Shion Lan was in his private waiting room, watching the opening matches of the Academy Tournament through a magical screen while wiping the sword he had polished before arriving. His gaze settled on Kin Light, who had delivered an outstanding performance in the first match. As Ken's strike landed on Bart Jo, Shion murmured,
"He's unconscious."
Bart Jo remained standing in the middle of the arena, motionless despite having lost consciousness. Even the audience noticed it, prompting the referee to announce,
"Bart Jo has lost consciousness. The last contestant standing in this match is Kin Light of the Second Year, who is now qualified to compete tomorrow!"
Kin stepped back with his captivating appearance and overwhelming presence. Shion closed his eyes, focusing on his magic circles and stars.
"I can do it!"
When he opened his eyes again, he looked at the screen as the next group entered the arena. Among them was a third-year student from the Torano Family named Braj Torano, an exceptional Wind Element user.
However, he had one major flaw...
Braj stepped onto the battlefield alongside the other contestants. Among them was Vione Lucius, an Ice Mage who had been taken under the sponsorship of another merchant guild.
Braj glanced at his opponents as the wind magic around him fluttered his cloak.
"So... you who claim to be my opponents, surrender now, for the wrath of the great winds shall descend upon you! I, Braj Torano, acknowledge every opponent as worthy of my respect and will fight them with complete seriousness! Although many injuries will result from this, that is the path you have chosen!"
The man was unbelievably arrogant.
His boastful personality made his uncle, the Head of the Torano Family, grimace.
"That little brat!"
The Head of the Jura Family chuckled.
"Don't worry. He's still better than my sons."
The nobles would defend their children by every possible means, yet among the Six Great Families everyone knew one truth:
A bad child remained a bad child, no matter how much one tried to polish or protect their reputation.
A fourth-year contestant stepped forward, intending to eliminate Braj immediately.
Despite his arrogance, Braj possessed the strength to support his confidence.
He summoned a sphere of compressed wind that spun at an unbelievable speed in his hand before firing it at the fourth-year student.
Calmly, he uttered,
"(Compressed Sphere)."
A single attack was enough to knock the fourth-year student unconscious.
The remaining contestants looked at him nervously.
One of the second-year students—also a member of one of the Six Great Families—looked at Braj and suggested,
"How about we eliminate everyone else and work together afterward—"
Before he could finish speaking, a blast of wind struck him squarely in the chest, sending him flying backward.
Maintaining the same calm expression, Braj declared,
"(Compressed Wind Cannon)."
Braj then looked toward his third-year classmate and Vione and said,
"I am not an unreasonable person, but standing before me means that you have declared yourselves as my opponents. Therefore..."
"I surrender!"
His classmate shouted immediately.
However, Vione shouted at the end:
"(Ice Blades)!"
Sharp shards of ice moved toward Brag, who raised his hand and created a barrier of compressed wind.
He said,
"You have considered yourself qualified to become my opponent, and therefore I shall not reject you!"
He created a massive sphere of wind and compressed it into the palm of his hand, then aimed it toward Vione, who used:
"(Ice Barrier)!"
But Braj said,
"I shall now reward you with an honorable defeat!"
The sphere was launched toward Vione.
It destroyed her barrier with ease and continued moving toward her.
Vione closed her eyes in fear, but one of the instructors intervened. He was a sixth-level teacher and possessed Ice Magic.
He said,
"My student has withdrawn."
Vione had already obtained the sponsorship of a teacher. Although he was not at the same level as Ryan Shine, it was still an impressive achievement that she had gained a mentor willing to nurture her talent.
The announcer announced:
"Vione Lucius has surrendered! The last contestant standing in this match is Braj Torano of the Third Year, and he is now qualified to compete tomorrow!"
Braj attempted to say something to continue showing off, but Shion moved his fingers and silenced the magical screen.
He focused on his techniques.
"I feel that I can raise the level of my techniques from beginner to intermediate. The progress I made yesterday opened many possibilities before me. However, all I need to do is release my aura."
He continued his meditation for a while.
Eventually, he opened his eyes again, only to find that another match had ended.
A fourth-year student had emerged victorious. He belonged to a second-rank noble family, while one of the second-year participants from the royal family had been completely crushed.
Shion felt that he had seen him before.
He remembered that person had been around Jaiden at that time.
"It doesn't matter."
The fourth match began.
The person who appeared in it was Violet Night.
As soon as the battle started, she gave no one a chance.
She pulled out her whip and released her aura.
Violet shouted,
"(Shadow Net)!"
Her whip moved at incredible speed, creating attacks that appeared to the target as a black net flying toward them.
Wherever the attacks landed, marks remained on the bodies as if an actual net had been carved into their skin.
The four opponents attempted to resist her attack, but she jumped while using her aura and activated the same technique from above.
This time, it transformed into a wide-area skill.
Everyone received marks across their bodies and screamed in pain.
Some of them lost consciousness.
The moment Violet landed on the ground, a third-year boy rushed toward her.
However, Violet raised her whip and calmly said,
"(Hanging)!"
Aura flowed from the whip, which moved like a snake heading toward the necks of its victims.
She strangled him until he lost consciousness as well.
She then looked at the final two opponents on the ground.
They were still conscious, but unable to move.
She waited until ten seconds passed.
The referee announced her victory:
"The final two opponents have fallen! The last contestant standing in this match is Violet Night, and she is qualified to compete tomorrow!"
After the fourth match ended, a short performance was held that entertained everyone.
Then, the fifth match began.
Shion immediately noticed an important individual participating in it while the announcer announced the contestants:
"...and Baro Ferrer from the First Year."
Shion sat attentively as he watched the confident expression of his student.
The moment the referee announced the beginning of the match, Baro used his technique:
"(Spear of Light: Light Acceleration)!"
He swung his spear in a fan-shaped motion.
Everyone immediately focused their attention on him.
However, Baro smiled and said,
"I feel a little tired. You can begin without me."
A third-year student looked at him and said,
"You can surrender if you are really that tired."
Baro replied,
"Unfortunately, my teacher would be angry with me, so I will sit here for a while and come up with an excuse for him..."
However, the third-year student suddenly rushed forward with a surprise attack.
Despite that, Baro elegantly dodged the attack.
Then he said,
"Are you certain you are a respected senior student?"
Another fourth-year student attempted to catch him off guard as well.
Baro avoided him too and frowned.
"You too?"
The fourth-year student shouted,
"A first-year student capable of dodging attacks from older students?! Surround him together!"
Everyone's attention became focused on Baro.
However, he smiled and looked toward a second-year student.
"As a member of the Shine Family, will you participate in such a farce?"
The boy became nervous.
He looked upward and saw the Head of his family staring at him angrily.
Therefore, he decided to stand beside Baro.
The other three contestants were surprised.
But Baro asked,
"Are you a swordsman?"
The boy answered,
"Yes."
Baro said,
"Then deal with your classmate, and I will handle these two."
Without waiting, the boy moved toward the third-year and fourth-year students, who immediately launched their attacks.
However, Baro easily avoided every attack.
His speed continued increasing.
Baro thought,
'If I use my technique on my entire body, then with every movement my speed will continue increasing. However, it places an enormous burden on my body. But if I combine the techniques like Master and Fury did, I can release a devastating attack!'
He swung his spear, launching several attacks while reducing the pressure on his body and causing some minor injuries to his opponents.
The third-year student shouted,
"I will finish you now!"
He attempted to use a binding technique.
But with a single movement, Baro escaped from it.
Then he noticed the fourth-year student preparing to throw stones at him.
Baro smiled.
He decided that the warm-up was over.
With a serious expression, he said,
"Strengthen your defenses, because I cannot control my power well!"
The third-year student mocked him.
Unlike him, the fourth-year student hardened his body using Earth Element magic.
When the other student noticed this, he looked down on him.
"Are you really afraid of him?!"
But Baro interrupted with his shout,
"(Spear of Light: Light Line)!"
By combining it with (Light Acceleration), which had reached its limit, the attack became so dangerous that the Academy Director, Tim Air, sensed the threat.
He immediately used his magic, causing everyone on the battlefield to freeze.
Baro was shocked when he found his spear had stopped in his hand.
The director's words stunned everyone,
"Baro Ferrer, were you trying to injure their heads and kill them?!"
Baro trembled and replied,
"I already said that I cannot control it yet! I did not intend to do that!"
The director asked,
"Did your master teach you this?!"
Baro answered,
"He taught me the techniques, but I have never shown this technique before him!"
The director looked over the battlefield with his eyes and then announced,
"I declare that Baro Ferrer has won this round."
The third-year student protested,
"How can this happen, sir?! I am not dead yet!"
However, with a movement of his hand, the director restrained the boy and then moved the spear that had been stopped.
To the astonishment of everyone watching, the spear moved at an unbelievable speed.
Because of the tremendous speed and lack of precision, the spear would have headed directly toward the student's head.
The boy felt his heart stop for a moment as he saw the spear tip pointing toward his eye.
The director said,
"You and your classmate would have been killed by this attack without even realizing how you died."
When everyone saw this, they finally understood the situation.
However, the other second-year student spoke,
"But what about us?"
The director replied,
"I stopped his technique to prevent deaths from occurring. But if you insist on fighting him, I have no objection. I can suspend my final judgment."
However, the son of the Shine Family raised his hand and surrendered.
Everyone was surprised by his sudden action.
"Why all of a sudden?!"
But when they saw the dissatisfied and angry expression of the Head of the Shine Family, they understood the reason.
Seeing that everyone had surrendered, the remaining student also announced his surrender.
The announcer declared,
"Everyone has surrendered! The last contestant standing in this match is Baro Ferrer, and he is qualified to compete tomorrow!"
Baro left the arena with steady steps.
But once he entered his room, he felt an enormous weight on his body and coughed violently.
"I should have trained this skill first! I almost caused a huge problem!"
His body had reached its limit.
He wondered,
"The director certainly knows my condition... So why did he save me and not continue watching the match?"
This same question was asked by King Jord Joul to the Academy Director.
The director answered,
"His body had already reached its limit. If he had entered another battle, then..."
The director was interrupted.
"He would have won no matter the cost."
He continued,
"Because he did not want to embarrass Shion. However, the price would have been extremely high, and it could have affected his future. I did not want a great talent like him to risk the Aura Star he possesses. Otherwise, the consequences would have been disastrous for him."
Jord was surprised.
"Are you saying that boy is truly that incredible?!"
The director replied,
"Precisely his body. I have never seen a body like his before. It is as strange as Shion's body."
He paused before adding,
"Perhaps he was even the one who taught him that body technique."
Then the director noticed something.
It was now Shion's turn.