Chapter 529: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Gentle Gale Vs the Jewel of Ash

"Winner."

Patrick West’s voice echoed through the Arena speakers, but it was noticeably lower than normal.

Even Patrick himself seemed unable to fully recover from what Cyrus Burnwick had just done.

"Mr. Maxwell."

He said the name with a strange uncertainty still lingering in his voice, as though he wasn’t completely sure whether forfeiting in the middle of a fight was even allowed.

Patrick West glanced toward Professor Natasha.

She remained seated calmly, her expression showing none of the confusion that had spread across the Arena.

"It’s his choice to forfeit. At least he already made it into the eighth round, which already makes him a top fifteen student of the First Year, so I don’t see the problem."

Professor Natasha replied without much concern.

Patrick listened for a moment.

Then he nodded.

Seeing the sense in what Natasha had said, he sat back down.

Although...

Not many people seemed to resonate with that explanation.

The spectators had been expecting another exchange between Maxwell and Cyrus, especially after Maxwell had revealed his Law of Magnetism and survived Cyrus’s massive explosion.

Instead, Cyrus had simply surrendered.

"I was about to see Mr. Maxwell use those cool manipulations of fire fist and smoke fist."

A young spectator complained, his eyes still fixed on the fight platform.

"Why would a Duke’s son of all people act that cowardly?"

Another person immediately joined the conversation.

"Well, I guess that’s the Wax Light of Burn for you."

Someone else laughed mockingly.

"But he did reach the eighth round, showing his strength, and from what we can all see, Mr. Maxwell is stronger in talent... I mean, look at what he just did."

Some of the people who had become Cyrus fans during the Combat Festival tried to defend his decision.

"Yes, I agree with you. Even I would forfeit if I saw someone turn my strongest attack into his own weapon for an attack."

"But that is very cowardly for a Duke’s son, especially the son of the Strongest Duke of this Kingdom, to be precise."

"Yeah, it’s a disgrace."

"That’s not cowardly. That’s being smart."

Arguments quickly ignited from different parts of the Arena’s spectator sections.

Some people defended Cyrus.

Others mocked him.

A few simply laughed at the strange ending.

The disagreement spread through the seats, with people leaning toward one another to argue while others turned around to hear what the people behind them were saying.

The result of the fight itself was already decided.

But the audience clearly hadn’t decided what they thought about the way it ended.

Back on the fight platform...

Maxwell cancelled the flames and smoke around his hands.

He used the Law of Inversion to destroy the formulas that maintained them.

The fire around his right hand disappeared first, shrinking from a burning layer around his fingers into smaller flames before vanishing completely.

The smoke around his left hand followed.

It thinned out, twisted once through the air, and finally faded into nothing.

Maxwell lowered both hands.

He looked toward his right hand, where the flames had previously surrounded it.

Part of his skin had been burned slightly.

The damage wasn’t severe, but the redness across his hand was obvious now that the flames were gone.

"I don’t like this win."

He said to himself.

His voice was quiet enough that only he could hear it.

He wasn’t happy.

But there was nothing he could do about the result.

Maxwell still couldn’t understand why Cyrus had simply given up when the fight hadn’t yet reached a point where either of them was truly cornered.

His fingers slowly curled.

His gaze moved toward the spot where Cyrus had been standing before walking away.

Master, you said I would meet amazing Alchemists when I enrolled into the Royal Academy.

And they would even be people better than me.

His expression became slightly troubled.

He had believed those words.

He had expected the Royal Academy to be filled with people who could force him to show everything he had.

People who could make him fight seriously.

People who could make him discover the limits of his own strength.

But one of those people had surrendered, easily accepting defeat.

"Tsk."

Maxwell clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed.

The Medic staff soon walked up to him.

One of them immediately took Maxwell’s injured hand and inspected the burned skin, while another brought him an Academy cloth to change into.

"Hold your hand still."

The medic said.

Maxwell obediently allowed the medic to treat the injury.

The burned area was cleaned and covered with healing bandages, while another staff member handed him the fresh Academy clothing.

Once they finished, the staff escorted Maxwell away from the fight platform.

Behind them, the Craft-Based Royal Academy staff began their repair work.

The platform had been damaged by the previous explosions and attacks, but compared to some of the earlier battles, the damage was manageable.

Earth Alchemies were ignited.

The broken pieces of stone and damaged sections of the platform shifted back into place as the Craft-Based Royal Academy staff worked quickly.

Cracks were filled.

Loose stones were gathered.

The surface was restored.

It didn’t take long.

Only a few minutes passed before the platform was ready for another fight.

Now the next match was ready to begin.

"Welcoming the next fighters!!"

Patrick’s voice echoed brightly throughout the Arena.

He had already brushed the awkward incident from the earlier match aside.

There was no reason to dwell on it when the next match was one that almost everyone in the Arena would be standing to watch.

"Lady Selena Galehart!!!!"

He shouted her name with renewed excitement.

The response came almost instantly.

"Lady Selena Galehart!!"

"Gentle Gale!!"

"My Emerald Beauty!!!"

"Be careful!!"

"Do your best!!"

The cheers came loudly, as expected.

Selena was already a Young Alchemist with a large following, and her title as one of the Flowers of Britannia had only made her more popular.

The earlier arguments about Cyrus disappeared almost immediately once the spectators realized the next most anticipated fight was about to begin.

People stood from their seats.

Others leaned over the railings.

The young spectators waved banners and shouted her name while several older guests simply watched with amused expressions.

After all, this wasn’t only another First-Year match.

It was another battle involving one of the Flowers.

And this time, her opponent was another Flower.

Selena walked out from the left entrance calmly, waving her hand toward her fans and the crowd.

An elegant smile remained on her face as she moved toward the platform.

The cheering grew louder with every step.

Selena reached the platform and stepped onto it without hesitation.

Her Emerald eyes moved across the Arena for only a brief moment before settling on the opposite entrance.

"Vs...."

Patrick paused.

He deliberately allowed the moment to stretch.

The fans of Vera Ashenlocke had already begun shouting before her name was even announced.

Patrick smiled.

Then he raised his voice.

"Lady Vera Ashenlocke!!!"

The Arena exploded.

"LADY VERA ASHENLOCKE!!!!!"

"JEWEL OF ASH!!!"

"MY PITCH-BLACK QUEEN!!"

"WIN!!"

"NO ONE CAN STOP YOU!!"

"YOU ARE THE BEST!!"

"THE STRONGEST!!"

"LADY VERA ASHENLOCKE!!"

Vera walked out from the right entrance.

As expected, the response was enormous.

She waved lazily toward the crowd while walking toward the fight platform.

Her hand rose only slightly before dropping again, as though even waving required more effort than she wanted to spend.

Her dull black eyes moved over the spectators without showing much interest.

The cheering of the two Flowers quickly turned into a clash of voices.

Selena’s supporters shouted her title.

Vera’s supporters shouted hers.

One side became louder.

The other side answered.

Soon the Arena sounded as if two different crowds were trying to drown each other out.

"Let’s begin the Countdown!!"

Patrick said, sounding even more excited now that both fighters were standing on the platform.

"THREE!!"

The crowd began shouting the countdown.

At the same time, the four Holographic Screens displayed the number that had been shouted, allowing everyone in the Arena to see it clearly.

Vera began stretching her hands elegantly.

Her fingers opened and closed slowly as she loosened them, then she rolled one wrist before doing the same with the other.

Her movements were calm.

There was no visible tension in her body.

Selena covered her mouth and nose area with her opened hand fan while staring at Vera.

Her Emerald eyes remained focused on the black-haired girl.

"TWO!!"

The crowd shouted the second countdown number loudly.

"Mmmm... I wonder how I’m going to go about this."

Selena said calmly, her voice light despite the enormous noise around her.

Vera glanced at her plainly, then she continued stretching her body.

She didn’t answer.

She simply rolled her shoulder and shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Many young boys in the stands couldn’t stop themselves from looking at her with lust.

"ONE!!"

The crowd shouted the final countdown number.

The four Holographic Screens changed.

The large letters appeared.

BEGIN.

"BEGIN!!!"

The crowd shouted the word loudly, their excitement filling the entire Arena.

Immediately, the sound echoed through the enormous structure.

Selena jumped elegantly backward, creating distance between herself and Vera.

Her feet touched the ground lightly.

She had given herself enough space to begin preparing her Alchemy without allowing Vera to immediately reach her.

Vera, however, wasn’t even paying attention to the amount of space Selena had created.

She simply stood there.

Then...

Clap!

Selena’s hands came together.

The Wind Alchemy Circle formed quickly between her palms.

The lines of the Alchemy Circle appeared in the air as Cognis flowed through her hands, and the air around her began to shift.

And as usual...

Whoosh!

A wind barrier was created around Selena.

The barrier formed as a thin layer of moving air, circling her body continuously while her Emerald eyes never left Vera.

She’s not yet moving.

Selena thought to herself.

There was a faint nervousness in her mind because of Vera’s strange behavior.

One of the problems with fighting Vera was that Selena could never be certain what the girl was doing.

Was she simply observing?

Was she looking for a weakness?

Or was she just not in the mood to attack first?

Vera’s instant speed made it even harder to determine.

The moment she moved, the distance between two people could disappear before the other person had time to understand what was happening.

Selena tightened her grip on her fan.

Well, as long as I have my Wind Barrier now ignited, I will move to my next attack.

She wasn’t going to wait for Vera to begin her charge.

In fact, this was the right time for her to take the initiative and establish dominance.

Selena brought her hands together again.

Clap!

The sound echoed across the platform.

The flow of Cognis inside her body increased.

Vera finally looked at Selena with her dull black eyes.

Her sharp sight allowed her to see the Wind Alchemy Circle forming between Selena’s palms.

She watched Selena reposition her hands.

Then the wind throughout the Arena began to move.

Air from every direction, even from outside the immediate area of the platform, was drawn toward Selena’s Wind Alchemy Circle.

The sudden movement created powerful gusts.

Snow scattered across the platform.

Selena’s hair and training cloth were blown backward as the air rushed toward her.

The Wind Alchemy Circle expanded wildly.

Vera stood against the growing wind without moving.

Her black hair whipped around her face, but she didn’t bother to move it aside.

She simply watched.

"Mass Alchemy at the beginning of the match..."

Vera said calmly.

She took a single step forward.

Her voice remained almost flat despite the amount of wind gathering around Selena.

"Out of all the things I expected you to do, this is the right move, Selena."

Her hand reached into her Space Bag.

Vera pulled out the two mysterious handguns she had used against Grace Evergrey.

The weapons appeared in her hands with almost no wasted movement.

Selena’s Emerald eyes narrowed slightly as she saw them.

"Thank you for the word, Vera."

Selena replied softly.

An elegant smile remained on her face.

She continued feeding Cognis into her Wind Alchemy Circle as the surrounding wind grew stronger.

Then Vera looked directly at her, tilting her head slightly to the right.

"Do you know why I allowed you to have the time you are having now..."

Vera asked, her dull black eyes remaining fixed on Selena as though the answer should have been obvious.

Selena looked through the gathering gusts toward Vera.

The wind pushed against her hair and training cloth, but her sharp hearing allowed her to hear Vera clearly despite the distance and noise.

She didn’t understand why Vera was asking that question.

Vera lowered her two handguns slightly.

Her dull black eyes remained fixed on Selena, her head still tilted slightly to the right.

"Well, it’s because we have a lot to discuss."

She paused for a moment, as though deciding whether Selena was worth explaining it to.

A faint smile touched her lips.

"Flower to Flower, Home Recker."

Vera straightened her head and took her fighting position.