The cheers of the crowd in the coliseum boomed as the intensity reached a crescendo. Almost every student in the coliseum was cheering loudly while looking at the screens.
The fact that Atticus had suddenly shot up the rankings made the crowd enter another frenzy as the cheers increased in intensity even more.
If not for how sturdy the building was made, it wouldn't be surprising for the whole coliseum to be shaking. The intensity of millions of youths screaming was nothing to scoff at.
This was the power of a crowd. Regardless of whether one was introverted or simply didn't like screaming, being in the middle of a screaming crowd would change many.
The baffling thing about screaming crowds was that, about 90% of the people screaming and cheering in the crowd, didn't even know what they were cheering for!
It was bad to the extent that none, till now, had even seen Atticus's face!
The cameras displaying his live footage were all finding it hard to display his features because of how fast he was moving.
And yet, the crowd was still cheering hard.
Suddenly,
"Hey! Look where he's headed to!" Those words were uttered by multiple people simultaneously in multiple sections of the coliseum, all pointing toward the screen displaying the live footage of Atticus and another of Kael.
Then, everyone started turning their gazes toward the screens and immediately saw what they were talking about.
On the screen displaying Atticus, they all saw Atticus's streaking figure zipping through the forest, and he was heading straight towards Kael who was also running towards him.
Every student in the coliseum immediately held their breaths; this... this fight was what they all wanted to see! They were elated!
Although many in the crowd still hadn't seen his face or even recognized the first name, but who in the human domain didn't know the name 'Ravenstein'?
Every student in the academy was from different sectors, hundreds upon thousands of kilometers away from sector 3.
It was very understandable that many didn't know much about the Ravenstein family in sector 3.
And because of Atticus's reclusive nature, apart from the tiered families who made it compulsory to gather information about their competition, the masses didn't even know his name.
But what they all knew was that this Atticus was from the Ravenstein family, and from the power he had shown, his standing there was not small.
Atticus's reclusive behavior was completely unlike other heirs of the tiered family. They were all putting themselves out there, all having social media pages. Their names and faces were all well known even in other sectors.
Therefore unlike Atticus, Kael was different.
He was very well known amongst the whole human domain.
His popularity amongst the masses was even one of the largest in their generation.
The most talented in the younger generation.
From a young age, Kael had held this mantle. And he had the achievements to back up these claims.
He had participated in many competitions across the sectors from a young age and had won every single one. Kael had never lost a fight against someone in his rank.
The fact that currently, he was the 'only one' amongst the millions of youths entering the academy this year to be in the Advanced+ rank spoke volumes about his incredible talent.
And now, a new person had suddenly just showed up and display this shocking amount of power.
The strength Atticus had just showcased baffled many. The way he effortlessly dealt with the Advanced- rank beasts and the youths alike was surprising.
Everyone currently watching the unfolding events all had one thing going through their heads: who was stronger, Kael, the best talent in the young generation, or Atticus?
The curiosity was everywhere, even in the circular hall where all the paragons were gathered.
Aric smiled as he turned to look at Magnus who was looking at the screen without any change in expression. He turned his gaze back towards the screen, focusing on the un folding events.
The rest of the Paragons also all changed the footage on their screens to the live footage of Atticus and Kael.
All eyes in the coliseum turned to the biggest screen that had just appeared at the top in the middle of the coliseum.
A screen displaying both figures of Atticus and Kael, standing just a few meters away from each other, facing themselves.
And then, the whole coliseum went silent.
…
Deep inside the forest, Atticus gazed at Kael's aloof figure standing a few meters away from him with intrigue.
Atticus had been running through the forest in search of prey and suddenly picked up Kael in front of him.
He had initially wanted to end it with one earthen spike just like the others, but he decided against that.
Out of all the tier one families in the human domain, Kael's bloodline was the only one Atticus wasn't able to get any information about.
Atticus, at the very least, had basic knowledge about the other tier one families' bloodlines.
But, 'It has something to do with swords,' clearly wasn't enough information.
And seeing Kael here, Atticus thought it was a great opportunity to find out more about his bloodline during battle.
Atticus regarded Kael with a neutral gaze.
The youth, standing at 5 feet 9 inches, had a well built frame adorned with compact muscles.
Draped in a hard cloth like armor covering his legs, the ensemble showcased a striking array of eight sheathed swords, each bearing a distinctive red hue, secured around his waist.
Brown eyed and focused, the hilt of a massive broadsword protruded from the back of his head.
Just like Atticus, Kael was also observing Atticus with a little bit of intrigue coloring his aloof face.
And then, without both of them uttering a word, they both took a step forward.
***
A/N: Hi, guys, I kind of need help here. What do you all think about the new cover? If you prefer this new one over the old, please drop a thumbs up; otherwise, a thumbs down. Thank you in advance for your input, and thanks for reading!