Our walk ended at the arrival of a large crowded area in the middle of the town. The area hosted an arena inside of it with stands surrounding it for the townsfolk to spectate any spectacle that would occur. Walls enclosing the area and stands offered protection to outsiders from any potential damage. 

We entered the area and quickly found a seat that wasn’t too close nor too far away from any action that would unfold before us. Soon, the arena would welcome its first pair of opponents as members of the Star Kingdom Adventurer’s Society arrived. With their arrival, time seemed as if it shifted forward. The event quickly began with the announcement of the first round. Its competitors stepped forward upon hearing their names. 

From one end of the arena emerged an unranked Adventurer, Ryenn Everblade. Despite his skinny physique, his appearance denoted a mysterious power behind his youthful body. His lips remained firm as his stare became fixated on his opponent. Although battle-ready, his composure radiated a still calmness. 

“Unranked?” I asked Romeo. 

“Well technically the tournament mainly revolves around examining adventurers and evaluating their ranks, but newcomers are allowed to participate and earn a rank.” 

“I see.” 

On the other end of the arena stood Marcel Lyan. He was a C-rank adventurer, but he seemed popular among the fans in the arena. With a great eagerness, he returned a stare to Ryenn. A prideful smirk formed between his lips as the fight was announced. 

“This match shouldn’t last long,” he said. 

“Rules are simple,” an Adventurer’s Society official spoke. “All fights will continue until either a fighter is incapacitated or the fight is officially stopped by an official. If a fighter dies as a result of misconduct or the crowd is put intentionally in danger, then the opponent or violator will be disqualified, subjected to suspension of their adventurer’s license, and possibly face legal punishment.” He analyzed the arena and looked for understanding in the eyes of both mages. Striking his hand outward from himself, he announced the commencement of the battle. 

 “You may start,” he said calmly. 

The two opponents immediately sprang into action. Running into a fist-first clash, they used no magic. Blow-by-blow, they connected with each other. Despite not being able to get solid hits in, they were trading and blocking blows at a continuous rate. It wasn’t until Ryenn’s punch connected directly with Marcel’s face, that the first sight of magic appeared. 

With great firepower, a roar of flames sprouted from Marcel’s hand in an attempt to return an even blow to his opponent. Face-to-face with the attack, Ryenn threw his arms in front of his face. Successfully blocking the attack, he was quickly kicked to the side by Marcel who used his speed to his advantage. Following behind the brilliant attack, Marcel launched at Ryenn. He waved his arms forward in multiple striking motions to propel more flames toward Ryenn as he closed the distance. 

Teeth clenched, eyes alert, and skin prickled, Ryenn frantically dodged the incoming sequence of attacks. Sloppily, he maneuvered to and from relative space on the arena floor as he barely dodged each attack before being kicked down to the floor by an additional attack by Marcel. 

“I understand I’m a C-rank, but the least they could’ve done was put me up against somebody of my caliber,” he mumbled with his foot resting on the side of Ryenn’s face. He raised his arm in the air before summoning a spiral of flames around it and slamming it downward at Ryenn. 

“Inferno Roar!” 

 With the flames inching closer to his face, Ryenn spontaneously met the flames with his hand. The flames disappeared leaving Ryenn unscathed. Having thrown Marcel’s foot off of him, he stood up and dusted his shoulders off. 

“Sorry, but I didn’t come here to lose that easily,” he said with a smirk. Raising his hand up, he shouted, “Law of Equivalent Exchange: Redirection – Combustion!” 

*BOOM* 

An explosion erupted from Ryenn’s hand and devoured everything surrounding Marcel. Clouds of dust swept through the arena while the debris from the floor lifted in the rising wind. 

The screen of dust cleared and revealed a wounded Marcel branded by scratches. His clothes were in tattered ruins. He grimaced. A bruise formed on his side near his ribcage. 

“Wow!” The announcer commentated. “Can you believe that, folks? Ryenn Everblade with the remarkable technique! I’ve never seen anything like that in my life.” 

Hmmm, I thought. I wasn’t too familiar with magic, but the way Ryenn attacked compared to Marcel felt awfully unique as if the two methods were completely different. 

The crowd cheered. Loudly, they craved the continuation of the fight. Desperately seeking more, they began getting up from their seats. Adrenaline flowed throughout the whole arena. Generating from the battle before the people, it spread out into the crowd and infected everyone one by one. All eyes were on the stage. 

“You damn bastard!” Marcel said through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare get ahead of yourself.” Clutching his fist, he erupted into a barrage of flames. His eyes lit up for a moment with a reflection of the very fire around him as he extended his arms forward together in one motion. 

“Flame Magic: Oblivion’s Furnace!” 

The sky over the arena darkened a blood color as a fierce heat overcame the crowd. I could feel it pressing against my skin. Falling upon the stage like small meteorites, balls of fire materialized from the dark sky. Simultaneously, a wave of flames rushed from Marcel’s hands. 

“Let’s see if you can survive this,” Marcel said. 

The thought of overkill ran rampant throughout the crowd’s heads. Their faces, cheery and excited, suddenly drooped in worry as sweat dripped from their foreheads. Even the announcer seemed speechless while officials waited sternly to intervene upon orders. Anxiously with weapons drawn, they prepared to pounce. 

“Wait,” Aaref Fayworth, examiner of the match, commanded them. 

The bombardment of flames ruptured into a bigger explosion that broke open most of the fighting stage. Fans flew against their seat or were knocked to the ground from the shockwave. Ashes lurked in the air as the dark smoke began clearing. 

From the smoke appeared a damaged and kneeling Ryenn in a deep crater. Panting, he forced a smile as a handprint was etched underneath him. 

“I couldn’t stop the full-force of it, but I was able to block some of it,” he said. “If that had hit me head-on, I would have died.”