With the conclusion of the first battle, more started.
As was shown in the first battle, students were not allowed to die in this tournament. Humanity needed mystic warriors to fight the mystic beasts that were trying to destroy the world, they would not waste them away in tournaments.
The rules of the tournament were that once a student was beaten to the point of death, or if a fatal attack was used against him that would end his life, the teachers of the academy would intervene and rescue them.
Of course, the academy had the technology to prevent cheating in this format.
The Masters of the Obedin Mystic Academy could not just decide to rescue a student when he was not due to be rescued, thereby eliminating him/her.
The academy had special mystic treasures to keep track of the battles. Once an attack was confirmed to kill one of the students, the masters intervene.
Following this format, a few dozen battles were fought already.
The atmosphere in the academy was now at a high as the consecutive thrilling performances by the students excited the spectators to no end.
Watching students reveal their abilities, giving their all just to defeat their opponents provided such an epic spectacle for them.
The colliding emotions and ambitions of the students made it spicier.
The first battle was pretty basic and didn't reveal much to the spectators, but it was still enough to excite them to no end.
Seeing humans just like them manipulate and channel the legendary mystic energy to create fire and other effects, they were stoked.
Not all the participating students awoke mystic energy though. Despite humanity's efforts to increase the awakening rate, the number of humans that could awaken mystic energy was still just 2% of the overall population.
This was the main reason why mystic warriors were held in such high regard. Though the advanced weapons of this era could easily kill any basic mystic warrior, they were still held with high prestige.
While the laymen spectators watched the battles, Rex and his 2 friends also diligently watched.
This was not just a platform for them to get experience, through seeing others' battles, they could be better prepared mentally for what was to come.
While watching the battles, the one constant that Rex discovered was that none of the students to this point had an above-average control over mystic energy.
With Ben's control over his mystic energy and his mystic ability, he could be called above average but he was still not an exceptional basic mystic warrior yet.
The best that Ben could do was manipulate his wind mystic ability to increase his speed, and also to create mild windstorms to attack but the overall utility was still extremely limited.
This was why they were referred to as basic mystic warriors.
Rex knew that with the same mystic ability, intermediate mystic warriors could use their mystic energy in a lot of ingenious ways to create different wind energy attacks that could even level down a building.
The strongest mystic warriors who had the wind mystic ability could even induce tsunamis and could change the weather at will.
This was the true power of mystic energy and mystic warriors.
At the basic stage, though mystic warriors were limited, they still had a lot of means to attack and this was mostly through skills and battle techniques.
Till now, none of the students who came on stage have been able to demonstrate any useful technique or skill. Like in the first battle, they clash directly without improvising one bit, relying on winning with brute strength.
In the first battle, the swordsman student won through his better control over mystic energy. It was eye-catching to see, but mystic warriors like Rex who studied mystic energy in school, they knew that it was boring.
The tournaments continued this way as students fought, some being eliminated with the others emerging triumphantly and qualifying for the next stage.
This way, time passed rapidly and 4:00 pm finally came.
It was time for Ben's battle.
Before the time struck, Rex and Cassandra already wished him Goodluck as Ben went to the preparation chamber to prepare himself for his debut.
Though he always looked like he did not care for anything in the world, even just now behaving like he didn't give a damn about the tournament before his friends, Ben actually did care, he just hated expressing it.
Inside the cold and metal-walled preparation chamber, Ben felt the pressure. The noise made by the spectators, the still ongoing battle, his friends watching from the stands, and his future that were tied to this battle all grated at his nerves.
"This time, it is Ben Carter vs Tom Dink!"
"It seems we are in luck this time, according to their academy assessments, we are probably about to witness our first real mystic battle".
As the spectators cheered enthusiastically, Ben knew that it was time.
"Well, let's go there and smash it up!"
He stood up, grabbed his sword, and swung it left and right before sheathing it back on its scabbard, then he took the step out into the smart elevator.
Inside the elevator, Ben looked outside at the numerous spectators who were about to spectate his battle from the stands around the arena.
Feeling their energy that never seemed to get exhausted, he was amazed but he quickly wiped this all from his mind before focusing on his opponent.
Tom Dink was a student that Ben was familiar with. He was among the privileged kids, with the only shortcoming of being less talented but his parent's money was able to make up for a lot of his shortcomings.
He was not only the wielder of a powerful water mystic ability, but his knives were famous mystic weapons that were well-known in the school.
Ben's face turned grim but he never lost hope in himself.
Clang!
Once the elevator touched the arena, Ben finally came down. Instantly, he unsheathed his sword and entered a defensive stance, his concentration already reaching the peak that he could manage.
Gong!
The bell for the battle to start rang.
"Steps of the Nightingale!"
Ben made the first move, activating his only movement skill. Instantly, a green gale enveloped his body that was wrapped in the green combat uniform as his speed increased several folds.
Whoosh!
Compared to other wind elemental mystic ability users that had debuted already, his speed was outrageous as he got to his opponent's side in mere seconds.
Ben did not hesitate as he attacked immediately.
Clang!
Despite the speed of his opponent, Tom Dink was able to react on time. A loud metallic ringing sound reverberated, spreading vibrations through his knives and to his hand as he managed to parry the attack on time.
Ben improvised immediately as he launched a kick at his opponent's exposed abdomen. Tom could not dodge, the kick hit him squarely and he fell backward.
The sound of the wind turned sharp as Ben took advantage of the opportunity, channeling his mystic energy as a green swirl surrounded his sword while he started a repeat fast sword swing attacks at his opponent.
Tom who fell backward reacted instantly, curling his body while rolling backward rapidly as all of Ben's attacks hit empty air.
This continued until Ben pushed his opponent to the end of the battle arena. When the spectators thought that Tom would fall away which meant automatic elimination, a powerful force suddenly hit and restrained Ben's sword.
"Forgot my mystic ability is water, bastard?"
Boom!
The water cooled rapidly, turning into an ice fist as it moved fast, not giving Ben any time to react before it punched him on the head.
Ben was flung away, but even as he rotated like a drunk bird in the air, he was able to stabilize himself by channeling his mystic ability to control his flight pattern through the air as he landed quickly.
When he raised his head back to see his opponent, he was shocked.
Tom's body was now completely covered with water like he was a water creature. Behind him, the source of so much water became known, the pool of water that was in the hole separating the arena from the spectators.
Tom grinned. "Water Skill: White Lotus- Water Blade!"