Chapter 294: Feras

Feras POV

Feras was feeling a bit nervous and had to wipe the sweat from his palms against his pant legs.

“Come on, stop being so nervous,” his friend Harold said to him.

“But what if I get paired with one of the stronger fourth years?” He asked Harold worriedly.

Harold shrugged. “Well, I guess that means you just have terrible luck. Don’t worry about losing. We are both only third years, which means we shouldn’t be too hung up about winning all of our fights. This is a great chance for us to experience it for next year, where we will be stronger and have a much better chance.”

Feras had to concede to that point. Unlike the other fourth years, they still had a shot next year. Very few people in the school’s history have managed to reach the top sixteen, not as fourth years. This realization made him relax a bit.

“Let’s head on over to your section. My fight isn’t until later, but yours is in a little bit, so we might as well get there early. You did ask who you were fighting, right?” Harold asked him.

“Yeah, some guy named Julius. Which is why I am worried because I haven’t heard of a Julius in our year before, which means it’s probably a fourth year.”

He saw Harold squeeze his forehead together and scratch his chin as he tried to figure out if he knew a Julius from somewhere.

“Yeah, I haven’t heard of a Julius in our year either,” Harold eventually admitted.

Feras looked high into the air and sighed heavily.

“Hey, on the bright side, the fact that we haven’t heard of him must mean he’s not a favorite to win, so you lucked out there,” Harold said optimistically.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that,” he said with a hopeful grin.

***

When he arrived at his designated zone, the person who would officiate his match greeted him.

He was given a quick breakdown of the rules and what was forbidden. It was pretty simple. The winner would be the first person to activate the other person’s protection enchantments. You weren’t allowed certain items, which would give you a massive advantage. However, a sword or a magical focus was allowed.

After the official checked over his weapons to ensure they were allowed, he headed to one side of the field.

Once he got settled in, he just had to wait for his opponent to show up. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait very long because a few minutes later, a boy walked in.

The first thing he noted to himself was how young the boy looked. It looked like he was a second-year or something.

He knew that some second years advanced to Tier 3, but that was still relatively rare since it was better to advance once you had as many skills at rare rank as you could gain.

Before he could think about it any further, the official addressed the two of them.

“Okay, this is an official match between Third-Year Feras Jonith and First-Year Julius Snow. You have both been explained the rules, so I expect a clean fight. If any of you violate any of these rules, you will be automatically assessed a forfeit, and depending on the severity of the offense, you might be punished even further. Do you guys understand?”

Feras felt himself subconsciously nodding his head, but his mind was completely distracted by what he had just heard.

A first year? Why was the first year participating in this tournament? It just didn’t make any sense to him. But a quick examination of the boy’s uniform confirmed the official’s words. He was a genuine first-year.

He couldn’t help but feel a little bit bad and consciously relaxed when he heard that he would be fighting a first year. He had been expecting a powerful fourth year and had already written himself off.

But now?

Now, he was feeling sympathetic for the kid. What kind of person decided that advancing to Tier 3 so quickly was a good idea? His family must have been very upset to learn that their son ruined any potential to advance further because of his impatience.

With a shake of the head, he readied his spear, letting his shield hang lazily from his side.

The boy didn’t even have a weapon or a magical focus. He merely stood in front of Feras with a surprisingly calm demeanor.

Is he a hand-to-hand fighter? Or is he just a mage who dislikes using a focus? He thought to himself.

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It didn’t matter, though. He was planning to end it swiftly. There was no need to embarrass or humiliate the kid. A quick ending would be a mercy. Although he couldn’t say that other students would be as gracious, he was already thinking about the people he knew who would love the opportunity to bully this kid.

He distantly heard the official’s countdown, and when the fight started, he paced toward the kid, his spear pointing at him.