Zen finished off his opponent while he was down, bringing an end to their fight. It was clear from the beginning; that Zen was superior in combat and skill application.
Their fight ended then and there as the other fights reached their climax and conclusions.
"Like I said… He won't go all out. This is just the beginning and if he reveals everything while you are sitting out the fights, the likelihood of preparing counters to his unique skills applications will increase."
Ross stated looking over to Alex. While the battle had been intense at the start, none of the two fighters went all in. Each sought a prime time to take their opponent off guard and deal a killing blow.
"Yeah… But the remnants are going to be a major headache. If caution is not exercised, even you guys are open to interferences that could affect your battles. You might not be as lucky as Zen." Alex said getting nods of understanding from Julia and Ross.
"The chances of those affecting our battles can be minimized if we take our opponents out in the first few seconds of the fight starting." Julia proposed after observing most of the fights.
The pattern of the remnants appearing was becoming obvious to those who paid attention. Of course, there were exceptions, but the majority followed the same set of patterns.
Alex and Ross nodded as they had also noticed the same thing. 'Should I also do the same with Brad?' Ross pondered how to go about facing Brad.
He wanted to play with him for a bit after all. It had been a while since he saw him and he wanted to see the look on his face when he realized all the arrogance he carried before was for nought.
Brad was not even close to chasing the shadow of Alex in his current position.
Ross was very confident in his skills in dealing with Brad before any fighting remnants interrupted their bout.
Even back when they were in middle school, he was the one who shielded Alex from the shenanigans of Brad and his friends.
Several minutes and many fights later, Julia's turn arrived. Once the announcement was made, the commotion from the spectating students went up a few octaves.
By now, most students already knew who Julia was and her relationship with Alex. They had seen a glimpse of it during the final battle in the Convergence Maze and after a few ask-arounds, they knew more than enough to tell the kind of person she was and who she fancied.
It was a piece of information that sent shivers down the spine of a certain student who tried to shoot his shot during the labyrinth event. Thankfully, it ended there and Winslow learnt his lesson.
"Godspeed, sweetheart." Alex wished her good luck with a charming smile that lit up her face in a bright and enchanting smile.
Giggling softly at the term of endearment Alex used, she replied, "I won't need it. Though my opponent might." With a wink, she approached the teleport space and soon appeared in the arena.
Emil Dawn swallowed nervously as he stared at Julia. Just like everyone else, he has heard of the girl before her. If she claimed to be the third strongest first-year, no one can claim second place. Of course, that only applied to the others as Ross was pretty much matched with her.
'Maybe I should just yield and save myself the embarrassment?' Emil thought miserably, his mood soured when he realized the person he would be fighting.
'But that would also make me look like a total loser with no spine.' His thoughts spun rapidly as he considered the effects of what giving up would mean for him.
He wasn't in a position to make that choice. 'At least, let's show her and everyone that even lower-class students can put up a good fight.' He mentally primed himself to grow some courage and his expression took on a serious turn as he retrieved his weapon and focused on Julia.
Standing before her right now, he noticed how carefree she seemed, and the bright smile that lit up her face as her thoughts wandered enchanted him and most of the spectating male students.
He promptly shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts.
Of course, he and the others could only admire her from a distance. With her background and power, very few could walk up to her and ask her out. And if her cold personality that matched her abilities didn't drive you away, you had Alex to deal with next.
Soon the countdown began and Julia promptly came out of her daydreaming and also retrieved her sword before focusing on the boy in front of her.
'This should not take longer than a second,' she mused to herself and took a striking stance with the sword held in both hands pointed at Emil.
The sword gleamed brightly, reflecting the light from the sun, and the usual sublimation produced from her sword when imbued with her ice abilities was nowhere to be seen.
She decided to take on the fella with nothing but her sword.
[…one.]
The moment the countdown reached its end…
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, Julia disappeared and appeared a couple of metres behind Emil, her stance now upright with her sword in her right hand pointed downward at an angle.
Its edges leaked traces of blood; blood belonging to Emil who an instant ago was preparing to make his move.
"….."
The arena went quiet as the spectator took in what just transpired while some swallowed the lump in their throats. Their hands moved around their necks as they felt cold shivers go down their spine.
Heck, some still did not see what took place and only after what happened next did they understand what happened.
A moment later, as everyone remained silent, Emil's head fell off his body with a thud confirming his loss.
The boy had not even seen Julia move.
One moment she was before him and the next she was not. And when he realized what happened, he felt a pang in his neck. His hand moved slowly to inspect what that was and when he noticed the blood, he knew.
It was over...