Arcane Innovator

After seeing Tristan's smug grin as he emerged from behind one of the collapsed columns at the edge of the vast plaza, I immediately tightened the grip on my scepter-wand and got ready to fight.

I had an inkling that the various tests we had been forced to brave so far were nothing but little games poised to gauge our strength, but now we were finally about to face the true challenge of this Trial.

'Not gonna lie, I'm kind of looking forward to this...' I thought, smirking. It was a long time since I had a chance to test my mettle against another human. 'Not counting the Plain Raiders, who didn't pose much of a challenge, the last time I had a serious battle was with Dominic back in Weisberg...'

That was also the last time I had to fight with everything I got. Of course, I wasn't too afraid it would come to that this time around. After all, despite their bravado, they were just a bunch of kids. They couldn't possibly compare to someone like Dominic - the ruthless gang leader.

Not to mention, we were stuck inside an illusory realm, which meant I didn't have to be overly careful not to accidentally kill or maim them, thus allowing me to wield my powers with impunity.

That's why I wasn't too worried about the outcome of this battle. However, as Tristan's teammates began to slowly encircle us, my smile dimmed a little as I noticed there were simply too many of them to be solely from the noble boy's team.

'He must have joined forces with one of the other captains! That's why he's acting so confident...' I realized.

'What a bunch of spineless cowards! The nobles are always so high and mighty, but the moment they stumble upon someone stronger, they don't hesitate to gang up on me like a pack of hyenas. ...I guess I'd probably do the same thing, but still!'

Well, not that it mattered much—when magic was involved, numbers meant nothing. Individual strength often dictated the outcome of such battles, and I had an inkling that this time would be no different.

"Captain! W-What do we do?" Gil piped in, looking fearful for the first time.

I'd love to tell him that there was nothing to be worried about, but he wouldn't believe me without me letting out too much, so I put on a confident smile and said, "We'll fight. What else?"

There were now nine people standing before us, which meant they must have lost a member already. 'It seems that this Trial is a lot more violent than I thought...'

"Edwin! It's not your fault you had to put up with these commoners till now, so I'll give you an opportunity to come to our side and join us when we make it for the treasury!" Tristan shouted over the plaza.

'That bastard!' I scowled, shooting a quick glance at Edwin to see whether or not he would betray us and side with the other nobles.

However, to my surprise, Edwin stood firm, shouting back, "Thank you for the offer, but my honor wouldn't allow me to betray my allies!"

"Suit yourself!" Tristan replied with a clear annoyance, coloring his voice, and that seemed to be the end of the short negotiation.

I counted one, two, three… four people getting ready to cast a spell, mumbling some sort of incantation. That was not good, as on our side, Edwin was the only one able to cast spells—apart from me, that is.

"Spread out! Don't let them cast! Grab a stone and keep them busy!" I quickly yelled a few commands before I, too, began pretending to utter an incantation.

There was no reason to prolong this, so I focused my essence and released a fireball straight at Tristan's face, timing it so it would hit him right before he finished his own.

Yet, despite his blatant arrogance, he must have been at least somewhat accustomed to battle because right when he understood the danger he was in, his eyes briefly widened, but then, he immediately stopped casting and instead shouted a few short but profound words.

The next moment, a shabby-looking earth wall rose in front of him, blocking his figure from view. However, I smirked, as this was the exact moment I was waiting for.

"Whoosh!"

There was no explosion, as right before it hit the wall, the fireball rapidly changed direction, simply flying past the haughty boy before splitting into three smaller ones and heading straight for the other casters.

"Booom!" They had no time to react. I could briefly see their look of utter surprise and disbelief as the fireballs stroked true, hitting their marks without fail.

I'd love to hit Tristan, too, but sadly, three fireballs were currently the maximum I could control at once without getting a terrible headache. Dividing them also greatly decreased their power, so they didn't do much damage besides several burned cloaks and a few bruises.

Still, it stopped the other contestants from releasing their own spells, which was my main goal. "You won't get away with such foul trickery!" Tristan shouted, red in the face.

However, before he could say anything else, he had to hurriedly duck behind his earth wall as another fireball was about to smash into his face.

Of course, since I was using the shock and awe tactic, there was no reason to let the enemy recover.

Instead, I shot spell after spell. Knowing that the previous trick wouldn't work twice, I began releasing all three fireballs from the get-go, pummeling their group with a relentless onslaught of fire.

"Don't just stand there! Attack!" I yelled at my stunned teammates, who were just staring at the seemingly unbelievable scene.

With that, Edwin finally released his own spell - a puny-looking water jet shaped like an arrow while the rest began hurling rocks at the disorganized enemy.

There was nothing they could do. Since Tristan appeared solely focused on getting his revenge against me, he wasn't doing a very good job directing or defending his teammates, leaving them wide open to our barrage.

This was working wonders for us as our enemies were scrambling around like headless chickens, not even retaliating, almost looking ready to rout at the first opportunity.

Which was not too surprising, as there appeared to be no love or a sense of loyalty between them. They all simply wanted to curry favor with a noble, and the only thing preventing them from running away seemed to be the fear of being labeled a coward.

'They just need one more push,' I thought, allowing myself a little smile. However, I didn't grow complacent, aware that the main threat was still not dealt with.

Speaking of which, after briefly hiding behind his wall, Tristan appeared to be finally ready to unleash his own attack. He stood up abruptly, extending his right arm, and then three long spikes made of earth shot in our direction, closing in quickly.

"Watch out!" I hurriedly shouted while ensuring my allies weren't in harm's way.

Luckily, Tristan seemed to completely disregard them, which worked just fine for me. I then manipulated the surrounding air, trying to alter the spikes' direction, but that proved all but impossible. They seemed to be magically locked in on me, and I had a feeling that there was nothing that could make them miss their target—me.

'Damn it!' Ultimately, I had to scramble to send a potent fireball to smash into them head-on.

"BOOOM!"

The resulting explosion and shock wave that followed rocked my body, encasing me in a quickly expanding cloud of dust and debris.

"Cough, cough!" I scowled, dusting off my poor clothes, which bore the brunt of the attack. 'I think it's time to end this stupid farce...'

Still lamenting the huge loss of essence such a last-ditch effort had cost me, I swiftly looked for a way to turn the tables and after a moment of pondering, I grinned. 'That's it!'

In the time it took me to gather my bearings, Edwin managed to send out another water arrow, which was now closing in on Tristan from the opposite direction.

Not wasting a breath, I quickly followed with my own spell, pumping into it as much essence as I possibly could in that short moment before it was time to let it go.

Seeing the massive fireball hurling toward him, Tristan once again hid behind his wall, but to my glee, he had yet to notice Edwin's sneak attack.

I could, of course, easily destroy that shabby-looking earth wall without much trouble, but that would be beside the point as he could just as easily erect another one.

Simultaneously, Edwin's spell was too weak to cause any real harm, but if put together...

I watched with delight as the fireball whooshed past Tristan before colliding with the incoming water jet a single moment later.

"BOOOOOM!" The condensed flame superheated the water in an instant, causing a rather spectacular steam explosion that shook the entire cavern.

As the dust settled, it revealed Tristan's battered body lying on the ground, unmoving. His form then briefly shimmered before dissipating into thin air. 'Ah, so that's what happens when the realm detects a fatal damage.'

With their leader gone, the rest of our enemies who were still standing promptly fled, leaving their injured companions to their fate.

I chuckled, simply shaking my head and resolving myself to never party up with such trashy classmates if I could avoid it.

I then glanced back at the rest of my party, who had already regrouped behind me, panting heavily but otherwise uninjured.

There was no denying it... The victory was ours! 'Now it's time to reap the rewards...' I smiled mischievously, looking eagerly in the direction of the huge stone gate at the edge of the plaza.

"We did it," Inge said, still in disbelief. Everyone had a big smile plastered across their faces as Gil, ever cheerful, pointed in the gate's direction. “Now onward to the treasury!"

However, as we happily began making our way toward the gigantic entrance, we were suddenly enveloped by a brief but intense bout of nausea, and then everything went black.

***

When I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in the same bare stone chamber, together with all the other contestants. 'What happened?' I thought, confused.

I quickly locked eyes with Edwin and the others, relieved that they were all fine, but this situation still didn't make sense.

I was pretty sure there were no traps in the area we were in, and I made sure to always keep my magic sense on so there was no way someone could take us out without me noticing. Besides, we already dealt with everyone who could pose a threat to us, so what else could have done it?

'Wait, did we?' I then did a quick headcount before a terrible realization dawned on me as I noticed that there, indeed, was someone conspicuously missing.

'That sneaky little...' I cursed inwardly as I finally understood what had occurred.

While we were all busy fighting at the plaza, Lancia and her all-girl team must have snuck inside the treasury and defeated the guardian without anyone noticing, thus ending the Trial.

'Hmm, I'll have to be really careful around that one. She plays at being a quiet mouse, but it turns out she's the most dangerous of them all...'