71 Battle Royale

Perhaps, the most anticipated trials in Royal Dream Higher Academy was the second phase of the Combat School trials. In this phase, it was a show of skill in combat in the extremely vast Royal Arena located in the Combat School.

The Royal Arena was the place where all forms of duels and tournaments were held in the school. In the academy, attacking each other was forbidden. If someone had scores to settle with someone else, they could submit a request for a duel. Once both parties agree that this was what they wanted, and the Academic Council also decided it held merit, then the duel would take place in the Royal Arena in front of the entire academy.

The Royal Arena was so large that it could hold the entire student population of about fifteen thousand students.

The next day after the collection of soul beast cores, the two hundred and thirteen applicants who had qualified for the next phase of the trials were welcomed into the Royal Arena to the thunderous applause of thousands of excited students.

Many of the students had witnessed the clashes between some of the applicants with the soul beasts, or other applicants. In so doing, many of the students had picked those they would be rooting and cheering for.

Some of the applicants were grinning from ear to ear at the special cheers they were receiving. Some were ever serious, as though none of this was worth their time at all. But one thing was common among all the applicants; they were all confident in their combat skills. In the first phase of the trials, the applicants were close to about three thousand. Now, they were only two hundred and thirteen. Clearly, all the weak ones had been disqualified.

Among the applicants, Savyrran was one of the few people who was excitedly waving at students as though they were specifically cheering her on. Ironically, no one had really seen her in the first phase of the trials since any recordings with her in it were diverted only to Master Haniki's screen. As Savyrran waved at all those students, her face beaming with happiness, she suddenly felt the strange sensation of being watched.

For a moment, the smile on Savyrran's face froze. She had never felt anything like this before. As someone who had not manifested her essence, she could not sense other people's soul energy or essence. However, she had her own way of sensing people's presence, usually, by carefully listening to her surrounding or by gauging a person's strength.

This thing she was currently sensing however, was very new to her. It was like pure unadulterated hate, trying to drill through her skin. She knew there were thousands of people looking her and the other applicants now. But she also knew that there was one person looking at her with bad intentions, after all, she could deeply feel it within her.

Savyrran looked around her slowly, looking for whoever was staring at her. Then her eyes locked on a certain someone among the several applicants.

The first thing Savyrran noticed about the person was the deep scowl on his face. He was tall, well-built, and his hair was closely shaved to his scalp. The way the young man was glaring at Savyrran, she almost thought she had offended him in the worst possible. Except that she was absolutely certain she had never met this person. So why was he staring daggers straight into her soul?

But of course, in true Savyrran fashion, she waved cheerfully at the enraged young man earning her an even deeper scowl, the size of hell. Another boy with long corn-rows, with a much more pleasant face, clearly enjoying the staring contest between Savyrran and the furious boy, whispered something into the ears of Savyrran's nemesis.

Then the boy with the corn-rows winked at Savyrran with mischief. With the smirk on his face, it was almost like he knew something that no one else did. But of course, Savyrran did not care about whatever was going on. Instead she smiled widely at both of them.

….…

"Can you see her?" Pan asked for the tenth time since the applicants walked up to the combat grounds.

As usual, Ovandarrak ignored him, not taking his eyes off the combat grounds.

"There are too many of them." Minyet answered.

Of course, Minyet would reply. Ovandarrak thought. First of all, why were these two sitting with him? Since when did they all become one happy family? Clearly, Savyrran had everything to do with it. His sister had a way of bringing people together and then dragging him right along with it.

"Oh… there. There she is." Minyet said, almost shouting. But she did not really make a scene since everyone was already screaming their heads off.

"Where?"

"Over there. Who is she even waving at? Aren't those supposed to be her opponents?"

Ovandarrak resisted the urge to roll his eyes when he heard how the two were talking about Savyrran. Didn't they even know her at all? Unless someone had deliberately picked a fight with her in an attempt to harm her, she did not see that person as an enemy. Ovandarrak knew that as far as Savyrran was concerned, she did not even view any of those applicants as her opponents or potential enemies.

"It looks like she's that confident in her strength." Pan said. "Ovandarrak even thinks she's stronger than him. I mean, clearly he is biased, but okay."

"Well, she survived the first phase, so she must be strong. Did you see all those terrifying soul beasts?"

"Oh, please. They were pathetic. Besides, we did not see Savyrran in any of the recordings. How many times do I have to repeat this? For all we know, she had help or something."

Ovandarrak glared at Pan, his expression becoming even colder than ever.

"What." Pan said with a laugh. "I'm just saying it like it is, dear friend."

"We are not friends." Ovandarrak spoke for the first time since they entered the arena.

"Aw, you wound me, dear friend." Pan pressed his chest as though truly offended by the words, when he really wasn't. Then he added, making sure to put emphasis on the last two words, "Everyone loves me. Including you, dear friend."

Minyet only smiled and shook her head, completely giving up. She had only seen these two boys together for less than a day, and all they did was bicker like enemies. Well, actually, only one of them did the bickering… mostly. The first simply ignored the existence of the other. It was a rather comical affair, to be honest. It was an endless cycle of one person ignoring the other and the other not caring about being ignored and saying the most annoying things, but the first just ignores those annoying things and the second just says more annoying things.

Minyet had learned to deal with this the way Savyrran did. She just ignored Pan whenever he was in his element. That boy had a mouth the size of a country… figuratively. Though literally, it was not too far from the truth. Minyet smiled when she thought about this, stealing glances at Pan's big mouth. But she would never say it out loud. Pan could make a most beloved prince feel like complete trash. She would rather not take that risk.

….…

In the Royal Arena, there was a special section designated for all eleven captains of the academy. Currently, however, only ten captains were seated, some of them impatiently waiting for the trial to begin.

"As usual, her royal highness is not here." Benu scoffed. He knew that was not the official title of the king's niece, yet he would often say that to mock the Lady.

"It's amazing how obsessed you are with her ladyship." Kakami said, emphasizing on 'her ladyship'. She knew how much some of the captains did not really like Lady Ashesi because she was just a second year, and her rise to captaincy was only because she was related to the Haniki side of the Yugaki-Haniki Clan, one of the Sage Clans in Dream Kingdom.

While some of the captains hid their dislike for Ashesi Handini-Yarra, Benu was the only one bold enough to actually expose it. Well, it was mostly because he was related to the Yugaki side of the Yugaki-Haniki Clan.

Most of the captains ignored Benu whenever he went on his endless tirade against Lady Ashesi. Just like the lady, they were both connected to the same Sage Clan, and both their parents were highly important people in the kingdom. Though Ashesi and Benu were the two youngest captains, they were some of the most revered students in the entire academy.

But of course, Kakami Rendo did not care what kind of family connections Benu had. She would not sit back and watch as someone spoke ill of her friend. Lady Ashesi had informed her last night that she would be visiting her uncle this morning. Kakami knew how much the health of the king was important to Lady Ashesi. Yet, the lady had promised her she would return to watch the tournament.

"I'm not obsessed with Ashesi." Benu countered angrily.

"Right."

"What a-"

"Captains," Yanirrak, the President of the student body, intervened calmly. As soon as he spoke, Benu kept quiet, but not before glaring at Kakami with utmost disdain. "Shall we keep our heads. We are in the presence of the entire academy." The charming smile on Yanirrak's beautiful brown face was hard to ignore.

As arrogant as Benu was, he highly respected Yanirrak Gann. This was simply because Yanirrak was the most powerful student in the entire academy. He was currently the number one student in the academy's annual Combat Games and the number three in the entire kingdom. Though Yanirrak did not speak much, his words were savored like everlasting breath whenever he did.

Just as the announcer began to introduce everyone to the second phase of the trials, the door opened, and in walked Lady Ashesi, with a silver cat closely trailing behind her. Not minding the awkward silence around her and how strangely the other captains were looking at her, she took her seat next to Kakami Rendo. Once she did, the silver cat climbed into her lap and then went to sleep.

….….

"Welcome, Royal Dream Higher Academy, to the second phase of the one hundred and fiftieth annual trials of the Combat School." The voice of a woman echoed throughout the arena, and the chants of the students filled the vast room.

"The two hundred and thirteen applicants are already on the combat grounds so we won't waste anymore time. This phase is very simple; remain conscious within the grounds for five minutes. So, to do that, it's going to be a battle royale."

The silence that engulfed the arena was almost tangible. A battle royale? Every year, the contents of the trials changed. As far as the students where concerned, this was the first time they were about to witness a battle royale in the Combat School trials. They had thought it would be more like a one on one fight like it often happened in the yearly Combat Games.

"That's right, Royal Dream. It's a battle royale. After five minutes, those who are left standing in the combat grounds will pass this phase of the trial. As soon as the bell goes off, the battle begins. After five minutes, the bell shall ring again to signify the end of the battle. Once that happens, everyone must stop fighting. Anyone, who so much as punches someone in face after the bell rings will be immediately disqualified."