I ran toward the battle arena as if my ass was on fire. But there was only excitement in my eyes.

For the first time, I am going to watch other Elementalists fighting in such a grand event. Not to mention, these students were only one year older than us.

The Elimination Tournament started even before our gathering. Though the healing department was the last to leave the auditorium, we still missed quite some time. As I got close to the arena, sounds of exciting battle cries and cheering reached me. There was also noise intense battle. I hurriedly enter the gate that leads to the spectators. And the next scene made me speechless.

This was a Coliseum, a large field with 10 battle arenas on it. The Coliseum was circular with three levels of arches around the outside. Spectators were sitting there, shouting, and cheering for the participants.

I looked at the battle arenas. Ten familiar-looking transparent crystals were hovering on them. And their upper part was emitting light on a black screen where everything inside the arena was magnified. Such a spectacular sight!

"This was similar to when I took my portrait. The light carrying the constant image of the arena was absorbed by crystal and then sent and magnified on that black screen. What a genius idea!" I exclaimed in a happy voice. As I was a little loud, others beside me also focused on the crystals and then cried in awe.

The thing that they thought magical was such a genuine trick of light element! As they didn't understand it at all, they began to question their life.

I couldn't see clearly from the far distance. So I started looking at the black screen where everything was magnified.

The different screens showed different battles. But one extra screen was showing the ranking of students, on which one particular sentence made me numb.

[Number of Participants: 950]

Krieger Academy accepts around 1400 students each year. That means, in just two years, the academy excluded around 450 students! What the hell is this failure rate?

I stabilize my mental condition and recall quick note 4: ' Only the strong will survive, while the weak shall perish.' then focused on the battles. On one screen, I saw a battle between a water and fire Elementalist. The battle between these 2 opposite elements was always fun to watch.

Judging by their fighting style, it looked like the fire user was from the melee department while the water user was from the caster department. The fire guy Rick was coated in fire. While the water user Lucas had a water membrane surrounding him.

Rick was punching his opponent with full force. But, his opponent didn't suffer the slightest damage. Every punch only created more water vapor. As if, all the force was being absorbed by that membrane and transforming vapor from its water.

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Just when Rick was about to land a punch on Lucas's face, the water membrane around Lucas's body peeled off to become something like a whip made of water and smashed its opponent, then disintegrated.

Receiving the direct hit, the Fire user was sent flying to the corner most region of the arena. Everyone could see that Lucas had an overwhelming advantage here.

But, even after receiving such pain, Rick was persistent and stood up. With a bloody mark on his back- that was left by the whip. He hissed in pain, looked at Lucas with blood-red eyes then channeled elemental energy. This time, only his forearms were on fire. Lucas also gathered water membranes around his vital spots in response and made another whip out of the water but this was weaker. It seems like both of them had used up their energy. And now was the showdown to decide the winner.

Rick charged toward Lucas while Lucas swung his while toward him. Just when the whip was about to hit Rick's lower body, he jumped with force. As the whip was made of water, it splattered upon crashing to the ground but was quickly reformed by Lucas's elemental energy. Their exchange continued. Lucas was meticulously aiming at Rick. But Rick was somehow dodging them and reducing his distance.

After Lucas was within range, Rick threw a fireball at Lucas's face. It is a basic attack method for novice fire users. Aside from Casters, even melee warriors could do that. I mean, everyone can throw a ball, right?

Rick gathered fire elemental energy in his hand and combusted it before throwing it on Lucas. Although it was a basic technique, both Lucas and Rick were only second-year students. So, it possessed the power to harm Lucas.

Lucas hurriedly created more layers of membranes to block the fireball and succeeded. He discovered that the fireball was way weaker than a normal fireball and grew suspicious. But, before he could take any action, a burning fist smashed on his face and then sent him to the ground. With a scorched face, Lucas coughed up the blood from injured gums before laying down. Pain from being punched in the face also made me lose consciousness. As the referee confirmed Lucas's condition, the anchor announced Rick's Victory.

The spectators went crazy with their cheers. They couldn't believe their eyes. I was also amazed by Rick's tenacity and intellect. The whole situation took a whole 180° turn. Rick, who was being beaten like a rag a while ago, diverted Lucas's attention with a feign fireball and finished the match with a single powerful punch. That was a meticulous calculation from Rick. But, his calculations would have been useless if not for the amazing footwork that helped him in evading Lucas's whip.

Alas! Rick couldn't celebrate his victory as he fainted on spot just after the announcement. Looks like the whiplash he received caused more injury than everyone thought. Both of them were carried to the infirmary.

The leaderboard showed some changes. Rick had 5 points added besides his name, and his rank jumped from 99 to 96. While Lucas had +3 beside his name. But he regressed from 82 to 85.

So, losers get 3 points instead of zero!" I voiced out.

But, a student by my side corrected, "No, the losing party gets 0-3 points. The points they receive are based on their performance. But this rule applies only in fights among top 300 students.."

I was enlightened. This made sense. This tournament's purpose was to see every student's progress. Not to select the ultimate winner. So, it won't be fair if every loser gets 0 points as they weren't facing the same opponent. Some may face opponents out of their leagues. But some may face opponents that they can crush easily and vice-versa.

After watching this impressive battle between two geniuses, I increased my focus on analyzing their battle tactics.

The anchor's voice was heard again, "The next match of Arena 6 has been determined. Oliver Bright, a Light Weapon Master, against Alicia Atlana, a Water user from the Healing department. Please take your places on Arena 6."