'…Wait, Arthur brought here. He didn't ntion anything about my belongings. Don't tell he left my sword and dagger in the resort? I need to ask him.'
She quickly washed her face and went downstairs. The magicians greeted her when they ca across her. She gave them a slight nod. First, she went to Arthur's office but found it empty. Then, she checked Ovior's office, and it was empty too.
'Where did everyone go? Has anything urgent co up in the morning?' confused, she wondered.
She went to the dining hall and spotted only the chefs in the kitchen. Other than that, the whole dining hall was empty. The chefs bowed as soon as they saw her.
"Good afternoon, Mistress."
Veronica smiled at them. "Good afternoon. Is sothing going on? Other tis I would see at least one person whenever I ca here, but today this place empty."
The chefs exchanged glances and then said, "Mistress, that's because Master Arthur and Second Master Ovior are having a match for an hour. They are the most powerful magicians in the Magic Tower. Everyone went there to see their match."
Veronica was petrified. "They are fighting! Why?"
One of the chefs replied, "We, magicians, usually don't need a reason to fight unless we are doing with the ranked Magicians. Suppose soone wants to fight Master Arthur or Second Master Ovior. If they want to fight them, it ans they are after their positions. I heard from others that Second Master Ovior asked Master Arthur for a duel. He is fighting for the Master title."
Veronica never heard this kind of match existed in the Magic Tower.
'Looks like the Magic Tower is more interesting than I actually thought. But I wonder why Ovior wanted Arthur's title. Why are they having a fight?' she pondered.
More than being excited, she was worried that their friendship would be destroyed.
"Where are they fighting right now? Please don't tell they are outside the tower."
The chef ntioned, "They are on the seventy-seventh floor. We have the Ring Arena there. This is where magicians fight each other for fun or the title."
"All right, thank you." Veronica hurriedly went to the seventy-seventh floor.
The Seventy-seventh floor was the Ring Arena. It was spacious and dark. In every corner and the middle, they had blue fire burning. It created soft light and illuminated the area.
Veronica's eyes landed in the middle. There was a huge ring and a black marble floor. Blue fire surrounded the area. Inside the ring, Ovior and Arthur were standing.
'What are they up to?' she wondered.
Dave Morton noticed her in the dark and ca toward her. "Mistress, fancy seeing you here. Are you interested in the match?"
"I ca to look for my husband and I learned that he is fighting like a child," Veronica replied. Even in the dark, she could recognize Dave.
"Fighting like a child?" Dave Morton burst into laughter. "Those two have been fighting for over an hour but they didn't break a sweat. It's amazing. Only Second Master Ovior can stand this long with Master Arthur."
At that mont, Ovior moved his silver staff and created a huge fire dragon. The fire dragon ferociously opened its mouth and flew toward Arthur.
Veronica held her breath in nervousness. Her blood was boiling.
The audience cheered loudly.
"Why does it look like everyone is on Ovior's side?" she asked.
Dave Morton explained, "That's because this part is Second Master Ovior's supporter. The opposite side is Master Arthur's supporter. When a fight like this happens, we hold a bet. Whoever loses pays huge sums of money."
Veronica shook her head in bewildernt. "This is insane."
In the ring, Arthur avoided the fire dragon at the last mont. Arthur's supporters cheered on the other side.
"Let take you to the front seat. It has the best view." Dave Morton showed her the way. "There are no VIP seats here. Everyone is the sa. Only judges have special seats up there." He pointed above them.
Veronica raised her head and saw five floating chairs above them. 'I wish I could sit in one of those chairs,' she thought.
There were so empty seats at the front. Veronica and Dave Morton took two seats. Afterward, she kept her eyes on the ring.
Although Arthur avoided the fire dragon, the fire dragon didn't stop there. It's a proud creature. It beca madder when a tiny human avoided this giant creature. Releasing a roar, the dragon threw fireballs at him.
Arthur created a blue magic shield and protected himself from the fire.
"Isn't this match too dramatic? Why isn't Arthur throwing magic at the dragon?" Veronica loudly asked, but her voice was covered by the loud cheers.
"He doesn't have the ti to create anything big to take the fire dragon down." Dave Morton told her, "Even if the fire dragon is magical, the fire is real. Master Arthur would be toasted by now if he didn't avoid it."
Veronica gulped. She didn't expect they would be this serious about the Master title.
Dave Morton could guess her line of thoughts. He chuckled. "Did you think they were playing for fun? This ring is a serious place where magicians fight with their lives in their hands. If anyone is dead inside the ring, no one is held accountable. If soone dies, they will be blad for being weak."
Veronica's heart began to shake. "Isn't this too intense?"
Dave Morton replied, "If soone is weak, they shouldn't accept the match in the first place. Master Arthur fought every opponent here to beco the Head of the Magic Tower. Many magicians died here. Even the first prince of this kingdom."
Veronica recalled sothing like that. "I heard about the first prince. He lost a match against Arthur, didn't he?"
"Not only did he lose a match, but he was also murdered by Master Arthur rcilessly. All magicians who were present at that ti could still rember the first prince's loud cry. It was a horrifying death. From then on, no one dared to ss up with Master Arthur or Second Master Ovior."
"Why did sothing like that happen?"
Dave Morton shortly narrated the whole story, "It was because the first prince had a problem. He was immoral and unethical. People who served him got bullied a lot by him. They still supported him because he was the Crowned Prince of this kingdom. It was also true that his supporters were the biggest bully. Anywhere they went, people lost sothing precious.
"Master Arthur took revenge for all those people who suffered. He killed all the first prince's supporters in this ring. That's how Master Arthur beca popular among the people. They fear him. They also respect him from the bottom of their hearts."
"To get rid of a monster, sotis we have to beco the monster. That's the law of nature," Veronica murmured. She focused on the ring.
Arthur finally got a chance to create a water wave around him. Ovior guessed his plan and created another dragon. Two dragons attacked Arthur all at once. Arthur created a water ball and surrounded the place around him. The dragons fired balls at him, trying to destroy the water wall around his body. Inside the water ball, Arthur got so chances.
Soon, nurous water balls appeared in the ring and all began to roll at the sa ti. Arther's ball got mixed with them. He created an illusion to make the dragons confused.
Ovior beca alert. Since the water balls were everywhere, Arthur could appear before him anyti. He prepared himself for his sneak attack. Using wind magic, he rose from the ring. From up there, he wanted to keep an eye on the ring so that Arthur couldn't make a sneak attack.
While he was flying high, at that ti, an invisible force kicked his back harshly. The power was too much. Ovior fell on the ring. His body slamd on the cold, wet marble floor.
The fire dragons and water balls burst at the sa ti. When the ring only had Ovior, Arthur's body beca visible where Ovior was standing in the midair.
Apparently, he beca invisible and made the water ball around him disappear. Using wind magic, he sneaked behind Ovior. He wanted for Ovior to rise, waiting for his strike. When Ovior flew high enough, Arthur used combined wind and water magic and attacked his back.
Ovior coughed vigorously. He drank so of the water from water balls. He coughed water while standing up. His whole body was wet. He was disgusted. The water was cold. He shivered. He wanted to use a fire ball to dry himself off but before he could, ice froze his feet. The ice quickly spread all over his body, making him unable to move.
The audience from Arthur's side cheered. Without anyone announcing, they knew who won the match.
Dave Morton whispered in Veronica's ear, "Master Arthur has a chance to give Second Master Ovior a death blow. If he kicks the ice statue of Second Master Ovior, his body will shatter into pieces.. He will die just like that."
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