Oscar leaped onto one of the many stages. On the stage was one of the proctors, Knight Exalts, under the command of Margaret Ward. The ones designated to gather new students and the soldiers of the Pavilion's army.

The proctor glanced at Oscar before returning to his indifferent attitude. As more names were called, Oscar stayed still and closed his eyes to enter meditation to bring his body to its ideal state.

Finally, his opponent jumped on the other side of the stage. It was a young girl with brown hair and brown eyes. Her eyes stared oppressively at Oscar.

"Introduce yourselves and ready your stances." The proctor brought his hand up, ready to begin.

"Oscar Terr."

"Mary Jones." Mary brought out a silver spear that had a sharp point. She lowered her stance and turned her side towards Oscar, the ideal spear stance.

"Ready." She said.

Oscar brought out his shield, the 'Obsidian Glass Buckler', with its dark smooth surface. He positioned it in front of his body.

The shield in Oscar's hand confused Mary and the proctor. A shield was primarily a defensive weapon and not the ideal starting equipment for a new Exalt. Also, the shield was a buckler that was smaller than average.

The proctor stared questionably at Oscar and wondered if the boy had another weapon as his primary. Maybe a sword in conjunction with the buckler.

"Ready." Oscar did not care about the strange eyes of the others. The buckler was his choice, and he would stand by it.

"Both participants are ready." Ignoring Oscar's odd choices, the proctor brought his hand down as a signal. "BEGIN!"

The air and the stage trembled as Oscar and Mary charged. The proctor quickly settled the dust from their rapid steps and observed the two about to clash.

Mary loosened her grip on her spear and slammed her feet on the stage to stop. The next moment, a flash of silver lunged its way to Oscar. It was the spear's simplest yet most effective attack, the thrust.

The simple thrust used the spear's range to its advantage while having no downtime like the usual swings. Direct and focused with power, Mary's spear warped with her Ein into a deadly blow.

Simply dodging this attack wouldn't do. Oscar understood that this thrust was not that simple, detecting a hint of a trap. Oscar swung his arm with the buckler on it and clashed with the spear's tip.

The violent clash of Ein did not affect the three on the stage. Mary's eyes gleamed as she twisted her spear against Oscar's buckler.

Sensing danger, Oscar retreated a step back away from the spear. He could see coursing through the spear's tip.

"Lightning Edge?" The proctor gazed at Mary's spear, recalling the spell. 'Grade One Lightning Edge' was a spell that sharpened the edges or points of a weapon with lightning. It was not limited to weapons but also hands. However, the sharpness of a weapon was more compatible.

The other natural effect of lightning was its electrical shock, especially if it was created from Ein.

Oscar felt glad to have moved his buckler away in time. He was confident in resisting the lightning, but there would be a slight opening in the short time he would need to recover. With a calm face, Oscar pushed forward as if egging Mary to try again.

Mary gladly welcomed Oscar's bull-like rush and let out another spear thrust with lightning crackling on its head. Since her spell was exposed, there was no need to hide it. 'You only have one option.'

Mary's eyes were focused on Oscar's movements. She knew only an idiot would try to block her lightning attack directly unless they were far stronger. Her observation proved correct as Oscar shifted his feet.

His legs moved to the side; thanks to taking off the weighted bands, Oscar was capable enough to dodge Mary's spear by a split hair. There was no doubt that Mary trained extensively to master her spear technique. Oscar respected Mary's effort, but no one could beat him in that area.

Oscar stepped forward, gaining on Mary's position. The weakness of the spear was the fact it had downtime in its wide attacks. Once it swung out, the wielder would be wide open for attacks.

As a competent spear-wielder, Mary knew its inherent weaknesses. She drew her arms back and tried to swing her spear to Oscar's side. It wouldn't severely injure him, but it would force him away.

'Stone Gaze'

Oscar's spell froze Mary in her place. Her face twisted in shock as she gritted her teeth to resist and break the spell. But the steady lines of Ein connecting her and Oscar proved more difficult to break.

If it were earlier, she would have been able to break it faster, but Oscar continually trained his spell and became more proficient in it.

Oscar swung his black buckler, nearing Mary's face.

The proctor prepared to stop the fight if needed. The image of this girl's face being bashed in by solid metal was not a sight he wanted to see.

Mary's eyes widened as the buckler closed in. She could unravel this spell if she had more time, but Oscar was too quick. All of a sudden, an explosion of Ein surged out of her.

"You wish!" A brown bear appeared out of nowhere, roaring and swiping its claws at the buckler. The power from the bear forced Oscar back several steps, letting Mary recoup and swing her spear.

Oscar dodged the incoming spear and retreated again with some sweat on his brows. The bear's power made his arm tremble slightly. Oscar looked warily at the large bear. "That's your Anima?"

"Something wrong with it?" Mary asked. Her brown eyes narrowed at Oscar. Some people insulted her by saying that the large bear did not suit her. However, most of them were intimidated after it stared them down.

"Nope. Anima is an Anima. All that matters is what you can do with it." Oscar summoned his blue deer anima, surprising Mary, who stared at the cute deer with antlers.

"Hahaha. You're right. I do think perhaps our animas were swapped." She jokingly said. Their animas looked like a perfect match for the other rather than themselves.

"Will you be continuing?" The proctor had no time for their little banter and suggested they start fighting again. The Grand Gathering could not afford any delays.

"Of course." All jokes and smiles were wiped away from their faces. Oscar and Mary stared at each other intently with no desire to lose. They understood it would most likely end in this next clash.

Oscar and Mary kicked off a cloud of dust, charging at each other. Their Animas followed by their side.

The Ein around their bodies spiked as the battle reached its peak. It was all or nothing, no holds barred. Either Oscar or Mary would end up on the floor.

In a shocking move, Mary switched places with her bear, matching her bear against Oscar and personally attacking Oscar's deer. Her strides were unfettered, and her face had confidence plastered across it.

'You've made the mistake of exposing your deer anima. It's a grade four.' Mary could tell from the deer's aura that it was not the same grade as her bear. This gave her confidence in handling it long enough for her bear to overpower Oscar. 'I don't know what spell you used to make me freeze like that, but I could feel it was affecting me through my eyes. It should be fine if I'm not the one fighting you.'

If Oscar decided to fight the bear head-on, then he would be crushed. If he switched targets to her, his deer would be crushed by her bear. Mary charged her spear's head with lightning and stabbed at the deer anima. 'No matter what you decide, you can't possibly win.'

The deer anima did not shrink before the blow but dipped low, causing the spear to miss. Once that happened, the deer twisted its head upward to lock the spear.

"That won't help you!" Mary looked expectantly to the side where her bear and Oscar began their battle.

The bear stood on its hind legs and swiped its claw at Oscar, who responded by taking a step forward. The bear's arm crashed into Oscar, who put his guard up.

'Reis Awaken'

'FLOWING MOUNTAIN'

Oscar focused the Reis of the bear's overwhelming strike through his body to his fist, slamming into the bear's stomach, forcing the behemoth animal to keel over to the floor.

"GUH!" Mary lost her footing and spat out a long arc of blood from sharing her anima's pain. She could not hold onto her spear and fell flat to the floor.

Her brown eyes revealed her shock and confusion at the situation. Her anima was of the bear type, lauded for its incredible physical power; it should have overwhelmed Oscar.

"Winner: Oscar Terr!" The proctor announced the results and recorded them for the Pavilion.

"Good fight." Oscar unsummoned his deer, letting go of Mary's spear, which clattered on the floor. He turned to leave and rest before the start of the next round.

"Wait…." Mary managed to pull herself up, but her legs were still shaking, so she used the spear as a crutch. "Can you let me know…how you did that?"

"I can't tell you. Information is key." Oscar glanced at her.

"True…Sorry for asking."

Oscar saw Mary's face darken and understood this would eat her up inside. She may go through second-guessing herself many times and constantly thinking else she could have done. Although he did not know her personally, he did not want her spirit to break.

He sighed and said, "Let's just say that technique of mine carried some risk to me. Your bear truly was powerful." Suddenly, Oscar felt an acute pain in his heart, forcing some blood out of his throat.

Mary stared intently at Oscar's state and nodded. "You didn't need to take a risk like that."

"It's all a calculated risk. I'm fine taking this damage as long as I can still stand." Oscar wiped his mouth and smiled.

"Hehehe. You're right. Maybe if I took the risk to attack you directly, it would have worked out for me." Mary understood that her cowardly nature was part of the reason she lost.

"You can't think like that. I say you were strong. It's just it was a bad match against me." Oscar comforted the girl.

"I'll ask for a rematch later. Good luck." Mary stepped off the platform and went to where the other losers gathered to watch the remaining matches.

Once she was gone, Oscar breathed heavily. The bear's attack was really strong. He knew that from when the bear slammed his buckler.

Anima was truly astounding with its unique abilities and strengths. He had to go past his short time limit for 'Reis Awaken' to redirect the bear's Reis, damaging his heart slightly. Plus, he still couldn't redirect all of it and felt a partial part of its power. 'She was only a Grade Five. Seriously?.'

Oscar sat down, entering into Ein meditation since there would only be a twenty-minute break between each battle. Every moment counted.

…….

"That boy…"

On the terrace overlooking the stadium, Grand Commander Margaret Ward's keen eyes locked onto Oscar, who was in meditation. Through unknown means, she was able to keep track of and observe every match that was occurring. However, now her wide observations were focused on Oscar.

"Reis Awaken and Flowing Mountain?" Her pretty face, which did not match her age, turned into a frown. "Draven, you maniac. What have you done?"

She stood up and ordered her attendant, who was waiting on the side. "Get me the records on this boy."