After 3 days of rest in which time the qualified students had the luxury to recover from their injuries and train adequately, the much-awaited quarterfinals of the graduation tournament finally began.
The name for the quarterfinals was decided and released by the principal the same day that the fixtures were released.
The Principal of Obedin Mystic Academy didn't just give the quarterfinals a name, he gave a general name to the remaining knockout stages of the tournament. The last stage of the tournament was called the Phoenix stage.
According to the Principal, the last stages of the tournament had a special significance to the participating students and Obedin City as a whole.
A Phoenix was a legendary bird that according to accounts of myth lived 500 years, burned itself to ashes on a pyre, and rose alive from the ashes to live another glorious period.
According to the Principal, the last stages of the tournament were the stages for the remaining 8 students to fight for a place in the higher ranks.
From the quarterfinals on, it became a do-or-die affair with a lot more significance. Those who were disqualified became the lesser Phoenixes who lived a glorious tournament but could not rise from the ashes in the next stage.
As for those who qualified, they were the set of Phoenixes who rose alive from the ashes to get the opportunity of living a glorious tournament in the next stage of the graduation tournament.
The quarterfinals would last 2 days, with the first 2 battles being fought on the first day and the next set of 2 battles being fought on the second day.
Day 1 of the Quarterfinals:
- John Naga vs Cassandra Putin.
- Turan Elliot vs Roland Cross.
Day 2 of the Quarterfinals:
- Morgana Jones vs Duncan Hegemin.
- Jessica Molotov vs Rex Vector.
Once the fixtures for the first day were released, Cassandra was immediately put under a lot of pressure so much that her 2 friends had to go visit her, console her, and instill some confidence in her.
Though qualifying for the quarterfinals was already a miracle that she did not expect, once she qualified, Cassandra felt her confidence blooming.
Like every other of the 8 students who qualified, though she recognized that this was the death phase of the tournament, she still yearned to go further.
Though she hated to admit it, she dreaded being fixtured against some specific opponents in the quarterfinals and her biggest fears became a reality as she was faced with one of the most dreadful opponents of the quarterfinals.
John Naga was one of the favorites tipped to win the graduation tournament.
This student was not ranked so high just because of his amazing mystic energy control and his knife domain proficiency, but mostly because of his horrifying mystic ability.
John Naga was from the famous Naga mystic family of Obedin City who were renowned for their special mystic ability related to the soul.
The Naga family named their mystic ability the Whispers of the Soul.
This was a powerful mystic ability that when mastered to the peak and with sufficient mystic energy could drag a whole city into an illusion world.
Though John Naga was not so powerful yet, to his fellow students, he was a powerful opponent to face, even Turan, the outright number 1 tournament favorite was predicted to struggle if he went up against John Naga.
Being faced with this horrifying opponent, the pressure that Cassandra faced was strong but she had no choice but to remain focused.
She didn't break, she rather took this as a challenge that motivated her to work harder. After another day of hard work, the D-day finally came.
After the identities of both opponents were introduced by the commentator, the elevator ferrying the both of them finally touched down in the battle arena.
"Today, we'll be witnessing the first quarterfinal battle showdown between the Darkhorse Cassandra Putin and the tournament favorite, John Naga".
"Will the Darkhorse pull off another miracle or will John Naga crush his opponent like a lot of spectators are speculating?"
"Stay tuned for the outcome of this exciting battle".
Gong!
Once the bell rang to commence the tournament, Cassandra felt the pressure rising as she felt her heart in her throat. She had to close her eyes, and condition her mind properly before opening them again.
She took a deep breath, now she was ready.
Shing!
Once Cassandra pulled out her sword and focused ahead, she was shocked to discover that the battle arena suddenly changed.
Noticing the change in time, she was alarmed as she instinctively looked toward the spectator stands. On looking, she saw no spectators and her opponent was nowhere to be seen which only made her feel more alarmed.
"…You're nothing but a bug waiting to be crushed by me".
Cassandra suddenly heard a voice whispering into her ears as she reflexively ducked before slashing outwards wide only to hit nothing but empty air.
"…You can't hit me, I am everywhere".
Once Cassandra heard this, she was shocked as the sky before her suddenly changed only to be filled with numerous John Nagas who were all staring at her with such an intense gaze that a predator used on his prey.
Cassandra shuddered; she felt a chill running down her spine. Without her knowing, she was already drawn into an illusion from the first second of the battle.
"This is all an illusion!" Cassandra yelled as she started attacking everywhere randomly with her sword only to hit empty air.
While she did this, John Naga kept on taunting and messing with her head.
While all these happened in Cassandra's mind, the reality was a different case entirely. The spectator stands were as eerily silent as a graveyard as they watched John Naga perform his magic again in the quarterfinals.
Once the gong rang, he made his move and activated his mystic ability. Once he drew Cassandra into an illusion, he started moving toward her.
While moving towards her, he spoke and these were the words that were reflected in her illusion world. John Naga didn't make any physically intensive moves, he simply walked close till he stood beside Cassandra.
All this while, Cassandra remained motionless.
Once he came close enough, he unsheathed his knife and cut a wound across her neck. Cassandra didn't react still, and this ended the tournament in the same John Naga-like fashion, the battle ended without stress.
"And we have our winner for the first battle of the quarterfinals".
"Well, we should have expected it, John Naga won without stress".
"The 2nd battle will be commencing immediately, give it up as we welcome our favorite, Turan Elliot and Roland Cross to the battle arena".