"As you can see in the chart, the first match of the men's tournament will be Vyn Laterza, a fourth-year student, versus Noa Sigisbert, a first-year student. Let's welcome these two," said Mr. Alan.
The audience cheered, but they cheered for Senior Vyn more than Noa. This was because Senior Vyn was more well-known in the academy. He was the chairman of the Elevrad Academy and also the champion of last year's tournament. In other words, he was the defending champion.
Not long after, Noa and Senior Vyn exited different corridors and headed towards the tournament area. It's worth noting that around the tournament arena, there are corridors connecting the tournament arena to the participant waiting area. The participant waiting areas for this tournament are separated by year, meaning there are four corridors connecting the tournament arena to each other: the east, south, west, and north corridors.
The east corridor connects the tournament arena to the first-year participant waiting area, the south corridor connects the tournament arena to the second-year participant waiting area, the west corridor connects the tournament arena to the third-year participant waiting area, and the north corridor connects the tournament arena to the fourth-year participant waiting area.
"Vyn!!!"
"Let's win this tournament again, Vyn!" shouted the other spectators.
Senior Vyn waved to the crowd, and the crowd cheered even more. Meanwhile, Noa, unperturbed by that, continued walking towards the tournament arena in the center.
-
In the first-year waiting room.
We, the first-year students, looked up at the projection magic displaying the situation in the tournament arena. We didn't need to go to the bleachers or the corridors on the 8th to 10th floors to watch the matches. We could simply watch the matches on the projection magic while waiting for our turn to compete. But seeing this projection magic made me wonder where the academy had obtained this projection magic artifact. When I first saw it, I felt unfamiliar with it. I thought this projection magic wasn't actually magic, but rather technology from another country, perhaps the Dwarf Kingdom. From what I knew, Dwarves were skilled at crafting things like weapons, armor, and other things.
-
Back at the tournament arena.
Noa and Senior Vyn appeared ready and faced each other.
"I, Elgin Durrant, will be the referee for this mens academy tournament. The rules for this academy tournament are more or less the same as for the daily matches. You must defeat your opponent to win this match by knocking them unconscious or forcing them to surrender. Attacks that are lethal to the opponent are not permitted, and those who violate these rules will be immediately disqualified from the tournament. While lethal attacks are prohibited, non-lethal attacks are still permitted,"
"This tournament has a staff of top healers who will heal you if you suffer serious injuries during the match. Those of you who can use healing magic are prohibited from using it during the match. It would be unfair if your opponent couldn't use healing magic while you could. You would be difficult to defeat with your healing magic. Anyone who violates this will be immediately disqualified. Do you understand and are you ready to compete?" asked Mr. Elgin.
"Understood and ready," said Noa and senior Vyn.
"Then, the match begins!" said Mr. Elgin.
Mr. Elgin stepped to the edge of the tournament arena. Meanwhile, Noa and Senior Vyn appeared ready to attack.
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"This is our first time fighting one-on-one, isn't it, Senior Chairman," Noa said.
"Yes, I remember you tried to attack me when I was fighting Rid. But you couldn't escape the water prison I created back then. I think it looked like this," Senior Vyn said.
~Water Creation Magic: Water Prison~
Senior Vyn pointed his right hand at Noa, and suddenly a water prison formed, enclosing Noa within.
"Just like before, you're helpless inside that water prison. Should I wait for you to surrender, or should I just attack you while you're still inside to shorten this match?" Senior Vyn asked.
Suddenly, Noa coated his entire body with wind magic. The wind magic also coated the spear he held in his hand. After that, Noa struck the water prison from within with his wind-enchanted spear. The water prison instantly shattered and turned into a puddle.
"Don't compare the old me with the current me, senior chairman. I couldn't break your water prison back then, but things are different now," Noa said.
"Forgive me, it seems I underestimated you, and what's with that title 'senior chairman'? My name is Vyn," said senior Vyn.
"Ah, sorry, I only know you because you're the chairman of Elevrad, that's why I called you senior chairman," Noa said.
Noa immediately prepared to attack, this time throwing his spear.
~Wind Ballista~
Noa threw his wind spear at senior Vyn. Seeing the spear heading toward him, Senior Vyn immediately conjured a spell from his right hand, the same wind magic Noa used. He directed the wind magic to his right.
~Wind Creation Magic: Wind Dragon~
The wind magic he directed to his right immediately formed into a large dragon. Once formed, it immediately devoured Noa's wind spear before hitting senior Vyn. Seeing his spear devoured by the Dragon, Noa was shocked.
"I realized I shouldn't have underestimated you, so I immediately used my Dragon to fight you," said Senior Vyn.
After consuming Noa's wind spear, the Dragon opened its mouth, releasing a powerful torrent of wind magic.
~Wind Dragon Burst~
A blast of wind from the Dragon's mouth shot toward Noa. The blast was so fast that Noa couldn't dodge and was struck head-on.
*BOOMMMMMMMMM
A powerful explosion of wind magic followed the blast of wind hitting Noa. Smoke erupted in the tournament arena. The audience was stunned by the attack. They thought the match was over.
But from behind the smoke, Noa swiftly made his way toward Senior Vyn's Wind Dragon.
~Great Hurricane Punch~
Noa struck the Wind Dragon from above, sending it crashing to the arena floor. The audience, who initially thought Noa had lost, were shocked. They were surprised to see that Noa had successfully withstood the Wind Dragon's previous attack. Although Noa managed to survive the attack, it left him with significant injuries. However, he still managed to hold on and counter attack.
"Don't think this match is over, senior chairman," Noa said.
"I didn't say that, it's the audience who thinks this match is over. In fact, I hope this match doesn't go so quickly, let's have some more fun," said senior Vyn.
The wind dragon, which had previously fallen to the arena floor, rose again and tried to attack Noa again with its blast of wind.
-
The match between senior Vyn and Noa was quite intense. But moments later, their match was over. Noa lay unconscious on the arena floor with numerous wounds, while in front of him were two dragons created by senior Vyn. One dragon was created from fire magic, and the other was created from water magic. Senior Vyn was seen sitting on the water dragon. There were no visible wounds on his body.
"You're quite impressive, having defeated my Wind Dragon. Someone like you deserves to join Elevrad. But it seems you can't hear me right now," said Senior Vyn.
Seeing this, Mr. Elgin immediately announced the results.
"The first match of the mens academy tournament is between Vyn Laterza and Noa Sigisbert........, Vyn Laterza wins," said Mr. Elgin.
The audience cheered upon hearing the announcement. They cheered Senior Vyn's name, and Senior Vyn waved at them. Meanwhile, Noa was immediately carried on a stretcher by the staff to the treatment room. He was carried through the first-year participants' waiting room.
Lillian, seeing Noa being carried on the stretcher to the treatment room, planned to accompany Noa, but we stopped her because she was also a tournament participant. She had to wait in this waiting room and leave Noa completely to the staff to heal. Lillian understood and decided to wait back in the participant waiting room.
-
After that, the tournament match resumed. Since the previous match was between males, now it's shifted females, and then back to males again.
In the next match, senior Alisha defeated Lucy, Enzo's partner in the previous second exam. Then, in the next match, a fourth-year male student defeated Ciaran, a first-year Class A student in my class. And in the next match, senior Gretta defeated Lotta, Charles's partner in the previous second exam.
The fourth-year students easily defeated the first-year students. The fourth-year students slowly made their way to the top 16, while the first-year students slowly fell one by one in this tournament.
-To be continued
