Cyrus Solaris
The Arbiter group took a lead, with Stravos and Bogdan Zmei winning swiftly against a Truth Seeker and a Vitalist.
I felt like this joint house exercise was set up in their favor.
My first match was against Sora. The crowd around us simmered, anticipating the outcome of our rematch.
"Aye, screw head, you better win." Someone shouted. When I turned my head, I saw Mira standing there, arms crossed. She had been at the training facility late at night almost every time I was.
We didn't train together; each of us just took our own corner and minded our own business.
I gave her a nod and stepped into the ring.
Sora's face was callous and cold. Her hair frizzed as she cracked her knuckles.
The referee stood between us and recited the rules, which included not being allowed to use our node abilities. But our passive abilities and cosmic augmentation were fair game.
We each acknowledged his instructions and took our positions.
"Fight!" the referee yelled.
Sora dashed towards me with exceptional speed. A right hook was thrown at my face, which I blocked.
I decided to start the fight with gravisense deactivated, confident I could beat her without it, but that was a miss calculation.
Perceiving the quick kick to the knee as a follow-up, was harder than I excepted.
I buckled, my right side dropping slightly, giving Sora the opening she wanted. A palm landed directly on my temple.
Her cosmic energy control was efficient and precise, like her brothers, making it difficult to decide when to reinforce my body to counter her strikes. After landing the combo, she flipped back to create space. But I wasn't going to let that happen.
I dashed toward her, aiming to strike her from behind and knock her out of the ring. But her reflexes were quick enough to envelop cosmic energy around her back, absorb the blow, and reduce the distance traveled. Annoyed, I catapulted in the air, preparing to slam my fist into her tumbling body.
But she was quick again and rolled out of the way.
We played a game of cat and mouse for multiple cycles, and every time, I was just an inch away from landing a hit. I was beginning to grow frustrated; I was expending more cosmic energy than I preferred. At my current rate, I wasn't sure I would have enough energy for this tournament.
"You really talked a big game, Bennu. If you can't beat her, you will never beat me." Stravos said, standing outside the ring, analyzing the battle with a degree of focus that was frightening.
I didn't like to admit it, but he might have been right. I have been relying on Gravity Well to win battles.
Slow down, Cyrus. Taking a deep breath, I slipped into my Graivsense state and tried to visualize the movements Gramps asked me to study.
I ignored Stravos's words and focused on the ripples in space. With so many people in the facility, it felt like the distortions were attacking from everywhere.
It took a lot to drown out so many just to focus on Sora's. I was determined no matter what.
Patiently, I stood. No longer chasing her, waiting for her to give me the sign I needed. She had a confused look, but approached me cautiously.
The ripple caused by flexing her quad told me she was going to explode forward. I sank deep in my stance and just waited. I hated this style of fighting; it made me feel at the mercy of another.
Something I should never feel during a fight. But I stood.
Distortions from her fist rippled into my psyche. She was going to try the same combo, but from the opposite side.
Minimal movement was a saying I kept replaying in my head.
With a slight raise of my forearm, I blocked the strike to my face. I shifted my right leg behind my left, dodging her low kick, making her hair frizz even more.
But she continued, jumping in the air and performing a flip, allowing her to gain momentum as she prepared to drop the heel of her foot down on me.
I caught the kick, but my feet sank into the surface of the stage. It was hard to believe that her frame could generate this much force. She deserved to be at this academy, but she didnt deserve to win this match. I took hold of her ankle, spun it like a top, and launched her out of the ring.
She tumbled for a moment. Our eyes met, and I figured her to be pissed and storm off after losing to me a second time. But all that showed was a calm and calculated demeanor.
I didn't know whether to be pleased, hoping her anger would be gone, or worried.
I turned to the crowd of students, their whispers building into a cacophony that made it hard to hear my own thoughts.
"Excellent job, Cyrus. You are the first to provide a point for our house." Professor Rhondall said, patting my shoulder. The praise felt good. It hasn't happened often at the academy, but at times Professor Rhondall felt like the only one who had my back.
Maybe he was being honest when he said he'd make me the best Astronomer ever.
The rest of the tournament flowed quickly, with Kuru losing quickly in the second round to Stravos. I tried being supportive, but he just swiped my hand away after the loss.
Now there were only four. Stravos, Mira, Bogdan, and I. All I had to do was beat Bogdan to advance to the final round.
"Will the final fighters step up to the rings?" Head Master Naga called out over his microphone.
"The next fights will be fought at the same time on adjacent rings. You have five minutes to gather yourself."
I didn't need to gather myself. I was eager for this fight and immediately took my spot in the ring. Waiting, I saw my opponent taking his sweet time chatting with girls from his house. Of course he's a ladies' man.
But that's not what bothered me. It was chatter from kids in the crowd.
"I don't think he could beat the second strongest student in the school.
Bogdan Zmei, the prince of greed, is the only person who could go toe to toe with Stavros."
A fire burned in my chest. The complete disregard of my accomplishments.
I scored the second highest in the augmentation test. I won the totem games.
He barely scored six hundred. I couldn't see what made him so special, besides being the heir of a great family.
Soon he was going to learn that status meant nothing when it came to battle, and I was going to bring him down to earth in front of all that idealized him.