Chapter 209: Brunna’s hamr
Elion blinked once.
Then he chuckled quietly.
"Well... that’s sothing you don’t see every day."
The small dwarf girl stepped forward with surprising confidence, dragging the massive hamr behind her with a low scraping sound against the stone floor.
The weapon was absurdly large compared to her size. The handle alone was longer than her arm span, and the hamr head looked heavy enough to crush a man flat.
Yet she held it casually in one hand.
She looked... tiny.
Her opponent, on the other hand, was a tall human boy with thick earth-colored armor plating ford around parts of his body.
His hands glowed faintly with brown mana as he rolled his shoulders and prepared for the fight.
An earth mage.
The proctor raised his hand.
"Begin!"
The mont the signal was given, the earth mage slamd his palm down onto the platform.
"Stone lance!"
The ground trembled.
Sharp spikes of stone shot up from the floor in a straight line toward Brunna like a row of deadly spears.
The crowd gasped.
Brunna did not panic.
Instead—
"Ha!"
She swung the hamr.
BOOM!
The massive weapon crashed down onto the stone spikes with explosive force. The impact shattered them instantly, fragnts of rock exploding outward like shrapnel.
The crowd roared in surprise.
Elion’s eyes widened slightly.
’That strength...’
Brunna didn’t stop moving.
She charged forward imdiately, dragging the hamr behind her before spinning her small body with shocking speed.
"HYAA!"
The hamr whistled through the air.
The earth mage barely managed to react in ti. A thick stone wall erupted from the ground just as the hamr ca down.
CRASH!
The entire wall shattered like glass.
Chunks of stone flew everywhere as the force of the swing blasted through the defense.
The earth mage stumbled backward with wide eyes.
The hostess laughed excitedly from her floating platform.
"Look at that cute little thing swinging that giant hamr like it weighs nothing!"
The crowd erupted with laughter and cheers.
Brunna grinned fiercely.
"Co on! Fight proper!"
The earth mage clenched his teeth and stomped his foot again.
Stone pillars erupted from the platform in every direction, forcing Brunna to jump back as the battlefield transford into jagged terrain.
Then the mage thrust both hands forward.
"Stone barrage!"
Dozens of fist-sized rocks launched toward her like cannonballs.
Brunna’s eyes sharpened. Instead of dodging—
She stepped forward.
"HA!"
Her hamr moved again.
WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!
Each swing smashed the incoming stones out of the air. Explosions of shattered rock burst around her as she bulldozed straight through the barrage.
Elion leaned forward slightly now. His earlier amusent was gone.
Her physical strength was nothing to scoff at.
Despite her small stature, the mont she swung that hamr, her entire body changed. The muscles in her arms and legs tensed and flexed with terrifying power.
Appearances could be deceiving.
Very deceiving.
The earth mage growled and slamd his hands down again.
The platform trembled violently.
A massive slab of stone rose beneath Brunna’s feet, trying to launch her into the air.
But she reacted instantly.
She drove the hamr downward.
BOOOOM!
The stone slab exploded under the impact.
Brunna launched herself forward through the debris like a cannonball.
"MY TURN!"
The earth mage’s eyes widened.
"Stone shield!"
A thick barrier of layered rock ford around him just as Brunna arrived.
Her hamr swung in a full arc.
The air scread.
CRAAAAASH!
The barrier shattered on impact.
The shockwave blasted across the platform, sending dust and broken stone flying everywhere.
The crowd stood up from their seats.
Brunna raised the hamr again.
"HYAAAH!"
Another swing.
The earth mage barely managed to raise a second barrier before the hamr slamd into it again.
BOOM!
This ti, the barrier completely collapsed.
The force of the impact sent the mage sliding backward across the platform.
The proctor’s eyes narrowed.
The fight was turning one-sided.
The earth mage roared and slamd his fist into the ground again, summoning a massive spike beneath Brunna.
But she simply leapt into the air.
The hamr rose high above her head. Then she ca down like a teor.
"STONE BREAKER!"
The hamr struck the platform directly in front of the earth mage.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire platform shook violently.
A crater ford instantly where the hamr landed. Shockwaves rippled outward, blasting the earth mage off his feet and sending him tumbling across the stone floor.
He tried to stand again—
But the hamr stopped inches from his face.
The proctor raised his hand imdiately.
"Match over!"
For a mont, there was silence.
Then the crowd exploded.
Cheers thundered through the coliseum as Brunna lifted the hamr onto her shoulder and grinned proudly.
Even Elion found himself impressed.
"Damn..." he muttered.
That dwarf girl was way stronger than he had expected.
The cheers from the arena continued to echo through the waiting room even after Brunna’s match had ended.
On the screens, the Brunna girl could be seen dragging her enormous hamr off the platform as attendants began repairing the large crater she had left behind.
Even the proctors were shaking their heads slightly at the destruction.
The hostess’s excited voice rang out again from the arena.
"What a spectacular show of strength from our fifth-year dwarf fighter! Ladies and gentlen, give her another round of applause!"
"That... hamr was terrifying," Isolde murmured.
Mira nodded slowly.
"She nearly flattened him."
Before long, the last few fifth-year battles began wrapping up as well. The platforms were repaired quickly by the academy’s staff, and the magical screens began showing the next rotation of fighters preparing to enter the arena.
The hostess raised her voice again.
"And now, ladies and gentlen, the remaining fifth-year matches will begin shortly!"
The crowd’s excitent only grew louder.
But just as the next group of fighters were about to appear—
The door to the waiting room opened again.
A tall figure stepped inside quietly.
Elion glanced over instinctively.
It was Liora.
Her calm eyes scanned the room briefly.
Then she spotted Elion.
Without hesitation, she walked straight toward him
When she reached him, she stopped just in front of the bench.
"Elion."
Her voice was soft, but it carried clearly.
Elion raised an eyebrow.
"Liora?"
Mira and Aria both looked at her curiously.
Isolde straightened slightly in her seat as well.
Liora stood there for a mont, her gaze flickering aroun before resting on Elion as if she had sothing important to say.
But she didn’t speak imdiately.
Instead, she simply looked at him in silence for a few seconds.
Elion tilted his head slightly.
"...What’s up?"
Liora hesitated briefly.
Then she said calmly, "I need to speak with you." But she didn’t explain why.
She stood quietly in front of him for a mont before speaking again.
"Can we speak sowhere else?"
Her tone was calm, but there was a seriousness behind it that he wouldn’t expect from her, and that made Elion sigh lightly.
"Alright..."
He pushed himself up from the bench.
As he stood, he effortlessly lifted Aria from his lap and set her down beside him. The motion was so casual that it almost looked like he had picked up a small pillow instead of a full-grown woman.
Which was rather funny considering Aria’s size.
She imdiately pouted.
"I wanted to stay there," she muttered under her breath, clearly unhappy about being removed from her comfortable spot.
Elion chuckled softly and ruffled her hair.
"I’ll be back soon."
He looked toward the other two girls.
"Mira, Isolde... I’ll see you in a bit."
The girls nodded, though Aria still looked a little reluctant to let him go.
Then Elion turned and followed Liora out of the waiting room.
They walked through the dimly lit underground corridor that connected the waiting rooms to the arena tunnels.
The sound of the crowd was muffled down here, turning into a distant rumble that echoed faintly through the stone walls.
Elion expected her to stop sowhere nearby. But instead, Liora kept walking.
Past the waiting area.
Past the tunnels leading to the battlefield. And eventually...
She pushed open a side door.
Bright daylight spilled into the corridor.
They had exited the coliseum entirely. Elion blinked in surprise.
"Uh..."
He scratched the back of his head.
"You know I still have to fight when my number gets called, right?"
He gestured vaguely toward the arena behind them.
"Will this take long?"
Liora shook her head calmly.
"Don’t worry."
She kept walking along the outer pathway beside the arena walls.
"I already got your match schedule."
Elion blinked again.
"...My what?"
"You won’t be taking part in any fights today."
Elion stopped walking.
"...Huh?"
He stared at her.
Was sothing like that even possible?
"Wait—how did you even—"
Liora suddenly laughed. A genuine, amused laugh.
"?" she said casually as she pointed at herself.
"I have my ways."
She continued walking without even looking back to see if he was still following.
Elion stared at her for another second before sighing and catching up. He glanced sideways at her.
"By the way," he said casually.
Liora looked at him.
"Congratulations."
She blinked slightly.
"For your fight," Elion clarified.
"That magic of yours... It’s really impressive."
A bright smile appeared on Liora’s lips.
"Thank you!"
She didn’t sound overly proud, but she clearly appreciated the acknowledgnt.
"Anyway," Liora said calmly, "there’s sothing I need to ask you."
She kept her gaze forward as she spoke.
"Did you know Celeste left the academy to go back ho to her clan yesterday?"
Elion didn’t answer imdiately. He walked beside her quietly for a few seconds, thinking about what to say.
Part of him considered saying no. But sothing told him that lying here wouldn’t help. Oddly enough, despite her personality, he had a feeling that Liora was the perceptive kind.
And he still hadn’t forgotten how suspicious she had looked during so of their earlier conversations.
Finally, he answered.
"Yes."
Liora nodded slightly.
"I thought so..."
They continued walking along the quiet stone path beside the arena walls.
"She was acting strange the last few days before she left," Liora said thoughtfully.
Then she finally turned her head slightly.
"Do you know anything about that?"
Elion didn’t answer her question directly.
Instead, he looked at her and raised a question of his own.
"Strange how?" he asked calmly.
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