Emil

  Emil was at the tunnels of the eastern wing while the Academy staff were busy preparing the stage.

  Anna’s match had ended in a flash. She won with ease. Like Kai versus Liesel, hers was another lopsided battle where one side had an overwhelming advantage due to Gift compatibility. Her opponent, Niall, had a self-enhancement Gift that required him to fight in close quarters.

  Without a proper option to threaten her at range, the male student was helpless before Anna’s devastating electric shocks. Despite being the third seed from the preliminaries, he was eventually incapacitated into submission by the relentless paralyzing blasts.

  It was a horrible matchup. Anna’s Volt ripped Niall to shreds.

  “Anna Seibert immaculately takes down the third seeded Niall von Ulster! Ladies and gentlemen, please applaud for our first upset of the knockout stages!”

  The crowd was noticeably more ambivalent this time. It was the second match in a row where the fight had ended shortly after a few exchanges. Displeased murmurs were starting to ripple across the colosseum.

  Melody must have realized the crowd’s languidness as she immediately shifted her focus onto the next match.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I know what you’re all thinking! But fret not! We will now be heading into the final match of the day! And it’ll feature everyone’s favorite! The man! The myth! The enigmatic legend that you’ve all been waiting for! Please welcome, Emil Milligan!”

  The energy instantly changed. The staff in the tunnel beckoned for Emil to move. He obliged, straightening his shoulders and steeling his posture as he stepped onto the Nautilus main stage.

  The ground beneath his feet shook with the stampede of thousands of rabid cheers. The crowd’s roars blared into his ears accompanied by thunderous claps. It sounded like rain pattering on the ground from a torrential downpour.

  Emil’s head blanked. The stimulus was overwhelming. He couldn’t hear himself think. It suddenly sunk in that, at this moment, he had the sole possession of the audience’s attention. All eyes within the Nautilus were staring at him.

  Cheering. Watching. Waiting.

  Instinctively, he opened his arms and raised them skyward, beckoning for the crowd to cheer louder. They responded to his gesture, flooding the stadium with their feverish energy. Chants of his name suddenly resounded behind him. It quickly spread across the colosseum and rose in volume like a violent crescendo, until the entirety of the Nautilus seemed to be calling his name.

  The emotions blooming in Emil’s chest were indescribable.

  It would be another minute before the excitement began to die down. Melody immediately seized the opportunity to get her remaining introduction in.

  “And his opponent, Gaius von Ragnar!”

  From the opposing western wing, a goliath of a man emerged from the tunnels. Emil stared at him in disbelief.

  …Are we even the same species?

  Standing at nearly seven feet tall, the colossal student stomped onto his section of the field. His rugged face was twisted in a menacing scowl, which made him look closer to a war-torn veteran than a teenage freshman at the Academy.

  Emil gulped, suddenly feeling nervous.

  Seriously, just what the hell are they feeding the kids in the Ragnar family?

  Aside from Gaius’s imposing physique, what worried Emil the most was the lack of information he had on Gaius’s Gift. Anna, Kai, and Charlotte didn’t encounter the giant during the preliminaries nor did they hear any commentary describing his feats.

  A man of his size didn’t get any attention during the preliminaries?

  It was possible that he was simply overlooked. Melody did spend most of her time building Emil up as the protagonist of the preliminaries. It’s also possible that he kept a low profile so that he couldn’t be scouted. The latter was bad news. It meant Gaius was strong enough to sneak into the top eight without drawing attention to his Gift.

  Emil decided to take a cautious approach. His Gift’s defensive capabilities and his own combat experience should have allowed him to avoid any instant eliminations.

  The crowd hushed at the sight of the colossal freshman as he stomped into his position. Anticipation rose. The tense excitement suffused the air. A brief silence lulled the massive colosseum. Then, Melody called.

  “Contestants, ready! And go!”

  Not a second later, Gaius burst into a sprint. The giant shot across the field at a speed unfathomable for someone of his size.

  “Impede!”

  Emil’s immediate response was to conjure a series of stone columns in the giant’s path. Gaius reacted without hesitation, confidently turning and weaving his massive body past the forest of stone projections. In just a few seconds, he was half-way across the field.

  This is ridiculous!

  His skin crawled at the sight of looming giant. Emil pulled his arms back. The stone columns he erected earlier suddenly detached from the ground. Then, like missiles, they rushed at Gaius’s flank. The giant must have sensed the surge of mana as he immediately tilted his head back.

  Without warning, he screamed.

  A deafening roar escaped his mouth. It was a thunderous bellow, sounding monstrous—a noise that a regular human should have not been able to produce. Immediately, his body glowed a radiant blue as his limbs, torso, and head suddenly began to morph.

  Dammit, why am I always being paired against shapeshifters?! Emil cursed his luck.

  As the mana around Gaius dispersed, his new appearance was unveiled. His skin was covered in a layer of black hardened scales. Claws extended outwards where his fingers were. Wings sprouted from his back and a massive tail emerged at his rear. His jaws grew elongated with fangs protruding from the upper mouth. He resembled a fantastical creature from folktales.

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  The stone missiles arrived right as his transformation completed. Gaius spun around. He made no effort to dodge—instead shielding his head with his arms to take the attacks head-on. The missiles smashed into his body, exploding with a loud crunch as fragments and sand were flung into the air. As the dust settled, he stood there, silent. His narrow, beady eyes glared straight at Emil.

  Oh great, so he can turn into a fucking dragon.

  While Ardairans know dragons to be creatures of mythology, the legendary beast apparently actually existed in some faraway land beyond the kingdom and its surrounding neighbors. Still, Emil doubted that Gaius had actually seen the mythical creatures in person. Likely his transformation was the product of his own imagination.

  And I still have no idea what he’s capable of.

  He scanned Gaius’s body for damage. The stone missiles appeared to have little effect on the draconian. Emil didn’t find a single scar except a mild blemish on the scales where the projectiles struck.

  That new skin must be insanely tough.

  Gaius resumed his pursuit. The ground cracked as his talons dug into the earth. With a burst of energy, he lunged ahead.

  Emil struck his knuckles together, triggering the activation of his stone armaments. Now protected by stone, he swung with a right hook, intent to meet Gaius’s outstretched claws.

  Boom!

  His fingers screamed in pain at the recoil. A concerning crack echoed from his joints. The impact rippled down the length of his arms to his shoulders. The stone gauntlets instantly disintegrated into pieces.

  Gaius appeared unfazed—his eyes cold and unwavering as he delivered a follow-up jab. Emil twisted his head to the side, weaving under the blow, before countering with a left uppercut. His fist smashed into Gaius’ torso.

  The draconian barely budged.

  Air shot out of his nostrils, the sound vaguely resembling a conceited snort.

  Undaunted, Emil stomped the ground. A stone column spontaneously sprung up, barreling towards Gaius’s jaws. The draconian moved this time. He stepped back and swiped his claws in a cross-section. The stone was immediately shredded into pieces, rendered useless as the fragments splattered to the ground.

  What an infuriating Gift.

  Gaius’ skin seemed to make him impervious to most physical damage. The enhanced physique from his transformation also gave him enough power to exceed the protective limits of Emil’s stone gauntlets.

  Looks like I have to aim for his head. It’s only part of his body that he actually seems to care about protecting.

  Reaching the seven feet tall behemoth, however, wasn’t exactly an easy task.

  The only other option was to drag Gaius down to his level.

  Emil channeled mana. Fragments from his earlier attacks began to stir. With a snap of his fingers, the rocks shot towards Gaius’s head like missiles. As expected, he immediately raised his arms to shield against the oncoming projectiles.

  “Impede!”

  Stone in the shape of an arm emerged beneath Gaius’s right leg. It coiled around his knees, locking it the joint in place, before dragging him down. Gaius thrashed about, trying to shake his leg loose from the stone confinement. Emil beckoned at the ground. The space beneath the Gaius’s left foot suddenly cratered into an empty hole right as he shifted his weight.

  The draconian staggered off-balance.

  Emil seized the chance. A segment of stone erupted beneath his feet as he pushed off, springing him upwards. He twisted his body with the momentum of the launch. His right leg was infused with mana as he delivered an explosive kick.

  Crunch!

  He landed a direct hit against the draconian’s jaws. The impact of his devastating blow reverberated across the Nautilus, earning shocked gasps echoing from the stands. Gaius’s head was blasted to the side. Emil pressed his advantage, trying to deliver the knockout blow while his opponent was still reeling from the attack.

  Contrary to his expectations, Gaius immediately spun around.

  Something heavy slammed into Emil’s chest. He felt the air forcefully ripped out of his lungs as the unexpected force blasted him backwards. He crashed into the ground, skidding across the harsh earth of the main stage. Agony seared across his body once he finally rolled to a stop.

  Confused, he glanced down. A portion of his uniform had been torn, like a mark left by a whip. The exposed skin beneath smeared a nasty red.

  A nauseating sensation welled up in his throat. Unable to hold in, Emil threw up a mouthful of blood.

  …Was that from his tail?

  It would have explained how he was suddenly struck from his blind spot.

  Emil wiped his mouth clean as he staggered back onto his feet. His lungs were burning; his breathing still coarse from the nasty retaliation. Gaius was eyeing him with a ferocious sneer, his draconian fangs bared, stained with a coat of red.

  A distance of twenty meters separated them.

  His tenacity is unreal. He took a direct hit from an attack enhanced by Mana Arts and is still well enough to counter. Emil grimaced, suddenly feeling the pressure of his opponent’s monstrous Gift.

  “You have a solid kick. Not bad, rank one,” the giant freshman hissed with a serpent-like cadence. His words dripped with the typical arrogance of the highborn nobility.

  Emil narrowed his eyes. “…Just how the hell did someone like you end as the eighth seed?” he asked, trying to buy time for his breathing to steady.

  “It was intentional. I was top four in the preliminaries when I made the conscious decision to drop to eighth. I wanted this matchup,” Gaius said with a condescending smirk, “Did you know? You’re the weakest rank one to come out of the preliminaries in the history of the Academy. Your qualification. Your placement. The attention and fanfare surrounding your name. It’s all manufactured. It’s shallow. Empty. Filled with prattle and meritless hype. You’re only in this spot because the Academy desired it.”

  “Yeah? Am I supposed to believe that coming from a lizard?” Emil purposefully shouted his retort. His taunt echoed across the Nautilus, earning a wave of guffaws from the crowd.

  Gaius’s scaly face suddenly flared red.

  “…You’re going to regret mocking me.”

  His voice turned ominous as his claws dug into the earth, flinging a barrage of stones in Emil’s direction.

  Emil raised his hands, imbued with mana, halting the stones in place as the projectiles entered his interference range. In the distance, his ears caught the strange sound of air being displaced. He glanced ahead.

  Huh?

  His opponent was nowhere to be found. The horrific thought that he somehow lost track of the giant draconian sent him into a panic. It wasn’t until a huge shadow suddenly loomed above that Emil looked up.

  …You’ve got to be kidding me.

  Gaius was in the air—the wings on his back carried him skyward as he rapidly ascended. Emil could only stare in disbelief as his opponent soared above the effective range of his Gift.

  Gaius suddenly opened his jaws.

  Mana gathered at the center of his mouth, cackling as it rapidly condensed into a maelstrom of energy. The draconian bellowed as a massive ball of fire was launched out of his mouth.

  From Emil’s perspective, the sky turned bloody red as the fireball blotted out the sun. His throat suddenly felt dry. His heart raced. The scene was nauseatingly familiar to that treacherous day when all of his friends were massacred by the deranged Desperado.

  He ran.

  The flames rained down. He tracked the trajectory in his periphery. He jumped, right as the fireball smashed into a spot on the field nearby. The searing heat burned off the edge of his uniform. Despite his innate heat resistance offered by Blaze, the temperatures were still scalding hot. The ground beside him was instantly scorched, leaving behind traces of molten earth.

  Gaius didn’t relent. More fireballs came down by the dozens. The speed of their descent and their enormous size gave Emil very little room to evade.

  “Bastion!” he called, erecting a dome of stone overheard. Emil continued to add layers to his fortification as the sound of the fiery bombardment loomed close.

  Boom!

  The top of his fortifications shook as the fireball landed. The surface glowed a brilliant red. The ambient temperature rose to a sweltering degree. Emil clawed at his chest, feeling the panic rising to his throat.

  The disturbing sound of the stones cracking from the heat pierced his ears.

  Emil ducked out of the way right as the dome collapsed from another bombardment.

  When is this going to end?!

  The entire Nautilus field was ablaze in the ruins of flames. The scent of ash heavy in the air. Emil glanced up.

  Without warning, Gaius suddenly plunged down.

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