My name is Jessica Young, my father is a known merchant throughout the city of Diamond Reef and my mother is a simple hotel manager who maintains and manages a hotel that they own in the city, while I have two brothers who also works in the Family merchant business in the efforts to support father, me being the youngest child of the Young Family, decided that I didn’t want to become a merchant. I was more interested in the works of being a hunter instead of a seller.

The moment I told my family this, my mother was livid as she was worried for my safety, the same goes for my brothers…but my father simply looked at me and smiled.

He told me I can go forward with this plan, but all in the efforts of my own power. So I went forward with it. I was so happy to a point that I made efforts to train myself with the sword with the guide of a tutor. at the young age of 14 that I was recognized by my hired tutor that I was gifted.

The moment I turned 15, I made no hesitation to register myself as hunter. But during this event, I saw the limits of my own power…

My mana…it was barely enough to pass the test.

This was the one thing I worried myself over during my preparations at my training. It was the natural number of my own mana.

“…Twelve.” said the man as he looked to me with a rather plain expression.

I came home with a worried expression that day. I thought that in the hopes of being a strong hunter, one needs an abundant amount of mana. But me being born as I am, I was livid with this fact.

Mana after all is something that is gifted to a person the moment they are born. It isn’t something that can be trained over with a simple training exercise like jumping jacks or weight lifting, mana is an Inept gift. It is one of the factors that can ultimately lead a hunter to their success,

There are some ways to increase one’s mana, and that was to find a rare item found in the dungeons. It can be a ring that increases one’s mana or a potion, Otherwise not a lot is found in the markets or auction houses.

And although there are some cases that a person can increase his mana each time he has grown by his level, it rarely happens to most people. It only ever applies those who are loved by mana, mainly its the mages who are talented in the aspects of mana who gain this advantage at a great mana count. Each time a mage levels up, their  own mana count is affected by this growth as well.

We don’t have control over our own status growth each time we level up, its by God’s will to decide our growth or so what the church says. And I noticed it with me too, each time I level up, it did not affect my mana count as well.

It sucks, and I envy those mages.

So I turned away from the idea of relying on mana and simply worked on my skills as a dual wielding fighter. I simply relied on my own effort as a sword wielder.

I came to the United Camelot Academy in search of a chance to grow, and also because my father told me it’s a great opportunity to make connections with potential strong hunters.

The entrance exam so far has been quite easy and I mostly might get a chance of getting a scholarship since so far all of the people I fought were weak.

Today marks my 7^th spar against another participant who wants to enroll in the academy.

My first impressions of him was that he was somewhat fat. Probably around twice my weight but he was quite tall as well.

Black hair…the same as me and a strong grip on his sword same as I was.

The moment I saw this person stood before me, I knew he wasn’t some arrogant hunter.

Looking at his profile by the screen, he was Soril Remus, an Level 6 F-rank.

I was a level 18, E-ranker. Our levels were far apart, but looking at his body, being that this was the seventh fight for both of us, I hardly ever saw any injuries on his body. It made me worry that he might be more than he appeared to be.

“…My name is Jessica Young, and I am here to claim victory against you.” I said as I put myself in a fighting position.

“I’m Soril Remus, nice to meet you too.” as he introduced himself, he bowed at me in a formal manner. Judging by his simple bow, he must have been taught manners by someone professional. Any other fighter who showed anything other than fine manners in a fight are some who were self taught in a simple battlefield experience.

The moment he raised his body back up and faced me with his sword, his expression changed.

Serious and out for the kill…

The man before me was in a complete state of focus.

My tutor once said that a hunter in the field of battle can easily become strong by the weight of his spirit. People who were born with great talents or a great amount of mana will have great futures ahead of them, but it will only lead to that point if their spirit is even greater. Only by their spirit and by their will, will they ever reach a pinnacle of strength. And only when you stare them in the eye, can you see the strength of their spirit.

When I look deep into his gaze, I saw no fear or no hesitation, all I saw within him was the impulse to swing a sword.

“…” So I moved.

The moment I dashed in, he made the same conclusion to move forward.

Not a tinge of fear or hesitation was plastered in his face, all I could read between it was his desire to fulfill his need for a challenge.

In other words, he was challenging me not as a contender in the winnings for a score, but it was a competition for a simple test of strength, experience and will.

If I lose here, it would mean that I was the loser and he was the winner…and he was more stronger than I was…

But if I win….I could not imagine it…I could not imagine how entangled it was deep within me to not want to lose. I wanted to win at all cost.

Because for some reason, I was compelled to go all out on him.

I wanted to win.

I wanted to conquer him and defeat him by his challenge.

The moment our swords clashed, I felt this unwavering motion of strength with each struggles he had as he pushed forward with his sword, it compelled me to do the same.

Without hesitation, as we were in a stalemate, he made the judgement to push forward with his shield.

Seeing his movement, I made the decision to jump back to a safe distance.

And without saying anything else again, we clashed once more after a quick second of rest. This time, he made the efforts to thrust his sword forward, I made the the decision to parry it.

*Ting* the metal edges of our weapons clashed, but I still had my other sword to act as a lethal reach. Seeing him struggle, I swung my other sword upward, causing him to want to dodge it, but to his dismay, he was scratched by his cheeks.

“…” he had to step back and feel as his blood drips down. While I watched and admire the crystal shine of his red drop, I could only ever think that this moment was my advantage.

Both my weapons were lethal, my level was higher and my speed was superior. I was better compared to him.

But his expression said otherwise.

He simply smiled and gripped tight on his weapons again.

And he charges again, and so did I.

****

‘…Do you think you can overwhelm me!?’ she thought as she made the efforts to continuously counter his attacks.

Clashes after clashes, both swords were hit against one another to a point that it continued to chip away their edges.

And after two minutes of hitting one another, it finally came to a point that Soril had to back away and simply look at her as if she was quite a formidable enemy. Their time was coming to a close, and he had to make a certain decision to finish it all.

“Well, are you going to attack?” she asked as she stood and waited at a corner while he breathes heavily by his corner of the ring.

“…What do you think of me using magic on this fight? Would it be fair to you?” he asked.

“…Do it. It doesn’t seem like it’ll change anything in the case of our fight.” she said as she smirked at him with full of confidence.

“It’ll change everything…trust me.” as he spoke those words, he dashed forward and made the efforts to corner her again.

He’s stamina was barely hanging by a thread as seen by his perspiration of breaths, and his face was covered in sweat from this entire fight. It has been a while since he has meet such an opponent, when compared to Brother Cecil, the woman in front of him was nowhere near as strong as his brother was, but her speed alone was the problem in this case.

She reacts fast and her moves were quite refined, like that of a proper swordsman. She was superior compared to the other participants fighting in this stadium today.

With all the time he has fought his brother, not once has he used a skill made of magic against him. He was not allowed to. But now, if he applied that to her, it would surely change the game.

So he went in with the determination to turn the tides of this battle. And Jessica as well as as determined to finish things, but all of a sudden, when Soril made the decision to take the step, he suddenly felt a surging pain on his foot.

“!?!?!?” it was the sprain he had come to receive when he fought his brother Cecil. Knowing his original state before this exam started, it was on this time that his body was starting to fall apart.

To think that it would act up now, as the pain was unbearable to a point that he could barely make the move to step forward and seeing as how Jessica Young was not making any hesitations to step to clash against him, he was getting more and more hesitant to make his moves as the pain continues to blur his thoughts.

‘F**k, I guess I’ll completely rely on magic at this point on.’ he thought as he raised his hand and conjured a mana spear.

Without a second to pass in his chantings, a spear of blue light came to his front and was fired instantly at her way.

‘W-wha-!?” to her shock, the force of the spear was so powerful that when she used her swords to block the attack, the very force of that spear was so powerful that it caused her stance to break apart.

“V-voiceless chanting.” she said as she looked to him with a shocked expression.

Unlike other mages, true talented people in the system of magic can create simple attacks without any sense of calling fort their names. While mediocre mages on the other hand had to rely on creating and chanting attacks by their names, if they want to fire a mana cannon, they call out to its name. To see the person before her call a very strong mana spear without chanting is but proof of his talents in the fields of magic.

Not only was it strong, it was fast. Faster than she could ever react to.

“…Is this a symptom of a Mana Rush?” she asked herself as she looked at the shaking figure of her hands.

“…” As Jessica was seen with a shocked reaction to his attack, Soril made the choice in handling his sprain. It hurts, and to handle it, he needed to not make so much use of this part of his leg. Although he can take the pain, it will alter his concentration to a point that it’ll cost him a lost in the fight. And along with this sprain, he was also starting to feel the other pains in his body. Like a cracking eggshell, the pain in his bones were starting to come back little by little and it all could lead back to the fact that he was moving a lot in the fight against a talented participant.

“…” in the end, he could barely make a choice to move his body, because if he does, not only will he experience the tremendous pain, but if he falls now, he surely wont have the chance of claiming his scholarship. He was certain that if he falls today, it’ll be the chance that his enemies won’t hold back in attacking him.

‘Concentrate…just like what you did against Brother Cecil, focus only on a single goal…try to hit him…try to reach for him…try to scratch him…anything…anything will do for the win.’

And with that, his mind was back to a state of focus…a focus that was more intense than before…a focus that could only be seen in the training grounds.

He had no limitations in his use of magic…it was a simple free for all…

And with that, he rose his hand, and simply looked at Jessica with a gaze as cold as ice.

“!!” In that moment, Jessica felt this cold feeling coming through her, and when she looked to Soril, she had witnessed a cluster of Mana Spears floating in the ceiling of the stage, ready to be fired.

“…Another voiceless chanting.” she said as a drop of nervous sweat fell from her cheeks.

But without any sense of cowardice, she put her blades up front and decided to go fort with the challenge.

‘I’m not a coward!’ she screamed in herself as she took the first step, but to her mistake, the spears fell and she had no chance of entirely blocking the dozen raining shells of mana.

*Boom!*

The ring shook and the referee blew his whistle. As the clouds of dust covered the ring, it was seen in the distance, the sight of the boy assisting the lady as she was ultimately unconscious.

In that moment, the referee called for a medic and instantly, two people came with a stretcher and assisted the lady out.

It was decided that she was not going to continue…and that the winner was none other than the boy who stood with a pale unsatisfied look.

“…” He made the effort to walk to a bench and sit down as soon as he can.

He saw as the lady was carried out to the emergency room, and by then, he saw the expression of the referee as his guilt ridden face was clear in the scene.

“…You won boy, be proud of that.” said the Referee.

“…Yeah, sure.” he said as he closed his eyes and clasped his hand together in the intention to pray for the events that happened in this fight.

“Why are you doing that?” asked the Referee.

“I feel guilty is all.” he said.

“…You don’t have to worry, she will be fine. I’ve seen a more terrible case of injuries from other fights in this ring than what you can make, and all of them lived to see another day. So you don’t have to worry about what happened, all you have to do now is focus on your own fight.” he said as he passed Soril a another number towards a different ring.

“…thanks.”

“Are you okay? You look pale and your sweating a lot. With your numbers and score, Its already sure that your going to pass. So I suggest you end it here.” he said.

“…No, I can make do with another fight.” said Soril as he slowly stands up from the bench and made way to where the next ring was.

*Cough**Cough**Cough*

“…” all the referee could do was watch as the boy was coughing hard.

As Soril covered his mouth during his coughings, he suddenly felt a wet sensation climb up his mouth.

“!?”

He felt as blood was all inside his mouth, and although he was able to stop in his tracks to check out what happened, he looked forward and continued walking.

‘…I can’t stop now. I’m almost there.’ he said as he walked up the stairs to his next fight, only to see the gazes of a cold blooded stare of another fighter.

“…” he could only ever look back with a pale expression on his face.

It was a complete stranger in front of him, so felt no sense of danger in front of him. Just like the rest of the six fights before Jessica Young, all of them had this presence of being a weak and in experienced fighter.

“This won’t be as hard.” he said as he raised his arm and conjured another mana spear.

“…!!” the boy heard his comments and was frustrated for being looked down upon, so being enraged, he brought his sword up front and told his furious intentions.

“I’ll cut you up in a single strike.” he said as he glared at Soril.

“…Fuck….Off.” said Soril as he was barely breathing right on the ring.

And by the time the fight started, Hamil unintentionally fired the spear before the opponent could realized, and by the time it struck the boy, he was thrown out of the ring.

“…” Soril could only stare as he limps back to the outside of the ring. The battle didn’t even last five seconds and already he has won his 8^th fight.

He continued on this streak on to his next fight and won it again by firing two mana spears at the same time. It seems as though their fire power was one to look out for.

But in his last fight, he was meet with an unexpected challenger.

“…This was supposed to be my last fight…why the hell is she my last goddam opponent.” he said as he looked as pale as ever.

[Jessabelle Morrison VS Soril Remus]

Out of all the fights he had to end it in, it had to be the main heroine herself.

A true genius of a mage versus a half-dead boy with a single skill to use.