'I got you!' Raven thought as he closed in on Auric, swinging his blade at Auric's neck.
His clones did the same thing, and there was no way Auric could figure out which one was the real body.
'Look. He can't even move because he's too confused.' Raven had a small smile, knowing that he would be victorious.
That was what he thought until his blade was stopped right before it reached Auric. It wasn't the principal who stopped it.
His clones had reached Auric, but because they were just clones, they couldn't do any real damage.
The students were stunned by the outcome. They thought the winner would be Raven, but the roots moved in a single direction at the last moment.
As a result, they bound Raven's body. Of course, Auric had also moved one root as a shield to prevent anything from reaching him.
"I believe that's the end." Auric smiled.
Principal Denis was perplexed, but he still had to announce the result. "Auric Elfe won!"
"You… How did you know…" Raven looked at Auric in disbelief.
Auric just gave him a smile, not revealing his trick. Of course, it wasn't like he could reveal the trick was his eyes. Auric could simply see that the clones were just lumps of energy, while the real body was the source of the energy.
There was no need to tell him such a secret.
"…" Principal Denis started to lose patience. His students were supposed to defeat Auric.
Since the other party had come to challenge them, it was obvious they were confident in their abilities. However, after one or two battles, Auric should have started running out of energy.
Yet, Auric had been able to keep the match brief, allowing him to conserve his energy.
Lindwurm suddenly made a suggestion. "This is the part where you are supposed to take a deep breath."
"…" Auric understood what Lindwurm was trying to do. After a brief thought, Auric took a deep breath.
"!!!" Principal Denis obviously didn't miss that sign. He shifted his gaze to two people sitting next to each other.
The first student had long black hair tied neatly at the back. He wore clothes resembling a uniform with a big, black, round hat on his head.
The second student had long blue hair like the clear, bright sky. Her aura felt more chilling and distant as she observed Auric carefully.
"Heh! He's running out of energy. I may not need the reward, but I definitely like the glory." The male student grinned and rushed to the stage. "I'm coming!"
Maya simply smiled while thinking, 'This guy. He should have his hands full with the battles, but he is still calm enough to play a simple mind trick. If I didn't know that he has so many elements and there was no chance for him to run out of energy, I would have probably fallen for that trick as well.'
"I am Patrick Rindahl. Be honored that you will be defeated by the knight of sharpness." The male student introduced himself. He drew his sword and raised it in front of his chest. He tilted his head slightly to adjust the angle of his face.
"It's Patrick."
"This is too much. I don't know who to cheer for anymore!"
"Patrick is my prince! My prince is going to win!"
The students started cheering like crazy. Judging from the way it sounded, it looked like Patrick's reputation was at a similar level to Simon's but without the negative stigma.
"Are you sure you really call yourself a knight? There is no chivalry in what you are doing." Auric shook his head helplessly.
"I merely judge that you now have the qualifications to challenge me." Patrick harrumphed and started releasing his element. It turned out that even his element was similar to Simon's, including its intensity.
However, his lightning was purple, not white.
Still, from the intensity, it was indeed an extreme element.
'Why do I feel like I'm a lightning rod?' Auric asked himself, thinking about Simon.
"Well, that sounds good, but you forgot to submit the battle technique." Auric stopped him.
"I don't have to. Because I will win."
"Yeah. This is not a bet, unfortunately. The battle technique is the entrance fee."
"…" Patrick's eyebrows twitched. He wanted to argue a bit more, but for some reason, Auric managed to counter everything he said.
"Hahaha. As a knight, of course, I will have to be fair." Patrick took out the notebook from his vest and handed it to the principal.
Auric didn't plan to talk to him anymore, so he just nodded as a sign that he was ready for the match.
"Begin!"
The moment Principal Denis gave the signal, Patrick ran forward. The way he handled his lightning was different from Simon's.
Patrick's lightning hovered around his thin blade.
Auric used the Plant General to have the six roots stop Patrick.
Seeing the obstacles, Patrick simply chuckled as he planted his right foot firmly on the ground before he swung his blade.
The lightning extended the blade, cutting four of the six roots. The lightning sparked upon impact, which shattered the roots, preventing Auric from restoring them.
The remaining two roots went after him, but they were not enough to catch Patrick. He simply used his nimble footwork to avoid them.
His lightning further improved his speed, allowing him to become untouchable.
Auric waved his hand upward, summoning spikes beneath Patrick's feet.
Patrick jumped back and lowered his center of gravity before swinging his sword horizontally.
"!!!" Noticing what was coming for him, Auric bent his knees and lowered his head.
The lightning extension almost sliced his neck.
The spikes were cleanly cut.
Auric knew that a convenient method wouldn't work. These people had been observing him all this time, so he had to use something else.
Among all the things he had been training on for the past few days, he thought there were two things he could use against Patrick.
Since he had bent his knees, he might as well place his hand on the floor.
Earth Wall. Yes, he used Earth Wall, but instead of the diamond element or the steel element, he used the wood element.
In addition, the place where he planned to erect the wall was special.
"!!!" Even Patrick was taken aback by the placement. It was under his feet.
Yes, the wooden wall emerged from the ground, using that momentum to launch him into the air. With a slight angle, it would also spin his body.
This way, Patrick would have a hard time regaining his balance.
During that time, Auric charged his power using the advanced technique and released the powerful spikes.
Three spikes rose from the ground.
"Not good." Patrick clicked his tongue and swung his blade.
The spikes rose so fast and his balance was off, so Patrick only managed to strike one spike and avoid another.
However, the last spike actually hit him. It was only a graze, but it was a fairly deep one.
He never thought he would be the first to get injured. It was clear that Auric didn't have much energy left.
After summoning these spikes, he must have almost exhausted all his energy.
Patrick landed on the ground with both feet. Thanks to the body armor, he managed to land without additional injuries.
Then, he ran forward and thrust his sword.
Auric summoned the six roots again. This time, the roots actually spun to create a spiral, which ultimately formed a layered pattern in the rope.
The lightning bored through the roots, but due to the lay, the roots were able to withstand the lightning much better.
"You are good. I would have a hard time defeating you if you were at your peak." Patrick pushed forward and actually shattered the rest of the roots.
Auric's expression turned solemn. He had used the two tricks in his mind. One was successful, but the other failed.
It looked like there was no other choice but to reveal his first trump card.
Auric jumped back to gain some distance, but Patrick sped up, not letting him get away.
Auric only wanted a bit more time so that he could use the Plant General again.
The moment the six roots emerged from the ground, they moved like a snake in order to encircle him.
"It's useless. Is this your desperate struggle?" Patrick smirked. He simply took one last leap to close the distance.
After that, he swung his blade horizontally, extending his blade with lightning. He intended to cut through all of these roots and strike Auric simultaneously.
The conclusion was swift, yet surprising.
Even the principal's jaw dropped to the ground as he couldn't believe what he had just seen.
A small shock wave shook the arena as two roots slammed the lightning and dispersed it. The other four roots grabbed Patrick's neck, right wrist, stomach, and legs.
"What?!" Patrick widened his eyes in shock. His face was clearly visible to everyone as the small shock wave from earlier blew his hat into the air.
As expected of Auric, his habit kicked in again.
Patrick's hat fell near him, so he caught the hat mid-air and put it on his head while winking. "You let me win."
Patrick was dumbfounded. He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Auric's roots couldn't have destroyed his lightning.
The only way to crush his lightning was to overwhelm him with energy, but Auric's energy was supposed to be almost empty.
In other words, Auric was supposed to have nothing else to counter his power. So, how?
Amidst his confusion, the cheers erupted.
"Kyaaa!" Some girls screamed.
Patrick had been using his hat to look cool, but Auric smoothly grabbed the hat before it reached the floor and put it on his head right after he won.
Coupled with his looks and his crossed fingers, the female students just couldn't contain themselves anymore.
"I have found my new prince!"
"To think that the prince riding a white horse would come from another campus."
"Prince Auric!"
Lindwurm was the only one left speechless. "You… Did you intentionally use that power to send the hat in your direction?"
Lindwurm remembered the time when Auric had demonstrated his power in the classroom. At that time, he smoothly picked the flower that fell in front of him and ended up charming half of the class.
This time, Auric somehow did it again.
'Ugh. My bad habit…' Auric was sweating, thinking that he had just caused some trouble.
Other students shouldn't be able to notice it. Auric might have used his trump card, but he had camouflaged it well.
Even Patrick couldn't see through it.
Due to the similarity in their colors, people would have missed one element if both were used together.
In addition, Auric used the wind element at the last moment, meaning the wind energy only appeared briefly.
The wind element emerged right before the roots struck the lightning blade. And the dispersion of the lightning energy was much more noticeable compared to his wind energy.
Last but not least, no one really expected that a person would possess more than one element.
Still, he couldn't fool Principal Denis. He simply couldn't believe what had just happened.
"You…" Principal Denis opened his mouth, but he was stopped by Maya.
"Well, well. Principal Denis. We are still in the middle of the tournament. Surely, you're not going to give my student a hard time by revealing his secret to your students, right? If that's the case, then I have to ask you to announce that my student is the winner of this tournament."
Principal Denis gritted his teeth and turned to Maya. Judging from her expression, she had known about this all along.
It was no wonder that she was so confident in this tournament.
He had been tricked by Maya. He thought the tournament would be a chance to obtain S-grade resources.
"You…" Principal Denis couldn't say anything. He had promised to rule everything fairly. And he knew what kind of temperament Maya had.
Maya simply raised one finger. "Since you understand, please announce my student's victory for this round."
"…" Principal Denis was so frustrated that his body began shaking, but there was nothing he could do but announce the result. "Auric won!"