The Principal of Obedin Mystic Academy looked out through his window.
Through the window of his office, this powerful Advanced Mystic warrior looked down at the bustle and hustle going on in his academy.
Through the window, he could see the enthusiastic final-year students who were preparing for the graduation tournament that was starting the next day.
Through their smiles and the expression on their faces, he could read their thoughts and the ambitions that were in their tiny little minds.
All of them could not wait for the tournament to begin, they were happy, they were excited, and they could not wait to showcase what they've learned throughout the past 5 years to the whole world.
The principal sighed, feeling nostalgic. "It's time again".
"I still remember the feeling when I took my own graduation tournament. Damn, how time flies".
The Principal of the Obedin Mystic Academy was a muscular middle-aged man, his black suit could not hide the prominent muscles, and his hefty chest like those of a Silverback Gorilla's that were hidden beneath.
He had milk-colored hair, sharp eyes, a well-shaven mustache and beard, and a strong stone-cold face. He was a no-nonsense man with a fair share of a jovial personality which was all evident on his face.
Despite his strong face, he was a tall and fairly handsome middle-aged man. From his looks, it could easily be inferred that he turned heads during his youth.
His office was a relatively mundane one. It was built in a basic square shape, with the most prominent sights being his desk where martial art books were laid, the 2 sabers that hung on the wall, and his name board.
>MR. DOMINIC BARRY- PRINCIPAL<
There was the 2nd door in the office that led to his resting chambers.
At this moment, a smile was on the principal's face as he looked down at his students below, he was reminiscing his youth days.
Knock! Knock!
The 2 knocks on his door disrupted his immersion, making him frown a bit in annoyance.
He rubbed his shoulders in a mildly annoyed manner though he already knew who knocked on the door before walking to his chair and sitting down, that was when he replied.
"Come in".
"Yes, sir!"
Following the voice was a soft white hand pushing the door open.
The owner of the fair hands was a beautiful lady in a white and black official uniform and a crest of a roaring lion was attached to her left chest, which was iconic to the Obedin Mystic Academy.
This was the principal's personal assistant.
"Sir, the format for the tournament has been finalized".
"Good, show it to me". The principal replied while trying hard to feign interest which he failed miserably at.
Despite his lack of interest, he still saw the elaborate drawing on the paper.
"Sir, do you need me to explain it?"
"Oh, that's better then, go on".
The lady coughed before she started. "The format for the tournament this time is divided into groups between different departments".
"For example, students of the sword battle domain department will go against students of the knife battle domain department, other departments will be matched up against each other too and each matchup is a group".
"By pitting the students of each group against each other in an individual single-elimination battle format, the weak students in the groups will be eliminated, leaving the strong ones".
"After this, the battle format will change where all the survivors of the previous round will be separated into 4 different groups".
"These 4 groups will be pitted against each other 2 vs 2 where they will fight in a large-scale free for all group battle setting".
"Only 4 students are expected to qualify from each group battle".
"These 8 students will then be pitted against each other for the quarter-finals where they will engage in another individual elimination battle to remove the weaker ones, leaving only 4 students to qualify".
"After the quarter-finals come the semifinals where they will be pitted in individual single-elimination battles once again. After the semifinals, only 2 students will remain standing".
"The 2 survivors will then have the chance to fight in an epic battle showdown in the finals that will be broadcasted all over Obedin City".
Snore!
The assistant folded her hands, exasperated once she raised her head from the paper and stopped reading. "Sir!"
"Umm, yes…"
"You were snoring!"
"Huh, who said that? Is that how you spout nonsense?" While speaking rapidly, the principal rotated his chair, showing its back to the lady.
About 2 seconds later, he rotated it back and faced his assistant with that serious look that was befitting of a mystic academy principal.
"You were saying?"
"…"
The assistant scoffed. "You just cleaned your drool, right?"
"Nonsense!"
"Give me that book". The principal snatched the book from her. "This, only this? That's all? Very simple, in fact, too simple, I understand everything, now give me the first battle fixtures".
The principal now had an unprecedentedly serious expression on his face.
The assistant still had an exasperated look on her face, she sniffed and sighed before handing the battle fixtures paper to him.
Once the principal looked at it, he smiled.
"Good, good, now you can go".
"…"
…
That night, all the final year students found it hard to sleep because tomorrow was going to be a defining day of their lives.
In the end, they all had to find external stimuli before they could sleep.
All of Obedin City was anticipating the start of the graduation tournament.
The night swiftly came and went like the flash, Saturday finally came, and the D-day for the start of the graduation tournament finally came.
That morning was when the first battle fixtures were released.
Rex, Cassandra, and Ben rushed to the academy first thing in the morning to see the fixture since they didn't have an AOS phone to access the released battle fixtures through the internet.
All of them heaved a sigh of relief, none of them had battles in the morning. And for that day, Ben was the only one who had a battle fixture fixed to start around 4:00 in the evening.
They left back home to prepare before going back to the academy.
*****
[AOS means- Advanced Operating Systems, it will be explained in detail in a later chapter.]