SSS-Ranked Skill in a New Filthy World-Chapter 196 First Official Duel

"Roman... Roman"

A voice rang in Roman’s ears, and his eyes fluttered open. He looked to his side to find Anya there, calling his name.

"What’s wrong? I’m sleepy," Roman mumbled as he turned to the other side.

"It’s morning, what about the tournament?" Anya spoke, and it all came to him.

His eyes jolted open as the sleep vanished. He stood up immediately, looked outside the window, and it really was morning. The sky was already bright, and he hadn’t even taken his bath.

Since he had a long nap yesterday, he didn’t go to sleep early. After he spoke with the mage, he came back, and he was sleepy, so he went to the library.

He didn’t go there for spell books just to read and pass the time, and he did exactly that until one of the maids told him it was very late before he went to sleep.

Roman quickly rushed into the bathroom. The moment he went in, he heard a knock on the door. Before Anya could speak, the door was pushed open, and the same knight was there.

"Where is he? It’s time for the battle," The knight spoke.

"Give me a minute" Roman shouted from the bathroom.

He didn’t need much time to prepare. After washing his teeth and taking his bath, there was nothing else to do as he quickly put on fresh clothes from the wardrobe, and soon he was behind the knight as they strode towards the arena.

The girls were already there when they arrived, so Roman joined them in the middle of the arena, and after greeting the Queen and the families, the girls walked to their seats, leaving just Roman and Reena.

Among all the interesting battles that had taken place, this was going to be the most interesting one for the noble families and the Queen.

The fact that a male was allowed to duel with a female in a contest of magic was still surprising to some of them here; all the nobles knew for a fact that Roman was going to lose, and Reena’s family was watching with even more certainty.

Reena was strong, even though she wasn’t the strongest; she was strong enough to beat a male in a contest of magic, and since they were in front of the Queen, they knew Reena would want to impress, so they were even more assured.

"This is the final fight of the first stage, Reena Whitestone vs Roman" The announcer spoke from outside the arena as the mages put up the barrier.

First on both of them, and then around the arena, after that, both of them stepped backwards, leaving a bit of space in the middle.

"Get ready...Begin"

The instant the announcer’s voice faded, Reena moved first. She didn’t waste a second thinking as she already knew what to do.

Her hand snapped forward, and a bright purple circle formed in front of her. Roman didn’t need to infuse Mana in his eyes to see her spell circle; he knew it was coming.

[Arcane Bolt]

A fast, sharp blast shot toward Roman like a flying spear; it wasn’t lightning, but it was similar.

Roman jumped to the side immediately he sensed the spell coming, feeling the air split right beside his cheek. The bolt smashed into the barrier behind him.

The crowd gasped, even though it was a basic arcane spell, the Mana she infused made it stronger and it almost got Roman.

Reena didn’t stop. Another circle appeared, faster this time as she unleashed spells after spells upon Roman.

[Arcane Bolt]

[Arcane Bolt]

[Arcane Bolt]

Three appeared at once.

Roman’s eyes widened. He wouldn’t be able to dodge three all at once, so he stretched his hands forward.

[Conceal]

[Self Mirage]

The spell circle of his mirage spell was concealed, and Roman jumped out of the way as all three spells struck.

He rolled on the ground, the dirt hitting his clothes just to make it all believable to the audience but Reena was seeing his mirage standing when she fired her spells.

All three slammed against the barrier, and then she saw Roman at the other side, his hands stretched forward as he fired a spell towards her.

[Flame Arrow]

Reena was first confused, but quickly stretched her hands, creating a shield in front of herself.

[Arcane Shield]

The fire hit the shield and vanished like it was nothing, same as his first spell yesterday, but Roman was just trying to see what type of defenses she has.

"Hm," Reena muttered. "That was quite weak, my only problem would be that one spell, but he isn’t rushing to use it, it must indeed be his trump card, then I’m not going to give him the chance he needs"

She raised her hand again, and this time, a bigger spell circle appeared, the lines glowing sharply.

[Mana Burst]

A wave of pure Mana exploded forward, and unlike her first spell, this was invisible to the naked eye as it was pure Mana. Roman already infused Mana in his eyes and braced himself, jumping back to avoid it, but the spell was fast and still clipped him, pushing him across the ground. He slid on the ground, coughing as dust filled his lungs.

The nobles watching nodded, smiles littered on all their faces. During the other fights, it wasn’t clear who each family supported, but on this, it was quite clear.

Reena was already moving again. This time, she dashed forward, faster than he thought she could. She was trying to close the distance, but Roman wasn’t afraid of that.

She threw her palm forward as she came close, but Roman sidestepped to dodge the spell. It wasn’t a spell; it was similar to her first spell, but this time it covered a wide arc.

[Arcane Wave]

A force slammed into him like an invisible shove.

Still, Roman twisted his body sideways just in time, the spell brushing past him, pushing him backwards. If he had taken it head-on, he would’ve flown across the arena.

Roman was panting, and Reena moved backwards, creating space as she was ready to unleash hell on him.