A week later,

"Oh! The 9th master of Merricks has won another match!"

"How long has it been since he entered the tournament?"

"Three days!"

"Shut up! The next match is starting in a few minutes. If you keep talking, I will bash your head in."

Right now, countless people were seated in a coliseum-like arena. It wasn’t particularly grand or anything, but it was spacious enough to accommodate around two thousand viewers.

And at the center of it all stood a compact battlefield, large enough for two fighters to go all out.

On one side stood a second-year student with neatly combed blond hair.

He wore the same academy uniform as everyone else, but the fine finishing on it made it obvious that the uniform was custom-tailored.

A look of complete frustration covered the second-year student’s face as he stared at the individual standing opposite him. But beyond that, there was a slight hesitance in his eyes looking at the opponent.

Theo was wearing standard leather armor provided by the academy instead of his uniform, while the other student was cocky enough to come with nothing but his uniform for protection.

"You may start now," a man at the side announced as he raised a blue flag. He was the referee of the match.

The second-year’s head began glowing brightly as a beast materialized before him.

The crowd erupted in excitement at the sight of the boy’s beast.

Theo observed the beast carefully and made a mental note of its appearance to himself.

It resembled a massive armadillo; it didn’t only differ in size from a normal armadillo—it had greyish scales that looked sturdy enough to let the beast curl into an impenetrable ball.

The creature stood over five feet tall, with a broad, heavily built body that radiated toughness even from afar.

Theo glanced to the side and noticed the eyes of the man holding the blue flag glow red.

The next moment, a thin layer of light enveloped Theo, the second-year student and the armadillo-like beast. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Theo slowly stepped forward as he unsheathed his sword.

The crowd roared even louder the moment Theo pulled his sword out of its sheath.

And the uproar didn’t stop just at that. It only grew aggressive when everyone saw a transparent aura enveloping the sword.

The professors seated nearby began writing notes while observing the match. Meanwhile, the man seated at the center simply watched the arena with a smile on his face.

It was none other than the headmaster.

The second-year student quickly commanded the armadillo-like beast mentally.

The beast roared and charged toward Theo, who calmly continued walking forward with his glowing blade.

Once the armadillo picked up speed, Theo accelerated as well, revealing that although the arena looked small from above, it was still large enough to provide plenty of distance between the two fighters before they could truly start the combat.

Theo angled the blade slightly to the right while gripping it with both hands.

The stance allowed him to run faster, and the sword felt far more stable than normal.

The armadillo didn’t care about anything. Though it was a little confused about fighting a human instead of another beast, something that didn’t happen often, it seemed more than willing to fight.

The moment the armadillo lunged Theo, he shifted his body to the side and stepped back, narrowly avoiding the attack’s trajectory.

The second-year student watched in disbelief as a mere human evaded his massive armadillo’s claws as though it were a normal thing for him.

Theo knew he had made the right decision. While the armadillo was incredibly faster when moving in a single line, it couldn’t move as fast sideways.

With the sword still wrapped in aura, Theo thrust it forward in a simple slash, allowing the protective coating around the beast to register the attack.

And just when the aura touched the rapidly charging armadillo, the protective coating around it flashed brightly for a split second before releasing a powerful blast of pressure.

Theo was launched into the air briefly before landing smoothly on the ground.

Meanwhile, the beast stared at him, seemingly completely dumbstruck.

"One attack out of three has been made by Theo Merrick," the man with the glowing red eyes announced as he shifted the flag toward Theo’s side even though he wasn’t there.

The armadillo looked at the flag as though it finally understood what had happened.

Another thunderous roar echoed through the arena as the armadillo pounced at Theo again. But this time, after building up speed, it suddenly rolled forward, curling into a literal ball before barreling toward Theo.

Theo bent his knees and casually leaped upward, rising nearly ten feet into the ground.

The crowd erupted with an even louder uproar, while the second-year student just stared at him, completely shocked now.

The armadillo rolled past Theo as he descended, but as if it could see even after becoming a ball, it suddenly sprang upward, returned to normal midair, and flipped around to pounce at Theo again.

Theo landed quickly, and from that point onwards, the armadillo pounced at him two more times, only for Theo to dodge both the attacks with casual ease.

On the third time, however, it was as if the armadillo was getting used to it and had adapted itself. It closed the distance more tightly before lashing out with its scaly tail at Theo.

But Theo simply jumped back and twisted his body at an angle, letting the tail barely miss him.

A vein bulged on the second-year student’s forehead, though the shock in his expression still remained.

Meanwhile, the armadillo stayed completely focused and kept moving forward.

That was when Theo sighed and coated his sword with the aura once again before slashing at the armadillo again, producing the same overwhelming pressure that forced him backward.

This time, Theo didn’t wait.

The instant he landed on the ground, he hyperjumped with as much strength as he could muster, launching himself toward the armadillo in a blur.

To students below level 5, it almost looked as though he had just teleported from one point to another, though the more experienced spectators could still follow his movements.

Theo drove his sword toward the armadillo’s neck. The beast desperately tried to evade the attack, but its greatest disadvantage was simple: Theo’s attacks were faster than its own reactions.

This time, the pressure released from the armadillo’s coating was powerful enough to blast Theo backwards several meters before he could finally regain his footing.

The referee at the side spoke once again.

"Three attacks out of three have been made by Theo Merrick."

He moved the flag toward Theo’s side two more times, allowing Theo to take a breather for a moment before he raised his sword again, this time without the aura coating it.

The blade was pointed directly toward the second-year student, and Theo locked his eyes with him.

The armadillo remained frozen in place, almost as if it already knew that the match was over. But beyond that stillness, its body trembled faintly.

It had just experienced a deadly strike aimed at its neck and had only survived because of the referee’s ability.

The second-year student slowly raised his hands in surrender.

Theo slid his sword back into its sheath before turning toward the crowd, which had completely gone crazy in every direction.

He spotted a group of girls older than him jumping and cheering for him as though they were at a concert, while the male side of the audience just roared with adrenaline-fueled excitement.

"The winner isssssss Theo Merrrick!" the announcer shouted.

Finally, his eyes returned to normal, and Theo felt a soft ’poof’ of energy disperse around him.

He stepped aside to let the cleaners prepare the arena for the next fight, which thankfully wasn’t his.

Instead, Theo shifted his gaze toward the one person responsible for making all of this happen.

The headmaster met Theo’s eyes but merely smiled. It was as if he was maintaining a persona instead of acting the way he did when they were alone in his office.

Theo understood that.

Soon after, he spotted Clara and Elias waiting for him on the other side, along with another boy.

There was a newfound confidence on the boy’s face which made Theo grin.

Eryn was growing as a person, and Theo was genuinely happy to see it.

"My next fight might be in a day," Theo said the moment he reached them.

But he didn’t stop at just that.

"And finally... I might actually be able to fight a third-year student."

Now that he was before the trio, Theo couldn’t hold back his grin.

He was excited to face stronger opponents, and even more so for the fact that one day, among these upcoming ones, he would finally face a strong opponent who would finally make him let the mantis go wild too.

It was becoming harder and harder to keep it under control during the arena fights.