New Location

A new day and a new challenge, this was what Max thought every morning ever since the competition began.

He got up from his bed before doing some light stretches, waking his sore body then forwarded towards the bathroom where he freshened up completely dispersing his sleepiness. He looked at the other entrance to the bathroom before walking over and opening it. He looked inside Mark's room before noticing the culprit in his bed still sleeping.

'He sure knew what he was doing when he told me to wake him up today' Max thought while smirking.

Mark asked Max the other day to wake him up if he isn't awake yet so that he will have a chance to see the last match. Even though Mark was eliminated in the last match he still was allowed to watch the other matches just like any other student.

Max woke up Mark in a gentler way than before, he groaned for a bit before getting up from his bed.

"Let's go!" Mark said excitedly after he finished freshening up. He was so excited because Max agreed to train with Mark for a while before the final fight. This helped the latter get into the mood of fighting while it gave Mark something to do alongside Max. But in reality, Mark couldn't wait for Max to fight against him with that special ability he never saw before.

Too bad that Max wasn't thinking in the same direction as Mark. The former fought with ease while the latter used all he could against the other, thinking that it was some kind of challenge before him drawing his power out. Inevitably Max lost, he wasn't using his full strength as he didn't want to tire himself before the official match.

"What was that?!" Mark exclaimed; Max ruined his mood seeing the way Max fought along the way.

"Don't worry about it, I promise that we'll fight at full strength when I don't have something to do later," Max promised Mark but such a promise left several loopholes that Mark didn't think about as he was happy about Max accepting his challenge.

Max and Mark began walking towards the battle arenas they fought before shortly after their dialogue. They were getting closer and were now able to see a few individuals around a silhouette dressed in white. That person was Azel, everybody was already accustomed to his fashion sense which seemed exaggerated especially in a facility for raising Mages.

Max and Mark were now amongst the thirty or so people that came today to watch the match.

Azel was still in the middle of all the students, he seemed to notice Max and Mark walking towards them even though they were normally behind him. He turned around before looking at Max from head to toe. He nodded before glancing at the book in his hands. Along with a swift motion of his hands, he left a sign inside the book before closing it.

"Now that everyone is here, follow me toward the arena," Azel said before turning around, walking in a certain direction.

The group was distancing away from the arenas they had been fighting in before, and now that the location they were walking toward was made clear Max began inspecting the building.

It was a dome-shaped building, easily one of the biggest buildings inside the castle-shape institute, second only to the main building which was of course the academy building where classes and other facilities were part of.

Max looked towards this building; remembering the first time he ever caught glimpse of it. He tried to go in before but wasn't allowed to, he was stopped by the guards that were stationed in front of the entrance at that time… but now they were nowhere to be seen.

Azel made his way inside and the group followed. They looked around, inspecting the huge room that left everyone perplexed. Only the size of the room left Max impressed and interested, even if you were to disregard the different and interesting objects that were around the place. The sheer size of the room they were in reached sizes of 40 meters in each direction.

Right next to the entrance was the reception where one maid was standing with a smile on her face. As everyone got inside the building, she greeted each of them before going back to her own work. It seemed like she wasn't the one that will explain to them what was happening.

Azel made his way toward the middle of the room before stopping and turning towards the group of people following him.

"I am sure that none of you were ever allowed to enter this building before. This building is one of the most important ones and that is for multiple reasons. In here, every student starting from the second-years frequent this place to accept missions, earn rewards, and participate in the yearly placement competition." Azel said without any interruption.

"I know that everyone has their own questions about this regard but this is not the time. Everything will be clear next Monday when all classes of the first-years would be introduced to this building and its rules, alongside its benefits. Although you are introduced to it you won't be able to accept any missions before becoming second-year students, there are some slight exceptions however" The last words that left Azel's mouth left everyone intrigued, after all, they needed resources to become stronger. This was the road of a magician.

"We are going to enter the battle arena where most of the important matches will be held over the years. There are other, similar, but smaller arenas inside this building but for today you will only be introduced to the most important one. For those fighting on it today, consider it an honor." Azel said before reaching a large pair of doors. The large door he was standing in front of opened by itself, making entry for each of the students present before closing itself.

The entrance led to a smaller room that was about 20 meters in each direction, sets of stairs being on each immediate side of it.

"Everyone other than the ten that will be going inside the arena to fight are asked to go up the stairs and find a seat," Azel asked while pointing to the right and then to the left, but it felt like an obligation more than a choice.

Everyone did as told, there were no objections from any of the twenty individuals who began using the stairs, reaching the top before looking and searching around for a seat.

Max and the other nine individuals stood in their place while looking at Azel, waiting for further instructions.

Azel looked up at the stairs and after checking that each one of the spectators was searching for a seat, he turned his attention toward Max and the others standing before him.

"There will be quite a few older students watching this match, there are different reasons for this and they will be explained to you at a later time. I will be watching the battle that occurs inside the arena. The rules have lessened as the battle is against the strongest of the first-years." Azel looked around at each of them before continuing.

"They are more or less the same, no one is allowed to kill the other and if one is to go unconscious then the attacker is asked to stop himself. The battle is not solo anymore but a team fight. Don't forget such detail and help each other in times of need so that you are not eliminated with ease. Once a person falls unconscious it will be removed from the fighting grounds as fast as possible, there will be no need for assistance from any of you. You will be given about 30 minutes to prepare starting now, after you are ready of the minutes are up you will be going through that door." Azel explained the rules and a bit more information about the fight before pointing to the only other door inside the room they were in. It looked similar to the one they just went through as well.

"Now the teams. Max Edward, Klaus…" Azel split the ten individuals considering the division they were in before.

Max was standing alongside four other people with who he never fought or known before. He had basic information about them as he caught glimpse of their battles before but everything else was a mystery. He didn't know their fighting style and behaviors, nothing.

His four teammates were Klaus Barlow, Silvia and Karl Ellot, and Ragnar Clarke. Four of the strongest amongst the students of the same year.

Max talked with his teammates before heading into the arena, they had about twenty minutes left to do so. He learned that Klaus was metal awakened, a variant of the earth element that was tougher but a lot harder to conjure. Silvia and Karl were twins and wielded wood and wind element respectively. The wood element was a rare mutated element that had roots from three primordial elements, earth, water, and wind. Ragnar was an interesting individual as well, he wielded the thunder element, a strong and offensive element that not a lot would be able to fight against.

Max revealed his element as well, if he wanted to fight alongside each other they should be aware of what the others can do, including what he can do as well. Other than their elements Silvia wielded a bow with a quiver on her back and a machete on the left side of her waist, Karl had two short swords, and Ragnar wielded a spear while Klaus didn't in fact have any weapons him, just his heavy metal armor that he was casually wearing ever since Max saw him.

Sadly, neither of them had information about the other five people that they will be confronting. Max asked for information about their enemy as it will always be a great idea not to jump head-first into a battle but he didn't have any luck.

Max was able to discuss and for a battle formation with them after hearing out what each of them were able to do. While doing so Max was able to realize what unique battle styles each of them had, Silvia was able to support the team while also helping on the offensive with the help of her element, Ragnar was extremely powerful while attack but would also manage to easily keep people away while defending, Karl, from what Silvia stated, was as fast as the wind and not a lot of people of the same age would be able to match him in speed. Klaus on the other hand was a battle-hardened tank that used his metal element in clever ways to give him an advantage.

Max wasn't an odd one either, the way he fought and the strange ability he wielded also gave his teammates a strong impression about him. Not only that but the way he strategized and used everyone's forte aspects made them elect him as the leader of this team for now.

About twenty minutes later everyone was ready to fight. They entered through the door that Azel pointed out before he left. Each of the teams took their side of the arena before getting into their formations and taking their weapons out. The last battle was about to start.