"BUT HOW?!!!" Zeke exploded in disbelief as the winner was announced.
"Icarus successfully landed 10 hits as opposed to you who only managed to hit him 3 times, therefore, making him the victor of this bout," explained Mr. Zi.
"Oh, c'mon, you really think I'd charge in and let you hit me?" scoffed Icarus. "I didn't use my Essence because defeating you would be way too easy if I did. So, I challenged myself and only aimed for the 10 hits.
"Whoa, Icarus is strong and smart..."
"He actually beat Zeke without an Essence..."
"Man, my Essence is one higher than Zeke's and even I don:t think I'll stand a chance against him. But Icarus? Wow..."
"I wonder how strong Icarus' Essence is that he actually felt that he needed to hide it to make things fair..."
"Me too...."
Great. Icarus acknowledged the positive murmurs among his peers. His charade of hiding his overpowered Essence was actually working. He had turned his Husk self into an air of mystery that people revered. Now, it was just the matter of keeping up his charade throughout his school life.
Zeke grumbled and contemplated about what he should do. He was embarrassed in front of everyone by being defeated by a person who didn't use an Essence. However, he decided to swallow his loathing as he reminded himself who he was up against. Icarus was a boy with a strong background and his knowledge in martial arts was about the same as his, if not greater.
Starting from his tail, Zeke's reptilian features slowly dissipated as he deactivated his Essence, Sobek. He gulped and made his way towards Icarus and extended his hand.
"That was a good match, I've learned a lot," mumbled Zeke as he requested a handshake. "Your parent is a Pillar like Claude, it isn't that embarrassing to lose to someone like you."
"Likewise," smiled Icarus and firmly shook his hand, "I noticed that your transformation slows down your kicking speed to some degree. Also, you're at a disadvantage when an opponent gets too close. Next time, get used to your transformation so that it doesn't affect your agility and always distance yourself."
"I'll keep that in mind. If we happen to fight again in the future, I want you to go all out and use your Essence," requested Zeke.
"Uh...yeah," agreed Icarus, fully knowing that was never going to happen.
Everyone clapped as both fighters got off stage and the next ones were called in. The next fight was Mark Cain of Class Chamomile vs Quentin Gates. Icarus was dutifully checked by the school nurses and nursed the parts to which he was hit, then he was sent back to his class.
Violetta congratulated Icarus as the next match begun. Getting praised by the girl he liked felt ecstatic. This was the very first time that Icarus felt that he was on the same level as Violetta and Claude.
"Defeating a Vessel without an Essence was splendid! I'm thinking doing something similar myself," snickered Violetta.
"Fighting without an Essence is a bad idea, Violet," reminded Icarus. "Don't get any ideas..."
"Of course I know that, Ike," pouted Violetta as he poked Icarus on the cheek. "Hehe, I plan to only use my Essence power and not any martial arts!"
"Oh...still..."
Icarus ended up on letting Violetta do what she wanted. There was no point in convincing her otherwise.
"Winner. Mark Cain of Class Chamomile by battle field removal!"
Class Chamomile gained yet another point. More matches came and Icarus watched intently on all of them. He made sure to remember all their Essences and their techniques. It was essential to have a plan against everyone in his grade in the worst-case scenario that he gets into a bad situation with them.
On the 15th match, Mr. Zi drew on Violetta's name. It was her time to duel.
"Violetta von Zangriss vs Ramona Herman!"
Violetta graced the arena with her beatiful figure. The silver tiara on her head kept her long, snow-white hair from being blown wildly by the small waves of zephyr. She adorned a white frilly dress and a battle skirt with black leggings covering up everything underneath.
Her opponent simply looked like a background character against her presence. Especially with her short, curly, dark hair and casual short and jeans.
"Chaneque!"
Creamy, ghostly mist enveloped Ramona as she activated her Essence.
"A simple C+ rank spectre from the Aztec mythos won't measure up against me," provoked Violetta.
"..."
"Ymir!" Violetta began radiating cold temperature. "Frozen Age!"
Within a second, the entire arena flash-froze into an icy oasis. Ramona was already knocked out and encased in ice like a Neanderthal caveman. The match was over the moment it again.
"Holy shit...." spluttered Icarus as he marvelled at the frozen ring that was once dry and barren.
With a sense of urgency, Mr. Zi immediately weaved through the frozen icicles and made his way towards Ramona. The girl was in grave danger as she was frozen and needed to be saved. The old man synced with his essence, turning his face into a monstrous rooster, and blew extreme flames at the ice block. The fire was so potent that it didn't take long for it to dissolve and free the Violetta's victim from the cold embrace of death. Ramona was then hurried to the infirmary.
Mr. Zi gave himself a sigh of relief as he announced the winner, "Violetta von Zangriss of Class Chamomile is the victor via knockout."
Instead of cheers and celebration, Violetta was met shocked faces and mostly silence. Everyone felt like they were put in their place. It was the moment they truly realized the gap between them and the country's Princess. Violetta went down and the others simply made way for her.
"I was saving that up for a long time just for this moment," Violetta grinned at Icarus.
"Geez, I felt bad for her. Maybe it would've been better if you didn't use your Essence after all," gulped Icarus.
"Grrr...Ike, whose side are you on?" Violetta frowned at his remark.
"I'll... always be at your side," promised Icarus.
"Hmph, those two are in a league of their own. And I'll join them once I beat Claude," declared Richter as he watched Violetta and Icarus from a distance.
The matches kept going with Class Chamomile leading in victories. By the 18th match, Chamomile still kept the lead with 10 wins out of 17. However, the tides may turn especially for the 18th matchup. It was the long awaited match of Grade 6's first Gold Rank Vessel. It was time for Claude Astryea vs Richter Kaiser.
The pretty boys of Class Jasmine and Chamomile trotted up the wet ring. Mr. Zi had already melted all the residual ice Violetta conjured, leaving the arena in a moist state.
"Go Claude!" Violetta cheered as well as Icarus.
Richter wasted no time in activating his essence before the match started. With his essence, Baldr, his body illuminated a gold light from the inside out. In this state, he was invulnerable from all damage.
"Claude, let's see how you can hurt me," sneered Richter.
"Rich, you talk too much," sighed Claude.
"Begin."
Richter jumped at a superhuman height and crashed himself where Claude stood. Unsurprisingly, he missed as Claude sidestepped, causing him to take the fall. However, due to his impervious body, he felt nothing.
Claude approached Richter from behind with a fist full of white light. He stomped the ground before delivering a devastating punch. His fist connected with his opponent's glowing face and a loud boom ensued, covering half the ring with dirty smoke.
"Icarus had to box and Violetta simply relied on her Essence. It's up to me to represent the training Ms. Yanne gave us by using enhanced Bajiquan along with my Essence," vowed Claude.
"Hahahaha, is that all your martial arts can do?!"
Richter leapt out of the smog unscathed and smiling. The boy threw a hook only to be blocked by a shield of light conjured by Claude. But he just kept throwing punches at the shield and it eventually broke. Richter then swiftly weaved in with a boxing stance and punched Claude squarely on the solar plexus which sent him flying.
Claude rolled back from the force, stopping near the edge of the arena, only a few centimetres away from a defeat.
"You really are invulnerable, huh? I guess I'll have to rely on this," growled Claude.
Claude summoned a glowing bow and nocked a light arrow as he aimed at Richter.
"Scared of coming close that you need to shoot?" mocked Richter.
"Whatever makes you feel better," smiled Claude as he let the arrow loose.
The arrows flew as a fast as a bullet giving no time for Richter to evade. However, Richter didn't even try to block and let the light hit him on the chest, confident of his Essence's defence. But he realized how big of a mistake it was. The moment it him, he felt an impossible sensation: pain. Then, the light exploded, leaving his torso burnt and damaged.
"Arggg! How did you-It hurts! Damnit!" yelped Richter. He was clueless to how the arrow could've hurt him.
Claude wasted no time and withdrew his bow. He quickly slid to Richter and stomped with all his might. Afterwards, he delivered a ominous, glowing kick onto Richter's chest. Richter felt unimaginable pain once again, this time twice as much, as he flew out of the ring onto a nearby tree.
Everyone looked over the tree and waited for the smoke to clear out. Richter's body was battered as he's slumped against the tree trunk, passed out. They had a winner.
Claude threw his fist in the air and Class Jasmine went into an uproar. Class Chamomile just stood silent as they tried to comprehend how Claude was able to hurt his cousin.
Before leaving the ring, Claude took off the shoe of the foot he kicked Richter with and dug out some kind of plant. Icarus immediately realized how Claude won after witnessing it.
"He put mistletoe, Baldr's only weakness in the legends, in his shoe before the match started!" realized Icarus. "Come to think of it, he probably wrapped the arrow with it before firing off..."
With Claude's victory, Class Jasmine regained their motivation which may turn the tide for the last 6 matches.
"Winner, Claude Astyrea of Class Jasmine via knockout and battlefield removal!" declared Mr. Zi.