On both ends of the battlegrounds, the silver walls open up revealing both of the combatants. They walk into the battlegrounds, prepared to fight head on.

  A small piece of lightweight gear is attached on their heads. It resembles that of a piece of hair accessory more than actual headgear. A visible bright green crystal is attached to the end of the head gear.

  “May both combatants please equip their magical weapons,” says the Arena Master through the speakers.

  The pure bck haired Rio, the one standing on the left side of the battlegrounds slowly lifts up his right arm. He unwraps his fist revealing a lime green pendant. It dangles from his fingers. “Equip,” he says.

  The pendant slowly disintegrates into green circur mana particles, forming into a green colored scheme bow. The grip is made of a metal-like material while the upper limb and the lower limb are made of wood.

  The contrast between the light green grip and the beautifully carven brown wood gives it an interesting mixture of traditional and ancient technology.

  Rio grabs hold of the bow and hangs it behind his back.

  Rio opens his mouth, “We didn’t have the time to introduce ourselves back in the auditorium when we decided to become partners,” he pauses for a slight second, “My name’s Rio. Hope to have a pretty fun match with ya,” he says in a friendly tone towards Mars.

  The white colored hair Mars, standing on the right, scratches the back of his scalp. “I didn’t think I would be the one at a disadvantage here,” he says, his voice deeper than Rio’s.

  “What do you mean by that? I wouldn’t say that I’m particurly any good when it comes to fighting. Haha,” says Rio, he awkwardly ughs.

  “You’ll see,” says Mars. He reaches under his colr, grabbing the neckce around his neck out from under the combat uniform. There’s a beautiful white colored pendant attached to the neckce. “Equip,” he says.

  The neckce slowly disintegrates into white circur mana particles forming into a basic one handed sword. The hilt is made of a beautiful silver-like material, complimenting the crystal clear bde.

  Mars grabs the hilt and swings the sword to the side of him. The bright light from above creates a shining effect on the bde.

  “Ah, that’s what you mean,” interrupts Rio.

  “Yes. However, this doesn’t mean that I’ve lost confidence,” replies Mars.

  “If only I had that amount of confidence…”

  Mars is not amused. He points his bde towards Rio. “Now, shall we begin?” He says.

  Rio is silent for a few seconds. He lets out a small chuckle. “Yeah, I’m ready,” he says with all the confidence in his voice.

  “I hereby challenge thee to a duel,” both of them say simultaneously.

  Quickly enveloping the battlegrounds is a dark hue. It disappears within a split second and creates a rainbow like pattern before it subsides into a transparent barrier.

  “Now that the barrier has been set up, it’s now time to activate the arena!” Shouts the Arena Master through the speakers.

  Suddenly, the silver pting of the battlegrounds glow a bright blue hue.

  “What is happening here?” Says Rio in a cheeky manner.

  “Looks like we won’t be fighting head on from the looks of it,” assumes Mars.

  “Eh, what do you mean by tha-” Says Rio. He gets interrupted by a shaking sensation across the whole battlegrounds.

  Looking around, Mars sees that the blue hue is creating some sort of holographic environment. In front of him is the root of some giant tree. He steps away a few feet.

  “Looks like you also figured it out too, Mars,” says Rio from the other side of the holographic root.

  “Looks like this will be a tedious battle,” replies Mars.

  Spontaneously, the sounds of rge roots and trees growing fill the whole battlegrounds.

  The sounds getting louder and louder each minute before suddenly. Silent.

  Tweet, tweet, tweet. The sounds of birds.

  Rustle, rustle, rustle. The sounds of wind gently blowing on the leaves of trees.

  And the sounds of wildlife and water flowing echoes throughout.

  During the process, Rio had grabbed onto a growing tree which had brought him up. Giving him a good view of the battlegrounds.

  Rio, standing on a tree branch quietly utters to himself, “You can’t be serious now. Did they really just create an artificial environment?” he says in bewilderment.

  Rio looks around. Trees stretching left and right, streams flowing, and most of all. A giant tree in the center of the battlegrounds.

  “That just looks like some sort of World Tree…” Rio sighs. “I might as well make my way to that World Tree. I have a feeling Mars is the type of person to not waste time after all,” says Rio as he hops off from the tree branch. “Alright, let's try to put on a show, shall we?”

  _____

  On the other side of the forest.

  _____

  Mars, standing on the edge of a cliff. A stretching group of trees behind him.

  “An artificial environment for us to fight in. I’m impressed, Magi Prep Academy,” says Mars. He notices the giant tree in the center. “I guess I know where I’m going to go now. Hopefully Rio thinks the same. I would like to end this battle as quickly as I can. After all, I can't let her get ahead of me."

  Mizua