After Nayro finished his explanation, the First Year students were instructed to split into evenly-numbered groups as their opponents showed on a massive screen behind the podium.
There wouldn’t be more than one fighting arena, but, generally, the fights would last for one to two minutes, at most.
Even with over a 100 students, the whole thing wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.
For the first day, the students would only fight three fights to determine if they passed or not. However, most students- excluding the few defects- perform relatively well in the Practical Exams.
As mentioned earlier, Zeke’s first three opponents would be of ‘similar’ ranking to him.
He was more than confident to win, but he didn’t act overly-arrogant.
With Samuel gone, he had no one to actively talk to so he stood there and patiently waited while the final preparations were completed.
The fighting arena was at the center of the large room, surrounded by a semi-translucent half-spherical barrier.
The students would stand at the back to spectate and have a little bit of fun in seeing the geniuses pitted against each other.
In addition, Christopher Balrant and Erva Erayne were also present, sitting closer to the arena and conversing with each other.
Only some curious second year students were here, after all, the Third Years were busy doing their own Practical Exams.
“Order and silence, boys and girls!”
A snapping sound reverberated across the gymnasium-like room, bringing a long silence as the Zyth Professor glided to the center of the arena.
“We will be descending through the rankings. So… the first two are, Emma Jak of class C and Brandon Ila of class A. Come forward.”
The individual fights began and proceeded at a rapid pace. Some students forfeited on the spot or won with one or two strikes. Of course, there were some heated battles, but they weren’t particularly flashy or that interesting.
The real show would begin when the top 20 will take the stage. Julia Lopmore, Azmer Lorson, Fylard Yak, Veronica Serpens, Francesca Moon, Francois Chivaux, and Harold Volcun, these were the prominent and especially gifted students that towered above their peers.
Amongst them, Francois Chivaux was ranked 4th, and two of his close friends were in the top 10. Undoubtedly, his ‘circle’, albeit lacking members, was made of strong people.
After waiting for a while, it was finally Zeke’s turn. As he walked to the stage, he scrutinized his opponent; It was a short youth with a round face, long black-colored braids that reached his back, and a shit-eating grin.
He was Brack Yol, ranked 29th and previously part of Fylard’s group, before it was prematurely disbanded.
By now, all the students knew a lot of things about Zeke. How he was a Defect then gained a powerful lightning-aspected ability, how he challenged and won against Rodrick, how he attacked his ‘mother’ on the campus and almost got himself killed.
There were some that admired him, some that envied him, and some that didn’t care.
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“Ready?”
Nastro glanced at the two before signalling the beginning of the fight.
Two small arrows made of ominous darkness appeared behind Brack, however, before he could shoot at them at his opponent, he felt an unstoppable force hit his chest.
Zeke had appeared in front of him and delivered a straight and powerful punch, one which was enough to blow Brack to the back and knock him unconscious.
Looking neither happy about his victory nor smug, Zeke returned to his seat while ignoring the cursory glances he was getting.
When it was time for the top 20 to fight, the fight noticeably became longer and more exciting.
The difference between the top students and the weak ones became distinctively clear. The top 20 were adept at controlling their Aether and manifesting explosive attacks and jaw-dropping techniques.
Azmer’s opponent had forfeited without fighting, Fylard displayed an impressive control of his Wind-aspected ability, Veronica fought against one Francois’ friends and won after a bit of difficulty, and Julia smashed her win to victory by one-sidedly beating her opponent ‘Harold Volcun’, the previous 1st-ranked First Year student.
It was clear that the lively granddaughter of renowned Hero ‘Michael Lopmore’, had considerably improved her monstrously powerful physique.
Her ability allowed her to control the speed of her movements, but that didn’t explain how she had outrageous defensive capabilities.
Even when she was struck by Harold’s lightning, she was unscathed and all smiles, seemingly enjoying the challenge.
“We will begin the second round after a 10 minute rest. This time, we will be ascending through the rankings. Furthermore, those who won their first fight will be battling against other winners and vice-versa.”
Some of the students went outside to clear their minds and steel themselves while others remained inside and chatted about the previous fights, some asking for pointers and other betting on who was going to emerge as the strongest.
“What are you going to do?”
Zeke snapped out of his daze and looked to his left. Azmer Lorson approached her and even handed him a cold soda as he sat down and motioned toward Julia.
“Are you going to fight her?”
Their past differences notwithstanding, Zeke did not lash out in anger. In fact, he reacted positively and accepted the soda, sipping from it as he responded,
“Maybe.”
“Does that mean you’ll stop after your first three victories?”
“I’ll have to win those first.” Calmly answered Zeke as he swept his gaze across those he deemed particularly strong.
“Everyone knows you’re going to win. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I do think you’re the strongest here.”
“So Azmer Lorson learned how to be humble?” Retorted Zeke as he clicked his tongue.
“I’m not delusional. I’ve lost to you already and although I improved, I still need to train more. If I have to guess, I’d say Francesca would be the most troublesome foe for you.”
“Because of her ability?”-Zeke
“Yes. It’s really annoying, especially in your case. You lack proper defensive magic, which is a huge disadvantage against her Bombardment Magic.”
Francesca Moon had two abilities; One was similar to Maxine’s, as in it significantly empowered her body, precisely her bones. The second was a long-ranged ability that would unleash a successive chain of literal explosions.
“Anyway…”
Once he finished saying what he wanted to say, Azmer stood up and shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s up to you to continue or not, but don’t you think it’s time to shed your previous mask? You’re no longer a Defect, nor does anyone still think you’re weak. It’s about time you rise to the top.”
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Three hours later, the so-called ‘preliminary’ fights concluded. Zeke’s last two opponents forfeited on the spot, which saved him a bit of energy and time.
Amongst all the fights that happened, only four were interesting. Fylard Yak fought against Harold Volcun and lost, Julia fought against Francesca and won, Azmer fought against James Loppo (9th ranked) and won, and Veronica defeated Raul Jackob (4th-ranked).
“113 students passed the official Practical Exam. Those who failed will undergo extra lessons during the summer and hope that their grades in the Theoretical Exams are good.”
Professor Nayro declared the winners and, just as excited as all the rest, swiftly moved to the real show.
A couple of other teachers also came to spectate, but what surprised many was that the Principal himself arrived. He casually sat down next to Erva and looked at the 21 students that were going to compete against each other.
In summation, only 21 students agreed to continue fighting in order to win the ultimate prize.
Excluding Zeke, the remaining students were in the top 20.
“This will be simple; If you lose, you’re out. It’s a mini-tournament. Same rules as before.”
Zeke and co, who were lined up in front of the Zyth, nodded once and waited for the large screen to refresh and show the matches.
As the tension rose and silence dominated over the arena, the names on the screen changed.
Zeke, like the rest, searched for his name before glancing at one particular person.
“Alright! First fight is Zeke Orland against Veronica Serpens.”