The grand arena for the friendly duel was all set and filled with students. Among the seven batches in Mazeroth, only the sixth and seventh batches participated in the duel. The rest of them were there to cheer for their favorite senior brother or sister. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. Every second stand was decorated with the colors of one House, and every other stand with the colors of the opposing House. Surprisingly, the staff, headmaster, and professors sat with the students instead of special seating.

From above, the arena looked in the shape of an oval. It was at least five hundred feet long and two hundred feet wide.

The students from the two competing batches gathered around in the hall beneath the spectator seats and Michael was one of them. He stood beside Rowena and Elidyr, waiting for their turn. Outside where they were, headmistress Kayla Martin slowly rose from her seat. With a single wave of her hand, she sent a wave, silencing the students.

When the arena completely fell silent, she began to speak, amplifying her voice with Celestial energy.

"Let us have a joyous entertaining, safe friendly duel. This is an event to create joyful memories, not to start blood feuds. Remember that. But do your best to impress our guests," Kayla Martin looked at the few ashen-haired old people sitting beside her.

"They might offer you an invitation to join the most prestigious organization in the world, the skyhall," As soon as Kayla Martin uttered these words, many students gasped in shock. They all stared at the three elderly figures with wide eyes. Without wasting much time, Kayla waved her hand.

"Now for the rules," said Kayla Martin.

The two doors on each side slowly opened. The one who walked out of the door was none other than Gaya. She leaped from one side and landed in the center of the arena in a blink of an eye.

"We have placed several defense and healing arrays in the arena to ensure the students' safety. Rules are simple, one student will have a flag and the other will have to take the flag and go through this hoop," as she said, Gaya flicked her wrist. A golden hoop materialized in the sky.

"If you defend the flag from your opponent for five minutes, you win. You can use everything at your disposal. To make the duel fair, your cultivation stage will be suppressed to the Core Formation stage," said Gaya.

The rules seemed simple. Because everyone would be forced to fight and defend as a Core Formation stage cultivator, many lost their advantage. As a result, the duel became fair for all. Every student had to rely on their specialization to win the duel.

"Students, please step through the door according to your numbers," Michael heard Gaya's voice. They all received a silver card with a number etched in red before entering the arena. The two who held number one were Ruby and an Elf from the House Warrior.

"Good luck," said Michael.

"Tell that to the elf," Ruby calmly said before walking through the crowd. The moment Ruby and the elf stepped into the arena, the feed of the arena materialized above the students. In the mirror, they could see Ruby and the Elf making their way to the center. Gaya floated near the golden hoop. When the two competitors reached the center, Gaya threw a tiny blue flag to the elf from above. Since he challenged Ruby, he had to defend the flag from her.

After the elf caught the flag, Gaya clapped her hands together as two bright lights appeared almost fifty meters away from the golden hoop. The emerald green light symbolized the Alchemy House while the silver one symbolized the House of Warriors.

"Go to your designated areas," said Gaya.

With a simple nod, the elf and Ruby went to the glow and stood, basking in the light.

"You have a minute to prepare yourself," instructed Gaya.

"Warriors!"

"Warriors!"

"Warriors!"

The majority of the arena supported the elf by cheering the word 'Warriors' as loud as they could. Michael ignored those cheers and focused on Ruby who remained calm as the sea. The elf waved his hand before taking out a golden bow and a quiver filled with obsidian arrows. He then stuck the blue flag behind him on the ground.

Meanwhile, Rowena remembered, doing nothing. Many thought she had given up before even the duel, while some thought she was being arrogant. After hearing Ruby talk about formations, battle tactics, and combat skills in great detail, Michael was curious to see what this strange new girl could do in a real battle. No one was stupid enough to think the elf would go easy on her.

The minute passed in a blink of an eye.

"Time's up. Let the friendly duel begin,"

A thunderous bell rang in the arena. Finally, the friendly duel between Ruby and the elf began with the cheers of all the students. The moment the light covering them disappeared, the elf fired an arrow at Rowena. It soared through the air, leaving a blurry trail. To everyone's shock, Rowena grabbed the arrow without breaking a sweat. The elf was shocked, but it wasn't enough for Rowena to stop him from firing arrow after arrow at Rowena. But the result was the same, she dashed forward, catching every arrow the elf fired. In a few moments, she had a handful of arrows.

Almost a minute had passed since the duel began. Rowena almost reached the elf. When everyone, including Michael himself thought Rowena would close the gap between them, she threw all the arrows in the air. The students looked up at the arrows in the air. As the arrows reached their maximum height, Rowena closed her eyes for a moment and sent a pale blue wave of energy toward the elf. The wave transformed itself into a tube in the middle of the way. Suddenly, the ethereal tube leaped into the air. Before the elf could react or fire another arrow, the tube fell down, prisoning the elf within.

The tube trembled slightly. Soon, all the arrows in the air soared through the air toward the tube. They all rained into the tube from above with enough force to make some students close their eyes. They thought the elf was being skewered by his own arrows.

"ARGH!" The elf screamed from within. Luckily for the elf, the arrows only penetrated his shoulders and feet. With a simple leap, Rowena landed next to the tube. She slowly placed her hand on the tube as it faded away into thin air. The elf was bleeding and groaning in agonizing pain. He couldn't even lift his finger let alone his bow. Rowena waved her hand as the flag flew straight into her hand. The students were in shock, especially the students of House Warriors. Never in a million years had they expected an alchemist to defeat one of their own so easily.

When they thought Rowena was about to fly through the loop to end the duel, she surprised them all by punching the elf in the face. His nose bone shattered with a sickening crunch. The force and sudden pain made the elf lose consciousness in an instant. The elf stumbled down on the arrows. Some of the arrows penetrated his back, drawing more blood out of his body.

Throwing a last cold glance at the elf, Rowena leaped into the air and flew straight through the hoop. The students from house alchemy rose from their seats to cheer for Ruby. Their thunderous roar echoed through the arena. She defeated the elf within two minutes. Except for Professor Lane, the other professors clapped for Ruby. They were impressed by her.

"Yo sixty-six, is that your girlfriend?" some of the dwarves asked Michael.

"What makes you think that?" asked Michael.

"Because she is a freak like you, hahahaha," the dwarves burst into laughter.

"That pony challenged a wrong human," another dwarf laughed, ridiculing the elves.

The dwarves never wasted an opportunity to ridicule the elves. The elves hated both Ruby and that elf for getting his butt kicked by a human girl. Judging by the look in their eyes, the elf would definitely receive another beating from the elves when he returns to his room.

"The alchemists are really icing the warriors' butt this year," The dwarves continued to rile up the elves. They had a good laugh. From the corner of the hall, Diego stared at Michael with eyes full of hatred. Following Ruby's victory, the students saw several duels where the Warriors outshined everyone. Only some of the runemasters and blacksmiths managed to defeat the students from warrior houses. The others, especially the alchemists, got their shit kicked out of them. Since the House warriors held a grudge against the Alchemists because of Michael and Ruby's first victory, they didn't hold back at all. Many alchemists would have lost their lives if it wasn't for the healing arrays.

When the sun began to set on the horizon, the students began to roar the names Deacon and 'Sixty-six'. In Mazeroth, the final year students were allowed to use their real names. Since they would leave Mazeroth afterward, Wulfric allowed them to reveal their names so their friendship could continue even after leaving Mazeroth. Hence, they cheered for Deacon using his name and Michael with his given number.

The students got their wishes to come true. The moment they saw Deacon and Michael, the students roared. All the students rose from their seats to get a good look at the ground. Even Victoria and Edith couldn't remain seated anymore.

Michael slowly made his way to the center, cracking his neck.

"The God of Darkness," Wulfric, who sat beside Kayla Martin, leaned forward. Finally, he met Michael in person instead of his glass orb. Wulfric had never felt such immense power from anyone in his life. Even Harriet's power paled in comparison with his.

He couldn't even imagine how powerful he would be after entering his Godhood.

As usual, Gaya gave Deacon a flag since he was the one who challenged Michael. After getting the flag, Deacon went to the crimson red light symbolizing the House Blacksmiths. In contrast, Michael went to the emerald green light.