The Mysterious Black Magician

When Yman came back inside the waiting hall, Bob detonated a bomb that alerted the rest, especially Almina.

"Yman, bro! Who was that person together with you and your sister? Looking at the figure it must be a girl, right?!" Asked Bob in a thunderous voice when he saw him approaching them. "Eh?!" Almina yelped after hearing it. Then she stared at Yman with curious eyes.

Out of a sudden, Yman felt a weird atmosphere that started to proliferate inside the hall. They looked at him with discerning eyes like he was a liar or someone who couldn't be trusted. Disgust was visible on their faces. Looks like Bob was once again released something he shouldn't have. Though, Bob only asked him about someone. He probably meant Miss Ice or Rea. He didn't notice when Bob saw them. Nonetheless, it still couldn't explain the weird atmosphere at the moment.

Even Almina was looking at him, wait! Why did she look so worried? And Maena, she was knitting her brows at him. All of them were seemingly waiting for his reply. He also noticed Kiko with a wide grin on his face, similar to his friends. 

Yman was puzzled at the unusual situation. He tried to remember if he did something, but nothing came to his mind. Regardless, he could choose not to reply to Bob's question. But he couldn't find faults from it.

"A friend of mine…" He replied nonchalantly in a voice that was only a little louder than a whisper. "A friend?" He did not expect to hear Almina repeat his word. He nodded in reply.

"Is it true that she's a friend only?" For some reason, she asked again. And this time, he noticed a slight suspicion in her voice. Nonetheless, why did Almina and the others come back here? They were free to go and rest since they already finished their match for today. Bob and Chloe too. Only Keremi wasn't inside at the moment. 

Perhaps they wanted to spy on their potential opponents. Yman's guess about the presence of Almina and the others inside the waiting room.

Right after he nodded, the buzzing sound rang once again, signaling the resume of the competition. The audience burst into excitement once again.

The first to come up on stage was Brai. His opponent was someone from the lower section.

Although he didn't follow the elite's trend to defeat their opponents in a shorter possible time, he still ended his match in a short time. One of the trainees that Yman noted who was hiding their real strength was Brai. He was the type of person who liked boasting to others, but he wasn't as excessive as Kiko.

His boasting was just his way of trying to join up with others' conversations. Also, Brai would remain quiet if he wasn't comfortable with the people around him. So, most people who were not familiar with him would think that he was a quiet and serious type of person. But in reality, he was a 'tsundere' person.

Mai was the first to congratulate him when he climbed downstairs. It was followed by Bob and the others. 

The next who came on stage was someone from Kiko's group. The battle lasted for about 2 minutes. It was a win from Kiko's friend.

Though, there were several times that his enemy almost won the battle. The next person to fight was from Kiko's friends once again. It was Marco. The person closest to Kiko. And his opponent was someone from the same room as him.

Marco won overwhelmingly against his opponent. He wasn't even using any equipment as he was fighting. Probably, looking down at his opponent. When he passed by Yman and the others, he gestured a thumbs down towards him, signifying that Yman was nothing and that he would be going to knock him down if an opportunity presented itself.

Yman showed smug but did not say anything. It was enough to show that he wasn't afraid of Marco and even to Kiko.

The next pair was called on stage. It was the beautiful Encan girl from the elite class.

Rea was surprised upon seeing it. Although she knew that there were some Demihumans who went to study in Human City, it was the first time that she saw it in person.

Since Crimson already told her about this competition, she knew beforehand that it was a competition related only to the students. So all of these participants were students of the academy in this city.

Rea noticed the audience turned noisy when the Encan girl came up on stage.

Rea sighed.

"Miss Rea, are you feeling bored?" She suddenly heard Yana ask her. Maybe Yana thought she was bored because of the sigh.

"Nn…" she shook her head slightly. "I-It isn't like that…" Rea replied.

She sighed because the encan girl was bringing up with her the human device they call a deity. She didn't know if this encan girl was a pure Encan or not, but. Once you were born as an Encan, you could easily manipulate mana like it was the norm. That's why there is no need to use the human's deity.

Rea learned from Crimson that those devices were made to pacify the mysterious mana within them.

But since Encans or other beastmen were gifted by magical energies from Her Grace, the goddess of nature, they do not need to use those tools to pacify their mana.

Nonetheless, she couldn't understand why this Encan girl and those beastmen who came before her were using those tools. Maybe it was a requirement to be admitted to the human academy? 

Looks like she needed to ask Crimson about this. She wanted to know the reason for those beastmen.

While Rea was mulling, the fight already started. She had to admit that the Encan girl was strong. She had dense mana and used powerful attacks to overpower her enemy. But Rea could not tell if it was because of her resonance with the device. Or was it because of her innate talent?

The battle ended well. Although not as fast as the other, it was yet another overwhelming won.

The next to compete was Kiko, and his opponent was...