All 16 remaining participants arrived at the Arena by 9 AM sharp. The rules for this set of matches were explained thoroughly to make sure that no one broke them. The penalty for breaking the rules would be decided by the judges later on and would not necessarily be disqualification.
There were some changes made to the rules from the previous matches. For instance, weapons and other items could be brought into the match. These items, however, would need to be checked by the referee and the judges beforehand to make sure they weren't very deadly.
The match time had extended to 30 minutes, but the rules of elimination and disqualification remained mostly the same.
Most of the students ran to their dorms to search for something that would help them win the fight. Only 4 of them remained in the Arena; Nova and Axel being part of them.
"Look at those weaklings." another boy who had stayed behind said. "Depending on external equipment to increase their chances of winning. How pathetic!"
The boy was much taller than both Axel and Nova and had humongous muscles covering all his body. He wore a tank top that exposed his strong arms for the whole world to gaze at. He was, without a doubt, a favourite among the female students of the Academy.
Nova, despite finding his physique quite attractive, hated the way he spoke about the other kids. Since she created weapons using her own magic it wasn't counted as using external items. But she required intimate knowledge of these weapons, ranging from their weight distribution to the angle of their edges, in order to create them, so she was in no place to judge those who brought them to the fight from outside.
Axel seemed to agree with Nova, but not for the same reason. He knew very well that the boy standing before him was very strong - not just in physical ability, but also in regards to his magical prowess.
Nova and Axel had made clear how they felt by the boy's comments using only their faces. The boy scoffed and looked over to the fourth person - a girl around Nova's height.
"I don't agree either," she said without a moment of hesitation. The boy scoffed at everyone's opinion.
"Your fists and the magic you're born with are the only tools you need to survive. I'll prove it to you all by winning this tournament." He walked away from the group and sat in the shade.
The girl extended her arm outwards towards Nova. "I'm Maeve. Nice to meet you!"
"Nova. Nice to meet you too."
"I'm Axel." Axel interjected since he felt left out.
Maeve was leaner than Nova but according to what Axel had witnessed when observing her matches, she could pack an even greater punch. Her hair was coloured a dull shade of purple which was fading away at the roots. Her eyes were light blue in colour with long lashes that curled upwards at the tips..
"Ignore what that muscle-head had to say. People like him don't understand the importance of anything except their fists."
The three of them laughed a little and spoke amongst each other until a stream of students began occupying the seats of the Arena.
"Looks like it's time. All the best, both of you." Maeve said. She then looked at Nova and said, "I'll see you in the semi-finals."
Nova felt uncomfortable by the way she had said that, but couldn't point out why. Something about it felt like a declaration of war. A threat, for the lack of a better word.
"It's about time, Nova." Axel said while Nova continued to stare at Maeve's fading back in confusion. "We need to get seated."
Axel dragged Nova to the stands for the participants, and they sat in their respective seats as the announcer began cheering up the scattered crowd once again.
Many of the third and all the fourth year students decided not to attend the competition since it wasn't compulsory. They had much more important matters to attend to.
"WELLCOOMMMEE BAAACCCKK EVERYYYOONEEE!!" The announcer shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Well be jumping right in without any further delay so please give a warm welcome to all the participants of the third round!"
As the crowd went wild, the announcer began relaying the new rules to the crowd. "There will be 8 matches held today, each lasting 30 minutes. We'll have 4 of them before lunch and 4 in the evening after 4 PM just like yesterday. I'd like to ask all the participants whose matches are in the evening to please retreat back to the stands amongst the other students."
Axel walked back to the benches and looked around for anyone he knew. Even though he was going to observe the matches in great detail and not really talk to anyone, it was always better to sit next to someone he knew. His eyes instinctively landed on the large unfilled spaces amongst the masses. There, in one of the empty spaces, he found Wolfe sitting alone.
"Looks like someone finally stepped out of their room." Axel said under his breath as he walked up to Wolfe. The crowd around him gasped in shock as Axel sat down besides his friend.
"I'm sure Nova would have killed me if I missed anymore of her matches. And I didn't want to disappoint you any further by sulking in the room." Wolfe explained before Axel could even ask. He spoke no further and just cupped his head in his palms in embarrassment.
"Well, at least he's taking initiative," Axel thought as he smiled proudly. "It's alright, man. I'll never be disappointed in you." Axel said in order to lift Wolfe's mood. Reassuring him was the best way for him to deal with the trauma he was facing.
"Can you get out of here?" A deeply annoyed voice asked Wolfe. Axel recognized the voice very well. He had known its recipient for quite a while now.
The muscular boy from earlier stood cross armed in front of Wolfe who was sweating uncontrollably at the boy's intimidating figure.
"Umm, sure." He said nervously as he got up.
"I don't think so." Axel interrupted as he pulled Wolfe back down, his eyes making piercing eye contact with the boy.
"Tch! Never expected you to stand up for trash like him. I have to say I'm disappointed, Axel."
"I don't care what you think, Ansel. Maybe you should focus on getting better instead of caring about what I do. Maybe then you'll finally be able to beat me."
The boy was obviously angered by Axel's snarky remark, making it clear that Axel and him shared some sort of fighting history. Wolfe still found it hard to believe that Ansel, a boy gifted with the body of a god, would ever lose to Axel, a much thinner, physically weaker boy. But Wolfe also barely knew anything about Axel's powers. He had only ever seen glimpses of it during Axel's second fight in the tournament, so the extent of his magical powers still remained a mystery.
Ansel walked away slowly towards the rest of the crowd, eyeing Wolfe constantly in a threatening way.
"Sorry for dragging you into that, Wolfe." Axel apologised, and Wolfe nervously comforted Axel about it.
"It's alright," he said in a shaking voice as Ansel finally disappeared from his field of vision.
"Can you at least tell me who that was? I'm scared for my life right now."
Axel laughed as Wolfe continued anxiously shaking. "There's nothing to worry about," he said. "So you know how the Fulgur family branches from the Filgor royal family right? That was Ansel Filgor. My cousin."