Preparations

Leus spent most of the night training, then slept and got up at noon.

After he got up, he spent his time doing various random things or exploring around in the room 

'Can't train and waste my Mana now before the duel' 

When there was one hour left until the duel, his door knocked 

'Now who would this be?' 

Leus went and opened the door and found a red-haired man he had never seen before.

"Hello" Leus said in a polite tone 

"Hello, Young Lord. As this is your first duel, I'm here to explain the rules and give you your Robe" 

Leus didn't know what that man was talking about, But regardless

"Come in" 

The man followed Leus inside and they both sat

"So, What is this about?" Leus asked 

The man took out a fancy-looking pouch and gave it to Leus.

Leus took it and opened it

Inside the pouch, there was a red box.

The man explained

"This is the Mages' Duel Robe, all Mages must wear one during their duels.

It has multiple Light Spells that get automatically activated if your life is in danger, which has the potential to save your life for just a few seconds, that'll help you until the Light Mages reach you and heal with Life Force.

Leus nodded and the man continued 

"The rules are very simple 

1- Don't attack the head and the heart

2- Fight until one of you concedes or is unable to continue

3- Inside the Barrier, you must follow the referee's instructions even if you are not satisfied with his decisions."

Then he added with a smile

"Remember to fight in good faith and never intend to harm your opponent beyond the duel's purpose. Unnecessary attacks and ill intentions won't be tolerated and can result in disqualifying you." 

"Alright, Thank you"

The man spoke again

"Note that every Duel will have at least one Light Mage available and multiple Potions, so do not worry about getting injured.

However, serious injuries are NOT rare, you might lose your limbs or break multiple bones, which could take weeks to recover even with the best Light Mages.

Are you sure that you still want to participate in the duel?" 

Leus became a bit confused 

"The Best Light Mages? Does Remedy not heal the injured ones here?" 

"Lady Remedy does heal, but only to an extent. There's only so much a single Elite Mage can do.

Sometimes she heals, sometimes she doesn't participate at all and you have to use Points to ask her to heal you, it depends on her schedule." 

"I see, well, thank you" 

The man bowed and quickly left.

By now, only half an hour was left for the duel, so Leus opened the box and took out the Robe.

It was a black robe with multiple gems on its insides 

'These are probably the Mana stones that make it function' 

It had a hood and red lines on it, and it was very soft 

'It's kinda cool' 

Leus removed his shirt and wore the Robe on top of his pants.

After a bit of time, he left his room and went to Nuri's room 

'I'm still not sure why she wants to come, but at least she can open the elevator for me' 

Leus went to the fourth door to the right of his room and knocked on it.

In less than 5 seconds, a maid opened the door for him.

Leus asked

"Is Nuri ready?"

"One moment, please" 

The maid went back inside then Nuri came out after a minute.

She was wearing a bodycon, sleeveless blue dress that covered until just above her knees, the dress was a low cut so it revealed her cleavage.

She looked very voluptuous in that dress, way too alluring.

Nuri asked with a smile 

"What do you think?" 

Leus replied with a raised eyebrow

"Too revealing."

She was takenaback

"You don't think it looks good?" 

"What looks good?" 

" ... The dress?" 

"Nuri ... where is the dress? All I see is a piece of cloth barely covering anything." 

For a while, Nuri just stared at Leus with a dumbfounded expression.

She was taking too long

"Nuri, I don't have much time" 

"F- Fine, I will change" 

"Do it quickly" 

She went back inside and came back after five minutes, wearing the same red, Full sleeve dress she had worn yesterday.

"That looks a lot better" Leus remarked 

"... Okay" 

They both walked the hallway in silence until they reached the elevator.

Nuri silently looked at Leus, waiting for him to open the elevator

"I don't know how to open it" 

" ... Just put your ring on the painting" 

Leus did as she said and the elevator immediately opened.

He muttered

"On the painting huh ... why haven't I thought of that before"

Nuri followed him inside with a blank expression on her face and without saying anything.

They exited at the ground floor

Leus said

"Why are so many gathering?" 

Nuri replied in a very apathetic tone 

"Because they want to see your first duel, many are making bets guessing which element you'll use."

"Really? But why?" 

"That's normal, they want to see how the new resident fights, especially because some rumors are going on, people love to bet.

There a Darkness Mage whom I forgot his name who keeps running these things every now and then" 

Leus absentmindedly replied 

"Alright." 

He activated Advanced Mana Vision and was searching for a specific aura 

'If so many are here, then maybe she's here too...'

'The silver-haired woman' 

He skimmed through all of them, but she was nowhere to be found.

Leus felt slightly disappointed 

'She's not interested huh ...'

There were some other, interesting auras 

Many C-Tier Elites were around, and almost all the Mages were standing on the same side of the Barrier.

'Looks like Mages stay together and Elite Knights stay together, there are no Knights.'

As Leus approached, he saw a young-looking guy standing beside two white-haired men on top of the Magic Circle

'I guess this is my opponent'

A smirk appeared on Leus' face