[Gideon's Perspective]  

Great! Vesemir had won his fight. Although it might be apparent, I had complete confidence that Vesemir was going to win that fight. I admit that his first opponent, being of the agility kind, made me panic more than I should have.  

Vesemir eventually got back into the stands, and I gave him a high five to celebrate his dominant performance. Even though Vesemir did win convincingly, that did not come without a price. Vesemir's opponent was fully capable of defeating Vesemir. However, his impatience spelled his defeat. Vesemir's opponent had severely estimated his battle capabilities. That led to him taking on the fireball explosion full blast, which marked the beginning of the end. However, in defeating his opponent, Vesemir had shown the rest of the students what he was capable of. Vesemir's next opponent will not commit the same mistake of underestimating him.  

On the other hand, I've only displayed the tip of the iceberg of my abilities. I have not used any of my abilities, techniques, or my string manipulation openly. I had many means of surprising my opponent if the situation demands so.   

A few uninteresting matches later, and the preliminaries of the tournament were over. The tournament will continue tomorrow.   

Vesemir and I headed back to the library. In the library, we both sighed a breath of relief. We've been feeling tense the entire day today. We finally had some breathing room.   

I asked Vesemir, "What was that lack attack of yours. I've never seen you use that in our spars before."  

"It was trap magic. Honestly, I wasn't sure how effective it was going to be. It was my first time using that spell in an actual battle scenario." Vesemir responded.  

I continued, "The spell looks strong. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to use it anymore in your next matches."  

Vesemir sighed and nodded at my remark. "The weakness of my trap magic is that it takes too long to prepare. Additionally, I must be next to the spot where I want to set my magic trap. Once you know that, one will be able to tell where I set my traps easily. Sadly, I think all the students in our grade understand that now."  

We were both silent for a moment before I was struck with an ingenious idea. I leaned close to Vesemir and whispered something into his ear. At first, he was confused before his lips curved into a wide smile.   

"Why haven't I thought of that before. Such a simple yet effective idea. I must try this now. Thanks for the revelation Vesemir. I will head out now!" exclaimed Vesemir with excitement.  

With Vesemir gone, the library reverted to its cold, lonely atmosphere. I didn't mind it that much. Sometimes solitude is a good thing. Alone in the library, I played around with my strings in anticipation of tomorrow's fight.   

The "night" passed without conflict, and the rays of "sunlight" began spreading across the school grounds. After the first day of the tournament, all the weaklings had been phased out. All those who were left were the ones you could by no means underestimate. It was only going to be an uphill battle from this point on.   

At precisely eight in the morning, the students began flooding into the stadium. Although there were many spectators, the only audible noise was the light footsteps of the students. The students who had already lost sat in the stands with a face of gloom and regret. I couldn't help but sympathize with them. The final exams are life-changing. Each year's lowest ranking students will be evicted from the academy, left to survive on their own in this cruel underworld society. Every year, the weak are removed until only the strong remain. The only hope of the students who had already lost was to perform exceptionally well in the third portion of the final test, the battle royale. However, that was but a pipe dream.  

Like yesterday, various numbers began flashing in front of the students. This time, my number was 16. I turned to my side, and Vesemir showed me his number, 22. Fortunately, the two of us were not going to be fighting against each other.   

After receiving our seedings, we made ourselves comfortable in the stands and did our best to analyze the fighters. No doubt the fights so far have been more intense and exciting than yesterday. We saw many students use skills they had not used in their previous match. I believe it was at that moment that the mood of the stadium took a turn for the worse. The cause of this tense mood is probably because all the students have now realized that they weren't the only ones concealing their strength. Although everyone knew that everyone else was also hiding their true capabilities, seeing it with your own eyes is a whole different experience.  

Sitting beside me, Vesemir was intensely jotting down several notes on a notebook of his. I had a good idea of what he was taking notes on. For now, the notes won't be doing us much good because the seedings are random. However, suppose either of us or hopefully both of us, pass the preliminary stage and enter the group stage. In that case, the notes will prove invaluable during the group stage because, in the group stage, you will know who you will be up against as you progress in the tournament. Therefore, having notes on their abilities will come in handy.  

The fight that was currently progressing was coming to an end. The two students were matched evenly at the beginning of the duel until one of them managed to surprise their opponent with a sudden fighting technique, which hurt his opponent, who wore a full-body cloak. Just when the "winning" student was about to inflict the finishing blow onto the cloaked student, all of a sudden, the "winning student" collapsed and started to foam from the mouth. I assumed that the fight was over; however, I was mistaken because a fight is never over until the fight was over. 

Gasps of surprise echoed around the stadium. The "winning" student was now lying on the ground foaming from the mouth due to poison. But that wasn't the cause of the students' reaction. What caught everyone off guard was that none of us knew when the student was poisoned. I couldn't have been before the match because the seeding was random, so you had no way of knowing who you would be matched against until the match started. That meant that the poisoning took place during the fight. But when? When did the cloaked student poison their opponent? At this moment, all attention was on this cloaked student. They had revealed themselves to be an extremely dangerous opponent. A poison user who could poison their opponent without them even realizing it.   

While the soft sounds of murmuring were still ongoing throughout the stadium, the announcer woman wearing even lewder clothing stepped in the stadium. She declared the cloaked student winner of the duel.   

I turned to my side to see Vesemir chewing on his nails, clearly in a stressed state. I understood why since there was little to no counterplay to the poisoning if you don't even know when you're poisoned. Something as simple as making sure to stay out of the cloaked student's reach during the fight isn't much of a strategy. I'm sure that Vesemir was not the only one in the stadium right now stressing about developing a strategy against the cloaked figure right now.   

A few more fights occurred; however, everyone's thoughts were still on the cloaked student's performance. Any student aiming to obtain a good finishing result must prepare something in case they encounter the cloaked student.   

It was finally time for my fight. Before the caster even called my number, I had already started making my way to the ring. Vesemir wished me luck, and I prayed that my opponent would at most be someone of my caliber.   

My opponent arrived in the ring a few moments after I did. My opponent was wrapped head to toe with some dark cloth. The only portion of his body that he didn't tightly wrap was the thin slant near his eyes for visibility. Even then, the opening wasn't even big enough for me to see his eyes. Even being wrapped in cloth, I could tell that he was very muscular. He carried two sword sheaths in an "X" pattern on his back. Something about his aura warns me that he is dangerous and bloodthirsty.  

Even before the duel began, I already had bad feelings about it. Much to my dismay, the announcer started the fight. Little did I know that I was about to experience the battle of my lifetime.  

Unlike my previous fight, I didn't immediately attempt to attack my opponent when the fight started. Similarly, my opponent hadn't moved a muscle and only observed me from a distance. Although it might seem like nothing is going on. The truth is that my opponent and I were having a mental battle.   

We were both discerning our opponent's fighting strategies and devising a plan to beat our opponent. We both had a distinct feeling that this fight was not going to be an easy one. The first one to lose their nerve is this stare down will be eventually loser of this dual.  

Regarding my opponent, I was most concerned about the presence of two swords on his back. Unless he was carrying one of the swords for mere decoration, it must mean that he is a dual-wielding expert. I don't have experience going up against dual-wielders. However, I have heard that the competent ones are extremely strong and a nightmare to go up against. Unlike dual-wielding daggers, dual-wielding full-length swords are a whole different ballpark and symbolize an entirely different realm of power.   

The staredown between my opponent and me continued for several minutes. When the audience was starting to lose attention, the two of us simultaneously unsheathed our swords and sprinted in each other's direction.   

From the moment our swords first clash, I could already feel the oppressing aura of the dual wielder. Much to my displeasure, I was forced into a defensive stance very early on in this dual. My opponent left me no breathing room whatsoever. I had no chance to get away or counter any of his attacks because they seemed to connect endlessly with no sign of slowing down.   

Although I was doing a good job defending his attacks, my defense was not perfect. Minor scratches began piling up on my body, making me look more injured than I was. This was a terrible situation for me to be in. Although my opponent has yet to land an effective attack on me, the question stands, how long will I be able to keep this up? I had yet to even swing at my opponent with my sword. If this status quo continues, the only outcome for me is utter defeat.  

While defending against my opponent's ceaseless attacks, I was caught by surprise when my opponent's attacks suddenly rocketed in frequency. In no time, my sword was knocked out of my hands, leaving me defenseless. But it seemed like my opponent had no intention of stopping his attacks. As an emergency response, I squeezed my arms together in front of my chest to protect my vitals. My opponent's swords slashed my arms, leaving bloody gashes in their wake.   

Time seemed to slow down for me, and I somehow knew that my opponent was aiming to cut off my head for their final attack. I wondered if my story was coming to an end prematurely. I still had so much I wanted to do and see, people I wanted to meet, and experiences to be had. I couldn't die here.   

At that moment, the light around me ceased to exist, the cheers of the crowd ceased to exist, the smell of the dirt beneath me ceased to exist, everything not relating to this current fight ceased to exist. Lastly, the distant, desperate cry of Vesemir ceased to exist. The only thing that remained was the opponent in front of me. The only thought I possessed was to win. My only desire. Victory.