Chapter 266: Team Spar III

"Aether, huh..."

Marzana could not help but mutter under her breath.

Regis had already taken the liberty of explaining the gist of it— the strange power both parties were wielding.

’It can power both aura arts and magic spells, but there’s something more to it...’

Even though Marzana had been called cursed since she could remember, the fact that she was of the elven race was still true.

Her long, pointed ears twitched as she focused on sensing the peculiarities of the new power before her.

Curiosity and excitement shone deep within her pitch-black eyes as she unconsciously leaned forward in her seat.

’Amazing... although I can’t sense all of it, I can feel that not only could it boost both magic spells and aura arts, it also drastically strengthens them!’

Thinking this, Marzana could not help but glance at the other side, specifically at one of the parties that was also sitting at the spectator’s side.

’Those people... they’re one of the adventurer parties, but they looked like they were closer to Regis than the other two parties...’

The people in question were none other than Vanta, which was composed of Vanessa, Brutt, and Perto.

As she looked at them, Marzana involuntarily wondered, ’Aurelia told me earlier that they were the strongest party among the three parties despite having the fewest members... I wonder how skillful they are with this ’aether’.’

Meanwhile, in the sparring area...

Kara, Sera, Rumi, and Morgana were facing the onslaught of Zild, Hans, Sora, and Dab.

As an assassin focused on sneak attacks, Rumi had a hard time keeping up with their opponents’ frontal assault, but she did not have any choice, as letting one of them through would spell their defeat.

Behind them, Lesfera and Palma did their best to provide support.

However, no matter what attack they sent, everything was perfectly parried by Zild.

As fatigue set in and their aether reserves plummeted, both parties were forced to become more and more conservative with their power.

This limited the support Lesfera could provide, and even Palma could no longer enhance all of her arrows.

Even though aether was more potent than both mana and aura, being at the same level as both divine power and demonic power, their reserves of it were quite low.

This was due to the fact that all the adventurer parties present were still in the Starless Realm.

Of course, compared to Gotun, Exemplar’s members also had lacking reserves of aether, but they were a little better than the other party.

This was due to the fact that, as swordsmen, they relied more on their physiques and stamina than aether, which was unlike Lesfera, who was a mage.

This meant that the previous four versus six had now become four versus five.

Furthermore, Rumi, Gotun’s assassin, and Palma, their archer, had begun to show signs of exhaustion.

Noticing this, Zild shouted instantly, "Sora!"

Sora, who was fighting Rumi, immediately hastened his assault.

"Shit—" Rumi could not help but curse as she was caught off guard by the sudden aggressiveness of her opponent.

However, her built-up exhaustion made her legs feel as if they were filled with lead.

Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!

And so, after a few more frantic exchanges, her wooden daggers clattered to the floor, followed a moment later by her own collapse.

Bzzzt—

In that instant, a flash of yellow lightning crackled—and in its wake, the collapsed Rumi vanished from the sparring area.

Back on the spectator’s side, Killian lay Rumi down on a cushioned bench away from the fight.

The girl tried to protest, "I-I can still fight!"

"Rules are rules, sorry." Killian said before walking back to his seat near Regis.

Before the spar began, the rule was established: anyone who dropped their weapon, had it broken, or lost consciousness would be eliminated.

As for Sera’s earlier act of throwing her sword, it was a deliberate attack—not a disarmament—so she was not ousted from the spar.

At this moment, Sora, who had just eliminated Rumi, retreated instead of advancing.

This confused Gotun’s vanguards: Kara, Morgana, and Sera, as the three of them had initially prepared to intercept him.

Sera gritted her teeth as she faced Zild’s unceasing sword strikes, "Just what are you planning!?"

"You’ll see." The leader of Exemplar replied calmly.

Fortunately or unfortunately, it did not take long before Gotun’s members saw what their opponents’ plan was.

Zild performed a heavy downward strike while Hans and Dabi distracted Kara and Morgana.

"Tch!" Sera clicked her tongue in frustration as she was forced back several steps.

A jarring impact traveled through her shield, setting her entire arm trembling from shoulder to fingertips.

However, it was this instant that Zild immediately knelt on one knee using the momentum from his earlier attack.

Tap— Tap— Tap—

With rapid footsteps, Sora used Zild’s back as a stepping stone, vaulting over Gotun’s defensive line to arrow straight for the exhausted Lesfera and Palma.

Noticing Sora, who was approaching quickly, Lesfera and Palma readied themselves.

The Exemplar’s swordsman brandished his weapon to engage the latter two in a fight of attrition, aiming to further exhaust them as he waited for his teammates to back him up.

After all, no matter how exhausted the two were, Sora never planned to underestimate them.

’I’ll let Zild and the others handle the rest while I buy time for them. Then we’ll win for sure.’

However, just as he finished planning hin his mind, a figure blocked the way of his sword, which caused his thoughts to halt all of a sudden.

’Wha—’

Before Sora could fully register what was happening, Palma had already used her bow to guard against the attack.

Crack—

The impact caused the wooden bow to snap in two, but it also interrupted Sora’s sword slash.

Bzzttt—-

Like earlier, Palma’s figure disappeared as a flash of lightning went by.

Everything happened too fast for Sora to the point that he did not notice the approaching fist on his face.

BAM!

Caught off guard, Sora’s cheek caved in from the blow. His body went limp, and he crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

Bzzzt—

His figure disappeared with a flash of lightning in the next second.

"Ugh, I really don’t like using my fists. It’s so unlady-like..."

A delicate voice sounded in the area as Lesfera, together with her bulging muscles, let out a sigh of pity.

"Well, they’re too strong, so it can’t be helped. Since Brother Regis is watching, I need to try my best, right, Zild?"

Lesfera said as she looked in a certain direction.

A pair of dark blue and green eyes met as sparks could be seen forming due to the sheer competitiveness that filled them.

That was right.

At this moment, only the leader of the two parties, Exemplar and Gotun, had not been eliminated.

Zild chuckled, "You guys are really strong."

"Likewise, to think that you eliminated Sera, Kara, and Morgana in the time it took us to defeat Sora..."

Crack— Crack—

Lesfere cracked her neck and stretched her muscles which were already close to ripping the sleeves of her mage robe.

Zild also brandished his sword as he used his free hand to slick his bangs back.

The two approached each other before stopping a short distance apart.

Exemplar’s leader assumed a stance as he held his wooden longsword with both his hands, with his feet spread apart.

Meanwhile, Gotun’s leader dropped her mace-like staff as she cracked her knuckles before raising both her fists.

The two of them stared at one another, lightning-like competitiveness deep within their eyes.

Bzzzzt—-

Just as the tension peaked and the two were about to attack one another, a flash of lightning arrived between them.

Killian appeared standing with his right hand pointing towards Zild, "The victors of this team sparring match are the adventurer party, Exemplar!"

"W-What!?" Lesfera was dumbfounded, not believing the words she heard.

Likewise, Zild also had a look of surprise on his face, "Eh, what happened?"

Killian merely pointed at Lesfera, specifically to the mace-like staff a short distance away from her.

"Dropping your weapon is considered a signal of surrender and valid grounds for elimination."

Back at the spectator’s side, Aurelia’s brow kept twitching, "Why did he suddenly get technical with the rules? Even his speech is weird. That pretentious prick...!"

Regis chuckled, clearly amused by the scene before them.

He then looked at Marzana and asked, "You want to see more, right?"

"Mhm." The elven girl nodded, visibly disappointed that the fight between the two party leaders was unexpectedly halted.

Regis stood up slowly as he said to her, "Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to show you more."

Marzana tilted her head curiously in response.

CLAP—!

Regis clapped his hands once, gathering the attention of everyone in the room.

No matter if they were the eliminated members resting on the cushioned benches, Vanta, who were sitting at the side, his own party members, and even Zild and Lesfera, who were complaining to Killian in the distance.

They all looked at him.

"Parties Vanta, Exemplar, and Gotun," Regis announced without pause. "You have a few minutes to rest and reset before the next round."

No matter who they were, they all had one single thought: "What do you mean next round?"

"Since you now know each other’s capabilities, we need to work on your cooperation.""

Regis’s smile began to look weird.

"For the next round..."

It had a hint of excitement, impatience, and itch.

"You will all be fighting me."