In the audience where the upper-ranking nobles were seated.

  "Rid Archie, so he's the one rumored to be Irene's boyfriend at this academy," said King Albert.

  "Yes, you're right. You're not upset with him just because he's Irene's boyfriend, are you? Because of that, the ~Matchmaking Battle~ you pnned might not be able to go ahead, as Irene now has a partner and won't be able to participate in the ~Matchmaking Battle~ anymore. Since Irene can't participate, Duke San Lucia and his family won't be able to participate either. Your pn to get the four Dukes back together will be thwarted," said Queen Kayana.

  "How could I be upset with him? After all, Irene was chosen to be a participant in the ~Matchmaking Battle~ because she didn't have a partner. Now that she has a partner, it's only natural that she no longer participates. Furthermore, there was no prohibition against the participants who were appointed to this event having partners of their own choosing," said King Albert.

  After that, King Albert gred at Rid.

  "I can't help but be annoyed. Because of that man, my carefully pnned event could end in failure. I must get rid of him," thought King Albert.

  Not only King Albert, but the other three Dukes also gred at Rid.

  -

  In the audience seats where Commander Asier and Lord Irwin were.

  "So he's Irene's boyfriend. He's quite handsome and has a good body, not too thin or too fat. From his outward appearance, he seems like a very well-trained person," said Commander Asier.

  "Yes, it seems Irene is good at choosing her own partner," said Lord Irwin.

  "Even so, I don't want to approve him as Irene's boyfriend yet," said Commander Asier.

  "Why? He's not from a noble family, but he's strong, having already advanced to the final round. Wouldn't he be a suitable partner for Irene?" asked Lord Irwin.

  "I don't care where he comes from, whether he's a commoner or a noble. You might think he's strong because he's made it to the finals, but I haven't seen how strong he is, Uncle."

  "If he wins the match and wins this tournament, perhaps I'll agree to him becoming Irene's boyfriend," said Commander Asier.

  -

  Back to the arena.

  "Are you two ready?" asked Mr. Elgin.

  "Yes," said Senior Vyn and I.

  "Then, the match begins!" said Mr. Elgin.

  Mr. Elgin stepped aside.

  "Before we begin, let me tell you something about this tournament, Rid. To date, no first-year student has won this tournament, whether it's for men, women, or any other. So, you can be sure you won't win this tournament, Rid," said Senior Vyn.

  After saying that, Senior Vyn immediately touched the arena floor with his right hand.

  ~Water Magic: Flood Waters~

  A torrent of water erupted from the arena floor where he touched it. The water surged so fast that it flooded the entire tournament arena in just a few seconds. Once the entire arena was submerged, Senior Vyn stopped his technique. The water flooding the tournament arena was quite high, reaching my thighs. Then I jumped over it.

  ~Water Walk~

  After jumping over the water, I nded on the surface without falling into it. I decided to use the water-walking technique to avoid any difficulty moving around. Moving in water that deep would have been a bit difficult.

  I saw Senior Vyn do the same, deciding to use the water-walking technique as well.

  "By coating your feet with the appropriate Mana, walking on water isn't difficult. It's just like walking on fire, air, and so on."

  "I flooded this arena with water to make things difficult for you, but even if you could walk on water, the water would still be difficult for you," said Senior Vyn.

  Senior Vyn immediately pointed his right hand again to the surface of the water below.

  ~Water Creation Magic: Water Dragon~

  Suddenly, a dragon emerged from the water beneath me and devoured me. I was trapped inside the dragon's body, made of water. However, I immediately prepared to wield my sword and unch a ssh from within the dragon's body.

  ~Secret Sword Art : Aqua Syer Ssh~

  The dragon split vertically in two, and its body returned to water, flooding the arena.

  Not stopping there, Senior Vyn immediately prepared to unch his attack again.

  ~Water Creation Magic : Great Water Spike~

  Suddenly, a giant spike made of water emerged from the water below me, intending to hit me. I quickly dodged before it could hit me, but no matter where I dodged, more spikes appeared beneath me.

  "These spikes are quite troublesome, but I wonder why Senior Vyn used his water magic at the start, even using area magic. He should have known I could use ice magic and could freeze this flooded arena with area ice magic."

  "I don't know if Senior Vyn forgot about that or if he's pnning something. In that case, I won't use my area ice magic just yet, I'll wait for the right moment to use it," I thought.

  I chose not to use ice magic right now, even though it could stop the giant spikes appearing in the area. I preferred to attack Senior Vyn to distract him and prevent him from unleashing more of them.

  ~Water Magic : Water Needle~

  I kicked the surface of the water below me toward Senior Vyn. The water I kicked immediately turned into tiny needles that aimed at Senior Vyn. Seeing the needles flying toward him, Senior Vyn immediately took action.

  ~Water Creation Magic : Water Wall~

  Senior Vyn created a wall of water to block the tiny needles. The needles couldn't hit Senior Vyn because the wall blocked them. Knowing the needles I created couldn't hit Senior Vyn, I immediately shot towards him and managed to close in on him.

  ~Secret Sword Art : Aqua Syer Ssh~

  I immediately sshed through the water wall. After that, I immediately prepared to unch a follow-up attack on Senior Vyn. However, Senior Vyn didn't seem surprised to see me approaching him. His hand had been touching the surface of the water below him.

  ~Water Creation Magic : Water Dragon~

  A dragon made of water emerged from beneath me as I was about to attack Senior Vyn. I was devoured by the dragon again, but I managed to ssh it from within. As I managed to escape the body of the water dragon I'd sshed, two water dragons suddenly appeared in front of me, preparing to spew something from their mouths.

  ~Double Water Dragon Burst~

  Both dragons spewed water from their mouths, aiming it at me. The water jets were incredibly fast and powerful. I immediately transformed my sword into fmes and prepared to block the attack.

  ~Secret Fme Sword Art : Aqua Syer Ssh~

  I sshed at the two water dragons, causing them to evaporate immediately upon impact. Senior Vyn didn't seem surprised that I'd successfully blocked his attack.

  With Senior Vyn's hands still touching the water surface below, he was able to continuously create objects from the water flooding the arena. But I noticed something different. In his previous match, I'd seen him instantly create objects from an element without first using area magic. I noticed that the speed of his object creation wasn't as fast as when he used area magic first.

  "So that's how it is. He deliberately created an area magic first so he could use the elements within it to create various objects quickly. Because without the existing elements, creating objects from those elements would take a little longer,"

  "But I wonder why he chose water magic. Can Senior Vyn only use water area magic?" I thought.

  Thinking about it alone wouldn't yield any answers, so I decided to test it myself. I didn't care what he was pnning because I could handle it.

  "Can we just stop here, Senior? I'm tired of pying with water all the time," I said.

  I immediately pointed my hand at the water surface below me.

  ~Ice Magic : Full Frost~

  The water flooding the arena immediately froze. The same went for the two water dragons beside Senior Vyn. Senior Vyn could no longer create objects from water directly because I had frozen the water.

  "You should know that I can also use area magic, especially since the area magic I can use is area ice magic, which is the weakness of your area water magic, senior," I said.

  Senior Vyn, who had been crouching and pointing his hand at the water's surface, stood back up. Senior Vyn didn't seem surprised by what I just did. Senior Vyn smiled.

  "Of course I know about that, Rid. I did what I did just now because I just wanted to py around a bit before I decided to fight you seriously," said Senior Vyn.

  -To be continued