After the devastation caused by Alice's dark flames, the Professor decided to cut off the second bracket and to only judge based on their individual skills.
That means, no more guarantee of a position in the tournament, only a skill-based match that will determine whether they are worthy or not.
Alice came back to the place where Veritas and the others had sat, although she just recently performed a destructive feat, her face was still as emotionless as ever.
"Well done."
Veritas tilted his head up to stare at her directly and congratulated her on her victory.
She nodded back.
15 minutes have passed since that crazy hour-long battle of theirs. Alice's outfit had changed to a black and skin-tight training garments to that of her normal red and gold uniform.
With the Professor's instructions, she was not going to battle any more..
It was also the same for Veritas.
He stared back at the area below him and onto the distanced figure of the Professor.
Then, it seemed as if he gestured to announce something..
"I apologize for the delay! Morgan Yild is fine and is recuperating as we speak! We shall begin momentarily. Meanwhile, I will announce the next individuals to partake in a duel."
"Lacrose Wilt and Jaime Silvercroft!"
A couple of people that Veritas was not that familiar with.. Veritas saw a particular cream colored hair brush past him, smelling the fragrance of a morning dew.
'That's.. Lacrose, she graded a 63% in the Aptitude Test. If I am not mistaken, her Path is Obedience. That would quite match her personality as she tended to be a soft-spoken yet dominating girl..'
On the opposite side, Jamie entered the dome and readied his stance.
Thus, with the Professor's signal, their battle commenced!
Veritas did not pay that much of an attention to their battle but he still kept a clear focus in front of him. He saw the cream-haired girl's way of fighting, she carried around a 1.5 meter long sword and wielded it with both hands.
Her stance was a little bit peculiar..
Instead of the usual "facing front while sword is at a 115 degree angle" she carried her blade above her with her body facing her side and her knees bent slightly. Her blade pointed at the enemy, and it was quite the offensive stance in Veritas' eyes.
Apart from that.. this was all that caught his eye.
What happened in their battle was a generic face to face sword combat with each other. Actually, they almost seemed equal in skill and strength!
But due to the nature of Lacrose's Path, she easily won.
'Quite the alluring way of fighting.. Charming your enemy while crossing blades with them is not that special, but her fighting style gives it a unique presence. It was as if.. she wanted to fight with him equally, not overpowering him and not being too weak for him to defeat her.'
Veritas focused on her figure.
'What is she hiding?'
His thoughts were then immediately interrupted by Leo's rambling.
"Wow! She's great, she moves so calculatedly and efficiently! Did you see that, your majesty?"
"I did.."
"Great! It almost felt like she was holding back though.. that's not fun at all."
Hana then added:
"Her swordplay was quite peculiar too.. I've never seen someone with that stance before."
"I thought of that too.."
Veritas placed his fingers on chin and started to watch as the next match unfolds.
The previous match didn't even take 5 minutes to end. It was only 11:21, so.. there was still time before their break.
"I'll make it quick! The next people to duel would be.."
He read the notes in front of him, carefully comprehending the words.
"Leo Sandde and Hana Hyosube!"
Veritas and Alice immediately stared at the two of them, who were sat side by side.
"It's finally my turn!"
Leo jolted up and agilely stretched, he stared at Hana and compelled her to do the same.
"Come on! Come on! It's finally our turn, let's fight thoroughly!"
She also stood up but her attitude was contrast to him. She taciturnly faced the direction of the stairs leading down the area below and walked towards it.
"H-Hey, Hana! Wait for me!!"
Leo chased her tail and both of them headed to the barrier dome below.
'Those two have been bickering for so long.. I wonder how the match will turn out.'
Veritas pondered and glanced at Mercury.
"Who do you think will win?"
But.. Mercury kept a straight face and focused on the dome below. Veritas waved his hand in front of him to garner his attention and once he did.. the cold-looking blonde boy finally stared at him.
"Oh.. you were talking to me? Uhhh.."
He stared at the two figures below them, both walking in a separate direction to enter the dome.
"I think Hyosube would win.."
Veritas nodded his head and looked two seats away on his right where Alice was seated.
"Scoot over here."
He patted the seat on his right to gesture to Alice to move.
After a second, she sat gracefully on the dark comfortable seat, wondering what Veritas needed to say.
"What is it?"
"Who do you think will win?"
Her head shifted from Veritas' direction to the dome below where Leo and Hana had already set up their positions.
She then let out her soft voice:
"Leo would surely win.."
Veritas laid back and clasped his hands.
"Now.. we've got one vote for each."
"What?"
"Mercury said that Hana will win and you said that Leo will.."
"Ah.. Then who do you think would win, Veritas?"
"Hmm..."
Veritas pondered for a second and considered each of their individual strengths.
He shifted his head left and right to stare at the two of them slowly. Then, he ended up staring at the dome below, Leo and Hana readied their swords as they waited for the whistle to blow.
"No one."
Both Alice and Mercury was confused..
"I mean.. no one will win."
He stared deeply in the dome and saw the Professor raising his hand to signal the battle.
"This battle... will be a tie."
The loud high-pitched noise of a whistle resounded and the duel commenced.
*
The duel commenced immediately with a bang.
After he heard the whistle, Leo was not shy to conjure a miniature sandstorm that hid his presence. As a Servant of Sands, his collective wisdom and knowledge is quite unfathomable.
Since his Path uses the knowledge of his ancestors, Leo possessed a great intellect.
Due to this, Leo could sometimes be interpreted to act as a kid or a child. He always knew the best scenarios for every outcome and calculated the choices that had the best results.
As long as he determined the elements of course..
Hana witnessed the great sandstorm upon her, using her endurance as a Knight of Flowers, she bore through the cumulative pellets of sand coming right at her.
But to her surprise.. it was harmless. She expected a miniature amount of pain and damage but the sandstorm was quite underwhelming.
'Is this it?'
This would be easy to handle for her.
But... her vision was obstructed by the sandstorm, it would prove to be quite a trivial matter regarding the duel.
In the end, she conjured bright pink flower petals that countered the mini pellets of sand. It gradually grew in number with each passing second, fighting against the sandstorm to form a flowerstorm of her own!
The dome from the outside looked like a cut between the brown sandstorm and a flowery-pink flower storm.
The two of them were equally matched!
Hana stood on the left side of the dome while Leo..
He was nowhere to be seen.
Finally gaining her vision back, Hana immediately scouted Leo's whereabouts yet upon seconds of searching.. the short boy with auburn hair was gone!
'Where is he?! Is he- wait!'
Leo suddenly materialized behind Hana, wearing an armor of sand that flowed through his entire body, covering everything except for his eyes.
He swung his tooth-shaped dagger towards Hana, who was caught by surprise.
But it was blocked! Not by Hana's blade, but her flowers!
Every petal that swung in the winds was as sharp as a steel razor! If one made contact with it, then they would be minced into pieces!
Leo tried to swing again, but the continuous flow of petals obstructed his clear attack!
Hana saw an opportunity to counter, she controlled her fingers and suddenly.. multitudes of petals came rushing towards Leo.
They slashed straight through Leo's sandy armor.
The petals surprisingly phased through Leo's body, it was as if they tried to cut sand itself.
And once they got out of his body, the flowers looked black and wilted!
This was Leo's skill, Desert Armor.
As a being of Sandstorm himself, once he activates his skill, his entire being would be covered by sand and would form itself into an armor. It was not just any normal armor, it manipulated the properties of his Path and weaved the sand to constantly move along his body.
Thus.. it may give the illusion of the petals passing through Leo's body when in fact.. it was a trick.
The petals entered the sandy armor and then cycled through Leo, ultimately ending up in a direction where it would've pierce through Leo's body completely.
Additionally, due to the nature of Leo's skill, the sand around his body moves at quite a hasty pace. Thus, making it super hot to the touch and effectively wilting the petals quickly.
More petals phased through, or rather.. entered the armor and was guided around Leo's body. They all seemed ineffective as every petal wilted and blackened when they passed by.
Hana clicked her tongue and Leo grinned at her.
One was a being of Sandstorm possessing generational knowledge and wisdom. A being of sand that is devoid of life, capable of wilting even the most bountiful petals of a pink flower.
As for the other, she was a being of the Sun, a Knight of Flowers, and holds the essence of life. A being that grows life amidst even the barren of wastelands, procuring the most elegant and beautiful flowers.
As the two of them fought, their respective domains of Flower and Sand raged on to clash upon one another.