The First Celestial Academy was facing a smaller college from a remote part of the northern region—Starfrost College.
Starfrost College was located in the mountains inhabited by gold-grade Crystal Eagles. Therefore, pretty much every student within the school had an affinity that could bind the Crystal Eagle. In fact, a young Crystal Eagle is given to every entering student for free.
For those with only an average level of talent at D-grade or lower, and a weak family background, a free gold-grade spiritual creature was too great an offer to pass up, even if they had to move to a relatively cold and remote college in the north.
Kain and the other first-years all sat up straighter as they examined who would probably be their greatest opponents in the tournament—the First Celestial Academy.
Although there were no expectations for their opponents to actually hold out long enough to glean any significant amount of information or identify their trump cards, at least they’ll be able to see some of their contracts and/or gifts.
Even if only a little bit of information is revealed in each match, by the time they have to face them for themselves, they’d thankfully not be completely blind to their opponents’ information.
Up first was the 1 vs 1 battle, and on behalf of the First Celestial, a boy smiling smugly with ombre hair that faded from dark at the roots to blonde at the tips took the stage.
Although they didn’t have a lot of information on them, Kain was willing to bet that the boy was not one of the top members of their team. Most likely, similar to their own team, all the top 5 colleges were planning to conceal the top members of their teams.
On behalf of Starfrost was an extremely large and bulky guy that looked to be more than twice the size of his opponent. However, despite his intimidating stature, nobody watching became more optimistic about his chances. In a world where people primarily use spiritual beast contracts and gifts to fight, people’s physiques weren’t particularly important.
After all, no matter how impressive their build is, without an extremely powerful gift it’d be hard to compare physically to most spiritual creatures.
The representative of Starfrost summoned 3 spiritual creatures, all orange-grade.
One was the expected Crystal Eagle, one resembled a polar bear with a light blue crystal in the center of its forehead, and one was a spotted blue, white, and grey leopard with long fangs that extended beyond its chin.
On the other hand, the representative of First Celestial only summoned one contract—a yellow-grade a Taranis.
Taranis are extremely rare spiritual creatures, in fact there probably aren’t more than 3 in the entire Empire and its evolved form happens to be the contract of one of the nation’s few 9-star beast-tamers.
They are a type of dragon-blooded unicorn. They are a deep purple so dark it appears black from afar and have scales instead of fur. Their dark figure is occasionally illuminated with flashes of lightning, which has an almost mesmerizing effect as it illuminates the various colourful undertones in their scales.
Strikingly, it had a snow-white mane that stood out against the rest of its body and gave the tall unicorn, several times the size of a normal horse, an almost handsome appearance.
At the center of its forehead were three horns arranged vertically, with the one in the center being more than twice as long as the ones above and below it.
As the match began, the three Starfrost creatures coordinated their attack. The Crystal Eagle took to the skies with a graceful arc, its wings slicing through the air as it summoned a small snowstorm to obscure the Taranis’s vision. The flurry of snowflakes sparkled in the arena lights, creating a dazzling but disorienting spectacle.
Meanwhile, the polar bear positioned itself to the side, its figure gradually blurred by the snow flying around, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. It crouched low, muscles coiling like springs, its light blue crystal shimmering with latent power as it prepared to strike, likely preparing to use a skill that required some degree of charging time.
The spotted leopard stealthily circled from behind, its keen eyes locked onto the Taranis’s movements, every fibre of its being focused on finding the right moment to attack. Kain could see a faint glow emitting from its long fangs and what appeared to be a viscous, transparent liquid with a blue tinge flowing from its fangs like saliva—a poison?
The atmosphere crackled with tension as the audience watched the Starfrost student execute his strategy. However, it wasn’t due to the suspense of the outcome of the match, but rather due to anticipation of how powerful exactly this rare spiritual creature that they may never see again in their lives was.
The Crystal Eagle screeched, diving in with blinding speed, its talons outstretched, creating a wind that whipped through the arena. However, the Taranis couldn’t even be bothered to shift its attention.
At the same time, the polar bear charged, attempting to close the distance. The leopard took advantage of the diversion, launching itself towards the Taranis from its blind spot, its lean and muscular body moving with an elegant and soundless grace as it approached its enemy concealed by the flying snow.
The audience gasped as the three creatures executed their plan, a whirlwind of coordinated attacks that aimed to overwhelm the Taranis. The Crystal Eagle, high above, summoned icy shards that rained down like daggers, sparkling as they caught the light. The polar bear, powerful and relentless, lunged with its massive paws aimed directly at the Taranis’s flank.
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Meanwhile, the leopard dashed forward, its instincts sharp, seeking to deliver a decisive blow from behind. It moved silently under the attacks of its allies which were meant to distract the enemy; the leopard was the true key to their team’s strategy. If it could even land a small bite anywhere on the Taranis’ body, their team may stand a chance at victory.
However, the Taranis remained perfectly still, exuding an aura of calm confidence. Its owner leaned casually against the arena’s edge, a smirk on his face, and a rapier in hand, as if he were enjoying a leisurely afternoon rather than a fierce battle.
Suddenly, a low rumble echoed through the arena. The Taranis’s eyes glowed with a brilliant blue and purple light as it unleashed a powerful barrage of lightning energy into the surroundings that momentarily shocked the approaching enemies into immobility, their fur and feathers almost comically standing up around them due to the static.
However, Kain could tell that the electric discharge wasn’t even the true intention of the skill, it was merely a side-effect of the immense electric energy being summoned.
The unicorn reared back, its three horns igniting with electric energy. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning fell from the heavens like a descending giant sword, converging on the entire stage and enveloping it in a radiant light.
A storm of electricity surged through the arena, making it hard for anyone in the audience to see what was occurring on the stage. The force of the move created a shockwave that knocked the three Starfrost creatures off their feet covered in electric burns, their attacks thwarted in a heartbeat.
As the light faded, Kain and the others could get a better look at the stage. All three opponents were severely injured, and flickers of lightning could be seen discharging from their bodies as they lay twitching in pain, their movements erratic and desperate. It was not a pretty sight, and many couldn’t help wincing on their behalf.
‘I hope the kids watching at home don’t get too scared…’ Kain thought worriedly. He hadn’t anticipated the battles being so gruesome when he’d insisted that all the members of the orphanage make sure to watch the tournament.
The overwhelming display of power left the spectators in stunned silence for nearly ten whole seconds, before the arena erupted into deafening cheers.
“That Taranis was practically playing with them,” Kairos said with a sense of foreboding. He was a member of the top 5 more skilled in control than frontal combat, therefore he wasn’t feeling optimistic about facing such an offensively powered opponent. Thankfully, all of the 1-vs-1 matches were handled by Kain, Serena, or Soren.
Instead, he and Ranya were in only the team battles where they could shine best.
Kain turned to his right to see Soren, who would be handling their first 1-vs-1 match to see if he was at all intimidated. He found him looking at the field with a twinkle in his eye, and a familiar expression on his face of rivalry that he usually only looked at Kain with.
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“Hmph! They’re all acting like it’s a big deal to beat three orange-grade spiritual creatures from a low-ranking school with one move. I’ll send my opponent packing without even summoning my contracts,” Soren boasted with his chin raised.
‘Sigh…’