Kayden's team was once again practicing at the school in their bubble. The training was on a completely different level than when they started. There was only 1 month left and they needed to climb several positions to reach the top 5.
Only people in this ranking can compete in the municipal championship. The problem was that now onwards their opponents were only at the 6th rank and those in the top 5 had 7th rank mages.
Kayden was no longer able to balance the difference in strength like before. At most, he could face two average opponents at best. His team was able to fulfill their duties, but...
If something went wrong, the boy didn't have much hope that they would be able to deal with the unexpected.
"Come here, please," Kayden gathered his team in the center of the circle. "We're going to recruit one more person for our team. Let's do it simply: anyone can join, we're going to have a dueling championship."
With their team ranked 13th, many students wanted to join it, even if they had to abandon their current team to do so.
"Carlos, go publicize it. The championship will be held at noon." The bald man was the best option to spread the news because due to his lively manner, he had several friends who would make the message forward even faster.
It wasn't long before a small crowd was gathered around Kayden's team. There were at least 50 students from different classes spread around the place. The event was unprecedented.
Even Mr. Lucas was recruited to be the referee for the matches, all thanks to Carlos' natural charisma. Even the bubble from before had to be replaced by one of the training spaces because of the size of the crowd.
Kayden was sitting in a random place waiting. As soon as his pocket watch beeped, the boy stood up and walked to the center of the arena. The people who saw him made space for him.
"Attention," the boy clapped his hands to attract the crowd. Little by little, she fell silent until total silence. "The rules are simple: it will be a one-on-one match, we don't need support."
Simple and short. Kayden hadn't prepared any speeches and tasked his team with doing the work of drawing lots and solving the problems.
"Ah, that's what leadership is," the boy smiled to himself and returned to his previous seat. He would only pay attention to the last participants.
Your mind simply disconnected from all the happenings around you and entered a state of focus. His thoughts kept returning to the technique the elder demonstrated to him the day before.
Meanwhile, in the small league...
"Why is he here?" "He already had a team, didn't he?" "This is completely unfair."
Voices like this could be heard coming from every corner of the crowd. The battles were lasting an average of 5 to 10 minutes each, but one of the participants was simply sweeping the floor with his opponents.
Their matches barely lasted 3 minutes and most of the time it was simply a one-sided beatdown. Little by little the number of participants decreased, in about 2 hours the matches only had 4 finalists.
At that moment, Maria woke Kayden from his daydreams. As soon as he recovered, he saw something he hadn't expected at all: Astolfo was imposing with his giant spear and his blue hair.
The other three contestants didn't even get a second look from Kayden. He knew that Astolfo was on a completely different level, not only that, but he was also in a higher cultivation position.
Kayden sighed. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have proposed this idea. Over time, the crowd only started to grow, everyone wanted to see the school's current top 1 fight.
Astolfo's opponent was a longsword user, without a doubt his class was a knight. He wore armor that seemed to weigh the same as him or more. Other than that, Kayden was unable to gather any further information.
The battle between the two began quickly, with the knight running against Astolfo quickly. The spear user began to exude a smell of cherry blossoms and his spear turned a certain pink color.
The first blow came from the knight with a strong side cut. Unfortunately for him, Astolfo's spear parried the blow simply and a small gash was opened on the knight's waist.
'That...' Kayden had a glimpse of what happened yesterday, but he still wasn't sure.
The same scene that happened to him was seen in that fight.
Cut over the top. Small cut on the leg. Side blow. Small cuts on the shoulders. Lunge. Small cut on hands. Feint and diagonal strike. Small cut on the side.
No matter how the opponent attacked, the spear would have a quick and cruel rebound, always ready to exchange one eye for another. Little by little, injuries accumulated on the knight's body.
On the other hand, Astolfo was simply intact, not even his breathing changed intensity. And all this because of something simple: technique. Kayden was sure his opponent was at least in seventh place.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to stay in the fight for more than a few seconds. For the first time, Kayden saw an example of how technique is more important than strength. He did not doubt that Astolfo would do well even against ninth-ranked opponents.
The fight continued at high intensity, at least on the part of the knight. Astolfo seemed more like he was putting on a show for the audience, his smile and winks at the girls in the audience irritated his opponent.
Driven by anger, his blows came harder and faster, and yet nothing changed. It changed: now he had even more injuries. That made a light bulb go off in Kayden's head.
Astolfo's technique... was like a shadow, it depended on the opponent to be complete. His strikes and speed matched and reflected his opponent's intensity.
The fight lasted a few more minutes, clearly, Astolfo was prolonging it for his entertainment. Outside of his master's eyes, his sadistic side took over, but well... that wasn't Kayden's problem.
He wasn't even paying attention anymore, the outcome had already been decided a long time ago.
CLAP!
The sound of a body falling was heard. Finally, the fight was over. Astolfo looked into Kayden's eyes and smiled innocently as if all this fuss wasn't his fault.
"Who is next?" His tone symbolized confidence. The other two participants were a swordsman and a wind mage. They hadn't even fought yet and were already depressed.
"I quit."
"Me too."
None of them wanted to suffer at the hands of this maniac. They did not doubt that they would suffer the same end. They could still see the knight's body being healed by Mr. Lucas, it looked like a ball of blood.
Astolfo's smile disappeared, giving his face a tone of contempt.
"Trash." Their offense was said loudly, but the two could do nothing. They were afraid of the spearman's strength.
Little by little, the crowd began to empty.
In the end, only Kayden and his team were left with the new member. Kayden's three companions didn't know what to say. Astolfo was a legendary figure to them. It hadn't even been a month since they were at the bottom of the food chain.
The three waited for Kayden to take the lead. He would probably know what to do. But, contrary to his expectations, Kayden had no idea how the mere recruitment situation got to that point.
"Weren't you already on a team?" That was the first thing Kayden said while receiving that strange look from Astolfo.
"I'm tired of him." His tone was as if reaching the top 1 was something fleeting and easy. "Plus, they're all seniors, so there's no point in me continuing with them."
"I see. Get in the bubble, let's start training." Kayden had already resolved his curiosity and no longer cared.
"Hey! What's with this lack of emotion? I'm the incredible Astolfo, the Cherry Blossom Lancer, and I demoted myself to join your team!" With an offended tone, the teenager attacked Kayden.
"You are no longer the spearman of the cherry trees." The boy opened a small smile. "Now you're one of my guinea pigs...members of my team." Kayden seemed to have gotten the words wrong.
"Guinea pigs?" Astolfo mumbled under his breath without understanding as he entered the bubble.