Rising Against Fate

After a fifteen-minute break, it was time for the next match. The stage had already been cleared, and the ice walls that Kamin created while blocking Kat's attack had been removed.

For someone who was here for fun, watching the event management committee's race against time was entertaining in itself. Needless to say, the team responsible for clearing the stage was made up of magicians and ordinary cleaners.

"Now then, shall we move to the next match of the day?"

"YES!"

The announcer tried reenergizing the audience, and the crowd responded to the provocation with a loud cheer.

"I still don't hear you! Where is the fire?!"

"YES!!!"

An even louder roar echoed throughout the stadium. This was a rather classical way of encouraging the crowd, but somehow it worked almost every time. That is unless you are doing something like a classical music show where the audience is already half asleep.

"For the next match, we have Richi Shindo and Oruchi Kagayama!"

From the left side of the stage entered Richi Shindo, while from the right came Oruchi Kagayama. The two participants slowly walked towards the stage.

The comparison in their appearance was distinct, like day and night.

On the one hand, there was Richi, who was tall and muscular. He had a small smile on his face as he entered and was emitting a serious but positive vibe. While on the other hand, there was Oruchi, who looked weak and gloomy. He had a serious look on his face, but barely anyone would consider that look positive.

The difference wasn't just in their appearance. There was a considerable difference in their abilities as well.

Richi's art, vibration magic, was the art practiced by the Shindo clan. With this ability, they could cause a wide range of vibration; from a small tremor to a violent earthquake. If his opponent were to come in the range of his touch, it was likely a game over for them. However, this ability's downside was the limited range. The effect of this magic would decrease significantly if the distance between the opponent and the user is large.

As for Oruchi, his art was shadow magic, a skill that allowed him to manipulate and manifest shadow. It could be used for both long and short-range attacks, but like every other art, it had limitations. Manipulating shadows required a lot of concentration, so it would be hard to tackle fast enemies with this ability.

On top of that, Oruchi's abilities were more suitable for sneak attacks, so a one vs one duel wasn't exactly his specialty. That being said, he had prepared some measures to cover up for that weakness.

The two of them stood opposite to each other and took their position on the stage. The distance between them was 10 meters, which Richi could cover in seconds; but it was apparent that Oruchi was also aware of that and had prepared countermeasures.

At this stage, only two kinds of people would show up without doing their homework — utter fools or insanely powerful.

"Looks like the participants are ready. Let's begin the countdown."

Like all other times, the screen displayed the countdown, and the audience started shouting the numbers that were being displayed.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Start!"

"Earthquake!"

As soon as the signal was given, Richi touched the ground and sent a series of shockwaves. The effect of those shockwaves wasn't just limited to the stage; the audience was feeling it too.

Before the audience could cheer in excitement, Richi dashed forward. He was planning to use this as a diversion and close the distance between him and Oruchi.

Oruchi was startled for a second there. He wasn't prepared for a violent start like this one, but he expected no less from Richi.

If he had already activated his magic, countering an enemy who was this fast would be hard. But since he hadn't, he could concentrate on the enemy's movement and prepare a counter.

Richi jumped three meters in a single leap. He was using grade 1 physical enhancement to increase his speed, and that, combined with his natural abilities, made him incredibly fast.

"Twin Cobra."

The ability Oruchi was using was an alternate version of the shadow devil that Razak could use. It could manifest snakes from the shadows of its caster, and the caster could control the snakes to attack one's opponent. This spell was excellent for sneak attacks but could also be used for frontal attacks.

Right when Richi was about to leap for the third time, two snakes that Oruchi created jumped at Richi.

Richi was focused entirely on his opponent, so he saw that coming. However, since the snakes were right in front, he would only be able to move forward after tackling them.

Richi created a Vibration shield in front of himself and repelled the snakes, but as soon as the snakes landed on the floor, they charged right back.

"Damn! These pesky little insects!"

Richi created another shield and pushed them back again, and as soon as they landed on the floor, he created another shield and pressed them on the floor. As a result, the shadow snakes were destroyed.

Even though the shadow snake was destroyed, Oruchi got time to move towards the other side of the stage and distance himself from his opponent.

"Running like a coward, eh? Why don't you come here and fight like a man?"

"Try provoking me all you want. We, from the Kage clan, aren't foolish enough to fall for them."

"Oh, is that so? Are you admitting that all your sorry little clan does is run?"

"Say whatever you like. As I said, we don't respond to provocations."

"Heh! Then let me show you how the strong fight."

He used Grade 4 physical enhancement and raised his arm up in the air. He then clenched his hands into a fist, and as he did that, one could easily feel the vibration of air molecules around his fist.

"Vibration punch."

He punched the stage with his fist, and its impact created a huge crack on the stage, breaking it into two.