Evan's performance was an indication not only of his strength, but also of his character. All spectators were amazed by this extraordinary young man, and Gilbert Jilles was no exception.

He attended the

"Tournament of Precious Stones

" only out of personal respect for Koen and Fane. No one but Ronald interested him, at least not until Evan showed up.

"Ronald, what do you think? I think you and he probably will meet in the finals.

" Gilbert said calmly.

Ronald's fight had finished long ago, but not to be bored he went up to the bleachers and took a seat next to Gilbert.

The young man looked carefully at Evan leaving the arena and said quietly:

"It's hard to say...I can't exactly determine his true strength, since he wasn't fighting, he was having fun. Nevertheless he looked very powerful.

"

Roland hadn't met people like Evan before, as he was something of an outlier. Because of his status, Ronald only dated geniuses or young men from noble families. Most of them were either very arrogant or very polite, no variety.

"You don't know where this guy came from? I haven't heard of anyone like him in Mossy Vulture or the nearest towns.

" Roland said thoughtfully.

Gilbert stroked his beard and replied,

"Oh, I don't know this young man, but it's not hard to guess where he came from. One look at Zak's contented face and it's obvious. By the way... wait a minute... about a month ago I got the news that a guy Zak brought to the Tower of Magic had destroyed a crystal ball in a fit of rage. Well, now I think I know who did it.

"

"Zak? Isn't he just a simple hillbilly?

"

Gilbert rarely told Ronald about anyone else, so besides Koen, Fane, and Marcel, the young man knew almost no one. Since Zak had no contact with anyone but Marcel, there was little point in talking about him.

Hearing Ronald's words, Gilbert smiled and nodded:

"That's right, he's a real hillbilly. But, this hillbilly can fight me on equal footing.

"

Gilbert didn't say much, those words were enough to make Roland understand.

Of course, it was Fane who enjoyed Evan's performance the most. He was quite an eccentric person himself, so he liked Evan immediately. It's safe to say he was thrilled.

"Koen, what do you think of this kid? I wonder where he's from, I need to get to know him better. Oh, no, I've thought of something better. We should invite him into the Family! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

" Fane said happily.

The girl dressed in black reacted immediately to his words,

"Sir! You can't invite a stranger into the Family!

"

She could not stop Fane, she simply did not have the strength or power to do so. But, she had to at least try.

Fane wanted to answer something, but he was interrupted by Koen:

"It won't work. I'm the one who invited him to the tournament.

"

"What?! So you've already got him for yourself?! Give it back!

"

Koen smiled, looked in the direction of where Zak was sitting and calmly said:

"If you want Evan for yourself, you'll have to talk to Zak personally. Good luck.

"

Realizing what Koen was talking about, Fane quickly calmed down and said slowly:

"It's not even worth trying here, more trouble than he`s worth. Instant capitulation.

"

Evan himself was pleased with the fight, but he was missing something.

Evan didn't go back into the hall, it was a boring there. He continued to watch the next fights, waiting for his soonest performance.

After Soren's wounds had been healed and the arena had been cleaned up, the eighteenth round began. The opponents were quite strong and their fighting was dynamic, but they could not be compared to Roland and Evan's fights.

The next few fights were not much different from each other. In all of them, the rookie magicians used different spells, Magical Artifacts, and

"Catalysts

". Of course, Evan learned something new, but the skills of the contestants did not satisfy him.

When it was time for the next round, Fane said loudly, as always:

"Anika Horn and Enni Cross!

"

Upon hearing the names of the contestants, Evan thought to himself:

"A girl from the Cross Family? I wonder if all the family members are like Fane?

"

Evan wasn't familiar with the head of the Cross Family, but he roughly understood what kind of person Fane Cross was. Evan liked people like that, bold, strong, and a little crazy.

The contestants quickly entered the arena.

Anika was a short girl with long red hair.

She was unarmed, but she wore an amulet around her neck with a large blue stone in the center.

"Wow, looks like Fane isn't the only eccentric person in the Cross Family.

Said Evan looking at Enni.

It was a tall girl with shoulder-length hair. One side was black as pitch and the other was crimson as blood. She had gray eyes, just like Fane, but the most interesting thing was her weapons.

"Brass knuckles? Seriously? Looks like somebody's about to get beaten up.

" Evan said with a slight smile on his face as he looked at Enni's two silver brass knuckles.

It was clear at a glance that the girl was betting everything on the fact that her Class was an

"Amplifier

". Her stance, her weapons, and her gaze. It all pointed to her goal of being a great

"Amplifier.

"

Of course, if she got lucky with her Class, she could advance faster than other

"Amplifiers

".

As for Anika, she didn't catch Evan's attention. In his opinion, she was an ordinary, unremarkable contestant.

In fact, Fane and Enni were some kind of exceptions, the Cross Family was always famous for its manners. Every member of the Cross Family was a very polite and courteous person, but there are always exceptions.

Fane and Enni said and did what they wanted, and their actions often caused the Cross Family great problems. You may ask, why did't the elders punish Enni to keep her temper in check? It's simple - because of her character she was a favorite of the Fane. She was, basically, the only person Fane cared about.

Naturally, there was nothing the elders of the Cross Family could do about Fane, so all they could do was put up with his antics and hope that someday it would stop. In addition to having the same horrible manners as the head of the Cross Family, Enni also had an amazing talent. Enni was a capable magician and she was going to do anything to become stronger.

Even though Fane was impressed with Enni, he wasn't the one to choose the person who would perform in the tournament. Sure, he could have used his authority to decide for himself, but he was no fool. Only the most worthy and strongest people, not someone's favorites should take part in the tournament.

Drip.

The green drop dropped and the twenty-fourth battle of the

"Tournament of Precious Stones

" began.