“What the flying fuck was that!” Seeing how nonchalant Daisha was acting right after she chastised her about her match. Rhina felt a fire in her belly that needed to be let loose.

“What was what?”

“YOU CRIPPLED A GIRL!”

“Ohhh” Nodding her head as if she finally understood what her friend was on about. “I tried teaching her the same way Kira taught us.”

“Kira never broke our legs like that! How are you not getting this!”

“Urgh, at the end of the day I broke her legs which will eventually lead her to grow stronger in order to enact her revenge upon me. She gets stronger, I win the match, it’s a win-win situation.”

“YOU BROKE HER LEGS IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!”

Seriously how is she not getting this!

“Are you still on about that? Let it go already. What’s done is done. No use worrying over what you can’t change.”

…

‘Gulp’ “So what did you think of that?” Her voice was a little shaky after seeing that girl’s bones pierce through her legs. Just seeing the blood covered white bones tear through the skin and hearing the shriek of that young looking girl sent shivers down Azariah’s back.

“I don’t know.” With her eyes glued to the screen, Maeve whispered her answer in a hoarse voice.

“You don’t know? How? You always know!”

“They didn’t use their full power, so I don’t know how much they were holding back by! Both matches were won using the minimum amount of power possible. Heck, I don’t even know if you would stand a chance against them.”

“WHAT!! You think they’re that strong!” Shocked by Maeve’s words, Azariah felt like it had suddenly become hard to breathe. “I-If that’s the case then won’t we lose!”

“…Yeah…”

…

“Be honest…Do you think we stand a chance?” Looking around the room, Daeharice felt the atmosphere drop. “I-Instructor?”

*Sigh*

In the corner of the room a middle-aged man with dark blonde hair and a slim body stood leaning against the wall as he watched his students gaze at the screen with blank looks on their faces.

“Sorry kid.”

“…I see.”

“Don’t take it too hard.”

*Sigh* “I-If the match went back to the 3v3 style, would we win?” Grasping at straws, Daeharice desperately searched for ways to up their advantage.

Closing his eyes slightly, it took a while until the instructor finally answered. “It would improve your odds.”

“REALLY!!”

“But ultimately the results won’t change.”

“Wh-WHAT!” Feeling his whole world shatter before his eyes, Daeharice felt like he was in a dessert and had just found an oasis, and just before he could taste that sweet nectar, he was suddenly hit by a sandstorm.

Seeing his reaction, the instructor knew that he was taking it hard. “I don’t know if you could see it or not, but during that first match that girl reached a speed that none of you at your current stage stand a chance against.”

“So what if she’s fast! If we know how she’s coming then we can plan around that!”

“Your not understanding what I’m trying to tell you. By the time the match starts, she will blitz you before you can react.”

“W-We could-

“I also think she was holding back.” Cutting him off, the instructor continued with his analysis. “Do you know what that means? It means that she was that fast while not giving it her all. So think about it. If you can’t handle her current speed then how do you think you’d cope against her actually trying?”

-Silence

“What about the other girl? She didn’t seem that strong?”

*Sigh*

At least he’s trying to look at it from a positive perspective.

“Although she didn’t do anything to amazing, her control of the elemental elements were exquisite. Even now I don’t know what element she has the highest affinity towards.”

“Then we can beat her!”

“No. I’m pretty sure her mastery over the elemental laws trumps all of you. Except maybe you.” Directing his attention to the silent Chasianna caused the rest of them to look at her.

“So I could beat her?” feeling slightly confused, she couldn’t help but ask her instructor.

“No, she’d crush you.” Without any hesitation, he instantly snuffed out that small glimmer of hope rising within her.

“But you said-

“I said you might be able to surpass her in your mastery of fire. But your forgetting that she has 3 more laws to fall back on. So even if your mastery in the law of fire surpasses her, she will crush you using the other 3 laws which are probably higher than her mastery of the law of fire.”

Seeing their downcast faces, the instructor knew what he was saying was harsh, but for them to grow, he couldn’t sugar-coat his words. He hoped that this would push them to train harder.

Looking over at the only member of the team who hadn’t spoken her thoughts, the instructor decided to ask her if she had any questions. “So Elaria, anything to add?”

*Shake*

“Good. Now instead of worrying about class 4, shouldn’t you focus your attention on your upcoming battle with class 5?”

“What are our odds against them?”

“Higher than class 4.”

…

The match against class 5 and class 2 went the way everyone expected it to. Class 5 except Zara completely dominated their matches.

First up was Chasianna against Azariah, which ended in Chasianna tapping into her elf king bloodline and transforming into her elf king form. Unfortunately for her, although Azariah lacked destructive power, she easily made up for it in agility. She was hit over and over again while only managing to burn the edges of Azariah’s clothes.

Zara fought against the child prodigy Daeharice and ended up losing. During their match, more of his potential was released as he got stronger and stronger the longer they fought. This continued until he completely overpowered his opponent. Scoring the first win for his class.

The last match was between class 5’s ace Maeve and class 2’s honourable mage knight Elaria. Although she tried her hardest, even going as far as to use the law of earth, ultimately Elaria ended up losing within the first 30 seconds of her match. She’d always held back using the law of earth as she thought using it was going to far as most opponents of her age group besides freaks like Daeharice and Chasianna were unable to handle it. But when she fought against Maeve, she felt like she was an ant standing before a titan. Every strategy and move she made was obsolete against her as she easily powered through it all without slowing her steps. Just the aura radiating off her made Elaria feel as if she was standing in quicksand, unable able to move and slowly sinking. That was just how strong her opponent was.

And with that the semi finals had come to a close.

Unable to accept the results, Daeharice challenged Maeve in front of the audience. And to his surprise, both the announcer and Maeve accepted his challenge and allowed the fight to happen. For Maeve fighting one more match wasn’t a problem. For the announcer, he knew that the audience wouldn’t be satisfied after hearing the challenge but not seeing the fight.

…

“Why are you so desperate to defeat me?” Standing opposite Daeharice with her sword drawn, this question bothered her, leading her to ask the boy in question. “Even if you somehow beat me, you wouldn’t be able to fight against class 4.”

“I know.” Slowly unsheathing his sword, Daeharice looked at Maeve in her eyes. “But fighting class 4 is not my goal.”

“It isn’t?”

“No. My goal is far beyond them.”

“Oh? Pray tell.”

“I want to show the world that even without the elf king bloodline, I can stand at the pinnacle of power. For all those who were deemed unworthy because they didn’t carry the bloodline, I want to be the light in the dark that shows them a world that they were told they could never reach!”

“But aren’t you stronger than the girl on your team who has an elf king bloodline?”

“Yeah. But now that she’s awoken, she’s like the rest of them.”

“The rest of who?”

“Those deplorable bastards who get away with everything because their bloodline is pure and noble! The bastards who can grow strong without having to put in any effort! The bastards who sit around all day and soak in the elemental laws and are praised as geniuses!”

“I think I understand. Your jealous they can achieve the same amount of power you have without having to put in any of the hard work. But ask yourself this. What if you awakened an elf king bloodline?”

“I would call for the equal treatment of those without the elf king bloodline.”

“Equal treatment? I didn’t know those of us without the bloodline were being discriminated against.”

“Someone like you wouldn’t!”

“Care to elaborate?”

“I can tell you’re the type of person who’ always been strong. Even without the elf king bloodline there’s not many who can stand in your way.”

“Your point?”

“My point is that you probably ignore all those you feel are weaker than you. And from this short interaction, I can guess that from your personality, you think most of the elves are weak. Heck you probably even believe that it is only a matter of time until you surpass most of the older generation and therefore consider them to be weak! What I’m trying to say is, you don’t pay attention to those around you. You’re a selfish, self centred narcissist who only cares about herself!”

“You done?”

Realising that he got carried away, Daeharice felt that Maeve was acting a little too calm.

Shit! She’s not gonna take her anger out on me during this match is she?

“BEGIN!!”

“ARGHHHHHHHHHH” Releasing a battle cry, Daeharice covered his blade in intense flames and shot towards Maeve. “DIEE!”

“Amateur move.” Graceful dodging his sword slash, she gathered a ball of condensed air on her palm and slammed it into his chest.

*BOOM!*

Flying back through the air, Daeharice felt his vision blur for a moment. “WHAT!!”

Standing in front of him, Maeve raised her sword and swung it down!

SHIT!!

*SPLAT!*

Looking at her blood soaked sword, a small smile appeared on her face. “Not bad.”

“Huff…Huff” Standing in the distance Daeharice gripped his left arm as blood flowed down from it. Breathing heavily he remember the moment the sword struck down towards him. In that spilt second he managed to invoke the law of air on his body and somehow avoided a fatal injury.

She’s fast!

Although he had almost suffered a grave injury, Daeharice couldn’t help but show off a dazzling grin.

Why am I worrying so much? As a mage knight my primary focus should be improving my strength. Only by fighting against opponents stronger than myself can I hope to improve!

Looking at his opponent, he felt his blood start to boil.

Feeling the battle intent radiating off of him, Maeve shook the blood off her sword and prepared to strike again.

*Buzz*

Appearing in front of him again, she once again raised her sword and struck down.

Not this time!

His eyes flashed with a hungry light as his figure disappeared from sight!

*CLANG!!*

Swinging around at an inhuman speed, Maeve’s sword was met with that of Daeharice’s!

“Nice trick! But it won’t save you next time!” Applying force to her sword, she easily overpowered him and forced him back!

Disappearing again, he appeared at her side. Swinging his wind covered sword, he released a razor sharp wind blade!

“Hmph” A sneer spread across Maeve’s face as she effortlessly deflected the wind blade. “Is that all you have? How disappointing…Guess I expected to much.”

Flashing around the courtyard both students clash numerous times with the advantage held by Maeve.

Shit, Shit, Shit! Got to go faster!!

Seeing Maeve easily keep up with him despite her eyes being closed, Daeharice felt like he wasn’t doing everything he was capable of!

Summoning flames and wind around his body, he fused the two together and covered his body with it!

“Oh?” A surprised look covered Maeve’s face as she was shaken up seeing what Daeharice had done.

I’d expect nothing less from a prodigy.

Suddenly his speed skyrocketed to an insane degree! Beside his original speed, agility and enhanced reflexes, Daeharice felt like his body was filled with power as every step he took caused the earth around him to crumble as his explosive might shook the air around him.

FASTER!!!

Bright orange winds rotated around his body causing his short hair to rise like it was defying gravity! “To show the world that elves without a bloodline can be strong, I’ll defeat you and every other bloodline elf within the academy!!” His figure flashed as he encircled Maeve, his weapon coated in orange winds rotating at unimaginable speeds. On the other hand, Maeve didn’t even bother to get into a combat stance and instead chose to stand with her sword hanging limply in her hand.

Daeharice’s body flashed and appeared in font of his opponent. Raising his sword high, he swung it down towards her shoulder, but right before the orange coloured wind blade hit her, she a took step to the side and performed a 360 spin appearing at the side of Daeharice.

His speed and power have greatly improved. Does he have the elf king bloodline? Doesn’t seem like it. Maybe it’s something else.

Daeharice wasn’t disappointed that he missed, instead he felt his blood start to flow faster as adrenaline coursed through his veins! He spun to face his opponent and followed up with an upward slash, this time aimed towards Maeve’s chin. Once again, she easily dodged his attack.

FASTER! FASTER!! FASTER!!!

His battle intent spiked as the orange winds around his body sped up causing the area around him to heat up.

He’s improving the longer the fight continues!

Creating an orange coloured tornado he condensed all that power into his feet and leapt towards the silent Maeve. In response to this she simply raised her sword just enough to redirect his sword away from her and into the ground.

With his sword implanted deep in the ground, Maeve took this opportunity to raise her leg and slam it into his ribs.

*CRACK*

Feeling felt a sharp pain rise in his ribcage, Daeharice was sent tumbling across the courtyard.

“You know what your problem is?” Slowly walking towards the downed swordsman, Maeve’s voice penetrated into his ears. “Your swordsmanship is crap, your too hot-blooded, and your desire for acknowledgement clouds your mind. Granted you’ve got the most talent that I’ve ever seen, but all that talent is wasted if you can’t even figure out how to channel it properly.”

Standing in front of him, her eyes held a chilling light causing him to instinctively bow his head. “When we were fighting, I felt that you had room to grow as a mage knight. Your sword strikes were shaky but filled with resolve, your footwork was amateurish but carried you forward, and your power was unrestrained but bent to your will. What I’m trying to say is you have potential to be more than you are! But right now, your lack of emotional control makes you unfocused.”

“So your saying I should let go of my hate for those with the bloodline?”

“Oh God NO! What I’m saying is you need to delve deeper into that hatred. Let it flow through you, make it your driving force. If you can harness that hate and apply it to your battles and training, then even without the elf king bloodline, your rise to the top will only be a matter of time.”

Holding out her hand, she stared into his eyes before showing off a beautiful smile. “Good fight.”

“Yeah” Grasping her hand, Daeharice felt like this was just the beginning of his tale.