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’Thank the gods he didn’t chase. Once I land I’ll—’

The wind mage was unable to finish his thought as he noticed the ground slightly rumbling. He was only four feet off the ground and could see the slight shake, which rang alarm bells in his mind.

Suddenly, from four sides, the ground rose and formed another dome not dissimilar to the one Sol made before.

In response, Wayland stopped channeling [Glide] and quickly tried to cast a spell to get him out in time.

"[Updraft]!"

Wind blasted the mage upward, but it was already too late. The earth dome closed above him, causing the mage to collide head first into the dome.

Oeser leaned over his platform, ecstatically commenting, "What an amazing use of the [Earth Dome] skill, not only defensively but also offensively! Sol took advantage of the [Glide] spell’s inherent weakness, which can only head in a predetermined direction, and trapped him where he was going to land! It’s amazing he knew of that, as he doesn’t even wield wind magic! Now how will Wayland get out of this one?!"

Though Oeser was wrong about the skill Sol used, it wasn’t too far from the truth.

Wayland, stuck like a bird in a cage, didn’t give up and cast the only spell he knew that could possibly get him out of the earth dome.

"[Piercing Winds]"

A small tornado of wind emitted from his hand as it began to drill into the dome.

"Why won’t it break!"

Wayland had funneled almost all his remaining mana into the spell, but after so much effort, he was unable to make a small hole for light to enter. What he didn’t know was that Sol was actively sending more mana and reinforcing the dome, making it an endurance fight between the two of them. Wayland had no way to compete with Sol’s large reservoir of mana and his much more efficient use of it. By the time Wayland ran out of mana, Sol had only used less than a fifth of his.

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’Time to end this.’

Feeling that he had dragged the fight on long enough, Sol manipulated the dome to begin shrinking. As it shrunk, he created a small opening and made it so that Wayland had to stick his head through it or be crushed.

Sol walked and approached Wayland, who was now just a head sticking out of a mound of dirt and stone, and asked, "Do you surrender?"

The mage nodded in amazement and slight fear, "I surrender!"

Wayland understood, after wasting all his mana, that he didn’t stand a chance. He was unable to even break through the dome after using his strongest single target spell.

Sol nodded and released the earth that bound him. Wayland stumbled face first onto the ground as he was released suddenly, causing him to lose his balance.

"Sorry about that. Let me help."

The dirt floated off his face and scattered onto the ground, and a hand then reached out to help him get back up.

Wayland looked up at Sol and grabbed his hand, "Thanks."

Oeser silently watched their interaction before announcing the results, "And there you have it, folks! What an intense fight where both competitors played to their strengths! With that, we conclude the first day of the knight selection tournament! Make sure to come back tomorrow as the fights will only get more intense from here on out!"

As Sol made his way out of the stadium, he noticed something.

’So this is how they could tell I used [Analysis] on them.’

With a deluge of spectators simultaneously using [Analysis] on him, he actually noticed that there was a very slight, almost unnoticeable trace of energy that tried to poke and prod him. With the hundreds of [Analysis] attempts being made, it became significant enough that he could finally detect them.

’The majority are stopped by Annabel’s Locket of Safekeeping. The few that got past were blocked by the Deceiver’s Earrings. That’s good to know.’

It was a thin dual layer that covered his body and denied the entry of most of the attempts. It wasn’t mana but something not too dissimilar, which Sol could only describe as energy. He didn’t know enough about it to understand how it worked, but he was at least assured that nobody managed to pierce through his protections.

Sol had no reason to stay in the colosseum, and it was too early to head back to the royal palace, so he decided to head towards Necropolis. While most of the duels between the new knights were within his expectations, the first one with Victor was the only one that alarmed him.

’Maybe if I go all out I can win, but I only have [Intermediate Water Magic], [Intermediate Swordsmanship], and [Terra Manipulation]. I need to see if I can hold my own against strong enemies with just those three.’

Sol planned to fight the Handless Fiend with his self-imposed limits to see how he fared against it. If all went well, he might even try to enter the 21st floor and try his hand at a few semi-A-Rank enemies. They weren’t as strong as true A-Rankers, but they were definitely above B-Rank.

’It’s too late to level up, and the skills I can gain from those enemies can’t be used in the tournament, but hopefully, I can get some inspiration or something. As I am now, I think I’m gonna lose if I don’t improve quickly…’

As Sol arrived at the entrance of Necropolis, a figure appeared behind him.

"Oh. Hey Amber. Did you watch the fights?"

Amber nodded.

"What’s your thoughts on the first fight, the guy named Victor?"

"Strong. Stronger than you."

Sol grinned, "I thought as much. He did that so effortlessly, and I couldn’t even see much when I used [Analysis] on him."

Amber tilted her head, "Train?"

He chuckled, "All one can do."