Alexandra Jevani, Bhak Djinn, General Zhang, Madam Jorie, and Frederic Whitefort were sitting around a table and watching a recorded footage of Zeke Orland lying on the ground.
From beginning to end, it showed how Zeke shot the bullet that killed the Ambassador. Even if the three leaders of the Nezulian Republic wanted to deny or buy some time, they couldn’t. After all, the footage was clear and undeniable evidence of Zeke’s crime.
“There you have it. Are you satisfied now?”
“...”
The red-haired General’s face looked frighteningly scary as he glared at the vagabond.
His Department had been investigating the whole incident, but they weren’t going to reveal the whole truth to Madam Jorie. They needed some leverage and didn’t want to submit so easily, but now things have taken a sudden turn.
“There’s no need to hesitate now.” Calmly stated the elderly earthling, who looked pleased with this outcome.
In contrast, Jevani, Bhak, and Zhang seemed enraged and furious.
“Since we don’t have the liberty of freeling roaming your city, we would like to go with you to take that boy. We wouldn’t want any complication appearing out of nowhere, would we?”
Jorie chuckled and glanced at the equally pleased Frederic. He smiled and added,
“As per our agreement, I will have his eyes.”
“Madam Jorie… you do realise what this man wants to do, right?” Asked the monk-looking Minister, Bhak Djinn.
“You mean the System or whatever? We don’t care about that.”
“You don’t understand.” Retorted Zhang with gritted teeth and a piercing glare.
“The System is something beyond us. Why do you think this man came to you instead of catching Zeke on his own? It’s because he’s afraid. He’s using all of us.”
“Come now, General…” Frederic softly laughed, “You’ve seen what the kid is capable of. I'm a vagabond. I can’t win against him.”
“Don’t try this with us, Frederic Whitefort.” Alexandra Jevani snorted and spat with a venomous and cold voice as a suffocating pressure emanated from her.
“Your reputation precedes you and everyone knows of your fanatical obsession with the System. You know what it’s capable of so you want us to do the hunting.”
“What’s all this fuss about? If you’re so disinclined to catch him, we will be more than willing to do it in your stead.” Declared Madam Jorie, looking unperturbed and particularly disinterested in all the talk about the System.
“There’s a lot of unknown moving parts, Madam Jorie. Even if we know the killer’s identity, we cannot act recklessly. Give us a week to make some preparations.”
Surprisingly, Madam Jorie nodded without any objections, which made Frederic frown.
“It would be wise to take him down now. He’s an unnatural force of nature that improves at an alarming rate.”
Even after she heard him, the old earthling woman kept her silence and didn’t even spare him a glance.
…
The excitement only grew after Zeke’s fight. The remaining participants were equipped with powerful abilities, which they made full use of to offer a spectacle worthy of watching.
Azmer fought Zack Bornie, a friend of Harold and someone who used the rare Darkness Magic. Ultimately, Azmer prevailed with the use of his unique fire, which he dubbed ‘Origin Flames’.
The battle lasted only for 5 minutes, but it clearly took a great physical toll on him. He sustained corrosive damage from the Darkness-aspected spells, but he managed to hold on and deliver the finishing blow.
Right after, he was handed powerful recovery elixirs in preparing for the remaining fights.
This was the 3rd and last day of the ‘Exam’, so the Principal prepared enough resources to heal the students’ wounds and ensure they were at peak state before each fight.
Next was Harold Volcun and Fakih Knight, which ended with the former’s overwhelming victory. Harold’s yellow thunder was like a raging storm that absolutely demolished Fakih’s relatively weak Earth Spike Ability.
Last but not least was Francois Chivaux against Harry Nost. The latter’s ability was direct and not overly diverse, but it allowed him to freeze everything he touched.
As for Francois, he was a staff-user; A true and talented Martial Artist that could call forth ‘Spirit Beast’ to empower his body in different ways.
“This round will be considered the quarter-finals. Later on, one lucky person of the three winners will leapfrog to the finals while the remaining two will fight. It’s pretty straightforward, yes?”
The six nodded in unison, so the Zyth rushed back to the podium and quickly prepared the chart for the upcoming battles.
Soon, the participants’ names appeared, divided into three small groups with two students in each one.
{Julia Lopmore Vs Katlyn Jan}
{Azmer Lorson Vs Francois Chivaux}
{Zeke Orland Vs Harold Volcun}
“Oh… damnit! I wanted to fight you!”
Julia pouted and exclaimed in displeasure as she looked at the solemn Zeke. She was already considered to be the strongest, and out of the remaining participants, only Zeke had sparked her interest and ignored her fighting spirit.
“After I deal with him, we will be having our rematch.” Loudly stated the serious-looking and arrogant-sounding Harold.
‘Samuel wasn’t wrong to describe him as a worse replica of Fylard.’
Harold was an average-looking youth with a slim body, slightly short height, and short brown hair. However, he was a haughty and prideful individual, so much so that he liked to speak down to others, especially those he deemed as ‘weak’.
Even after witnessing Zeke’s impressive display of physical and magical strength, he still kept his arrogance and contempt.
Instead of arguing with him or denying his confident claim, Zeke sighed and walked away.
“You should be careful. During the previous fights, he hasn’t shown everything he could do.”
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“...”
Seeing Azmer give him meaningful advice, Zeke glanced at the youth but didn’t speak. In fact, he was thinking about the job he and Sulong were going to have tomorrow.
Zeke trusted in his own abilities and knew that he could defeat Harold. However, his primary objective had changed in the last couple of days.
He already showed everyone that he became strong and even if he were to lose, he would still rank in the top 10 or top 5, subsequently lowering next year’s fees to a negligible amount.
This ‘Exam’ was the last thing Zeke worried about. His current goal was to continue training and getting stronger as well as building a solid reputation to the ‘Lightning Flame Merc Group’ and build good relationships with important figures. That way, he wouldn’t have to worry even if the Department of Defense were to change their stance and target him.
Additionally, spreading the influence and name of his new organisation would facilitate the search and capture of Red Mask Fanti Fan and the re-acquisition of his stolen heart, which he was certain was hidden way for experimentations.
After the spectating crowd was given a short break and the participants a brief respite, the second to last round had finally begun.
By then, most of the Third-year students had finished their ‘exams’ and came to watch the climax of the mini-tournament.
Unexpectedly, however, Katlyn forfeited as soon as the fight started. She looked slightly embarrassed as she hastily ran out of the arena while covering her flushed face.
Then again, it was a logical and safe decision on her part. She knew her limits and opted to avoid unnecessary injuries by surrendering prematurely.
“Okay then, we will proceed to the next fight right way.”
Nayro beckoned Harold and Zeke to the arena then raised the translucent spherical barrier.
As the Zyth Professor was giving the signal, an illusory syringe appeared next to Zeke’s shoulder and pierced it, injecting a transparent fluid into his body.
[Self-Injection] increased his stats, which boosted even more when [Over-Drive] was activated.
When the battle came to a start, Zeke literally transformed into a bolt of blue lightning that shot toward Harold like a bullet.
A net of thunderbolts appeared in front of Harold, but it disintegrated as Zeke passed through it and struck the startled opponent.
Unfortunately, [Over-Drive] lasted for two short breaths, but it was enough for Zeke to inflict a grievous injury to his target.
The left side of Harold’s chest sustained a heavy wound that bleeds profusely. Stricken with agonising pain and disoriented, Harold unleashed a wave of uncontrollable thunderbolts all around the arena.
Alas, Zeke kept either dashing out of the way or sparingly using ‘Life Motus’ to dodge the projectiles.
Seeing his opponent getting tired quickly due to the wound, Zeke extended his right hand and threw an arrow crackling with voltage.
It clashed with Harold’s yellow thunder and they both cancelled each other.
“You… can’t beat me!”
Harold roared in anger as deafening thunder exploded forth, enveloping the whole arena.
Blinding thunderbolts were ricochetting everywhere as they struck Zeke and pushed him back. However, instead of damaging him, it actually empowering him.
This was something that even he was surprised about. His Voltage Rune was being charged and he felt a surge of power spread throughout his body.
He grinned and drew all the absorbed energy, then he let out dozens of ‘Voltage Zap’ that overwhelmed Harold’s thunder and hit him.
His head, legs, arms, and chest were hit consecutively. He was covered in scorched spots as his face distorted in anger and shame.
However, he didn’t fall down or forfeit, instead, he went all-out. The final and desperate attack of Harold was a brilliant swirling mass of thunder that flew straight at Zeke.
Zeke just stood there and smiled as his whole body was hit.
A couple of breaths passed before the crowd realised what happened, thus resulting in loud cheering and unbridled excitement.
“T-this is impossible!”
When he saw the totally unscathed Zeke standing at the same spot, Harold was speechless and in full denial. He even became hysterical as he shouted outloud and tried to attack once more.
Alas, his vision was getting blurry and his legs were shaking, so Nayro intervened and ended the fight.
‘Was it because his ability was inferior to mine? The feeling is similar to when I absorb negative energy with the Death Rune. Still, I just learnt that I’m impervious to lightning-aspected magic.’
Feeling satisfied, Zeke walked out of the arena when Nayro declared the winner.
Harold was taken to the infirmary and the next two fights walked to the ‘stage’.
…
It was Azmer’s turn to fight one of the ‘famous’ students of Erys, Francois Chivaux.
In fact, Francois was formerly an imperial citizen, but he had come to the Nezulian Republic along with his family.
Except hailing from a family of merchants, not much was known about him. His ability was peculiar and totally different from the norm, and he was not that outspoken.
He did have that ‘privileged’ aura emanating from his demeanor, but he had the strength to back it up.
“Ready? Begin!”
The second the fight began, Azmer released a rising wave of flames that cascaded upon his opponent.
The handsome and stalwart Francois closed his eyes for a breath, and just like the previous fights, a Spirit Beast appeared above him. It was a large turtle with silver shells, which transformed into a barrier protecting its caller.
When the wave of flames crashed into him, Francois got out unscathed thanks to his barrier, but he also retaliated swiftly and efficiently.
An illusory black leopard replaced the turtle, which allowed Francois to charge ahead with an incredible speed.
He arrived in front of Azmer and struck his fist as a grizzly brown bear manifested above him.
Azmer grunted and clumsily jumped back while leaving an explosion ball of flames in his stead.
Caught by the raging fire, Francois rolled out of the way and changed the Spirit Beast again, this time using a praying mantis.
He leapt in the air then rapidly glided toward Azmer, who finished casting the blinding miniature flaming sun.
Francois slashed his illusory and razor sharp blades at the sun, causing a clash of energies that covered the protected arena in a blinding light.
When the light vanished after a couple of seconds, the two students were on their feet. Azmer had an X-shaped wound on his abdomen and Francois’ right hand was burned and bleeding.
“This is fun. How about we step it up?” Asked Francois while smiling.
“I don’t see why not.” Responded Azmer as a long sword made of golden-colored flames appeared in his hand.
Two Spirits beasts, the turtle and the leopard, appeared together, thus boosting their caller’s physique and granting him superhuman and unique abilities.
Undeniably, this fight, which didn’t last long, was the best one so far. Azmer and Francois clashed against each other dozens of times. Raging golden fire and multi-colored auras were dancing in the air as they tried to overwhelm each other.
When Azmer used his ‘Origin Fire’, Francois reciprocated by invoking his strongest ‘Spirit Beast’... a large white roc.
The roc spread its wings and dove into Francois’ body, allowing him to call forth a violent storm that, when it clashed with Azmer’s fire, immediately shattered the barrier protecting the arena.
Nayro and Erva raised other smaller barriers to protect the students as the two fighting students finally ended their battle.
Neither of them fell unconscious or sustained heavy wounds that needed immediate treatment. In terms of prowess, they were more or less equal.
However, Azmer had run out of stamina and could no longer use his ‘Origin Fire’ or any other powerful spell.
As he patted the dust off his clothes, Francois walked up to him and stretched his hand.
“It’s my win.”
The youth had a genuinely sweet smile as he helped Azmer stand up and praised his Pyromancy.
“Seeing it and fighting against it are two different things. I seem to have underestimated you.”
“The victory goes to Francois Chivaux.”
His loss, Azmer didn’t feel dejected or ashamed. He had tried his best and learnt many things during his fights. He knew what he had to improve on and best to counter certain abilities that fell into the same ‘category’. Overall, the whole mini-tournament was worthwhile.
…
The three remaining participants were given another break as the lots were drawn to determine which one would get to proceed to the finals.
“My my! Aren’t you a lucky one, Zeke?”
Nayro’s beady and overly-inquisitive eyes drilled into Zeke as he declared the results of the drawn lots.
“Which means I’m fighting Francois?”
Julia, who became even more bummed out, sighed and dragged her feet to the arena.
“There’s no need. I’m forfeiting.” Stated Francois with a clear and clarion voice.
Seeing so many gazes land on him, the youth shrugged and explained,
“My ability works differently than the rest. I’ve already exhausted myself and it takes time for me to recover even with an Elixir. Furthermore, I’d like to see Zeke and Julia fight.”
The crowd agreed with a cheer as Julia jumped in delight.
“There you have it.” Nayro patted Zeke’s shoulder and urged him to step forward, which he did while scrutinising the enthusiastic girl.
“This will be different from our spars! I’m going all-out!”
Julia pointed her fist at him and giggled joyfully. She even kicked the air a few times as she readied her body.
Zeke had already thought of a tactic to use against her. It was bound to be highly-effective, but he had to get beaten down first.
In his current form, even with ‘Self-Injection’, he would still be physically weaker than her, therefore, he had to rely on ‘Surge of Pain’ to further augment his physical capabilities.
Admittedly, ‘The Reaper’ would increase his stats to a level that would allow him to overpower her, but that was a trump card he wanted to keep hidden for real fights.
Right before the fight was about to start, the Principal suddenly stood as a deep frown appeared on his face.
Seconds later, a commotion broke out outside, followed right after by the arrival of General Zhang.
The red-haired middle-aged man was accompanied by at least 10 Special Agents, all dressed in black and with masks covering the lower part of their faces.
The crowd of students quietened down and opened the way as the General walked to Solas and whispered a few words.