The first round of battles finally ended and all the winners of their bout were given an hour to rest, recuperate, and prepare for the next round.
From the initial hundred and thirty students they were now down to just sixty four. It was supposed to be sixty five but one winner of his bout was deemed u fit to proceed due to his injuries.
On a private viewing platfrom high above the arena, sat most of the professors of the academy. They were very pleased with the performance of the new students, excited to see what lies ahead for the future of the academy.
"Professor Ashburn, do you know who that boy with the blue flame is?" An older woman asked the professor.
"He is Krios Whiteflame, Headmistress Zelester." The professor answered.
The eyes of the Headmistress went wide.
"Did you say Whiteflame?" She clarified.
"Yes Headmistress. Why? Are you familiar with the name?"
The Headmistress did not answer as she stared at the boy intently from a distance.
'Could he be the one?' She thought silently.
Down below the arena, Krios and Loras were stretching out preparing for the next round. They did not take any significant injuries from their first match so they did not require any medical treatment.
"Do you think we will get past through this round?"
Krios just shrugged. He was still in tiptop shape so he can still give one hell of a fight.
"Students, please prepare for the round of sixty four." The announcer suddenly spoke.
The display board was then updated and the new matchups were posted.
"Too bad, I won't be able to see you fight this time." Loras mumbled.
Loras and Krios were set to fight at the same time so they will not be able to spectate each other's matches. Loras was going to go against another mage from class two while Krios was going against someone from class one.
"Oh no, you're going against someone from class one!" Loras exclaimed.
"Be careful out there okay?"
Krios was moved by the sincerity in Loras' words. They have just met a couple of days prior but they have become close friends.
"You too. Don't overdo it. Surrender if your safety depends on it." Krios answered him.
"Fighters, please proceed to your designated platforms."
"Good luck!" Loras said as he stood up.
"You too." Krios answered and they both walked towards their own platforms.
Krios and his opponent arrived at the same time.
"Hi, I'm Anthon." The guys greeted him with a smile. He was even more powerful than his previous opponent. This new guy was already at the mid Mana Compression realm, and was as strong as his brother.
"I'm Krios."
"You might have beaten that meathead with a higher cultivation than you through your tricks, but they won't work on me."
Krios did not answer. He knew this was going to be tough as he was three minor realms below. But he knew he has a shot at it. He just needed to be careful.
"Do you think he'd win again?" One from the crowd asked.
"I don't think so. Although his first opponent was in the Mana Compression realm, he was still close to him in terms of cultivation. And he won it because he was able to surprise his opponent."
"Yeah I don't think he'd do it again this time."
"Fighters ready. Same rules as before. No killing, no maiming, no use of unnecessary violence."
Both fighters nodded.
"Let the round of sixty four, begin!" The announcer shouted then all sixty four fighters went into action.
The crowd went wild once again as the action began. Bets were starting to be placed as they have now narrowed in on the potential winners.
On Krios' platform, the match was heating up. His opponent, a wind attribute mage started firing wind blades at him from the get go. Unlike Loras who utilized his wind for more maneuverability, Anthon used his wind attribute in a more offensive approach.
Krios, imbuing mana into his legs, maneuvered around his opponents attacks.
'Those wind blade looks incredibly sharp. I don't want to find out what it would do if it lands on me.' Krios thought.
"What now? Are you just going to keep running." Anthon said in a mocking tone.
"In that case, I'll just bring the battle to you." A sword appeared on Anthon's right hand and he blasted forward like a bullet, propelled by the wind.
Krios' eyes went wide as Anthon reached him in a blink of an eye.
Anthon slashed his sword forward aiming for Krios' neck but fortunately, Krios was able to summon his spear to block the attack.
Sword and spear collided and Krios' arm buckled and he was sent back flying due to how heavy the sword attack was. He impaled his spear to the ground and used it to land on his feet and stop his momentum.
"No more surprises?" Anthon quipped.
To answer Anthon's question, Krios' mana suddenly erupted, shocking everyone.
"His aura feels so intense." An onlooker stated.
"That's not supposed to be a mana output of someone from his realm. What the hell is happening?" Another added.
"Hooo, another one of your tricks, I see." Anthon mused.
But Krios did not stop there, out of nowhere, seven blazing fireballs floated around Krios.
'Seven simultaneous fireballs is my limit as of now. So I need to atleast get something going.' Krios thought to himself.
"Blazing Inferno!" Krios called out the name of his battle arts.
One by one the fireballs zoomed in towards the direction of his opponent. And they were met with a flurry of wind blades which caused great explosions upon impact.
Then another set of seven fireballs flew again. Then again, and again.
The crowd was dumbfounded. They did not expect someone from the Core Reformation realm to have this much mana, let alone spend so much so fast.
'He is indeed an anomaly.' Professor Ashburn thought to himself.
'He might be the one.' Headmistress thought.
"Enough of this playtime!" Anthon shouted as He was getting annoyed dealing with the barrage of fireballs.
His aura flared up and a vortex grew around him. Air started to gather towards him forming a tornado that absorbed the last few remaining fireballs.
"Let's see if you can continue with your tricks." Anthon sneered as he started firing back a barrage of wind blades towards Krios.
'Tch, this tornado is hampering my movements.'
Krios sliced through the wind blades using his spear. He was not able to use any of his fire as the tornado kept on sucking them in preventing him from controlling it.
"That's right, dance for me!" Anthon shouted in glee as he saw Krios struggling with his onslaught.
Krios tried to form a fireball but once again, it was sucked into the vortex dissipating in the air.
'Fine, you want my fire? Then I'll give you my fire'
Krios' aura flared up even more sending a shockwave that dissipated the rest of the wind blades, which again shocked the audience.
"He had more in the tank? How is that possible?" One audience memeber asked, dumbfounded.
"That shouldn't be possible right?" Another asked.
Krios then started releasing mana even faster creating an inferno of blazing fire that the tornado hungrily consumed.
"You can try and try but you will never get past my vortex." Anthon shouted haughtily.
The flames continued to grow bigger as Krios pourned in more mana into it. The tornado continued to suck in the flames but this time, instead of dissipating, the flames started to mix in with the spinning vortex turning it into a flaming tornado. The vortex turned to blue as the flames started to spin with it.
"Let's see who runs out of mana first." Krios finally spoke.
Anthon was shocked by how the flames overpowered his tornado. He then tried to match the mana output of Krios, pouring in as much mana to strengthen his tornado but the flames only grew bigger.
"What's going on? Why is the flames going bigger?" A student asked.
"What happens when you fan a fire? It grows bigger." A professor answered.
"But why was it being being consumed by the tornado previously?"
"Because it was not big enough."
"Professor, does that mean that his flames are now as strong as the vortex? Is that even possible for someone who is a realm below his opponent?"
"It's not as strong as the tornado. But it's big enough to be able to withstand the wind and the fire uses the wind as a fuel which helps it grow bigger. That kid is matching the tornado with his mana output alone."
"What does that mean?"
"That kid with the fire has the same mana output as that kid with the tornado." The professor answered.
Everyone on earshot was shocked by what the professor had said. How is it possible that a kid with a lower cultivation match the mana output of someone from a higher realm?
But what they did not know was Krios' mana core was strengthened and compressed more than the normal mana core, which allows him to release huge amounts of mana without having to worry about the pressure it my put on his core.
The whirlwind of fire surrounding Anthon only grew bigger and bigger as he tried to increase the size of his tornado. He was in some what might say, only adding fuel to the fire as the flames raged on.
As the fire continued to burn, the air inside the vortex became thinner. And Anthon started having trouble breathing, but he refused to give up.
'He's on a lower realm than me. He probably is at his rope's end by now. All I have to do is endure until he uses up all of his mana.' Anthon thought to himself.
"He had been injecting fire into that tornado for about a minute now. How long can he keep that up? He should be running out of mana by now right?" An audience wondered.
"Look at him, does he look like he's struggling?" Another asked.
Krios continued flaming the tornado as it spun. He still has quite a few mana left but he also wanted the battle to end as fast as possible. He was about to pour in more mana when suddenly, he noticed that Anthon's aura started to grow faint. The. The tornado started to slowly dissipate.
'Is it over?' Krios thought to himself.
He withdrew his flames and started to withdraw his aura. When the dust settled, he saw his opponent, down on all fours breathing heavily.
"I-I, c-concede." Anthon muttered.
The crowd was silent for a while.
"What the hell, he outlasted the guy with the higher cultivation!" A crowd member shouted in disbelief.
The crowd erupted into chaos with the discussion of what they have witnessed.
A student from class two just beat someone from class one who was on a higher realm and managed to break through to the round of thirty two.