15 Chapter 15

Connect. Click.

Knees clicked after the strenuous exercise. Their calves were throbbing and painfully pulsating. Their ankles were no better and their breathing was labored. Chests were greedily sucking in the air. They fell on their butts, no buts about it. Crazy. That was what they were thinking.

The air trembled as the sound of impact drummed into Daniel's ears. Impact. No, clapping. Using his remaining strength, he turned his gaze towards the sound. The movement of bony wrists and the appearance of an elderly woman greeted him. Staunch back, strong and defined features, wrinkled with age. Grey hair loosely hangs, the air of authority thinly present. A woman not to be messed with.

"Well done. You ten managed to pass -," The elder said. Happily. Sure that was it. Wait . . . Ten? Surely there were more. He thought in disbelief. Daniel turned his head toward Charles, whose face had already registered the severity of the situation.

"- Now there will be a forty-five minutes break before there is any more. Ah! You all will be fighting each other so prepare." She continued and summarized. Letting out a sigh, the seven students hugged their ground, all remaining energy was sucked, leaving them dry.

"Bloody hell! I'm not going to do this, I paid 100 gold coins for this crap. Yet I'm just going to get kicked out. Hell no! Lady, you better take a hike, I passed the academy test just like they demanded, didn't I?" A livid voice with the hint of malice sounded as soft vibrations hit the ground.

"Yes, you did pass the academy's test. But tell me, which test did you pass." The woman replied ignoring the accusatory tone in the teen's voice. It was not a question.

But the boy answered it anyway. "The application test," The boy replied defiantly.

"Correct -," She was quickly interrupted by the boy in a panicked and furious tone.

"Then why -.".Tit for tat is a fair game, isn't it?

"Hasn't anyone taught you the necessary etiquette? Ladies first and respect your elders. Foolish boy, you did pass the application test but did you pass the class one acceptance test? No, then shut up and go back home." The woman surprisingly brought his luggage as it was floating in the air, which was shrugged on to the rabid boy. Anger? No, dangerous like a rabid magical beast. Akin to a phantom, a phoenix cry was released before, the boy's body vanished.

But under Daniel's vision, it was easily discernable. Using his ultimate spell, Phoenix shower and Phoenix Wire charging at a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye. The boy was fuming which was helping the heaping mass of fire to mass-produce.

Slow. Was the woman's thought. Such were the thoughts going through the elder's mind. Flicking her wrist upwards, the supersonic boy was blasted to a nearby wall that was ten meters away. It was just by her mercy he survived. The entire wall had almost come apart due to the force.

The boy after the simple action, regained his vision as it was hazy. He thanked his lucky stars as he knew at the speed he was thrust backward he would have died. Quickly checking his body, his internal organs were safe only some minor bruises and no ruptured blood vessels. Looking at the elderly woman in a new light, he got up and paid his respects to her.

All stemming thoughts of rebellion were quelled. Silence. A little fear and much reverence appeared on the students' faces. The rejected students shouldered their luggage and scrambled out of the academy's gates. Forever. Inwardly Daniel was listening keenly to the dragon's comment on the elder. Intriguing was the word the dragon used.

"She has reached the Domain stage. No wonder she can manipulate her surroundings to such an extent. Be careful around her. Intriguing that the human has been able to reach that stage."

Moving like a mum puppet, they went to bath and change into cleaner clothes. Daniel and Charles went back to their dorm but instead of taking a warm bath, they decided to take a cold shower with plenty of soapy lather.

Cursing at the chilling water that ran down his body, Charles moved his arms wiping away at his backsides' scars. Long, linear, and 3inch deep marks marred his entire back. Occasionally, he touched them recollecting his past.

"Yo, are we going to enjoy the shower so long? Any girls to see?" Daniel's voice sounded. Calm. Mischievous.

"No girls in sight, Captain Daniel. What are we going to do about the PVP matches?" his mood shifting to a more pleasant one, he inquired.

"What people normally do," Daniel answered sarcastically "Let's defeat all those people than when we arrive at the quarter-finals we see."

Soon after some small talk, they walked out heading towards the Soul Dueling grounds which was nearby. Hard, white tiles were neatly laid out and the outer rim was a dark grey mass of stone. The roof's design was littered with glass and metal intersecting at numerous points forming a dome shape. Shielding from the rain but allowing in sunlight thus protected from the harsh weather. The gates were made with gold and manatite ore. The gates opened upon sensing the weight of the students.

Entering the grounds through the large rectangle gates, they saw some of the students and even some of the teachers. Or at least it looked like that. Some were flexing their muscles and chatting amongst themselves. Tension seeped into the room as the time of reprieve was cleanly cut short.

*Seeping like a deadly poison into the human circulatory system*. That was it. Caution quickly came into their minds, drawing them apart and they internally made strategies. What strategies Daniel couldn't guess. But he knew such faces. Only three or four of them were keeping a calm facade to combat this. Expressionless.

"So you've all arrived. On-time, also. Alright let's begin; Bruce Kane versus Helen Casey."

So that was her name. Helen. He took note of the name. His instincts were screaming danger. Alarm bells were ringing listlessly. His intuition had never been wrong before as he had escaped with his life on numerous deadly occasions. He decided to place his trust in them.

The elder had spoken after the students had arrived and settled. The two contestants confidently walked forward. Helen with her confident and steady gait compared to Bruce's arrogant and eccentric step, to the class was more inquisitive of Helen.

Perhaps Helen would be the underdog of this match. Against the all-powerful hero, the charming girl was akin to an ant. Bruce assumed the air of an experienced mage and martial fighter. He was prideful and comfortable in his skin, and confident in his prowess.

Seeing this Daniel and Charles held an appraising eye on Bruce and smiled. Of course, Bruce was radiating a profound aura that was sending small alarm bells that were not ignored by the duo. The reason for their smile was simply the difference in strength. If one was compared with the other, one would immediately fall without fail. Such was the difference was duly noted by the duo

"Place a distance of one hundred meters and face your opponent."

3. 2. 1.

The match began as the two contestants entered into a battle stance, each was inquiring, probing keenly, and accurately revealing no weakness. No terrain to take advantage of. Only their power, skills, and battle experience would be tested. This was the academy's difficult regime.

Silence.

Immobility.

Analyze.

The first to move was Bruce who unleashed his soul attribute. Black-brown tints covered his skin and one long spiraling horn etched itself on his upper forehead. It was the soul attribute, Black Earth Bull. Famous for its unparalleled strength and tough hide, it boasted an impressive overall. Simply a wave from the mage would toss one into the air. Such was the ample strength available in the broad-chested youth.

Helen also followed suit and unleashed her element. Sizzling crimson flames instantly heightened the cool room temperature to one of a sun-soaked beach. It was indeed substantial even though the audience had been sheltered from the heat. The audience gave a round of applause and roared in excitement. The match would be worth the price.

Daniel was the most affected as he was extremely fined tuned to the temperature. Interesting. Fortunately, he didn't need to do anything like this level of heat didn't demand this. Ouch. He felt sorry for Bruce to contend with such an opponent. Just the expression...

Helen's face lit up as the temperature quickly caused both the contestants to perspire like never before. Battle lust. Joy. Mana circuits appeared at her feet and she dashed forward.

Daniel was currently using his Golden Demon Eyes to view the battle. Each expression, muscle movement, and breathing never escaped his vision. Learning, absorbing, retaining. His retinas washed a hint of black as they began to burn. Stinging pain ruthlessly attacked his eyes and forcefully he deactivated his skill. Blood capillaries were easily visible and instinctively he rubbed his eyes gently.

Whilst this attack claimed his attention, Helen had dashed forward, deciding to meet her opponent head-on. This was crazy, absolutely, and crazy. How can a small the size of half a door fight against a two-meter humanoid bull? Ridiculous. The majority of the audience's thoughts ran along such lines.

But something escaped them. Where she had formally stood, some weak fault lines had developed. To be able to damage the floor that was made for such events was not normal. The floor had been made to withstand a tier 2 spell.

All his attention was focused on Helen as she dashed forward prepared to pit force against force. After the momentary sting, he decided to watch it from a normal viewpoint. Thus he was one of the few who noticed the weak abrasions on the floor. He was shocked as even he wasn't able to damage the floor with his strength.

In an instant she crossed 25 meters with ease and raising her fist, she struck. Bruce - currently in his pseudo bull transformation - let loose a punch, the air twisted as his strength surged out meeting Helen's little fist. The audience gasped at this sight, waiting for the defeat of contestant Helen. They shook their heads at the spectacle murmuring to themselves.

"She is crazy. Trying to fight a two-meter bull with a body the size of a pin. Lord have mercy."

"She'll break her arm, no doubt about it. Such a pity it's only the first match."

"So sad that young talent will be broken. Hopefully, she can take the loss positively."

All they were talking about was a death sentence. Sacrificial lamb. Daniel - curiously had activated his Golden Demon Eyes - gazed at the girl's fist and was aghast. Such a powerful attack!

The first carried a total weight of... 340 kilograms. Enough to blow him to the other side of the room. His current strength allowed him to put out 264 kilograms at maximum strength. Anyway, he wasn't able to match her strength. Maybe her speed, perhaps. It was simply her first attack and she could afford to muster 340kg of force. Certainly, it was feasible that she still had more coming.

Her explosive acceleration had shocked him into awe. To be able to reach such a high acceleration at the startup was certainly impressive. Her strength was well dispersed with both the impact of gravity and internal muscle contraction and expansion.

Tragically Bruce's fist crashed against his competitors' and was halted. Its trajectory was changed to a side giving her time to attack his main body. He hadn't expected her to do this and found himself currently tossed into the air.

The audiences' eyes rolled out of their sockets and their jaws instantly let in flies. Such was the extent of the ridiculous situation. She had tossed the giant into the air. Unbelievable. Yet it was happening as they gaped. Daniel and Charles simply let the spectacle excite them. The elder also let a smile grace her lips as she watched the event.