As expected, Shye and Mateo advanced easily, allowing the Raven''s de Rookie Representative Qualifiers to proceed faster than expected.


    In just an hour and a half, it was already the quarterfinals.


    After another short five-minute break, the referee walked toward the center of the stage, pressing yet another button to randomize the sequence of matches.


    This time, it was Shye who was scheduled to fight first. His opponent? The short yet delusionally heroic Chiizai.


    Introducing bothpetitors, Corey''s passionate voice reverberated across the stadium, gently intensifying the excitement inside the hearts of the crowd akin to a hypnotic spell.


    Shortly after, two rookies within the same generation stood face to face—one donning a face of righteous fury while the other wore a nonchntly confident yet calm smile.


    "Crowley! Today''s the day I save Miss Seira from your evil hands! Prepare yourself. I''m now well aware of how strong you are. However, with justice on my side, I shall strike you down!"


    "Hahahaha! Shut the hell up, you midget. You watch too many heroic cartoons. Still, do your best to save Seira, otherwise, she will suffer even more mistreatment from me if you fail! Mwahahahaha!" Explore stories on mvl


    "K-Kuhh…You''ve finally admitted it, you viin! Hang on for a few more minutes, Miss Seira! I shall be the light at the end of your dark tunnel!"


    Hearing the loud conversation between the two, Seira was horrified.


    It appeared that the rookie named Chiizai was so infatuated with her that he started imagining things.


    Her boss? Mistreating her?


    How could providing her with various skills be seen as mistreatment?!


    ''What a delusional midget!'' thought another purple-haired midget who almost started pulling her hair out in frustration.


    "BOSS! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING?! IN WHAT WAY ARE YOU MISTREATING ME?!" Seira''s loud voice reverberated across the arena, bringing a frown to Chiizai''s face.


    Naturally, Shye, who enjoys pissing people off, ignored Seira''s desperate attempt at rifying the situation.


    "Bahahaha! See that? Didn''t I train her well?"


    "YOU BASTARD! SCUM! I''ll eliminate you, scourge!"


    Chiizai''s anger was already at its peak, fortunately, it didn''t take long for the match to begin as soon after, the referee jerked his right arm upwards.


    "Begin!"


    Contrary to the intense face-off, both mages jumped backward, one started chanting to cast a basic fireball spell while the other…stood idly on the spot.


    "O-Oh? What is Shye Crowley nning?! Why is he just standing around?!" Corey eximed in confusion, asking the question in everyone''s hearts out loud.


    The crowd and thementator''s curiosity didn''tst for long though as shortly after, they got the answer to their question.


    Shye…was waiting for Chiizai to finish casting his spell so that the battle would be fair and square.


    What an evil viin.


    Noticing the slight mocking smile on Shye''s face, Chiizai immediately deduced the viin''s intentions, prompting him to inwardly curse and gnash his teeth in anger.


    ''You''ll regret underestimating me, Shye Crowley!''


    Soon after, an enormous fireball emerged from Chiizai''s staff, roaring violently as it ferociously shot towards Shye, causing the temperature to rise and the ground beneath to char.


    "DIE! CROWLEY!"


    "Heroic" as he was, Chiizai yed a bit underhandedly, seizing the opportunity Shye presented to him by casting the rare skill Grand Fireball instead of the usual fireball. He made it seem as if the grand version was just his "ordinary" fireball by employing the help of casting time buffs embedded in his mage equipment.


    "HAHAHAHA! You''re quite skilled as a chatan, heroic shrimp." Shye eximed loudly as he aimed his staff at Chiizai who was standing directly behind the grand fireball, fully knowing that the skill in front of him was a higher variation of the regr fireball.


    Shye''s words made Chiizai''s heart race.


    After all, it would be too embarrassing if he was caught lying in front of Seira.


    Fortunately, the "scum" didn''t expose him.


    Or so he thought…


    "Fireball!" Shye said in a loud voice, prompting an absurdly enormous fireball—wayrger than the one Chiizai fired, to materialize in front of his staff.


    The fireball then shot straight toward Chiizai''s grand fireball, utterly obliterating it.


    If not for Chiizai''s quick reactions, the match would''ve ended right there and then.


    "Hahahaha! What a weak rare-tier grand fireball! How will you save Seira like that?"


    "W-W-What are you talking about?! That was merely a fireball! You mean there''s a higher variation of fireball?! Grand Fireball was it?"


    "HAHAHAHAHA! Stop lying, you pretentious midget! What you just fired was a grand fireball!"


    "H-Hmmph!! If that was a grand fireball, then how could your regr fireball berger and stronger?!"


    "Heh, isn''t the answer obvious? It''s because you''re ipetent!"


    "W-Wha– You!! You dare call me ipetent?! You liar! The reason why my regr fireball lost against yours was because your fireball was the grand one! F*cking liar!"


    "Oh? So that''s how we''re ying, you little shrimp? Fine then…"


    Realizing that Chiizai was trying to make him look like a liar, Shye promptly sprang into action, suddenly disappearing from his original position and reappearing in front of the shrimp.


    Due to the significant difference in their attributes, Chiizai couldn''t react as Shye seized him by the neck with his right hand and simultaneously grabbed the midget''s staff with his left, hurling it off the stage.


    "Now, let''s see who''s the liar…"


    *PAH!*


    The satisfyingly crisp sound of Shye''s broad palm squarely hitting a midget''s cheek reverberated across the arena, causing a mixture of blood and saliva to stter onto the ground a few meters beside Chiizai, who almost fell unconscious after just one p.


    His pping technique was so refined that if he was born in an eastern fantasy world, he could establish his own sect with his picture-perfect p as the core skill.


    Unfortunately for Chiizai, who was on the receiving end of such a divine p, his torturous experiences were only just beginning.


    "Speak, was your skill a grand fireball or not?!"


    "F-F*ck you! I''ve always been an honest individual! You''re the one who used a grand fireball!"


    *PAH!*


    "Wrong answer! Again, was your skill a grand fireball or not?!"


    "I-It wa–"


    *PAH!*


    "Liar! Speak truthfully or I will p you unconscious, feed you health potions, and then p you again. I will repeat this cycle until you tell the truth."


    *PAH!"


    "Now, was your skill a grand fireball or not?!"


    "I–"


    "PAH!*


    "Hou haven''t even leh me hpik!"


    "What did you say?! Why are you talking like a shrimp?! Talk properly!"


    *PAH!*


    "M-My ssshkill wah a grand wireball…"


    With a face beaten beyond recognition, the heroic midget finally sumbed to the humiliating torture of the viinous Shye Crowley, passing out shortly after.


    Unfortunately, this time, the viin prevailed as the hero was ruthlessly humiliated in front of the damsel, who was in utter distress due to the damned misunderstandings created by her boss.