“Take a look at your contestant number, then find yourself on the boards ! Contestants will fight and demonstrate their magic in combat in each of the 32 pools. The ultimate winner of every pool will qualify for the final rounds !”

Simple and effective. Avo and Sala unfolded their own piece of papers...

“51. I'm in the first pool.” Avo declared as he scanned the board for his number.

“112... Yes ! I'm in the second pool ! At least we won't encounter each other until the finals !”

The loud voice of the student sounded once more above the chorus of conversation :

“Alright ! If you've found yourself, go to your assigned arena in the gymnasium ! The machines should have been moved by now.”

The earthling duo followed the crowd to the gymnasium again. Indeed, the machines were gone and instead, squared platforms were erected throughout the place. 32 platforms for 32 pools. The namekian and human separated to join their own arena, wishing each other good luck.

The organizer climbed atop one of the arena in the center and yelled the rules with gusto :

“There are a lot of people here today, so the college decided to limit the time duration of every fight to five minutes ! The referees will call your numbers and once the bell rings once, if you're not on the ring to fight, you'll be considered to have forfeited ! When the bell rings twice, the match is finished ! Never mind that they are no clear winners : the referees will judge who the winner is !” With even more enthusiasm, he finished with : “Now without further ado... Let the second round of qualifiers begin !”

Among the people crowding the rings, a person dressed in black and white started to call out their numbers. 1 and 2, 3 and 4 and so on and so forth... It was simple and quick, which was a good thing considering the bell sounded pretty damn fast ! The people whose number was about to be called approached the ring before they were and jumped onto it. Still, they were some in the crowd who tried to prevent people from responding to their own call... Unsecured pricks who knew they wouldn't be able to win and qualify for college without these underhanded means...

Being a woman, Sala was focused on by such people. Fortunately, a mild shock from one of her gauntlet dissuaded the group pretty fast... Especially after she told them it was on the lowest voltage and the guy she shocked was twitching and pissing himself on the ground. She won her first fight easily : her opponent had seen her armor's power and decided against tangling with her... At the time, however, she lacked confidence despite that. When Avo's name was called, he didn't bother walking, only rising in the air and landing in the platform without a problem. He saw his opponent was getting restrained so he yelled, his words imbued with mental powers :

“Let him through, you weaklings !”

He might have been a tad... enthusiastic himself, since he sent the jerks down on their knees with just this single sentence. His adversary hesitated when he saw what Avo did, when he felt the energy... In the end, he still got up on the platform, a stone club artistically (albeit simply) carved, with a brown gem on the pommel in hand. As soon as the bell rang, Avo felt his adversary cast an earth attuned elemental spell : an instant later, a layer of rock or dirt appeared out of nowhere to protect his body (except for the face and joints, the namekian noticed immediately). The alien nodded satisfied and declared :

“That's a pretty good spell ! Are you a defense-based battle mage ?”

“A... Battle mage ?” the native asked. “I'm good with earth elemental magic which is, as you probably know, pretty decent when it comes to defense... As for my weapon, it's a... staff or wand. Of sorts...”

“Yeah, but I bet you'll whack me on the head with it if I give you the chance, right ?”

His opponent just nodded before starting to go on the offensive. They only had five minutes at most ! He didn't have time for a pleasant chat. It showed how confident the namekian was, but it still angered him a bit... as if he was looked down upon !

Two rock bullets came from the sides and behind him, forcing him to dodge by closing the distance with his attacker. As the club was raised and brought down on his shoulder, Avo increased his arm and hand size before simply grabbing it. Then, he changed his other arm, turning it into a flesh hammer reinforced with the gnorlat's skin... He punched. A simple punch that carried an overwhelming amount of force. The protective cover cracked and half a second later, the young man was sent back and out of the ring... The mob didn't even have time to clear the floor before his unconscious body fell among them...

His eyes almost bulging out of his head, the referee stayed silent for a while. Then he stuttered :

“C-contestant 51 vs Contestant 52. W-winner : Contestant 52... I mean, hm... Winner : Contestant 51 !”

He was so flustered, the referee almost made a huge blunder ! Still, what was this ? Was this magic ? It barely looked like it ! More like two brawlers going at it in a bar or something... And the difference of power... He looked again fearfully at the namekian and asked himself : 'what is this monster ?'

Avo was already off the platform and headed for Sala's ring. Her second match should be soon, too !

Unlike her friend, the young woman had the jitters even after her first match. Not only would it be the first fight, they would even use something as destructive as magic ! She recalled the projectiles everyone had cast a couple hours earlier and shuddered. Earlier, she felt confident in her creation... Now, however, her mind kept going back to worst case scenarios. Maybe her use of the rail-cannon earlier was too much for its components and would now blow up in her face ! Or the magic circuits had been court-circuited and now her weapons were useless... Or maybe her power core was leaking and her readings on the fritz...

A gentle tap on her shoulder made her jump. It was Avo, who looked at her with a reassuring smile. He said :

“Don't worry ! You'll be fine ! You probably won't even have to use full power... Actually, you should not. Or you might kill your poor adversary...”

Both her number and that of a refined young man with make-up and intricate jewelry in his two crests were called. Even his clothes seemed outrageously expensive and exuded constant power... It made him pretty damn visible on her targeting system. Obviously, the man was wearing enchanted clothing... On the other hand, she couldn't really tell how strong he was because of it : it acted as camouflage to her sensors.

The two contestants climbed the stairs leading to the platform. Contrary to the previous matches, nobody tried to stop them. It was obvious that Sala's display had played a part in it... For the other guy, they could only presume he had some repute. As she thought about that, the woman was feeling rather anxious.

A pedant speech came out of her opponent's mouth that would change that...

“I see you've heard of me ! Then, forfeit ! I'll even allow you to be my woman for a few days... Given how rich my family is, I will be able to give a good time !” And he finished with a disgusting snicker.

Sala eyes turned to narrow slits, her earlier worries completely gone. Her cold words sounded over his revolting laugh :

“So... You're just a pampered brat, huh ? I was worried for nothing, then...” She fiddled with the cannon on her arm, making sure it was not damaged in any way. With a laid-back tone, she asked him : “Say... That's some pretty expensive equipment, right ? You're confident you can take a beating, I bet ?”

The rich kid's facade crumbled quickly hearing this. Sure, his equipment was something but... she was a friend of the abnormal freak ! He just watched his 'fight' with interest earlier and saw what happened to another scion of a rich family... It couldn't even be called that really ! He hoped his bluff would work a bit at least... Maybe he shouldn't have tried to make a play for her so soon...

Meanwhile, Sala raised her arm and aimed toward him, nonchalantly saying :

“Don't worry ! It won't be full power...”

Before he could yell for her to wait, the bullet was fired ! Using his equipment enchantment, he quickly erected a mana shield... It held for barely a second, the impact of the bullet bending the transparent shield before breaking it like a piece of glass. The bullet, slightly slowed down, still scratched deeply at his face. He felt the blood trickle on his cheek, touched his face and saw the deep red fluid on his fingertips. Impotent rage started to build up inside of him... Then, the clicking sounds of Sala's cannon ejecting the cartridge brought another feeling... One that almost consumed him like a tidal wave : fear !

As she raised her arm once more, his voice, no longer haughty, stuttered his surrender in a pleading tone.