The Aura Ascendant: A Knight's Unbroken Path

Sheena's hands made a few gestures as the Spell Formation on her bag was triggered.

As she opened it up, one could see at its center was a small, black sphere—the Voidflare Bomb.

"On your command, this will detonate at the tournament's climax," she said. "No teleportation. No mage reinforcements. Just chaos."

Helcurt's grin widened. "Perfect."

This Voidflare Bomb was actually a new invention of their Mage Tower. Helcurt himself had never seen this item in action. However, he trusts its ability since it was an item created under the supervision of Great Nolan Holt, the only Six-Circle Magician of the Kingdom.

Helcurt then reached into his coat, withdrawing a single, blood-red ring—the Crimson Shackle, a relic reserved for Phyrexia's most valuable prisoners.

"Hayden Gray will wear this…" He murmured as he held it tightly. It was as if he were already imagining what he would do to Hayden.

Although he didn't want Hayden to be brainwashed since he knew very well that it could affect his future potential as an Aura Knight, he also knew that it would be difficult to control him…

This Crimson Shackle Ring would limit Hayden's Aura and help Helcurt control him a lot easier. It might even help Hayden with his training since he wouldn't rely too much on his Aura to train physically.

Orhan smiled after seeing that ring. It seemed that Hayden was truly a precious subject to the point that Helcurt would want to develop him as a perfect slave.

Then, as the next duel commenced below—Claire's match against Vulcan Naval's student—none in the crowd noticed that the Formation Cores had already settled in the underground facilities of the arena.

None of them even realized that the defensive barriers already had fractures spreading like spiderwebs.

Lastly, the Phyrexian Mages were already closing in on their targets!

Helcurt nodded, seeing that everyone was already in their positions.

"Prepare the extraction teams. When the Voidflare ignites… we strike." Helcurt said as he left the platform.

However, as they were all feeling confident about their plan, Hayden Gray's Ocularis Lens had already noticed the slight, almost unnoticeable change in the atmosphere.

It was a complicated analysis by the Ocularis Lens as it couldn't really detect mana just yet. It was only able to detect slight changes in energy fluctuations and up until now, it could still mistake Aura and Mana Fluctuations.

'Mhmm… Is there a problem with the defensive barriers?' Hayden mused as he considered that it must be something related to the combat happening on the stage. Perhaps, the fluctuation of Aura was affecting the barrier that had been placed to protect the audience.

At the moment, he couldn't consider the possibility that the place could be under attack, considering that this place was filled with Aura Knights and some Magicians hired to protect the place.

In any case, seeing that the trustworthy Headmaster and many other strong Aura Knights weren't paying attention to it, he didn't think too much…

However, Hayden still looked around the place to find an escape route in case the barrier collapsed and created chaos in the crowd. He felt that it was the worst-case scenario.

"Oh? Are those Magicians?" Hayden muttered.

It was actually during this time that he noticed several Magicians around the arena… They were all wearing the same blue and black robes and showing their status as First-Circle Magicians.

However, seeing that they were mere guards, it seemed that they were the sponsored Magicians of large noble houses or organizations.

"They're Magicians hired to maintain the control in this place…" The headmaster said as he heard Hayden's voice.

Hayden could only nod and felt at ease, even a little, since they should be able to sense if there was something wrong with the barriers they had created.

Finally, Hayden focused on his Lens once again to filter the information and get a better analysis of the situation.

Unexpected, his Lens finally attuned to aura and mana fluctuations and it had caught something. He obtained clearer information!

'Is it because there's enough data about Mana and Aura now?' Hayden thought.

Apparently, the Lens had indeed detected something wrong.

[ Barrier Anomaly Detected. ]

'Is it because it's getting old?' Hayden mused. But then, he read the complete information from the Lens' analysis.

Apparently, the arena's defensive barriers—usually invisible to the naked eye—were pulsing erratically in his Ocularis Lens's observation.

It had also detected some sort of strain in other parts of the barriers.

That's not normal.

'But we still don't know the cause of the problem… I might just be overthinking, and this is just something normal that the Mages had to patch up.'

[ Possible Causes:

Natural mana depletion

External interference ]

"Well…" Hayden muttered as he decided to be prepared.

***

In the meantime, above the dueling platforms, atop the central observation room of the Lirandel Grounds, Chief Mage Guard Torvain scanned the arena below.

He may only be a two-circle Mage, but he had three decades of experience guarding this town... His instincts were honed to detect even the faintest signs of problems.

And this time, something felt... off.

The barriers hummed at their usual frequency, the crowd cheered and roared as expected, and the battles continued with the same passion as every other tournament.

But Torvain's fingers twitched at his side, his gut was telling him that he had missed something.

"Report," he said to the junior mage beside him.

The young first-circle mage, a woman with a scrying orb in hand, looked at him. "All systems nominal, sir. No breaches were detected in the perimeter wards. Mana flow is also stable."

Torvain nodded as his gaze swept the edges of the arena. "And the spectators? Any unusual activity?"

"None, sir. Just the usual—merchants, nobles, a few pickpockets we've already detained."

Torvain exhaled through his nose.

Maybe I'm just getting old.

Still, he couldn't shake the feeling.

"Double the patrols on the lower tiers," he ordered. "And have the ward anchors rechecked. Now."

The attendant nodded and dashed off.

Torvain then returned his attention to the duels below.

If there's a threat here… I'll find it.