Cain woke up in his room; it was the first weekend since the classes started. This meant that all students of 12 to 14 years of age would join the tournament to decide their positions on the battle ranking. During this first week Cain took the opportunity to increase his workout time, the boy did it hoping to better prepare for the tournament.
Elion and Adalind had returned to the College after the winter, which they had passed with their clans, and the three children tried to get some information on their possible opponents.
Yesterday the fight order had been submitted by the Master of Weapons, the tournament that had a total of 64 participants would be happening in two days, with the first round of fights, totaling 32, happening on Saturday and the remaining rounds, totaling 31 fights, on Sunday. The students were divided into two groups, the winner of each group would face each other in the final. Adalind and Elion were in a group and Cain was in the other, so the only chance he had to face one of them would be in the final.
Cain would attend the first match of the tournament and his opponent would be Vladimir Finit. The boy from the Finit clan had black skin and black hair, his eyes were brown, and his face had rustic features. The boy was tall for his age, having 1.6 meters and his body was strong and muscular, he was considered a genius in battle, now he was 13 and last year he had already managed to reach fourth place in the ranking of 12 to 14 years.
Cain got ready and went downstairs, he walked to the kitchen where he met Heirloc.
"I was already going to wake you up, it is 7:30 and at nine the tournament will start as you know, so eat something quick because we will leave soon" spoke the man as he took a cup of coffee.
"Heirloc, you think I have any chance of winning this tournament?" asked the boy as he took a loaf of bread and an apple to eat.
"Sure kid, you have everything it takes to win, you have a natural talent for battle and trains more than anyone. When these two qualities come together they become unbeatable" said the Master Initiator in a calm voice.
"Thank you for your confidence, you can explain me better how the Faun Lineage works? My opponent today is also from the Finit clan and I do not want to be caught off guard" Cain spoke as he chewed his apple.
"Sure, we from the Finit clan are able to create connections with various animals and we can finish it when we want, as we are connected to an animal we get some of his characteristics, which we can use for the rest of our lives. The problem is that the more animals we connect or when we spend too much time connected with an animal, we start to get wilder, some people of my clan turned in animals altogether, completely forgetting their humanity" said Heirloc looking into the eyes of Cain with a steady voice. "Now we have to leave, because, I'll prepare the competition along with the Master of Weapons" after Heirloc's words the two stood up and left the Master Initiator tower and walked to Eriel's fields.
Arriving at the arena Cain saw that some of the students were already there, including Elion. The Fortred Clan boy had expressed his Lineage a few days ago, the promise he had made to his father was finally over and for the first time the boy could fight seriously.
"Hi Elion, prepared for your fight? If I'm not mistaken he was 17 in the ranking, it should not be too easy" Cain spoke as he shook the hand of the blond boy.
"You are correct, I will face Arthur Queir, he has received the Bull Lineage and people say he has the strength of five boys our age, but I'll exploit the weakness of his Lineage and use my speed, I saw him training this week and he is very slow. Now if anyone should care about the opponent it is not me. You are going to start the tournament facing the number four in the ranking" said the yellow-haired boy.
"Yeah, I'm thinking about using my Lineage in a fight for first time since the fight against Adalind, the trainings I'm doing to control it are working and I believe I will be able to fight without losing control of myself" said Cain thinking about the possibility.
The two continued talking and soon Adalind arrived at the arena. Elion would face her in the quarterfinals if the two remained in the tournament till there. The three talked for a while until the time of the start of the competition arrived. Malakin went to the center of the arena and called the attention of everyone.
"Good morning everyone, I declare the start of the tournament for ranking from 12 to 14 years. In five minutes the participants of the first fight should come to the arena, the others can go to the stands" with the Master of Weapons words people who were around the arena started moving to the stands, Elion and Adalind parted with Cain and wished him good luck in the fight.
The boy took a small blade that he had previously prepared and made a small cut below the shoulder in his own right arm, he then took a bandage that he also had left prepared and covered the wound leaving only a bit of blood leaking. As the minutes passed Cain felt his body gradually getting lighter and then he went to the arena.
Going up in the circle Cain faced his opponent, Vladimir Finit was in front of him, the boy was carrying two hatchets, and he looked at Cain with a fierce look in an attempt to frighten him. Around the arena the people in the audience looked at the two expecting a balanced fight, the first in ranking of the class that had just turned 12 years old faced the number four in the ranking of 12 to 14 years of age. Malakin gave a scream for the beginning of the fight.
People started screaming from the stands to celebrate the beginning of the battle, but the noise would soon cease. Hearing the Master of Weapons scream the two fighters started running, Cain progressed at an unbelievable speed. Taking advantage of the greater range that his spear gave him Cain attacked Vladimir's right leg with a thrust. The Finit clan boy dodged by jumping, but Cain had expected this, while his opponent was still in the air Cain changed his spear position and attacked from the bottom in a rising motion towards the heart of his opponent.
Vladimir tried to protect himself with the grip of his hatchets, but the force of Cain's attack pushed his arms back and the blade struck his heart. The boy from the Finit clan fell to the ground unconscious. People in the stands were silent for a few seconds and then exploded into cheers. Everyone was impressed with how Cain had dominated Vladimir.
Cain looked at his spear, the fight was too easy, and he could not believe that he overpowered his opponent so much, his brain quickly found an explanation that satisfied him.
'he was sick, that is the reason why he was so slow and was not strong enough to block my attack' the boy thought, convincing himself that he had been lucky in this battle. He left the arena and went to the stands; there he met Elion and Adalind who congratulated him. The fights followed through the morning, after the end of the sixteenth fight the first group had finished the first round. Cain returned to the tower of the Master Initiator for lunch and Elion and Adalind were with him.
"Cain, no one believed when you won your fight in less than a minute, it is the fastest victory so far" Adalind spoke with an impressed voice.
"Oh, it was nothing, I'm sure he was sick or something, he was very slow, and my attack could be blocked if he had his full force" Cain said as he chewed.
"Are you sure he was sick? To me he seemed normal and you were the one who was amazing" said Elion.
"I'm sure; the fight would never be so easy if he was fighting seriously" Cain spoke with a serious voice.
"I do not know if he was sick, but he would never be able to win against you, the one who will grant you your first defeat will be me" Adalind spoke with a flame in her eyes.
"So, let's make a promise, Adalind you and I will face each other in the quarterfinals and the winner will meet with Cain in the final" Elion said with a smile.
"Fine with me, but you can keep that promise? I do not remember you being that great of a fighter" said Adalind without believing in Elion's chances of reaching the quarterfinals.
"I did not say that's a promise? Have I ever broken one of my promises?" asked Elion.
"No. You always keep your promises" Cain and Adalind answered in unison as they laughed.
"I would not be a man if I broke one" said Elion.
The three finished lunch and returned to Eriel's fields. Upon arriving at the arena, they saw that the stands were already full. After a few minutes the fighting resumed, at the end of the third fight it was Elion's turn, the boy went to the arena. He was carrying his two swords and he exuded an air of confidence, his eyes seemed certain.
His opponent, Arthur Queir, a tall boy with muscular body, he had ebony skin, black hair and black eyes. He carried a giant ax and held it in both hands when the Master of Weapons gave the cry to start the fight Elion ran toward his opponent. Seeing his opponent approaching Arthur swung his ax horizontally from the right to the left, due to his enormous force the ax was moving in high speed. Elion jumped over the ax that was coming toward him and turning his body clockwise he landed on his feet. He then struck blows in Arthur's arms with his two swords. The Queir clan boy lost the use of his arms instantly thanks to the effect of the Orichalcum, seeing that he could not fight in this situation he gave up the match. People in the stands shouted of joy at the end of the fight, Elion had given them a show; his acrobatic movement had guaranteed the victory.
Cain was also impressed, even after this fight he could not measure the Elion's abilities. The boy could hardly wait for the moment in which the two would face each other. Returning to the stands Elion joined his friends. Adalind was in disbelief and she began to talk to him.
"Where were you hiding your skills for the last two years? Wait, do not tell me you've improved so much over the winter. What was the special training you did you to get so much better?" the girl said as she could not contain her curiosity.
"That's a secret, but if you were impressed with so little I have my doubts whether you will be able to keep your part of the promise" said Elion teasing Adalind.
"What? One win and you are already acting like a hotshot? When we fight I'll make you swallow those words" said Adalind, Cain and Elion started laughing." What are you two laughing of? I will make you two swallow these laughs as well" she said.
The battles continued and after two more fights it was Adalind's turn. The girl went down to the arena taking her usual two daggers, the opponent was Levinia Fortred, the girl from Elion's clan was 14, her hair was golden, and her skin was white, her face had soft features and her lips were thick. At 14 Levinia's body was already voluptuous and all men in the stands, except for Cain and Elion began to root for her. Levinia carried a sword and a small round shield. Before the competition she was the number twenty-eight in the ranking of 12 to 14 years.
With the cry of Malakin the fight began, Adalind approached Levinia cautiously, after getting close she tried to attack with the dagger in her right hand, but Levinia raised her left hand and easily blocked the attack, after blocking the attack the blonde girl attacked with her sword in a thrust movement targeting Adalind's trunk. The red-haired girl dodged the sword leaning her body to the right and sent a kick towards Levinia's legs, the blond girl dodged jumping back.
The two stared at each other for a moment and Adalind went on the offensive, whenever Adalind attacked Levinia blocked with her shield and then attacked with her sword. After a few minutes of tension where Adalind had her attacks blocked and dodged the counter attacks by inches, the redhead girl fell back.
Suddenly Adalind ran toward Levinia and when she was close she threw one of her daggers targeting the face of her opponent. The blonde girl raised her shield to block obstructing her view, a mistake that would prove fatal. Taking advantage of that mistake Adalind approached Levinia and struck a blow with the remaining dagger in the left leg of the blond girl, the girl from the Fortred clan lost balance and fell due to the inability to control the left leg. With her opponent on the ground Adalind hit Levinia's head before she could recover from the fall and that made the blond girl unconscious.
The battle had lasted more than Adalind wanted, but the result had been her victory. Upon returning to the stand she was reunited with her friends.
"You should have been more patient, you would end up hitting an attack if you kept trying, that last attack was too risky. If it did not work you would spend the rest of the fight with only a dagger" Cain spoke.
"You think I'd be stupid enough to perform this attack without knowing it was going to work? During the fight I realized she never dodged my attacks, she always blocked with the shield regardless of where I stroked. Therefore, I already knew she would use it to defend and lose sight of me" Said the girl smiling in an arrogant manner.
The battles continued throughout the afternoon and they finished when the sun was setting. Cain said goodbye to his friends and went to the tower of the Master Initiator. Upon arriving he proceeded to take a bath, after the bath he went down for dinner and found Heirloc in the living room. Seeing the boy, the man grinned.
"You did well today Cain, I told you that you have the skill to win the tournament but be prepared tomorrow you will have more than one fight and they should be more difficult than today" said the Master Initiator.
"I know, I'll just eat something and go to my room. Heirloc do not think that my fight today was something impressive, I'm sure he was sick" answered the boy.
"Is that so? I hope that the battles tomorrow are good enough to convince you of your skills then" said the man as he laughed.
Cain took two loaves of bread and some cheese, ate them and went up to his room. There he lit a candle and started reading a book about the Elders until he started getting tired. Before going to his bed, he looked at the wound in his right arm had, it was healed, he let out a small sigh.
Tomorrow opponents would not be sick, the fights would be more difficult, he could not afford to be arrogant. At least that's what he thought.