Chapter 12

The crowd continued to shout out ridiculing words towards Damien as the faculty just stood within the VIP area silent. Unlike the students present, these faculty members were not surprised in the slightest since they knew Damien's background. Though him using a hammer caught some of them off guard, within a single moment, those who were caught off guard were back to normal with blank faces.

"Do you really think that fighting against me head-on, would work out in your favour? I am possibly at the top of the rankings in raw physical strength within our generation, and you are willing to disregard your sword in hopes to achieve such a victory?" Thomas shouted out towards Damien.

Hearing the crowd ridiculing Damien, caused Thomas to try and use the opportunity to break Damien down mentally before the spar even began. If he could use the crowd to his advantage, it would make this spar even easier for him and would help solidify his spot before the upcoming tournament.

With the Vice Principal watching personally, Thomas felt that if he was able to impress him, that more doors would open for him as he got older and pursued joining the tower. Thomas wanted to join the tower so that he could serve those in the political world and guarantee him and his family's future.

If he was able to become even the lowest-ranked member of the tower, it would allow him to flourish in the outside world. The Church of Light held the strongest position within this world as a power, but there were also those who wielded their own political power outside of the church who needed formidable warriors to help them.

There were many reasons a student of an academy that trained them to one day become part of a tower within the Church of Light, worked towards the goal to join the tower they would one day hopefully transition into. Though on the more uncommon side, Thomas's reasoning was still one that many students around the world as well.

"Are you going to just stand there and muster some words, or are you actually going to begin?" Damien feeling no pressure from the crowd or Thomas's words replied as he placed himself in a defensive stance. With both hands on his hammer, and ready to begin, Damien looked like an experienced soldier in the army ready to face his opponent.

Hearing his response, Thomas started to become enraged as he charged out towards Damien's location on the other side of the stage. Damien, choosing not to move away to avoid Thomas, simply remained standing in his defensive stance to welcome Thomas's first strike.

Within their generation, it was extremely rare for a student to know a true technique to use with their weapons. Instead, each student relied on their understanding wielding their weapons and their raw power in order to fight against their opponents. The same could even be said for Thomas who was close to the top of their generation in the academy.

Only as they become older and more experienced, would the youngest generation of academies such as this one, have access to books that gave out specialized techniques. Only upperclassmen would know what their weapon speciality would be, and so academies waited for this time before giving out any techniques.

The academy's purpose was to make sure that each student had the best chance available to join the tower's ranks. For them to get the best results, academies would slowly allow every student to experiment with all different weapons, until they settled on the one that would be their main one. Once that was decided, academies would help the student by giving them proper techniques that fit both their weapons and their fighting styles.

The reason that every younger generation student in each academy regardless of the area started with the sword, was that swords were the most common weapons and would allow students to realize what areas they excelled in and which areas they were weakest in. Once the student realized their strengths and weaknesses, picking a proper weapon was much easier.

In only a few breaths of time, Thomas finally approached Damien as he swung his sword down towards Damien's head. Fortunately for Damien, he held an extremely durable hammer in his hands as he blocked Thomas's first strike.

The impact of this attack caused the airflow around them to shutter for an instant before returning to normal. A loud ping could be heard throughout the arena as Thomas took several steps back. Never would Thomas have realized that his first strike would do absolutely nothing to Damien!

"Is it my turn already?" Damien asked in a stern tone as he crouched down like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey. Dashing towards Thomas with no emotion on his face, Damien swung his hammer at Thomas.