Cecil won his second fight faster than any of the fights that followed. Sending drones he crafted into the city that sought and eliminated his foe within the first thirty seconds. Didn’t break a sweat.

The students that watched saw the tactics as cowardly and cheap. The merchants and more experienced experts saw that as a useful weapon to have for protection or during a war.

Having gotten out unscathed Cecil was watching this fight with rapt attention. He had heard that Damian was strong and knew that Kyrion wasn’t the type to exaggerate things like this. The young man suspected that there may not be another fight in this block of the tournament.

“Next up we have Damian from the Flowing river academy going up against Ander from Drisil. Sword against spear! What will prevail!”

Ander stood in front of Damian, with a wild smirk on his face as he seemed excited.

Damian held a stoic expression on his face as he held only one sword in his right hand.

“I’ve always wanted a chance to fight you. As you turned down Brion’s offer, we never got a chance to spar seriously.” Ander stuck his spear in the ground and let go of it.

“Do you think you can beat me without using your weapon?” Damian asked.

“I’m only mimicking you. If you turn up the heat then I will as well.” Ander got into a sprinter's stance his body low to the ground like a crouching tiger.

“Fair enough. But this is only the second round. I’d rather not reveal my secrets early.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Ready? Begin!” Meh Thod bellowed, and the duo were sent to the city.

Ander stood in the center of the town. His spear was planted at his side. His face held a disturbing smirk as he yelled.

“I’m right here Damian! Come and get me!”

Damian arrived soon after not even attempting to hide his presence. “Are you ready?”

“Can’t be any more ready.”

“Good. Then I’ll start.” Damian tossed his sword upwards as he charged forward and engaged the green-haired boy.

Ander moved forward and the two met halfway.

Damian started with a jab toward Ander's chin.

Ander rotated his body to the side and moved to grab Damian’s arm using the taller young man's momentum to throw him.

Unfortunately for Ander Damian seemed to flow just out of his reach. The young swordsman then retreated another ten feet. His sword landed back in his right hand.

“Interesting rhythm you have. Are you done playing around?”

Damian scowled. “Depends, can you really fight me unarmed?”

Ander smirked. “That's for me to know and you to lose.”

“Fine then. Come!” Damian took a defensive stance.

Ander reentered melee range and let loose a series of palm strikes and jabs, increasing his speed after each miss, gauging his opponent's reaction. After a few hits, Ander had a gauge on his speed and natural prowess. He got the feeling that his opponent could go faster.

Damian dodged a strike aimed at his shoulder and swung his sword toward Ander’s throat.

The blade connected but it didn’t even cut. It was as though the blade had been stopped by an invisible barrier on his skin.

Ander used the surprise to hit Damian in his solar plexus, cracking the bone but not breaking it.

Damian had been sent flying into a house crashing through the wall.

Ander walked back to his spear and took up his position .”Is that all you’ve got?”

Damian walked out of the rubble. “You hit like a carriage… And my sword can’t cut you. Are you an expert?”

“Not yet. But I have been eating my vegetables and drinking juice.” Ander said.

“Is that why you haven’t gotten any taller?” Damian tried to get under his opponent's skin.

Ander snapped. Taking his spear out of the ground he began to laugh. It was not a healthy laugh. “I’m going to turn you into charcoal!”

Ander’s body crackled with lightning as he seemed to move forward. He hadn’t activated his full manifestation. But he was resonating with his spirit, which was a stage of understanding he had struggled with prior.

“Forte. Allegro.” Damian covered his body with a yellow aura and dashed forward.

The two met halfway for a second time, their movements too fast for many of the practitioners and below watching from the crowd.

A sweep from Ander aimed for Damian's head was ducked.

A slash from Damian was dodged by a hair, as Ander thrust his spear forward. The two seemed to slow for a second before the clash of weapons continued. The sight finally became visible in the viewing window, and the two continued to become blurs of motion.

Damian changed his rhythm and used the gap he created to land a kick into Ander, sending him through a building.

Ander blasted out of debris, floating slightly above the ground.

“You're heavier than you look. Much heavier than you should be.”

Ander sighed. “You caught on quick. Are you done holding back?”

“I really hate that we met this early on. You're strong, sadly for you I intend to win this tournament. Even if that means playing with an open hand.”

“Ugg…Win or lose we’ll have words after this. Because I’m about to go all out.” Black lines appeared on Ander’s skin, his spirit started to manifest on its own.

Damian clicked his tongue as a second sword appeared in his hands, and the glow around him got even brighter.

“Adagio. Piano. Lord’s Aria.” Damian had begun humming soon after.

“Are you singing?” Ander seemed surprised.

Damian didn’t respond as he seemed to be singing softly.

“What language is that?” Ander jumped upward and back into the air, instinctually trying to evade.

Damian’s song seemed to be in a language Ander hadn’t been able to understand, those outside hadn’t been able to hear the words due to the quiet tone and weak sound sensors.

Ander let the metal head of his spear fall as a blade of lightning took its place.

Flashes of yellow and lightning were all that could be seen by those under expert. Their speed at a level far outstripping what many could accomplish.

Minah, who had trained her vision to account for high speeds, began to worry as the fight in front of her proved that speed had an upper limit to train. She was far behind than she knew, and it was concerning.

Cecil produced a visor that he placed over his eyes. Pressing a button and relaxing.

A lightning bolt shot toward Damian and missed, flying into the clouds.

Ander jumped backward, avoiding a cross-shaped blast caused by two sword strikes.

“Can you go faster?” Ander asked.

“Fortissimo! Allegrissimo!” Damian had stopped singing, but his blades began to carry the tune. Increasing in volume and tempo gradually.

Ander was hit by a ranged slash that sent him flying through three buildings.

“Release!” Ander’s weights fell off his body, hitting the ground with a solid thud. He began to float naturally now that he was released from his encumbrance.

Ander then triggered the lightning he shot into the sky, and a series of lightning bolts came crashing down on Damian’s location.

“Damian danced, pranced, and dodged through the bolts that came down as he ran towards Ander in fervor until he found himself trapped in a rotating cage made from lightning.

“Lightning Prison!” Ander yelled from above, the spell solidifying as its name was spoken.

Damian looked up and sighed. “Wings of the ancient ones.”

Yellow feathery wings shot out of Damian’s ankles as though they were hidden. They were then followed by flapping as Damian flew upwards rather slowly.

“You can fly?”

“Not for long but it should be sufficient to end this fight.” Damian flew forward, becoming a blur as he tried to escape the prison of electricity. Every series of strikes caused him to recoil as his body was sent back a few feet.

“This is where you should surrender. You are but a bird trapped in a cage.” Ander said from above.

Damian looked at the cage and then back at Ander. “Are you at your strongest?”

“I can’t guarantee that I can control my power past this level. I'd hate to fry your brain.” Ander stated honestly.

“Good. Because If you still had tested limits then I’d be worried about not standing a chance.” Damian replied.

“Talk with your fist.” Ander raised his spear, and lightning gathered above the area.

“Gigas Bolt!” Ander summoned a large lightning bolt holding nearly all of his remaining mana and dropped it on Damian, who was trapped in the lightning prison.

“Severe!” Damian sheathed and unsheathed his swords so quickly that it was hard for Ander to trace their path. The bolt was split in half by a sword made from mana, causing the green-haired young man to fall from the sky as though the wind was knocked out of him.

Ander tried to float but found he couldn’t call forth the mana anymore. That attack should have ended the fight. He never knew of anyone capable of cutting through lightning. Still, that's what he got from using so much mana recklessly. No, this was a minor spirit break, and he was experiencing feedback.

“That is…Uggg!” Ander had landed on his knees and seemingly struggled to get up.

Damian walked in front of Ander slowly and carefully. He brought both blades to his opponent's neck.

“You're strong. Had I known you could split lightning then this would have been a much longer fight.”

“Do you admit defeat?” Damian asked.

“Heh… You’d like that wouldn't you.” Ander smirked

Damian brought the blades back to deliver the finishing blow and then brought them close.

“Repel.” Ander whispered.

A magnetic force knocked Damian’s swords out of his hands.

Ander leaned forward quickly and landed a palm strike on Damian's chest breaking his sternum. The powerful blow sent the swordsman flying into another building, his body facing Ander.

“How can you still?” Damian held his chest wheezing as his breath was slowing.

The attack hadn’t been lethal enough to get Ander a win. So he pointed at his downed opponent, unable to move his body further to deliver a finishing blow as the mana coursing through him took its toll. “You better win this tournament. I don’t lose… to losers.”

Ander looked down and noticed his stripes fading. His consciousness quickly followed as he pushed his body further than he should, without a healer, which triggered the wards.

“And the winner of this battle goes to Damian!”

The crowd cheered as Damian was escorted to the healers immediately, along with his opponent.

Cecil scowled. “I’ll have to use my suit in this tournament. Not good.”

“Do you think you can beat him?” The headmaster asked.

“No. I have the training but lack true combat experience with my suit. Killing monsters doesn’t make me better at fighting people. I’ll need to train with the others.”

“It's a little late to be training now.”

“I can analyze his abilities and will do so after my match with Tiffany. From there I will form a strategy for taking him out quickly.”

“Do you think you can beat Tiffany?”

“She isn’t fit to fight right now. Tiffany also has a mind for strategy. She should understand the necessity of surrendering before the fight begins. Better to keep her strength hidden and heal up.”

“I’m not so sure she’d submit so easily.”

“We’ll see.”

“Cecil, at least make it quick. Just in case.”

“I’ll… Take that into consideration. I am going to prepare, see you when my turn comes up.

Cecil left as a blond prince started getting mauled by a three-headed dog.

Kyrion had gone to leave his cave when he saw that the entrance had been covered by a thick layer of ice. As he reached out to melt it he found that he couldn’t do so.

“What kind of ice is this?” His water affinity is not connecting with it at all.

Kyrion had been ready to use fire to melt the barrier when Karl chimed in. “There is a high methane concentration down here. One spark and you could cause an explosion followed by a cave in.”

“I hate it here.” Kyrion kicked a pebble as he entered the dungeon.

Karl turned out to be very religious. The first area of the dungeon transported the visitor to a large white cathedral-like place. A painting a of brown-haired man with his hands prepped for grace seemed to be popular. Along with painting that there were white statues that resembled winged humanoids of various stages of life.

Kyrion scratched his chin.

Karl appeared in a humanoid form wearing a black cassock. Their face was made from diamond, their right eye was ruby, and their left eye was a silver opal. Kyrion figured that it wasn’t a mask but seeing it like this confirmed it.

“Why do you look like this?”

“Do you have something against elementals?”

“No. No. No. Just don’t know what you're wearing.”

“I believe it's what all the priests from Cecil’s world wear.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you want me to unlock those memories?”

“Yes. What does it have to do with the situation?”

“Listen. I sit in the wooden box on one end while you sit in another. You're supposed to start talking, and I listen. Something about confessing sins and such.”

“But I don’t sin. I don’t even know what that means.”

“I don’t either. I think it has a lot to do with speakeasies and machine guns.”

“I only understood one of those words…”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“You know. That just makes me worry even more.”

“Kyrion, save it for the box.”

Kyrion squinted. “This is highly suspect. You better not try to get me in a compromised state before asking me embarrassing questions.”

“I won’t ask you anything. Are you listening?”

“No. I’m speaking.” Kyrion gave Karl an impish grin.

Karl entered their end of the booth, while Kyrion entered the other.