Sam went to the next ring as if he just took a stroll in the park.
As he walked, everyone could see the smirk on his face. At that moment, he could feel the eyes of the people from Apollo Academy on him. He feels their killing intent. If given a chance, hundreds of people would jump at a chance to kill him right there and then.
But of course, nobody dared to make a move.
Rules are there for a reason and in a place like there where powerhouses sprout like grass on a meadow, rules are the only thing that are keeping the peace there.
Sam waited as he looked at the ring that would produce his opponent.
When the Elder asked if he would like to choose the environment meanwhile, Sam just rejected him.
Once again, his opponent is going to choose the environment and he is going to destroy whoever it is. The two candidates in the connecting ring are pretty nervous. Their fight started with a lot of zeal and excitement.
They looked forward to their performance. But too bad, Sam sucked the excitement out of them.
They didn't want to go to Sam's ring to fight him.
Their bodies are instinctively against it. But of course, they couldn't back out now. They need to finish the fight at their hands. And they also knew if they hesitated and dragged this fight, Sam would have much more leisurely time to plan ways to kill them.
So, the battle sped up compared to the rest of the arenas and soon their fight was over. The victor is a student from Zeus academy.
Sam did expect that he would come across this guy.
He is one of the two candidates who learned under the guidance of Joker in the hub. One of the prodigies that Sam himself is training to further develop his plans in the region.
The opponent is a lightning-type user and he is also a warrior who uses throwing weapons and dual daggers. He is a good fighter who uses lightning speed to his advantage.
He gulped down nervously and picked the environment for the ring. His choice surprised many people. They all thought that he would just choose an environment that would benefit him, which is lightning, or like the previous opponent he would choose one that would trouble Sam.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBut he did neither.
Because he is one of the few people who remembered what Sam did in the Zeus Academy's entrance test.
He tore the test apart with his lightning expertise.
He made the whole test null and void and the Academy had to conduct a new test.
He knew better than giving Sam a lightning arena. So, he chose a neutral one with which he could use his newfound skills that he honed.
The ring changed and very unique formation of metal and earth elements was created.
The reason it is unique is because it doesn't belong in battles in general. It is mostly a training formation and Sam was a bit surprised that it is even present in the list of choices.
The gravity of the ring increased a bit and then four pillars appeared on the four corners of the ring. The four pillar released a very concentrated metal elemental energy and conjured four metal shuriken.
The metal shuriken were shot out and their aim is to destroy both the students. The shuriken's attack is aimed to attack both the contestants. Sam chuckled at this.
The attack of the shuriken is definitely good enough to cause some serious damage to them.
Right now, both of them are in Initial stage of Divine Plane Initiation and the shuriken can pack the power of a middle stage Divine Plane initiation cultivator. Even not the strongest but it would still make them bleed.
Sam didn't want to get hit of course. He can block them easily and dodging is even easier. But his opponents have completely different thought.
The opponent activated lightning fusion from the get go, before he shot out. He jumped at Sam with his daggers and slashed. With his high speed he managed to close the distance pretty easily. Sam blocked the attack and he had to dodge in a hurry because a shuriken almost caught him from the side.
But the next moment, he was a bit stunned as a lightning flying dagger was shot at the shuriken. The dagger redirected mid air and came at Sam as it gathered extra momentum from the spinning shuriken.
At the same time the lightning infused into the shuriken through the attack fastened the shuriken a bit as well as it disappeared into one of the pillars.
When the pillar shot out the shuriken again, Sam was surprised to see that the residual of the lightning attack is still in there and on top of that, the speed of the shuriken increased by a lot.
"You seemed to have studied this formation a lot."
Sam muttered as he blocked another attack from the opponent. The opponent of course didn't reply, he continued on using the four flying shuriken and his own flying daggers along with lightning attacks.
The battle looked extremely flashy but equally decisive and on the edge. Sam didn't use any of his elements, he purely used his body and his hand to hand combat skills to dodge, block and even launch a few counter attacks at the opponent.
And once in a while he had to struggle a bit.
At this moment, everyone in the audience started thinking.
"Why is he not using his elements? He clearly has fire element and lightning element as well. He also clearly has better battle awareness, why is he not using them? I am sure if he uses lightning fusion with the level of his control he can easily overpower his opponent."
This question has been asked in different ways by different people in the spectators.
Then one of the keen eyed instructors seemed to have noticed something.
"I think the pace of the battle is restricting him a bit.
He is unable to unleash his lethal attacks and better forms because of the fast pace of the battle. For the freshmen, this battle is indeed incredible. And with the excess energy he used in the previous battle, it will be a bit difficult.
I can see his lightning energy riling up bit by bit, but every time he was about to unleash it, he is being suppressed by the opponent's use of lightning and shuriken."
"Really?"
Many people didn't notice it at first, but as they paid a little more attention they noticed that there is indeed something up with Sam. They could see the faint annoyance in his eyes.
But as the time passed they also noticed that even with that struggle Sam is not tired at all. His endurance is off the charts, but his opponent is unable to keep up the speed and attacks. He slowed down and when his speed dropped just a little bit, Sam grinned and he activated partial fusion to his arms.
Silver light flashed as he caught a hold of the two flying shuriken that are close to him and held them from flying away to the pillars. He then jumped high into the air before catching the other two discs.
The opponent looked at Sam with gritted teeth, he wanted to fight again, but then he sighed and relaxed.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I forfeit."
Sam looked at him with a surprised expression. He let go of the shuriken and the formation disappeared.
"Not a bad fight."
He complimented before he walked away to the next ring.
This time the opponent is already there and this guy happened to be one of the top five. He is a marked candidate on Pearl's list and he is the guy that made Pearl go down from the top five positions.
The formation activated immediately and flames roared.
Sam didn't hesitate this time. His body turned golden and went all out from the start. In the next few minutes, the fight was over. It was intense and as onlookers watched, Sam downed a bunch of potions immediately before he walked to the final ring.
At this moment, the second finalist is yet to be decided and everyone watched in anticipation because, the two Semi-Finalists are White and Pearl.
Vidyut and Pearl met in the ring before and he gave up without putting up a fight. He decided to aim for the fourth place since he knew Sam would take one of the top 2.
Pearl appreciated this decision because she didn't want to lose energy. But now that she met with White in this ring she is hesitating. She is sure that she can defeat Vidyut albeit in a close fight, but she is not confident with White.
His fighting style is very unique.
"What do you suggest?" White asked calmly.
Pearl hesitated for a while and said.
"Are you confident in winning against Sam?"
"No, I want to defeat him though and I will go to any extent to do it. After all, he is the reason I am here in this region."
After much hesitating she decided to give up as well.
Sam and White ended up in the Finals as most people predicted.