The Mysterious Black Magician

Looking at the current pace of the competition, it wouldn't take till night for this elimination round to end. For all the recent matches, the only match that took longer to finish was Bob's match. He was paired with a trainee who similarly had high vitality like him. Their endurance was put to a test if whoever among them could endure the fight longer than the other. The battle was somewhat blood-boiling and it took the audience by surprise.

After a thunderous howl, Bob finished his opponent using earth crashing body-slam.

"I wonder why Bob didn't engage him in a face-to-face confrontation?" Chloe asked with a confused face. Although Bob won the match, it wasn't with a result that she expected. Especially that Chloe was kind of familiar with his style.

"Might be because the enemy was more agile," Almina was the one who answered. Then she glanced at the person beside her. "What do you think, Yman?" She asked him with a flash of redness.. The memory of that time when they fought the demon had a brief flashback in her mind. That time when they held each other's hand, it was somewhat one of the unforgettable moments for her. Almina subconsciously glances at her hand then looked at his hand that was on his side.

Her hand slowly approached his. But she paused when she heard him. Almina quickly retreated her hand and hid it behind her. She cleared her throat and listened to him.

"Hm… yeah, I also think it was the case but. I guess it wasn't only because of that…" he replied. 

"Can you specify your reason?" Unexpectedly, the blonde interjected. Yman looked at her. But then he remembered something. 'Wait, didn't she tell me once to call her by her real name?' Regardless, it wasn't important as of now. Yman opened his mouth once again. "Although the enemy was more agile than Bob, it was not a big issue—"

"Why not?!" Although he wasn't finished with his words, the blonde interjected once again, causing him to pause for a moment. His mouth extended to both sides to form a wry smile. "Because mostly, the person who is used to fighting in a melee will be tempted to engage in a face-off battle. For this reason, he/she will subconsciously forget his/her advantage in other aspects, especially when the enemy has similarity to him or herself. Then the deciding factor of their match will still be in the aspect of endurance," Yman explained.

"oh, I see…' Almina and Chloe were nodding their heads. On the contrary, the blonde had a face that was not fully convinced by his explanation. "Well, it's not always true but. It was what happened to Bob's fight," he added.

"Hm… I see…" The blonde finally showed an agreement to him. "Is that the reason that he won that fight?" She asked once again. "But it was clear that he was at the disadvantage of their fight," the Blonde added while looking straight at him.

Yman glanced at her. He thought that maybe this girl, I mean Maena(He changed the way she called her), thought that he gave Bob tips beforehand. "No, the reason he won was because of pure luck only," Yman said honestly. It was the truth. And it was clear just by looking at Bob's current situation. He looked more beat up than his opponent.

The enemy transformed into a full-blown beast. He looked like a werewolf. On the other hand, Bob used his trademark ability. The body strengthening. His body grew bigger and his muscle hardened like stones. More like, he turned his whole body as hard as stone. Yman felt happy that Bob leveled up to such a degree in just a month and few days.

Truly, it was an outstanding advancement, especially that the HCZ7 Academy was a backwater academy. Seeing Bob's power-up, he believed that he already graduated from his beginner tier in controlling his metal element. Right, he remembered Bob's strongest elemental affinity was metal. Then again, he heard many good things about the so-called dungeon. He was yet to see it in person.

It must be the reason that Bob and the others were able to advance quite fast. Yman felt excited to try this so-called dungeon. Regardless, one of the reasons that Bob was at the disadvantage in his fight was because the enemy used an expensive item. He used a pair of knuckles that boosted his attack and attack speed. Bob, on the other hand, only had a cheap leather armor to slightly increase his defense. It was the reason why Bob did not engage openly. He was waiting patiently for his opponent to loosen his guard.

Luckily his patience had paid off. The enemy rained relentless claw attacks on Bob. The person thought that his victory was definite after seeing Bob's situation. After all, Bob was shredded all over his body. However, a mistake brought his downfall.

When he thought that Bob could do nothing anymore, he was caught by Bob's firm hands. Then Bob well-executed a combo of grapple attack. He never let the enemy escape until he turned to light particles. 

His win muted the lively audience. It was a different kind of fight compared to those who came up before him. Maybe Bob was secretly a successor of an ancient technique.

"Haaah!!!" Bob came back with a huge sigh. "Congrats Bob…" Yman and the others said their congratulatory remarks. "Thanks bro!" He replied with an exhausted face.

The next who came up on stage was the big guy in Kiko's group. Since Yman and co were standing near the entrance to the stage, the guy passed by on them. But the person sent a sharp gaze towards the. Then he sneered at Bob. "Weak..." he said to Bob. Bob, who was still exhausted from his fight, returned a sharp gaze. "All talk…" Bob replied. Yman and the others just remained quiet.

Not far from them, Kiko was staring at him in a gaze that wanted to devour him alive. But he disregarded it. 

The big guy in Kiko's group had the nickname of Destroyer. After hearing Bob's reply, he looked at him coldly. Their duel before was a draw. He was so mad at the result. That's why the next time they would be facing again, he would make sure to defeat Bob in an overbearing victory.

For some reason, his enemy was also a defensive type. It was identical to Bob's fight a while ago.