Showdown: Soaring Above the Rest

The spectators couldn't help but hold their breaths throughout the exchange of blows.

But it couldn't exactly be called an even match. Throughout the fight, it was Abigail who had difficulty breaking through the opponent's defenses.

Meanwhile, Aizen effortlessly dodged and counterattacked in the end without taking the slightest loss or damage from Abigail's attack.

How could a knight bloodline not overwhelm a commoner? An ordinary boy who so far had not used any techniques and only used basic fighting styles.

"This is not possible!" Abigail said while clenching her teeth. She tightened her grip on her Rapier as she glared deathly at Aizen.

Aizen's counterattacks weren't painful or dangerous but just enough to push her away and put some distance between them. She also began to realize that distance was a loss she had to bear in this fight.

A wooden stick had long to its advantage in mid-range combat, while a Rapier would find it difficult to stab its sharp point into opponents if the range was not reduced.

As Aizen said earlier, Abigail's opponent was a spear user.

But, it wouldn't be a descendant of Lenheart if Abigail was moping just because of the difficulty in defeating Aizen. She clawed at the arena floor until all the fingers of her left hand turned red.

Avoiding Aizen's eyes, she bit her lip. Her lips, which had been bitten for a while now, were red as if they were stained with blood.

"Lenheart Path, 64 Steps. Heart Thrusts!"

Abigail got up and stood straight, silent as stagnant water. The veins popped up all over her body, and a gentle breeze swirled through her short hair.

Aizen noticed and could feel the change in Abigail's aura. He couldn't help but prepare to counter the attack.

"Heavenly Thunder Second Movement, Spear Rumble."

Aizen relaxed his stance and stood up straight, facing Abigail with only his right hand holding the wooden stick and its tip resting on the floor ahead. He then released the first and second breaths as Abigail's aura of pressure increased.

Boom!

Suddenly, the floor exploded in Abigail's spot and created a small cloud of dust. Out of nowhere, she was right in front of Aizen at close range and launched her Rapier thrusts in all directions for 64 attacks.

The Rapier's thrusts were fast and deadly, capable of sending the air ripping apart with its movements.

However, Aizen matched the power of the attack with his technique and the wooden stick.

It was thrust against thrust.

So, which one would come out victorious?

Every thrust launched by Abigail always met with a thrust launched by Aizen as well. Thus, the exchange of blows lasted a few seconds longer and made the arena vibrate until it created a thick and tall cloud of dust and smoke, obscuring the audience's view.

And at its climax. The cloud of dust smoke was swept away by the final clash of the Rapier and wooden stick together.

The collision made Abigail gasp, unable to believe what had just happened. Meanwhile, Aizen immediately released his wooden stick, which was starting to break, falling like dust.

Aizen then closed the distance with Abigail, who was still stunned and had a slow reaction in anticipation of his attack with bare hands.

"Sorry if this is impolite."

He quickly ducked to avoid Abigail's slash, which was practically too late to do. He nimbly and robustly hit Abigail's stomach until the descendant of Lenheart choked and spat out of her mouth.

Abigail could only drop her Rapier on the floor and hold her stomach with both hands. She soon fell to her knees, trying to stay conscious, and glared at Aizen with hatred.

"Y-You... this can't be happening!" She finally fell on the floor of the arena and was unconscious. She literally engraved Aizen's face in her final attempt. She didn't want to forget the person who had defeated her. Her self-esteem was too high to be tolerant of defeat.

On the other hand, the audience, again, did not follow the match in real-time. They had a delayed reaction seconds after Abigail's fall.

It was also because the referee was speechless, surprised by the outcome of the match, which developed beyond everyone's expectations.

"The first match of the second round has concluded! The winner is Aizen Barthomelo. The student of Class 3 of the Knight Division!"

This time, the atmosphere and situation were much different from the first match in the first round. Almost all of the spectators, who saw it firsthand, favored Abigail Lenheart, while those who thought Aizen would win could be counted on one hand.

The odds were 27.7 against 1.03!

One could imagine how wealthy some people who gambled and picked Aizen as the winner at such odds.

And because of that, too, there was no applause, and no commotion occurred after Aizen was declared victorious.

Even Kallias, the principal, had an expression of extreme surprise. He knew the Lenheart family. Even though he was a mage at the 7-star Arch Mage level, he respected and acknowledged Iroh Lenheart's strength as a senior or as a knight. Thus, he knew how powerful the Lenheart Path technique of the bloodline was.

Abigail could indeed be said to have not fully mastered the Lenheart Path technique. However, only a few techniques from prestigious knight-blooded families could match that.

Meanwhile, he had never seen the technique that Aizen showed to counterbalance the 64 stabs before.

'Was that a technique that Ainkrad taught that boy? Or it's a technique from a lost lineage of an unknown knight family?'

Meanwhile, several of the knight families, who were sitting in the same room with Kallias, also had solemn faces and stared at Aizen as if they were looking at a talented child that had appeared out of nowhere.

At first, they felt that Aizen was like a veteran who was able to fight in all conditions and situations based on how the boy responded to Abigail's attacks earlier.

However, when the Heavenly Thunder technique was performed, they couldn't be distracted and noticed that Aizen's relaxed aura had changed drastically. At that instant, they had not expected that there was a technique that could counterbalance the 64 consecutive attacks of the Lenheart Path technique.

Whose technique and where it came from, no one knew.

In place of the teachers, the knights' section. Aria, Landon, and Ainkrad had the same surprised faces as Kallias. However, the mildest among the three was Ainkrad himself.

Even though he was surprised, what Aizen showed was nothing new to him. His surprise came from how much Aizen's abilities had improved in just two weeks after their spar. Also, he didn't forget that Aizen's weight was 20 kg.

'Just like Student Torrel used to say, this brat is a monster! His development was no longer at a drastic level but at a monstrous one. I have indeed seen geniuses who learn fast but who thrive like Student Barthomelo don't exist.

'Whoever is the master of this brat is surely lucky to get a golden child.'

Ainkrad then leaned his back against the chair after shifting his body at the result of the match. He raised the corner of his lips, smiled a little, and started to see what Aizen could achieve in this event.

'Now, I don't see Student Barthomelo losing out on this competition festival event. As long as he lets go of the ballast, any student from a prestigious family will be no match for him.'

"Hehe. I'll excuse myself. Looks like my student needs a new weapon for the quarter-finals."

Ainkrad got up from his seat and left the Raven Academy's teachers' section. He didn't care what happened to Aria and Landon. Or intend to calm them while explaining how Aizen could win.

'That's none of my damn business!'

He could get back to Aria for the words of the previous exchange, haughtily declaring her student would be the victor.

Meanwhile, Aria couldn't cover her mouth in shock for a few moments. She couldn't wrap her mind over the match that had just ended in the loss of her protege.

Meanwhile, Landon was already sorting himself out. His impression of Aizen had done a complete 180.

Quick and precise. In addition, having the fighting sense of a veteran knight and unknown techniques rivaling those of the Lenheart family. A prodigy child!

Now, what Kallias said in his long speech may be true. A talented and genius student like the Great General Ren Shunsuijo of the Tucan Kingdom.

It certainly was a very distant thing, but at least Landon's eyes weren't clouded anymore. At the very least, in the knight competition festival event, one that could match Aizen probably didn't exist.

He couldn't help but let out a deep breath. He then rose from his seat, leaving the section like Ainkrad before.

'I need to give input to all my students if they have to deal with that student of Sir Ainkrad. Besides, I need to assuage their arrogance. So as not to belittle that Barthomelo brat in the slightest.'

Landon also needed to remember what Ainkrad was planning to do. He calmly and clearly knew that the next match would not be the same, with Aizen no longer using the wooden stick.

'The true power of a spear user!'