Chapter 167: Ophelia

DAY 4

NEXT MATCH: BRANDON - AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY - YEAR 3 VS. KYLE HEATHER ACADEMY - YEAR 3

Brandon, a solid Year 3 student from Aether Academy, brought pride back to the Aether seating box.

He pushed his Ice affinity comprehension to its absolute limit, summoning a giant wall of compressed, heavy melted Ice that surged across the flagstones.

He controlled the rushing melted Ice like a tidal wave, slamming Kyle directly against the outer arena barrier and pressing him so hard under the heavy pressure that Kyle could no longer breathe, forcing him to tap out on the stone wall.

"WINNER: BRANDON AETHER ACADEMY!"

"NEXT MATCH: VANCE - VOID BLESSED ACADEMY - YEAR 4 VS. GERRARD - AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY - YEAR 3

Gerrard fought like a complete madman for Aether Academy. He pushed his Earth affinity comprehension into his arms and legs, creating heavy stone armor over his skin to block dozens of fast, dark shadow strikes coming from Vance.

Even when Vance cut through his stone defense with sharp Fire claws, causing Gerrard to bleed heavily from his arms and chest, Gerrard refused to back down or step off the ring.

He took three direct cuts to land one massive rock infused punch right onto Vance’s left shoulder, breaking the Void senior’s bone with a loud crack before Gerrard finally fainted from heavy blood loss.

Vance won the match, but he had to be carried off the field by medical staff holding his broken shoulder.

"WINNER: VANCE: VOID ACADEMY"

The crowd in the stadium was roaring, thousands of fans across the different empires chatting songs.

By 2:00 PM on Day Four, the giant magical screen hanging high above the center of the stadium flashed bright red, displaying a name that caused the entire arena crowd to instantly fall quiet.

MATCH 22: LYNX AZARION AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY - YEAR 2 VS. BRENTON HOLT BEACON BLESSED ACADEMY - YEAR 4

Because Lynx was occupying four extra individual tournament spots on top of his own personal spot, he had to step up to fight multiple extra matches throughout the entire ten day opening phase to clear the brackets.

When Lynx casually stood up from his dark leather chair in the front row, the entire Aether seating box turned to watch him walk down.

Ava smiled brightly, her long white hair swaying over her shoulders as she gave him a cute, sweet wave. "Go tear him apart in two seconds, Lynx!"

Kira chuckled softly, leaning back with her arms crossed. "Don’t play with your food too long. We have fruit waiting here."

"I’ll keep it fast," Lynx smirked smoothly.

He strolled down the short flight of stone steps with his hands tucked loosely into his dark pants pockets, stepping onto the open, white flagstones of the arena ring.

Across the wide ring stood Brenton Holt, a top Year 4 senior from Beacon Blessed Academy wearing a bright purple uniform.

Brenton was known throughout his academy for his high S Rank Fire affinity comprehension, and intense heat waves were already distorting and bending the cool mountain air all around his body.

"So you’re the famous Year 2 kid everyone in the stands won’t shut up about," Brenton sneered loudly, cracking his knuckles as dark red flames began dancing wildly across his hands, forearms, and shoulders.

"You think having multiple affinities and defeating few people makes you some kind of untouchable god? In front of true, absolute Fire power, your cheap little tricks mean nothing! I’m going to roast you alive in front of your little harem!"

Lynx did not draw a weapon. He did not even bother taking his hands out of his dark pants pockets. He simply stood there in the center of the ring, staring straight at Brenton with his striking heterochromatic blue, silver eyes. A lazy, totally bored smirk spread across his handsome face.

"You talk way too much for someone who is about to take a nap on the floor," Lynx said, his clear voice carrying across the entire silent stadium.

The refree looked at the Heather guy with something like pity before he called "Begin!"

Brenton exploded forward like a launching cannonball, his entire physical body transforming into a blinding, rushing streak of dark red fire.

He blasted straight across the broken stone floor, intending to completely cover Lynx in high tier flames and burn him to ash before Lynx could even process the movement.

"Inferno Blitz!" Brenton screamed at the top of his lungs, thrusting both of his palms forward to blast a massive, thirty foot wall of roaring S Rank flames straight into Lynx’s face.

The wall of dark red fire roared through the air, melting the top layer of the stage into red slag as it rushed forward.

Lynx didn’t dodge to the left. He didn’t jump to the right, nor did he cover his face with his hands. He simply stood right where he was and activated his Fire King blessing inside his soul.

The very instant Brenton’s massive wall of dark red flames slammed directly into Lynx’s chest and head, the heat did not burn him at all.

Instead, the extreme heat of the attack was instantly cut in half by the passive power of the blessing.

The dark red flames bent, split, and dissolved harmlessly around Lynx’s body like weak smoke, failing to leave a single black scorch mark on his dark uniform or singe a single strand of his silver hair.

In the stands, the People’s eyes widened.

Brenton’s eyes widened to the size of tea saucers in absolute, sheer terror. He stopped dead in his tracks just three feet away, his jaw dropping wide open.

"What? How are you taking a direct hit from my S Rank Fire Affinity without a single scratch on your body?"

"My turn now," Lynx whispered softly, his voice appearing right in Brenton’s ear.

Lynx activated Lightning Stride.

FLASH!

In less than a microsecond, Lynx vanished completely from Brenton’s physical sight. He moved fifty five times faster than any normal human eye or Even strong Blessed eyes could ever track.

Before Brenton could even turn his head or pull his hands back to defend himself, Lynx was already standing directly behind his back.

Lynx reached out his right hand, grabbed Brenton by the back of his heavy uniform neck, and slammed him head first straight down into the solid stone flagstones with absolute, overwhelming raw physical power.

KABOOM!

A loud, thunderous explosion shook the entire giant stone arena. A thirty foot wide, ten foot deep crater burst open in the very center of the ring, sending massive chunks of broken stone, dust, and debris flying high into the air.

Brenton’s dark red Fire affinity completely collapsed, his flames dying out instantly. His face was buried deep into the broken stone floor, his body going totally limp and unconscious before he could even register what hit him.

The entire stadium of thousands of roaring fans went dead, absolute silent. Not a single person in the high metal stands uttered a word.

"WINNER: LYNX AZARION - AETHER BLESSED ACADEMY"

Lynx casually pulled his hand back, dusted off his sleeve with a quick flick of his wrist, and strolled slowly back toward the steps of the Aether students area without looking back at the giant crater even once.

High up in the private VIP viewing boxes, high ranking representatives, generals, and elder noblemen from all four major empires leaned forward in their soft seats, talking fast and loud among themselves about the crazy, terrifying speed and physical strength Lynx had just shown in broad daylight.

——-

By the fifth and sixth days of the tournament, the intense energy inside the stone stadium had reached a boiling point. The weaker participants from all four empires were being completely wiped out, leaving only the most ruthless powerhouses of each academy to battle over the remaining spots for the second phase.

The four empires, Void, Aether, Heather, and Beacon, had sent fifty students each, filling out a massive bracket of two hundred competitors.

Yet, despite the non stop heavy pressure from the other three academies, Aether Blessed Academy was performing far better than anyone in the VIP boxes had ever predicted.

Inside the spacious Aether students area, Ophelia Dragwyn slowly stood up from her wide leather seat.

She stretched her arms over her head, her dusty brown hair brushing against her shoulders while her sharp amber eyes locked onto the glowing display board in the center of the stadium floor.

Her dark blue Aether uniform hugged her firm, athletic build tightly, clearly showing off the incredible density and physical tone she had built over years of heavy training.

"Looks like my turn has finally come up,"

Ophelia said smoothly, rolling her shoulders as her boots thumped against the polished stone floor. "Time to stretch my legs and wrap this up."

Lira leaned over the armrest of her chair, a playful smirk on her face. "Don’t damage the stage too badly, Ophelia. The staffs are probably regretting the day they were born by now."

"No promises," Ophelia replied with a dry chuckle, stepping down the short flight of stairs and walking out onto the stage for the next match.

Her opponent was already waiting in the center of the stage. He was a tall, heavily built Year 4 senior from Heather Academy who specialized entirely in raw physical Earth affinity attacks.

His heavy blue uniform was reinforced with thick leather straps, and his dark brown eyes were filled with aggressive confidence.

"A Year 3 girl?" the Heather senior barked, raising his heavy arms as dark brown mana began surging through his veins. "Aether Academy must be running out of real fighters if they’re sending you out to handle a Year 4 senior... Ohh! You guys are very strong. It will be worth the battle."

Ophelia didn’t bother responding. She didn’t draw a sword or raise her hands in a defensive stance.

The moment her boots pressed firmly into the solid stone ground of the ring, her Gaia’s Aegis blessing activated deep within her soul.

The passive density of her skin instantly surged by thirty percent, turning her muscles, bones, and outer tissue into an unbreakable, stone hard defense that required zero mana to maintain.

"BEGIN!"

The Heather senior immediately roared at the top of his lungs, slamming his fists together. Giant, jagged boulders of stone wrapped around his forearms, forming massive, spike covered gauntlets.

He sprinted forward, his heavy boots shattering the flagstones beneath him as he closed the distance in less than two seconds.

"Rock Crusher!" he screamed, driving his massive stone gauntlet straight into Ophelia’s chest with enough raw physical force to pulverize an armored carriage.

KABOOM!

A loud, metallic shockwave exploded across the ring. Stone dust and flying rock fragments sprayed out in a wide circle. But as the dust cleared, the entire crowd gasped in total shock.

Ophelia hadn’t moved an inch. She hadn’t even taken a single step back to absorb the impact.

The massive, spike covered stone gauntlet had completely shattered into harmless powder upon hitting her chest, while her deep blue uniform remained completely untouched.

The Heather senior stared down at his bare, bleeding knuckles in complete horror, his eyes wide with sheer disbelief. "W-What?! What kind of monster skin is that?!"

"Is that really all the physical force a Year 4 senior can produce?" Ophelia asked in a deadpan, unimpressed voice.

Without waiting for him to answer, Ophelia stepped forward, channeled her mama using her Earth Rank affinity into her right fist, and delivered a swift, straight right punch directly into his exposed stomach.

THUMP!

The impact sounded like a heavy iron hammer striking a hollow drum. The physical force tore straight through his protective mana layer and leather armor.

The Heather student instantly doubled over, his eyes rolling back as all the air was forcefully blasted out of his lungs.

He collapsed onto his knees, coughed up a mixture of spit and blood, and fell face down onto the flagstones, completely unconscious.

"WINNER: OPHELIA DRAGWY - AETHER ACADEMY"

The referee raised his hand, pointing at Ophelia. She simply turned around, wiped a tiny speck of dust off her sleeve, and strolled back up the steps toward the Aether students area, giving Lynx a smooth nod as she took her seat beside Lira.