As all the students had made it to the gymnasium, an announcer had stood up on the arena platform to introduce the competitors.
"Please welcome to the stage, Rylen Dwyl!" The announcer said.
Rylen sped onto the stage, and Daron narrowed his eyes. Cheers went up around the crowd from the ability domain users, while those with physiques could only shake their heads or grimace. It was clear that no one with just a physique had a good opinion of Rylen, but they couldn't do anything to him.
"Please welcome to the stage, Sarah Lussie!" The announcer said.
Walking to the stage, Sarah's gaze was fierce and never left Rylen. Out of anyone, she would be one to have the largest grudge against him. Having an agility physique, there was naturally a rivalry between them and speed ability domains. But whenever agility physiques went up against speed ability domains, they had always lost in the past. Sarah knew this time wouldn't be different, but she would do her best to last as long as possible.
There were a few cheers from Sarah's friends, and even Daron had sent out a "Beat him up!", which had put a smirk on her face but left as she entered the arena.
With the announcer leaving the stage, a referee took their place, and a whistle blew to signal the beginning of the battle.
Rylen ran forward and sent out a sped up punch that Sarah had dodged but took significant effort to. With her perception training, she found it easier than she would have a few days ago, but it wouldn't be enough to win the fight. She didn't have the strength behind her punches like Rylen would with his ability domain. Her physique focused solely on agility without supporting her other aspects.
She did land a quick punch to his stomach as she dodged and then sped away from Rylen before he could land another hit. This caused her friends to cheer while those on the other side booed Rylen's performance. However, Sarah knew this would be a bad thing. An angry Rylen would be reckless and go all out on her during the fight. As he turned towards her, she could see the annoyance on his face as he heard the booing. Getting in position, she prepared to make another dodge without attacking this time.
Rylen sped his legs into the ground, and he shot forward as he ran. Sarah let Rylen get close before ducking, feinting an attack, making him move to dodge, which allowed Sarah herself to dodge.
Before she could get away, Rylen already went on the offensive again, and she could do nothing but block the attack while looking for an opening to escape. A fist went for the chest, and her arms went up to block it. Feeling a crack in one of the arms that was blocking, she grit her teeth and jumped back before he could punch again.
With now only one arm able to attack Rylen, she would have to be even more cautious to avoid his attacks.
More booing came from the ability domain users, which angered Rylen even more. He bent down into a running position and shot forward even faster than before. Sarah had run forward and then dodged to the side before Rylen met her. Just because he had speed, didn't mean he could stop his momentum fast enough to get her. He still had to stop if he wanted to change his direction to go the opposite way his momentum was going.
Rylen used his ability to stop in an abrupt manner before turning back to Sarah. This time, he wouldn't let her get away. As he bent down this time, he sent his energy over his entire body, and he shot forward the fastest he had in the fight yet. Sarah saw it coming, but she had only just dodged his fist, as she felt his leg swing out, hitting her in the stomach.
She was sent flying to the edge of the arena, where she fell and lay not moving but still breathing. Before Rylen could get another attack in, the referee had called the fight.
"Rylen Dwyl wins the first round of the competition!" The referee called.
Cheers had finally broken out from the ability domain users, which lightened Rylen's mood, but he still felt sour about the earlier booing.
A healer was brought out, and Sarah was put on a stretcher as her arm and then internal organs were healed. It only took a few minutes, and Sarah could stand not long after.
Going over to Mr. Gail, she asked him, "How long did I last? Was it a record between agility physiques and speed ability domains?"
Sarah was looking hopeful and as Mr. Gail smiled, a light shining in her eyes.
"You lasted two minutes and forty-three seconds. A time around thirty seconds above the previous record held," Mr. Gail said.
She smiled as she felt she at least was able to accomplish something.
Turning to Daron, she asked him what he thought of Rylen.
"Though I won't be able to dodge him, my physique is suited to go up against him in a battle of endurance. If I can get a hit or two in as well, my strength should injure him. He'll injure me, but my healing power will repair any damage he does during the fight. Even compared to last week, my healing ability has improved significantly. Unfortunately my other aspects haven't grown as much, but I don't think it should be much of a problem. Of course, this only means anything if I can win my upcoming fight," Daron answered.
Sarah wondered for a moment at just how he would do in his fight. She knew he was a fairly secluded student who didn't really interact that much with anyone. In fact, she had only ever seen him speak to Mr. Gail. Though, that was the only class she had with him, so she didn't know if he had friends in his other classes. What she did know is that Mr. Gail had a lot of confidence in him, which gave her hope that maybe he could actually win. If he did, she wondered if she could learn anything from him to improve her own physique.
With the first round over, it was finally time for Daron to compete.