048 Tryout (3)

Ashe wondered if Professor Clemson knew the history between Princess Toria and him. It wasn't exactly a secret that they were once friends when they had both entered the Academy together.

"Princess Toria used to have a crush on Ashe," the students gossiped.

"Ooh really!?" The girls whispered loudly.

Nico, Anya, and Jack's ears perked up with interest.

"She always used to follow him around when they were little, but I heard he only treats her as a younger sister and prefer her older sister."

"Well, everyone knows that Princess Athena of Gordon is a renowned beauty," one of the guys chimed in. "Apparently Ashe has a very good relationship with Princess Athena."

"Is that why Baron Randall dislike Ashe so much? Isn't he one of Princess Athena's suitors?"

As the student body gossiped, Princess Toria face reddened with anger. Although she couldn't hear what they were saying, she knew what they were talking about.

"Hello Princess," Ashe bowed before the match.

"Hpmh!" Princess Toria ignored him and took out her staff. "You can forget about pleasantries."

The instructor gave the signal.

Princess Toria attacked with both her Polar Icicle staff and Waterblast spell. Ashe quickly cast a round ice shield to block the ice and dashed toward Toria.

"You're impulsive as always!" Ashe charged from the right side, aiming his magic toward Princess Toria.

Suddenly, an ice spike appeared shooting directly at Ashe.

"She's!" Ashe quickly evaded to the right. According to Ashe estimate, it wasn't possible for her to recharge her staff and magic so quickly.

The ice chipped Ashe's body aura.

"She's using a talisman, is that even legal!?" asked Nico.

Xavier nodded. "It's not against the rules. She's spending money for a tryout, which is unusual."

"Wow, Princess Toria really hates Ashe!" The students commented. "Of course, everyone knows nothing is worse than a woman's scorn."

"But everyone knows Ashe has no preference for her."

"She is clearly delusional if she thinks he was interested in her."

Princess Toria glanced at the girls, and they stopped. She was always self-conscious when people whispered. It didn't used to be that way, and she hated Ashe and her sister for making her feel that way.

Princess Toria took out two talismans and released them directly toward Ashe.

Ashe dodged. Unlike magical attacks, talismans were easier to dodge when it wasn't a surprise attack.

Ashe unleashed three ice blades in three different locations. Each one attacked Princess Toria with different curvature.

Princess Toria blocked one, but the other two easily damaged her body aura. With her staff and magic ready, she cast them again.

The three waterblasts curved up and arched toward Ashe. Ashe evaded one. His earth shield shattered after two waterblasts slammed from above.

Ashe had no idea what she was planning, but headed toward her and attacked directly with his staff. Princess Toria shielded herself quickly with the staff and struck back, she wasn't the delicate wallflower like she used to be.

Ashe and Princess Toria battled with their staffs. However, just as Princess Toria used her talisman, Ashe grabbed a hold of her hand, twisted her arm, and aimed the talisman right back at her.

"What the f***! Can't believe he would do that to the princess!" All the students were in shocked.

It was unexpected, but they really saw Princess Toria lose by her own talisman.

Nico and Jack were both surprised. They had no idea that the perfect gentleman Ashe would do something like that to a girl.

Anya gave Ashe two thumbs up. "Good job!"

Ashe returned to his seat, his expression remained cool as usual.

"That was cruel!" Jack jabbed.

"It's a competition, you should use any method to win," it was Ashe last remark before the next match-up.

The instructor called up Vincent and Ian.

The crowd stopped their idle chatter, and refocused their attention on the next match.

"This battle is going to be hard to predict," the students all speculated.

"Why is that? It should be an easy match for Ian."

"Are you stupid? All the elite students wouldn't go near him."

"What sort of power does Vincent have that makes the student so afraid of him?"

"I heard that his beast spirit allows him to bypass the force barrier and even body aura."

"No way! Wouldn't that be unfair?"

"I don't know how the instructor will decide on this match. Because technically, if Vincent bypass the force barrier, how does that affect the battle indicator cuff? Would it still react?"

Many people had the same thought. The few that had witnessed Vincent's ability were curious to see if he could bypass Ian's force barrier again. The first time may be a fluke.

If he really could bypass the force barrier, how would the winner be decided? The rules of the tryout were the same for the Kinbarl Tournament, the battles were decided by the barrier indicator cuffs.

The instructor gave the signal, "Go!"

Vincent and Ian both surveyed each other movement. Ian was in a mid guard position with his halberd and Vincent a low guard with a quarterstaff.

They looked hesitate to attack first, but the roommates were all sure that it was just because Vincent was too lazy to attack first.

"Oh my, that's the ace! He looks so hot!" The girls squealed on the side.

This s****** pisses me off. Ian couldn't wait any longer and charged directly toward Vincent with his halberd.

Vincent blocked with his quarterstaff and swung upward to deflect Ian's halberd.

Ian's right arm resonated from the aftershock. Ian knew Vincent was strong, so he braced his arm and launched another attack.

Every time Ian attacked, Vincent struck back with an even greater force.

They were evenly matched for several bouts.

"This fight is going to be long if they attacking and blocking like that," said Xavier. "I didn't expect Vincent to keep up with Ian."

This was the first time most people had watched Vincent fight, and for a gathering stage student to go toe to toe with a foundation stage student was unbelievable. They were two stages differences between the two!

Nico glanced at an instructor with short hair watching from the side. The instructor had a different reaction to the match than the rest of the crowd. While everyone was focused on the match, his face stared just in one direction.

He's preparing a spell? Nico excused himself to the restroom.

Ian attacked once more, hoping Vincent would block. Just as Vincent was blocking, Ian pulled back and slashed with his Thundering Roar. A mixture of thunder enveloped the halberd sharp blade and crackled through the air.

The halberd clashed against Vincent's force barrier.

Clank!

Vincent force barrier suffered tremendous damage, but he grabbed onto the middle section of the halberd, pulled the middle of the pole and its user closer to him.

Vincent head butted into Ian face until Ian's forehead covered in blood.

"F**** Damn you!!!" Ian roared out in anger.

Ian strengthened his halberd and was about to attack again.

Vincent steadied his body and swung the staff toward Ian's arm.

Instead of Ian's arm, the Professor Clemson had jumped onto the platform and grabbed onto the quarterstaff. Professor Clemson neutralized the impact from Vincent's attack with his physical strength instead of relying on his force barrier.

The officiating instructor also stopped the fight before any more damage could occur.

The crowd ruptured in confusion.

"What's going on? Ian is already bleeding, but the cuff barrier is still black. How is the match going to be decided?"

It was a rare occurrence, but it had happened before.

"Winner is Vincent," the instructor declared.

"According to the Kinbarl Tournament rule book, whoever draws first blood could also be declared winner," Xavier explained.

Drawing the first blood was a rare occurrence, but it had happened before when a person neglected to put up a force barrier and body aura. Force barrier and body aura were the first skills a practitioner would learn because they were potentially life-saving skill. Most were able to put one up automatically. There were very few instances when a practitioner wouldn't be able to put one up.

Vincent stepped back down from the courtyard. At that time, Nico had also returned.

"Hey, what's with your broken skill?" asked Jack. "No wonder you refuse to spar with us. We would all lose automatically."

Vincent shrugged.

"Yep, definitely not a guy to fight against," Nico added.