The colosseum was even more packed than the previous day as everyone had come to spectate good fights.
Word had long spread out that some of the higher ranked second years would be making their moves and no one wanted to miss it!
Many discussions were ongoing between the students and prominent among them was the sighting of Liu Shandian who had come out of seclusion recently.
"I heard the strongest second year student, Liu Shandian just came out of seclusion!"
"Yeah I caught a glimpse of him this morning. He's so handsome! I wish he was my boyfriend!"
"Stop fangirling. Why would god Liu want a flat board like you? Be realistic."
"Shut up! Stop hating. With your face you'd be lucky if any girl showed interest in you!"
"Whatever."
Damien's attention was split between the ongoing discussions and observing the huge ranking list floating above the arena.
His gaze was firmly locked on the names of those at the top of the very list!
Liu Shandian.
Noah Turner.
Xavier Crane.
Vaughn Kaufman.
Vin McLaw.
Frank Weber.
Kelsie Meyer.
Hank Weber.
Jonathan Vargas.
Lyon Vale.
These were the top ten second year students, all at the Advanced realm.
Liu Shandian and Noah Turner had even reached the mid-level of the Advanced realm!
All of them were talented and powerful geniuses in their own right and Damien knew that he would benefit greatly from watching their fights.
Apart from being so powerful, they had formidable backgrounds and powerful entities sponsoring them.
Remaining solidly at the top ten of the ranking list was no joke.
Many people coveted the top spots as it gave insane benefits.
Being able to hold on to the first place on the ranking list each week meant that you would receive a sum of 2,000 CP!
Every month meant you'd receive 8,000 CP, two 2-star elixirs or pills of choice
The end of the year meant you'd receive even more CP, 5 2-star elixirs or pills of choice, a 2-star artifact of choice and two techniques below the 4-star level of choice!
Those were the benefits Liu Shandian was receiving!
The second ranked person, Noah Turner, received a sum of 1,500 CP weekly, 6,000 CP monthly along with a pill or elixir of choice.
At the end of the year, apart from the CP, he would receive 4 2-star elixirs or pills, a 1-star artifact of choice and two techniques below the 4-star level!
The third ranked had similar benefits only that his weekly CP received was 1,000 CP, monthly was 4,000 CP with the corresponding pills and elixirs.
Just being part of the top ten on the ranking list meant CP was never going to be a problem for the foreseeable future.
Holding a position so high meant you had to have sufficient strength to defend your ranking as many people would eye your spot like hungry wolves if you were weak.
Even with sufficient strength, it wouldn't prevent people from challenging you as the benefits from holding these positions were numerous.
But the challenges for the top ten spots would be between the top ten themselves. After all, they were the only Advanced realm second year students!
Hopefully they would fight today.
Very soon, the fights commenced and this time it was mainly between those in the top sixty and below trying to climb their way up.
The fights were even much more intense as compared to the previous day's matches and there were quite a few injuries as everyone gave it their all to claim a spot on the ranking list!
With such a competitive start, the ranking list kept changing as many people were kicked off it completely or to lower rankings.
Damien felt pity for those who were at the nineties on the ranking lists.
Their positions were the most precarious as today's fights had kicked all those who were in the ninetieth and below position yesterday from the ranking list!
That was how intense it was.
"I don't think the top ten will fight today," Austin sighed even as they watched the loser of the most recent fight carted off on a stretcher.
"Well whether today or the day after, they'll certainly have to fight!" Brianna declared.
Damien agreed with Brianna.
He didn't believe that the top ten were lacking when it came to ambition. Surely, they would want to climb higher, wouldn't they?
Apart from Liu Shandian who couldn't give a challenge due to his rank, the others were free to challenge and be challenged.
It was only a matter of time before they got tired of waiting and started to gun for those above them.
As if on cue, a challenge was issued!
Jonathan Vargas, ranked ninth sent a challenge to Hank Weber ranked eighth!
Damien's eyes widened in surprise.
He was finally going to see Hank fight!
The whole Colosseum was in an uproar.
This was what they had been waiting for!
"Isn't that one of your roommates?" Mindy asked Damien.
"Yeah," Damien replied.
"What are his chances of winning? How strong do you think he is?" Austin asked with interest.
They all turned to look at Damien.
"I've never seen him fight before but he's very strong. He's a body path awakened," said Damien.
"I heard Jonathan Vargas is also a body path awakened. Apparently he has the granite physique," Mindy chimed in.
"Wow! An irregular physique!" Brianna exclaimed.
The Body path had many branches which could be awakened. There were physiques, transformations, Enhancements and Specializations.
Physiques were unique physical constitutions awakened by those who walked the body path and they were grouped into regular and irregular.
Regular physiques were mostly based on humans and regular animals. Thus we had the boxing physique, peak human physique, Ox physique, Tiger physique, and many more.
Those with regular physiques had the attributes of those their physiques were named after.
Someone with a Hawk physique would have sharp eyes, extreme speed and agility, the ability to fly and also have the fierce nature of the Hawk!
Irregular physiques on the other hand were far stronger as they were irregular, strange and could even give the body path awakened strength and power similar to those who walked the spirit path.
Most irregular physiques were elemental. Thus, we had the fire physique, the Iron physique, the shadow physique and many others.
With irregular physiques, the awakened could take the form of the physique they were attributed with and also have the attributes of the named physique. Thus, someone with a fire related physique could become a fireman, shoot fireballs or transmutate most or even all his body into fire!
Transformation was another path of the body branch which commonly referred to shapeshifters. Some body path awakened could take the form of various beasts like serpents, fish, wolves and many more.
Sometimes it was either full or partial transformation. Some could take on the body parts of various animals and beings.
A clear example was Vance who had wings.
The enhancement branch of the body path referred to awakened powers which granted super strength, super speed, sharp eyesight, inhuman reflexes, flexibility, sharp nails, tough skin, loud voice and some too were in the form of additions like extra arms and legs.
Also, the enhancement branch could allow the awakened to increase the strength or force behind their powers. A clear example is Elias.
The Specialization branch was where all the body powers which didn't fit into the other categories went. Most of them dealt with Weapon specializations.
Thus, there were sword masters, archers, spear masters, gunslingers, weapon summoners, living weapons like Silas and the like.
This fight was certified to be an excellent one as both Hank and Jonathan possessed extremely strong body paths.
As for who would emerge victorious, only time would tell.
Damien watched on as Hank walked into the arena with a confident smile. He wore only a plain silver armor.
His opponent, Jonathan, was built like an ox and walked into the arena bare-chested. He had shaved all his hair and his face was cold, as if it was molded from stone.
It was as if his body wasn't made out of skin and muscle but rather rocks.
"I was itching for a fight bro! Thanks for granting me my wish," Hank grinned at his stony faced opponent.
Jonathan replied with only a stiff nod and both combatants distanced themselves from each other in the arena.
The instructor was long done with checking both combatants so he gave the order.
"Start!"