=====>After the three days of wait, the cla.s.ses were finally called for the start of the compet.i.tion. As Arima explained before, the eliminations will be one cla.s.s vs another.
The entire eliminations will unfold during a single day. And the students won"t even have the time to rest for the next day when the main compet.i.tion will happen. It"s made on purpose for the students to learn how to save their forces and also to compete under pressure.
The morning of that day, Arima led his cla.s.s to a similar arena as the FDA, an area closed with s.p.a.ce magic. Their opponent this time was one of the cla.s.ses from Heriz Land. Of course, Arima didn"t have any information about the students composing that group.
But the moment he laid his eyes on them, he was already sure of the victory. He just sat down in the stands and closed his eyes, waiting. His usual group also followed him and casually waited with him. The teacher on the other side felt provoked and sneered.
Soon after, the ten judges arrived and took their places in the middle of the arena. Arima didn"t found Raal and Karia among them which meant that they were overseeing another match "It"s time to begin, we"ll begin with the cla.s.s from the Heriz Land. Students, please release your auras at the same time. Also, please understand that the use of the soul contract or a soul beast is prohibited in this test" One of the judges announced and the concerned partic.i.p.ants readied themselves.
They then all started to release their aura to full power. All the judges breathed in and concentrated to precisely evaluate the magnitude. After a minute, they signaled them to stop "Fine, let us talk for a moment" The judges gathered and discussed for a minute.
"We decided the final result. The strongest aura we sensed is at the seventh level, the lowest is at the fourth. We then counted the number of people for each level and counted points corresponding to their level. The final result is 210, the multiplicator will be 2.1" He declared.
"Now, it"s time for the Main Land"s representatives" The judge said and Arima"s students confidently showed off their strength.
When the aura hit them, the judges were shocked. For this evaluation, any enhancement by soul resonance of any sort wasn"t allowed. But the strongest auras they felt was at the eight level. And the fact that there were even two of them was even more astounding. After that, they felt five at the seventh level.
The two who were releasing the biggest auras were, of course, Ferzia and Gaodu. The latter had suffered a huge boost thanks to his inheritance and the former was overwhelmingly talented from birth. And then, there were the seventh levels like Ofia and her sister. But it was also important to say that almost everyone was at least at the sixth level thanks to Arima"s insights and training.
"That"s enough" The judged finally said after their momentary shock "The final results are 245, they will then receive a multiplicator of 2.45" He announced and the Heriz cla.s.s"s mood plummeted. 2.1 and 2.45 didn"t seem to be that different but that actually meant a huge difference in ability and practically set their opponents" victory in the stone.
"The next part of this evaluation will be on aura"s control and killing intent control. For this, please release your aura and make it as calm as possible. Then, release your killing intent and do the same while maintaining your aura. The two cla.s.ses can go at the same time" The judge instructed and the students immediately did as they were told.
It only took a few minutes for the judges to a.n.a.lyze every student"s control "It"s over. We have rated you with a score between one and ten, for each individual. We will add up all of those scores and make an overall score for the cla.s.s and then use the multiplicator" The judges announced and concerted a bit before giving the results.
"Main Land, 303, times 2.45: 742. Heriz Land, 304, times 2.1: 638" The judges gave the results and the cla.s.ses were surprisingly almost equal. But with the multiplicator, Arima"s cla.s.s still won easily. It was also true that Arima didn"t teach them a lot about control. He just told them that it was important.
"Okay, it"s time now for the theory evaluation" The judges didn"t wait for the students and just announced the start of the next part.
"We"ll start with the Main Land for this round. Please come on the arena one by one" The instructions were given and the first one to enter the arena was Isla. She just went first without telling anyone and her comrades could only look as she jumped on the arena.
"Let"s start then. We need to be quick since there are a lot of people to test. So, show us your best theories. In both elemental and non-elemental categories"
Isla smiled and nodded. She decided to first go with mind magic. She gathered her spirit and released a powerful mind wave around her than even made the judges frown. The theory was strong thanks to Arima, but it should be stronger than that with the exact theory Arima had taught them. But it always depends on everyone"s capacities.
Magic theories can be different for everyone, they can even be of opposite senses for the same element. Basically, a magic theory just needs to make sense and the more logical and deep it is, the stronger the magic will be.
For this test, the students are noted on the efficiency of the magic, how strong was the magic compared to the mana used and the time spent casting. But you could also be evaluated on particularities like for example, what Isla did just after.
She cast the Eternal and Infinite Water Arima had given her. The moment the magic was conjured, the judges were completely overwhelmed this time. They couldn"t understand the theory behind it at all. They could only see something like a jelly that could transform into vapor. They also felt that it was extremely strong and efficient.
"You can stop now" One of the judges said with a bit of sweat on his forehead. The judges then talked with telepathy and nodded toward each other "We give you an eight for your mind magic and a ten for your water theory. Your final score is nine"
Isla received her score and smirked before returning to her cla.s.s. Her friends welcomed her and Arima observed with a smile.
After that, it was a simple "butchery" for the other cla.s.s. All of Arima"s students had a high score on theory. The most talented in that category, like Ofia and Balan, even got a ten out of ten for both parts of the test.
n.o.body got a score under seven during the entire test. The team from Heriz felt even more down. They also underwent the test and the final results were given shortly after.
"Main Land, 351, times 2.45: 860. Heriz Land, 304, times 2.1: 638" The judges gave the results that everyone expected.
When they announced those results though, they looked strangely at each other and all looked at the cla.s.s from Heriz Land.
"Do you want to surrender? If you choose to continue now, you won"t be able to step down" One of them proposed. The teacher of the cla.s.s concerned sighed and raised his hand.
"We surrender. I don"t want my students to face a crushing defeat" He lamented.
"The winner of this round is the Main Land"s side. That"s all for this match" After that final announcement, Arima laughed a little and his students felt extremely awkward. Their opponents surrendered three times in a row at the last test. Every time, since the beginning of the compet.i.tion.
"If Raal was here, he would have snapped instantly" Arima smiled and said as he left the arena.
"Well, that was quick" Arister commented.
Chulainn yawned "Why did we need to come here in the first place? Don"t tell me you were worried about those little monsters"
"To be honest, I never thought once that they would lose" Lanya wryly laughed and said.
"Same here" Night and Karma added at the same time. The whole cla.s.s heard their conversation from behind and felt quite good about themselves.
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Back to the moment when Karez pa.s.sed through the h.e.l.l gate.
His vision went black for a moment then completely white until he could reopen his eyes, in the middle of a red desert.
Karez looked around with his dead eyes, his expression only changed slightly and his figure disappeared "I need to hurry. It won"t take long for the devils to realize Kerberos didn"t come back" Karez muttered as he crossed a thousand miles in a few seconds. The red sand under him raised into the air.
"(I wonder, how much time do I have? A few minutes? A few hours?)" Karez thought "(It"s too bad the time is distorted here)" His eyes sharpened and an odd dark aura spread around, its power seemed to be as strong as the second divine.
His speed increased once more and went above a strange forest made of ashen earth and red plants. If you looked carefully, you could see small figures walk on that earth. They were all either exhausted to death or screaming for their lives as if they were being tortured.
Karez couldn"t care less and reached his goal ten minutes after entering h.e.l.l. He landed in the middle of a volcanic area, perfectly representing what people could think of h.e.l.l. He extended his hands and the dark energy he controlled escaped his body.
It started infiltrating the ground and after a moment of silence, the earth started shaking violently. The volcanos spurted out lava and magma rocks. Countless creva.s.ses formed on the ground and a crimson fire escaped from inside and put everything on fire.
Even Karez had to fly up to avoid those flames. At the same time, in this chaotic situation, strong and ominous voices resounded in the entire place.
It actually took an hour for multiple auras to suddenly overwrite h.e.l.l"s surface. Hands appeared from below the ground and from the creva.s.ses, completely unhindered by the flames. Countless figures started coming out of the ground to stand upon firm ground.
They could be anything, giants, demons, beast-men, humans, beasts or monsters. They all came out from the ground at the same time.
The ones that stood out the most were a demon, a beast man and a certain giant. The demon was a stunning woman with eyes that looked like jewels, everyone around her acted as a servant.
The beast-man was a sort of old man with a white bear, white fur with dog tail and ears. It was the same for this man, everyone around feared him but instead of bowing to him they stayed away.
The giant looked like a devil taken from the most horrifying tales. Huge horns, the lower body of a goat and the upper body of a humanoid. His head looked burned and full of blood. His fangs were sharp and numerous as they could be seen without him opening his mouth. There wasn"t any best description than Devil.
The final touch that made Karez grin widely was their aura. The auras of those three were definitely at the third divine and everyone else was below that, but at least above the fifth sky.
"It"s time for a war" Karez"s face turned ugly as he laughed like a madman.