“Allow me to show you a bit of my growth too!” I grinned with satisfaction, drawing closer to a stunned Ivan.

“A-amazing.. to think you brushed that off too..” He whispered.

With his hands still on the ground, the boy shot a look that told me he was far from being finished. This caused excitement to course through my body as I picked up my pace and approached him.

RUMBLE

Suddenly, the shake quaked once more and I was confronted with a massive lump of earth emanating from the ground.

‘This is..!’ My mind rang as I saw the lump take on the form of a giant hand.

“I’m not just good at Fire Magic, you know! Let’s see how you snuff this out!” He yelled, controlling the massive brown construct to form a fist—nearing me at an alarming rate.

“Hehe, I see! So you figured it out!”

I thought he was just a dense idiot, but after suffering defeat by my hands, he must have widened up a bit. His earlier attack, while being very powerful, was something I dealt with by protecting myself with a denser wind barrier and sniffing out the oxygen around the flames.

As soon as I completed this, pushing the remnant flickers away with my wind spell was a simple task. Ivan must have suspected I would do that, so he resorted to this tactic instead.. using a different element!

The brown-colored blow approached me in a hurry, but I wasn’t going to allow it any closer. Smiling in anticipation, a brilliant idea came to mind.

Stretching my finger at the earthen attack, I produced a surge of lightning, sending the sharp spark to my opponent’s magical attack.

BOOOOMMMM!!!

Instantly, the rock fist was decimated, turning into nothing but rock particles that crashed upon the ground.

“Tch!” I heard Ivan utter in disappointment.

I kept approaching him the moment his attack failed, waiting to see what he would pull off next.

“Damn it! Take this!” He growled, sending his mana coursing through the stage again.

Two giant earthen hands came from both my left and right. The speed and intensity by which they moved told me Ivan intended to squash me by pressing my body between the two slaps.

“Not a chance.

The moment they drew closer, a wind barrier covered me, pushing both earthen constructs back. That wasn’t all, though.

With a snap, sickles of wind appeared, cutting apart the earthen hands and rendering them into chunks as they fell.

“Damn it!” Ivan growled in more frustration.

My pace was increasing, and in no time, I would reach him—once that happened, it was game over! I awaited more of his futile attempts for victory, crushing him with my pressure of dominance.

“T-then.. how about this!” Ivan clapped his hands together and made a strained sound.

His voice depicted slight pain, and I could see veins protruding from his head. It was as though..

‘.. He’s using up a great deal of Mana for this move. Does he want to win that badly?’

As I suspected, a huge surge of energy appeared, and suddenly, from all sides, four earthen hands appeared.

Their size was much bigger than the previous ones, and they moved so quickly that the others would be nothing in comparison.

‘He’s able to use Earth Magic so we’ll despite being having a Fire Specialty.. this Ivan guy is a genius!’ I smiled.

“I’m not done!” His voice ascended, nearly deafening me.

The earthen constructs suddenly had veins emanating from them and the veins became bursts of flames.

Yes, like molten magma on a volcano surface, the four hands erupted with flame-like attributes, increasing their potential for greater damage.

This was Ivan’s trump card!

‘I see.. so I can snuff out the flames and decimate the rocks, but what about both? That must be his rationale..’

Unfortunately, even with dual elements charging toward me, they would not pose an issue.

“[Grand Earthen Spikes: Intermediate]” I smiled.

Instantly, all around me, the stage floor morphed into massive spikes and intercepted the flaming rocks that charged at me. With frightening precision, the multiple spikes pierced all of them, causing the hands to burst and explode in a single strike.

BOOOOOOMMMMM

Like fireworks all around me, the fiery rocks scattered in different directions. I made sure none approached me with the wind shield protecting my body.

I carefully observed Ivan’s trembling body. He was certainly shaken beyond doubt that I was able to easily handle his ultimate move in an instant.

“Anything else?”

I was already directly in front of him, looking at the boy’s kneeling body from my location. I was well within striking distance, but I waited to see his next course of action.

“Heh.. none at all.. you’ve utterly beaten me yet again.” He muttered while shaking his head.

As expected, he didn’t flare up in rage. I had no idea what happened to Ivan Smith during the months we had been apart, but he was a completely different person. No, perhaps this was his true self.

“I surrender! This match is my loss.”

His declaration shook the audience, especially those who had underestimated me. Even though many thought he could have still kept going, even if that meant his shameful defeat, I was happy about the wise choice he made.

“You’ve gotten stronger.” Stretching my hands to him, I gave a slight nod.

He sighed and took my hand.

“It’s not enough..”

From the flames that sparked in his eyes, I could tell that he was somewhat viewing me the same way Stefan did—as a rival. It was a shame, though.

‘None of you guys can really compete against me.. not as you are now..’historical

Even if they decided to become better, I was also doing the same. When would they realize that? The gap between us would only get wider no matter what.

Still, compared to how much he would have grown if he hadn’t met me, Ivan had exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. He was sure to be one of the most powerful mages of his generation if he kept up this pace.

After all, throughout our match.. he only ever used Intermediate-Level Spells. He must have judged me to be that much of a threat.

‘What a scary Mana Pool he has..’ I mused.

“The winner of this round is.. Jared Leonard!”