Today was the day of Black Snow Royal Academy's New Students Championship. Although it was not open for public viewing, there were still a lot of people coming into the academy to watch the fights. Most of them were the parents and elders of the new students, some were senior students who wanted to observe their juniors. Amongst them, there were Lance, Loki, George, and Felicia.
These people made their ways toward a majestic looking fighting arena. Upon entering the arena, some people preferred to seat nearby the fighting stage, while others preferred to sit a bit further away. The fighting stage was roughly 500 sqm in size and there was a strong barrier around it. The barrier was there to ensure there was no outside interference during the match and also to protect the audiences from any possible collateral damages.
At one section of the arena, the principal was sitting in the seat of honour. By his side, Madam Olivia and Sir Adam were also present. Surrounding them were quite a number of teachers and instructors. Some people went there and offered their greetings.
"Greetings Principal, hope you are well." Violet came forward and offered her greeting. She was a graduate from the academy.
"Ho ho ho, the little girl in the past has become a breath-taking beauty." The principal praised Violet's beauty and lost himself in a short reminiscence. After a short pause, he continued "I had heard about the incident, I'm sorry for your loss."
"It has been more than a decade. I have gotten over it." Violet calmly replied. No one knew whether she had really gotten over the incident or not. After all, it involved her past lover and her parents.
"Good. By the way, you have raised a good child." The principal decided to change the subject.
"Erza is originally a good child. I'm glad she manages to prove to everyone how extraordinary she is." Violet said with a smile. She was truly happy with Erza.
From Valentine clan, Victoria and Grandpa Qing also came along. Victoria relationship with Erza was getting better since the incident six years ago. Victoria was even the one who taught Erza about the basics of Flame control.
More and more guests from other big families came to offer their greetings. There were a couple and a servant coming from Menzel Clan. The couple were Elsa's parents, the patriarch and matriarch of Menzel clan! Even though they were currently the heads of a big clan, they were once the students of this academy. Therefore, they humbled themselves and came to offer their greetings.
From Seven Colour Pagoda clan, there were two couples and two elders came along, in total of six people. The couples were the parents of Qi Long and Qi Di. Lastly, a couple from Glacier family came as well to offer their greetings. Obviously, they were the parents of Paul. What surprising was they were the current heads of Glacier family.
Only the big four clans came forward to offer their greetings as the rest of the guests did not have the qualification. Some were keeping silent, while some were talking with other guests around them.
At one side of the arena, the new students were sitting down in groups. Some were waving to their parents and elders, while some were talking among themselves. There were a number of students who were reading compiled books containing some details of those TOP 100 new students. Unexpectedly, those were the books sold by Linda.
"Where is Erza?" Lisa asked Elsa as they never met again since each went to practice and did their own things.
"She is still in the training hall. I have tried to send her messages on multiple occasions but there is no reply yet." Elsa answered. She was also worried because the championship would begin soon. It was truly a pity if Erza missed it by any chance. Elsa had also asked Aston to contact Erza. However, when he tried to enter the field, it was unexpectedly sealed by a strong flame barrier.
More and more students arrived and finally it was the time to open the championship.
"Dear students and all of honoured guests, on behalf of the principal, teachers, and staffs of the academy, welcome to this year New Students Championship! We are here to witness the rise of new generation leaders among the new students. Please be seated and enjoy the fights. As usual, it's prohibited to interfere with the competition by any means. Otherwise, please do not blame us for the consequences." The judge officially opened the competition. He then explained the rules of the championship and finished his speech soon after.
"Now let's welcome the first group fight. The following students please came forward to the stage. Amanda Port, Michael Olson, Jack Pen, .... , and lastly Emily Steward." The judge started calling out the names of the participants of the first fight.
Amanda Port was the current rank 32, the highest amongst the new students on the stage. According to Linda's information book, she was a water mage and currently at middle stage of Apprentice realm.
Once the fight started, Amanda directly casted 'Water Barrier' around her body. Three other students were also setting up their defence. Soon, two warriors were making their ways toward Amanda. She responded swiftly by casting 'Water Pillar' and those warriors ended up flying out of the stage.
Next, Amanda felt a vibration on her back. She turned around and saw there was a thief hitting her barrier. She casted another 'Water Pillar' but the thief had already vanished from his spot. The thief then suddenly appeared on her left side and launched an attack. Before Amanda got the time to react, the thief moved quickly toward her right side, and the fights continued. Thief was really the nemesis of a mage.
The situation was truly chaotic. After a while, two more students were eliminated. The remaining five people were locked in intense fights. Amanda and the thief were both soon running out of stamina, but they still put up their best efforts to finish off the opposite party.
At another side, a healer and a warrior were teaming up against a wind mage. Due to two against one, the mage was on the losing side. Not long after, the mage was eventually eliminated. However, he took out the healer in the process.
Next, the warrior dashed toward Amanda and the thief. He was aiming for Amanda as he believed that Amanda posed a bigger threat to him than the thief. Seeing the incoming attack, Amanda decided to cast two spells in a very short interval. One was 'Water Pillar' aiming on her current standing spot while the other one was 'Water Image'.
The warrior hit Amanda body, but the fake body dissolved straight away. It caused his attack to land on the thief at the opposite side. Subsequently, a water pillar arose from the ground below the warrior and sent him flying.
Laying down on the floor, Amanda was panting heavily. Her stamina was thoroughly spent, and she did not have any power left to stand. In the end, Amanda was announced as the final winner, followed by loud cheers from the audiences.
After the staffs helped Amanda to go down from the stage, the second group was called. Unexpectedly, the highest ranked student in that group was a student ranked 31. It seemed like the academy intentionally separated the TOP 32 students into different groups.
The fights went on. Most of the winners were obviously coming from the TOP 32 students, however occasionally there were few exceptions. The audiences loved those exceptions because most people liked surprises and witnessed the rise of an underdog.
Finally, it was the 8th group fight on that day. As expected, the highest ranked student was someone ranked 25. She was one of Meghan's friend, the ones who had conflict with Erza group in the dining hall. According to Linda, her name was Misty Pole and she was also a water mage at middle stage Apprentice realm.
Situated at the northern continent, Black Snow Empire was cold throughout the year, with the highest temperature was around 10 degree Celsius and the lowest could go down to minus 40 degree Celsius. Therefore, it was understandable that the population of ice mages and water mages outnumbered the other elemental mages.
Lisa was amongst the names called for the 8th group fight. Meghan and her group of friends were looking interestingly at this arrangement.
The principal took a peek at Madam Olivia, but he was surprised to see there was no worry in her eyes. It seemed like she was confidence with her granddaughter chance. 'Isn't that Lisa very weak? Did Olivia give her a cheating tool?' The principal thought over many possibilities and decided to pay close attention to Lisa.
"Begin!" The fights started as soon as the judge gave the sign.
Misty quickly casted 'Water Barrier' to protect her, and then started to cast a big range attacking spell 'Water Tornado'. Everyone was startled. What an overbearing way to fight. As a result, the other students all aimed their attacks to Misty. The water barrier trembled a number of times but it could still hold on. Few seconds later, as the barrier started to disintegrate, Misty finally finished with her spell.
'Water Tornado!'
One by one, the other students were swept away. When it was about to reach Lisa, a dumpling like creature suddenly appeared and it grew larger and larger again in a very short time. Who else if it's not Pochan? After that, Pochan completely covered Lisa body against the raging tornado.
Everyone held their breaths and waited to see the final result. The tornado gradually calmed down and vanished. Everyone was surprised to see two young girls left standing on the stage. One was panting heavily, and the other was covered by a dumpling like creature. People were wondering what creature that was.
"Pochan, attack!"