Ring Ring Ring.
A bell began to ring throughout the school, and a familiar scene appeared before Kaller, who as usual didn't remember anything at all. Events unfolded one after another without any hitches until reaching the end, where Kaller regained his memory. But as expected, at the moment he regained his memories, he instantly woke up, as if that dream could only be witnessed by his unconscious mind.
"That damn dream tells me nothing, I can't even remember who I am, what I liked, who my family was, or what happened to me. It's like I'm trapped in a loop that kicks me out the moment I realize it," Kaller's thoughts were quickly clarifying as he tried to find an explanation for the situation. From what he had learned from Lina's grandfather, those memories corresponded to the day of the invasion, as he also lived through it, and the situation was identical: interdimensional portals appeared, and alien ships emerged from them.
Kaller got out of bed and left his tent, heading to the washroom and splashing water on his face with both hands. Every time he dreamed of the past, his mind became somewhat chaotic.
"Ah... this curse of the ether could be a blessing in my case." The inability to feel anything of his own kept his mind calm most of the time; otherwise, frustration, helplessness, sadness, or even depression in the worst case would have invaded his psyche long ago.
2:00 PM, central camp.
A large number of students were gathered around an improvised combat arena, which consisted of a circle about 10 meters in diameter surrounded by a makeshift fence about 2 meters high.
"Who did you get?" said a young man with unkempt hair.
"No idea, I don't know this name," replied the ferocious-looking young man. The selection process had gone smoothly, and each student had been notified of their opponent via a piece of paper, which indicated the name and some basic data such as their school of origin, age, and assigned class, among others.
"So, it's your debut as a mage, good luck! Shazam!" With a sudden shout, the unkempt-haired young man ran off and disappeared into the crowd.
"Son of a bitch!" he yelled angrily, with no intention of chasing after his companion. The morning training had left him exhausted, and on top of that, he was nervous about trying to make a good impression during the battle.
A blond-haired girl who didn't exceed 1.60 meters in height sat quietly looking at the paper in front of her. The fights had been assigned some time ago.
"Most likely, someone upstairs found it amusing," said Kaller, watching Lina with a furrowed brow.
"Hah... those damn old folks think they're funny, but well, if they want to see something entertaining, I'll show them how I crush that runt," during the military camp, Lina showed her true personality all the time: foul-mouthed and arrogant, traits that Luis and Kaller already knew, whereas during school, she always showed her tender and trustworthy side, which earned her the favor of those around her.
"Mathias is a formidable opponent, the Flamegood family is quite powerful in direct combat, and he's a skilled fighter, Lina," added Tania, with a worried tone, who knew almost all the noble families.
"We're both phase 2, right? The difference is minimal," replied young Lina curtly, while pondering a battle strategy.
"But you can't use your powers. How do you plan to beat someone who specializes in close combat?"
"Do you think Kaller was the only one who suffered under my grandfather? I have a couple of tricks up my sleeve."
"I see. Cheer up! Win for the star squadron!" said Tania with a mischievous smile on her face.
"I will," giving a thumbs-up, Lina curved her mouth upwards in a triumphant smile.
The fights had started some time ago, and most of them were quite short and uninteresting. The students were tired, so after a couple of punches and kicks, the winner was decided. The pairing of opponents was based on their class and phase; most students were in phase 1, so they were assigned someone at their same level. In the case of the wizards, their class was also taken into consideration, so they were assigned another wizard to ensure the physical difference wasn't too great.
On a wooden board measuring several meters wide, all the upcoming fights were listed. Luis stood staring at a point, intense excitement flooding him as a smile of happiness formed on his face. The opportunity he had been waiting for had presented itself to him.
On the wooden board, the following star squadron matches could be seen.
Lina Airgood vs. Mathias Flamegood.
Tania Schmidt vs. María del Carmen.
Bruno Santos vs. Felipe Da Silva.
Kaller vs. Luis Gonzales.
"I'll win, I'll win, I'll win," Luis repeated to himself as if it were a spell. He had always admired Kaller and wanted to be recognized by him, so this opportunity was perfect to achieve that. The defeat at the hands of Lina had left him somewhat discouraged in recent days, but all of that disappeared with this battle.
3:00 PM, combat arena.
Thousands of students crowded around the fence surrounding the arena; the star battle had finally arrived. It only took one student to realize the surnames involved for word to spread that two nobles were going to face each other. Therefore, leaving their lunches half-eaten, they came running to see the situation; almost 90% of the students, soldiers, and high-ranking officials were watching the arena. Due to the congregation, holographic screens were set up for those who were behind, so that no one would miss this battle.
A middle-aged man appeared in the middle of the arena, wearing a military uniform without a speck of dust, a long and elegant mustache could be seen on his face, his black hair was military-cut, and multiple medals shone on his chest under the sunlight. An oppressive aura calmed the fervent spirits of the audience; the stares of those present froze under the figure of this man, Commander Stevenson had appeared.
"Greetings, Commander," a couple of young people said in unison as they raised their right arm and crossed their legs. The girl with the blonde hair and gentle appearance was in one corner of the arena, while the handsome young man with green hair and delicate features was in the opposite corner.
"In view of the warm welcome we've received, I plan to make an exception, only if you agree," said Commander Stevenson in a firm and solemn tone.
"I'll allow you to use your abilities on this occasion, except for lethal weapons. In return, you'll have the day off tomorrow without affecting your squadron."
"I accept," the pair of young people said again in unison. The training was tough and demanding, but the rest was terrible; a day of laziness could restore their bodies to the maximum.
"I'll erect a barrier so you don't have to worry about the spectators. Have a good fight," just as he appeared, Commander Stevenson vanished into thin air. Rumors had it that he was a phase 5 wizard specialized in teleportation.
A translucent barrier rose around the arena, forming a sort of dome. Lina stared coldly at Mathias while he looked at her with a
calm and serene face; the surrounding air began to move slowly towards Lina.
"Now!" a supervisor shouted, signaling the start of the battle.
BOOM
An explosion of fire occurred beneath Mathias, chunks of earth flew as he accelerated towards Lina, choosing a frontal attack.
With no time to counterattack, Lina jumped upwards, gusts of wind emerged around her, lifting her about 8 meters into the air. With the height gained in an instant, she began a barrage of wind blades.
Mathias conjured fire in his hands and began punching the air, launching fireballs against the incoming wind blades, causing an explosion each time.
Lina was cautious and kept her distance from this opponent; close combat was not her strong suit, so she moved constantly to maintain her distance.
"Phoenix Flight!" in an instant, Mathias's outstretched arms ignited in fire, forming a sort of wings, and he soared into the sky at a rapid pace.
"Shit," thought Lina, she could float in the air, but she couldn't move very fast; her power and control were not yet at that level.
A wind barrier appeared in front of her while defensive layers of wind swirled around her; wind was one of the most versatile and agile abilities, but when it came to offensive power, it was quite inferior to fire.
BOOM
A fire explosion resounded in the air, and a blond-haired girl was sent flying to the ground.
The crowd fell silent, observing the situation; the battle had exceeded their expectations. In a matter of seconds, they had exchanged dozens of blows and showed advanced techniques such as flight, which was difficult to master until phase 4.
"Lina!" Tania shouted as she watched the hole formed in the ground.
A disheveled-haired girl covered in dust quickly got up as she watched Mathias Flamegood descending rapidly; her defenses had largely cushioned the blow, but not entirely, she felt as if she had been hit by a car.
"Tchh... you leave me no choice," said Lina as she stared fixedly at the young man with green hair.
A hurricane formed around Lina; her clothes and hair fluttered wildly, and dust and stones from the ground rose and began to fly in circles. The attendees watched in amazement; it seemed as if a calamity had struck the arena.
The wear-down strategy had miserably failed, so she had no choice but to go on the offensive. As a phase 2 wind user, she had few techniques in her arsenal. Wind blade was the basic technique that didn't consume too much power, but its attack power was low. On the other hand, sonic explosion had much greater offensive power, but its casting time was too long; a fighter like Mathias could easily avoid it.
"Partial domain," thought Mathias, completely surprised; wizards upon reaching phase 4 could invoke a unique domain where their abilities grew immensely. His father possessed the domain of hell and knew how dangerous they were in his territory.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM
By rapidly compressing the surrounding air into a sphere and releasing it, a violent explosion released energy in all directions. It took wizards from 3 to 5 seconds to compress such space due to the difficulty of the task. However, Lina could do it instantly and multiple times.
"AHHH," a harrowing scream echoed from Mathias; the consecutive explosions took him by surprise, and he failed to protect himself adequately, suffering considerable damage. Nevertheless, he managed to dodge the last explosion before retreating to the side.
Lina's resistance was draining as if a tap had been opened; in this state, she could last about 10 seconds, and she couldn't afford to fail her movements, so she decided to go all out. Seeing that half of the time remained, wind blade crescents appeared over her head, conjuring them one after another as they danced to a hypnotic rhythm.
"Wind Waltz!" shouted Lina as she launched the wind blades.
Mathias watched as a series of attacks from all directions came at him; due to the domain, they had been enhanced in power and speed.
"Flaming Dance!" without hesitation, he performed a series of fluid and elegant movements; however, he couldn't mitigate all the damage; dozens of cuts and scratches could be seen all over his body, leaving him in a sorry state.
Lina's storm domain ended, and she fell to the ground completely exhausted, looking ahead as Mathias dealt with the onslaught of attacks that tore him apart. However, after the seventh attack in a chain, came the eighth, ninth, and tenth.
A fire tiger shot out from Mathias's palms, quickly approaching Lina, who, with not a drop of power remaining, could only cover herself with her arms. But the attack never came; Mathias was lying unconscious face down.
"The winner is Lina!" announced the battle supervisor; if he saw the possibility of fatal damage, he would interrupt instantly.
"YEAHHH GO LINA!"
"YOU'RE THE BEST!"
"I LOVE YOUUU FRIEND!"
"MATHIAAAS NOOO, YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACEE!"
A large number of students cheered ecstatically for Lina, while others, mostly females, worried about Mathias's condition.
Lina, who was still inside the arena, turned towards Tania and raised her right thumb; the star squadron had scored its first big point in this exam."
