Zeke walked through another empty hallway beneath the sands of the arena. He turned to his left at the intersection and stepped into a guarded corridor. He was making his way to the seating area that Sophia owned.
The guards only nodded at him as he passed the checkpoint, the two men were already familiar with his face. Zeke nodded back absentmindedly. He was deep in thought about the pairings that had just been announced for the upcoming matches.
He stepped into the same lounge where he had been confronted by Alexander. Today, most fourth-year students were thankfully absent. The bustling meeting place snapped Zeke out of his thoughts. The lounge had turned even more chaotic as the start of the finals was drawing closer.
The first between Emil Gluthand and Eva Wellenreiter was set to start in half an hour's time. Zeke had returned here to make his bets for the first round of the bracket.
He could make out the figure of the studious-looking young man he had met earlier in the center of the chaos. Before Zeke made his way over there, he would need to do something else first. If he was really serious about wanting to earn big, he needed starting capital. He would need to get the promised spending money from Sophia first.
Zeke called out upon reaching Sophia's area, but his voice was drowned out by the general noise. He decided to just enter. Zeke proceeded with quite a bit of apprehension, he had not been invited in. He hoped that they were not doing something secret or private.
Upon sticking his head through the curtains, he could see Viola and Sophia. They were engaged in a hushed conversation on the other side of the room. Zeke, not wanting to surprise the girls, cleared his throat to get their attention. Two heads snapped towards him immediately. Zeke felt like a small animal that was stared at by a pair of predators. Their stern expressions eased after they had recognized him.
"Come in, Zeke," Sophia called out as she patted the space between her and Viola.
Zeke entered the area with the rest of his body and took the indicated seat. Before he could even ask for the money, Sophia deposited a heavy sack in his lap. There was a hefty weight to the bundle. It made a loud metallic clinking sound as it was placed down. Zeke could tell that it was filled with gold by the weight alone.
Sophia winked at Zeke and said, "Pay me back when you can, ok?"
Zeke nodded. He was grateful for her trust. The way she nonchalantly lent him more money than he had ever possessed in his entire life spoke volumes. If Zeke's betting plans turned out as he expected, then he would be able to pay her back before the day was over.
"How do you feel about your chances in the first round, Zeke?" Viola asked.
Zeke didn't even have to think about it, he answered without a second thought. "Don't worry, Viola. Samuel's brother Karl is even weaker than Samuel. I don't know where that clown gets off talking about how he will take revenge on me. I'm pretty sure he's putting on a show, nothing more!"
Viola still seemed doubtful, "I don't know about that, Zeke. He will have heard about your strategy from his brother by now. He probably also knows what else you can do from yesterday's battle. You should be careful!"
Zeke's heart warmed at Viola's concern for him. However, he thought it was wasted. He had a significant amount of experience fighting Margret. The woman was a Grand Mage and master of Wind Magic. He had fought her multiple times every day for weeks.
He had a ton of tricks up his sleeve to deal with whatever Karl would be able to throw at him. Still, he could feel the honest care in Viola's voice and didn't want to blow off her warnings just like that.
With a serious nod, Zeke reassured Viola as he promised to be careful. The girl seemed mollified by his serious demeanor and smiled happily at Zeke. He rose in order to finally place his bets.
The two girls, having nothing better to do, followed him out of the private area. Zeke's group of three was immediately noticed upon their approach. The other students parted before the trio. They had not forgotten Zeke's claims of betting on every single fight.
Zeke was not bothered at all by the murmurs around him as he stepped up to the bookkeeper. He looked down at the two piles of money. Each was placed before a crude portrait of the two contestants of the first fight. Emil Gluthands not exactly handsome face was even more unappealing on the drawing.
Zeke looked over to the picture of Eva Wellenreiter. The poor girl's face was basically only a circle with a mop of blue hair on top. Zeke was pretty certain that they used the same image for all the Wellenreiter siblings.
With a raised eyebrow, he looked up at the boy who was manning the betting station. The boy at least had the decency to blush upon seeing Zeke looking at the portraits. As he heard even Viola and Sophia snicker from behind Zeke, he felt the need to defend himself.
"I am not an artist, ok! Never claimed to be! Are you going to bet, or are you just here to mock my drawings?" he exclaimed.
Zeke didn't want to tease the bookkeeper any further, though, as it would not do him any good to genuinely anger him.
"What are the rates for the two contestants?" Zeke asked with a business-like expression.
The boy was glad to talk about something else than his drawings. He answered the inquiry with a businesslike smile of his own.
"Right now the odds are 2.5 for Emil Gluthands and 1.5 for Eva Wellenreiter," he explained.
Zeke thought about the odds for a moment, he had no prior experience with gambling. He was uncertain if he understood the system.
"So Eva is the favorite to win, and that's why her odds are lower?" Zeke asked.
With a slight smile on his face, the bookkeeper nodded. Despite the muted laughter of the surrounding students at Zeke's ignorance, he wasn't ashamed. This was his first time betting, and he was eager to learn.
Undeterred, he asked his next question: "If I bet 100 gold on Eva, who has 1.5 odds, does that mean I'll receive 150 gold if she wins?"
The bookkeeper nodded once more, and Zeke felt confident that he understood how the system worked.
The surrounding students were disappointed after listening to Zeke's inquiries. A 100 gold bet on the favorite was not something they could get excited about.
Zeke checked his [Analysis] spell one last time before placing his bet. With a confident voice, he proclaimed his wager. "1000 gold on Emil Gluthand!"
This proclamation caught everyone off guard; even Sophia and Viola were stunned and speechless. After collecting herself, Sophia asked with a tentative voice, "Zeke, are you certain that you want to bet that much money on Emil? He is fighting against a Water Mage, after all."
Zeke smiled at Sophia as he met her hesitant gaze with one full of confidence and conviction. "Yes, I am certain. Trust me, I know what I am doing!"
Sophia nodded hesitantly. She was not completely convinced, but she would not stand in Zeke's way if he was so certain. She didn't really care about the money, and was also certain that Zeke would pay her back as soon as he was able.
Zeke dropped the heavy bag onto the much less popular side of the betting table, right in front of the picture of Emil Gluthand. Without another word, he turned around and made his way into the private area, closely followed by Sophia and Viola.
The two girls were excited by his bold move and were all smiles. They were telling him that a true man should be willing to take risks. Zeke smiled wryly at their praise. He did not feel like he deserved any of it, since he was not at all a fan of taking risks.
Zeke had only dared to act so boldly because he was 87% certain that Emil would win. As a Fire Mage, he was at a disadvantage against a Water Mage. But Zeke knew that Emil was a versatile fighter with a lot of hidden depths. He had a vast repertoire of tactics to turn the table against Water Mages. Zeke had multiple recordings of the boy forcing his way through elemental suppression.
The entire Wellenreiter family didn't really deserve their spots in the finals. They had only made it to this point through the use of a niche tactic in the battle royale. The four were all fine Mages in their own right, but out of the 16 remaining contestants, they were the weakest ones.
With an enigmatic smile, Zeke enjoyed the praise of the two beauties next to him as he waited for the fight to begin. It wasn't long until the battle was finally starting.
Jorgel the announcer, true to form, gave the two contestants an over-the-top introduction. He was trying to create a little excitement in the lukewarm atmosphere of the crowd. It seemed the crowd was not really interested in this first battle. Neither of the two combatants was anybody's favorite to win the tournament.
Zeke didn't pay any attention to the words of the announcer. Instead, his eyes were focused on the two contestants in the arena.
After the signal for the start of the fight was given, both Mages immediately sprang into action. Eva was trying to create a [Water Barrier] around her position. She flooded the arena with water at the same time. This was a standard tactic of Water Mages, and it was exactly the course of action Zeke had expected of her.
His eyes focused on Emil who was summoning one [Flame Lance] after another. He was sending them at the barely formed defenses of Eva. The [Water Barrier] was buckling under the assault, but it seemed to hold out.
However, Zeke was not tricked by the display. He could clearly recognize that the barrage of mundane fire spells was only a cover for Emil's real plan.
Sure enough, after a couple of seconds had passed, Emil started to charge at a surprised Eva. The boy closed in as fast as he could. By the time he had reached the pond of water that was forming around her, he jumped forward with all his might. Zeke could guess what was going to happen, and with a slight smile on his face, he enjoyed the show.
Emil, still in midair, brought both his hands together as he aimed them at Eva. While firing his barrage of [Fire Lances] with his left hand, he had gathered mana for another spell in his right hand. Now he was aiming both of his hands at a startled Eva. The girl had no immediate countermeasure ready against the unexpected charge.
Emil did not give her any time to adapt. With a last push of mana through both of his hands, he unleashed one of the most powerful close-range fire spells: [Flame Cannon].
"Try and block this!" The boy screamed as he unleashed all the accumulated mana in a devastating inferno of flames.
The cone of fire engulfed the area a couple of meters in front of him, completely shrouding Eva from view. By the time the flames cleared, Eva was lying in the pond of water she had created. She had severe burns on her torso and arms. The girl had clearly used them to shield her face.
The water at her feet had protected her from the worst of the damage. But she was still in shock after the intense pain of such an injury. Since the judge had not called the fight yet, Emil started to cast [Flame lance] again, this time one for each hand.
Eva, who had just regained a sense of her surroundings cried out with bitter tears in her eyes: "I surrender!"
Zeke was happy with this result. With a smug grin on his face, he turned to Sophia and Viola. The two girls looked at him with shocked expressions. It appeared that despite their praise, they had not had any faith in his prediction. With a victorious grin, Zeke held out one of his hands to each of the girls.
"Let's go get my winnings. I still owe you some money, Sophia, if I remember that correctly," he said in a teasing tone.