The fire spread through the crack, boiling the soldier from the inside. Only ashes left behind after but a moment.


    Seeing this, the others became wary. Staring at Eldrian, alert and waiting. Keeping their weapons in hand to defend themselves. Understanding that their defenses were useless against these mes, and also the icy mist from before.


    Reeling back his mes and anger, Eldrian cleared his mind and refocused on his goal. However, clearly, they would not allow him to finish his speech. Nor did he want to make the message unclear or difficult to follow. He also needed to remember to suggest, not state, that magic exists.


    "Let us dance then." Eldrian said, taking control of his mes and focusing them around Crystoi. At the same time, activating the Elemental Alignment ability of the spear. Merging the aura and ability.


    Luckily, the soldiers did not act. To them it appeared that Eldrian was ready to strike, but actually he was focusing on properly guiding the mana and merging it with the mes of his aura. A task far more difficult than it might sound.


    However, Eldrian had plenty of experience in handling spirit magic. He was now simply trying to merge this with his spears powers. To decrease the demand keeping control of the mes required.


    It took him only a few seconds, during which the members of Zinopia retreated from the arena. While dying would be no problem, none of them wanted to be overwhelmed sopletely.


    Once done, Eldrian waved Crystoi. Once, twice, thrice. And he dashed, appearing before the next soldier in a heartbeat. His spear aimed for the heart, however, the soldier managed to react. Overly so, but his block plus dodge allowed him to escape death.


    Seeing this, the others were encouraged. They roared and gathered. Surrounding Eldrian as they aimed their attacks to prevent him from moving as he wished. However, this was just as Eldrian had wanted.


    Outside of observing and learning what he could from everyone working on the overhaul of the fort, he had also taken time to practice control over his auras. Focusing on the events of the duel and analyzing the firebird -Little Phoenix, as Jade and Levana named it- to understand its nature.


    While he still did not have anywhere near full control, he had learned how to tap into both auras. As well as how to recall their powers. And especially how to realize when he was losing control. For this, he had visited a deserted area near the fort. To not cause any problems.


    Once the soldiers grew overconfident and closed the distance. Eldrian suddenly thrust Crystoi upward, channeling the mes into the sky while he sent an icy mist slithering against the ground.


    "Be careful!" The soldiers shouted, raising their shields towards the me pir that split into arrows. Aimed randomly in the surroundings. Some of the arrow might hit their target, but Eldrian had too little control to target them properly.


    However, everyonepletely missed the slithering cold freezing the ground and grass—until it was toote.


    Surrounded by frozen statues, Eldrian recalled both the fire and ice. Jumping out of the encirclement, he cleared his throat and prepared to deliver his speech. Only to be interrupted by the slow pping of an individual. "As I was—"


    p. p. p...


    "Well done. Well done indeed." A clear voice spread through the arena. "It seems that you have gained control over your auras. Quite the brilliant achievement."


    Turning to the source of the voice, Eldrian found a scarlet haired gentleman smiling at him. His golden eyes containing shes of lightning, eyeing Eldrian up and down.


    "Are you not going to deny the existence of magic?" Eldrian asked, readying Crystoi. The guy was giving him a dangerous feeling.


    "Do you have any proof of its existence?" The man asked, confident that Eldrian would have to back down. And indeed, Eldrian''s n was to give Miracle room for negotiation. However, things never went ording to n. At least, his ns never worked out as he hoped.


    "Perhaps, perhaps not." Recalling clearly that he did not want to be a target for the world. Eldrian realized he had fallen perfectly into Miracle''s trap. Perhaps not all of Miracle, but some had clearly nned for this. Or perhaps hoped for this.


    ''I first need to figure out what his goal is.'' Eldrian eyed this individual, calling for mana sense. But as expected, it returned little information to him. Only that the person had full control of their mana. Shockingly, he could not even gain information on their name.


    "Would you give me your name before we continue?" Eldrian asked, hoping to stall for time as he called on Two to analyze the situation.


    ''He''s not the only one. There seem to be four other individuals. However, they are outside the arena zone.''


    ''Outside... Why?'' The fact that they bothered to hide their presence bothered Eldrian. Almost as much as mana sense being useless.


    "Yes, I believe I should. Let me first start with an announcement of my own." The man smiled brightly, opening his arms and turning towards the sky. As if to wee all their spectators to what was toe.


    "Thanks to our unexpected quest, the finals will have to be postponed. Do not fret, we will not cancel it, nor refrain frompensating everyone for the strange turn of events."


    "Instead, please enjoy the showcase as Eldrian and I enter a duel."


    [What? Who the heck is this guy?]


    [How the hell is he so confident in taking on Eldrian after what he just did to the guilds and whoever those frozen guys are?]


    [But, since he is confident. This is going to be interesting.]


    [Taking bets! Taking bets! Will you side with Eldrian, the undisputed number one yer? Or will you ce your bets on this mysterious redhead?]


    "You still haven''t given me your name." Eldrian said, his guard increased to maximum. The confidence this guy held made him extremely worried. It wasn''t like Miracle didn''t have information on him, and they were sure to have understood his growth from his previous fights.


    "Of course. I am Zaphreal." The redheaded man smiled. "And we shall sign a contract before our fight. I believe you are used to such contracts. You did use a simr tactic to conquer a fort, have you not?"


    Thisment caused a massive stir among the viewers. Phoenix gaining control over a fort had been massive news. How they had managed it, no one knew—but they had.


    However, here they now learned that Eldrian had conquered a fort on his own. This news was so shocking that many doubted what they had heard.


    Eldrian, on the other hand, grew even more guarded. He was feeling the trap closing in around him. And he feared that this contract would not be as simple as the ones normally signed in ANW.


    Turning his attention to the man''s attire, Eldrian hoped he might gleam a slither of information from it. Dressed in a brilliant gold and red robe, but not that of a mage. Instead, it appeared almost like the robes one would wear when going to bed. Loose fitting and tied together by a single band.


    The more Eldrian stared, the less sense it made that the man appeared in them before him and the entire world. And that he dared field a challenge while dressed for bed made even less sense.


    The only thing Eldrian could assume was that he would change to battle wear once the contract was established.


    AN: Remember to vote andment if you are enjoying the story.