The referee took a long look at Elias.

“Are you sure you want to do this,” he asked. Elias had no choice but to silently stare at the referee. “It's your own fault for the bloodshed.”

Elias felt a strange sensation coming from his hip. He unclipped the sword at his belt.

Blood pulsed through his hand towards the core of the sword. He turned to face his opponent.

His opponent carried a short sword and had a black flower for an insignia. Tension crept down his arm as he entered a fighting stance.

Gripping the hilt with both hands he brought the tip of the blade down to the ground behind his right hip.

The black flower rushed forward with the short sword in his right hand. Elias took off to greet him.

Three steps are all it took for Elias to be in range. The black flower raised his blade and brought it down in an arc.

Elias planted his right foot in the ground and twisted upwards. The torque generated sent his blade crashing into the short sword.

The short sword was sent flying. Instinctively Elias planted his left foot forward and twisted again.

The blade looped from its initial trajectory and flew under the black rose’s arms. Elias felt an impact as the sword crashed into the rib cage.

Energy flew from his hands up to his shoulders from the jarring impact. Black rose was immobilized and fell back crashing to the ground.

He clipped the sword back to his belt and tuned to face the squad he was placed in.

Everyone wore an expression of panic mixed with fear. Elias had forgotten he was still wearing the mask.

He slowly walked back and exited. Nobody came near him. He stood in solidarity as the rest of round one was completed.

“Round one has been completed. All losers must now exit the arena and return to your designated barracks.” Boomed the voice over the stadium.

Elias watched as half of the squad left in disappointment.

This time he was the second match. His match was preceded by the victorious barbarian from the first match and the black bird from the second.

However, being a noble the match was given to the black bird.

The sword hummed back to life in his hands as he unclipped it from his belt and went inside the square again.

His opponent this time wielded a short sword but had a small buckler for a shield.

Apparently he had been one of the lucky ones to get to the weapons room of barracks C in time.

A lightning bolt insignia registered no noble house in Elias’s head.

Elias switched into a more defensive stance. His feet were slightly square with his hands lowered.

His sword was pointed at an angle straight in front. Elias would need near perfect timing for his counter attack.

The black lightning bolt ran forward. His footsteps pounded throughout the floor.

Once the lightning bolt was close enough his opponent brought his elbow back.

'So it is a thrust' thought Elias. Elias kicked back with his right foot and spun on his left.

The short sword of the lightning bolt stabbed right where Elias’s heart would have been.

Elias had maneuvered to the side of his opponent where the bucker could not be used.

He brought his hands down and followed the tip of the short sword with his hilt.

Elias continued the parry as the tip of his half hand sword neared the shoulder.

Successfully deflecting the attack, Elias thrust back into the opponent's shoulder.

The lightning bolt stumbled as he lost control of his balance and began to spin towards the ground.

He tried to regain his balance with the buckler by bashing the sword away from his shoulder.

However, Elias used the momentum and spun around crashing the sword onto the back of the man with the lightning bolt.

Lightning bolt was sprawled on the ground laying on his stomach as the referee ended the match.

Elias proceeded to the exit. With the sword clipped to his belt again he walked over to view the bracket.

At the beginning there were sixteen people in his bracket. After round one only eight remained and soon he would be one of the top four.

His next match would be an important one. Would he stand up to the black bird noble or give in like the rest had.

He would at least like to have seen his fighting style. Instead he would be going in with a disadvantage.

Round two came quickly to an end.

“Round two has been completed. Will all the losers please proceed to the viewing sections of the arena in your designated area.

Round three and round four will be in quick succession so there will not be an interrupt. After round three ends you will have five minutes until the next round begins.”

Elias stepped up to the door and readied himself again. He unclipped his sword and held it in his right hand.

He stared at the block bird and smiled behind his mask.

“I am a noble under the house of Kassala. Kneel and be hit by my sword.”

Elias just stood there watching the noble with an intent gaze.

“Did you hear me peasant?” roared the noble. “Maybe you need to be taught a lesson.”

And with that he charged at Elias. Without time to think Elias ran at the noble. He made up his mind.

Elias didn’t give a damn about some foolish caste system. He had the tools to create complete chaos throughout the academy.

The black bird from Kassala brought up his shield. Elias saw that he was defensive.

The noble was too confident and only thought he needed to block the attack.

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Since Elias had no shield a single quick strike would be all he needed to win.

Elias continued to run.

The noble had raised his shield to block the incoming attack but did not leave enough room to maintain visual with Elias.

Elias took a final step off his left foot and launched himself into the air by swinging his right leg upwards.

The movement swung Elias sideways and placed him above the kite shield.

He balanced himself midair with his left hand on the kite shield bringing the guard down.

With his right hand he stabbed down into the chest of the noble.

He could feel the tension in his squad intensify as their fellow comrade and noble lay immobilized on the ground.

There was no going back now. If he failed in this test he would lose everything he had, including his life.

He exited the square and stood by himself. This time it was his personal choice to be alone.

Soon word would reach the school that a nobody with a mask fought against a noble and won.

There would be hell to pay.

Silence still loomed as the final two members of his squad entered the square. Both of minor houses, they entered combat.

Elias figured they were pretty evenly matched. Both had obviously trained with a battle master at a young age but were not very proficient with their skills.

One noble had a stork insignia of house Ardland. He was using a rapier in a traditional fighting stance.

The other noble had a great oak insignia of house Oakly.

The noble from Oakly had a traditional broad sword in one hand and a rondella in the other.

The roundella was a much more manageable circular shield than the large kite shield.

The fight lasted for quite some time until the noble from Oakly had grown tired.

The stork from Ardland pressed the oak until the roundella became too heavy to keep at a proper location.

One kick from the stork and the roundella came crashing into the oak sending him sprawling back onto the ground.

The oak had no time to recover from the kick was quickly finished off by the rapier.

Elias was glad his opponent did not have a shield.

Anyone properly trained with a shield could defeat more skilled opponents that had only a weapon.

Elias walked up to his entrance and waited before entering. He was facing the other entrance and the stork noble nodded in agreement.

Elias would allow the stork to wait until the five minutes was almost up to recover his strength.

He came into this arena wanting to fight on equal terms and would not want to win by some cheap tactic.

After some time the noble from stork nodded to him and proceeded in. Elias nodded also followed suit.

He unclipped his sword and entered a stance. It was similar to the second one but his weight was shifted.

He needed to be the aggressor and finish this battle before he became tired.

Elias darted forward as his opponent met him. He brought the sword down in a clashing arc but put no force behind it.

The stork relied too much on traditional fencing. The rapier parried the blade to the side but he used too much force.

The stork was expecting a full attack and not a feint. The rapier was no longer in position to riposte.

With no force behind his initial attack he was able to reverse the grip of his sword and stepped even closer.

Neither combatant has any room to strike the other with their blade without stepping backwards.

Elias drove his hands forward and the pommel of the sword rammed into the stork’s face.

With that final blow round four was complete.

“I now ask all combatants to please leave the arena. Survivors have ten minutes until we open back the arena for round five.

Those who have been defeated please proceed to your designated seating area.”

Elias quickly clipped the sword back to his belt and hastily exited the arena. To his right he saw Commander Zacharias.

“One helluva show you put on kid. Once word gets out the whole noble regime will be looking for you. Still planning on continuing?”

“How many of us are there left?”

“As of right now there are only sixty-four survivors including you. All of them are of noble blood.”

“I think I can take my chances for a few more rounds.” Elias sat waiting for the arena to open back up.

He saw a few other students waiting for the arena to open back up.

Most of the others must have gone out in a different direction.

The doors to the arena slid open. The arena had changed.

Inside it now laid thirty-two different squares.

However, these were much larger than in the previous rounds. Obstacles also littered the squares.

He walked around until he found his number on square seventeen.

He stood alone by the entrance waiting for the round to begin.

“Welcome to round five for the first year battle test. Here stand our final sixty four combatants.

As you have noticed the squares have been randomly modified with obstacles.

After each round everyone on the arena floor will be asked to leave so we can enlarge the squares and add additional obstacles.

And now round Five will finally begin.”

Elias entered the arena and looked around.

It appeared as if the floor had been modified to create different elevations.

Anyone who was careless would find themselves tripping over a bump and defeated.

Elias laughed at the thought, being defeated by an insignificant rock.

He examined his opponent at the opposite end of the field.

Immediately he could tell by the equipment he was a noble form house Isiles.

They were known for their two massive towers. He carried the traditional arms of house Isiles, a tower shield and a spear.

The tower shield was a massive rectangle that rested on the ground. It was a formidable defensive item.

But the most dangerous object was the spear. It had a massive range in which it would be foolish to enter without any means of defense.

Elias hesitated. He could not be defeated here. His mask would surely be removed and insignia discovered if he was defeated.

Panic struck Elias. He felt himself shaking. Had he done the wrong thing? He had to think of something.

His opponent could not move with the massive tower shield and spear. His mobility was also significantly reduced.

There was just no openings he could find. His only option would be to dodge the spear and wrestle it from his grasp.

But, being trained from a battle master at a young age with the very weapons he now carries, wrestling the spear from his grasp could be a challenging task.

If he had a corner or wall the opponent was forced up against he could use that to his advantage.

However the noble form house Isiles stood dead in the center of a flat area of the square.

Elias took off encircling the noble. He encircled him clockwise always running in the direction of his spear arm.

Slowly as he continued to circle the noble he shortened the distance between them.

Once the noble realized he was within range he thrust his spear towards Elias.

The noble mistakenly stepped with his right foot with his thrust that made it impossible for him to swing the massive tower shield around in time.

The clockwise direction also slowed down the time it would have taken the shield to block.

Elias twisted as the spear head went sailing just past his right shoulder.

One step with his right foot and he slashed across the nobles body.

The tower shield ended up crashing into Elias’s back which sent both sprawling forward to the ground.

The battle had already been decided with his hand and a half sword.

The noble angrily stood up and grabbed his spear only to be stopped by the referee.

Elias calmly picked himself up and hastily strode to the exit.

Elias decided it was best to hide during the break in case anyone was waiting for him once he got out.

The nobles were in a furry. An unidentified masked student was raising his weapon against nobles.

It almost seemed like everybody knew he had no noble blood.

Probably, they thought, because he would want to honor his house instead of hiding behind a black clamp.

He sighed and waited a while before entering the arena for round Six.

Sixteen massive squares had dominated the floor of the arena. He looked up towards the stands.

The word had gotten out. The stands above his section were filled.

Even the isles seemed to be overcrowded with people.

What he could only assume to be insults with all the white noise erupted when he walked to his platform.

He entered and marched proudly through the door smirking at those in the stands.

The obstacles this time were more advanced that bumps in the ground.

Massive wooden “trees” seem to be erected out from the floors.

The terrain also had a sharper degree slant in most areas. Bumps turned into hills and rocks became boulders.

His opponent had the insignia of a hawk. He had a kite shield and normal long sword.

The kite shield also contained a hawk oh house Tryn.

“No time like the present” Elias said to himself. He rushed forward using his first stance.

He was greeted by the hawk noble and twisted his body to block the long sword.

He redirected the long sword but did not send it flying. He took a step with his left foot and looped his sword back across.

The hawk twisted and blocked the sword with his kite shield.

The hawk took a step forward with his right foot and launched another overhead attack with his sword.

Elias parried his blade to the left. He let go of the hilt with his right hand and swung the blade around for an overhead attack.

The hawk could not recover his blade in time so he instinctively raised his kite shield in defense.

Elias’s idea worked. The hawk had raised his kite shield too high.

It blocked the hawk’s field of view so he did not know what Elias had planned with his right hand.

Elias grabbed the right side of the kite shield and lifted up and to the left.

The unforeseen action caused the hawk to stumble akwardly since all his weight was braced for an impact.

Elias stabbed through the opening as fast as he could. It was over.

The hawk had been defeated. Elias clipped his blade to his belt and walked as quickly as possible to the exit.

Once he got out of the arena he bolted. It was time for him to finish the test.

He simply could not risk getting caught at this point and ran to the Commanders room.