Chapter 154: Raven’s Power

The tournament moved forward quickly. Match 3 was a battle between a Year 4 student from the Beacon Empire and a Year 3 student from the Void Empire.

The Beacon student used his dual affinity understanding of Earth and Fire to create hot waves of heat and stone, eventually forcing the Void student out of the stage after a five minute fight.

Match 4 ended in a victory for an Aether Year 4 student, who used his deep understanding of Wind affinity to trash his opponent off the stage with a heavy wave.

By the time Match 5 was called by the speakers, the bright sun was high in the sky, shedding gold light across the entire Central Arena.

The giant crystal board flashed again, showing the names for the fifth fight of the day.

[MATCH 5: Peter Musk - Aether Blessed Academy - Year 2 VS. Gerald - Beacon Empire Blessed Academy - Year 4]

In the Aether students seating area, right beside Lynx, Peter Musk, Ava’s elder twin brother, adjusted his deep blue uniform jacket.

Carrying an A Rank Ice affinity paired with a secondary C Rank Earth affinity, Peter held impressive stats for a Year 2. 21,000 HP, 25,000 MP, 20,000 STR, 20,000 AGI, 23,000 STA, 15,000 INT, and a massive 25,000 DEF.

Yet, when Lynx glanced at him with his Primordial Vision to sweep over Peter’s stats and panel, Peter visibly stiffened.

Having been humbled and utterly embarrassed by Lynx two or three times already, Peter couldn’t bring himself to talk recklessly around him anymore.

Like everyone else in Aether Academy, Peter knew all too well how terrifyingly strong Lynx was.

"Your turn, Peter," Lynx said smoothly, looking up at him with effortless authority.

Peter swallowed his arrogance, flinching slightly under Lynx’s gaze. He quickly averted his eyes and gave a stiff, tense nod. "I... I will handle it quickly," he muttered, keeping his tone submissive before hurrying down the stone stairs.

"Gerald is a Year 4 fighter who utilizes both Earth and Fire affinities," Professor Rose pointed out from the front row, scanning her papers.

"He combines his understanding of both elements to manipulate high temperature molten rock. Be careful with your Ice Density, Peter."

Peter barely gave a quiet "Understood" as he rushed onto the fighting ring, desperate to put distance between himself and Lynx. His eyes gleaming with hatred and frustration.

As Peter stepped onto the platform with his fist clenched, the commentator’s voice boomed across the arena.

"IN MATCH 5, WE HAVE ANOTHER YEAR 2 STUDENT FROM AETHER ACADEMY! PETER MUSK! HE WILL BE FACING GERALD, A YEAR 4 VETERAN FROM THE BEACON BLESSED ACADEMY!"

Gerald stepped out from the opposite tunnel, a broad shouldered man with a messy red beard. Red and brown energy swirled around his arms, turning the stone floor beneath his boots a dark, scorching orange.

"Another Year 2 brat from Aether Blessed Academy," Gerald spat, his eyes burning with anger as the barrier appeared.

"Your academy thinks they can mock us! I am going to melt that pretty blonde hair right off your head, boy"

Peter stood completely still. Thanks to his passive Blessing, Unshaken Pride, he was completely immune to fear or charm effects from weaker opponents, so Gerald’s aggressive threat failed to shake his Mind state.

Unable to vent his frustration on Lynx, Peter directed all his pent up stress toward Gerald.

"Shut your mouth, you filthy creature," Peter sneered, his brown eyes cold. "You’re just a punching bag."

Peter raised his right hand and his primary Blessing activated. Frozen Dominion.

FROOOOOZZZE!

A terrifying frost zone instantly expanded 20 meters across the stage. The domain stripped 20 points from all of Gerald’s stats while granting Peter an immediate +20 increase across his own attributes, boosting his already heavy 25,000 DEF and physical stats even higher.

The ambient temperature plummeted as Peter’s deep comprehension of his A Rank Ice affinity systematically extracted every drop of heat from the air.

"MATCH 5... BEGIN!" the referee yelled.

Gerald roared, slamming both hands onto the frosted ground. "I’ll burn your fucking ice to ashes! LAVA WAVE!"

The ground split open, sending a thick, glowing wave of molten rock surging straight toward Peter.

But as the burning wave entered the 20 meter zone of Frozen Dominion, Peter’s stat boosting domain and superior affinity comprehension choked out the heat.

When the lava reached three feet from his boots, Peter tapped his right heel lightly against the floor.

The extreme cold flash froze the moving lava instantly, turning the glowing wave into dark, solid obsidian rock covered in crystalline white frost.

Gerald’s jaw dropped in absolute horror. "WHAT?! HE FROZE MOVING LAVA?!"

"Your Affinity comprehension is pathetic," Peter scoffed, raising his left hand.

The frost across the floor surged into the air, refining into hundreds of razor sharp ice spears hovering in mid air, every single tip aimed straight at Gerald’s face and chest.

"Surrender," Peter ordered coldly. "Or I’ll turn you into a corpse."

Gerald felt the deadly chill radiating off the spears, his suppressed stats leaving him trembling and helpless. "I... I surrender!" he screamed, throwing his hands high up.

"MATCH 5 WINNER BY SURRENDER... PETER MUSK FROM THE AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY!"

The arena burst into cheers. Peter lowered his hand, letting the spears dissolve into mist.

Seeking validation, he instinctively turned back toward the player section and looked toward Lynx.

Up in the stands, Lynx leaned back comfortably, looking down at Ava. "Your brother has gotten stronger. He clearly benefited from that intense training in the restricted area."

Ava crossed her arms and rolled her blue eyes in complete disgust. "Who cares? It’s just his luck. He’s a total fool anyway."

Lynx chuckled softly at her response.

Reaching out, he casually wrapped his arm around Ava and began affectionately rubbing her long white hair.

Ava’s cheeks turned bright pink, but she leaned into his touch, resting her head against his side with a playful smile.

Down on the stage, Peter witnessed Lynx casually touching his sister.

Rage flared through his chest, but the terrifying memory of how Lynx had thoroughly crushed and embarrassed him in the past made his blood run cold. How Lynx killed that Monster in the Academy forest, how he felt Lynx suppressing godly aura and knelt, while he bleed through his nose.

He didn’t dare say a single word or raise his voice. Lynx met his gaze from where he sat, throwing him a quiet, mocking smirk while stroking Ava’s hair.

Grip tightening until his knuckles turned ghost white, Peter ground his teeth together in suppressed fury and fear, while walking off the stage to where the other Aether Blessed Academy students are.

The afternoon sun slowly began to drop across the sky. Matches 6, 7, 8, and 9 showcased intense battles between Year 4 and Year 3 fighters.

When Match 9 ended, the giant crystal board flashed with bright gold lights for the tenth and final fight of Day 1.

[MATCH 10: Raven: Aether Blessed Academy - Year 2 VS. Jax Void Blessed Academy - Year 4]

In the Aether seating area, a sharp featured girl with dark messy hair and calm, dangerous eyes stood up. Pulling on her dark leather fingerless gloves, she walked toward the stairs.

Lynx watched her leave, tilting his head slightly. "Raven? I’ve heard that name before..."

Lira leaned in close to Lynx, smiling. "Yeah. She was among the team that killed one of the highest number of monsters in the academy forest restricted area."

"Wow," Lynx murmured, a subtle grin touching his lips as he observed her stats. "So she’s the person that was chosen in our Earth affinity class? She’s surprisingly strong."

Ophelia, sitting nearby as the only Year 3 student in their main group, sighed playfully and nodded. "Yeah, I’m impressed too. Her control and understanding of her dual Earth and Wind affinities are so good. As her senior, I’m actually jealous."

Kira chuckled, resting her hand on Lynx’s knee. "Watch her close, Lynx. She doesn’t like wasting time."

Down on the stage, Jax stepped out from the opposite tunnel in a sleek black uniform, green wind energy crackling around his boots.

"Another Year 2 kid," Jax sneered loudly as the translucent barrier locked them in. "Your little academy friends got lucky earlier, girl. But speed always beats heavy earth. You won’t even see where my hits are coming from."

Raven stood completely still in her uniform. She didn’t take a stance or waste breath talking.

Her eyes were pitch black voids of cold ruthlessness. Through her deep comprehension of both Earth and Wind affinities, she sank her presence into the floor while reading the air pressure around her.

"Fighters ready." the referee yelled. "MATCH 10... BEGIN!"

SWISH!

Jax vanished using compressed wind acceleration, reappearing instantly on Raven’s left flank, his hand extended like a razor sharp blade. "WIND CUTTER! MEET YOUR END BRAT!"

Raven didn’t even turn her head. Her Earth comprehension picked up the microscopic vibration on the stone floor, while her Wind comprehension sensed the shift in air currents. She casually shifted her torso half an inch to the right.

SWISH!

The wind blade sliced harmlessly through empty air.

"What the—?" Jax gasped, his eyes wide with shock.

"Weak," Raven muttered coldly.

Before Jax could pull back using his wind speed, Raven’s left hand shot out like a lightning fast iron vice, grabbing him tightly by the throat and slamming him slightly downward.

"Wait—!" Jax panicked, trying to channel his wind energy to blow her away.

"Shut up," Raven snapped.

Raven controled Earth affinity directly into the stage under his feet, instantly multiplying the local gravitational pull beneath Jax’s boots by ten times.

At the same exact moment, she used her Wind affinity to create a vacuum seal around his legs, pinning him to the stone floor like an anchor.

CRACK!

The stone floor shattered under Jax’s boots. His fast wind speed became completely useless as his legs were locked solid to the ground.

"My legs. What the fuck did you do to my legs?!" Jax screamed, sheer panic taking over.

Raven raised her right fist, wrapping her entire arm in a heavy granite shell reinforced by swirling, pressurized wind currents. She didn’t hold back a single bit of her raw physical power.

"Wait, I surren—!"

BOOM!

Raven drove her granite and wind fist squarely into Jax’s face before he could finish the word.

The terrifying impact smashed straight through his wind defenses, shattering his nose and blasting all the air from his body.

Jax’s eyes rolled back instantly, blood spraying into the air as his unconscious body was folded in half and slammed violently onto the stone floor.

Raven released her grip, letting his limp body drop like trash. She dusted off her fingerless gloves, her expression completely unbothered.

The entire brutal exchange had taken less than thirty seconds.

The referee swallowed nervously, stepping away from the ruthless girl before raising his flag. "K-KNOCKOUT! WINNER OF MATCH 10... RAVEN FROM THE AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY!"

The Arena went silent. Then they erupted into a deafening roar!

"HOLY SHIT!! SHE OBLITERATED HIM."

"AETHER ACADEMY CLEARED THE WHOLE DAY!"

"FOUR MATCHES, FOUR ABSOLUTE DOMINATIONS!"

Raven turned around without looking at Jax’s bleeding body and walked back up to where her fellow students was, returning to her seat and closed her eyes to rest.

Professor Selene walked over to the front of the seats, her sharp blue eyes shining with immense pride as she looked at her students.

"Excellent work today, everyone," Professor Selene announced, her voice echoing clearly.

"Day 1 belongs entirely to Aether Academy. But remember, this is only the beginning. Keep your focus sharp, with this fights you can comprehend your affinity, understand it better, you and your affinity are one, and do not drop your guard for a single second."

"YES, PROFESSOR." the students shouted in unison.

As the massive crowds began filing out of the arena, Lynx stood up smoothly alongside Kira, Lira, Ava, and Ophelia. Up in the VIP boxes, Isabel and Amira smiled warmly down at Lynx before stepping away together.

Lynx wrapped his arm casually around Kira’s waist, keeping Ava close to his side as they walked down the exit tunnel toward the main doors.

"So," Lira grinned playfully, slinging her arms behind her head as they approached their dark luxury vehicle outside.

"Day 1 was a complete sweep. What are we doing tonight, Lynx?"

Lynx chuckled softly, his handsome face illuminated under the evening lights.

"Tonight, we rest and celebrate. Tomorrow on Day 2, Kira and Lira step into the ring, and we show everyone that Aether Academy’s power is just getting started."

A/N: Guys it’s Amira not Amelia, Amelia is the headmistress, and she isn’t present yet. Amira is Lynx woman. Sorry :( I’ve just changed it. And yes my eyes and swollen cheek has gotten better. I can now see. Isn’t it wonderful.