Theo remained completely still.
Water continued gathering around his left arm, focusing fully on its height rather than its length.
In no time, it started swirling violently as it reached the length of a car and the height of a two-story building.
Meanwhile, the Chaos Door in front of his right arm had rapidly started expanding, forming a bowl-like shape around his body.
The crimson flames and wind tornado closed the distance fast.
’All I need to do is hold,’ he thought, exhaling slowly.
He felt the air’s pressure rapidly changing as the sheer heat and swirling combined.
The arena floor beneath his feet began cracking apart.
Loose chunks of stone floated into the air before being swallowed by the incoming attacks.
Theo never took his eyes off them.
As the attacks were just about to reach him, he gritted his teeth.
’This is it!’
BOOOOOOM!
The entire arena shook violently.
Theo’s water vortex crashed head-on against the sea of crimson flames.
At the very same moment, the gigantic tornado slammed into the Chaos Door.
CRAAACK!
The ground around him rapidly melted and fractured, sending pieces of molten rock flying inside the tornado.
His Chaos Door trembled slightly.
The sheer size of the tornado made it nearly impossible to swallow it instantly.
On the other side, massive clouds of steam rose into the sky.
The water vortex swirled even more violently, sucking in the flames like a funnel and extinguishing them inside.
’Come on...’ Theo thought, glancing back at the Chaos Door. ’You’ve taken worse!’
He poured in more mana, quickly stabilizing the door’s trembling.
Only a second later, a pleasant noise entered his ears.
WHOOSH!
The massive tornado disappeared into the gray surface.
Theo didn’t even look at where it’d gone.
He turned to his left completely and flicked his fingers.
A second later, a large gray door opened up in front of his water vortex.
VOOOOM!!!
The massive wind tornado shot out, swirling straight through the remaining crimson fire.
For a brief moment, the two attacks fused together once again.
Then the countless wind blades hidden inside the tornado erupted.
SWSH! SWSH! SWSH!
The crimson flames were torn into countless pieces before being swallowed by the raging winds.
Even so, Kara’s grin didn’t disappear.
"COME!" she shouted, spreading her arms.
Within moments, the redirected tornado reached her.
BOOOOOOM!
The violent winds slammed straight into her.
It didn’t take longer than a second before a faint blue light powered up around her body.
A judge stepped in immediately.
The entire tornado froze in place as if held by an invisible hand.
Kara’s body flew out right away, bouncing on the arena floor before finally coming to a stop several dozen yards away.
For a moment, the entire arena was silent.
Theo nodded once to himself.
’That’s one,’ he thought, turning around. ’Now it’s your turn.’
Darius stood still on the tiny earth pillar.
His breathing was heavy and strained, yet his eyes remained locked in front of him.
’’Damn it!’’ he cursed, glancing down.
His body had long since sent him a message.
If he used his core once more for such an attack, there was no way it wouldn’t be damaged!
Tap! Tap! Tap!
He snapped out of his thoughts and glanced ahead.
Theo had started walking towards him, having taken the trident off his back.
Darius only watched him for a moment.
His core continued throbbing painfully inside his chest.
He slowly looked down at his trembling hand.
Finally, he let out a deep breath.
’’I surrender.’’
SHING!
The blue barrier popped up around him in an instant.
For several long seconds, nobody uttered a single word.
Theo stopped walking.
’It’s over,’ he thought, nodding once.
The judge overlooking the duel stepped into the arena alongside several medical staff members.
At the same time, the announcer’s voice echoed excitedly through the arena.
’’I can’t believe we witnessed this!’’ he practically shouted. ’’The winner... is Theo Lane!’’
The silence disappeared immediately.
Hundreds of people couldn’t help but stand up and start applauding.
Loud whistles and conversations broke out at the same time.
But the majority of people just stared at the destroyed arena in disbelief.
The once-pristine floor had become completely unrecognizable. Deep trenches formed by fire, lightning, and wind were everywhere, some even still radiating heat!
’’I don’t think anyone expected today’s tournament to go like this!’’ the announcer continued. ’’He actually defeated two of Westridge’s strongest pre-admission students.’’
The announcer continued rattling off excitedly.
Theo didn’t pay any attention to it though.
Instead, he immediately sat down on the ground and closed his eyes.
’Okay,’ he thought. ’It wasn’t the worst-case scenario.’
There was still 15% of his mana that he had access to.
And if they gave him a bit of time, he could bring that back up to half easily.
Still, that wasn’t the only thing he needed to worry about.
’My legs feel tired,’ he thought. ’Running from that crazy girl drained me.’
He couldn’t help but think about her mutated element.
Never in his life had he expected a mutation to have such an effect.
’It was like she was a crazed berserker....’
On the contrary, his mutations were completely different.
His water generated immense pressure, easily crushing steel into tiny fragments.
His lightning disintegrated whatever it touched and had even prevented Kara’s regeneration.
And those were only the effects he knew of.
’Who knows what more they could be hiding?’ he thought, brows furrowing. ’And I don’t even know what my Chaos mutation does...’
That thought made him fall silent for a moment.
He’d been so caught up with battles, spells, and so many other things that he’d never looked into the basics around himself.
’I... really need to look into my basics more.’
That was enough about that.
He needed to focus on his recovery now, as the second phase of the tournament could start at any moment.
Slowly, mana threads began flowing towards his core walls.
Tiny specks of gold appeared everywhere they touched while simultaneously bringing them back to their peak condition.
Theo completely muted the noise around him as he focused.
Like that, minutes passed by in silence.
Finally, the announcer’s voice echoed through the arena again, drawing a bit of his attention.
’’Everyone!’’ he started excitedly.
The arena gradually quieted down.
’’There has been a unanimous decision made amongst the staff and instructors!’’
Theo slowly opened one eye.
The announcer himself, a middle-aged chubby man with grayish hair, revealed himself on the large screens with a jolly smile.
’’Theo Lane will be granted ten more minutes of rest time,’’ he continued. ’’Bringing the grand total of rest time up to fifteen minutes.’’
A wave of murmurs spread throughout the audience.
Theo’s brows also lifted slightly.
’That little?’ he thought.
After a moment, he couldn’t help but shake his head.
’It was to be expected with those Whitmores,’ he thought, letting out a sigh. ’But it should be enough.’
The students in the arena thought differently though.
’’Doesn’t that make him an easy target...’’ another said to a friend. ’’Imagine, if we team up, we’ll be able to retire early.’’
’’Exactly,’’ another student nodded. ’’If we keep attacking one after another, we’ll wear him down eventually.’’
’’No, that’s stupid,’’ someone else interrupted. ’’Did you not just watch that fight?’’
As the murmurs spread throughout the arena, many held complicated expressions on their faces.
It wasn’t just the first years, though.
Several among the second and third years also couldn’t help but stare at Theo.
’’If he’s already this strong... won’t he be able to steal a spot in the world competition next year?’’
’’Who would’ve thought someone would get three affinities at Silver Core?’’
’’The top rankers aren’t going to be happy with this...’’
Theo felt the gazes burning into his back.
He could already see several people stand up in the crowd while nodding towards the arena.
’’Now, hold on everyone,’’ the announcer said brightly. ’’There’s another change to the rules due to the contestant’s overwhelming strength.’’
Everyone froze in their tracks.
’’Previously, only three regular students were allowed to face him at the same time,’’ he continued. ’’But as we’ve all seen... such battles are way too easy for him!’’
The man paused dramatically.
’’So we’ll be upgrading that limit two-fold!’’
A stunned silence swept through the arena.
Most mouths hung open slightly, completely caught off guard by the news.
’’Six?’’
Even the upperclassmen couldn’t help but widen their eyes.
’’What’s going on here?’’
’’Does the staff hate him or something?’’
The announcer only laughed heartily before raising both hands.
"That’s right!" he said. "From this point onward, up to six contestants may challenge Theo Lane simultaneously!"
The crowd immediately moved.
Students stood up left and right, clearly heading down from the stands.
Only some chose to wait patiently or not participate at all.
Meanwhile, Theo merely closed his eye again.
’Six, huh...’
A faint, ridiculous smile appeared on his face.
’Guess they’re really trying to wear me down.’