A permanent look of confusion and shock was painted on Sir Berkia’s face as he fell to his knees, unconscious from his wounds.

A moment of silence soon enveloped the entire arena. Then a few seconds later, they erupted into excited shouts and cheers.

Sir Fenix won! The odds were stacked against him, yet he had proven to everyone that his Sword Heart was not a problem beating even the best Knights out there.

The fact that Sir Fenix was supposed to be a ’free win’ for Berkia was very much telling of everyone’s opinion of the scarred Knight.

Yet, thanks to the chocolate ice cream as well as the roller coaster therapy, he was able to overcome his disability and use a power that no one even thought he had!

The other Knights and the Beastfolks were thoroughly entertained by this. Perhaps, there was merit to the rumors that said that the chocolate ice cream was effective in increasing Aubility Power.

Of course, most still thought that the reason for Fenix’s recovery was something a little bit more... important. Something not mundane like a dessert.

The reason why Fenix won was because he was originally a talented Knight. It was only after he recovered from his injuries did his full potential show.

It didn’t yet completely show that the chocolate ice cream was responsible for his victory. That happened later.

Soon after the first fight, the exhibition continued with more Knights and swordsmen coming to fight in the arena.

Some of those fighters were none other than the friends that visited Sir Fenix yesterday.

Like Fenix, they were in the exhibition tournament simply because they were barely good enough to be in the big leagues. Nobody actually thought that they would even advance through the first stage, much less win the whole thing entirely.

However, something peculiar happened.

On the third fight, the underdog fighter faced off against one of the favorites. A youth from the Lionheart family, no less. They were famous for being a lineage that had very good genes perfectly fitting that of a swordsman.

Heck, the Heavenly Swordmaster before Eldea was from the Lionheart family.

That was why everyone had expectations for this Lionheart youth.

And in comparison, his opponent was a nobody. A swordsman who came from poverty after being recruited by the Order after showing talent.

And at the start of the match, this ’nobody’ swordsman began eating chocolate ice cream while paying no heed to his opponent.

The Lionheart youth was of course slighted by this action. The unknown swordsman was not so good at his craft that he could spend the remaining seconds before the fight eating some kind of desert.

Even the audience thought so as well. In fact, there were many bets regarding this fight.

But a few minutes later, they would all be grabbing their hairs out of pure frustration.

The nobody swordsman completely overwhelmed the Lionheart youth, displaying power that could make the legacy swordsman tumble to his knees.

"WHAT?!"

"Okay, I’m not one to believe in rumors, but is that ice cream really that powerful!? How could it make such a huge difference?!"

Once was nothing. Twice was a coincidence. Three times, and there was a pattern that one could not put aside.

Perhaps, the chocolate ice cream really was as magical as people were describing it as.

That began to be proven as the fights in the tournament turned from upset to upset. The favorites were suddenly losing to complete nobodies, people who were counted out from the very beginning!

Yet with overpowering fashion, these nobodies beat the best and advanced to the second stage.

And the fights weren’t close either. These nobodies used their Aubility Power and completely overpowered their opponent, even though they were all theoretically at the same level!

As the first round reached its end, people were chanting: "ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM! ICE CREAM!"

Michael immediately heard from Castelle that these strings of victory held a directly proportional increase in their McTony’s sales numbers. Chocolate ice cream, for one, became a really big hot seller.

Now, more than half of the people had ice cream cones in their hands.

"Where do I buy ice cream?"

"Didn’t you see that weird obelisk thing in the entrance? The one people are lining up on? You can order there and it will be delivered to your seat in less time than a candle’s worth!"

Michael was very glad they decided to add more kiosks outside the Colosseum. Otherwise, they would have faced the same problem they had during the early days of the Feast.

This was all thanks to Michael’s business tactics.

The Chocolate Ice Cream he gave to Fenix and the other Knights were the renewed version Remy had created. It boosted Aubility Power by 15%!

Meanwhile, the normal ice cream sold to the public was only a measly 5% and less.

They didn’t need it anyway. More than 90% of the people buying their food were mortals, not Maugnetics. They wouldn’t feel the change in Aubility Power.

But they did feel the change in their magic. And since every person could feel magic at least a little bit, they could still experience that boost in power that they saw in the exhibition tournament.

"Let us welcome our last fighters in the First Round!"

Michael nudged the person on lying on a cot in their VIP section.

"Yo. It’s your turn," he said to Jaku.

The dark blue-scaled Dragonborn yawned, stretching lazily before he opened his eyes. Then, he took a couple of seconds before answering: "damn, it’s my turn already?"

At this point, his opponent was already in the arena, an annoyed expression on his face.

He was the only one they were waiting for.

Finally, Jaku found the motivation to go to the arena. Partly because of the cold, piercing glare from Sheina.

Once he showed himself to the rest of the Colosseum, murmurs began to spread.

"A demi-human? I didn’t know they were allowed in this exhibition."

"Jaku? I’ve never heard of this guy."