BOOOOOOM

“[Lightning Tempest]!”

SSSSSTTT

Cobalt blue lightning fulminated and raged inside of one of the rings of the arena. Scaring the surrounding teachers into acting to ensure the survival of the dwarf that was on the receiving end of the deadly bolts of energy!

“Ugh that girl in ring 46 is a total monster! You really think your boy in ring 66 can win against her? That [Lightning Tempest] was utterly devastating, If it wasn’t for you that boor dwarf would be char!” Jas exclaimed aghast as he saw the power of the normally low tier spell do as much destruction as a peak mid tier one. Kain stood wearily beside the draconian blademaster. Heavy lines knit themselves across the forehead of Kain as he stared at the beauty of Natasha who stood completely at ease in the ring as she awaited her next ‘victim’.

“She is either an idiot or a fool for trying to test us like this.” Kain said with a cold gleam in his eyes. He had begun to dislike the red haired beauty. Her sadistic actions in the practical exam were fresh in his mind. The next to heinous attacks she sent out were just enough to permanently cripple her foes rather than kill them. She most definitely had the power to kill them but she most likely made sure to hold back just enough to render them crippled for life.

“The next time she does it I will personally revoke her rights into the academy.”

“Fair enough but at least give her a warning before you just kick her out.” Answered Jas with a nod, he too had begun to detest the cruel methods of Natasha.

“How’s the boy doing?” Kain asked as he sent another of the supervisors to give the warning to Natasha.

“Not bad at all. He ended his first match with skill rather than his overwhelming strength. Still hasn’t let loose any large amounts of Mana though, unlike the Fire Princess over there. She has been using flashy spells like they are a fashion statement.” Jas chuckled as he pointed out another contestant down in arena.

“That Fire Princess truly lives up to her name though. ‘A sea of flames for her enemies’ is a very apt description of her combat style.”

“Haaah Jas, please tell me that she isn't facing Lucifer before the final 5?” Kain bitterly groaned as he looked at the match line ups.

“Fuck!” Jas cursed as he saw the lineup as well.

“Well fucking great looks like your boy is going to have a rough round robin. The Fire Princess, then there is Typhus and that one black haired brat looks like a tough match as well. Oh well at least he has 6 guaranteed wins eh?”

“Shut up you old freak.” Snapped Kain as he listened to the challenges Lucifer would face.

Back in the arena Lucifer continued meditation completely oblivious to the conversation happening between the older men. It wasn't until Luna once again notified him of the change in the earth wall that he stopped. His next opponent had finally finished their match. Lucifer stood and leaned on Messor as he waited for the wall to finish changing.

Surprisingly the entire ring began to change as the walls moved around like pieces of a shuffleboard. Until finally the entire arena had 50 perfectly circular rings of 60*60 feet in diameter. Each ring held 2 warriors in them before they finally came to a halt and the signal for the match to start resounded over the entire arena.

Lucifer analyzed his opponent, a giant rotund dwarf. No taller than 5’4” and thicker than Lucifer even with his wings folded closed, the dwarf was almost appalling to look at. His overly greasy face and rippling fat that shook with every single movement he made, made Lucifer question if the dwarf in front of him was truly walking on his own feet or had someone helping him. Lucifer saw that although the dwarf seemed like a blob of gelatinous fat, he still had some muscle buried deep below the fatty layer of tissue. He only noticed this because of the way the dwarf walked. The dwarf actually had balance! Something that he shouldn't possibly have with his obscenely large body.

Two beady brown eyes peered through the folds of flesh at Lucifer, most particularly his giant golden wings. The dwarf wasted no time in silently declaring that those wings would be his.

“What use do you have for those beautiful wings of gold? They would serve so much better above my, Jakol Reidlanz mantle place!”

“Say that again fatty.” Lucifer snarled as he revealed his sharp teeth and his purple right eye began to glow darkly.

“Insolent! You a savage that can't even afford a proper weapon, do not deserve such beautiful wings! Give them to me!” Jakol roared as the fat on his entire body began to jiggle in response to his animated theatrics.

Wrath exploded forth from Lucifer in such a dense and unbridled wave that even the supervising warriors felt cold sweats pour down their spines!

“You will suffer nanus, I will break your obscene body into pieces of lard for the butcher house!”

Lucifer took off in a Mana charged sprint towards Jakol, in a puff of smoke Lucifer's form turned illusory and he seemingly disappeared. A split second later Lucifer reappeared behind Jakol with Messor raised high ready to cut him in two! With [Gold Mail] covering Messor, Lucifer let loose his fury into the cleaving swing of the mighty warglaive.

“Wha-”

RRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRHHHHHHGGGGGGGGG

An earth rending explosion exploded outwards from the ring of Lucifer and Jakol. The explosion was so loud that it silenced all of the other fights as the warriors halted their battles to see what could have happened to cause such a massive sound.

“Nanus, learn your place. A disgusting piece of filth like you should be dead solely on the fact that you exist.” Lucifer spat venom out as he looked at the smoldering crater that billowed upwards with smoke and dust.

“Well the only thing you did useful in your life was allow me to test out the might of [Gold Mail] in offensive situations.”

“Brother! You aren’t supposed to kill in this match!” Luna cried out as realization of what had just happened sunk in.

“Lucifer! You idiot! Why did you kill him!” Kain yelled with a belly full of fire, as his figure instantly flashed next to the still scowling Lucifer.

“You were strictly prohibited from killing fellow students during the ranking tournament. What in Gaies name happened that made you kill him!”

“He challenged my Pride, Talcott.” Lucifer answered blandly as he continued to let his cold dead eyes glare at the obliterated corpse of the dwarf.

“What the bloody hell do you mean by that! Boy you best give me a satisfying answer or so help me, not even Eric can save you!” Kain never relented and kept yelling with burning anger.

“He wanted my wings to be placed above his mantle place. Killing may have been banned but dismemberment and crippling was not. So I protected myself from a possible recurring threat behind my back. Did I act in accordance with the Academy rules? No. Did I act in accordance of the laws of the land? Yes.” A deadly finality entered Lucifer’s voice as he glared at Kain from the corner of his eye.

“If Eric told me correctly, no student of the Academy is allowed to make threats based on race. Which would be exactly like that dwarf claiming my wings should go above his hearth! DO NOT PUSH ME MORE THAN YOU ALREADY HAVE KAIN! I am not in the mood.”

The silence that followed Lucifer’s outburst was deafening. Even the examiners that arrived after Kain, were left dumbfounded at the words said. Lucifer had obviously judged the consequences of his actions before he did them, it was only startlingly fearful that he was able to find the loophole quick enough to justify murder even after being told expressly not to kill. Callous, decisive, cold, vindictive. Lucifer showed exactly how he would deal with any perceived threat, and he would not allow one to fester.

“If there is nothing else, I must prepare for my next match.” Sitting down next to the still smoking crater, Lucifer proceeded to close his eyes and rest. Inwardly though he was busy talking to Luna.

“Luna, thank you for reminding me to keep my cool there.”

“With pleasure brother! But that dwarf was really too hateful, if I could I would imprison his soul and torment it for a lifetime.” Luna chimed with love and affection towards the still smoldering Lucifer.

“He doesn’t deserve your time pup.” Lucifer chuckled drily as he heard the sweet voice of Luna in his mind.

“Then he doesn’t deserve brother’s anger!” Luna smartly replied with a grin on her face from within the shadow of Lucifer.

“Fair enough, fair enough. Listen Luna I am going to end all the next matches with magic. I haven’t used it often enough for my skill in it to improve. It will also be perfect for me to create better spells. I can’t just always use reinforcement type magics, I need to use mid and long ranged spells more often.” Reason soon came over Lucifer as he planned out the next 9 matches he would have to face. It was true that he had some devastatingly powerful magics, but they were all live spells. They needed a conduit to be useful. [Gold Mail] and [Vita Messorem Telum] relied on his body and Messor to be effective. [Shadow Armoury] and [Elemental Spear] were his only energy based spells. They used Mana and the Elements as their power source and what gave them form, Lucifer need only cast the spell and aim it for it to be effective.

“Why have you never used your Dark Element then?”

“I have golden scales pup. Although they are very dark in colour they are still golden. So I should use Light Element, since a draconian’s scales are the colour of their Element. Also I don’t want anyone to know of my dual Elements. It’s enough for Kain to know, seeing as Eric trusts him enough I will as well.” Lucifer shared his reasoning with Luna.

“Plus I don’t think I can progress with my magics if I am always switching between Elements. I need to get a better understanding of them over time if I am to be successful with my magic.”

“Lucifer.” Kain interrupted Lucifer from his musings of magic and its correlation with the Elements.

“What is it old man?” Lucifer replied without even opening his eyes to look at the man who stood before him.

“You little. Look while you did violate the no-killing rule, you also abided by the no-racism rule of the Academy. Therefore we have decided to forego your immediate punishment, once you reach Yulrig you will be sent straight to the vice-principal for him to oversee your punishment.” Kain spoke with a stern face as he declared the sentence for Lucifer.

“Am I clear?”

“Crystal.” Came the dull reply of Lucifer following the end of the man’s words.

“Good. You will continue with the tournament. I will seal your Mana Core at the end and you will have to wait for the Vice-Principal to release it upon his decision.”

Lucifer only continued sitting down with eyes shut while he received his sentence from Kain. His Pride would not allow him the shame of having to justify and argue for his actions, he broke a rule and that warranted a punishment. Though maybe having a cheerful and lovable Luna trying to cheer him up inside his mind was the real reason why he did not lash out more than he already did.

With the disturbance dealt with, the tournament continued till all of the top 50 had been selected.

50 warriors stood in the now cleared and magically restored arena. Jas, Kain and the other supervisors lined up the students into 5 rows of 10 people. It was only after the students were randomly given a numbered lotto that the group of supervisors divided the 50 students into 5 different groups of 10 and lead them to 5 different rings where they would begin the round robin.

Lucifer followed his group under the lead of Jas, towards the ring marked with a giant “5” on it. He noted each and every one of the student’s races. 4 humans, 3 dwarfs, 1 elf and another draconian. The humans were all males, one held a large bastard sword which earned him the nickname ‘Bastard’ from Lucifer, another carried a long trident and acted like an animal in heat so he got ‘Rut’ for his behaviour, the third was a typical sword and shield warrior with his raven black hair waving like a mane earning him ‘Cat’ to match his terrible hair style, the last was probably the most awful of the group and carried only a helmbarte which rested over his exposed shoulder thus winning the name ‘Fool’ from Lucifer. If they 4 humans had learned of Lucifer’s naming sense they might have spit blood from anger, especially Rut.

The first match began as Jas called forth the only dwarven female and ‘Bastard’ up.

“[Flash Pyre].”

A screaming wail of crimson flames lit up the open air arena as a young dwarven girl’s small delicate hand waved, sending the screeching flames flying towards a massive human warrior wielding a large bastard sword. With a blast of heat, the flames consumed the human as he tried to slice the fire apart with a Mana clad sword strike. The girl's 5’0” stature and petite, childish frame made a stark contrast to the devilish fire she called forth. Her tiny hands grasped a set of dual sabres as she called out another spell.

“[Flare Rush].”

Her unemotional yet childish voice sounded out before a swirling ball of flames took form around her. Swallowing her, burgundy gown and all. Her auburn hair danced wildly in the flames as she raised her thin sabres and took off in a rush of fire towards the burning warrior.

Only a second from had passed from when she cast her spell to the moment she landed in front of the magical bonfire. Slashing her sabres forward she sent the swirling fire around her into the still burning [Flash Pyre]. A giant combustion of soaring flames exploded into existence as the two magics met. Raging into the sky the magical flames made a deadly yet beautiful scene as the immature form of the girl stood before it with her silver sabres resting gently in her tiny hands. Her ornate burgundy gown danced with the crazy wind caused by the inferno.

With a flick of her sword the girl dismissed the inferno as if it was only a candle before her. A terrifying screech echoed in the arena as the flames ate themselves away and into obligation, leaving only smoldering embers and a charred form of a kneeling warrior.

“Victor, Evra Brotlar! Defeat, Lucius Polk!” Jas announced as he walked forward and checked the body of the charcoal human statue. Finding life still flowing in the warrior, Jas called forth a healer for the bastard sword wielding warrior. Death and crippling had been extremely common in this practical examination so the Brotlars had sent forth their healers to help reduce the damage dealt by these bloodthirsty young warriors.

“Warren Kolt, Lucifer Khan. You're up.” Jas called out as the healers took the charred body of Evra’s opponent away for healing.

“Me, against a wanna be angel? What a joke.” The scrawny human, ‘Rut’ answered as he got up and began walking towards the magically reconstructed ring. Sandy blonde hair fell in loose curls as the human swaggered his way into the ring, not before sending a flirtatious wink at Evra who was walking back to the seating area. Warren gave off the standard playboy persona as he tried to flirt with blank faced dwarven princess, only to his failure as she didn't even spare a glance towards him. Huffing with annoyance the human heft the long trident he held onto his shoulders while he awaited the arrival of Lucifer, who had not even moved a muscle after his name was called.

“Lucifer are you forfeiting the match?” Jas asked with a wry smile. He knew all too well that a forfeit was impossible from the savagery of Lucifer.

“I don't see the point of fighting a with a rutting monkey. He will only ruin his chances of mating the girl by facing me. I doubt she would want his weak seed anyways.” Lucifer spoke blandly as he opened his eyes and gazed at the expectant look of Jas.

“Just don't kill him, hatchling. I don't need the stress of having to deal with an angry Kain.” The older draconian answered with a slight chuckle. Lucifer only nodded to the man’s words before he got up and picked up Messor.

A deathly calm took over Lucifer as he took his place in the ring with Warren. Lucifer vanished as soon as Jas gave the signal to begin. Warren tensed and waved his ornate trident around and threw random spells out as he tried to find Lucifer. Messor tore through the air as Lucifer appeared next to Warren and unleashed the mighty warglaive in a brutal slash towards the oblivious human.

Jas inwardly frowned as he saw the way the battle was going. Lucifer was just too powerful in comparison to even the standard genius level students.

“Evra would be able to hold him back with her Fire. Typhus should be able to match Lucifer in terms of speed. Jaquis hopefully can pull out something if he has any hopes of making it far in this round robin. But to think 4 monsters would be here, it's a little unnerving.” The old draconian muttered to himself as he watched Lucifer pulverize and toy with Warren like a ragdoll before a tiger. Gone were the thoughts of his bet with Kain for Natasha and Lucifer's fight, he only thought of how it would be possible for all 4 of these monsters to make it through this round.

“Lucifer, that's enough he can't even stand. You're making the healers work extra hard today.” Jas called out as he announced the match result.

“Victor, Lucifer Khan! Defeat Warren Kolt!”

“Typhus Oak, Markus Kolt. You two next.” Jas called out unemotionally, as he waited for the healers to drag away the limp body of Warren.

Lucifer frowned as he heard the familiar last name. Kolt. ‘Rut’ was a Kolt as well. Looking carefully at the barrel chested and giant mass of muscle that was Markus Kolt, Lucifer saw similar traits between ‘Rut’ and ‘Fool’. Both had terrible choice in weapons, both had the same sandy coloured hair, but neither of them shared anything else! Facial structure, body type, eye colour, nothing matched! Lucifer thought of what could explain such an odd match.

“Some two-leg families have multiple branches. These two must both be from the Kolt family but differ in their branches. Either that, or one is a bastard.” Luna answered promptly to Lucifer's bewildered thoughts.

Typhus Oak though was the sole elf of the group. Tall for an elf at 5’6” Typhus had rippling muscles that broke the common stereotype of elves being slim. Typhus almost stood on par with the behemoth that was Markus in pure physique, despite being 4 inches shorter. A glistening long sword hung at the elf's hip and showed off its splendidly crafted wooden hilt and crossguard. The sword was the same shade of soft grey as the long locks of hair that fell from Typhus’ head.

“Begin!” Jas shouted as the two muscle heads squared off with their weapons drawn.

The battle however was over the next second as Typhus let loose a blinding cross slash towards the rushing Markus. A bladelight of solid compressed air launched out from the wicked fast slash of the pristine long sword of the elf. The crescent bladelight of solid air cut through the space between the two warriors and slammed into Markus, blasting him clear off his feet! Before the human could get up the tip of Typhus’ sword touched his chest signalling how easy it would be for the elf to kill him and the end of the match. Unlike his pompous relative Markus only grunted and walked back to his seat as Jas called out the result.

“Victor, Typhus Oak! Defeat, Marcus Kolt!”

“Adam Woll, Jaquis Dumar. Next.”

“Victor, Jaquis Dumar! Defeat Adam Woll!”

“Evra Brotlar, Markus Kolt. Next.”

“I forfeit.” Came the voice of Markus as he heard his next match. There was no way in Gaies that he would risk his life facing the Fire Princess, the rumors and last demonstration of her prowess were enough to convince him solidly of his chances.

“Fine. Evra Brotlar, 2 wins!” Jas spoke with an understanding nod, he could truly feel for the human. He had literally no chance against Typhus, even less when paired up with Evra. Only Lucifer would toy with him so even that was a worse pairing in comparison.

“Lucifer Khan, Evra Brotlar. Get up here.”