CHAPTER 190: A SMILE

The final match of the day was about to start, and it was the most anticipated match of the tournament, more so than whatever the final match would be.

Ever since they saw how powerful Lucen and Eisen were, this became something they talked about in their spare time.

The most talked about noble heir of Norvaegard, Lucen Thornehart, against the shining dark horse of the tournament, Eisen Terre.

The audience cheered louder than ever before, each calling out the name of the person they wanted to win.

The betting pool was so large this time around that many people would either become rich in one go or lose everything.

Eisen Terre stood at the far end of the stage, his face as emotionless as ever. The dark horse of the tournament, the man who’d torn through his matches without so much as a flinch. This time around, he was wearing metal gauntlets provided by the school.

Opposite him, Lucen Thornehart, who had a confident smile on his face. The one who surprised everyone, especially those who had seen him before. He had transformed himself into someone who kept on winning.

The same as the previous matches he had, Lucen took the stage still without any weapon at hand.

"To think you and I would be matched up," Lucen spoke to Eisen.

"The chances of this outcome happening were quite high," Eisen replied flatly. His voice carried easily over the noise, calm, almost mechanical. "From the moment we spoke, there were already a few contestants left, meaning as long as both of us kept winning, we would eventually meet each other on the stage."

"You thought that highly of me?"

"Based on what I have seen, aside from me, the ducal heirs were the ones who had the highest chances of winning against the other students. There’s also the fact from my observation among the ducal heirs, you seem to be the strongest."

Lucen showed a look of surprise when he heard what Eisen said, and then a wide grin appeared on his face.

"Hoh, what makes you think that I’m the strongest among the ducal heirs?"

"It’s simple, the three of them had already shown their hand, but even now you have been holding back," Eisen replied with a look, as if saying isn’t that obvious.

Lucen chuckled softly as he shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I guess that is true."

"Since you gave me a free meal last time, I will give you some advice."

"Oh?"

"You’d better do your best this time." Eisen got into a fighting stance.

"Heh, is that so? Very well, let’s see if I really need to go all out." Lucen calmly replied.

Eisen, with his expressionless face, had his one ring in his mana core start spinning very fast as mana flowed through his body.

Lucen created two FN Browning M1900, which were different from the normal revolver he normally used. Seeing the different weapons created using his unique magic caught the attention of many who were watching.

Seeing that the two combatants were ready, the referee raised his hand and, in a louder voice than normal, announced.

"Begin!"

The second those words were said, Eisen dashed forward. He could not use the physical enhancement spell, but using his mana in the same way as aura users do, he burst out with incredible speed.

Still, it was a risky technique. It devoured mana at a terrifying rate, which was why no one used it in place of physical enhancement spells. But for Eisen, whose mana pool dwarfed most mages’, it was manageable. Not to mention, it was the only option Eisen had to perform something similar to physical enhancement.

The second problem, doing it this way pushes the body to an incredible degree, which was another reason no one does it this way.

Still, Eisen had trained his body to be able to handle this much strain, which was why he had a better build than most mages. But using it too long would harm him, which was why he only uses it when needed and in short bursts.

Lucen was a little surprised by Eisen’s speed, but it was not beyond what he imagined Eisen could do. Lucen aimed his two guns at Eisen and was about to pull the trigger when Eisen used the telekinesis spell to stop him.

It was at this moment that something happened that surprised the two of them.

The moment Eisen’s will tried to grasp Lucen’s hands, the air between them cracked, like iron bending under impossible pressure.

A force surged outward from Lucen, unseen but undeniable, and Eisen’s telekinesis shattered like glass under a hammer.

The Duke and Holy knight Elandor Judicar, sitting on the judges’ table, felt it for a brief moment; it was a familiar feeling, a divine blessing had been used.

Though it was a different feeling from the divine blessings given by the Goddess of Justice and Judgement.

It felt more primal, more warlike, with an unbending will; there was only one deity known to him that fit what he felt, the God of War and Honor, Varkun.

’Did the son of the Iron Duke gain the approval of the God of War and Honor?’ Elandor thought to himself as he focused his attention more on Lucen Thornehart.

***

On the stage, neither Lucen nor Eisen understood what happened, but Lucen did not let this chance go and started firing at Eisen, who protected himself using Earth Wall. The bullets could not pierce through the wall.

Lucen already knew Eisen would do that, so he activated the skill Ricochet and fired the second round of bullets, making them hit one another to change their trajectory.

Eisen had already seen Lucen use this move before and was ready as he quickly cast Earth Wall a few more times, surrounding him from all angles. Still, there was one area that was not defended, and that was above Eisen’s head.

Lucen was now above Eisen, his guns pointing at him. As he was about to shoot, Eisen quickly made a move and used telekinesis to move one of the rock walls to block the shots from above.

Unfortunately, for Eisen, those bullets were not normal bullets, but ones imbued with the element of fire. The moment the bullets made contact with the rock wall, they exploded. Debris from the rock wall had scattered everywhere, as smoke and dust covered the stage.

Lucen had landed on the ground, his guns still pointed at the position he last saw Eisen. When the dust cleared, Eisen was not there.

It was a good thing that the second Eisen blocked Lucen’s sight using the rock wall; he moved away from the spot, thus avoiding the explosion.

Even though Eisen had only seen Lucen fight a few times, he understood that Lucen seemed to like to slowly escalate the way he attacked. Once one thing did not work, he would immediately compensate and do something else.

Eisen also saw Lucen use those exploding bullets before, so the second the direct attack, and the ricochet did not work, Eisen made a gamble. He guessed that Lucen would use those exploding bullets this time around.

Lucen spotted Eisen and shot at him with those exploding rounds. Eisen backed away after summoning several earth walls, which exploded upon contact with Lucen’s bullets. Once again, the entire stage was covered in smoke and dust.

The shockwaves reached the stands, ruffling hair and cloaks. Children gasped, and even a few adults gasped.

Now there were numerous rocks on the ground, and Eisen breathed in as he used telekinesis to lift up all of the rocks on the ground, as well as the nearby Earth Walls he had created before.

When the smoke and dust cleared, everyone saw what Eisen was doing. The numerous rocks and Earth Walls were now floating above the stage.

The sky itself dimmed under the mass of levitating stones. Dust and pebbles circled upward, as if drawn into Eisen’s gravitational pull.

The audience had fallen silent. Even the gamblers, who’d been screaming seconds ago, stared in awe at the floating sky of rock.

This was something no other first-circle mage could ever achieve; only someone like Eisen with a ridiculous amount of mana would even try to do something like this.

This move looked like Eisen used the fourth-circle spell Obsidian Rain; the only visual difference was that the rocks weren’t molten rock.

"This time, it’s my turn to attack. Before I do so, I will give you a chance to yield." Eisen spoke to Lucen.

Hearing what Eisen said, Lucen smiled widely as he replied. "How kind of you... Sorry, but I won’t yield."

"Why?... Surely you know, with a second circle and only a first aura mantle, there’s no spell or ability you can use to survive this next attack. The only thing I can think of that could possibly do something that I won’t understand would be your unique magic, but even if there was a way, you would surely exhaust all of your mana on defending, which would then end in a loss nonetheless. So why don’t you yield? Why are you still smiling? I do not understand..."

Eisen asked, completely confused by Lucen’s illogical choice. In his eyes, there was no chance for Lucen to win; this was already at checkmate.

Eisen understood that Lucen was an intelligent person, so surely he could see that continuing would only bring him pain and gain nothing more. So why won’t he yield? Why was he still smiling?

"Why keep on smiling?" Lucen tilted his head as he responded, his hand holding a gun, which was on his chin as if deep in thought.

"Well, a demon once said that a smile was a tool. Just because you see a smile, don’t think you know what’s going on underneath. It inspires your friends, keeps your enemies guessing, and ensures that no matter what comes your way, you’re the one in control. Like I am in this situation."

Lucen showed an even wider grin despite the current circumstance, and he continued explaining.

"A hero also said he smiles to trick the fear inside of him. He also said that the people who keep on smiling are the strongest. I, on the other hand, am smiling because I’m still confident that victory is within my grasp. That is also the reason why I will not yield."

Hearing Lucen’s response, there was a slight ripple in Eisen’s emotionless calculating face. He could not understand it, but he felt that Lucen was not lying. Lucen truly believed victory was his to take.

"Very well, let me see how you will deal with this." Eisen made a downward motion with his hand, and the rocks floating above came crashing down towards Lucen.