[Raul PoV]
Exiting the main hall, I went in search of my subordinate, a Potioner. I wanted to ask him to make something for me—a concoction that would determine my victory tomorrow.
This tournament is held over three days. Tomorrow, there will only be eight matches, while the quarter-finals through to the final will take place on the third day.
"Hey, Raul."
As I was walking toward the dormitory, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and saw Valeria sitting alone on a bench.
"What are you doing here all by yourself, Valeria?" I asked her.
"I don't know—brooding over my defeat, perhaps?" she replied, her voice sounding somber.
I walked over and sat down beside her. It seemed she was still dwelling on her loss to Vlad this morning.
"The world is vast, isn't it?" Valeria murmured as she gazed up at the night sky. "And so is the magic and the mysteries that shroud it."
She was right. This world is full of unique and highly dangerous magics. In the game Path of Destiny, characters with special abilities are the ones you must be most wary of. No matter how strong you are, if you are caught in someone's unique spell, your life is over.
Top-tier mages and fighters usually possess these abilities. The level of the academy students is still low compared to those who have mastered them.
"Don't overthink it," I told her. "If I were in your position, I might have lost too because I didn't know the extent of his abilities."
If I didn't have knowledge of this world I created, I would have a zero percent chance of winning against Vlad.
"Even now, I still don't understand how he was able to control my body at that moment," Valeria said. "He's your opponent tomorrow, isn't he?"
"Exactly. Come to the arena to watch my match later," I said to her. "I have a secret that will give that man quite a surprise."
"You mean you've already figured out his strange magic that controls people's bodies?" Valeria asked, looking curious.
Hearing this, I smiled at her and said, "You'll find out the answer if you watch tomorrow."
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After chatting with Valeria for a while, I entered the regular students' male dormitory. My goal was to meet Barney Dolando—a member of the disciplinary committee who is an expert at crafting Potions.
The academy provides various subjects for the students here. For those on the Knight path, they usually only take physical and magical subjects. As for the Mage path, they sometimes attend Potion classes to learn how to mix magical brews.
Arriving in front of Barney's room, I knocked on the door. Not long after, the door opened to reveal a bespectacled man who looked nervous.
"C-Captain, what brings you to my room this late at night?" Barney asked while adjusting his glasses.
"Barney, can you make a Randomize Blood potion yet?" I asked him.
This potion is usually used by mages to perform experiments on Magical Beasts to merge them with different species, creating a stronger new species by matching their Bloodline Factors. It is a complicated procedure, even for me as the creator of this game. In the game, this process only happens in a flash with a certain success percentage, and the detailed surgical process isn't shown.
"I've only made it twice in Potion class," Barney replied. "Why do you need this potion, Captain?"
"Well... you'll find out tomorrow."
"Alright, Captain. I'll make it for you," Barney said. "Come back here tomorrow morning."
Leaving Barney, I headed toward the noble male dormitory to return to my room. Several students were still around the academy grounds, talking about tomorrow's second round. Some were annoyed because they had lost bets, while others were theorizing about the magic and martial arts used by the participants.
Once I reached my room, I took off my academy uniform and threw myself onto my soft bed.
"Alright, time to meet the real Raul and activate another one of my Profound Codices."
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The next morning, I returned to Barney's room to pick up the promised potion.
"Here, Captain. The effect only lasts for one hour," he said as he handed me a bottle containing a green liquid.
"Are you sure this potion works?" I asked him, just to be safe.
If this potion failed, my plan to defeat Vlad would crumble to pieces.
"Of course. I tested it earlier."
After taking the potion from Barney, I hurried to the arena. The ticket booths were already crowded with spectators eager to see the second round. It seemed I was a bit late. Had the first match already started?
Entering the arena building, I saw Miria coming down the stairs, about to enter the tunnel to the combat floor. Some of her friends were seeing her off and giving her words of motivation.
"Miria, defeat that Senior, okay?" one of her friends said. "You're the last hope for the first-year students. Don't let the seniors look down on us just because none of us made it to the quarter-finals."
"Y-yes, I will do my absolute best!" Miria exclaimed, clenching both her fists.
Walking up the stairs, I passed the two of them. Shortly after, I arrived at the reserved stands for participants. I sat in an empty front-row seat.
"You're late, Raul. The match is about to begin."
Hearing a woman's voice calling me, I turned to the side. A beautiful woman, like a snow princess with gray hair, was sitting beside me. Her gaze was focused on the arena below.
"Princess Alisha, sorry, I had to prepare something for my match later," I replied.
Hearing my words, she turned to look at me. Her blue eyes, like ice crystals, stared directly into mine.
"Hee~ Have you found the Blood Prince's weakness already?" Alisha asked curiously. "It seems your match will be quite interesting later."
In truth, it wasn't hard to analyze and solve the mystery of Vlad's abilities. However, the perspective of a fighter is always different from that of a spectator.
"Are you going to show your Nature Mana this time?" she asked again. "Yours is shadow, isn't it? I read it in the student database."
It turned out she was quite dedicated to this tournament. Despite having powerful magic, Princess Alisha remained vigilant and studied the abilities of the other participants.
"Ladies and gentlemen! We meet again in the second round of the Grunbelt Academy Tournament!"
Our conversation was interrupted by the Promoter's announcement. In the center of the arena, a white-haired man and a brown-haired woman with a side ponytail faced each other.
"Isn't that your servant?" I asked Princess Alisha, even though I already knew the answer.
"Indeed," Princess Alisha replied, refocusing her gaze on the arena floor. "Raul, who do you think will win?"
"To be honest, I don't know," I lied. "I still don't know much about Leon's—your servant's—abilities."
"He is strong, of course," Alisha said with a proud expression. "He might be the only one capable of defeating me in this tournament."
What Princess Alisha said was partly true. With the Profound Codex Leon possesses, the only way to beat him might be through pure physical attacks. However, I suppose it depends on the current level of Leon's Profound Codex.
"The first match is Leon versus Miria de Coruna!" the Promoter shouted. "Are both participants ready?"
Both nodded in response. Leon unsheathed his sword while Miria raised her hands.
"Then... the first match of the second round of the Grunbelt Academy Tournament, begin!"
Tree trunks began protruding from the ground the moment the Promoter started the match. Miria wasted no time activating her magic. On the other side, Leon's sword began to glow. Judging by the color, he had activated Avilar—a spell that increases the sharpness of a weapon.
He then lunged toward Miria by activating Accel magic. Seeing this, Miria responded by attacking Leon with the tree trunks growing around her. Leon avoided the first tree by leaping into the air, but two of Miria's other trees were already set to strike him.
The white-haired man sliced through the two trees with ease and landed on the ground. Without wasting a moment, he pushed off to run toward Miria again. Then, the ground around the arena suddenly vibrated as Miria summoned an even larger number of trees. The trunks shot toward Leon once more.
He tried to slash them down one by one. However, he couldn't keep it up because Miria increased the frequency of her magical attacks. Leon's body was sent flying back after being hit by one of Miria's tree trunks. He landed on the ground and wiped the blood from his mouth.
"She's great, isn't she?" I said, striking up a conversation. "Even though she's only in her first year, she can compete with Seniors who are far more experienced."
Hearing my words, Princess Alisha held her chin as if thinking. "You're right. Her magic isn't just powerful; that girl can release it in massive quantities."
Actually, Miria's magical talent is almost on par with Princess Alisha's. However, Miria's mana control seems to be far below that of my future wife.
Back to the fight, Miria summoned a forest of trees in the arena once again. Those trees then shattered into small wood shards that floated in the air. Miria directed her hand toward Leon, and the wood shards shot toward him like bullets from a gatling gun.
Leon didn't move at all and looked relaxed. Dust kicked up into the air as the thousands of wood shards hammered Leon, hiding him from the spectators' view. Once the dust settled, the audience could finally see Leon's condition—he looked perfectly fine, without a single scratch on his body or his uniform.
"Huh? How can he be fine after taking that magic directly!?"
"Is it possible he's already capable of using an Unreality Field?"
"Stupid, he's only a second-year student! There's no way he could use it that perfectly!"
the spectators and other participants were quite shocked by what had just happened. One of them was right; it's impossible for an academy student to use an Unreality Field perfectly. Even I have no shortcut to mastering that ability.
"They don't seem to know about Leon's true ability," Alisha said, smiling at her loyal servant. "That's why I said only he could defeat me. With that ability, no magic can harm him."
Hey Alisha, why are you praising another man in front of your future husband? I have my pride too, you know.
It's true that Leon, with his anti-magic ability, appears invulnerable to magical effects at a glance. However, Princess Alisha doesn't know that there are certain limits if Leon's ability is still at level one. Besides, he's in the same bracket as our idiot Protagonist. You guys don't know he has Plot Armor as strong as those old Novia mobile phones.
Back to the fight, Miria looked shocked that her magic couldn't hurt Leon. She seemed to be pondering the reason behind it. However, she didn't have much time to think. Leon was already charging toward her again at high speed.
My junior summoned more tree trunks from the ground, attacking Leon in the same way as before. The white-haired man easily cut through and dodged Miria's magical attacks. He then jumped to avoid a massive tree trunk shooting toward him. But just as Leon was about to land, roots suddenly emerged from the ground and coiled around his legs.
The roots lifted Leon into the air and slammed him toward the arena wall, but before his body could hit the wall, the roots binding his legs suddenly disintegrated. He landed on the ground and lunged toward Miria once more.
My junior began to panic as the distance between her and Leon closed. She then summoned massive tree trunks that formed the shape of a dragon. This was the magic that had finished her opponent in the previous match.
The wooden dragon surged toward Leon, who could be seen murmuring a spell. Shortly after, a blue semi-circular barrier appeared in front of him. The wooden dragon slammed into the barrier, but Leon didn't stop running for a second. The dragon began to crumble against the blue barrier.
Leon then reached Miria, his sword stopping exactly one centimeter from her neck. Miria raised her hands and surrendered the match.
"The second match of the second round is won by Leon!"
As the promoter declared Leon's victory, applause filled the arena.
"What is up with that white-haired guy's ability!? That powerful wooden dragon didn't even leave a crack on him!"
"I didn't expect the strongest first-year student to lose in this round!"
That was an Anti-Magic Domain Leon activated. Any magic that hits it is automatically destroyed. Judging by its form, it's true that his Profound Codex is still at level one.
That means there is still a gap to bypass the Anti-Magic Domain he possesses.