As the round began, Hyas and Seth were on equal footing. Hyas started the match by flicking an ether crystal he charged with lightning at Seth, only for it to be met with a purple laser from Seth's snake followed by a sideways dash.
"Tsk, I can't hit him" Hyas thought to himself as he flicked another crystal towards Seth.
Seth dodged and shot a laser in a 90 degree angle from Hyas, which then changed directions after its release and headed for Hyas. Hyas met the beam with another crystal which stopped the laser, forcing it to split and missing him.
"This should be fun." Seth smiled.
"I'm getting nowhere." Hyas muttered
The fight that ensued was a volley of lasers and crystals at high velocities, barely grazing both students. The class was shocked to see their performance and both of them seemed to be an equal match.
"Your abilities are similar to mine." Hyas commented, sending out a crystal that decapitated one of Seth's snakes only for it to regenerate.
"Hm.." Seth said, who sent two snakes to bite one of the crystals Hyas flicked.
Seth's eyes glowed and wisps started forming around the arena where the serpents were hit. Hyas stepped back a bit aghast. Twenty ghostly snakes fabricated and surrounded Hyas.
Hyas' arms and legs suddenly emitted electricity and in a quick blur, threw crystals all around him. While in mid air, Hyas kicked every last shard in all different directions, where each crystal ricocheted and bounced off seemingly nothing at all. These scattering, bouncing bullets nullified Seth's serpents. During the smoke and chaos, Hyas managed to zoom past the dissipating snakes and go in for a kick.
The lightning fast kick disoriented Seth, but he retaliated with a kick on one of Hyas's crystals that scratched Hyas and bounced back indifferent directions.
"Projectile Art - Fictional Ricochet"
Hyas's hit points were around the sixty percent mark, while Seth's reached the fifty percent mark
"Guess I'll have to use one of my Mark abilities; Basilisk Art - Haze of Death" Seth uttered, disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke.
The smoke materialized so fast that Hyas was barely able to react. His vision started to blur and the next thing he knew, the smoke had vanished.
"W-What did you do?!" Hyas panicked, frantically looking around from the middle of the arena.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadowy figure who stood idle. Hyas shot a crystal at it, however it turned into the purple smoke and split into five more shadowy figures. Hyas backed away, only for the shadowy figures to get even closer towards him. The shadowy figures started to shoot bolts at him, knocking him back even further.
"So I'm guessing when inhaling that smoke, you're able to attack me with these illusions, right?" Hyas said, who spat out blood.
"How perceptive of you, Hyas Tempesto. As a matter of fact, you're right, these poisonous clouds have a hallucinatory effect that allows me to attack you from these illusions." Seth said arrogantly.
After hearing that, Hyas looked all around him. Sparks of lightning appeared and disappeared,crackling through the air. He let out a smirk, to which Seth, still nowhere to be found, questioned his classmate's realization.
"What's with the smirk?" Seth asked.
"Oh, nothing. Do you know how lightning is formed in the atmosphere?" Hyas replied.
Hyas remembered moments before he came to Polaris, when he was at the age of seven years old. He read books on lightning, the science of electric shocks, polarization, and how they are generated in clouds.
"Positive and negative particles jump inside a cloud, forming lightning strikes. Your smoke is nothing more than a catalyst for my ability" Hyas chuckled.
Seth, alarmed by this, did not let Hyas make another move and unleashed a barrage of purple lasers from all directions. Hyas swiftly pulled out something hidden on his hip, a lone hilt. As he went for a blocking motion, lightning that lingered gathered and formed a static blade and cut through the lasers. Hyas's legs started to glow, charging with electricity, then he leaped into the air at a frightening speed. After a few moments, he found Seth through the smoke.
"Alright, time to end this; Celestial Art - THOR'S WRATH!"
Hyas dove down as Seth's shadows tried to intercept him. Hyas sliced through the air like a corkscrew, leaving his final spin impaled in the ground before Seth. Hyas looked up at him. His eyes were crackling with sparks and he bore a devilish grin.
The area, which had lingering lightning sparks supercharged, pirouetted into a small veil around Hyas's body at Mach 2 and lingered for a brief millisecond. Seth's eyes widened in horror, then the shroud erupted in a blaring torrent of lightning, dispelling the remaining smoke as well. Once the dust settled, Hyas found Seth on the floor.
The exhausted Hyas, who had also taken a large chunk of damage from this technique, slowly paced towards Seth. As he approached Seth, there was minimal resistance.
"You were an intense opponent Seth, I'll give you that. But losing to someone like you? Not in a hundred years." Hyas said to the collapsed Seth. Hyas got ready to leave the arena.
"Well, time really flies, doesn't it?" Seth said with a devilish grin as he dissipated into smoke. Hyas stepped back in dread "The bell hasn't rung yet, off so soon?" a beat up Seth questioned with a frown from behind him.
"H-How are you still-" Hyas stammered, but he was cut off by a supercharged laser to the back that bulldozed him through the arena into the out-of-bounds area. "Next time, don't waste time trudging to your opponent to taunt them." Seth grimaced. Then, the bell rang, followed by utter silence.
The scene briefly shifted to the main hall as a crowd of students watched the TV. One particular silhouette stood out in the back who's only visible feature was a necklace. He then closed his eyes, turned around, and left the hall.
"H-Hyas Tempesto is unable to battle due to the damages inflicted, the winner is Seth Superbia." Professor Argo said,taking in a deep breath.
Soma stood there, still in shock, as Lyra returned from the infirmary.
"H-Hyas.." he said in a somber tone.
Lyra returned looking at the screen as she walked towards Soma.
"He lost…" Lyra said, melancholic.
"I can't believe it." Hana said, joining them with Lopa.
"It was a tough battle. Both of them were evenly matched, it was more of a battle of creativity and control." Calder said, scratching his head.
"Creativity… It runs our world… We measure strength based on it." Alva said, surprising the five.
"G-Good point, Alva." Lyra replied, not really sure what to say.
"Now that the two combatants are taken to the infirmary, the next battle shall commence!" Professor Argo announced.
The portraits shifted once again, Soma looked down and thought of his best friend who wasn't able to move on to the next round and Lyra looked at him with concern. Soma shook his head and looked up to find his class looking at him. When he looked up at the screen, he saw his portrait along with his opponents.
"Soma Rigel and Trompo Aoki, the two of you please prepare for teleportation." Professor Argo said, looking down at Soma's student report.
In the judges booth, a dark haired man with a dark green suit examined his own copy of the student's report. "This student is interesting…" The man said. "You think so, Professor Akashi?" Professor Argo replied. "This student was from the Tengu Faction, but he was recommended by-". "Oh I believe that this boy will show potential" A voice boomed as the automatic door slid open. "Ah, Headmaster Canopus, this student, Soma Rigel he-". "Was one of the recommended students? Preposterous! He won the lottery!" the Headmaster said, brimming with confidence.
"This boy is shrouded in mystery Headmaster, apparently he was able to withstand fire despite being from the Tengu Faction. This student's affinity is malformed in the faction he was born in, how did he even-" Another professor said in a condescending tone. This professor wore a dark blue suit, with black hair that was long enough to tie into a ponytail.
"Professor Arlott, I suppose you know the Golden Rule of Polaris? We do not discriminate towards anyone based on their magical background, affinity or anything of the sort" Headmaster Canopus replied, not taking his eyes off Soma.
"I apologize for my rudeness sir." Professor Arlott replied.
Before they could speak another word, a masked figure walked in. He wore a white cloak that enveloped his own body. The edges were torn but the tear marks were colored bright orange. The man showed certification and approached the Headmaster.
"Ah you're here, glad to see you're in good shape." Headmaster Canopus said as he turned around grinning.
"Of course, I needed to observe this fight." He replied with a monotone voice.
"I need to see how much he's grown."
Soma found himself in the arena, with the mysterious student on the other end. He glanced at his right arm and shook his head and looked at his opponent, ready to read their moves.
Soma's outfit consisted of a dark grey hoodie with orange circuit-like patterns found on his orange shoes, which continued for a bit along his pants and hoodie. He wore a lime green shirt on the inside with his pants being dark indigo.
"The round between Soma Rigel and Trompo Aoki will begin. The battle ends when one of the combatants is unable to battle or get knocked into the dead zone."
"The battle begins on the count of three."
Trompo glanced at Soma, sharpening a green blade and fixing the leaf on his head. Soma on the other hand took a stance, sparks gathering around his left hand, his glove.
"Two"
"Oh, I cannot wait to defeat you just like how Seth defeated your friend."
"Really? You'd start the battle with that? Well, I don't need to throw you off your game to beat you." Soma spoke, with a change in tone.
"W-What did you say to me?!" Trompo said, shocked at the boy's snarky reply.
"One… BEGIN!!"
Trompo immediately ran towards Soma at superhuman speed, and Soma matched him.
Trompo thought to himself: "His left arm seems to have been doing most of the magic. Training the other day showed that he was weak as hell. If I go for his right arm, I shouldn't have any problems."
Trompo swung his green scimitar, the blade widened to resemble more of a greatsword, towards Soma's right arm letting out a small grin. Trompo was shocked to witness in that instance, Soma using his right arm to block the blade. Sparks flew creating a shockwave that maintained the two boys' place.
"H-How?! I thought you-"
Trompo let out a small gasp when he saw Soma's right arm, though normal at first glance. The moment they clashed, Soma's right arm flashed every so often, only for the duration of said flashes to grow longer the more they held their position. The arm was mechanical behind this cloak, a metallic yet slender frame, a golden orange tint with small flames bursting out of the arm as they locked in a clash.
"I won't let Hyas down and I will proceed to the next round!" Soma said as he won the clash, knocking the blade back along with Trompo, who lost his balance.
Just below his right eye appeared a black mark of three circles forming a triangle, connected by lines. A bright orange reticle also replaced his right pupil.
Trompo, determined not to lose so easily, used his blade to jump off and slid back into the field. The blade disappeared into leaves that gathered to the giant one on his head.
"Heh..I honestly thought this is a cakewalk fighting someone partially crippled."
"Don't judge a book by its cover, it'll bite back." Soma smirked, as flames gathered along his arm.