School Tournament

After Shina's classes were done for the day, she together with Roxanne, Heles and Sindra heads to the training ground. They were all engrossed in their conversation till they arrived. As they entered, Shina's eyes fell on Fena, who had her back to her.

"Hey Fena"

Shina waves at her.

Fena, who was focused on what she was trying to create lost focus at that moment causing an explosion which sent her crashing close to where the girl stood. Shina and a few others rushed to her.

"Are you okay?"

Fena's head was bleeding, her arm was swollen, and blood ran through her mouth. She cleans the blood and glares at Shina.

"What's your deal?"

"I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to…"

She tries to help Fena up but gets her hand brushed away as Fena stands up with an anguished look on her face.

"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"I didn't…"

Before she gets the chance to talk, Fena leaves the building.

"What's her problem?"

Roxanna voiced out her anger as she watched her leave.

"It looked like she was practicing something delicate, and Shina ruined it."

Heles adds on.

"Yeah, but she apologised."

They continue bickering for a while till Sindra interrupts.

"I followed you here out of curiosity, but Shina aren't you training too much these days?"

The other two stop and nod.

Shina looks at her fist and smiles.

"Of course, I'm training hard. The inter-class tournament is just around the corner. I'm pumped up for it and besides, this is a good way to get higher ranks."

Sindra sighs.

"Just take it easy. It'd be awful if you get disqualified because you overworked yourself."

"Sure thing Mom."

"But before we start, I want to hear your thoughts on evolution."

"Evolution of abilities?" (Heles)

"Yeah" (Shina)

*Sighs* "Is that what you're striving for?" (Roxanna)

"Yes"

Sindra puts a hand on her right shoulder.

"Don't rush yourself. Most demons here only get an evolution many many years after graduation. Even among the talented ones, only two had their abilities evolved in their first year and only one prior. Evolving takes a lot of time and effort so why force it now? Focus on the small things first, Shina."

"I understand that but aren't you seeing this the wrong way? If two demons can do it, then what's stopping me."

Heles puts a hand on her left shoulder.

"That would be talent. This is by no means trying to undermine your sheer talent. You are one of the most talented demons I know of but even that pales in comparison to what the likes of you know who and the 'imperial' council president, Boa. Those two achieved feats even the demon lord couldn't achieve at their ages. To evolve your ego or talent, you must push them to the absolute limit and break that limit. That is not something you should be focused on now. It's even rare to see platinum ranks who evolve during their stay in the academy. So, focus on becoming a platinum before achieving the feats of the rare few."

Shina looks down as she ponders on what Heles said.

"Cheer up. Let's leave all these talks and focus on training. Isn't that why we came here." (Roxanna)

They all nod and begin their training.

Three weeks later,

Everyone had been on their toes and now only a week remains till the inter-academy tournament begins.

Miss Suki enters the class in a sea-blue suit with some documents in her hand. As she enters, everyone gets to their seats and remains quiet. She stands in front of the podium and neatly arranges the documents.

"I can see that you all are duly prepared for the competition. Same as last week, there will only be combat classes."

She pauses for a few seconds and observes the class.

"So, I'll be explaining the rules of the tournament."

She points to the screen.

"The first part of it is the battle royale. There will be a total of seven battle royales. Each year excluding the fourth year will have two of them, one for the top half of the gold rank and those above and another for the other half and those below. The last eight students standing will move to the next round. For the fourth years, only one battle royale is held and the last sixteen standing advance. The next stage is the knockout stage, where you will fight opponents chosen at random. The demon that goes undefeated will be declared the winner and duly awarded. As I mentioned before, there will be randomly selected matches done after the end of each day's events. For those of you who selected demons you would like to take on outside the tournament, just hope you are chosen and don't disappoint. To prevent any disruptions, the security will be very strict and instructors like me will be busy. Let's hope for a fruitful event."

She picks up her documents and leaves.

The atmosphere becomes rowdy as demons join their groups and head to Combat Arena I while a few others go to different training grounds.

Arcon, who was with Gare and Ian, now found himself standing beside a mountain of corpses. Any normal demon would be freaked about this but not him. This wasn't the first time she pulled something like this. He stared at the culprit who was standing beside the mountain.

Though he was used to this, the overwhelming pressure that she was unconsciously giving off and the corpse all around them made it hard for him to look her in the eye.

"Is there a problem, Crystal?"

He finally managed to spit out.

"For the upcoming event, if you lose to anyone aside from me. You die."

He looks at her in disbelief. He wanted to refute her, but he knew it would only make matters worse. He knew that she meant what she said despite, how unreasonable it was but all he could do now was train and hope for the best. Without saying anything, he nods and finds himself back in the academy. He could see the "grim reaper's scythe" already hanging around his neck as he walked towards the training room. He couldn't help but curse at her and his shitty luck.

A week of training passed and now the day had finally arrived.

The gate was opened early, letting in the multitudes of demons. Parents, battle fanatics, adventurers, scouts, and many more from all around the continent swarm in to watch the 'Majin Fight Festival' as it is popularly called. The atmosphere of the academy was festive. There are food, game and merch stalls just beginning to open all around the path leading to the 'Centuary Arena' (the biggest arena in the academy, which is used for special occasions like this. It has a maximum capacity of 250,000). There are two or more instructors placed around every building and various small eyeball creatures with wings constantly scanning the surroundings for any abnormalities. There are also students under the 'imperial council' patrolling the major checkpoints as designated by Boa.

The schedule for the next twenty days was already broadcasted, and it began with:

Battle Royale for:

First-year rank Gold and below

First-year rank Gold and above

Second-year rank Silver

Third-year rank Silver

Special Match I

Special Match II

All the spectators had taken their seats, and the arena was filled up. All preparations were set, and the first match would begin in an hour.

All first-year students in the normal class and the latter half of the gold rank are all occupying the two changing rooms as they prepare for their fight which would soon commence. They are all wearing combat uniforms with extra gears of their choosing. Some are doing their last bit of preparations, others talking and the rest anxiously trembling in the corner.

Arcon is sitting on a bench, close to his locker, pondering on the words of Crystal until he hears a voice calling him. He looks up to see Ian wearing the combat suit with his gauntlets and a chest plate.

"What's bothering you?"

Ian tilts his head while maintaining eye contact with him.

"Just thinking of the battle royale."

Ian smiles and sits beside him.

"Don't think too deeply about it. Just get in there and kick some ass. It is going to be fun."

"That's one way of seeing things."

"Besides, this is the only time we can make contact with our relatives in the academy. I sure can't wait." (Ian)

"That's one thing we both can agree on."

They both laughed and talked together until it was time for them to head out.

….

A woman with long wavy white hair and deep amber eyes stands at the centre of the arena amidst the cheers of the spectators. She is Akina, a popular diva demon and the host for this event.

"Good day demons and demoness. I would like to thank you all for coming to this year's Majin Fighting Festival. There will be unexpected turnouts this year and fights to keep you on the edge of your seats. Due to an unfortunate incident, we were not able to hold the Majin Annual Contest and we are very sorry for that. We have made various countermeasures to ensure that never happens again. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this thriller ride with me."

The audience cheers loudly. Her voice was able to reach those at the highest seats despite not using any device because of [Voice Amplification].

"Before we kick off this tournament, I would like us all to acknowledge the special guests who came here today despite their busy schedules."

She points at the VIP section, which is at the top of the arena and just above the student's entrance to the fighting grounds, and everyone looks towards the individuals elegantly watching from above.

"The Supreme General of Lust, Lilith Asmodeus". A tall woman with 5-inch black horns, dazzling pink hair, blood red eyes, an enticing figure brimming with mature beauty, clad in regal clothing, and holding a feathered hand fan stands up and waves with a seductive smile capable of captivating anyone's heart. The cheering gets louder.

"Army General, Laie Archian". A huge man with deep brown hair and pupils, clad in silver armour, stands up with a fierce look on his face.

"Arkham Scholar, Angola Bloodhound." A woman with short peach hair and bright pink eyes donning a white garb with gold embroidery stands up and curtsies with a smile.

"The Emissary of Shadows, Niola Del Monre." A tall woman with a 6-inch horn on her forehead, waist-long black hair and dark red eyes wearing a silky silver dress stands up and slowly waves before sitting.

...

After her short pause, she continues.

"For the first match of the day, let us all welcome the 78 first-year contestants."

The cheers erupt loudly as the contestants walk into the arena all geared up. Akina stealthily leaves the stage for the contestants.

"They all seem ready and pumped up for the match. Let us see who will march forward and who will be left behind."

The part of the arena where they stand rises by a few feet above the ground.

"Now the stage has been set. This battle's aim is to push your opponents out of the elevated stage. The last eight advance to the next stage of the competition. Let the first battle royale of the festival commence.

All the students on the elevated stage looked cautiously at one another. Some stood around the edge to cover their back and others took stances to guard both their sides. As soon as the authority to commence was given, the stage burst into a flare of various abilities and screams. In only twenty seconds, the majority of the contestants found their way out of the stage and only twenty were left.

Arcon stands close to the centre as he looks at the remaining contestants. He managed to not get knocked out during that massive shootout and only a few are left. There are nine gold ranks, seven silver ranks and four bronze ranks. The four bronze who luckily survived were trembling and Kira did not miss the opportunity. Using her flame to conjure a whip, she wraps around the four of them and flings them out of the stage. Britney summons three monsters and sends them to attack Arcon, Akkun and Dara. Arcon summons his scythe and cleaves the monster while also sending shadow blades all around. After an intense fight only Britney, Law, Lumos, Lenora, Minerva, Arcon, Viro, and Azure were left standing.

"After an intense show of might, we have our first winners."

The cheering grows wildly as they exit the stage. The stage was reformed immediately in preparation for the next group.

After a ten-minute break

"The next match is we have a battle royale between the 13 best students in the first year. Let's see how this match unfolds."

The crowd goes wild as the students walk to the elevated stage.

Three hours later, all the battle royale fights were over and it was time for the special matches.

Akina takes up the stage in style.

"I hope you all enjoyed the first day of the festival."

The loud shouts of the crowd responded to her statement.

"To wrap up the first day, I would like to call on the imperial council leader, Mayden Boa to do the honours of explaining the special matches."

A tall male with shoulder-length platinum blonde hair and amethyst eyes. He is wearing a black military suit and gloves. He walks up to Akina accompanied by the cheers of the crowd.

"I would like to thank you all for being here and hope you enjoyed the matches as much as I did."

His sharp yet soft voice spreads through the audience via [Voice Amplification] The aura he gave off was calming and gave the audience a sense of security.

"Before the start of the tournament, the students who wanted to go against others were given the opportunity to get a shot at fulfilling that dream. They inscribed it on small gems and submitted it to their respective instructors. In the end, they were all gathered and stored and now."

Two ladies wearing a Qipao walk up to the centre of the arena where they are, carrying the glass spherical container on a wheeled cart. They drop it off at the centre and leave.

Boa smiles and infuses a bit of energy into it. It spins around for a few seconds before popping out two gems which Boa catches and looks at the audience.

"The first match is between Second year Gold rank 18th, Raina Vertez and Second year Platinum Rank 6th, Nora Agrera. The second match will be between First year Silver rank 45th, Mia Amaris and Second year Silver rank 50th, Alyx Badria."

A few minutes later, Nora and Raina face each other at the centre of the arena while Boa and Akina stand at the second entrance. Nora, a short girl with a 3-inch horn on her forehead, short bronze hair and big cinnamon eyes, wearing a combat suit and wielding a spear. Her short hair covered one of her eyes and her snarky smile made Raina's eye twitch. She carefreely manoeuvres the spear around her hand with ease.

"Woah. I got a freebie?"

Her tone was teasing but her eyes were fixed on her opponent.

On the other side, Raina, a tall girl with long lavender mist hair braided to the side, small sharp lilac eyes, and a proportionate and fit figure. She also is wearing the combat suit while wielding a staff with a pink gem embedded on its top. She is glaring at her opponents as she clenches her staff and gets into a battle stance.

"I'll end this as quickly as possible."

"Nice joke."

Nora

Ego: Time flow [allows her to slightly control the flow of time in the surroundings (10-metre radius)]

Inherent talent: Ice

Raina

Ego: Magic

Inherent talent: Darkness

The tension in the air was on the rise. Both are prepared to strike. Everyone's attention was at the centre and their anticipation rising.

"Begin!"