?"

Raiz couldn't reply immediately. She didn't dare accuse the Magna Prospect of cheating, at least not directly.

Fortunately for them, Hal also wanted to end this in a satisfactory manner.

"Heh, fine. You guys think I'm cheating? I'll give you guys as many chances as you want, then, but don't expect my master to waste more high-grade sparring talismans. Provide them yourselves," he sneered.

He planned to thoroughly destroy the delusional bastards today.

If they could even give themselves more chances, that is…

"I have one."

"Me too!"

Two of the S-rankers suddenly stepped forward, sparring talismans in hand.

However, only one of them had a high-grade one, as the other only had a mid-grade sparring talisman.

Raiz took both talismans, turning to look at Clive and calling him back.

"You have another chance. If you dare lose so pathetically again…"

"I-I won't, Senior Raiz. I admit I've been overconfident earlier. I'll take the spar more seriously now."

"Good. But you won't be the one fighting first. We have two chances, and I plan to have Finn fight first. Watch their battle and study how Hal Fennec fights."

"Understood, senior. I'll observe first…"

After a quick huddle, the brown-haired young adventurer, Finn, stepped out.

"You?" Hal began, "Good…good…"

The brown-haired A-ranker was infuriated almost immediately. This bastard of a Magna Prospect thinks he's an easy victory?

"You think you're that strong?" Finn shot back, "We admit that we might've underestimated you a bit, but trust me, you'll find out how high the levels of your delusions are."

In the next moment, a thin layer of blue energy covered the brown-haired A-ranker, but since the sparring talisman used on him is a mid-grade one, he would be in for quite the sharp headache if his barrier was shattered.

Both competitors seemed ready and eager.

And so, Isolde raised her arms, declaring: "Begin!"

Almost immediately after hearing the headmistress's signal, Finn summoned an ice path and skated on it masterfully.

While he wasn't as fast as Clive, his movements were confusing.

Or so he thought…

Mid-skate, his body suddenly trembled, and blood streamed down his nose and the corners of his mouth.

Finn naturally lost focus momentarily.

And unfortunately, against Hal, losing focus for even a single second was lethal.

Before the young A-ranker even realized, dark hands had already latched onto him.

Finn attempted to rip them off, but if even beasts struggle to instantly destroy the ghostly bindings, then how could he, a mere human, fare better?

"Not so fast, you bastard!" the A-ranker roared, noticing two projectiles shooting at him—a [Fireball] and a [Glacial Shard].

He fired his own ice-elemental spells.

But the moment he was able to destroy the first two, three more were already flying at him.

Finn was inevitably overwhelmed in mere seconds, a [Fireball (Soulfire)] consuming his figure.

Whitish-blue smoke billowed out of the explosion.

The moment it cleared, there Finn was, lying on the ground—unconscious.

Raiz and the other S-rankers gulped, breaking into a cold sweat.

They had Advanced Aethersight and clearly saw what just happened.

Like a Manatech Turret, Hal Fennec fired one spell after another, all of which were of differing elements.

They heard rumors that he's a master of multiple elements.

Of course, they initially thought that the word "master" was an overexaggeration of his abilities. It was more likely that his insane comprehension allowed him to learn other elements to a decent level while still having a "main element."

But no.

What they just witnessed blew their minds.

All of the spells were more or less similar in quality to the one fired before it, as if the Chaos Magna Prospect was indeed able to walk multiple paths simultaneously.

How is this even possible?!

Mastering a single element is already difficult, so how could he be at this level at such a young age?

Only now did the S-rankers of the guild realize they fucked up big time and were about to lose their loot.

But what could they do except fight?

Raiz and the others could only hope that Clive wouldn't be caught by the [Dark Grip] spell, as the spar would be over once that happened.

Fortunately, the ashen-gray-haired A-ranker had already seen what he thought was Hal's "killing combination."

The unconscious Finn was dragged to the side as Clive stepped forward with a determined and cold look on his face.

He refused to lose twice to the brat!