Absolute Soul
22. First Day Tournament: Finished

There was not the slightest sound from the stands, be it cheers or insults for the pair of young men who were standing in the middle of the arena, rather no one could raise his voice.

As far as the Welcome Tournament began there have been some pretty impressive matches in the eyes and hearts of the spectators, but this one match is far beyond their expectations.

Although it was no secret that Salvia was the leader of this group and one of the genius Blazer candidates of her generation, they did not expect this group to win even without Salvia intervening, especially the two young men who were directly moving forward were only purely using soul energy that flowed throughout the body.

There should be no Blazer candidates who are able to do that at their level, even Warrior-type Blazer candidates who rely on the body in close combat are difficult to conquer opponents in one attack. In addition to the unbelievable strength of the two being first class, Haikal and Heru's speed was also almost invisible to most of the spectators present.

The several large Guilds present also fell silent to witness this unusual sight, but they immediately discussed unsure of the matter just now. They thought Haikal and Heru were using a dirty method, but no one could find a way to do both.

"I know we've been training together, but I've never seen your real speed" said Salvia sighing softly to find Heru and Haikal stepping towards her.

During this month Heru and Haikal did often train at the Salvia residence, but they always practiced harder at their respective homes without Salvia knowing. Even each time practicing both almost always use a weight of ten Kilograms on both hands and both feet.

"Of course, if not a surprise his name." Heru smiled broadly showing off his white teeth, while Haikal just laughed wryly watching the ridiculous behavior of his best friend who felt too show off.

Unlike Heru who uses weights while practicing alone, Haikal almost never releases the weight of the ballast, both during eating and sleeping, even when taking a shower, he just took it off for a while before wearing it again.

Plus when Haikal does his exercise routine, which is running for 15 Kilometers every day using heavier weights, making his body destroyed and reshaped using soul energy.

If we had to compare who gained strength from training, then Haikal would have won a landslide victory over Heru.

The lawyer announced the winner after being stunned for quite a while, then continued with the draw of which group would compete next. Of course do not forget the three students who fought Haikal and Heru were first treated by medical staff.

"I don't think they've got impressive strength and speed." Verna commented witnessing the power of her lover and little friend, she did not expect them to reach this level within a month, "What do you think, Jack?"

Behind Verna who was replaying the recording of Haikal and Heru's match just trying to analyze it, Jack fused his hands under his chin with a small smile on his lips, "Well, I can deal with them with the fifth card of Spade or Diamond."

Hearing that Verna let out an unexpected sigh after witnessing their strength Jack could still smile, "As expected of the Jack of All Trade, even they are not your opponents."

"That's not what I mean, they could've put up a pretty big fight on me, but they still couldn't beat me." Jack's confidence is not nonsense, he can really defeat Haikal or Heru if he means it.

On the other hand Verna again sighed in pity towards her lover and little friend, "Sorry you two, but it is us who will win this tournament," inner Verna felt guilty considering Haikal and Heru had been training hard since Junior High, even Haikal since Elementary School.

***

The first day of the Welcoming Tournament closed with a match that surprised many, namely Edward's group match against a group.

"Despite his haughty nature and demeaning to others, Edward's power cannot be underestimated." Heru first opened his mouth talking about Edward's unusual ability, "What do you think, Haikal?"

Haikal did not immediately answer Heru's question, he also felt the great power of Edward's ice. In the match, there were some students who had a Soul Arc like Edward, only the ice produced by Edward was much different from them.

"Pure blue ice that's almost completely transparent, that's hard to find anywhere." Haikal smiled bitterly considering Edward's ice form, not expecting the ice to be that strong.

As far as he knew only the Wizard-type Blazer with the Expert level ice element to the top could create blue and muri ice like Edward, who was, but for High School students, isn't it impossible that Edward has reached that level?

Blazers are known to consist of eight levels, namely Newbie, Intermidate, Advance, Expert, Master, Lord, Cardinal, and Divinity in order from weakest to strongest. Generally the level of High School students such as Haikal, Heru, and Salvia is Newbie or even lower, but it is undeniable that Edward is able to create ice level with Blazer level Expert.

Almost all the first-rate students of Skymaze academy who participated in this tournament his ability could not even be counted as a Blazer level Newbie, how could they win against Edward who had the power of a Blazer level Expert?

The welcoming tournament was intended to show the potential of the new disciples, but there was no match ban for not taking out all his strength. If a disciple like Edward unleashed all his strength, wouldn't there be a chance that another disciple could be put at risk for his life?

Indeed, as long as there is supervision from the teachers and various spectators, no student can do such a thing, it's just that it's not impossible that someone will experience a severe injury so that they can't become a Blazer or even paralysis after the game is over.

"Salvia, what do you think? Can you handle Edward if you're dealing with him?" Haikal turned his gaze to Salvia, feeling doubtful and curious about this girl.

Even though Salvia is touted as a genius Blazer who only appears in once every few decades, Edward's ice power is still visible on it. Salvia's snow element and Edward's ice are both low-temperature focused types, but the ice element is still better than the snow element.

Salvia seemed to think contemplating Haikal's question, she herself hesitated to win against Edward's ice so blue and pure, "I can resist it, but to defeat it would be difficult."

Haikal and Heru both put on a sour face hearing Salvia's statement. Indeed the girl did not say impossible, but Salvia who was said to be a genius just said that, what about the two of them that would be mediocre Blazer candidates?

"I guess all we can do is practice harder, right? There's still one more day before the tournament resumes." Haikal thinks he will increase his training portion during the tournament still entering a period of pause.

Considering the Welcome Tournament is held by and located in the Skymaze academy and all participants are first-class students, tournaments are always paused for one day to connect teaching and learning activities and give participants time to recover.

Haikal thought of telling Salvia and Heru how to practice it, but he still hesitated because until now there were no side effects. He suspected that maybe the side effects would appear after practicing for several months, but until now there has not been the slightest sign of such makes him more hesitant.

After today's tournament was declared finished the three split up to their respective residences, intending to continue with harsher training or thinking of strategies against all the groups they had seen today.

Unknowingly two days had passed, the Preliminaries Tournament had entered the second round.