"The winner is Seila!" Cecilia announced.
"What?" 22 snapped. "I'm still standing! She was the one on the ground!"
Cecilia didn't respond.
She simply raised a hand, and 22's body lifted gently into the air.
A moment later, the ground beneath where he'd been standing crumbled into dust—and fell away.
Fell?
A hole.
A deep one, with sharpened spikes made of hardened earth at the bottom.
22 stared, stunned. "How...? When did she—?"
Cecilia crossed her arms. "Isn't it obvious? Every time she struck the ground, she wasn't just kicking up dust.
She was digging. Carving a hole, shaping the spikes beneath it.
You were too focused on her and the pebbles flying at you to notice. I even gave you a few extra seconds before ending the match."
Seila had left the top layer of the arena floor around her intact, just enough to stand on.
And after she'd deliberately taken the hit, 22 ended up standing right where she'd been.
She hadn't let go immediately.
Instead, she looked to Cecilia, holding the fragile surface together with last drops of her mana
If she had let go, 22 would've fallen straight down and been impaled.
Cecilia saw that.
She gave him one more second—a chance to notice the trap beneath his feet.
But he hadn't.
Seila had used up all her mana by then. If Cecilia hadn't stepped in, 22 would've suffered serious injuries.
That was the true end of the match.
After the explanation, 22 only frowned, saying that if Cecilia hadn't stopped the match, he could have won and the trap wasn't enough.
But Cecilia's determination was firm. "Even if what you said was true, that would still be a loss.
A first year came that close to defeating you. You should be ashamed as the number 22."
His scowl deepened, but he didn't argue further. The instructor's ruling was final.
And this wasn't an official exam.
As long as the others believed he could've won, that was enough for him.
He turned and walked back.
"We'll take a 10-minute break. After that, I'll go over what I saw in each of your matches and what you need to work on. Then, at the end, I'll fight number 11—Colt."
Everyone had been waiting for that.
Of course, no one expected anyone to beat a level 199 instructor. But still, they were curious—what kind of match would it be?
***
Seila stepped down from the arena after a priest healed her wounds.
"You were amazing, Sei!" Hei was the first to congratulate her.
Myrin chimed in right after, saying she'd watched the match with her heart pounding.
Colt was grinning from ear to ear, beaming with pride like her victory was his own.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Hei asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing," Colt replied, brushing it off.
But then Seila walked up to him. "Can you... tell me what I could have done better?"
"What did you just say?" Hei and Myrin said at the same time.
It wasn't that Seila was arrogant. She often asked for advice. But they never expected her to ask Colt, not like this, and not so openly.
It was almost like admitting he was on a different level.
"I'm not that petty," Seila answered without hesitation. "I know I couldn't have beaten Kael. He's stronger than me. So if he's willing to help his rival, I'm willing to accept it."
"Anytime!" Colt replied, his voice bright. He wouldn't hold back when it came to Seila. "Why didn't you use water to make the dust heavier? That would've added more force."
Seila blinked. "How do you know I have the water attribute?"
Crap. There it was again. Colt had slipped.
Of course, he knew. He knew so many things about her—some she hadn't even discovered herself.
To Seila's knowledge, she had three attributes: wind, earth, and water. But Colt knew the truth.
She was only the second person in Arte's history to have five. She just hadn't unlocked the others yet.
"Uh... I must've heard it somewhere. Doesn't matter where," he said quickly, moving on. "You could've used water to weigh down the dust and pebbles.
That way, the ground would've turned muddy as well and slowed 22's movements. You could also track him by his footprints."
All three of them stared at him, surprised by how detailed—and how useful—his advice was.
They didn't know that Colt was already looking for a way to give these suggestions.
"Or," Colt said, "I could teach you a detection spell that only takes a one-second chant."
Seila's eyes widened.
In Arte, spells were divided into two types: common and personal. Common spells could be found in books or taught in schools.
But personal spells were different. They were created by mages themselves and rarely shared.
At most, a mage might pass them down to a trusted disciple. Never to someone outside that circle.
Of course, most common spells were once personal, but spread outside by chance.
Seila didn't know if the spell Colt mentioned was a common one in another region, but she was certain it wasn't known in Ostines.
Her father had collected every spellbook he could find for her, and not one of them contained a detection spell that could be cast in a second.
So it was either a regional secret… or something Colt or his master had created.
Even Myrin and Hei looked tempted, but Seila shook her head. She couldn't accept something like that from Colt.
If Hei or Myrin offered, it would be different—she'd take it without hesitation. But she didn't think she was close enough to Colt for something that valuable.
"Thank you for the suggestion," she said. "If I'd thought of that earlier, I could've won much more easily.
Your suggestion will help me in the future. But I don't think I can accept the spell. It's... too much."
Myrin and Hei understood instantly.
Even though Hei was a warrior, he had magic vessels—weak ones, but still there.
He could technically learn a spell like that, and it would be incredibly useful against invisible enemies.
But just like Seila, he wouldn't feel right accepting something so valuable from Colt.
Myrin, as a mage, felt the same.
Colt didn't insist. He'd offered. That was enough. Besides, there were other ways he could help.
"Still," he added, "it was a great match, Seila. Your plan was solid, and you executed it almost perfectly."
Hei nodded. "Exactly. I only managed to injure my opponent. But you? The top three of the first years actually beat second years."
"You're one to talk, Hei!" Seila shot back. "You think I don't know you could've won if you'd tried?"
Between the four of them, it was obvious. Hei had held back.
In his mind, if he could already win a fight, then it wasn't worth fighting. To grow, he believed, he needed to challenge someone stronger than him.
Colt didn't agree with that mindset. But there was no need to argue. Hei would learn and adapt eventually.
Hei smirked. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Seila was about to reply when Cecilia's voice rang out over the arena.
"The break is over! Get in line!"