Chapter 308: Keldon

As he was walking down the hallway to the field, he started to hear the roaring voices of the crowd as fights went on all around him.

It already felt like a much different atmosphere than the prelims. There was an electrifying energy in the air; he could sense it even from the tunnel.

For the first time, he started to feel a little anxious. It wasn’t because he was afraid of losing but because he was more nervous about so many people looking at him. It was funny; he had faced death many times and fought against a Tier 5, but the idea of embarrassing himself in front of a crowd was still a scary prospect.

What if he accidentally blew himself up in front of everyone? He was known to do that from time to time, so he couldn’t entirely rule out the possibility of that happening.

He took a deep, calming breath before exiting out of the tunnel and was shocked at what he saw.

It was like exiting the tunnel of a massive football stadium and being flooded by every light and sound imaginable. So many people were packed into the seats that they all seemed like a blur of faces, and their roars had suddenly become deafening.

Like how it had been set up for the prelims, large, slightly opaque barriers separated the fights. However, what really caught his eye were the massive images he saw floating above each match.

Lily had already explained to him that there would be mirage projectors set up all around the stadium, but he didn’t know what she was really talking about until he saw them for himself.

He had been expecting something similar to a television or a crappy misty image, but what he saw was a fantastic sight.

Each individual fight was displayed right above the match in such clarity. Not only that, but someone must have controlled the image or set up an enchantment because the image was set up so that the audience wasn’t just looking at a stationary position. It was almost like watching from the point of view of someone moving around and filming the fight themselves.

He had no idea how they had created such a complex working, but he had a good feeling that the large and powerful runes he sensed above were a big part of the reason.

If his old world had something similar, he would have been sure that sports events would be forever changed. The projector also did a great job of showcasing the fight to people who might have been too far away to see the fighters up close.

With an excited grin, he headed over to his predetermined spot and saw that his opponent was also making his way to the same area.

He looked around and finally saw Edgar’s match still underway. From what he could see, a good portion of the crowd was watching Edgar’s fight, their eyes glued to the overhead projection.

Edgar looked utterly at ease, and Julius noticed he wasn’t using his more explosive attacks. It was almost as if the older student was purposefully trying to avoid using them.

Still, even with that, Edgar found himself in an excellent position against the other fourth-year, who was also a warrior.

The other boy was quite slim and had a head of really bright blonde hair that sparkled in the daylight. He had two shortswords in his hands as he tried to slash Edgar, but Julius also observed that the blonde was already quite red in the face.

Julius had no clue how long this fight had been happening, but the blonde boy was visibly exhausted. He could see the giant heaves of his chest with each swing, showing that he was running on fumes.

Still, he was fighting with everything he had. Even when fighting on practically empty, he kept on being aggressive, not allowing Edgar to control the pace of the fight. However, considering his current state, he might have been better suited not to do that.

On the other hand, Edgar remained patient and let the other boy come to him. To Blonde’s credit, he was fast, but that was just about it. He didn’t have the level of mastery that Julius had seen from other speed-focused fighters.

His movements showed a distinct lack of control. A lack of control that Edgar was slowly punishing one exchange at a time.

Just as he was speaking, he noticed the boy had wrongly gauged the distance between him and Edgar. Edgar then smashed a single fist into the boy’s shoulder, sending him sprawling once again.

Before Edgar could follow up, the boy used some kind of skill to blast himself away from Edgar’s reach. This must have used a lot of resources because the boy looked even more tired afterward.

Seeing that the fight was practically over, he reminded himself to stop getting sidetracked and headed over to his field.

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After passing through the barrier, he was surprised to hear the crowd’s sounds muted. The barrier didn’t block out all noise, but it significantly reduced the loud sounds from the outside.

He also wondered how people managed to hear individual fights. He was sure that if they had listened to all of the fights, it must have been a sensory overload for the spectators. What if they wanted to listen to just one fight and ignore the others?

He shrugged to himself as he tried and failed to come up with an answer. It was something he noted to ask Lily and the others later. Actually, Kyle would probably be the best bet. The older boy was quite passionate about enchantments after all.

As he walked onto the field, he made eye contact with his opponent. Julius believed his name was Keldon or something.