Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 61: Fools with a Death Wish and a Familiar Face…

-----Julius's POV-----

For a moment, I felt like I was flying high in the sky… That nothing would be able to stop me on my rampage through the battlefield…

I wasn't actually flying in the sky though…

"[Dance of the Fallen]!" I shouted as I used my overwhelming speed and strength to knock out 4 of my fellow participants.

What I was actually doing that felt so similar to flying was to use two of Auntie's techniques. 

The first one consisted of gathering small amounts of wind-infused mana on the soles of my feet and making it explode right before dashing toward my enemies in order to get a nice boost to my speed. That boost combined with my already high speed practically made me a bullet flying through the battlefield.

"Even though I'm faster than ever before after all those level-ups were triggered, I don't think I can compete with Auntie if she were to use her full speed…" I muttered to myself as I examined my body.

As for the second technique, this is a variation I came up with but I never got a chance to make it work against either my aunt or my dad, so I was doing some experimentation.

[Dance of the Fallen] is based on my aunt's [Devastating Fist of Harmonious Destruction], a technique that consists of using [Fighting Spirit] to cause as much damage as possible while using high-speed movements to make your opponent unable to respond to your rampage. A brutal technique worthy of someone known as the Demonic Wind, whose fighting style specializes exactly in that.

However, while my variation of the technique is the same in theory, it is also quite different in practice. The main difference is that I am not using [Fighting Spirit] to attack… At least not the same amount one would need to use with Auntie’s technique.

The main focus of my [Dance of the Fallen] is to preserve as much of my energy and mana as humanly possible for the battles to come. After all, this phase is a battle royale which as Ophelia said, will last for at least an hour. An hour of intense fighting is definitely going to take a lot of energy out of the participants, so that is why I decided to use this technique.

A technique that focuses on using precise strikes on certain areas with the objective of sealing away as many of the mana checkpoints in my opponents' bodies as I can, thus rendering them unable to use magic for a while. These mana checkpoints could also be called Pressure Points.

It might sound easy to do in theory, but I’m just finding out how difficult to pull off this technique is, especially when I’m traveling at such high speeds… One wrong move and I could end up empowering my opponents instead of knocking them out.

“Out of 30 strikes, I was only able to close 19 pressure points on each of my opponents… Auntie was definitely not exaggerating about this being extremely difficult to perform on real people.” I said to myself as I looked back at the fallen participants. I was sure that they wouldn’t wake up, so in just a minute they would be disqualified. 

One would think that such a technique that could render any mages and witches useless would be the norm amongst martial artists, but the reality is that it is very rare, practically non-existent out there, mainly for two reasons.

The first one is that many martial artists lack knowledge or are ignorant about anatomy, so more often than not, they wouldn’t be aware of the places where they need to hit and the precise strength they’d need to seal away one of these checkpoints.

And the second one is that those below the level of a master when it comes to martial arts more often than not end up neglecting their magical studies, which even if they lacked knowledge about anatomy, would help them immensely to spot the places where mana gathers in high quantities in the enemy’s body.

I, as a reincarnator who studies magic almost religiously and learned anatomy in school in my previous life, never had such problems.

In summary, [Dance of the Fallen] is extremely useful, but difficult to use… Still, it is the best I have when it comes to saving my energy for the main tournament.

I would also like to point out that I wasn't the one that named this technique of mine… It was Auntie.  Her naming sense is… Interesting, to say the least…

“Anyway, let’s review the situation and plan accordingly since attacking like this won’t work forever…” I nodded to myself before changing my focus to my surroundings.

So far, I have eliminated at least 18 people. Impressive, even if I do say so myself. Though, all of them were eliminated because I had the advantage and managed to catch them by surprise. If I had to fight all of those people one on one, I think that number would be a little smaller.

That means that 82 people, myself included, still remain in this arena.

This presents me with two potential courses of action. I could either: A) Stay quiet in this place and wait for the time limit while everyone else is fighting, or B) I can keep attacking other small groups of participants while trying to preserve as much energy as possible.

Option A would be the most logical course of action considering that I want to save my strength for later, however, it might not be entirely viable since I am representing Marina and Alicia. As the champion of the princesses, it might be seen as cowardly of me, even if I eliminated almost 20 people on my own if I keep to myself in a corner while the other students are trying to eliminate each other…

So it all comes to option B, after all… I'm confident that I could take on everyone in the arena, even if they teamed up against me. But that's the thing, it would require me to use a lot of my mana to deal with them… I am not against the idea of using a portion of my mana to cast an AoE spell to eliminate more of my fellow participants, but it would be a risky gamble, as I cannot be certain of how many of them would survive. I would also be vulnerable if I tried to cast such a spell…

While there's no way that I could be taken by surprise as I have spread a web of my mana all over the battlefield, I'd rather not take any chances of someone shadow-stepping behind me as Gideon did…

“You’ve been doing whatever you wanted since this tournament started, but that ends now, son of the Skull Crusher!” Someone shouted at me, interrupting my thoughts.

Welp… Guess option A was not going to be viable either way…  I guess it all comes to Option B then. Time to break some skulls!

As I regained my focus on the battlefield, I realized through the invisible web I made with my mana that a lot of people were gathering around me…  Almost as if it was a non-verbal agreement, around 20 people were currently trying to surround me.

“That ant is done for! He might have caught up those guys by surprise, but he won’t be able to deal with all of us at once!” A lanky human guy shouted with confidence while holding an axe similar to the one my father uses. It was a wonder that he could hold that axe considering that he didn’t look like the strongest out there.

“We got him surrounded! Archers focus your arrows on that fly! Don’t let him get away from your sight! Mages prepare your spells!” A wolfkin girl started barking orders to the rest of the students surrounding me. She seemed to be a martial artist since she was not using any weapons.

“Time to teach this shrimp a lesson!” An elven girl with a seemingly kind expression spoke loudly with malicious intent. She was holding a whip in her hands.

Oh my… It seems like a lot of people here have a death wish… Shall I grant that wish to them? I suppose it is fine if I throw caution to the wind for a bit!

As I looked around and noticed that a huge circle was formed around me by the other participants, I could hear their obnoxious laughter and mockery toward my height as they thought that a simple attempt at ganging up on me was all they needed to take me down.

“Oh! This year’s special participant has been surrounded by a large group of his opponents! I wonder what will he do in this situation! Will he be able to continue his rampage against the other students or will the other participants manage to take him down!? We will be able to find out the answer shortly, so please do not miss a single moment of the battle that is about to begin!” Ophelia shouted with excitement as she hyped this situation for the spectators of the arena.

She’s making this sound way more exciting than it seems. I suppose I should perform for the masses too… I shall give them a show they won’t forget!

“Quite the welcoming party, isn’t it? I’m honored that all of you have deemed me dangerous enough that you determined that it was necessary to group up against a ten-year-old child such as myself.” I thanked them in a sarcastic way. “But, I thank you for this opportunity. This will be a good way to put my training to the test.” I bowed in an elegant manner, just like Professor Tian had taught me.

<Master, do you require my power?> As I thanked the other students before their imminent demises, Remillia’s somber voice echoed in my head.

(Not yet. Can’t show my secret weapon this early on, can I? I want to test how far I can go with martial arts and just a bit of magic.) I said to Remillia as I raised my head and looked at my opponents.

I also now have a bit of a grudge against them… So my fists are all they are going to get for their transgressions… I’m ready to run hands!

<Understood…> Remillia replied with a deadpan tone, but it was easy to tell that the weapon was feeling dejected.

Shesh… There will be plenty of time for Dying Scarlet to shine later. I’ll make sure to use it as much as I can in the next phase. For now, how about I increase my elimination count to 38?

As usual, time to take out the mages first. They are definitely the most dangerous part of the enemy’s group, but they still should be the easiest to take down.

“O great eternal flame of the phoenix, heed our call and grant us your power…-” The mages of the group tried to cast a fire spell to attack me, but I was not going to allow them to do as they wanted.

Just like I had done countless times before, I subtly created a pair of small spheres of wind beneath the soles of my feet and made them explode at the exact moment when I was about to dash at the enemy. 

“Burn everything to ash and… Urgh…!” As one of my opponents, a lone elf was almost done with the group’s collective chant, I decided to interrupt him by using my open palm and closing the mana checkpoint in his stomach.

“What the hell!? How did he get there so fast!?” The girl with the whip let out a confused shout thanks to the sight in front of her.

My onslaught against the lone elven caster didn’t end there… Solar plexus, arms, hands, legs, neck, and heart… I made sure to hit as many pressure points as I could around his most vital areas. The lone elven caster wouldn’t be able to cast any magic until those pressure points reopen on their own.

Naturally, my opponent was also about to lose consciousness thanks to my onslaught. It was only when he fell to the ground that I stopped attacking.

“Quick! Finish the spell before he attacks anyone else! We need to all attack him at the same time after the spell connects!” The bossy wolfkin girl from before yelled her orders for everyone to hear.

Isn’t it bad that I heard your plan, miss? You should have done a strategy meeting before trying to gang up on me…  Well, the result would have been the same either way since they don’t really seem that coordinated.

“Aye!” Everyone let out a loud battle cry as they agreed with the bossy wolfkin. “From the ashes, the world shall be reborn…!" The mages had finally finished their chant.

"[Endless Flaming Spears]!" The mages shouted in unison as countless spears of flame were shot toward me and the fallen elven caster from all directions…

A Grade 6 spell, huh? And a pretty powerful one as well… The spells that Gideon and his friends used can't even compare to this one. Their control over their spell and technique was flawless as well… As expected of the future elites of this country.

Now that's a real spell! This is getting exciting! This will be fun!

As the almost infinite fire spears rapidly approached me, a smile appeared on my face as I gathered my mana to counter my opponents' powerful spell using my own magic…

Soon, my own [Blazing Javelins] appeared all around me and then shot in all directions, crashing against the enemy’s spell and provoking dozens of fiery explosions thanks to the scorching fire from both spells. That fire soon turned into smoke as our spells kept crashing against each other.

“N-N-No way… He can also cast spells with the Voiceless Method!?” The bossy wolfkin from before was utterly dumbfounded.

“He’s matching the power of our spell too! How is he doing that without chanting!?” The elven girl with the whip seemed a bit terrified.

Of course, I didn’t let this opportunity I had created slip away from me… I immediately gathered the threads I made with my mana and used them to draw a magic circle right beneath our feet. I made sure that the magic circle was big enough to encompass the whole group of students.

“You know? The Incantation Method is far more effective when you combine it with the Runic Method. There’s been little to no opportunities for me to practice the Drawing Method in real combat, so I’ll gladly take this opportunity to show you what I can do.” I said with a crafty look on my face. “O great frost that dwells within…” I immediately started my chant. 

Before anyone could react to my words, my magic circle had already been completed. With all the runes it needed and more… The magic circle started to shine with an intense azure light, which was just the preamble of what was about to happen.

“Frozen tundra, alpine tempest, raging blizzard, arctic revelation…” I continued to chant as I poured more of my mana into the magic circle. 

“S-Stop him! Don’t let him launch that spell!” The lanky human guy sounded like he was even more scared than the elven girl. Can’t blame him though.

“If we stop firing the [Endless Flaming Spears] we are done for! The moment we do that, his spell will hit all of us!” One of the mages shouted in a panic. “We’ll try to give you an opportunity for you to get close! Make sure to eliminate him in one strike! We don’t know for how long we can keep this up, so you have to act quickly!” The mage explained the situation.

Hmm… My mana reserves are fine at the moment since I’ve been carefully using small amounts, so I think I could keep this stalemate for a few hours or more, so… But please, keep shouting your plans! It is quite funny to be on the other end of this. Wait… Is this how villains feel in novels when the heroes are strategizing? 

Food for thought that I maybe should leave for later… 

Though, I find it commendable that they never thought about running away and leaving the circle. I don’t know if that’s either foolish or brave coming from them.

“O that mighty calm wrath that freezes the seas and resides within the ancient earth…-!” I continued my chant as I discarded my previous thoughts for later

“I’ll do it… You can only give us one chance, right? Then there’s no one better than me for that job. Give the signal and I’ll tear his throat apart!” The dumbfounded bossy wolfkin suddenly composed herself and volunteered to take me down.

That’s a little concerning, my lady… I believe that this is supposed to be a family-friendly tournament since there are countless kids watching this, myself included…

“You’ll have to do it now! He’s going to finish his chant soon! So as soon as I give you the signal, jump in and defeat him!” The mage said to the wolfkin in a desperate tone.

“Considered it done!” The wolfkin spoke as she prepared herself to attack and her bloodlust became greater than before…

“Everyone! Give your all! Show that gnome that we will not lose! Put all the mana you have into it!” The mage shouted at his companions.

“Aye! Let’s turn that gnome into ash!” His companions yelled in unison and started using everything they had on their spell.

Their magical bombardment certainly became even more intense, not enough to overpower my spell and hit me, but just enough to push back my [Blazing Javelins]...

You… Just how much do you guys want to die…? Just for that, I’ll make my spell extra painful for all those who called me a gnome…

“Now! Jump in now, Felicia!” The mage gave the signal to the wolfkin girl.

“Prepare yourself! I got you now!” The wolfkin girl, Felicia, soon jumped into the fray after channeling her [Fighting Spirit], skillfully dodging all of the few projectiles I managed to send after her and closing the distance between us by running on all fours. “This is the end, son of the Skull Crusher!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as she leaped in order to strike me down.

I was able to see her huge claws that actually seemed like they could rip me apart in an instant… Those huge claws were rapidly approaching my neck…

For anyone else in this arena, it might seem like I’m in trouble since that girl Felicia is quite literally just a few moments from using her claws to slice my throat open in a very messy and unenjoyable way, but I was not really in trouble. After all, these guys were dumb enough to start shouting their plan while I could hear… 

As I saw Felicia rapidly approach me, I simply allowed myself to fall to the ground… Felicia’s claws missed my neck by a hair’s breadth as I kept falling and looking at the baffled wolfkin girl.

“No way… He dodged it… Just like that…” Felicia muttered as if she couldn’t believe that I had dodged her attack. She was staring at me with a confused expression on her face.

That confused expression was the last thing I saw as I fell into a world of darkness… Instead of hitting the hard stone of the arena's floor with my back and head, I had dived into my own shadow to enter the [Realm of Darkness]... In other words, I had used the same spell that Gideon had used against me, [Shadow Step].

The spell consists of entering a world ruled by darkness hidden within one's own shadow. In this world, there are countless windows that serve as exit points out of this realm. Those windows are the shadows of everything that was within a fifteen-meter radius of me when I dwelled in this vast ocean of darkness.

Navigating this place was immensely difficult at first… Being in this place initially was almost as overwhelming as being trapped deep into the water while the current tries to wash you away into oblivion…

Yeah, I know how it sounds… It is quite terrifying. At least it was to me at first… But now, it is quite a useful place and not scary at all. It feels like I'm swimming in a kid's pool, no pun intended.

"Now then… It should be around here somewhere… Ah, there it is. That was quicker than I thought." I said after looking around for a bit for the exit point I wanted to use. I managed to find it without much trouble.

I quickly traversed through the never-ending darkness and reached the exit point that I was about to use.

"Bet she wasn’t expecting to be the one receiving a surprise attack." I said as I channeled more of my mana into another spell.

With this, I should have used around 10% of my total mana… I better put an end to this before that amount increases…

"Let's see how you react to this!" I shouted in the infinite darkness as I used wind magic around my entire body to propel myself out of the shadow realm.

Within an instant, the warm light I was so accustomed to was once again enveloping everything around me. Despite that familiar light being a little blinding, I didn't lose sight of my objective.

I had appeared right behind an unsuspecting Felicia, who was still confused and desperately looking for me.

"Felicia! Behind you!" The lanky guy screamed in a panic as he noticed my ambush.

Despite his warning, it was too late. It only took me a moment to hit three of Felicia's pressure points on her back. One below her right kidney, another one on the left lung, and the final one around her nape.

"Guh…!" Felicia let out a helpless yelp as her mana had been sealed. Though I knew that unlike most of the magic users I had faced previously until now, this wouldn't be enough to knock out Felicia as she wasn't a magician. "You little imp!" She yelled in a rage as she spun her body around and tried to sink her claws into my throat, which was proof of her physical prowess.

However, by the time her claws reached the place where I was just a few moments ago, I had already retreated back into the shadow realm with the help of my wind magic.

Just like I did last time, I quickly traversed the vast darkness and used wind magic to propel myself out when I found another particular exit point… This one was several meters away from Felicia and her group.

"What in the gods' graceful heavens!?" The kind-looking girl who seemed worried about me at the start of the tournament jumped as she was startled because of me suddenly coming out of her shadow like a meteor.

I'll have to shorten the chant a fair bit if I want to catch all of them in my spell… Its power will be reduced considerably, but I guess I shouldn’t get nitpicky in battle. I’ll just take care of anyone who manages to survive the old-fashioned way.

Such were my thoughts as I flew high in the air over the arena and got a clear view of my magic circle and the group that was trying to eliminate me.

"Bare your fangs, frost wolf. Bite them to the core and reduce this world to nothing but ice…" I finished the rest of my chant which had been shortened and pointed my hand at the magic circle and my opponents. "[Icicle Tempest]!" I shouted with all my being as I activated my spell.

Soon, an enormous white cloud enveloped the area where I had been standing previously. My opponents were trapped in there, lost deep within a chilling mist. 

Inside that white cloud, countless yet sharp icy shards rained upon the enemy, constantly showering them with attacks coming from every direction. Within moments, both of our fire spells were rendered useless as some of the icy shards immediately turned into water upon contact with the heat of our attacks.

I couldn't help but look at the results of my spell with satisfaction after I landed back on the ground of the arena.

"That should take care of them. Guess that makes it 38 so far." I said as I watched the onslaught from afar. "If none of them survives that is…” I nodded to myself as I carefully remain on high alert to spot any survivors.

“Incredible! The son of Skull Crusher quickly claims his victory against the sixth daughter of the Earl of Gradisia and her group! As you all know, Earl Gradisia and his family are renowned for their brutality in hand-to-hand combat, and yet Julius was able to take Felicia and her group within a minute! Truly, what an astounding achievement!” For some reason, I felt like Ophelia was unjustly biased in my favor.

Ophelia… I know I was trying to put up some spectacle, but give some attention to the other participants too… Don’t be a bad host! 

“P-P-Please don’t harm me!” The kind girl who previously worried about my well-being now spoke to me with increasing fear in her voice.

“That would depend on your answer. Are you looking for a fight with me, my lady?” I asked the girl as I turned around to watch her reaction.

Hm? Her face seems kinda familiar… Where have I seen her before? I don’t think I have ever met this girl before the tournament started, so why does she seem so familiar?

The girl in question was a dwarf. She was around 1.42 meters tall, so just 10 centimeters taller than me. In terms of age, I think she should be around 13 years old, just like Mia. She had long brown hair and a pair of green eyes, which combined with her soft facial features made her really familiar to me. She was holding a common-looking wooden staff as well as wearing some white clerical robes on top of her uniform… She appeared to be a priestess.

As I looked at her as if I was staring into her very soul trying to figure out where I had seen that face before, the poor girl started to shake her head as fast as she could… 

It was actually a bit funny how panicked she seemed. 

“If you are not looking for a fight, there’s no need for you to be on the edge with me. Since you were worried about my well-being a few minutes ago, I don’t mean any harm to you. You can consider it my thanks for your genuine concern.” I smiled at the girl.

“Really…? You won’t suddenly attack me the moment I turn my back…?” The girl looked at me with suspicion.

“I wouldn’t dare to even think of doing such a disgraceful thing, my lady.” I shook my head in response.

“I’m glad then… I was forc…- I mean, encouraged to participate in the tournament by my father, and believe me when I say that the last thing I want is getting beaten into a pulp like any of the poor souls that have crossed your path, son of the Skull Crusher.” The girl let out a huge sigh of relief.

“You can call me Julius. As much as I like being acknowledged as my father’s son, I would prefer to be called by my name, my lady. So please feel free to use it instead of my father’s title.” I couldn’t help but laugh a little at how relieved the girl looked that I wouldn’t fight her.

“Julius… I am pleased to meet you… And pleased that I don’t have to fight someone like you… My name is Myria. Myria Leona Estner, I am the only daughter of Baron Estner, ruler of the city of Estner in the Vauquelin Dukedom.” The girl, Myria, held the tips of her clerical robe and bowed elegantly. “I’m sure you have never heard of our House as it was established twenty years ago, but it is a pleasure to meet the son of such a legendary knight. I must admit that you’re not what I imagined you to be, especially after witnessing your battles against my classmates…” For some reason, she a noble, was treating me a commoner, with respect… It seemed that she was still fairly afraid of me.

“Did you expect some kind of a demon or anything like that? I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I like to consider myself a pretty normal person.” I couldn’t help but tease her with a smile on my face.

Little does she know that she’s actually talking with the son of a genuine demon…

“O-O-Of course not! I didn’t mean to imply such a thing about you!” Myria got flustered and averted her gaze.

It seems like she’s easy to tease, just like Auntie… Guess it wouldn’t hurt to have some fun until someone who actually wants to fight appears.

(Julius… I don’t mind that you are having fun flirting with girls, but remember there’s a time and place for everything. I don’t want you to let your guard down just because you were talking to a pretty girl.) Lia suddenly spoke in my mind.

(Flirting!? I’m not!) I was bewildered due to Lia’s accusations…   

(Right… And we believe you, Adorable Cutie! This is the same thing that you were doing with the Blue Roses!) Thiasis said with sarcasm and used one of my titles to make fun of me…

(I didn’t do such a thing!) I denied her accusations. 

(I think that everything was going well for him… It almost seemed like the beginning of such a cute love story, you know? What a waste! Still, it is such a small world… I wonder how Douglas is going to take that you were flirting with his cousin.) Catris also joined into the fray with her own opinion about this situation…

Seriously… Do these goddesses only like shipping me with every girl I happen to meet? They are just like my mom in that regard… Sigh…

Also Douglas…? 

As I took a closer look at Myria, it was quite clear that she resembled one of the friends of my new aunties, the dwelf Douglas.

Ah! So that’s why she seemed so familiar! I see! Now everything makes sense!

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to talk about that with the dwarven girl, as something else immediately caught all of my attention.

I heard it… The sounds of an explosion coming from the place I had been fighting in not so long ago…

And then… A somewhat familiar silhouette was propelled out of the white cloud I had created with my spell… It only took me a second to realize to whom that silhouette belonged… The bossy wolfkin from before had managed to survive my spell… I had managed to see it, the precise moment in which she jumped out of the white cloud and landed on all fours just a few meters shy of Myria and me. She was clearly not happy to see me…

“Eek!” Myria jumped in surprise and hid behind me as she saw the expression Felicia had on her face.

“Don’t you… Dare underestimate me… That was nothing…” Felicia said as she looked a little ragged… I could see several small crystal shards of ice nailed on her skin all over her body and clothing. Her bracelet seemed to have a lot of cracks on it, yet it still managed to hold itself together. “The real battle begins now…” She looked at me with a fierce gaze as she buried her claws into the hard cobblestone… 

Damn… Not gonna lie, that thing with her claws was really cool and genuinely intimidating…

“Would you look at that…!” Ophelia became even more excited than before. “Felicia managed to survive Julius’s devastating spell and her will to fight is still burning like a raging wildfire! We couldn’t expect any less from her who was born in a house of renowned warriors! An intense battle is about to begin, ladies and gentlemen!” Ophelia yelled as she hyped our encounter.

“I would never dare to make that kind of mistake, my lady.” I shook my head. “To use fire magic to cause an explosion to escape from my spell… You have my praise, Lady Felicia.” I showed my honest admiration toward the wolfkin girl.

“It was not my idea… Those guys decided to blast me off in order to save me.” She said without taking her eyes off me. Her gaze was pretty intense… “Those fools… They could have run to save themselves instead of worrying about me.” Felicia said with annoyance in her voice.

“A commendable decision coming from your companions. You seem to be very close to them.” I said to Felicia before nodding to myself.

“Not really… They are just some classmates of mine who happen to follow me around and who clearly do not care about my opinion on the matter… I just decided to team up with them this time around just to take you down.” For some reason, I could tell that Felicia wasn’t being honest about her relationship with the guys she teamed up with.

“I see… Despite that, I still find their sacrifice worthy of respect.” I decided not to mention her lie and moved on.

“Enough talk… You really caught us by surprise, but that will not happen again to me… I will not let history repeat itself again! I will not fall so easily as my father did!” Felicia basically growled at me as she prepared herself to fight.

She won’t let history repeat itself again… Her father? What exactly does she mean by that? I’m a bit lost… 

Hmm… I suppose I will have to fight first and leave the questions for later, as usual.

“I accept your challenge then! But before that, I believe that we must introduce ourselves properly.” I said before taking a battle stance. “I am Julius Navar, adoptive son of the Skull Crusher and the Crimson Witch. I am the one who represents the princesses in this tournament as well as the one who will win it!” I introduced myself to Felicia with a confident smile.

“Win this tournament, you say…? You’re not the only one who aims for that, Julius.” A huge smile appeared on Felicia’s face while looking at me. “I am Felicia Belin Gradisia, daughter of the Earl of Gradisia as well as the one who will actually win this tournament and defeat you, son of the Skull Crusher!” Felicia’s whole body tensed up right before she leaped toward me.

“Let us begin this dance then!” I smiled back at her as I followed her lead and dashed forward to meet her in battle.

Thus, my battle against the wolfkin Felicia began as the dwarf Myria watch closely from behind…

Chapter 61: Fools with a Death Wish and a Familiar Face…

END

GodlyKamui

Heya! New chapter! How are y'all doing? I've been doing pretty well these last few days. I went to the movies the other day and watched the new One Piece movie with a buddy of mine even though I hadn't really watched the series before aside from a few clips and the first arc of the series, despite that, I can say that I really enjoyed the movie. The soundtrack was amazing yo! Also, I bought all of the books of A Song of Ice and Fire + Fire and Blood since I had only watched the shows, I'm liking them a lot as well, so hopefully, I'll be able to spoil House of the Dragon when S2 comes out to those bastards who spoiled me at my workplace...

But enough about me, let's talk a bit about the chapter. Here we can see the technique that Eliana and Marina explained to Alicia in full display from Julius's perspective and we are also introduced to Myria, Douglas's cousin. She was one of my favorite characters in the original draft of Echoes, so I really hope I can better expand her character this time around. There's also Felicia, a MOB who suddenly decided that she was not going to be a mob anymore... What can I say, it is funny to put the MC on the other end of those cliche moments where other MCs survive through sheer luck and random bullshit.

Anyway, I'm kinda sleepy now, so I'll read Fire & Blood for a bit and then I'll slumber until further notice...

Julius zooming through the battlefield (without the blood and the killing, of course...):

As usual, I do hope that you enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to comment and leave some hearts since that motivates me to continue writing the story! Also, join the discord to talk about the story and see the new picrew/NovelAI character illustrations I'm working on! Here's the link: https://discord.gg/uH6APbzrFR

Buh-bye!