The Competition Begins

Kayden had headed over to his room to have some rest in preparation for what was to come tomorrow. However, he couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about what Kayla had told him earlier today, about how there was a major conspiracy taking place at the academy, and how some of the students were involved in it as well. Right now, all he really wanted to do was just do well during the competition.

Entering the room, he saw that both Paul and Shawn were present. The two turned to face him, inviting him into the discussion were having. Since the both of them were stronger than Kayden, they wanted to ensure that there wouldn't be any hard feelings harboured amongst them if one person wins while the others loose. Kayden had no intentions of holding grudges if he didn't end up winning. At the end of the day, the first year students wouldn't be fighting each other in the first place.

The next day, everyone got up early that morning and got ready to head over to the Arena, where the competition would be taking place. Earlier yesterday, and the academy's staff had gone to work, getting everything ready for today. A bunch of people had been invited to today's event, and the board of military leaders would be present as well.

A lot of the students were quite nervous about today, as a lot of them had parents who were either a part of the board, or were amongst the outsiders who had been invited to spectate today's event. Their parents had invested a lot of resources into giving them abilities and even hiring private tutors long before they were eligible to attend military academy. They didn't want to seem like a failure in front of their parents.

Amongst the second year students, those who would be participating in today's competition include Henry Ven, Patricia Adams, Gary Hit, Leo Hunt, Andrew Cane, Serena Vine, Margaret Monica, Luke Silverly, Kan Brooke, and lastly Ethan Reyes.

Since the second year students were far stronger than the first place, the purpose of the match wasn't to determine whether or not they Could defeat their opponents. Similar to most of what had been going on at the academy, it was another training opportunity for the students, one that had a lot of stakes attached to it.

If a first year student is able to last over ten seconds while fighting against a second year student, then they win the match, however, that is easier said than done. Popular opinion amongst the first years made them believe that those who might be able to win said matches were Kayla, Shawn, and Paul. Only a few believed that Kayden and Josh would be able to pull off a win.

The spectators' area was quickly filled by students, both from the first and the second year. Not wanting to mix in with each other, both students years occupied separate areas of the seats, leaving a fairly large gap between both groups. Meanwhile, there was a special area above them all where the VIP guests were allowed to stay and watch the fight. That was where the academy leaders, and outsiders, were meant to stay.

Currently, Kayden was in a separate room, along with the other first year students who would be participating in the match today. Seeing how everyone was focused on their own thing, it reminded Kayden of the time when he was at the underground fighting club, trying to raise enough money to pay off the men who had kidnapped his sister.

In the first place, Kayden was unable to fight them off because he wasn't with her during the time she was kidnapped. Normally, they would both head to school together and come back home together as well. However, that day, Stacy urged him to follow her back home, saying that she didn't feel safe going back home on her own. Kayden had refused her request, saying that he wanted to stay back for a little while longer and have some fun with his friends, leaving her with no choice than to just head back home on her own since she had a lot of homework and household chores to do. She couldn't afford to waste anymore of her time waiting for him.

That was the day Kayden regretted his decision dearly. He never told his uncle the truth of what had really happened that day, and he was also glad that Stacy never brought it up to him. If he ever found out that he had ignored her safety, then who knows what he might just go ahead and do?

Shaking his head, Kayden tried to focus more on the task at hand. It was then that what Kayla had said yesterday rang in his mind once again. Just when were these students going to act? And since it might even involve the strongest amongst the second years, then wouldn't that mean that he would encounter them out in the Arena field today?

Not long after, and a large man with long black hair stepped into the centre of the Arena, holding a wireless microphone in his hand. It was ten in the morning, and everyone who was expected to be at the event was already present. The other students couldn't wait for the matches to begin, already chanting the names of the students they wished to win their matches.

The man then went on to thank everyone for being present today, directing his attention mainly towards the VIP area. The others had no other choice than to attend today's event, else they would be faced with serious punishment. The announcer was trying his best to make a good impression on the special guests, something he would usually do every year when it was time for this competition. Seeing how calm and composed, and the way he talked, it was clear that he had a lot of experience in public speaking, and he had been doing this work for the academy for a long time now.

Once he was done with the introductions, he then went down to the main reason they were all here in the first place. In his hand, was a digital tablet showing the list of students and whom they would be going up against today.

During the competition, the second year students were allowed to go out in fighting against the first year students. Since the purpose wasn't to defeat, but to remain standing past ten seconds, the second years were allowed to go all out to make the contest far more challenging and interesting for the spectators.

Amongst those seated in the VIP area, there were those who led strong, powerful businesses in the world today. A few of them were even involved in keeping the peace treaty between the Shales and humanity, making them really important individuals. Moreover, there were a few present who had close ties with the main three world leaders. These were the most powerful people on Earth, strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the Shales and manage to survive.

Although these people weren't present, they had sent people whom they had close ties with to come to the event in their place to spectate the match and come back to report if they had discovered any individual who possessed exceptional talent.

The students in their second year at the academy had experienced the same thing a year ago. Those who had done exceptionally well had been selected and had to leave the academy, going away with the group which had selected them. For those who came from rich, influential parents, it was an opportunity for them to further grow their families wealth and prestige by doing exceptionally well under the tutorship of another powerful group.

The first two students who were called to start off today's event were Steve and Leo. Steve was the student who would usually accompany Josh around the school, helping him reign terror upon the weaker students. Most people were unaware of what sort of relationship these two shared, but they always seemed to be quite close even before getting into the academy.

Although he mostly seemed to be nothing but a shadow when compared to Josh, today was his chance to prove to others that he was also a powerful student on his own. His ability was one that allows him to freeze the legs of his opponent z keeping them in place long enough to deal severe blows to them. Many people assume it is a boulder class ability, since he had mostly used it when his opponent was either on rock or metal, however, it was actually a tracker class ability, one that allowed him to set traps to catch his opponents.

Over the past few weeks, Steve had been working hard, trying to improve the effectiveness of his ability, and today, he was more than ready to showcase how much more he had improved since the day when he and Josh had nearly defeated Kayden.

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