Grand Gathering (3)

The fourth round of the Martial Magic Tournament, the final match to determine the Top Eight from sixteen contestants.

Facing a high-level magic apprentice for the first time, Donald unconsciously tightened his grip on his magic staff.

"Alva said he didn't use money to bribe your companion," Pas said slowly, facing Donald instead of retreating to a safe distance after the match began.

Donald knew he was referring to the magic apprentice framed by Wesley.

"Your companion was in the wrong," Pas continued.

Donald remained silent. He didn't know why the other was saying this—was it to let him die with clarity?

"Alva has always studied hard. This outcome is very unfair to him... But none of this has anything to do with you, so I won't deliberately kill you."

Donald finally realized that his opponent was reasoning with him—he liked people who reasoned.

"I'll apologize to Alva on behalf of my friend and pass your words along to him. By the way, the one your professor keeps mocking is the dean of our academy and also my friend's father, so..." Donald didn't finish. The other should understand his meaning.

Pas nodded, turned around, exposing his entire back to Donald, then walked to a sufficient distance before slowly turning back.

Donald couldn't tell for a moment whether this magic apprentice named Pas was naive or arrogant. But he felt he quite liked this kind of opponent.

Across the field, Pas slowly raised his hand. A dagger-sized stone spike whistled over. Donald immediately raised an earth shield in front of him, and feeling it wasn't enough, added a wind wall.

The stone spike pierced through the earth shield, slowed down, was slightly deflected by the wind wall, then grazed past Donald's body before crashing to the ground far behind him with a dull thud.

That was close.

"Wind and Earth dual-element!" Someone in the audience exclaimed in surprise.

This was the first time in the Martial Magic Tournament that Donald had used a magic other than Earth. The audience's impression of him had only been based on his extraordinary Earth magic power. Seeing him now use Wind magic, they couldn't help but look forward to his performance with a bit more anticipation.

After the earth shield and wind wall were broken and dissipated by the stone spike, Donald saw over a dozen more stone spikes materialize in front of Pas, then shoot toward him at high speed. These stone spikes were connected end to end, almost forming a single line.

The time left for Donald wasn't enough to think of a countermeasure. He could only retreat by instinct while continuously casting earth shields and wind walls in front of him.

Until his Wind and Earth Divine Elements were exhausted, the sound of stone spikes cutting through the air still rang in his ears. The opponent's latest volley of stone spikes had only one left, but that one was already right in front of him. In his panic, Donald could only release a Frost Shield and instinctively block with his magic staff.

From the audience came another exclamation: "Triple-element magic apprentice!"

With a clang, the stone spike easily knocked Donald's magic staff away, struck the Frost Shield on his body, scraped across it, and landed far behind him.

Donald's now-empty right hand trembled uncontrollably. The ribs hit by the stone spike ached unbearably, even through the Frost Shield.

He twisted his waist slightly, confirmed his ribs weren't broken, and relaxed a little.

Both earth shields and wind walls could only defend against attacks from one direction, while Frost Shield protected the entire body. But correspondingly, the latter's defensive strength was much weaker than the former two.

"Give up. I've only used a small portion of my Divine Element," Pas said seriously. He must have noticed that Donald's Wind and Earth Divine Elements were exhausted.

"Keep going. It's not time yet." Donald endured the pain, picked up his magic staff from the ground, and stood firm again.

Pas said nothing more, raised his hand again, and the same stone spikes appeared once more.

Throughout the entire tournament, across several matches, he had only ever used this one attack magic.

Donald tensed up again. After one Frost Shield, he quickly cast Fire Shield spells in front of him.

"Four-element magic apprentice!" The audience erupted once more.

The incoming stone spikes crashed into the fire shields almost simultaneously. After breaking through two or three fire shields, their power was greatly reduced. Even when they struck Donald, they only left shallow marks on the Frost Shield. The situation was no longer as dangerous as before.

Pas's Stone Spike Spell was a thirty-two-element high-level magic, while Donald's basic defensive magics were only twelve-element. Due to the difference in model complexity, the former's casting speed could hardly keep up with the latter's.

Plus, Donald knew few types of magic, so his proficiency with each was unusually high.

Thus, when Donald calmed down again, even though two or three fire shields were needed to block one stone spike, he could still find openings to sneak in a six-element Ice Blade or two.

Pas had to divert attention to cast earth shields to block Donald's Ice Blades.

Back and forth, the two ended up fighting on equal footing. Throughout the tournament so far, Donald was the first opponent who could stand up to Pas head-on.

Gasps and cheers of admiration came from the audience from time to time.

Lucia looked relaxed. She wasn't worried about Donald at all. If not for deliberately keeping a low profile to avoid shocking the world, any opponent in the tournament wouldn't last half a minute before Donald's magic staff.

The bearded professor, however, wore a grave expression. He never expected that this student from Tris Magic Academy could hold out so long under Pas.

The two on the field were casting faster and faster. For Donald, fighting Pas was a perfect chance to practice the rhythm of full-power casting under combat pressure. And Pas suddenly felt a thrill of pushing himself to the limit.

In the Contestant Area, the magic apprentices who had been eliminated round by round watched the two genius magic apprentices engaged in an extreme magical offense and defense, their hearts full of admiration. No matter who won this duel, they would be the only magic apprentice among the Top Eight, and both on the field deserved that achievement.

Just as the audience was completely captivated, the field suddenly fell silent. Both combatants stopped casting almost simultaneously.

Before Pas, a crumbling earth shield remained. Before Donald, two fire shields still stood, and the Frost Shield on his body was about to dissipate.

"Water and Fire Divine Elements exhausted too?" Pas spoke first.

"Yes. And you?"

"Me too. You're outstanding. Let's call this a draw." Pas still wore his usual serious expression.

Donald said nothing.

Under the gaze of tens of thousands, he slowly extended his left hand and traced a semicircle in the air.

In the direction his left hand swept, a flurry of Flying Leaves suddenly shot out.

"Five Elements!" The audience, which had just quieted down, erupted into deafening cheers.

The Triple Flying Leaves that shot into the sky soared high before slowly drifting back down, fluttering through the air, conjuring a hint of autumn in the early summer Imperial Capital Arena.

The boy standing amidst the falling leaves—none of his previous opponents had managed to force him to reveal his true strength. Only now, in this battle against another genius Magic Apprentice, did he shine with astonishing brilliance.

He was a Five-Elements Magic Apprentice!

In the Contestant Area, the shock among Magic Apprentices and professors ran even deeper than that of the ordinary audience—the boy's real strength was likely far greater than the spectators imagined. From start to finish, he had only used the simplest basic offensive and defensive spells, yet even these simple spells displayed incredible power in his hands.

If he were to unleash a more complex spell, even just an intermediate attack spell, his opponent would probably find it impossible to withstand.

The professor with the neatly trimmed beard slumped in his seat, his face pale with dejection, his heart filled with immense disappointment. He couldn't accept that the most talented student he had ever encountered in his life—the one he had poured all his efforts into, hidden away for three years, the magical genius poised to stun everyone—had been defeated by that ordinary boy from Tris Magic Academy.

In the VIP Seats, Clark's eyes finally showed a hint of seriousness. Even King Auston wore a pleased expression, feeling deeply gratified that his alma mater had nurtured such an outstanding student. But when he turned to look at Lucia, the undisguised adoration on his daughter's face gave him a new cause for concern.

"You won..." Pas said slowly. "Next year, I'll beat you... uh, what grade are you in?"

"Third grade. Sorry, I might not come next year," Donald replied.

Pas's face finally showed both sadness and confusion. He was sad because his opponent was actually two grades below him, and confused because he couldn't imagine why such a strong opponent would say he might not attend the Martial Magic Tournament.

With this, Donald had finally entered the Top Eight of this year's tournament—the best result Tris Magic Academy had achieved in fifty years.

"Not bad, that last move was almost half as cool as me," Wesley said to Donald as he sat down.

"Not as cool as you surrendering," Donald shot back with a glare. At that moment, he suddenly remembered how unbearable the pain had been when the Stone Spike struck his waist and abdomen earlier, yet after just a short while, he couldn't feel any sign of injury at all. He immediately guessed that this might be related to Divine Grace.

"What do you know? That's called being rational. If you hadn't used that stick, you'd have had to surrender against that Half-Orc too."

Roger laughed at Wesley's words. Quisar did have a fierce look about him, a bit like a Half-Orc indeed.

"Right, Roger? Facing that guy, wouldn't you surrender?" Wesley sought agreement.

"Me? I might surrender halfway through, just to see how big the gap is," Roger answered seriously.

"Stubborn," Wesley said dismissively.

Roger shrugged, smiled, and didn't bother arguing.

On the field, the draw for the next round was announced.

When the Referee Panel called out Donald's opponent, Wesley grinned wickedly. "There, here he comes. Don't tough it out, alright. Either use the stick or surrender. Be careful you don't get beaten so badly that even Kelly won't recognize you."

How unlucky—he really did draw Quisar. Donald lamented his bad luck while considering whether he should just surrender this time too.

Fifth round, Top Eight to Top Four. By this stage of the tournament, it was no longer purely about strength. With the matches scheduled so tightly, contestants had to consider the cost of each bout, aiming to secure victory while preserving enough condition for the next fight.

For Magic Apprentices, this gave them an extra advantage. Divine Element could be restored with magic potions, while a knight's Battle Qi, stamina, and fighting spirit couldn't be replenished so quickly.

Donald's daily meditation already had the effect of enhancing Divine Element activity. After taking the recovery potion handed to him by Dean Devis and drinking a small sip, he was confident he could return to peak condition before his next appearance.

On the field, Mino won another match. He fought very rationally, securing victory at almost minimal cost.

The next two matches were both between Squires. The pairs were very evenly matched, leaving neither side any room to hold back. Both matches ended with one side winning by a narrow, brutal margin. Barring surprises, both victors would likely stop at the Top Four.

Donald stood up, smiling as he pushed aside the helmet Wesley offered him, ready to take the field.

Just then, Dean Devis, who had remained silent from the start of the tournament, finally spoke slowly: "Tris Magic Academy hasn't had anyone in the Top Four for over a hundred years."

Donald stopped, nodded silently, and in his usually calm black eyes, a rare seriousness surfaced.