The girl was obviously Erza. While most people were excited to see her arrival, the other nine students on the stage were not feeling well. Their hopes to advance to the next round were short-lived.
"You are just right in time." The principle laughed.
The judge was planning to scold Erza but the principal words resolved any issues with Erza lateness.
"Is it the girl who bullied you in your house?" Loki's friend teased Loki.
"Hmph, if you are confident, feel free to try fighting her later on." Loki snorted. Toward Erza, Loki was originally feeling contempt. However, after the incident six years ago and the following sparring sessions, Loki gradually started to accept and fear Erza at the same time.
"Oh, It is her. Interesting." A 14 years old boy was looking at Erza with a knowing smile. He was a devilish handsome boy with a tall body. His hair was black in colour and there was a faint majestic aura around him. Many girls secretly took their quick peeks on him.
"Beel, do you know the girl?" A fatty asked the boy. Beel was the name of the handsome boy and this fatty was his best friend in the academy. Beel did not reply the fatty and just continued looking at Erza.
On the other side of the arena, Lance was sitting there with his group of friends. "Is she the girl that you often spoke about?" A robust 14 years old boy was asking Lance.
"Yes, she is the girl. You must not look down on her due to her young age. She is someone that you must try to befriend. If cannot, then definitely must not become an enemy."
His friends were not surprised with Lance appraisal for the girl. This was not the first time Lance praised Erza. Every time they encountered a strong girl, Lance always compared the girl with Erza. In addition, they could also feel an intimidating aura radiated by Erza. They trusted Lance judgement as he had proven himself time after time again in these last two years with them.
"Begin!" The judge called the start of the fight.
Despite the odds were against them, the other nine students decided to try their best and started to attack Erza.
'Frost Bite!'
'Wind Cutter!'
'Bash!'
'Fire Arrow!'
One by one, those nine students made their attacks. At first, Erza kept moving around in high speed to avoid their attacks. Coupled with her flame wings, she looked like a young goddess dancing in the fire. No one managed to land a hit on her.
However, after a while, Erza decided to just stand in one place, unmoving, and received the attacks. However, the attacks surprisingly did not even leave a mark on her body. The attacks kept coming one after another but they were all ineffective.
The opponents were all in disbelief. They were not the only ones as the audiences were also bewildered. There was one word in everyone minds but that was too unbelievable.
"Are you a Knight?" One of the nine students finally blurted out the question in everyone minds. However, Erza just smiled in reply. She neither admitted nor denied it.
Everyone was in uproar. They were just shocked by Elsa, a 12 years old peak level Apprentice realm. Now, were they witnessing a miracle, the rise of a legend? Did Erza truly break the record? Everyone tried to guess the meaning of her smile.
In truth, Erza indeed had broken through to Knight realm. It was all thanks to that drop of phoenix blood and another awakening within her body. Erza remembered the conversation with the voice in her mind. She decided to accept something. However, when she woke up, she did not find any change in her body other than the fact that she broke through to Knight realm. Therefore, Erza decided to put the matter of the voice on the back of her mind.
Erza did not have a chance to try her newfound strength after she woke up. Therefore, once she arrived on the stage, Erza was eager to try her new power. First, she tried to check on her speed in combat. Next, she wanted to check on her defence. That's why she decided to just stand in one place and received the attacks. After all, the main difference between an apprentice and a knight was in their body capabilities. Power, defence, speed, and stamina of a knight was heaven and earth compared with an apprentice.
Shortly after, the other nine students were running out of stamina. On the other hand, Erza was still perfectly fine. By now, everyone had to admit that Erza had truly reached the Knight realm by the age of twelve. No apprentices could ever receive those many attacks and were still perfectly fine. In fact, only few exceptional early level knights could pull up the same thing.
Looking at her exhausted opponents, Erza decided that it was the time to end the fight. She expanded her wings and started to attack the opponents. Very quickly, the stage was covered with sea of flames. No one managed to fight back and were all forced to leave the stage. At the end, Erza calmly went down from the stage after being announced as the winner.
"We have finally concluded today preliminary rounds and congratulations to all 32 winners. We will have the winners to continue their fights tomorrow. So for the winners, you all have one day to recover your stamina and think about some strategies."
"For the honoured guests, I am sure you were enjoying today fights. Today, we had a lot of surprises and few unbelievable things occurred. I am sure tomorrow we will have even be a better day as we will witness the peak fights between these winners. You are invited to attend tomorrow fight."
The judge concluded today fights and gave a brief closing. The students went back to their dorms, while the guests went back to their respective houses. What happened today during the preliminary rounds would surely be spread around the city very quickly.
As Erza and friends were making their ways toward the girls dormitory, Elsa and Linda gave Erza the summary of what happened today before Erza arrival. She was both surprised and happy to hear that both Lisa and Linda managed to qualify for the next round.
When Erza heard that Qi Long intentionally dragged his match for her, she decided that she would thank him later on. She would treat Qi Long without any prejudice. If he treated her well, then she would also treat him well.
While the students were resting in their rooms, the citizens of Black Snow City was in great uproar. The news of Erza became a Knight and Elsa being a peak level Mage Apprentice became the talks of the city. The other academies truly envied Black Snow Royal Academy ability to attract top talents.
In addition, people started to investigate both girls' backgrounds. They found out that one was the holy daughter of Valentine clan and the other was Menzel clan little princess. Therefore, some people decided to visit both clans in the near future to deepen their relationships.
The next day arrived. As expected, there were more guests visiting the academy today. Even some secluded elders decided to come. Besides wanted to see their juniors, they also wanted to see both Erza and Elsa in action.
Today, Erza came on time. Her hair had returned to black colour.
Her group arrival attracted everyone attentions. Erza and Elsa were used to be the centre of attention, but for both Lisa and Linda it was a new experience. As a result, both girls were getting nervous, however they did not show it on their faces.
"Dear students and honoured guests, welcome to the second day of this year New Students Championship. Today, we shall witness the fights between these TOP 32 new students. Before that, let me remind all of you that this championship only test students' combat skills, not all of their capabilities. Even though combat skill is very important, it is not everything."
"Therefore, for those who lost in combat, please do not belittle yourselves. And for those who won, please remember that great combat skills would not necessarily mean you will become someone great in the future. You still need to work hard to succeed in life." The judge delivered an opening speech to everyone in the arena.
He then announced the draws for the championship. It was not clear whether it was intentional or not, but Erza and Elsa were separated into two different blocks. Hence, they could only meet each other in the final. Qi Long was in Erza block, while Paul was in Elsa block.
"Without further ado, please welcome the first fight of this round, Erza Valentine vs Veronica Goh. Both students please proceed to the stage." The judge finally called for the first fight. Surprisingly, it was Erza fight.
Veronica was someone ranked 27 on the new students ranking. She was a paladin. Unlike normal warriors, paladins obtained their powers from their beliefs to Gods. During the realms war, they were the Gods representatives on human realm. In recent times, most of Gods believers lived in Holy Kingdom of Panace on western continent.
Veronica did not feel depressed when she found out that she was paired against Erza. She believed that her God would protect her and even if she lost, it would be another lesson or test from her God.
"Ready, fight!" The judge announced the beginning of the fight.
As soon as she heard that, Veronica dashed toward Erza, leaving afterimages on her track.
'Angelous!'
'Angelic Slash!'
Veronica casted one spell for her defence and one attacking spell. This time, Erza didn't just stay in her place. She moved rapidly to avoid the attack. Erza then launched attack after attack. Veronica tried follow up. Slowly but surely, the picked up their tempo until only few new students were able to follow the fight with their eyes. Most of the new students could only see sparks of flame against light radiance every now and then.
'Redemption!' One attack of Veronica managed to hit Erza for the first time. She herself was covered with burning marks all over her bodies. Obviously, she still was not Erza equal despite her best effort to match Erza.
"I hate this kind of holy skill the most, shall I kill this girl?" Erza was surprised with her own thought.