"…we're having a school tournament? Now?"
"Just among the first years. What? Why are you so worried about? You'll definitely rank highly, given your strength. The only person who can beat you is me…and probably Lady Angelica."
Shun Yin gave Glen a dry stare, as if he wasn't convinced by his statement. He shrugged and shook his head.
"It's only been…what, a few weeks?"
"Three weeks." Glen shrugged. "They just want to evaluate the new students' strength. See how we rank among each other. They do it every semester…a school tradition to decide who is the top dog and all that. Dad wanted to put a stop to it, but the board rejected him. Besides, it encourages healthy competition and gives us good combat practice. So what's the harm?"
"I see." Shun Yin sighed. What a troublesome affair. While he liked the idea of getting good combat practice, he disliked the idea of ranking students against each other. It created quite the toxic environment where the so-called "weaker" students were trampled upon by the supposedly "stronger" students.
Then again, if he could obtain a high rank, he could put his foot down on this nonsense and force people to stop the bullying. He was going to save as many of his peers as he could…the helpless ones who were often the target of bullying, anyway.
"All right. Let's do our best."
"Yeah!" Glen shook his hand. "No hard feelings, no matter the outcome."
"I couldn't care less about the rank, to be honest," Shun Yin grumbled.
"Aw…how boring." Glen placed a hand on his shoulder. "In any case, all students are required to participate. The ones in the combat division, I mean."
Shun Yin felt somewhat relieved at that. That meant it wasn't mandatory for the research students to take part in this farce, and they would be free from the violence and aggression of thee arrogant combat students.
Glen noticed his expression of relief and he raised an eyebrow.
"What? You have friends outside the combat division?"
"Yeah. A few friends from the research division. I've been helping them out with their research for a few weeks now." Shun Yin took care not to mention any details of their research. It wasn't as if they were keeping it a secret, but he wasn't going to be careless with the information. Loose lips sank ships and all that.
"Heh…I didn't expect that." Glen guffawed. "To be honest, I didn't think you had any friends!"
Shun Yin narrowed his eyes, but didn't retort. He was too tired to play these games of banter with his so-called friend. However, he had to admit that Glen helped him a lot, so it wasn't as if the friendship was one-way.
The so-called give and take, you scratch my back and I scratch yours.
"Shall we proceed then?"
"Yeah. It's in the school courtyard. Let's go."
By the time they reached the courtyard, the place was already brimming with a lot of students. The majority of them were clustered together, gossiping and chattering. More than a few of them were placing bets on who would finish at what rank, or the usual stupid gambling antics.
Shun Yin wanted no part of those activities.
"The first rounds begin today," Glen was explaining unnecessarily. "If you don't get eliminated today, you move on to the next round tomorrow. Of course, you have to win if you want to progress. Lose your match today and you'll be eliminated."
"How are they supposed to determine the ranks like that?" Shun Yin asked with a puzzled frown. "The eliminated students are all assigned the same rank?"
"That's right. Here, you're either top 128 or bottom 128. Following which, you're top 64, then top 32, followed by 16…you get the math."
"I see."
"Of course, if you're dissatisfied with your ranking, you can challenge other people to claim their rank. Lots of people do that." Glen was nodding in approval. "If…by luck you face me in this round and lose, you can challenge a top 128 or top 64 a few days later, and if you win, you take their place in the top rankings."
So the ranking tournament wasn't as unforgiving as he thought it would be. Even so, Shun Yin had no intention of crashing out in the first round, even if his opponent happened to be Glen.
Already there were matches taking place. Shun Yin watched as a couple of girls clashed against each other. A red-haired girl with twin tails was casting physical reinforcement spells and using martial arts against a girl with her short black hair styled in a bob cut, who used daggers and knives. The redhead dodged the flying daggers with astonishing ease, dashing forward to deliver a devastating punch that could wreck concrete, but the black-haired girl dodged her easily. Flipping over the redhead, the black-haired girl slashed with her daggers, managing to cut several wounds on her opponent and causing her to stagger.
Gritting her teeth, the redhead retaliated with a backhanded swing, which the black-haired girl cartwheeled over. She then retreated when the black-haired girl slashed at her face with a dagger and countered with a kick that forced her opponent to jump several meters back.
Even as she withdrew, the black-haired girl threw several knives at her, which the redhead knocked away with her physically reinforced hands. The throwing knives actually warped and bent from the sheer force. A couple of throwing knives managed to bypass her defenses and left a graze on her cheek, a line of blood dripping down her face, but the redhead ignored her injuries and continued pummeling the throwing knives away.
"Not bad." Glen whistled, visibly impressed. "For her to reach this level of physical reinforcement even without mastering Armament Ba Qi…"
"Martial arts is the basis and foundation to learning and mastering Ba Qi eventually," Shun Yin remarked, remembering what his father and his master at Miyamoto dojo taught him. Glen glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.
"That reminds me…you used Wing Chun against Charles that other time, didn't you?"
"Perhaps I did." Shun Yin shrugged indifferently. "I don't remember."
The redhead dashed forward, braving the hail of throwing knives and closed in on her opponent. The black-haired girl twisted away to avoid the first punch, and her daggers scraped the redhead's flesh. However, the redhead would not be stopped. With her other fist, she landed a blow in the black-haired girl's solar plexus and knocked her out.
The teacher quickly declared the winner. The black-haired girl was ferried off by a couple of other teachers, and the redhead left the stage by herself, clearly exhausted.
"That was a good battle…but with that level of strength, I don't think she'll make it past tomorrow."
"Really?" Shun Yin kept his tone neutral. It wasn't as if he didn't agree with Glen's assessment, but he just couldn't care less about other people. If they didn't need saving, then whatever happened to them was none of his business. He was more concerned about the black-haired girl. "I hope that lady is all right."
"She will be. Teacher Emres will take care of her. Anyway, it's my turn." Glen proceeded to the stage when the teacher called his name, and gave his friend a wave. "I'll be back really quick."
"No, take your time." Honestly, Shun Yin wanted nothing more than to be left alone. He took a deep breath and stepped back. Despite his lukewarm attitude toward Glen, he was curious to see the lightning mage's skills.
He wondered how much stronger he had gotten since they had last fought.
Glen's opponent was someone from another class, a polite young man who bowed his head humbly when he realized that he was facing the son of the principal.
"Dispense with the formalities," Glen told his opponent dismissively. "I just want you to go all out. Hit me with everything you have."
"Yes!"
The young man didn't seem put off and immediately began casting his spell. When he realized that Glen wasn't going to attack, he began casting his most powerful spell. A massive tsunami of water rose into the air, threatening to pour over Glen and drown him under tremendous, crushing water pressure.
"Are you ready?" he asked hesitantly. Glen scoffed.
"Are you serious? Are you actually going to ask an opponent that question in the middle of a battle?"
"Um…well…you don't seem to be doing anything."
Glen lifted a finger up. "You are right. I don't seem to be doing anything. But what makes you think I'm not?" he smiled. "In fact, I can end the battle anytime I want to. Should I do so right now?"
His opponent seemed perplexed, but he decided to just go for it.
"I apologize in advance then!" he shouted before launching the massive tsunami at Glen. The blond guy looked up with a smile, and then spread out all five fingers of his raised right hand.
There was a crack of thunder, and a gigantic lightning bolt crashed from the heavens to obliterate the tsunami. The water mage cried out as electricity electrocuted him, and he toppled over onto the stage, his body sizzling.
"M…match over!" the teacher shouted. "Winner…Glen Porter!"
"Geez." Glen shook his head disapprovingly as he turned to descend from the stage. "I told you not to hold back. Well, you didn't, but don't hesitate when you fight me next time."
Unfortunately, his downed opponent was in no condition to reply or even listen to his advice. He was being ferried off by a couple of concerned teachers, who rushed him toward the infirmary.
"That was fast," Shun Yin remarked. Inwardly, he was a little disappointed that Glen's opponent wasn't able to force out that White Tiger of his from the last time. He shook his head, realizing he still didn't have a good read of Glen's true strength.
"I haven't met a worthy opponent yet," Glen pointed out as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be your turn soon, comrade. Don't get eliminated until you face me in the final."
"I will do my best," Shun Yin replied dryly.
Another couple of matches continued, with Shun Yin watching silently – glad that Glen didn't speak to him throughout the tournament. Perhaps he was exhausted from using such a large spell during his match earlier. Given the power and magnitude of the lightning bolt, that spell must have cost quite a huge amount of mana.
Shun Yin continued to assess and evaluate the other students in Vermillion High. Currently, none of the candidates so far could hold a candle to Glen. Glen was easily the strongest out of the participants here.
Right after an earth mage defeated a water mage, Shun Yin heard his name being called by the teacher.
"It's your turn now!" Glen crowed gleefully, clapping him on the back. "Go show everyone what you're made of!"
"…right."
As he climbed the stage, Shun Yin caught sight of his opponent. He was a huge, burly first year student whose muscles rippled under his black uniform. In one hand he held a massive axe that he rested on his broad shoulder.
"Do me a favor and don't waste my time. Surrender immediately."
The huge guy sounded bored. Shun Yin merely returned his gaze evenly before slowly drawing his sword.
"Make me."
The huge guy scowled. "You asked for it."
"All right…the both of you may begin!" the teacher declared as he swung his hand down.
Immediately, the huge guy lunged forward with a thunderous bellow. Mana swirled around his axe as he streaked across the stage with an incredible speed that belied his immense bulk. The spectators cowered when they saw a gigantic red oni materialize right behind him, almost as if the demonic visage was lending him strength.
With a yell, the huge guy pulverized the ground with his axe, obliterating the concrete and carving a colossal crater into the stage. Debris flew out, scattering the space around him and covering him in a fine layer of dust.
"Incredible…"
"What power…"
"Just who is that guy?!"
"Hmph." The huge guy straightened up triumphantly, getting ready to lift his axe from the broken ground. Then he froze.
"Do you surrender?" Shun Yin asked as he pointed the tip of his sword at the guy's throat. The huge guy slowly glanced down, and noticed that Shun Yin was calmly standing on top of the wide shaft of his massive axe.
He swallowed and tightened his muscles, but before he could even budge, Shun Yin's sword stabbed into his throat slightly, drawing a thin line of blood. The huge guy trembled as he felt the warm fluid trickle down his skin.
"Do you surrender?" Shun Yin repeated. "Or should I slit your throat here and now?"
Everyone was gaping at him in disbelief, their eyes wide in shock. A hushed whisper rose over the crowd as they tried to make sense of what had just happened.
"How fast…!"
"I didn't even see him move!"
"When did he…?!"
The huge guy gulped, and then slowly nodded. He cleared his throat, his face flushing from both embarrassment and fear.
"It's my loss."
"Match is over!" the teacher declared, even as Shun Yin withdrew his sword and stepped away from the huge guy, who dropped to a kneel. "Winner! Huang Shun Yin!"
"Whoa…" Glen shook his head as Shun Yin jumped off the stage to rejoin him. "How scary. You won without even using magic."
"Magic isn't the only way to win fights," Shun Yin responded indifferently.
"Yeah, I can see that." Glen grimaced, and then he grinned. "Seems like this semester's tournament is going to be really interesting."