Fairy Tail: You said you were just acting, are you serious

Buzz!

As soon as Speaker Crawford finished speaking, the magical screen reappeared, this time displaying only the list for the first match.

[Match 1: Ron vs. Eric]

The magical light screen magnified the two names, making them occupy the entire screen and emphasizing the current battle situation.

Then, one of the proctors who was standing to the side walked to the center of the stage, seemingly the chief proctor and referee for this stage.

He took out a magical megaphone and glanced at the waiting area of ​​the young mages.

"Now, please have the two players in the first match step onto the ring immediately."

Guided by the two assistant examiners, Ron and Eric walked up the steps to the ring, one on the left and one on the right, and faced each other in the center.

The chief examiner then looked at Eric, then at Ron, and instructed him:

"The rules for the elimination tournament were sent to you yesterday, right? Did you all memorize them?"

Seeing Ron and Eric nod, the chief examiner, for safety's sake, raised the magical megaphone, looked around the room, and loudly announced the rules for the practical assessment.

"Let me emphasize this to you again: the rules of the knockout stage!"

First, the contestant who falls out of the ring area is eliminated.

Second, contestants who are seriously injured and lose consciousness are eliminated.

Third, any contestant who voluntarily surrenders during the fight is also eliminated.

Then, the chief examiner solemnly warned:

"One last reminder: this is just an assessment; malicious intent to kill is strictly prohibited! If it is determined to be malicious injury, not only will you be disqualified on the spot, but you will also be sent to the council for further judgment!"

"clear."

Eric responded to the proctor, his gaze still fixed on Ron in front of him.

"no problem."

Ron stretched his neck and responded casually.

The chief examiner, observing the two individuals' different states, then stood on a suspended square platform to the side.

The chief examiner then maneuvered the platform away from the ring, giving the two players complete space.

The proctors quickly stepped forward and stood in the four corners of the audience, activating a light blue magic circle.

To prevent accidental magical damage to the contestants in the audience and waiting areas, a hemispherical transparent layer instantly enveloped the entire spacious arena, forming a perfect barrier.

After confirming that the barrier was completely closed, the chief examiner, who was suspended in mid-air, raised his right hand.

As he swung his arm down, he announced:

"The first match begins now!"

As soon as the referee finished speaking, Eric revealed an arrogant smile, and a dark purple magic circle instantly lit up in his hand.

"It's finally starting, Poison Fang!"

Then, poisonous mist erupted from Eric's magic circle, forming a large, dark purple serpent that opened its jaws and lunged at Ron!

Faced with the attack, Ron reached into his pouch and, with lightning speed, dodged the giant snake.

"You can't escape!"

Eric then unleashed another poisonous mist, spreading it towards Ron.

Pfft!

In that instant, a white magic circle appeared on Ron's body, and a puff of white smoke appeared around him.

As the white smoke dissipated, a bird formed from white clay appeared out of thin air behind Ron.

The bird had a wingspan of about two meters. Its beady eyes looked at Ron, and then it reached out with its claws and grabbed Ron's shoulder.

Swish~!

Just as the purple fangs were about to strike, the clay bird suddenly flapped its wings and soared into the sky, dodging the attack.

The fang missed its target and then vanished with the wind.

"What?!"

Eric looked up, staring incredulously at Ron, who was suspended in mid-air.

This magical clay can be molded into such a large bird, how come it wasn't mentioned in the intelligence report?

Ron maintained his air superiority and looked up at the giant bird.

Fortunately, I drew a higher-level Deidara again before, which finally allowed me to perfect my ability to use Magical Clay.

Ron then controlled the bird, constantly dodging the attacks of the poisonous mist.

"You despicable bastard! Come down here and fight me if you dare!"

Eric hurriedly called out to Ron, chasing him back and forth, trying to find his weakness.

Ron chuckled softly and said with a smile:

"Come up here if you dare."

Ron noticed that he didn't have any snakes with him, so he came up with this method to keep his distance.

"Tsk!"

Eric clicked his tongue on the surface, but inside he was overjoyed and felt no anger whatsoever.

From Eric's perspective, a faint cloud of poisonous mist was gathering higher up above Ron, gradually coalescing.

His seemingly aimless poison mist attacks, while missing their mark, actually rose into the air with the wind and airflow, waiting for Ron's opening.

If Ron pauses in the air for even a moment, he can instantly trigger the poisonous fog above. If Ron inhales some of the fog, it will cause nerve paralysis, and he will fall to the ground.

Eric was a little puzzled. If Ron had the advantage, why wasn't he attacking him?

Just then, after being carried by the white bird and circling in the air a few times, Ron began to slow down and hovered in mid-air.

His and the bird's shadows blocked out the sunlight, creating huge black shadows on the ground.

The enormous shadow completely enveloped Eric.

When Eric saw that he had stopped, he couldn't help but smile.

Then he thought to himself that he should raise his hands and use magic to draw the poisonous mist to the top of Ron's head!

However, just as he was about to cast the spell, he realized something was wrong.

His body was completely immobile!

He tried to summon magic, but found that he couldn't even lift a finger; it was completely unresponsive.

"What's going on?!"

Eric's pupils contracted instantly, a chill ran down his spine, and he felt a sense of dread.

It wasn't until then that he looked down and realized the reason!

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that a dark magic circle had been lit up in the shadow of the birds beneath his feet!

Because he was covered by a shadow, he only noticed the magic circle when he focused on the ground.

When was this used?!

Ron, hovering in mid-air, made a hand seal and smiled.

This kid thinks I haven't noticed what's happening up above, and he's still looking for an opportunity.

Am I not also looking for an opportunity to take control of you in one fell swoop?

I'm not going to tell you that this is [Shadow Imitation Magic], kid!

I recently drew the Shadow Imitation Technique from [Naruto - Nara Shikamaru], and this is the first time I've put it to use.

He circled for so long before finding this best angle, and then, as he enveloped him, he immediately cast a spell to control him.

"Don't just look at the sky, look at the ground too."