Chapter 186 - "Servant Competition: Sinking Lucius"

Lucius and Caspian were standing atop big lily pads, while Caspian's reindeer girl Spirit Servant Lutie stood closely beside her Master. If they are not careful enough and get off balance, they may fall down the waters!

The terrain was advantageous to Caspian, who undeniably had Water-type mana. With every step, he and his Servant formed ice on the surface of the water, making him free to move anywhere he wanted. Although this may cost a little of his mana, he didn't hesitate. Caspian planned on making Lucius lose for less than thirty minutes, and to do that, he needed to be aggressive in the first half before Lucius could think of a way to defeat him!

The blonde young man saw in Caspian's eyes and stance how desperate he wanted to win. As he recalled that time when the ice master almost killed Ivory, it came to him that he might repeat that incident again, so he had to be alert. Lucius knew that he should not let Caspian's desperation be the cause of his fall.

As he formed ice on every step, Caspian, through the assistance of Lutie, casted and made the small droplets of water to float around them. These then turned into little ice spikes and flew towards Lucius who was still standing on the lily pad in the middle of the pond!

All those small droplets melted when Lucius materialized his level 3 sword. Due to its extreme high temperature in which he was already immune to, just getting near it would melt any of the ice that Caspian threw at him. But he didn't order the activation of Volcius yet because he knew that he might only sink in the water.

As Lucius kept on melting all the ice thrown on him, he was also thinking on how to beat the nimble Caspian. Without Volcius, it was only his level 3 sword aiding him. How could he escape from Caspian's sight?

"Is that all you've got?" Caspian smirked. He was pleased to see Lucius unable to move from his initial location.

"I'll deal with you later," he responded.

"Deal with me now!" 

Caspian's impatience grew even more when he saw Lucius trying to find himself more time to think. He hopped onto the nearest lily pad and casted ice magic. 

A ring of glowing light then formed around the lily pad where Lucius stood, accumulating more water from the pond, which turned into ice form using Conversion magic. Consequently, the ice cylinder rose upwards, blocking Lucius' sight. And within seconds, the top of the ice cylinder was completely covered with ice, trapping the blonde-haired Master and its Golem Servant inside. 

The Ice Master swung his hand downwards and the whole ice structure sank. The crowd was left speechless for a moment, but after witnessing such a spectacle from Caspian, they loudly cheered for him. Ivory looked around the stage and got even more worried for his brother. She fidgeted her fingers and when Sigmund noticed this, he patted her shoulders comfortably as if saying that Lucius would be alright. 

Since Caspian could only view the very top of the ice cylinder, he waited for Lucius to gasp for air. However, even after a minute passed, the ice covering didn't break and he did not appear. 

A wide smile appeared on Caspian's face. Hearing from the cheers from the crowd and knowing that he defeated Lucius, who was the topnotcher for their section and was undeniably strong, he felt like dreaming at that moment. 

"Did I win?" overjoyed, he hopped onto the lily pad nearest the waterfall where Educator Alphonse could be clearly seen. He yelled, "Sir! I think it's my victory! Lucius Goldwine already sank-"

BOOM!

A loud and deep explosion was heard, making the audience silent again. A big cloud of black smoke appeared from where Lucius sank a while ago. Following the explosion, the pond bank terrain shook, startling Caspian. He quickly balanced himself on the lily pad and looked back to see what happened. 

He was ready to win, yet his opponent suddenly appeared with a grand entrance. It made him feel embarrassed that he confidently announced his own victory in front of everyone.

As small rocks and waters fell on Caspian, he and Lutie formed an ice barrier to shield themselves. Unfortunately, they did not notice that the rocks were blazing with Fire-type mana, so it only penetrated the shield by melting the ice.

The drenched Lucius stared down while he stood near the waterfall. Using intense Fire technique, he broke the side stone walls of the waterfall, making the water flow tremendously!

Caspian couldn't think of a quick solution, and because of the rushing waters, the lily pad turned over, making him and Lutie fall from the waterfall. They fell into the plunge pool and because of the strong current of the water, they had a hard time swimming up above. While he and his Spirit Servant slowly were under water, he contemplated on what he should have done.

What if he casted ice magic onto the torrent? Unfortunately, he would be at a disadvantage because all the ice particles would hit them. Since the falling rocks were blazing, even the ice shield would be ineffective.

He didn't realize that he already lost the moment he trapped him into that ice cylinder, away from his sight!

Since Caspian and Lutie could not help themselves to get out of the water, Educator Alphonse finally announced Lucius as the winner of that battle. Sabretooth was ordered to assist the defeated ones, who were both soaking wet on top of the furry Servant. 

After Caspian helped Lutie to go down Sabertooth, Lucius approached Caspian and told him, "It was a good battle. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do."

But Caspian only gave a hysterical laugh.

"What's funny?" the blonde young man raised his brow.

"How did you… How did you manage to escape the enclosure?" he creased his brows in wonder.

"The moment you formed the ice walls, I destroyed the bottom and swam," Lucius explained while looking at the pink-haired Master. "Not just because I mastered the Fire element, I wouldn't know how to swim, right? 

"Right," Caspian shook his head in disbelief.

"And don't forget, we Masters can use other elements. They are just weaker compared to our mastered element. I only used Air magic to accelerate myself and go directly to the waterfall."

"I became too complacent. I thought you'd use only your fire element and that there's no way you'd be able to escape when submerged into water. I am so pathetic," Caspian sighed, while Lutie comforted him by tugging his drenched shirt and giving him a cute smile. 

"Rest well, then. I should go now," the blonde young man said. Lucius smiled at him and turned back to the Blue Gem section's rest area. 

Lucius momentarily turned to the strong, orange light of the sunset. They started the battles in the morning with sixteen of them in line. Now, it was only Ivory and him left as contenders.

"So, Lucius… I know you won't take it easy on me," Ivory uttered when Lucius went near her.

He responded to his sister while he pulled out a dry towel from the shelf and placed it over his shoulders, "I am really willing to win this. If ever I win, I'd give the prize to you, anyway. I know you're going to win for the Sprucemints."

She gave a kind smile. Ivory also took a dry towel, then placed it over Lucius' head, "Don't catch a cold before our battle."

"Thank you, Ivory," Lucius smiled back at her, before glancing at Sigmund who kept on staring at him, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sigmund chuckled, "You got mud bombed before, and now you're soaking wet… Rich boy, you catch too much attention in an odd way."

"Hah, it doesn't matter, as long as I win and not break any of the rules."

Moments later, Principal Arthurdane stepped in the middle of the arena and spoke, "The winners of the third round are: Miss Ivory Sprucemint and Mister Lucius Goldwine!"

The crowd cheered for them and also gave a round of applause.

The principal raised his hand, and the crowd settled down. He continued his announcement, "To give them time to replenish mana, we will have a two-hour break before the final battle for the Blue Gem section!"

After announcing, he assured everyone that there would be people who would go around to sell food and drinks. He also said that the comfort rooms were available. 

Principal Arthurdane went to the Blue Gem section's rest area after stepping down the stage and greeted them, "You two did well. If only I can announce two winners, I'd definitely end this day, unfortunately, it's against the rules. Looks like you two need to fight head on. Are you both ready?"

The siblings nodded at the principal.

"Good. Use the two hours to eat your early dinner and rest. Assistant Lycus will bring your food in a few minutes."

"Thank you, sir!" Ivory exclaimed.

When the Principal left, Lucius excused himself, saying that he needed to change his clothes and dry his armor. Meanwhile, Ivory and Sigmund went to the dressing room to replenish mana. Afterwards, the silver-haired Master felt her eyelids getting heavier and heavier each second.

"Sigmund… I feel sleepy," she muttered, leaning onto his shoulder while they sat on the bench.

The Vampire placed his arms around her, "Sleep."

"Wake me up if you hear that the food has arrived…" and she finally drifted off to sleep.

In her vivid dream, Ivory was standing in front of the Prisma Gallery where Katie was currently staying. She didn't know why, but she couldn't get herself to come inside. She just stood there while staring at the opened door.

"Hello, miss?" a man suddenly spoke.

Ivory turned to him and asked, "Yes?"

"Ah, you finally faced me. I couldn't catch up with you as you were always running away," he slowly approached her, then stretched out his hand, "May I know your name?"