The remaining participants made their way to the waiting room except for the first two participants. Tyler was holding a spear that was the same length as himself and across from him was Lily who was holding the same double-sided axe she used against Layla. They were currently waiting for the instructor to announce the start of their match. Instructor Drake injected Qi into the Qi cannon and it shot out a thunderous boom initiating the start of the match.
"Movement arts - Whispering Dance," Tyler uttered before his figure became hidden by mist,
"Barbarian arts - Body strengthening series - Warlord's Fire," Lily uttered and her body became covered in a light red aura while her veins became visible on her arms. After a few seconds, Lily turned to her right while holding her ax up in a defensive position and something made contact with her ax that created some sparks. Tyler made the first strike but Lily responded by parrying the strike while using the momentum to spin and return the attack with a horizontal slash. Tyler ducked under the slash and thrust his spear toward Lily's stomach but Lily quickly circulated her Qi to create a small shield at the spot of contact. Tyler's spear made contact but he felt resistance so he spun on the ground using his left leg to sweep Lily's legs. She anticipated an attack on her legs so she used an overhand slash while using the Warlord's Fire to strengthen her legs making her an unmovable fortress. Tyler could sense the change of Qi in Lily and noticed that she was determined to trade blows, so he used the butt of his spear to propel himself upwards and aimed for Lily's upper body instead. Tyler's kick caught Lily off guard and she was sent flying a few feet away from their original spot.
"The Smith's prodigy is quite versatile and smart. He is quick to make adjustments to help himself in unfavorable situations." Instructor Jun complimented to which other instructors nodded their heads.
"The Valentine Family's Body Strengthening Arts is powerful as always. But it seems that their young one is having a hard time balancing her speed and power," instructor Sue added. The two participants trade a few more blows before separating from each other.
"Spear Arts - Calm Storm Series - First movement - Flash Thrust," Tyler uttered as his Qi circulated throughout his body and into his spear. Tyler trusted his spear in one motion but behind that motion were six thrusts in one. Lily quickly adjusted herself before planting her feet sternly into the ground.
"Barbarian Arts - Judgement Blow," Lily uttered as she circulated the rest of her Qi through her body as well to strengthen the Warlord's Fire too. The two then dashed forward and their big moves collided with one another which created a big dust cloud around the arena. Once the dust cloud dissipated, Tyler was the only one standing but not unscathed, his clothes were tattered and his spearhead had cracks all over it. Lily on the other hand was unconscious and laying on the ground but her ax was only slightly cracked and her clothing was slightly torn. Instructor Drake made his way to the arena and checked on Lily before announcing the winner. The medics quickly made their way onto the arena to tend to the participants. A half-hour later Elaine and Layla took the stage for their match, Both stood on the sides waiting for the start of the match as well. Once Instructor Drake set the signal once again the two began their match. Layla started by keeping Elaine on the outer edge by shooting multiple arrows. Elaine was dancing beautifully while deflecting the arrows with her scimitars before closing the distance between the two. Soon Layla was forced to dodge incoming sword strikes by Elaine, but Layla was also returning the favor by using her arrows as daggers. The two traded strikes and once in a while, there were sparks created by the collision of blades. Layla circulated inner Qi toward her legs and side-kicked Elaine in the stomach sending her flying across the other side of the stage.
"Elemental Arts - Rising Phoenix," Layla uttered as she pulled back three arrows on her bowstring. She let go of the string and the three arrows flew through the air at tremendous speed. The three arrows began to line up in a V formation and soon became engulfed in crimson red fire along with a loud shriek. Elaine stood her ground while facing the incoming attack,
"Twin sword arts - Storm's Flurry. Goldsmith Movement Arts - Seven Constellations," Elaine uttered as she circulated her inner Qi throughout her body and sent some into her twin scimitars. Elaine let out a deep breath that was visible as a small smoke puff and Elaine's body became an afterimage once she shot toward the incoming attack. The only thing left where the afterimage was a pair of feet engraved in the ground and Elaine collided with Layla's attack within seconds but Layla circulated inner Qi to strengthen herself. Once Elaine made contact with the fire phoenix a giant shockwave was created and the safety barrier was activated to protect the civilians.
"Frost Secret arts - Glacier impact. Frost Secret Movement Arts - Ice Lotus Illusion," Layla uttered as she used the rest of her inner Qi. After taking care of the first attack, Elaine turned her attention back to Layla and rushed forward,
"Twin Sword Arts - Tiger's Wrath," Elaine uttered as her swords became reinforced by her Qi. Elaine pounced upon Layla with quick attacks and precision. As Elaine's swords made contact with Layla they went through her body with no resistance which confused Elaine for a moment before she realized that she was fooled. Layla then appeared above Elaine and shot another set of arrows that sealed Elaine's movements. Before Elaine could get her defense up a giant glacier descended upon her and once the glacier disappeared Elaine was knocked out and lying on the floor. Instructor Drake announced the winner and once again the medical team made their way to the stage to help the participants. Krista and Leon took the stage after thirty minutes but Krista forfeited before the match due to advice from her two guards, so Leon was able to make it to the semi-finals with little effort. Now it was time for Alex's match against Greyson, most of the instructors were excited for this match due to Alex's unexpected skills.
"I still don't understand how the fourth prince made it to the top ten," a spectator said,
"I believe that it was all set up so that the fourth prince can make it into the academy. I'm sure that even the royal family wouldn't want one of their children to fail the exam." another spectator added and many people surrounding the two nodded their heads in agreement.
"You all are so brave bad talking the royal family like this. If the fourth prince wanted to he could issue a royal order to behead all of you," a spectator dressed in a black robe with the hood pulled over their face. Once the surrounding people heard that statement they all shut their mouths and others began to laugh nervously. They forgot that even though the fourth prince was useless he was still Royalty and could easily end their lives with little effort. Seeing their reactions made the cloaked individual quite happy and turned their attention back to the stage. Alex and Greyson were standing on opposite ends of the stage,
"It is an honor to have a match against one of the royal families," Greyson said while giving a respective bow toward Alex.
"Likewise, I am honored to experience the speed of the Hillsman's famous rouge skills," Alex responded with a light bow. Instructor Drake signaled for the match to start and both participants took their fighting stance.
"Rouge Arts - Movement Series - Moonlight Phantom, Domain Arts - Curtain of Darkness," Greyson uttered as he expelled his inner Qi. A black dome covered the stage entrapping Alex inside and making his vision quite dull.
"The Hillsman child is quite proficient. I can't believe he has already mastered their domain arts." an Instructor complemented with a proud voice.
"This match may be quite the show! Someone quickly brings up a live feed for the spectators so that they can watch this match." another Instructor ordered and a couple of students quickly moved around to set everything up. After a few minutes, the students were able to connect a live feed to a projector that showed everything happening on a big screen. Alex was currently fending off attacks from Greyson who was using his domain arts to the fullest and keeping himself hidden from any counterattacks from Alex. After a few more exchanges between the two participants, everyone began to speculate that Alex was going to lose this one if he was not able to counterattack so they turned their attention to something else to keep them occupied.
"It seems that it is your loss this time, Instructor Jun," Instructor Tien boasted while stroking his chin, but Instructor Jun was not paying attention to him but to the stage. Being ignored infuriated Instructor Tien but he didn't care anymore because he began to imagine his future with all of Instructor Jun's belongings. Alex was currently thinking of a plan to turn the tables around against Greyson, but Greyson was not giving Alex any room to breathe. After a few seconds, Alex thought of a plan and began making hand seals.
"Fire Style - Fire Lotus Explosion," Alex uttered after finishing his hand seals and he jumped into the air. Alex spewed out a fire stream from his mouth that turned into a giant fire lotus that shot toward the ground. Greyson knew that if he was to take on that attack it would hurt quite a bit so he decided that it was best to avoid it and used his movement arts to disappear into the darkness so he could avoid the fire blast. Alex could sense that Greyson used his movement arts to avoid the fire blast so Alex quickly performed another set of hand seals,
"Shadow clone Jutsu," Alex uttered, and with a puff of smoke, a clone of Alex appeared. They both looked at each other and nodded due to their shared memories so they both knew what the plan was. The original Alex lowered his Ki level to fool Greyson's senses and for an added measure Alex performed another set of hand seals once more.
"Earth Style - Inner Decapitation Skill," Alex uttered and a small hole appeared underneath him on the stage. Alex quickly jumped into the hole and it sealed back up with no cracks,
"Twin Dagger Arts - Swift Lunge," Greyson uttered as he circulated Qi into his arms and daggers before launching a sneak attack on the clone Alex. Clone Alex rolled forward to avoid the attack and circulated Ki into his legs to enhance his speed and arms to enhance his attack power. Clone Alex chased Greyson and trapped Greyson in close-quarter combat. The two began trading multiple blows but due to the clone only having a third of the energy as the real Alex, he couldn't use any strong moves because it would deplete his reserve quickly. So he decided to stick with strengthening his fist to keep fighting and if he didn't take a lot of damage the clone could keep fighting for another ten minutes. Greyson knew that his sneak attacks were no longer working because Alex was able to detect him most of the time, so Greyson decided to go out strong with his family's signature martial art style to show that he could also be a force to reckon with. The clone could feel the difference shift between Greyson's fighting style and the clone decided to become more passive so that Alex could gather enough Ki to perform a one-shot technique. Greyson became more aggressive in his dagger strikes and it became quite difficult to counterattack Alex's clone. Everyone could see that Greyson's offensive became fiercer so they began to watch more intensely. Even though the clone tried its best, it was quickly defeated due to the difference in skill and energy reserves. Once Greyson landed a decisive blow to the clone it disappeared into smoke.
"What in the world?" Greyson let out in surprise. He quickly looked around to see where Alex had gone but he couldn't see anything. Greyson was on high alert and within a second a figure appeared behind him from the ground. Greyson kicked back with his left foot and hit the figure right in the abdomen, but when the figure fell it was a medium-sized tree trunk.
"What is a tree trunk doing here?" Greyson asked in confusion but before anyone could answer the question another figure appeared behind him once again this figure was crouched down with its left foot in front and right leg bent sideways along with both of its arms grasping the floor in the front as well. The figure bolted from its original position with tremendous speed and was heading straight for Greyson, who was locked in place by Alex's immense pressure.
"Origin Arts - Primordial Series - Sky Dragon's Wrath!" Alex uttered as his whole body was covered in sky blue aura. Once Alex was just three feet from his target, he jumped up, and with his right foot extended Alex began to spin rapidly. Soon Alex's figure was covered by a sky-blue twister that was destroying all of the tiles in its path. Greyson tried his best to move but Alex's pressure was stronger than expected, so Greyson decided that with no other options, he would face this strike head-on with his attack.
"Twin Dagger Secret Arts - Thunderfall," Greyson uttered as dark clouds began forming behind him. All of the spectators were in awe, some instructors began to praise Greyson even more.
"I can't believe he has already mastered the Hillsman's famous Thunderfall to this extent. I remember his father only having three clouds form, but his son has five clouds. This year is going to be quite the show." Instructor Sue stated with a big smile.
"I got to have him as my disciple. Maybe I can get even higher than I have ever imagined." another instructor said out loud to himself which caused a ruckus between the other instructors. While to instructors were bickering, two individuals had their eyes set on the stage.
"How could this useless prince have this much strength when he doesn't have the qi vein within his body?" Instructor Tien asked himself while small sweat droplets began to form on his forehead. Instructor Jun on the other hand was quite happy that his chosen side was finally showing more strength than before.
"It seems that half your salary will soon be mine after this exam," Instructor Jun said with a bright smile that infuriated Instructor Tien even more. Just then the two big attacks collided and created a big shockwave that shook most of the arena along with blowing up a sandstorm. Once the dust settled, both competitors were standing in the middle of the arena breathing heavily with external damage showing that they didn't get away without damage.
"I have to admit that the Hillsman's technique is quite formidable, it packs a punch and I can feel my body screaming from clashing with it," Alex stated while trying to catch his breath. Greyson just smiled and gave Alex a thumbs-up before passing out. Alex let out a small chuckle and looked toward the instructor who announces the winners. The instructor nodded and quickly made his way to the arena and declared Alex the winner while the medics jumped onto the arena to tend Greyson. Alex began to slowly walk off as well, but then his vision became blurry, and felt his body leaning toward the right.
"Fuck," Alex let out before feinting due to the extreme exhaustion from using too much Chakra and Ki at the same time. Instructor Jun noticed that Alex feinted and was about to fall off the stage, Jun quickly activated his movements arts and his body flickered from the original spot to right next to Alex. Jun held out his arm to catch Alex before he could fall to the ground,
"Take this one to the infirmary as well," Instructor Jun ordered while motioning for more medics. Two of them quickly made their way over and grabbed the unconscious Alex so that they could put him on a stretcher as well to take him to the infirmary. All of the spectators were still in shock at what the fourth prince was able to do, others began to feel cold sweats forming and running down their necks for they had openly made fun of the prince. Even to the point of comparing him to the trash on the streets. All of them had the same thought,
"What the hell happened to him?"
"This is getting quite interesting, it seems that I need to have a chat with my son," the King said before getting up and walking away but he told one of the servants to let the instructors know to continue the exam without him.