While the tournament was underway, the people on the podium watched and discussed the ongoing battles.
"Director Valerian, who do you think will be crowned champion?" asked one of the head instructors. He had golden hair, black eyes, and wore a white uniform.
"If we focus on rank alone, Prince Aurelius would win. However, judging the actual winner is difficult with what little we know. We only know that Princess Ember regularly goes into the forest to enhance her skills," replied Valerian seriously, though a hint of pride flickered in his eyes at the thought that dragons might have the greatest genius in centuries.
"What do you think, Instructor Zander? Who is your favorite?" asked the only female instructor. Like Zander, she wore a white uniform. Her hair was gray, her eyes purple like sapphires. Notably, she had curved horns and bat-like wings.
"I certainly agree with the director. It's hard to judge who will win; we might end up with a surprise, Instructor Velora," Zander replied casually, though inwardly cursing Velora for meddling.
Just then, another person spoke. He was a young man with black hair and red eyes, dressed similarly to the director. He was none other than Vice Director Adrian.
"Look, it seems Princess Lilina was the first to face opponents," remarked the vice director, drawing their attention back to the fight. A few minutes later, he continued, "Hmm... she waited for them to finish their fight to create a false sense of victory and seized the opportune moment when her opponent lowered their guard."
"The initial attack was just a test. While evading, she used illusion magic to create a clone, tricking her opponent into thinking she would attack from a completely different direction," commented Velora.
"The execution was quite clever. Engaging in close combat would have worn her out, and she's aware there's still more time ahead," Valerian responded.
"This tournament will be more interesting than the last," remarked Zander with a slight smile playing on his lips.
***
Back in the combat arena, in the midst of an open area, a man and a woman were locked in battle. The man, with silver mane and deep blue eyes, wielded a spear skillfully, parrying his opponent's attacks. The woman had pink hair and horns on her head, also wielding a spear.
"Clang!" "Clang!" "Clang!"
Their spears clashed forcefully as they moved at great speed, each trying to land a blow on the other. The pink-haired girl made swift thrusts; in response, the silver-haired young man dodged with precise movements.
*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!*
Seeing the girl had come close enough, the man made a precise sweep with his spear. Anticipating the move, the girl jumped back, evading the attack and creating distance.
"What's wrong, wolf? Are you tired already? We've barely begun," the girl taunted with a big smile. The girl was none other than Ember.
Without responding to her taunts, the man kept a serious face, adjusting as he spun his spear in his hand, with a silver-colored aura beginning to gather around it.
"Fine, fine, show me what you've got, wolf," Ember said as she watched him gather aura on his weapon.
After gathering the aura, the man observed Ember. With a quick movement, he lunged towards her, breaking the ground and leaving residual images in his wake.
*"Boom! Crack!"*
*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!*
"That's more like it! In that case, let me show you the difference between us!" Ember said as she also launched into a full confrontation. At that moment, her spear began to be covered with a pink aura emitting lightning.
*Boom! Crack!*
*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* *Whoosh!*
When their spears clashed, an expanding shockwave followed by an explosion shook the earth, creating strong winds and dust. Both auras struggled to dominate.
*Boooooom!*
*Rumble!*
After the explosion subsided, a crater several meters deep could be seen. The crater emitted electric discharges. In the center of the crater was Ember, her armor shattered in several places, though she only had a few scratches thanks to her pink scales preventing her from being injured. The silver-haired young man had his armor in pieces on his chest and a visible cut on his skin, though he didn't seem very affected by the defeat.
"I admit, that was a good fight. It's a shame we can't continue. As a sign of respect, let me introduce myself. My name is Ember Nefarius Darkstorm."
Spitting blood, the young man said, "Darius Lubera Blake," before being teleported away for medical attention.
***
While Darius and Ember fought, another battle was taking place in another part of the forest. Explosions could be heard from time to time. Thalia was surrounded by three contenders: a human, a girl with cat ears, and a werewolf.
A few minutes ago, while the three were walking, they encountered each other by chance and decided to fight each other. As they were locked in battle, Thalia appeared and tried to eliminate them from a distance. Facing a formidable enemy, they decided to work together.
"How much mana do you have left, Jasper? I don't think we can keep this up," asked the cat-eared girl, panting with exhaustion.
"A little less than half. At this rate, we'll be the ones to lose," replied Jasper, preparing for any move from Thalia.
"Damn it, can you stop talking? Who would have thought that even with our efforts we couldn't leave a scratch on her!" said the man, his voice filled with frustration.
As he spoke, his body began to change, quickly transforming into an imposing werewolf.
"If you're done talking, can we continue? This is getting boring," Thalia intervened, looking visibly bored.
"Don't underestimate us!!!" shouted all three at once. Jasper, with quick thinking, summoned several swords of fire to his right, while several water spears appeared on his left. The cat girl, for her part, lunged forward with agile and swift steps, holding a pair of daggers, not forgetting the werewolf charging towards her.
"Haaaah..." Thalia sighed as she concentrated. Using a quarter of her mana, she caused blood to form out of thin air. Raising her hand, she said with her red lips: "Blood Void." Responding to her command, the blood moved towards the magical attacks. Once they made contact with the blood, a sphere was created that consumed the attacks until nothing remained.
A second later, using another ability, Thalia said, "Blood Prison" and continued, "Blood Punishment."
Before the werewolf and the cat girl could get within 20 meters of Thalia, they were surrounded by summoned blood. They tried to break free, but the blood restrained them until it formed a prison.
After that, a rain of blood swords attacked them from all directions. A few minutes later, they had multiple cuts all over their bodies. Although not deep, their bodies were bathed in blood and they writhed in pain.
After a few seconds, they were teleported out of the arena. Approaching, Thalia collected the badges. As she headed towards the center of the forest, she checked the rankings.
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Ranking
1. Thalia Sanguinis Lunaire - 3
2. Ember Nefarius Darkstorm - 1
3. Liliana Everstall Duskmire - 2
4. ....
5. ...….
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[NT: I'm going to try to finish this mini arc of the academy in a maximum of 5 chapters to return to the main character. This was an introduction to what is happening with the secondary characters, as without this, I wouldn't have made these chapters. As you can see, the main character doesn't go to the academy, so I wanted to introduce this part]