"Alright everyone, since this is our first lesson, we will not be teaching you anything to do with your chosen weapons or magic, but instead focus on simple hand-to-hand combat," said Professor Rebecca.
After seeing everyone gathered in one place, I could tell that there was a wide variety of chosen weapons, and while there were different types of the same weapon, not a single one looked the same.
"Furthermore, all of you will be split into further groups in the next lesson, where you will be with other people who have the same type of weapon as you, hopefully creating a better learning environment as well."
There were currently around 60 people or so on the training grounds and it was a mixture between girls and boys.
The boys were a tight but flexible matte black bodysuit, with stripes of gold outlining the shoulder blades and thighs.
Similarly, the girls also had a matte black bodysuit, however, it seemed to have a bit more coverage, with a short pencil skirt near the waist and the same gold strips near the shoulder blades.
Naturally, the girls were not that old, and most were still getting a mature body at the age of 11.
"Now! Could everyone please go have a look that the group list sent to your watch interfaces, where it will tell you what category you are in, and who will be your first partner to duel?"
I opened up my system, and a floating blue panel of text appeared above my wrist.
"As I have said before, today will only be a light spar, and a small competition to see who is the most educated in hand-to-hand combat. Remember, losing or winning does not gain you anything, except for a bit of reputation I guess," she said with a cheerful grin.
Ren and Damian both opened up their watch interface next to me, while Arthur still seemed sulky from his weapon-choosing incident.
"Woah, guys, it says that my first match is against 'Ethos Ronald', and it even tells me a bit about the stats of my opponent!" exclaimed Ren.
I presumed that they had sorted the matchmaking according to the person's overall combat assessment rank, however, I was a bit curious about what my information would show to my own opponent, given that I had requested for all of my data to be private.
"Uhm guys, I can see that my first opponent is 'Felix Overhaul', and it even shows a tournament bracket for the person I fight after," called Damian.
"Ugh... The first person I have to fight is some girl called 'Liss Everstone'..." said Arthur.
'Liss Everstone, huh...'
Ren and Damian looked at him with expectant looks.
"Is that it? That is all you are gonna say?" asked Ren.
"Yeah. I am just not in the mood today."
Arthur's eyes looked dark and tired, so much so that his bubbly energy had completely dissipated.
Turning their attention away from the dying Arthur, Ren and Damian looked at me, asking who was my first opponent.
I finally looked down at my interface after observing the scene from a distance, reading the fixtures and people who were fighting.
"It says that my first opponent is a guy called 'Dray Rubyheart'."
"RUBYHEART!?" the two of them called out, with Arthur too depressed to care.
"Damn bro, you have got to win, it would not look that great if a Rubyheart of all of the people were to beat a Steelheart."
'That would be the case with any other family though. All I can do is win. And that is all I will do.'
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm sure we have been matched together since we have similar capabilities after all."
"Good luck Ray..." said Damian in a small, feeble voice.
******
Most of the matches were happening at the same time, with different professors helping to oversee each fight.
Fortunately, all four of our fights were happening in the same bracket group, meaning we would all be able to see each of our fights.
Ren's match against Ethos Ronald had just finished, with the victory being awarded to Ren, dominating the fight.
The next one to fight out us four was Damien, who was matched against Felix Overhaul. From what I could first see, Felix was a weak-looking person, with brown messy hair, a head taller than Damian, but had a clumsy demeanour.
If I was to use mana manipulation, I could finish him in less than a second with a quick thrust to the nape before he could even notice I had moved.
Nevertheless, Damian and Felix got into a basic stance, with one hand up in front of him in a boxing position, and legs slightly bent at least shoulder-width apart.
"Remember guys, no one should be using body mana manipulation, I only want to see clean techniques here."
FWEEEEEH
The whistle blew from the instructor.
The two of them immediately lunged at each other, with Damian being slightly faster, and ramming Felix in the solar plexus, most likely by accident.
Felix let out a chilling scream in agony, as Damian continued to rugby tackle him to the floor, grabbing his hands around his waist and hugging it as they fell down to the ground.
Felix had his arms waving in the air in despair as he could do nothing with Damian firmly attached to his body like a rope.
The whole fight seemed extremely unprofessional and looked like two kids doing playfighting in a park.
THUD
Felix crashed onto the ground back-first, and Damian was holding him with his eyes closed.
The two lay there for a few seconds.
Suddenly, Felix, who was gritting his teeth, attempted to pry off Damian, viciously gripping his lower jaw, and rolling over on the ground in the other direction.
"I AM NOT GONNA LOSE THAT EASILY!"
FWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
The finishing whistle blew, signalling the match was over.
"Automatic foul from Felix Overhaul, attempt at dislocation of the jaw. Therefore, the winner is Damian Volucis!"
'How anticlimactic.'
Damian slowly opened his eyes like a cub seeing the world for the first time, and a big, but slightly crooked grin appeared on his face.
"I WONNN!!"
Felix still lay down in confusion and shock, clutching his stomach.
"Haa..."
He started to trudge away into the crowd, shadowed by the celebration of Damian's victory.
"What a child..."
"Damian, you did it!" called Ren, as he walked up to congratulate him, followed by Arthur and me.
"Good job," I answered with satisfaction.
"Nice one dude, you aren't hurt are you?" called out Arthur.
We crowded Damian in the middle of the arena, with Ren and Arthur trying to hug him.
"Alright, shoo shoo. We have to start the next match as soon as possible."
The four of us were chased back into the audience.
Not long after cleaning up the arena, the instructor looked at his system, reading out what he could find.
"Next, could I please have... Arthur Wright and... Liss Everstone." called the instructor.
"It is already my turn...?"
The three of us wished him luck, as he trudged to the middle of the arena, meeting his opponent.
'Liss Everstone... my missionary target. I should use this opportunity to analyse her behaviour and assess her combat levels.'
Liss was a girl who looked a bit mature for her age, showing signs of body development already, which was further accentuated by the bodysuit.
She had a petite face, with milky white skin, and a blush of colour near her eyes and ears. Her lips were small and cute, giving her a pretty natural complexion. Her eyes were a clear light green, and she had long, wavy white hair reaching her waist.
Her alluring figure swayed side to side as she walked up to the grounds, gently pushing back her hair past her ears elegantly before starting.
"My name is Liss Everstone, and I hope we have a fair match," she said coldly.