Chapter 5 - Saints Academy [3]

The class started, and the teacher read the contents of the book and carefully explained every one of them. The book contained spells and magic of different kinds, gathered from all over the continent. It was basically a grimoire.

The Grimoire was a book given to the teachers of the academy, and it was the result of three empires sharing their knowledge about Aeven, Magia, and even Aura's. The books are only found in the academy, and bringing these books outside is strictly forbidden.

There were six volumes of these books. Volume one teaches about knowledge in the 1st stage of heaven, volume two in the 2nd stage, and so on.

The teacher finished her lesson, but Sian didn't pay any attention to it for now. He was still in the first stage of heaven, so information from the 3rd stage was useless to him for now. The whole class then moved to another location, the training ground, and along with them, students and teachers from other classes also appeared.

'Is the next subject an interclass one?' Sian wondered, and his guess was proven true after a teacher spoke and announced something to all the people in the area.

"Listen up everyone! As announced to you a month ago. Today you will be competing against students from other classes to choose who will be the final 10 representatives for the upcoming Three Empires Tournament in a month. So from a line, grab a number in these boxes."

The plain-looking teacher from before was the one who spoke up, and behind her stood six other instructors, each holding a box in their hands.

"I will now be explaining the rules, so listen carefully because I will not repeat it twice. First, each student will grab a number in the box from 1 to 10. Second, you will be fighting against people with the same number as yours from other classes. Third, Class A and B will fight first, then C and D, and lastly Class E and F."

"Lastly, and the most important rule of all, killing is strictly forbidden unless you can handle the consequences or kill your opponent before the instructors can react. But I warn you, as there have been many incidents where students have tried to kill each other in front of our eyes. We are not weak."

She explained the rules in simple terms, but in her last sentence, she released a bit of her aura and spoke in a threatening voice that sent chills up the students' spines.

Then the ten students from each class lined up to pick their numbers. Each class already picked out who would be competing, so the rest remained as spectators. The line wasn't long, so Sian waited a relatively short time before it was Catherina's turn to pick.

She picked out the lucky number 7 and returned to her class. They waited until the teachers finished preparing the rectangular arena and the spectators were seated in the stands.

Some became excited to watch a great fight between the top ranks in the 4th Heaven stage, and some waited in anticipation for their chance to show their prowess in this competition.

The fight started between classes A and B. The first to come up to the stage was a handsome blond-haired man who emitted a noble and dignified aura. And it seemed he was quite popular, as some of the girls started screaming his name as soon as he appeared.

Following after him, a man in a black hooded robe from class B entered the stage. No matter how you looked at him, whether it was his appearance or the dark aura he emitted, you could clearly tell he was a dark magician.

Then the fight started as they took their stances. And it ended as soon as it started. The handsome man moved first and instantly arrived in front of the hooded man with his sword swinging at the man's neck.

"I surrender!"

The hooded man shouted, announcing his defeat, and the handsome man skillfully moved his sword to swing in another direction. The sound of his sword resounded in the arena, and soon the silence was followed by defiant cheers from the crowd.

"As expected of someone belonging to the top ranks!"

"Senior Ethan, you're the best! Kyaaaa!

Most of the cheers came from the girls, and it made some of the boys in the academy somewhat jealous. Especially those who saw their crush cheering on him. It was really tragic, but it didn't matter.

So moving on, Ethan left the stage, but before he took his leave, he turned to look at a certain girl in class C. No, he was looking at the man beside her. He was looking at Sian, who was standing next to Catherina, with a somewhat resentful gaze.

Sian noticed his gaze and gave him a playful smirk. The man turned his head away. He was surprised as to how he was able to notice his gaze from afar, but what surprised him more was the way Sian was blatantly provoking him.

The rest of the fight was not worth mentioning. The main fights were still far away, as the top ranks, including Catherina, were just fighting some small fries. The fight against them was pretty boring, as almost all of it ended in an instant.

But what piqued Sian's interest in the fights was how they were using some sort of ability. An ability of their own, with each of them having unique powers. The first one Sian saw use this ability was the blond-haired man.

He was using some sort of short-distance teleportation to instantly arrive at his opponent, not giving them anytime to react, thus finishing the fight in an instant.

'I should ask Catherina about this later. The next fight seems to be Catherina fighting against another top-ranked fighter.'

The fight between Catherina and the other top ranker was one of the most anticipated fights between classes C and D. Her opponent was a man wielding two short swords. He was known for his speed and skill in assassination. He was really a bad match for Catherina, who was a mage.

Well, that would be true for normal mages, but Catherina was a genius and a top ranker at that, so even fighting her in close combat was difficult. Mages like her prepare a trump card or spells that they can use to protect themselves in situations where they are forced to fight in close combat.

The two entered the stage, but both of them remained still as if waiting for their opponents to make the first move. Catherina attacked first, chanting an ice-type magic spell at her opponent.

"Niflheim!"

It was a one-word spell, but it had an overwhelming effect on the surroundings. The spell caused the whole floor of the stage to freeze and the surrounding air to chill. The whole stage became somewhat like a domain of her own, where everything was to her advantage.

If a normal person came into contact with this spell, they would simply freeze and turn to ice.The man in front of her, on the other hand, was able to move, albeit at a slower pace.

Catherina summoned a swarm of ice spears behind her and hurled them at the man. The spears transformed into blue light streaks and shot at the man at breakneck speed. The man's reaction time slowed considerably due to the cold, but he was able to twist his body to dodge the incoming spears.

Catherina was using her long range to her advantage, giving her the upper hand in the fight. Due to her large-scale spell, the man couldn't even move properly, let alone dodge all of her assaults.

As a result, after exhausting himself only by dodging the ice spears, the man conceded defeat in a matter of minutes.

This was the only fight that occurred between top-ranked fighters, so the spectators didn't get to see other top-ranked fighters fight each other. Still, they were already satisfied when they witnessed the fight between Catherina and another top-ranked fighter.

She overwhelmed her opponent even though they were both top rankers, and this made the other students realize that even among top rankers there is a large difference in strength. Sian watched all of this with a satisfied smile.

He was happy about two things. The first was that Catherina won and was able to be selected as the representative for the empire. Though he already expected that. The second was that he found something interesting about the abilities the students were using.

"Congratulations on being selected as one of the representatives of the empire, Lady Catherina." He congratulated her with a proud smile as soon as he saw her come back from the stage.

"Thank you, Sian. But that was only the start; the ones I defeated can be considered just small fry compared to the opponents I will be facing in the main tournament."

"Will you also be fighting against the four from before?"

"Yes, and they will be one of the most difficult opponents I will have to face during the tournament. Especially the silver-haired girl you saw before."

"Is the silver-haired girl you're talking about strong?"

"Yes. She is strong, very strong, even in the world rankings, she ranks in the top 50. She might even be the strongest one competing in the academy."

Catherina informed Sian of the silver-haired Suyan's power. He hadn't expected her to be that strong. But that didn't really matter to him. He wanted Catherina to win the event, so he decided to help her increase strength. Secretly, of course.

"Still, Lady Catherina, I believe you will win, and I will continue to believe so until the end." He clasped her hand with both of his and spoke while looking at her with sincere eyes and a warm smile.

"T-Thank you..." Catherina averted her head, unable to bear his piercing gaze, which caused her cheeks to flush slightly as she quietly thanked him.

Unbeknownst to her, she was unconsciously falling for Sian, and the same was happening with the inexperienced god.