Absolute Soul
27. Red Aura

"The winner was Verna Galvoria...." The lawyer took some time to wake up from his inability to witness Verna's strength that makes little sense for high school Blazer candidates.

Gadriel's name is quite well known to the public because he is also one of the geniuses who come from the famous noble family in Wulodhasia, not a few who maintain themselves as the winner of this year's Welcome Tournament.

But who would have thought that the individual who was seeded as the winner of this Year's Tournament lost with just one strike? No, none of the spectators expected this to happen, even though the opponent was Verna who was the most genius Wizard-type Blazer candidate in this generation.

After confirming her victory Verna took off her Elemental Dress then stepped out of the arena boundary, while the medical staff immediately came to Gadriel leaning against the wall of the stands without any awareness.

"Verna, isn't that too much?" Jack greeted her with an unexpectedly dry smile Verna unleashed such great strength just in the match between the academy disciples.

"I was a little upset with them, even though I knew Cecil's opponent was serious about acknowledging Cecil's ability." Verna sighed feeling disappointed in her being consumed by emotions for a moment when she had often been warned by her parents.

Due to Gadriel losing consciousness and suffering a lot of injuries, Gadriel was removed from the list of lottery participants in this match. With this there is no need to doubt which group will win.

After the chaotic atmosphere thanks to Verna's so horrendous appearance subsided, the lawyer drew a lottery which of course on the opposing side has been determined who will compete, who will compete, while on Verna's side once again the purple-haired girl was called to be a participant.

"About? Even after fighting a few minutes ago?" Verna shook her head as she sighed softly, not expecting herself to be called back to fight.

While Verna was intending to walk into the match area, the lawyer exclaimed inside her room, "Ehm, for some reason Gadriel's group surrendered. The winner of the first quarter-final was Verna's group."

"No wonder their last member gave up considering Verna's power is so formidable for the size of a high school Blazer candidate."

"Although the way is cowardly but understandable because the entire Verna group is a monster."

"Right, especially Verna and Jack who are at a power level with the Intermidate or Advance level Blazers, it's not even impossible to be at the level of an Expert level Blazer if they still haven't exerted their full strength."

Not a few vilify the remaining members of Gadriel's group, but almost the entire audience understands his actions because it is difficult to find a match for Verna at this level.

On the other hand Verna sighed in relief knowing she did not need to fight directly anymore. Thanks to using her Elemental Dress in the match against Gadriel earlier her soul energy was drained quite a lot, although her strength became many times that of her normal.

Amidst heated discussions by spectators who were thinking about Verna's true strength, the lawyer announced the draw of the next match, "The next match will be enlivened by Bernard's group and Salvia's group!"

Hearing the announcement of the next match the audience changed the topic of discussion, namely the strength of the Salvia group since the beginning of the tournament always exceeded their expectations, especially the two members other than Salvia.

Salvia who was their chairman as well as one of the seeded individuals as the tournament winner hardly moved at all since the tournament began, similar to Verna. The only thing he has done so far has only been to protect the crystal ball using the snow dome created around it, besides Haikal and Heru working on the rest.

Initially the two youths were indeed underestimated as their names were almost unheard of before, especially Haikal who was rumored to have yet to awaken his Soul Arc. But as the passing of the match the two became taken into account by most of the spectators, even some large Guilds were talking about them.

Heru at first glance looks like a Blazer candidate who is commonly encountered at any high school level academy, but after showing his ability in the match his name was raised and much talked about in the city of Adele.

Different from Heru who is quite normal as a candidate for Blazer, Haikal's name is quite often heard because he is the only first-class student who has not been able to summon his Soul Arc so he is underestimated by many parties, but that was just at the beginning.

Now everyone knows the name Haikal thanks to his amazing fighting abilities despite his inability to awaken the Soul Arc. Haikal was touted as the best 'black horse' in this year's Welcoming Tournament.

The previous two matches were brief, but witnessed a strong will to win from Cecil and Verna's absolute strength that even knocked out one of the seeded participants, Gadriel in one attack, Heru could not help his fighting spirit.

Different from Heru who still had a nervous feeling during the previous match, Haikal had already started to get used to the spectators and their cheers. There was no mocking or insulting laughter, which is one of the reasons Haikal managed to overcome his nervousness.

"The first "match will be played by.... Oh, my hands are full of luck! Participants Bernard Grayhole and Haikal Alendra, please climb to the top of the arena!" Excited the lawyer felt excited and lucky to be able to witness the appearance of the 'black horse' this fast.

The lawyer's call was enthusiastically received by most of the audience, they clearly knew the strength of Haikal who was the only participant who could get to this point without using Soul Arc or Soul Device, he said, pure only used his soul and physical energy alone.

"You're called tuh, go and come back quickly." Heru pushed Haikal's back while snorting in annoyance. He hopes to make his first appearance to vent his spirit, but it looks like he will have to wait for Haikal to win the game.

Haikal himself just laughed dryly understanding Heru's intentions, then turned his gaze to Salvia. The silvery-white haired girl raised her right thumb looking at Haikal's face, "Fight, Haikal. You can do it."

"He has the direct support of the Snow Princess?!"

"Fuck shit!"

"Hey Bernard, beat him with all your strength!"

Most of the audience suddenly became excited to hear Salvia's support for Haikal, especially the students of the academy, both girls and men, although more men. It was no secret that Salvia was one of the idols of the Skymaze academy's students, not even a few outsiders admired her for her strength and beauty.

Haikal who heard that all the confusion had to react as to what, initially they supported him then after getting a simple support from Salvia suddenly they moved to be hostile to him—no, maybe more precisely intended to drop him.

Salvia who was insensitive to her environmental condition could only be confused not understanding why the audience became more excited than before, while Heru shook his head while massaging his forehead slowly.

Ignoring all the excitement that was happening thanks to Salvia, Haikal stepped into the boundary of the arena.

There was already standing a tanned black-haired youth with his hands folded, his red eyes staring intently at Haikal. He is Bernard Grayhole, the leader of the Bernard group who is rumored to have a Warrior-type Soul Arc.

"Haikal Aldra, don't expect you to win me in close combat like in previous matches." Bernard then took out his Soul Arc which was in the form of a one-and-a-half meter long stick in greenish red.

Bernard did not mean to underestimate Haikal, only according to his observations so far Haikal has no chance to win against him because his fighting style is too simple, which is just hitting and kicking. There are no complex patterns or strategies that are enough to threaten an opponent.

Haikal nodded softly at Bernard's statement, "Then I won't be like the previous matches."

After saying that Haikal flowed a large amount of soul energy throughout his body, this time the pressure of his soul energy was strong enough that it seeped out creating a faint red-colored thin aura.

Most of the audience knew Haikal was expending an unusual amount of soul energy to an SMA-level Blazer candidate, but few could see that aura around his body.

Seeing that the two participants were ready to fight, the lawyer gave a sign of the start of the match, making Bernard and Haikal immediately approach each other. Bernard with his staff and Haikal with his fist.