Absolute Soul
19. The Welcome Tournament Begins

It had been a few weeks since Haikal and Heru had come to the Salvia residence to train together, since then the two almost came every day for the same reason, especially Haikal who until now had not been able to summon his Soul Arc.

"It's hard to compete like this." Haikal sighed heavily, not expecting his efforts so far to summon his Soul Arc to still be fruitless.

It is true that thanks to the training and guidance he received from Salvia all this time increased his strength quite rapidly, but without the Soul Arc then he could not be called a Blazer. This continues to confuse his head, even he had fallen ill for a few days because he was too worried.

"What's up, Haikal? Your face looks so tense." Heru patted Haikal on the shoulder thinking his best friend was suffering from stage fright and was intending to help him.

Today was the day that the Welcome Tournament began. Skymaze Academy negates teaching and learning activities and invites various Blazers, Guilds, and ordinary people to attend this place just to enliven this tournament.

Skymaze Academy is one of the five most renowned Blazer academies in Wulodhasia as well as one of the best Blazer academies in the world, therefore many guests from home and abroad come just to watch this tournament.

There were also some special rooms for the large Guilds that came, for example Ambrosia, Night Orchid, and many others, making the tournament even more lively.

"Lost Crescent's...." Ignoring the worried Heru, Haikal's gaze was centered on a room with a black crescent symbol on a glass window.

Lost Crescent was actually not a large and world-renowned Guild per-Blazeran international, only Haikal could not let go of his suspicions from this Guild. It was this Guild that his father used to work in.

Haikal's father, Raditya Aldra, was one of the Blazers who was strong enough to judge among standard Blazers. He upholds justice and equality, but when Raditya undertook a mission from the Lost Crescent he never returned home.

A few weeks later the Lost Crescent men came to Haikal's residence and declared Raditya missing in the middle of his mission and never found. Different from his mother who immediately burst into tears, Haikal looked at the Lost Crescent people suspiciously because of their smiles that should not be raised.

At that time no one other than Haikal noticed their expressions so Haikal put his suspicions on the Lost Crescent Guild that killed his father instead of just disappearing.

In the per-Blazeran world only the strong are in power and respected, even to be the leader of a region in some countries must have sufficient Blazer capability. Raditya's high-end personality of justice and equality is not a thing to be liked at this time.

When Raditya was declared missing, at the time Haikal was only seven years old while Seran was six. It sounds strange, but Haikal is known to have a sharp intuition between his family and neighbors.

"Haikal, are you still thinking about that?" Knowing Haikal's gaze was fixed on the Lost Crescent room, Heru could not stand still looking at it.

"One of my goals as a Blazer is to investigate them, you know for yourself, right?" Haikal's tone sounded coldly replying to Heru without turning to him.

Heru could only sigh and let Haikal look at the Lost Crescent room and pat his best friend on the shoulder, "I know, but don't let resentment and hatred control you."

After speaking so to Haikal, Heru turned his attention back to the front where the headmaster, Veindal Volksky, was making a speech with his spirit until he forgot the time.

A few minutes later, Veindal ended his speech after receiving a reprimand from some teachers, "Well, let's just open the Welcome Tournament this year!"

Together with the call were seen some fireworks blooming over the arena. With that this year's Welcome Tournament has opened with great fanfare.

The preliminary round applies a points system for each group in order to qualify for the next round. Each group would fight against the other group five times until leaving the top eight groups using the total winning points.

The eight groups will continue the match in the quarter-finals, looking for the group who is the most powerful among the latest generation of Skymaze academy.

"Room...." As soon as they entered their waiting room, Salvia immediately called Haikal who was stepping towards the available seat, making the young man turn towards her, "What's up, Salvia?"

Salvia put on her expressionless face as usual, "This is for you." Salvia then took out a small iron rod 20 Centimeters long and gave it to Haikal.

Haikal's eyes glared fiercely when he saw the iron stick given by Salvia, Heru's eyes were no less wide than Haikal witnessed it.

At a glance the iron rod was just an ordinary iron rod, but after further investigation, everyone will know that the iron rod is a Soul Device that is very expensive for ordinary people such as Haikal and Heru. This one tool is worth at least 100,000 Bolds, a fantastic sum to both.

"Why is this expensive tool you gave me?" Haikal was astonished to stare at the iron rod and Salvia's face several times, not understanding the reason Salvia gave the Soul Device to him.

"You haven't been able to summon your Soul Arc, have you?" Salvia then explained that Haikal will only be the target of other participants considering that in addition to statistics, the ability of each Soul Arc greatly affects the flow of the fight.

Even though Haikal has mastered some martial movements and has a very strong and tough physique, it does not mean he can fight balanced against the Blazer without Soul Arc.

In their generation only Haikal is a person who has not been able to summon the Soul Arc and all his students know this, of course as a Blazer candidate without Soul Arc Haikal will be targeted all out by all of them because it has become common knowledge Blazer without Soul Arc is not a real Blazer.

"But, isn't this tool so expensive? I can't just take it for granted." Haikal intended to return the Soul Device to Salvia, but the girl refused him outright.

"If you can't take it, then consider it a borrowed item. Use it well and as much as possible do not damage it," said Salvia smiled faintly, leaving Haikal and Heru stunned for a moment.

They already knew Salvia was very beautiful, but her smile made this girl look even more beautiful. Although Haikal had seen Salvia smile several times, he had never gotten used to this.

Haikal who could not resist Salvia any further finally relented and accepted the iron rod, then tried to drain some soul energy to activate it. At that moment one end of the stick gave off a bright green laser beam and formed a thin sword 60 Centimeters long.

Haikal and Heru were stunned to see the laser sword issued by the iron rod. Although he had thought this tool was a kind of sword, Haikal still could not believe that he was currently holding a tool worth hundreds of thousands of Bold in his hand.

"Hows it? It suits you, doesn't it?" Salvia smiled smugly seeing that Haikal could activate it without any problems.

Haikal only nodded slightly still unable to take his eyes off this Soul Device. It took him some time to regain his admiration and deactivate the sword-type Soul Device, then cleared his throat slightly, "Thank you, Salvia. I'll use it as best I can."

Salvia only nodded softly to hear it, then turned her attention to a large screen on one of the walls of the room followed by the other two, "The first match of the Welcoming Tournament has begun."