Julia and Finn's battle was very short and after Julia formed two swords out of water, with her Soul Spirit, and charged towards him, the intimidated Finn gave up and didn't want to be fatally injured over a competition.

The hard truth that Ivan was trying to teach his new students through the competition was that the cultivation world was cruel and only the strong and determined would succeed, while the others would either die or lag behind and be seen as trash.

Even as a teacher he didn't intervene with issues that his students had with each other such as Damian and Trevor's, as he knew it would encourage their growth, but he would intervene before anybody died.

Meanwhile, Damian was still ignorant to the fact that Trevor was already hospitalised and out of the competition, meaning that he wouldn't be able to battle against him in this competition.

"Next Round - Cole vs Orlando" announced Ivan.

Cole despite his outwardly tough and fierce appearance was very kind and gentle and also had his own fair share of hardship in the past.

He was born as the son of an elder in a wealthy scholarly family in another city, but he compared to his cousins was very weak when it came to studying.

In a scholarly family education and knowledge was the central aim, unlike for cultivation families, and they were able to keep their status despite being weaker in strength, with the value of their knowledge.

Literature, poetry and most importantly being able to carve runes was what scholarly families focused on especially Max's family.

Max's mother had died giving birth to him and was one of the biggest reasons why his father had an obvious loathing towards him, and along with Max's weakness in scholarly activities, he was beaten and abused.

Max was the name his father gave him, but Cole was the name his mother wanted for him and was the name he chose and hated being called Max.

His large figure added on to the abuse he suffered being called a muscle-head and beaten, but after years of being beaten Cole suddenly snapped.

He was tied to a tree as his cousins threw rocks at him and all the suppressed rage he had for the way he was treated was unleashed and fused with his soul.

His powerful will to be able to protect himself formed a Soul Spirit.

His desire to want to be protected and be impenetrable, without anybody capable of affecting him, like he had attempted to do over the years of abuse, formed a Soul Spirit that allowed him to harden his exterior.

He was unsure of what exactly his ability was, but knew that it would harden his skin and body and that it was extremely useful in battle.

The boy that was constantly called trash and worthless by his family, had found that he had a talent in something that was arguably much more valuable than being a scholar.

Being a cultivator.

With the realisation, he without second-guessing himself, ran away from home and being from a wealthy family, it was easy for him to save and steal enough money from his father for him to travel to Aria City and after travelling for a few weeks he had finally arrived.

Hearing about Akegria Academy and the 'fair way' that they allocated resources and trained their students, it instantly enticed Cole who had suffered such an abusive childhood.

Spending almost all his money on travelling and renting a room in an inn, he waited a few days to enter the academy, then Cole became an Akegria Academy student.

Cole couldn't help but have a calm nature after growing up in a scholarly family and also wanted to leave a good impression at his second chance at life, but as soon as he activated his Soul Spirit, his demeanour would weirdly change.

Keeping the name his father gave him, but also taking the name his mother gave him, he started his new life as a cultivator with the name Max Cole, leaving behind the surname of the scholarly family he was born into.

He wanted to keep his name to show his acceptance of his past and show his growth, but still preferred to be called Cole that covered for his surname, so that nobody would look into his identity and cause him unwanted trouble.

Stepping onto the stage the 10-year-old boy, who had a body comparable to that of a small adult, Cole faced off against Orlando.

"You may begin"

As soon as Cole and Orlando heard the announcement, both of them activated their Soul Spirits.

Cole's skin began to change colour and had a silver metallic sheen as his body not only hardened, but also had increased power, while Orlando activated his Body Augmentation Soul Spirit that was comparingly weak.

"Not only is his Soul Spirit hardening, but it also enhances his body and increases his battle intent. I wonder what kind of Soul Spirit it is" mumbled Ivan to himself, observing the changes in Cole's body.

Instantly Cole's calm expression became one of excitement as he charged towards Orlando.

The disparity in size wasn't massive as Orlando was also big for his age, but Orlando couldn't help but be intimidated by the large silver juggernaut charging towards him.

"I... I give up" stated Orlando, who had seen what the other friends of Cole were capable of and didn't want to also be injured.

But it was too late as Cole influenced by his Soul Spirit couldn't suppress his urge to battle and launched a powerful fist towards Orlando's face.

All that was seen was a blur as Ivan appeared in front of Cole and easily caught his fist.

Yet Cole still couldn't calm down as he roared at the top of his lungs and launched his other fist at Ivan.

Instead of catching the fist, Ivan seemed to disappear and emerge behind him, chopping down on Cole's neck, seemingly knocking him out in a single blow.

"Round 6 Completed - Winner Max Cole" announced Ivan as he carried Cole over his shoulder.

Cole suddenly jumped up off his shoulder and reawoke, but instead of attacking again, fell onto his knees.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to attack you I couldn't control myself" apologised Cole, scared of being kicked out of the academy for attacking a teacher.

Ivan was shocked, he hadn't used a lot of power, but he had used more than enough power to knock him out, yet Cole was still able to stay conscious and jump out of his arms.

"I understand, there is no need to worry, you won't get into any trouble" reassured Ivan after regaining his composure from the shock that Cole gave him.

Cole stood up and scurried off stage, along with Orlando who didn't seem to hold any grudges.

Cole returned to his usual calm expression, but was deep in thought about his Soul Spirit, its origin and how it worked as he sat back in his chair.

But his chain of thoughts was interrupted by a sudden announcement.

"The semi-finals have now begun with the 4 that may become finalists being Damian, Matilda, Julia and Cole" announced Ivan.

The fateful group of friends were all the possible finalists, apart from Milo, which everybody noticed and noted down the group of friends that were this year's prodigies and may be students to look out for in the future.

"First Semi-Final Match - Damian vs Matilda"