Meeting Tina’s gaze, Asterios gently smiled back at her. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Tina’s decision was one he had an easy time predicting. She knew the academy’s rules as well as he did so it wasn’t surprising they could come to the same conclusion without having to exchange a single word before the ceremony.

And, no further ones were necessary either. They nodded at each other knowingly and Tina turned to the Principal.

“As my opponent for this year’s showmatch, I wish to challenge Asterios Hestizo! I truly believe he is a worthy opponent and that our battle will be nothing short of legendary!” she announced loudly to everyone gathered in the plaza, roaming her gaze over the audience.

People began whispering to each other and looking between themselves, creating a noticeable murmur.

Those knowing Asterios from the past wondered if it was a joke or if she really wanted the showmatch to be a complete beatdown, like a spar between the Strongest One and the Weakest One would surely be.

The others disagreed with that opinion, stating the man’s entrance and the aura he emanated as proof of his prowess. Most of them hadn’t known Asterios before and could only judge with what their eyes and ears provided them at the current moment.

Amongst the students, there was one blond-haired boy who kept completely silent, not joining the fervent discussion taking place between his colleagues. He knew well how evenly matched the two challengers could be thanks to his first-hand experience with both. But, it wasn’t like he could correct his friends without explaining how he had gained that knowledge, which was definitely out of the question.

“What?! That’s preposterous!” A man’s voice broke through the noise and the crowd went silent.

Everyone turned to look at the members of the Council who stood slightly further from the Obelisk of Wisdom than the Principal and the others. They had followed them before the engraving took place and stopped on the side to watch over the rite.

“You can’t choose someone who has been banished from the academy!” the middle-aged man continued with a furious expression while a few other members of the Council nodded in approval.

Principal Teireshia stepped forward and smiled at him.

“With all due respect, Professor Ghasley, chapter eleven, clause five, paragraph three explicitly states that a challenge can be issued to a person who attends or has attended the Rosewind’s Academy,” she quoted the indisputable rules word by word. “It does not specify how one’s education came to an end. Therefore, Asterios here is fully eligible to participate in the showmatch.”

The man wanted to refute but couldn’t find the correct words and was left with his mouth hanging open and a finger lifted into the air. Before he collected himself, an older woman moved to the front.

“You are interpreting the rules on your own, Principal. It has always been a former graduate that was picked as that year’s top student’s opponent, as the same document you have brought up states. It’s a tradition.”

The Principal chuckled softly and shook her head. “Dear Professor Magreine, I’m afraid you might want to reread our statute once more to refresh your memory. The same chapter and clause, paragraph six—It is encouraged to choose a postgraduate with several years of experience to ensure that the ceremonial showmatch is held at an appropriate level which will not shame the academy.”

“And do you believe this waste of a Sum—”

“Yes, I do,” Madam Teireshia cut the woman short with a strict tone, shutting her down. “I share Tina’s belief that there’s no better person for this year’s showmatch.”

“And what if you are mistaken? You’ve always been awfully fond of that incompetent failure,” a different, older man with white hair and beard asked.

She moved her gaze onto him. “Then, I will step down from my position as the Principal.”

A wave of gasps echoed through the small plaza surrounded by the main building’s long and tall wings. People again began whispering between themselves, some questioning the Principal’s sanity to bet her status on something like that. And so did the members of the Council.

“You would love that, wouldn’t you, you old coots,” she whispered to herself with a quiet chuckle.

“Principal…” An anxious expression showed up on Tina’s face.

“Don’t worry. She knows what she’s doing.” Asterios winked at her. “Besides, what do you think the odds even are?”

A small smile broke the brief moment of concern and Tina giggled softly. Asterios smiled and gently patted her head while everyone’s attention was directed at the argument amongst the academy’s officials.

After a moment, the same old man turned to them again.

“It seems that you are confident in your decision, Principal. As the members of the Council that watches over the academy’s well-being, we have no qualms with trusting you on this. But, in case this turns into an unfavorable situation, we will have to hold you to your word, as much as it would pain us.”

The principal rolled her eyes at them. The respectful play they were putting on in front of the crowd was really annoying and completely shameless. They made it look like they were the victims there.

“So be it. Everyone here is a witness. I do not break my oaths,” she replied. “Now, without delaying it any further, let’s move on to the showmatch, which will take place on the ceremonial battleground just behind the Obelisk of Wisdom. I encourage everyone to join us for the event. It will be one of a kind.”

The silence was broken again as people started getting up and heading toward the appointed location. They didn’t have to walk too far as the rectangular plot of ground serving as a ceremonial arena lay almost right in front of the Obelisk of Wisdom but from the other side.

Naturally, Asterios and Tina didn’t stay behind and Grea quickly caught up to them, throwing her arms over their shoulders from behind.

“I can’t wait to see the two of you in action! This is going to be so good!”

Asterios smiled wryly while Tina chuckled. They didn’t talk anymore during their short trip to the arena. Grea wished them luck and remained at its edge while both challengers walked right to the center and turned towards each other. The crowd soon gathered all around them, also not stepping over the borders of the only slightly raised platform.

“Please, give us a few minutes to set up a barrier to assure the complete safety of everyone watching and we can begin,” Principal Teireshia announced with a loud voice.

“The Royal Division will take care of that,” Silvia interjected from her side and snapped her fingers.

All the present beasts flew above everyone’s heads, circling the arena a few times, and descended onto its edges. Six members of the Royal Division per side spread out evenly. The riders jumped off their mounts and moved to the front, bringing their ornamental sabers out.

Perfectly synchronized with each other, they lightly cut their thumbs and made the same, complex sigil in the air. It flashed green and a faint gust of wind burst out of each of the glowing symbols. Small whirlpools of the same color formed by their feet and extended up until they reached a person’s height.

“Woah! It’s Sylphidae!” someone from the crowd exclaimed in amazement.

After the tornadoes retracted back into the ground, they revealed humanoid entities whose bodies were fully translucent and had a greenish tint, resembling energy of some sort. Dark emerald plates of stone armor covered some parts of their figures, leaving most areas of the limbs and a few other places exposed.

The summons extended both hands to the front in unison and erected a tall wall of wind, cutting off the arena from the audience. At first, it had a greenish tint too, but the color quickly faded and only occasional smudges could be spotted in the always-changing barrier.

The spectators marveled over it for a moment and soon turned their attention to the duo inside. Asterios and Tina faced each other.

“Well then. How do you want to do it?” he asked.

She giggled adorably. “I don’t think one-versus-one amongst our summons would end well.”

Asterios smiled wryly. “Sorry.”

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize. That would actually be a great show of your abilities.”

“It’s your big day, not mine. I’d rather have you shine instead.”

Tina blushed a little and nodded to hide her warm expression.

“Let’s go with what you are best at,” Asterios suggested. “I had some training in that field so it will be just the perfect test.”

“Are you sure?” Tina glanced at him with a smile.

“Bring it on and don’t hold back,” he answered with a smirk.

They both jumped back and instantly got to their knees. Tina pulled out a piece of chalk from one of her internal pockets and Asterios did the same. The crowd watched how they drew intricate formations on the ground, setting up two distinct magical circles. Finishing almost at the same time, they stood up and walked onto the first one.

The array under Tina’s feet shone cyan and her skin began changing. Scales started surfacing over the visible parts of her body and assuming a dark blue color, covering her figure in a tough-looking layer of armor which also gave a quite slim and slender feeling. It left her face and fingers intact, where her human skin could still be seen.

Next, she moved over the next set of patterns which emitted a light green hue. Tina extended her hands to the sides and closed her eyes, raising her face to the sky. A glow of the same shade appeared behind her back and flashed once.

A pair of giant wings resembling those of a bird unfurled outwards. They flapped a few times, dropping a bunch of feathers, and returned to their dormant state behind Tina’s figure, folding themselves in wait for their time to come.

Finally, while stepping off the second magical circle, Tina slowly drew her right hand back. A helix of water ran down her entire arm and reached her fingers. Not stopping there, it extended further, quickly forming a breathtaking scythe made of pure water right in her palm. It looked sharp and deadly as the liquid constantly swirled and moved.

She had borrowed the abilities of all her current summons in preparation for the battle. The scale armor came from Firo, the Water Serpent. The wings were a gift from Ori, her first familiar, who was a Shearwater. And finally, the scythe was Hydran himself, the summon she had contracted with Ast’s help.

Asterios hadn’t been wasting his time either and acted accordingly.

Instead of scales, his body was covered by smooth, black fur in a similar fashion, leaving out his fingers and face in their normal state. While Tina’s technique increased her defense, his spell boosted physique and senses. A pair of panther-like ears and a thin tail decorated his head and butt respectively.

He also had wings behind his back. Ast’s ones were snow-white though and much more appealing, almost angelic as someone from the audience had pointed out. They were slightly broader, fitting his build perfectly. There was no doubt they could provide him a great deal of maneuverability, all thanks to Bryn.

And, as his weapon, Asterios had decided to go for something fitting the strength coming into him from Miria’s half of the ability and shaped an ominous-looking greatsword in a similar way. For Tina, it was water, for him, it was pitch-black, seeping shadow rolling down his sleeve as he asked Umbra to fill the role.

“The wings are new, aren’t they? There goes my only advantage.” Tina sighed but a smile couldn’t leave her lips.

Asterios chuckled. “I have something different to show you but I don’t think it’s necessary to do it in front of everyone.”

That piqued Tina’s interest. “Oh? And What’s that?”

“You’ll have to see for yourself. Although, it most likely won’t be as exciting for you as it was for Miria considering that you own a pair. Also, I’ll introduce you to the person behind these wings later.”

“Person? Why I’m not surprised.” Tina giggled and assumed a battle stance. “Shall we begin, then?”

Asterios rested the blade on his shoulder and gestured at her with his free hand. With a wide smile, Tina leaned forward and flapped her wings, shooting ahead with speed much higher than everyone in the audience expected. They couldn’t know that her wings weren’t using only the strength of their muscles to move.

Thanks to the heightened senses granted him by Miria’s energy, he met the impressive strike of the deadly scythe by setting his greatsword horizontally. A strong shockwave erupted from the point of impact, causing the air inside the barrier to shake.

He wanted this duel to remain as fair as possible so Asterios hadn’t used his draconic heritage to enhance his body and mind. He wasn’t a cheater and winning wasn’t his most important objective in this bout. Showing to everyone how great Tina was could be achieved with what borrowing Miria’s bloodline provided him.

Coincidentally, that was Tina’s goal too. To some extent, at least.

She wanted to use this opportunity to show the students and the professors how wrong they had been. Battling against the academy’s top student, ace even, was a perfect chance to achieve it. Everyone was aware that she was strong, if not the strongest amongst the recent graduates, but no one had any idea about Asterios.

It could prove his might if he held himself firm against her, or even bested her. Tina was glad Asterios had almost mirrored her abilities. That way, they appeared as close to each other in terms of power as possible. It made it so much easier to display their levels in a way people could compare them.

Amongst the crowd gathered behind the wind barriers, a few groups had formed, with the criteria of sorting based on the reaction to the scene in front of their eyes.

The air was filled with a multitude of gasps and sighs each time Tina rushed towards Asterios and swung her mesmerizing weapon at him at a different angle. She kept flying low near the ground, mid-high, and sometimes above to launch attacks in all axes.

A small group of professors and members of the Council watched the show with disbelief and clear confusion while those few who hadn’t ignored the signs of Ast’s strength and hadn’t been so hostile to him couldn’t help but feel remorseful. Their lack of insight had cost the academy big time.

Then, there was the Principal, Grea, and Silvia. They enjoyed the bout with smiles on their faces, the first two proud of their protegees and friends. Just borrowing and upholding three techniques from one’s summons was considered an amazing feat and both Asterios and Tina utilized them seemingly effortlessly. All the Summoners would understand that without an explanation.

As the spectators did their best to follow the fight, Asterios and Tina were entangled in a fierce bout. So far, he had only moved as much as to avoid the attacks he wasn’t able to block or parry, and there were quite a few. A bunch of cuts present in his dark crimson coat gradually patched themselves up with a small flame.

Tina withdrew herself after her last strike and stopped a distance from Asterios, glancing at his and her clothes.

“Looks like you don’t have to worry about ending up naked in the middle of the fight.” She chuckled, spotting some damage in her attire too, which, obviously, wasn’t regenerating. “Such a useful ability.”

“You might be able to achieve something like this in the future too, under certain circumstances,” he replied with a smile.

“That would be wonderful. What are they?”

“Oh, nothing much. All I need is… you!”

Without a warning, Asterios switched into offensive and launched himself at Tina just like she had at the very start. She wasn’t taken purely by surprise and managed to brush the sizable blade of his greatsword aside with a well-timed parry, causing it to slam into the ground with a loud boom.

A faint trace of rosiness surfaced on Tina’s cheeks as their faces ended up right in front of each other. Asterios could tell she had understood what he meant just by looking at her. He smiled softly, receiving the same in response, and they continued their dance with death.

The exchange grew more heated as both of them showed clear participation in the offense rather than one side just defending all the time. Their wings flapped loudly as their weapons clashed together again and again.

With such a wide range of movements granted to them by the feathery extensions, their maneuverability was almost boundless. The number of times they exchanged blows while upside-down or in weird horizontal positions was as high as the number of clashes with their feet on the ground.

Both sides seemed evenly matched in the eyes of the spectators but Tina was growing tired much faster than Asterios and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t really force himself to negate the passive effects his scorching hot energy and draconic heritage had on his body.

Tina, knowing it well, decided to switch her approach a little. To her close-quarters attacks, she began adding long-ranged ones too. The crowd gasped even louder when she started sending arcs of unstoppable water from her scythe, creating shallow cuts in the ground.

The barriers trembled a little each time one of them was hit with the flying blades so Asterios dropped the thought of evading and matched most of the projectiles with his own. Deep, misty shadows flew out of his greatsword and clashed with the water arcs, creating powerful explosions of mana in mid-air.

A show of flashing lights took place inside the arena. The ceremonial platform, which had survived a great number of matches, was beginning to slowly accumulate damage for the first time in many years, and it didn’t go unnoticed by those who knew about it.

After another explosion induced by Ast’s and Tina’s clashing projectiles, they were both pushed back. Asterios brushed his cheek with the back of his palm and noticed a trail of blood on it, coming from the fresh cut on his face.

“That one was close. A few millimeters up and I would have lost an eye.” He chuckled and glanced around. “It looks like the Royal Division has a hard time keeping up.”

Tina chuckled softly too, walking out of a cloud of their mixed water and shadow mana. A long cut ran over the side of her neck, penetrating the scales covering it. A bit of blood slowly trickled from her shallow wound.

“What am I supposed to say?” She smiled at him, touching the red mark. “Shall we get serious, then?”

“We might as well.” He smiled back.

They both released a powerful aura from their bodies at the same time and got in position.

It was time for the finale.