Despite the fight's calmness and the few drastic or decisive moves, both were sore, especially Louis.

It was very difficult to face a guy who was as hard as iron with his bare hands. His bones ached, and although he had landed a couple of decent punches, they weren't enough.

As for Iron, there wasn't much to say. He never thought he'd have a fight like this.

No decisive blows, just attrition, but his opponent didn't really want to wear him down.

'He just seems to be testing me,' he thought.

That feeling was what made him think he couldn't beat him.

When Louis got serious, he would surely lose.

'I have to act fast,' he thought, remembering that his transformation with his ability would not last long.

He had half the time left, so he took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes and opened them again after a few seconds.

The first thing he did was jump nimbly from one side to the other.

He was heavy, but he had no trouble continuing to move like this.

Then he conjured up various spells on his feet, legs, torso, and arms.

Some spells increased his speed, others increased his vitality even more, and others gave him amazing strength.

After several jumps in the same place, but moving with his legs, he stood firmly in one spot.

He didn't say a word.

His fist would speak for him. His body shot towards Louis and, in a matter of moments, covered the entire distance.

Then they got into a head-on fight again, but this time, full of movements and firm blows.

It didn't take long for Louis to take the losing point, but even so, he managed to stand up to him and, at one point, push him back, but he quickly returned to the losing side.

'What incredible strength and endurance,' he thought.

Perhaps he had 30 or 50 more points than him at this moment. Going from barely reaching 100 to doubling that amount was something worth mentioning, as expected of a special skill like this.

Louis rolled to one corner of the arena and shortly after had to dodge the incoming attack, which ended up completely destroying that part of the arena.

'Tsk. I can't go on like this.' Louis knew he didn't have enough stamina to endure any more fights as intense as this one, so he had to be decisive.

He didn't want to, because he was learning the martial artist's way of doing magic and that peculiarity of mass increase, which might be useful for his new magical concept, but his muscles ached, and some of his bones might break if he kept hitting this guy.

Besides, he had a billion-jens bet to win. He couldn't lose because he hadn't taken it seriously.

Suddenly, his aura changed. Iron had trouble keeping up with him at that moment because he no longer seemed to be the martial artist he was fighting; instead, he had a very magical aura.

That's why he lost sight of him, and when he looked back, Louis was next to him, with a fist pressed against his stomach. In addition to the powerful impact, the fist also carried a magic that caused an explosion.

Iron rolled around in the arena in shock, and pain struck him in his abdomen. 'Did it pierce through iron?' He even felt like vomiting blood.

The question was... How had he been able to create that magic without his catalyst?

It wasn't very easy for non-magicians to create magic without a catalyst. In fact, even magicians have difficulty doing so and must study specifically for it.

Even so, as he pondered this, he recalled the fight that had taken place one battle earlier.

That mysterious woman used the same method of creating magic that he had just witnessed firsthand. He hadn't questioned it because he wasn't facing her, but now that he was facing someone just like her, he had to ask himself the question.

How do they do it?

Martial artists can do it because their bodies are the catalyst.

Swordsmen can do it because their swords are their catalysts.

Mages, like Mark, have specialized catalysts like the scepter he uses.

Armamentists have those guns and firearms.

Each of them had catalysts, but these two didn't seem to have them.

Hiding such things was impossible, so he dismissed that possibility.

He saw only one possibility, and that was that these two were special.

Or...

'Could they be students of that legendary professor?' he wondered, remembering that his father had always mentioned a legendary professor.

Hardrial Forwal.

He is quite possibly the only mage in the kingdom (an armamentalist in this case) capable of casting magic without needing a catalyst.

He always knew that this professor taught at the Royal Academy, but he was never allowed to visit his department, so he didn't know how many students he had, but many people said that he was simply a selfish, arrogant, and unreliable professor.

Iron always chose to believe his father, but he had not been able to corroborate it personally... Until now.

While he was lost in his own thoughts, Iron could not defend himself against the brutal onslaught that loomed over him. His body was being dragged by spells that were activated at very close range.

In his abdomen, shoulder, chest, back...

Although he tried to defend himself at some point, he couldn't do it. The magic and the blows he received led him to a dead end, and soon he hit the ground outside the combat arena.

Finally, he vomited blood, and his ability was deactivated entirely.

He couldn't resist any longer and fell unconscious.

Louis took a deep breath. 'So much magic used. How much did that guy weigh?' He sighed.

He considered talking to him when the tournament was over, thinking that it would be a good idea to have another fight with him, one more focused on martial arts.

When he was announced the winner, he left the arena.

As in his past fights, he became the spectators' conversation topic.

"What do you think of this contestant, Lady Loren?" the Emperor asked suddenly.

Lady Loren smiled and didn't hesitate when she replied, "He's going to win the tournament, and very easily." She assured him.

The emperor was surprised and stared at her. "Is he that good?"

"Hahaha, much better than he looks. Besides, this boy has studied those magical concepts of Hardrial Forwal and is very talented. It will be impossible to beat him. None of the other prominent professors' students are at the necessary level."

The emperor swallowed hard. "Not even Mark? That boy is powerful. He's not showing his cards yet."

"Mark Neville is just a child," she replied casually.

A very peculiar answer, because if we're talking about children, wouldn't Louis fit that description better?

He's about four or five years younger than Mark, so how could he not be a child?

But for Lady Loren, that wasn't the case.

In her eyes, this Louis was not a child. She wasn't referring to age but to power.

To her, Mark Neville was a child in terms of power, while Louis von Habsburg was simply someone who shouldn't be there.

"Haha..." One of the castle leaders laughed to break the tension and then cleared his throat.

"Should we try to recruit him?" he asked.

"That's not a question you should be asking yourself," said Lady Loren. "You should all try to do so. Because if you can't control him, he could control you," she assured them.

They all frowned, and their expressions visibly fell. They didn't think the situation was that serious, but why was she saying that?

It seemed as if she knew that boy quite well.

They simply nodded and said nothing more.

-

Among the VIP rooms, there was one where a beautifully dressed woman, Jessy, was sitting surrounded by men and women of status and good manners (all nobles).

"Lord Carwine is amazing, as always," said one of the local nobles from the Industrial District, in awe.

"Of course." Jessy immediately puffed out her chest proudly. "And he's just getting serious. I'm afraid it will be very difficult to get My Lord to fight with everything he's got in this tournament."

"Miss Jessy, do you think Lord Carwine is going to win this tournament?" asked another of the nobles, a rather prominent man.

An earl.

"Earl, if you want to make some money, just listen to me. Bet on My Lord to win the tournament, and I assure you that you will win that bet," she replied casually.

The earl frowned. 'I don't know if she's saying that out of emotion, because he's her master, or because she really knows what she's talking about,' he thought.

But he also understood that betting existed in this tournament because there is no certainty about who will win. They are all so good that it is difficult to say that someone will win simply.

And Jessy, such an intelligent woman, should know that. At least that's what the earl thought.

Maybe betting wasn't such a bad idea.

After those brief exchanges, they began to praise Louis again.

Some may have been doing so out of self-interest, while others were genuinely surprised that someone so young could be so good.

At this point, he was the only person under 20 in the tournament, and he was only 16, but he was already facing off against seniors.

Jessy was very proud and quite happy, answering questions from the nobles as she watched the tournament unfold.

-

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