Lana, Jeff, and Onean's matches were the reason why Erwin had stayed at the venue this entire time. Otherwise, given how sleepy he was, he would've definitely returned to the tent to rest.

Thus, after the conclusion of Lana's match, Erwin got up and left the venue. He checked the time to find that it was already noon, so even if he had a quick lunch, there wouldn't be enough time to lie down and rest as his match was scheduled to begin at around 2 PM, and he had to get there a little early in order to complete his registration and physical examination.

After emerging from the venue, he took a few turns and arrived at the Yanler Pub. It was clear that he was already very familiar with this route, and as he made his way into the pub, Larwood and the others were already waiting for him inside.

"You sure got up early." The alcohol in Chase's systems still hadn't cleared up yet, as evidenced by the unhealthy flush on his face.

Erwin nodded in response, and as soon as he sat down, he immediately yawned as he rubbed his own dry and sore eyes.

"You weren't too nervous to fall asleep, were you?" Larwood jibed.

"There's no need to be nervous. They've already bet all of their money on Shaun, so you just have to perform as normal. There's no need for you to feel any psychological pressure," Kaiba chuckled.

"You really are a bunch of assholes," Erwin said with a wry smile.

"By the way, you went to watch the morning matches, right? How were they?" Larwood asked as he turned to Erwin.

"There were a few good matches. Remember Jeff? The guy you fought outside the Redbud Pavilion last time? Turns out he was going very easy on the three of you that time," Erwin replied with a smile. "He featured in the first match today, and he defeated his opponent with just a single move. You should've seen all the pretty girls clapping and cheering for him!"

Larwood and the others were fully aware that Jeff had been toying with them during their last fight.

"What about his sister, Lana? Who did she go up against?" Chase asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"You guys ever heard of Byron from our academy?" Erwin asked with an amused expression.

"He seems to be relatively renowned in our academy. Isn't he Duke Shreesan's son? I heard that he's extremely arrogant," Chase replied as a flash of recognition appeared in his eyes. "Don't tell me he was Lana's opponent! I don't know much about Byron, but I heard he's an advanced magician. How did their match go?"

"Throughout the entire match, all he did was conjure a magic shield before being carried off like a spineless coward," Erwin replied as a mocking smile appeared on his face. He was consoling himself with the thought that he had at least lasted several exchanges in his first battle against Lana. Furthermore, she had defeated an advanced magician with just a single spell, so it only made sense that an intermediate magician like himself would be no match for her.

"Wait, didn't Chase just say that he's an advanced magician? How come he only managed to conjure up a magic shield against Lana?" Kaiba asked with a stunned expression, and they were forced to further elevate their already lofty assessment of Lana and Jeff's powers.

"Man, those two from the Lazaar Family really are something else," Larwood sighed, following which a thought suddenly occurred to him. "What about Princess Onean? Did you get to watch her match as well?"

"Princess Onean's opponent was a martial artist who specializes in assassination. He managed to last a few exchanges against her, but Princess Onean's magic was too powerful in the end..." Thus, Erwin gave everyone a brief recount of Princess Onean's match.

"I can feel my blood pressure rising just from hearing about those three! How is it fair that there are such ridiculously talented people in this world?" Chase grumbled.

"It's alright, we have an exceptionally talented martial artist and magician here as well. Their names are Larwood and Erwin, and they're gonna show everyone who's boss!" Kaiba chuckled, and even though he was clearly having a laugh at Erwin and Larwood's expense, his words sounded somewhat encouraging for some reason.

The group of friends joked around as they had some lunch together, and Chase and Kaiba drank themselves silly again.

After lunch, Erwin and Kaiba went directly to the eastern contestants' area to register themselves, while Chase and Kaiba stumbled toward the southern entrance in a drunken fashion to enter the venue from there.

Erwin sat alone on the bench in the lobby area, wrapped up in his own thoughts with an absentminded look on his face. The administrators had already conducted physical examinations on the contestants who were about to participate in their matches, including Erwin, and the equipment that he had registered several days ago had also been brought out of the storage tent.

Larwood had already gone out for his match, and Erwin didn't know how the match was going. All he could hear were the voices of all of the spectators, and in reality, he couldn't focus on what they were saying anyway. This was the first time that he had competed in front of tens of thousands of people, and he really was feeling quite nervous, so much so that even his lips were looking a little pale.

Aside from his nerves, his ego was also running wild for some reason. To be accurate, his ego had been bothering him for the entire morning. The three matches that he had witnessed in the morning had had a profound impact on him, showing him that there was no lack of monstrous prodigies among his peers. In the past, Erwin had always thought that his street smarts and tricks would allow him to consistently stay ahead of the pack, but after being taught a brutal lesson by Lana during their first battle, he was already beginning to regret his lackadaisical attitude. After witnessing those three matches in the morning, his confidence had been well and truly decimated.

Right at this moment, an administrator made his way toward him, then said in an expressionless voice, "It's time for your match."

Erwin took a deep breath, and he could feel his own heart fluttering in his own chest. Looking at the relaxed look on Larwood's face as he made his way back into the passageway, Erwin knew that he had won his match. It was clear that Larwood was very pleased with himself, while Erwin felt as if he were walking to his own execution, so there was a massive contrast in their moods.

"You better win," Larwood said to Erwin in a low voice in the instant that they passed each other by.

Erwin emerged from the dim passageway and experienced the light of day again. Perhaps it was due to his excessive nerves, but at this moment, even the sun felt particularly blinding to him. Erwin swept his gaze around the massive ring-shaped arena. Only when looking up while standing at the very bottom was he able to fully comprehend just how spectacular and daunting the venue was.

Looking at the tens of thousands of unfamiliar faces around him and hearing their noisy commentary, Erwin felt as if he were going through an out-of-body experience. He was so nervous that the only sound that he could hear was the pounding of his own heart in his eardrums, and one of the administrators standing beside the competition platform had already approached him, wondering why he still hadn't stepped onto the platform yet.

Erwin took a deep breath. 

What's there to be nervous about? It's not like this is the first time I've made a fool out of myself. 

With that in mind, he stepped onto the competition platform with a determined expression. In the process, he took a surreptitious glance at the contestants' spectating platforms to the east and the west, and to his surprise, both Princess Onean and Lana were still present. They were situated on opposite platforms from one another, and both of them were watching his match.

Erwin then took a close look at his opponent, Shaun. Just like Erwin himself, Shaun was also a magician, and his physical appearance was quite unremarkable. However, the fact that he was quite a renowned figure in Pucil Academy meant that he had to be an advanced magician as well. Having already battled Lana on two previous occasions, Erwin was no longer so afraid of opponents with superior magic power to himself.

A magic blast was fired, and the match began.

Erwin naturally started the match with his signature chaotic flurry of instant-release spells. In the blink of an eye, around a dozen spells that were radiating purple light had already been sent flying through the air, and Erwin was very glad that he had listened to Professor Hawk's advice to get a staff.

Shaun's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, clearly not expecting his opponent to unleash a random flurry of instant-release spells from the get-go. All of the oncoming darkness-attribute spells seemed to be quite troublesome to deal with, so he raised a hand to conjure up a magic shield, while holding onto his staff with his other hand as he began to chant an incantation for an advanced spell.

All of Erwin's darkness-attribute spells exploded upon the magic shield, releasing bursts of magic turbulence that carried various types of negative status effects, such as scorch, frostbite, and paralysis. Shaun looked on at the magic turbulence with furrowed brows, and he was quite taken aback by the sheer variety of Erwin's instant-release spells and their negative status conditions.

Those negative status conditions were naturally all thanks to the magic rings that Professor Hawk had gifted to Erwin.

After exhausting all of the elemental matter around him, Erwin unleashed his signature space split technique to arrive directly above Shaun.

On the royal family's spectating platform, Master Piro immediately choked on the water that he was drinking upon seeing this. Even as he was still spluttering and coughing, he sprang to his feet with a shocked expression, paying no heed to the water that had been spilled all over the table as he stared intently at the competition platform at the center of the venue.

On the eastern contestant's spectating platform, Princess Onean was also extremely intrigued to see this, and she rose to her feet as well.

In contrast, Lana was already accustomed to seeing this, and a faint smile had appeared on her face.

Meanwhile, the audience was still reeling from what they had just seen, wondering how Erwin had suddenly appeared above his opponent.

Erwin was about to attack from his vantage point above his opponent, but to his surprise, Shaun didn't seem to have been caught off guard in the slightest. He raised his staff, and three glowing magic spears of different colors, namely red, yellow, and blue, were sent flying up toward Erwin, and the three spears were also carrying three different types of negative status conditions.

Erwin also remained calm and collected even as the three spears of light were hurtling directly toward him. The tips of the spears plunged straight into his body, and all of the spectators gasped in shock. Some of the more squeamish spectators in the stands had already closed their eyes, too scared to watch any longer. However, the spears had only struck a mirage. Once again, Erwin had been saved by the necklace given to him by Professor Hawk.

Taking advantage of this brief instant of respite, Erwin unleashed an agility technique, thereby allowing him to evade the three magic spears with ease.

"Hmph, that's a nice little party trick." A derisive sneer appeared on Shaun's face as he abruptly pulled his staff back toward himself, and the three magic spears, which were already several meters behind Erwin at this point, suddenly swiveled around before flying toward his back.

Erwin took a glance at the three magic spears that were flying back toward him, and he knew that it wouldn't be a wise decision to take them head-on. Thus, he sped directly toward Shaun, unleashing another wild barrage of instant-release spells while completely disregarding the magic spears that were hurtling toward him from behind.