With Principal Perry's shout, the battles began.
They were all hectic with explosions and the elements flying everywhere. But to Vander's surprise, the sound and elemental blasts didn't reach him. The teachers in charge of grading each platform erected a control console from the ground. Enabling a clear mana barrier with a slight blue tint to contain each platform.
Getting blasted with explosions or hit from the conjured elements, pieces of the platform should've been damaged. Not in this case. The hardened platforms withstood all the damage from most of the students. But not against the powerhouses that couldn't become Alphas. Parts of those platforms were getting chipped or even destroyed.
There were a couple of these half-step Alphas in the first twenty-five matchups. Some of them were on their own, while the others teamed up with each other forming some formidable teams.
It was easy for Vander to tell where all those powerhouses were located. Extra instructors and even medics were already on standby right next to their platforms for each respective powerhouse. Because of this, one platform had more than ten instructors looking over it.
This superteam utterly decimated their opponent. With such a skill and power gap, the instructors had to act out early to save some students from fatal blows.
But not everything was perfect. Even with the extra protection from the instructors, a student was still gravely injured. Being confident in himself, he took on a half-step Alpha one on one.
The Alpha prospect was amused by the student's confidence, granting him the one versus one he wanted, preventing the others from interfering. Standing about twenty-five feet from each other, the half-step Alpha manifested a long, burning katana in his hands. The dark red katana, burning with a black flame, was pointed towards its enemy. The Alpha prospect waited, giving his opponent a chance.
The opponent roared, his skin and clothes changed into a grey stone material, making him grow in size. Becoming twice as big as before, looking like a giant statue. With a confident grin on his face, the student started to charge at the half-step Alpha.
Within the first step, the student froze and his confident grin disappeared. The half-step Alpha was already behind him, the burning katana was already starting to disappear.
The student was cut in half from the waist. The top half of the body fell forward, falling down face forward. The instructors were too late, only able to get his body and legs to the medics.
The difference between a half-step Alpha and a strong student was overwhelming. The student was confident in his endurance which was boosted by his [Record], but that didn't matter in the face of absolute power and speed. The dexterity and strength gap between them was like a canyon.
The medics were able to stabilize the student's life, but weren't able to reattach his legs. That would require an elite healer, or an exotic elixir. Something that the student wouldn't be able to afford.
After finishing their one on one, the whole match was already over. The other Alpha prospects already swept the board, dealing with everyone else easily.
"Do you think we would have a chance against them?" Turning to his side, Vander asked Bella and Alice who were focusing on the matches.
"Not even close. We're lucky that we don't have to face them." With a pained look in her face, Alice admitted defeat instantly.
"We would need a whole group of Alice and me just to stand a chance against him. One versus twenty. But then we would lose to his teammates." Bella responded.
"Hopefully we aren't against a super team. One win would be nice." Vander looked around to see what groups were left on the stands.
One group didn't look impressed by any of the matches. They were talking to each other and not even paying attention to the battles. Some of them were even on their smartphones playing games.
Looking at this unimpressed Alpha group, Vander was relieved. 'At least no one has to go up against them anytime soon.'
Vander also noticed Eric's group. A team handpicked by a half-step Alpha. Even though there was only one half-step Alpha in the group, it was still levels above many teams there. Witnessing first hand just the strength stat of the group, Vander believed Eric's group was still hiding more of their strength.
'Man, he should've just told us a tournament was coming up. I wished I could've handpicked a powerful team. But I can't complain, at least I got Alice with me.' Vander recalled what Eric told him at the strength test.
Vander didn't know anything about the rest of the groups on the stands. Some groups looked confident and smug, while others looked scared and worried. But Vander couldn't tell if those confident groups were superteams, or just filled with ignorant students like the guy who was cut in half.
Finishing his scouting on the seated groups, all the half-step Alpha's finished their matchups. No fatalities, but two more gravely injured students appeared. Unable to withstand the power of the half-step Alphas.
Only the normal and average groups were left. Unlike the groups with the half-step Alphas, these matches were long and gruelling. The students were able to take more than one attack, going blow for blow.
The longest match had a fleet of different birds who took their time and dodged the flying elemental blasts coming from below. Once the students on the ground used all their stamina, the fleet swooped down and finished the job. The battle of attrition was won by the winged beasts.
"What wonderful battles. Congratulations to the winners. If you are injured, get treatment at the medical ward, then head back to your designated seats." Principal Perry was excited by the tournament so far. He then used more mana on the device in his hands.
The image changed, knowing which teams advanced already, depicted by the tournament bracket. Then the other half of the bracket glowed, highlighting the other matchups with their platform number as well.
Sarah began to stand up, waiting for her group. With Bella's, Alice's, and Vander's lead, the rest of the group stood up. Heading down to the arena stage, their group made it to their platform numbered ten.
Making it up the platform, Eric's group followed right after them.