Almost simultaneously, both opponents gave up, surprising Kayden. He was ready to give it his all, but it wasn't even necessary. He had forgotten how low student motivation was.
The mist was pushed away by Lucas, and all the vapor gathered into a small ball above his hands. Kayden had to admit that the man looked impressive, like a wizard carrying a storm in his hands.
"Kayden's team wins." His voice confirmed victory for Kayden's team. Again, Carlos started screaming like a maniac. His entire team celebrated, and even Kayden gave a satisfied smile. The training was not useless. It was a shame that this strategy only worked against unbalanced teams.
The top-ranked teams had a very harmonious composition and members with battle experience. Not only that, most of its members were at the 5th or 6th apprentice rank. Yan's team, for example, was among the top 10. Until this classification, Kayden didn't think he would have much trouble moving up, even if he needed to carry his team on his back.
"Let's go to training, the day has just started." With an even bigger smile, Kayden called his team.
It had been a month since Kayden joined the elite team, in the meantime, he had advanced to position 20 without losing a single match. His team was trained to the bone and, even though they didn't have much experience, they were capable of putting up a decent fight. But the main thing was still the strategy in each battle, they fought 6 times and won 5. The only one they lost was because they were overcome by brute force. Everyone on the other side had a level 6 member, and the leader was an impressive 7th rank.
Kayden was not idle during this time either. He finally managed to not be paralyzed by Shang's killing intent. It took a little over a week, but in the end, it worked. His swordsmanship and rank were continually refined. Unfortunately, he no longer had time to watch the storms and learn from them. Another surprise is that during this time, Carlos also moved up to the 5th rank.
At this moment, Kayden was sitting with his team in one of the best spots on the elite floor. He was just cultivating while his friends chatted. After spending time with them, Kayden discovered that the three of them were 13 years old. This seemed to be the average for someone at rank 5. At 14 years old, the majority reached rank 6, and a minority reached rank 7. At the school, there were only 9 people in the 7th rank, and incredibly, one of the students had reached the 8th rank.
The number 1 ranked team was this student. According to Carlos, he came from a merchant family and had all the necessary perks to advance to the next level that could be found in the market. When Kayden asked why he hadn't entered a private school, where he could have had more dedicated teaching, Carlos explained one of the rules he had never heard of.
Private schools were exclusive to nobles, and the name "private" was not because they were paid for. It was simply because they were closed to only one type of audience. To give you an idea, they were administered by the government in the same way as public ones. This world was... identical to the previous one. Power dominated everything. The weak were devoured by the strong. Perhaps this was a natural law of the human race, there never was compassion.
Han, as a former general, should have enough authority to put Heimer there, but the boy would probably be bullied a lot by the other kids. It was natural, he was the only commoner in the school.
"I want to reach the top 5 of this school in the next 2 months." There were 4 months left before classes ended, and the city championship was held in the penultimate month of the year so as not to interfere with college tests.
"That's impossible, Kayden," Jean argued, even getting to their current position felt surreal.
"Who said? Nothing is impossible, you just have to be willing to pay the price." At this point, Kayden used the stick-and-carrot tactic. "I'm willing to train two or three times harder for this."
"No, no way, Kayden, you freak." Carlos was the first to refuse, his training routine was already insane, imagine if it increased even more. Kayden's eyes lit up, it was time to show off his marketing power.
"Are you satisfied with just that, Carlos? With being just one more student in a school among thousands? I'm not, I want to go further, I want to reach the top and for that, I need to work harder than the others."
"But we're already trying hard, Kayden." This time it was Maria who spoke, but it was clear that she didn't have much strength in her voice.
Kayden laughed wryly. "Trying hard? You can be sure that there is someone out there training 18 hours a day, there is someone who has been sleeping 6 hours a day for months, and guess what? He will be the one who will reach the best positions."
The once cheerful atmosphere became solemn, no one knew what to say. Again, the first person to speak was Jean.
"I'm going to participate", and as if by magic, the other two also offered to participate.
"Now there is no point in thinking about elaborate strategies, as brute force will be enough to break any of our plans. Let's do some suicide training now." That devilish smile appeared on Kayden's face.
A shiver down their spines was felt by the three of them when they saw this.
"Our training will be limited to tactics in the morning and improving our synergy. And in the afternoon we will fight against other teams in the classification." Until that part everything was fine. "Every half hour." Kayden's smile reached its maximum length.
"Kayden's team wins the match!" Lucas' voice echoed in the arena, resulting in Kayden's team celebrating.
They had been in a crazy rhythm of non-stop battles for a month. They lost dozens of fights and won few. Currently, they were ranked 13th. Their overall battle strength had not increased much.
But the constant battles made it possible for them to develop experience and a synergy between them. Its main difficulty has been removed. Now, it was just a matter of time before they managed to climb to the top of the rankings.
Mainly because of Kayden. Most of the time, his combat experience was put into practice and he was able to eliminate one or two opponents quickly and safely.
Leaving the arena, Kayden's gaze met Yan's again. It seemed that the boy had created a rivalry with Kayden. He was always there to watch their matches.
The boy didn't worry. Before long, they would end up facing each other, as Yan's team was in position 5 and only the top five could go to the city championship.
What an irony of fate, his last battle would be against the people who despised him in the beginning. Lately, Kayden was enjoying his fights. In these higher positions, the opponents already had some experience.
When everyone was already sitting at one of the rest points, Kayden started the agenda.
"Let's reflect on the battle and then face..." Kayden was interrupted.
"Excuse me." The one who interrupted him was a boy with blue hair and eyes the same color. His height was average. There wasn't anything spectacular about it, well... if it weren't for one small detail.
He carried a spear that was at least twice his size. It was a strikingly golden color with a white metal shaft. It looked impressive.