Chapter 472: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Domination & Rising Star

"WOOOOAAHHHHHH!"

The loud roar of the crowd echoed across the Arena, loud enough that even people inside the large infirmary tent outside the Arena could hear it clearly.

The tent had been built close enough to the Arena for the Medic teams to move injured students quickly, but far enough away that the noise from the battles was usually muffled by the thick canvas walls.

Today, however, the cheering was too loud.

The sound passed through the walls and reached the beds where the injured students were being treated.

Selena slowly opened her eyes.

A white lamp was hanging above her, its light shining directly into her eyes.

She blinked several times.

Her vision was blurry at first, and she could only see the white ceiling of the infirmary tent above her.

"Whe...?"

Her voice came out weak.

She moved her head slightly, trying to understand where she was.

"Good morning, Sunshine."

Sasha’s voice came from her right.

Selena slowly turned her head.

Her eyes first landed on Sasha.

Then Diane, who was sitting beside Vera, resting her head against Vera’s shoulder as if she had become too tired to keep herself upright.

Vera herself was sitting calmly on a chair.

Her arms were folded and leg crossed.

Her expression was as plain as ever.

She simply stared at Selena.

Selena blinked.

Then she looked down.

She was lying on a bed.

There were healing bandages wrapped around one of her hands, and several other parts of her body felt sore beneath the clothes the Medic team had given her.

"I’m in the infirmary, right?"

She asked after finally putting the pieces together.

"Yeah."

Sasha answered softly.

Selena stared at the ceiling again.

"Ahhh..."

She released a long sigh.

Her eyes slowly closed.

Ahhh...

I can’t believe I acted like that.

She remembered it.

The fight.

The wind.

Her own shouting.

The moment she had forced herself through Elena’s huge tornado.

Her face slowly became red.

She turned her body away from Sasha and the other girls, pulling the blanket slightly closer to herself as though hiding her face would somehow erase what had happened.

She sighed heavily again.

I can’t believe I really did that.

Sir Ezra is going to be so turned off because of this.

Nooooo!!!!

Selena’s thoughts became chaotic.

She pressed her face against the pillow.

Why did I scream like that?!

Why did I charge straight into the attack?!

Why couldn’t I have handled it more elegantly?!

Her mind replayed the fight again.

She remembered the feeling of the wind cutting across her skin.

She remembered the moment her barrier began breaking apart.

She remembered grabbing Elena.

Then she remembered losing consciousness.

Her eyes suddenly opened.

Wait.

I fainted.

Selena’s expression froze.

Elena had still been standing when she lost consciousness.

Which meant...

She had lost the match.

In front of Ezra.

Again.

Her fingers slowly tightened around the blanket.

She had wanted to show him how elegant and strong she was.

Since this was actually the first match, she had fought where Ezra would be present in the First-year stands, watching her.

Instead, she had ended up screaming while running through a giant tornado before collapsing in front of everyone.

"I’m a barbarian."

Selena muttered to herself.

Her voice carried a hint of sadness.

She remained facing away from the others.

"You won, Selena."

Vera spoke calmly, while her dull black eyes narrowed on Selena.

"Ehn?"

Selena immediately turned around.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Vera.

Vera hadn’t changed her expression.

She simply continued looking at Selena, but with narrowed eyes.

"Your dearest sister surrendered before they announced the winner."

Diane explained.

Her voice sounded light and tired, as if she had already repeated the story several times.

Selena stared at her.

"Is that so?"

A helpless smile appeared on her face.

She lowered her eyes.

So, Elena surrendered...

Even though she had the opportunity.

Yet she didn’t take it.

Selena’s expression softened.

"Where is Willow?"

She suddenly asked, looking at the girls with her usual elegant expression.

"I told you good morning."

Vera folded her arms more tightly and tilted her head slightly to the right.

Her expression remained completely blank.

"Did you think it was for ascetics?"

Selena stared at her.

She didn’t understand what Vera was trying to say.

"Are we in the morning now?"

Selena asked, clearly confused.

"You were out for the remaining time yesterday."

Sasha answered calmly

Selena went quiet.

She looked toward the entrance of the infirmary tent.

The bright sunlight coming through the opening told her that Vera was right.

She had been unconscious for much longer than she thought.

***

Back in the Arena, the remaining matches of the Sixth Round had already begun.

The spectators had barely finished discussing Selena and Elena’s battle before the next fighters entered the stage.

The first match was Willow Derlis versus Leopold Brittan, a member of the Royal Family.

More precisely, Leopold belonged to a cousin House of the Royal Family of Britannia.

The audience expected an interesting fight, to a certain extent.

Instead, Willow dominated.

The battle ended quickly, before the time even reached a full minute.

The difference between the two fighters became obvious almost immediately, and Leopold could not find enough room to turn the battle around.

The same thing happened in the following match.

Maxwell faced Davie Wakener, one of the more shocking names in the Combat Festival.

Davie was a Non-Noble from the Scholar and Fashion House of Wakener.

Unlike the noble families that had inherited powerful Alchemy Paths for generations, the Wakener family had built its reputation around scholarship, fashion, and their talent in the Craft-Base Alchemy Path they follow.

Davie’s Path is a simple but creative one.

Weave Alchemy.

It is an Alchemy Path that allows him to manipulate cloth and fabric, enhancing them and shaping them into whatever form he wants.

A simple piece of cloth could become a shield.

A strip of fabric could even become a binding weapon.

Even his own clothes could be turned into weapons if he controlled them correctly.

Davie was also one of the students taught by Professor Giggs Ryan, the professor responsible for the Alchemy Circle Conversion course.

Professor Giggs had previously mentioned Davie as one of the students who possessed a good understanding of the course, alongside students such as Vera, Diane, Ezra and others.

That understanding had become obvious throughout the Combat Festival.

Davie had glided through the earlier matches, defeating opponent after opponent with his control over Cognis and his unusual combination of Alchemy Symbols.

Rather than relying on one powerful technique, he constantly changed the structure of his Weave Alchemy Circle by using different symbols to increase its functions.

That was why people had begun paying attention to him.

After his matches, Davie had become a promising talent.

More importantly, people enjoyed watching him fight.

Every time he entered the stage, they expected something different.

His methods were creative.

His movements were difficult to predict.

And now he was facing Maxwell.

That made the audience even more interested.

Maxwell had also gained a reputation of his own just like Ravenor.

The One Attack.

It was a strange reputation to have.

After all, unlike Ravenor... Maxwell had barely used anything besides his fists and Cognis Enhancement during his matches.

He hadn’t used his Sun Alchemy even once since the Combat Festival began.

Davie did his best.

The moment the battle started, he kept his distance while igniting his Weave Alchemy, manipulating the cloth around his body.

The fabric moved like living snakes.

It twisted through the air, hardened at the edges, and shot toward Maxwell from different angles.

Maxwell avoided the first attack.

Then he performed another Weave Alchemy.

A piece of reinforced cloth struck the ground where his head had been a moment earlier.

BOOM!

The impact cracked the platform.

Maxwell stepped to the side.

Davie immediately changed the direction of the cloth.

It wrapped around Maxwell’s arm.

Davie pulled.

Maxwell’s body shifted forward.

Davie took the opportunity and sent another reinforced piece of fabric toward Maxwell’s chest.

But Maxwell simply raised his other arm.

Bang!

The fabric struck his arm.

Maxwell’s body moved only slightly.

His feet remained planted.

Davie gritted his teeth.

He knew it.

Maxwell’s physical strength was a problem.

Davie changed his approach and began attacking from different directions, using his Weave Alchemy to create openings and forcing Maxwell to defend instead of simply charging forward.

For a moment, the battle looked close.

Davie defended against Maxwell’s heavy hits while countering with dangerous Weave Alchemy attacks.

Every time Maxwell threw a punch, Davie attempted to redirect his movement with fabric.

Every time Maxwell approached, Davie changed the shape of the cloth around him.

The crowd began cheering.

This was the fight they had expected.

Davie was making Maxwell work.

But there was still one problem.

The Alchemist Rank between the two boys was something Davie could not get past.

And the strange thing was that...

No one truly knew Maxwell’s Alchemist Rank.

The higher-ranking Alchemists in the audience could see through his Cognis concealment and determine his actual rank.

But Davie couldn’t.

That meant he couldn’t properly prepare himself for Maxwell’s true strength.

The only thing he knew was that Maxwell had to be a strong Adept Alchemist.

As for Davie, he was a Binder Alchemist with a constructed Star that had already passed the Half Construction stage.

The difference eventually became too much, as Maxwell broke through Davie’s defenses.

His fist struck the reinforced fabric.

Then another punch followed.

Bang!

Davie was pushed backward.

He tried to recover.

Maxwell was already there.

Another punch.

Then another.

Davie’s Weave Alchemy struggled to contain Maxwell’s physical strength.

In the end, Maxwell overpowered him with his Meister Alchemist strength.

Davie had forced Maxwell to use it.

That alone was enough to make the audience recognize how much he had grown during the Combat Festival.

The next fight immediately brought another burst of excitement.

Veda Ashenlocke, the Young Lord of Ash, entered the stage.

His opponent was Basil Evermont.

The battle began.

And almost immediately, the difference between them became obvious.

Veda beat the hell out of Basil Evermont.

However, Basil wasn’t completely helpless.

At least for the earlier parts.

He displayed several Sound Alchemy attacks that were difficult to handle.

Plus, the speed at which he ignited his Alchemy also made things harder for Veda.

A sharp sound exploded through the air.

Veda tilted his head.

The attack passed close to him.

Another one followed.

Veda raised his arm.

BOOM!

The sound wave struck him.

His body was pushed backward.

Veda slid across the platform before planting his feet.

Basil’s eyes lit up.

He quickly prepared another Sound Alchemy attack.

But Veda charged forward.

Basil fired.

Veda raised his arm and took the attack head-on.

The force shook his body.

Yet he remained standing.

His physical strength allowed him to tank several of Basil’s attacks, which frustrated him more and more.

He continued attacking.

Veda continued advancing.

No matter how many Sound Alchemy attacks Basil used, Veda refused to stay away from him.

Then Veda changed his approach.

He already had one Dual Barrel Shotgun in his hands.

His Cognis flowed through the weapon.

Then...

Took out his alchemy materials, his hands coming together performing a Gun Alchemy.

Veda created a second Dual Barrel Shotgun.

At the same time, he added more Cognis to the weapons, performing Alchemy Levitation making the shotguns to float slightly and follow his control.

Basil’s eyes widened.

He immediately tried to create distance.

But Veda didn’t allow him to.

The moment Basil moved backward, Veda moved forward.

The distance disappeared.

BANG!

The first shotgun fired.

BANG!

The second followed.

Basil twisted his body to avoid the worst of the attack.

The shot still struck him.

He stumbled.

Veda was already inside his range.

His fist slammed into Basil’s stomach.

BOOM!

Basil’s body bent forward.

Before he could recover, Veda followed with another punch.

Then another.

The floating Dual Barrel Shotguns fired from slightly different angles, forcing Basil to defend against both Veda’s physical attacks and the gunfire.

BANG!

BANG!

Basil raised his arms.

The shots struck him.

His Cognis reinforced his body, protecting him from the worst of the damage.

But the strain continued to build.

Every time Basil tried to escape, Veda closed the distance.

Every time Basil created space, Veda advanced again.

BANG!

Another shot.

Veda immediately created another Dual Barrel Shotgun.

Now the gunfire became even more difficult to avoid.

Basil’s body was covered with bruises and small wounds.

His breathing became heavier.

His Cognis consumption continued increasing as he tried to protect himself.

His fat body was beginning to struggle under the strain.

He could no longer keep taking the attacks while maintaining enough Cognis to defend himself.

Finally, the fight ended.

The crowd erupted in cheers.

"YOUNG LORD OF ASH!"

"SIR VEDA ASHENLOCKE!"

"ASHENLOCKE!"

The audience praised the Young Lord of Ash for his dominating display of Gun Alchemy.

Then...

More matches passed.

The afternoon sun shone brightly over the Arena.

The heat had increased compared to the morning, and the sunlight fell across the fighting platform as the next fighter walked onto the stage.

The audience was still energetic.

Many people cheered for one person in particular.

Although the cheer wasn’t as large as the ones given to the biggest names of the Combat Festival, there were still plenty of voices calling his name.

"Prince Tristin Aethelmont!!!"

"Good Luck, Prince!!"

Tristin Aethelmont stepped onto the stage.

A smirk appeared on his face.

His eyes immediately locked onto his opponent.

Cyrus Burnwick.

Cyrus was already standing on the other side of the platform.

Unlike Tristin, however, he didn’t look excited.

In fact, he looked like he was forcing himself to remain on the stage.

His shoulders were tense.

His expression was serious.

Tristin noticed it.

His smirk widened.

Of all the people he could have faced...

It was Cyrus Burnwick.

That made him even happier.

To Tristin, there was no need to overthink the battle.

His opponent looked nervous.

And it is Cyrus Burnwick, the Wax light of Burns.

Tristin had already reached his conclusion.

This is going to be an easy win.