And the winner of the last battle was Roland Cross, this was unexpected to a lot of the spectators who were already engrossed in the battle.
Throughout the battle, Reginald seemed to always be in control of the situation. His fire skills covered the whole battle arena, setting everywhere ablaze while he dealt constant damage to Roland, but in the end, his opponent won.
Only the real mystic warriors who could understand the more basic details in this clash of basic warrior powerhouses actually knew that Reginald indeed held the advantage in the just-concluded battle.
What Roland had over his opponent was endurance.
The previous battle was the peak of epic clashes in the first phase of the graduation tournament, and only the real experts understood it.
Roland and Reginald were both fire mystic warriors, but Reginald was the stronger one by a large margin. His control over his mystic energy and fire mystic ability was so powerful that he was a horrifying natural disaster to face.
In the previous battle, he was the more aggressive one which was in line with his battle style while Roland was the more reserved one due to his advantages.
Reginald may have the power advantage, but Roland had his advantages. To him, the fire was just the supplement, his real power came from his mastery over the Iron Shirt and Shattering Palm martial techniques.
With his fire mystic ability, he was more tolerant of fire damage which was another reason that fueled his endurance in the previous battle.
If Reginald fought against another student with a different mystic ability, without a doubt, his chances of winning would have been much higher.
The ability to keep himself in the arena long enough with the Iron Shirt martial technique and the ability to ruthlessly take advantage of openings to end the battle with his Shattering Palm were the reasons for Roland's victory.
Without a doubt, this battle was an extremely exciting one.
Roland won the battle, but both students won the war.
The commentator kept commentating on the just-concluded battle as the tournament stopped for a short break.
"As we just saw, both Roland Cross and Reginald Damien could have won if they were against another opponent which just goes to show their strength".
"Reginald is a brute man, while Roland is a man of finesse".
"Without a doubt, both students have managed to impress. They probably already booked a spot for themselves in the recruiting mystic organizations".
"In my opinion, though Roland won, Reginald's ability makes him more appealing to mystic organizations. His ability is priceless in any security organization, and gives him an advantage in certain dangerous terrains".
"In desert or forest terrains, he can easily light everywhere up with raging fire with a bit of concentration. This is even more certain since mystic fire is renowned for its effectiveness against mystic beasts".
"His ability's utility goes beyond this, and is also useful against terrible security challenges like the marauding tribes and other human dangers".
"In essence, Roland Cross and Reginald Damien are both outstanding talents that have been bred by the reliable Obedin Mystic Academy".
"Break time's over, and now we continue with the tournament".
"The next battle will be featuring Joel Dame and…"
As the tournament continued, and more students came out to fight for a place in the next phase of the graduation tournament, Cassandra and Rex left the spectator stands one last time, returning to meet their friend again.
Their departure did not affect the ongoing tournament.
Ambitious students repeatedly came into the battle arena, with an equal amount of them being eliminated while the rest qualified.
Those that were eliminated could only lament sorrowfully while those that qualified rejoiced. After Roland and Reginald's battle, the hype decreased a bit as a lot of spectators left the spectating stands.
The next battle that managed to make the spectators excited once again was when 2 students almost committed suicide fighting against each other.
These 2 taijutsu students clashed against each other likelike their lives depended on it. In the end, they beat themselves so much that they were both wheeled out of the arena with swollen faces and broken limbs.
The battle ended as a draw which prevented them from qualifying to the next phase of the tournament the normal way but was thrilling nonetheless.
After this battle, the rest battles for the day were just so-so until the day finally came to an end. That night was fast to a lot of people, it came and left like the wind as the last day of the 1st phase of the tournament finally came.
The 3rd day of the 1st phase of the graduation tournament proved to be the most exciting by far, featuring the remaining students against each other.
Throughout the whole day, mystic energy kept on colliding against each other in different manifestations as the students sought to impress.
All of them were determined to win, but only the truly powerful won and qualified for the next phase of the tournament.
The fact alone that today was the last day of the 1st phase of the tournament attracted more spectators. All the battles were thrilling like usual, but most of these spectators' attendance was motivated by one particular battle.
After dozens of battles, the time for the last battle of the 1st phase of the graduation tournament finally came.
"Here we are, at the last battle of the 1st phase of the tournament".
"Prepare yourselves because after seeing so many students fighting between themselves in this tournament, trying to be the stars, the real star of the Obedin Mystic Academy is finally here".
"Give it up as we welcome the best student of the Obedin Mystic Academy for the calendar year 508 A.M, the Lightning Rod, Turan Elliot!"
BOOM!!!
The spectators, both young and old seemed to turn into fanatic fanboys as they cheered, yelling 'Turan' repeatedly at the top of their voices.
The cheers dwarfed the sound as the commentator introduced Turan's opponent, but for the books, his opponent was Arda Nak, an earth mystic warrior.
Once both opponents stood in the arena, the superior one became evident instantly. Before Turan, Arda was like a 12-year-old kid. This superiority was not in terms of height or masculinity but in terms of aura.
Compared to the extremely calm and dangerous Dragon-like aura that Turan exuded, his opponent's aura was like that of a mouse.
Gong!
The bell to start the battle finally rang, and instantly, Arda Nak went into a defensive posture. Unlike other mainstream users of the earth mystic ability who despite earth's sturdy affinity focused on offense, his specialty was defense.
"Earth Skill: Earth-Dragon Mound!"
"Earth Skill: Endurance Reinforcement!"
"Earth Skill: Morphable Earth Spikes!"
While Arda started a meticulous defensive set-up, Turan was unfazed. With the cool unbothered face that he was already known for, Turan started walking toward his opponent like he was prey waiting to be pounced on.
The walk was casual with no hidden meaning, but Arda was already sweating bullets. As Turan got closer to him, the more flustered he became since he could no longer keep his cool anymore, then he attacked.
"Earth Skill: Earthen Spear!"
With a loud whoosh sound, an earthen spear materialized, quickly coming to existence in a few seconds as it flew towards Turan with speed.
In just a few seconds, the earthen spear was already before him, this was when Turan finally looked straight at the rapidly approaching spear.
His muscles tensed, then his eyes briefly glowed white as he clenched his fist, concentrating mystic energy there to form a small ball of lightning as he threw a punch in the direction of the spear the next moment.
Accompanying the punch was a lightning energy manifestation shaped in the form of a spear radiating unmatched power.
Boom!
The earthen spear stood no chance, it was obliterated with a lot of residual energy still left behind. Then, Turan pointed his right hand to the sky and clenched it.
"Advanced Lightning Skill: Lightning Bolt!"
Turan activated an advanced lightning skill instantaneously, showcasing his terrifying mystic energy control as a mighty blueish white lightning bolt materialized in the air briefly before striking down with all its might intact.
BOOM!
Arda stood no chance, all his defense crumbled like paper. Before he could be fried to a crisp, a closely watching academy master intervened to save him.
Turan effortlessly won his first battle which surprised no one.
"Well, there's no upset here, Turan Elliot is our winner like expected".
"Will our star continue his dominance in the next phase of the tournament or will a dark horse arise and topple his reign? Watch the next phase of this exciting tournament to know what happens".
The spectators left feeling satisfied, the 1st phase of the graduation tournament proved worth watching. To some of them, getting to watch Turan in action alone was enough.
Turan crushed his opponent with a mixture of outstanding mystic energy control, his terrifying mystic energy, and one overpowering advanced skill.
His performance befitted a favorite tipped to win first place in the ongoing graduation tournament, the game was on to know the winner.
*****
[The first phase of the tournament finally ends; I hope you liked it. If you did, please comment your thoughts in the comment box.]
[NOTE: A.M used in the year description means 'AFTER MYSTIC AWAKENING'. The current year is year 508 After Mystic Awakening.]