When A Mage Revolts

Benjamin could sense that the staff was looking at him indifferently.

".... All participants can obtain up to five thousand gold coins." After a brief pause, he continued, "However, it’s better for you to give up. You don’t have what it takes to enter."

Benjamin was surprised upon hearing this.

Five thousand gold coins per participation. How rich was the organizer of this activity?

He quickly followed up, "Then how does one qualify?"

The staff peered at him and shook his head. He couldn’t be bothered to answer but under Benjamin’s persistent questioning, he still replied, "If you could have three continuous wins in the ring, then you will be qualified."

And here he thought it was going to be hard...

Benjamin laughed heartily and nodded, "Three rounds? Alright, I’m in."

He went straight to the counter to register for the ring under the surprised gaze of the staff. A non-legal binding fight to the death contract, a weird mask provided by the organizers and some worn up armor and blade...

Mages wouldn’t participate in this type of competition, so he decided to hide his identity as a mage. After some adjustments, he was unrecognizable. He recalled the little military training he had and picked up the rusty sword.

"S-sir... Apart from stabbing at each other, no other weapon is allowed." Will was getting panicky and pulled Benjamin to the side. He whispered, "Are you really going to participate?"

Benjamin smiled, "I have my methods."

He had used some time to observe the square. Those sitting behind the rings were all mercenaries filled with killing intent and not a single mage with sharp Spiritual Energy.

If that were the case, then there were many tricks up his sleeve that he could pull.

He was a mage. Of course, he wouldn’t be foolishly reckless.

And so, even if he wasn’t confident in his martial arts, he was still confident about his chances in the ring.

There wasn’t much efficiency in the staff here. After Benjamin was ready, he had to wait more than an hour before it was his turn.

"Go on, you’re up." A man walked over and coldly said to him.

Benjamin nodded.

He wore a pure black mask as he walked out of the restroom. Under the instructions of the organizers, he slowly walked towards the ring.

Someone blew an ear-piercing horn and announced to the overbearing crowd that a new "bull fighter" has arrived. The people turned and made a path. Many gazes were cast upon Benjamin who was hidden in cloak and mask.

Benjamin did not return their gaze and walked straight ahead through the path toward the ring. He felt like Moses parting the red sea.

After a brief silence, sounds of cheers and abuse rained on him.

"Another newcomer..."

"Fuck, what a skinny fellow! Don’t tell me he’s still in puberty?"

"Look at his hands and you can tell he hasn’t swing a sword in his life. It’s better we bet on the other guy – easy win!"

Listening to the cries of the crowd, Benjamin could only lower his head and look at his right hand that was holding the sword. He was young and did not participate much in martial arts practice. Just one glimpse of his arms people would naturally look down on him.

However, it didn’t bother him. He was sympathetic towards the guy that was to be his opponent.

After Benjamin entered the ring, his opponent emerged from the opposite side of the arena.

It was a standard mercenary with arms as thick as his thigh. With solid body armor that reeked of sweat and blood. It looked much more reliable than the cloak Benjamin was using to help hide his identity.

He wore a balaclava which only revealed his eyes, which were blood shot red like a mad bull.

They sized each other up at the same time. However, he took one look at Benjamin and snorted with disdain. He dropped his guard on purpose to provoke Benjamin,

The crowd let out a small cheer following his actions.

"Go on! Kill him!"

"Steady win..."

"Another one-sided fight. How boring. Why don’t they pick two evenly matched opponents?"

Although the audience was getting impatient, the two in the ring have yet to make a move — before the start of every fight, there would be some time for the audience to place their bets. A few nude ladies would perform in the center of the ring while the fighters stood at opposite corners. All in all, the entire process would take around five minutes.

In those short minutes, the two simply stood at their corners, not doing a thing.

The mercenary seemed impatient, but Benjamin didn’t mind and patiently waited for the audience to place their bets.

The audience were familiar with the procedure and made their bets quickly. The five minutes flew by. The corner that represented the other mercenary was filled with chips while Benjamin’s corner had only a few coins, like a barren tundra in Siberia.

Before long, a host into the ring. He used a booming voice to hush the excited crowd,

"Gentlemen, are you ready?! Contestants, you may now begin!"

At the sound of the bell, the mercenary let out a shout like a virgin that had been suppressed all his life and charged at Benjamin.

But Benjamin was well prepared.

He had earlier used a non-verbal incantation to summon water steam and had already covered the entire arena with steam before bets were placed. No smell, no color, no magic oscillation; apart from the now moisturized lips of the crowd, no one noticed a thing.

This steam was Benjamin’s trump card.

Just as his opponent was about to make a full swing, he controlled the water steam as he gently slid to the side.

With the forces of the water steam, Benjamin moved more than a meter in an instant and dodged the sword without any problem. Benjamin stared back at his vicious opponent who was now in complete disbelief.

Cries were heard from the crowd.

"What the hell..."

"Di-did you see what just happened? How did he dodge that...?"

"Oh fuck, this fella must be dosed with some sort of expensive magic potion!"

Benjamin was extremely careful to make the water steam sync with his movements, so it merely seemed like he was agile and thus, able to dodge any attack. With this, it would be hard to see that he was cheating.

He was still trying to get used to syncing the steam with his movements. After the initial dodge, it needed a little tweaking, so he stood still and did not immediately launch a counter attack.

The mercenary could not believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes, before turning around and dashing towards Benjamin a second time.