Chapter 64: Finals

The matches continued for a while longer. In the end, there were only eight people left. Seven of them were at Rank One and the eighth one was Ciaran.

Ciaran's next opponent was a raven-haired girl. She wore her hair in a neat ponytail and was waiting for him to get to their designated position.

He got in position and smirked.

"I was waiting for a strong opponent. Now it's time for me to show off my new trick. Get ready little girl because I will end this match in one move." He said as he looked his opponent dead in the eyes.

The girl took him seriously and didn't show a hint of an opening. Her opponent wasn't at her Rank, but he had won his fights just as easily as the rest of them, and he had a reputation for making miracles happen.

His form had changed. There was no sign of the relaxed form he usually used, now he looked like a predator ready to pounce at any minute. As soon as they were given the go-ahead, he did.

With a surprising speed, he dashed at her. Then he passed her and continued running and jumped. He landed on his ass right next to his teacher.

"I give up, she is too strong for me." He said and looked in the direction of his friend's matches.

Some of the other teachers protested his lack of sportsmanship, but Elizabeth just laid her hand in her palm while sitting next to him.

"You did say you would end it in one turn." She said defeated. She had asked him to be more gentle and he gave her what she wanted, just not how she wanted it.

The boy knew how to put on a good show at least, she had to give him that. His opponent wasn't done with him, however. She calmly came to him and shook his hand.

"Good fight." She said and left, not a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Elizabeth was even more disgusted after seeing that.

"Are all the extraordinary children fucked in the head, or does it start from year three?" She asked.

Ciaran looked at her and whistled.

"Cursing on the first day? Mrs. Parker I would humbly like to invite you for some group meditation later tonight, I think you need a lesson on composure." He said, and she just looked at him.

If they weren't in public she would have roasted him, in all sense of the word, but she held it in. The one joy she had was that Fia was promoted and her classes were pushed after the Eight Year. If she joined in the tomfoolery with her student, then Elizabeth may just contract the rare medical condition known as a permanent headache.

Ignoring the tick known as Ciaran she focused on her other students' matches. Rayon was against another Earth user. It was a very strike-heavy match. Both of the boys were strong and durable, but not that fast, so there was mostly attacking and blocking.

In the end, Rayon turned the victor. He left his opponent beaten and bruised, but there was no blood anywhere on their bodies. Half of it was because they both specialized in prolonged fights and knew how to sustain themselves. The other half of it was that the two had a tactic understanding not to go all out. This was a sports competition at best, and they found no need to try and injure their opponents.

When Rayon when to his teacher he wasn't surprised to see his brother there. When he learned that Ciaran lost, he almost shouted.

"Who can even beat you? I am pretty sure you can even beat me if you didn't care for my safety." Rayon asked him. The boy had a lot of misplaced confidence in his brother. He was correct, of course, but that wasn't because he knew of any of his brother's abilities. He just believed his brother was too stubborn to lose to someone.

When Elizabeth explained what had happened Rayon calmed down.

"The top ten get access to the Library. It makes sense you don't care for the fights anymore." Ciaran was pleasantly surprised. Camille had told him, she was giving his brother perception training, but for this dunce to actually figure him out was unexpected.

Elizabeth on the other hand hadn't thought of that, she just thought her student was clowning around as usual. She wasn't sure if she should be more or less mad at him now that she knew that he threw the match with a purpose behind his actions.

As per usual five minutes into her match and Clara had won, with not a hint of exhaustion on her face.

"So you couldn't even make it to the quarterfinals? Someone has been lazy this Summer." She teased Ciaran.

"Yeah, I was laying in the shade playing with alchemy. The neverending drills are for you muscleheads." He said matter-of-factly.

They bantered as they watched Sunny bully her latest victim. As a Rank One fighter, he was able to put on a fight, but she was always in control of the tempo.

When the boy hit her she fell in a direction she wanted him to follow. When he got hit, he didn't notice that the injuries he was sustaining were piling up. She hit him all over his body, but she always aimed her most vicious attacks at his knees. Finally, when he tried to go for a high kick, she grabbed his leg with her left arm and pressed it to her head. Then she bent her knees to lower it to the ground a little before using her body as a spring and knocking him to the ground.

She was about to deliver a low kick to his leg as she was standing above him with his leg still in her hands, but the boy gave up. He had seen what she did in an advantageous position and had no desire to be tortured.

She just clicked her tongue and when to her friends.

"Cheer up Sunny, there is a one in three chance you get to vent in your next fight," Ciaran said.

And as it happened, Sunny got lucky and her opponent for the next round was the girl with the ponytail, which meant that Rayon was going to fight Clara.

If there was one fight Ciaran wanted to watch it was this one. He wanted to see how far his friends had progressed and compare his growth to theirs.

They were given an hour and a half of rest as it was already time for lunch. The children were allowed to dine with their families, and this time Ciaran accompanied his brother so they could have a nice family picnic.

"Nine out of ten for the performance Rony. The butt slam was a nice touch, but if it was me I would have laid on my side fist to my head, giving the girl and the audience a wink." Liam said.

"Don't listen to your dad. And don't follow in his footsteps eighter, you almost gave your teacher a heart attack you know." Camille said as she playfully smacked Liam behind his head.

She never usually displayed such affection in public, but it was the first time in two years her family was together and she would be damned if she allowed herself to even attempt to mask her happiness.

"Ray I am sure Ciaran has already nagged you for it, but you need to take your opponents seriously. Never play with your food son, or it might eat you first." Liam told his son.

Both he and his wife were a lot more worried about Rayon than Ciaran. One of their boys was a mage, someone who had a natural affinity to seek trouble, but also the competence to handle it, but their other son was too soft. Rayon was becoming stronger daily, his growth even outpacing Ciaran's, but his emotional maturity was average.

This was a dangerous combination, as without the proper mindset the boy could end up stabbing himself in the foot. But no matter who told him to cast away his gentle nature, he never did. It was the one thing he was unwilling to compromise on.

After a nice lunch, the family continued to banter. Ray told his brother about all the things their mom had been teaching him, and Ciaran lied to his face about his summer.

An hour and a half later the quarterfinals were about to begin. The first match of the quarterfinals was between Sunny and the girl with the ponytail.

They got into position and both girls launched themselves at the other. Their fight was a pure clash of speed. Both girls relied mostly on kicks, but Sunny's legs were a bit shorter. She was at a disadvantage but anytime her opponent went for a kick she blocked it and tried to grab her foot.

With every new kick, Sunny got closer and closer to catching her. When she was finally able to grab her foot the other girl pulled it and Sunny stole her shoe.

The girl looked at her shoe, and her opponent and nodded. She raised her hand and gave up.

"My last opponent taught me not to take unnecessary risks. I choose to employ that lesson here." She told Sunny.

The vicious little girl was annoyed. Two of her toys had gotten away from her today. As Ciaran was trying to cheer her up the fight of the day was starting.