The next day, all the students gathered for the tournament. Frank, Clarck, and Clément were already there when Lisa joined them.
"I'm glad to see you didn't forget my invitation," Clément said with a smile.
"And I'm even on time," Lisa replied playfully.
All the students who hadn't been selected took seats that had been arranged facing the combat arena, a large circle with a 10-meter diameter. The selected students stood on the opposite side, near the other edge of the circle.
The twelve chosen participants stepped into the ring. The headmaster stood up from his chair to speak.
"Before we begin, we're going to announce the match-ups for today's tournament. Let me remind you that this is a martial arts competition—no weapons or supernatural abilities are allowed," Clément stated firmly, just as Clarck handed him a sheet listing the duels. He continued:
"The fights will be held one by one. There are two brackets. The first group includes the following match-ups:
Leon vs Azel
Elio vs Louis
Jason vs Kim
Whoever wins their match the fastest will face the winner of the other two matches."
He paused, then went on:
"As for the second bracket, we have:
Arthur vs Sarah
Phoenix vs Isabelle
Darian vs Valérie"
The students reacted in various ways. Louis was excited to face Elio, while Elio, Darian, Azel, and Arthur realized that winning quickly would be the key to avoiding an extra fight—and preserving energy for the final. On the other hand, Valérie and Sarah seemed uncomfortable with their respective opponents.
"Well then, let the tournament begin!" Clément declared with enthusiasm.
"So... which match starts first?" Arthur asked, amused by the headmaster's oversight.
"Oh, right! We'll just go in the order I gave you," Clément replied.
"…"
"He really could have just acted like it was all planned instead of clearly showing he just forgot…" thought Lisa and Clarck simultaneously—one amused, the other annoyed.
The first fight was between Leon and Azel. The other selected students joined the rest of the audience.
"Who do you think will win?" Jason asked the group.
"Azel," Louis replied without hesitation.
"He's that strong?" Phoenix asked, curious.
"You saw it yourself. He was easily the top performer in Class 2 during the previous tests. On top of that, he won all his sparring matches during the orientation week—except the one against Arthur," Louis explained.
Frank stood up—he would serve as the referee for the tournament.
"Who do you think will win the whole thing?" Clément asked his two remaining colleagues.
"The answer is obvious… Are you fishing for compliments about your son?" Clarck replied with a smirk.
"If even Clarck says that, Darian must really live up to his reputation," Lisa commented.
"Yeah… I just hope it's not too easy for him," Clément said with a touch of anxiety in his voice—something his colleagues weren't used to hearing from him.
Frank announced the beginning of the match. The two students touched fists as a sign of respect.
Azel took the initiative right away, throwing a few probing jabs to test Leon's defense.
Leon quickly raised his guard but was pushed back by the blows. Azel followed up with powerful hooks—too strong for Leon's defense to fully absorb. Leon tried to counter with a few jabs of his own, but Azel dodged them gracefully. Then Leon launched a swift and well-placed spinning kick to Azel's head. Azel blocked most of the impact with his arm, but it clearly shook him. He staggered back.
Sensing an opportunity, Leon rushed forward and threw a straight punch. But Azel smoothly pivoted his body to the side and countered with a stunning spinning elbow to Leon's temple. Leon collapsed immediately, blood running from his head. He looked completely out of the fight.
Frank carefully checked his condition before officially announcing the winner: Azel.
"That was really brutal… This school usually doesn't allow this kind of fighting—especially not for first-years," Lisa said, visibly disturbed by what she'd just witnessed.
"Normally, we ban moves like Azel's final strike to avoid making the fights too dangerous for younger students. But time is running out…" Clément replied, his tone grave.
Azel helped Leon out of the ring. The other students were also a bit shocked by that final move—it revealed not only Azel's experience but also a ruthless side of him, someone who wasn't afraid to hurt others to secure a win.