"Fujito, are you alright?"
Mitsuki asked with some worry.
"I'm fine, just a minor injury. Our school has the best campus medical staff in all of Mizusawa Prefecture."
Seiichi sat in the stands, watching the match very clearly, even more clearly than the two fighters themselves.
The gap in strength is too vast, a complete difference of an entire level. Only after Fujito Hikaru advances to the next stage will he have a chance to fight. However, his opponent won't stop progressing either, and it's still too difficult for a commoner to surpass someone from a prominent family.
Upon arriving at the infirmary to check on Fujito Hikaru, he found that his injuries had already fully healed, but he still needed to be watched for another half hour.
This medical skill should be a supernatural ability.
"Seiichi, I'm so sorry for making you watch that spectacle."
Fujito Hikaru was a bit sad. After all, he had received quite a bit of guidance from Seiichi.
"You didn't run away. Instead, you chose to face the challenge, and that alone makes me very satisfied. You are a true swordsman."
Upon hearing Seiichi's praise, his face got slightly red. Seiichi then patted Fujito Hikaru on the shoulder, comforting him with a few words.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of Yamada Akira. I can't pretend I didn't hear what he said."
With Seiichi's five senses, he had heard the conversation very clearly, and even his usually good temper was starting to get a little angry.
Fujito Hikaru's heart, however, skipped a beat. Did Seiichi hear all the big talk I said? How embarrassing!
Holding Mitsuki's small hand, Seiichi left the infirmary, raised his wrist, and looked at the display, which showed information about the next battle.
"Mitsuki, Nitta, let's go."
From the round of 128 to 64, and 64 to 32, Seiichi's journey had been mostly uneventful.
The strongest person he met was a student previously ranked ninth, who used magic as his combat ability. As soon as he stepped onto the stage, before he could even speak, overwhelming fireballs and wind blades flew towards him. The wind fed the fire, and the fireballs kept expanding, reaching the size of a washbasin by the time they reached Seiichi's face, showing that he had come prepared.
Seiichi simply swept his long sword horizontally, and all the fireballs and wind blades were broken. He then stepped forward, and before the person could react, he was sent flying, leaving a clear footprint on the chest of his school uniform.
At this point, the top 32 had been decided, and the challenge rounds were next.
The 32 students stood in the center of the platform, with tens of thousands of spectators seated in the stands. The platform and teachers' section were set up again, and all the teachers and the principal had returned to the arena.
From the start of the challenge rounds, all matches were held in the same place, with four exhibition platforms joining into one massive platform where the fighters showed their skills.
"The challenge rounds officially begin. Students who wish to challenge, please use your display devices."
Several names instantly appeared on the huge display screen above.
Generally speaking, the 32 people on the field were not weak. To be careful, challengers would judge the strength gap between themselves and their opponents, being very careful when making a challenge.
Nitta Shinji nodded as he looked at the screen, announced the list for the challenge rounds, and declared their official start.
The challenge rounds were, first, to help the unlucky ones, and second, to build excitement for the next official ranking matches.
Just like now, the applause and cheers from the tens of thousands in the stands were already growing.
The first to enter the arena was Fujito Hikaru. He chose to challenge a student who was not as strong and won easily.
Then came the second, and the third. Some won, some lost, and in less than an hour, the challenge rounds had already ended.
Feeling that the mood was right, Nitta Shinji officially announced the start of the ranking matches! He swung his hands, and a massive stone wall rose, dividing the platform into two parts.
The large screen above flickered rapidly.
"Match successful!"
The 32 people were divided into two groups, 16 people per group. The strongest person from each group would be decided and advance to the finals.
"Seiichi, your opponent is: Ogikubo Sonoko. The match will begin shortly!"
"It feels a bit planned."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, Seiichi and Yamada Akira are in the same group. But will fight each other in the semifinals."
"It really seems so!"
"And putting them together to decide the winner, then having them face Shinomiya Saki, isn't that too obvious?"
"This is basically making Shinomiya Saki first place by default."
Seiichi didn't bother with whether there was rigging. From the start of the ranking matches, he had slowed down his winning pace. In every battle, he would wait until his opponent had no more moves before ending the fight, using this method to observe the combat patterns of this world.
In the 4-to-2 round, for a single group, it was 2-to-1. Seiichi, of course, faced Yamada Akira, while on the other side, Shinomiya Saki faced the student previously ranked fourth.
In the teachers' seats, a teacher asked Yamamoto.
"Who do you think will win, Seiichi or Yamada?"
Yamamoto shook his head, showing that he himself didn't know. As the class teacher, he didn't understand Seiichi at all.
On the platform, the sound of intense fighting was already rumbling on the other side, while Seiichi and Yamada Akira were still chatting.
"You know, they said you're very strong, but I didn't believe it, because why would you be?"
Yamada Akira's eyes were already wide open, a sharp glint in them. His words were arrogant, but there was no emotional change, as if it were simply natural.
"But during this time, my thoughts have changed. It's unbelievable that you could actually reach our level."
"You have enough to be proud of."
Seiichi looked at him with a strange expression, listening to these childish words.
"Constantly thinking about the difference between family status and commoners is truly ugly."
"If your capacity is only this much, then you truly disappoint me."
"Someone once said that I didn't fight you two because I looked down on you. That was a rumor."
"But now, I suddenly feel that what they said wasn't entirely without reason."
With his hands stretched out flat, Yamada Akira's expression was hard to read. Behind him, yellow flames burned fiercely, and countless shadows appeared within the fire.
In a blink of an eye, more than a dozen giant flame snakes flew out from behind him, even blocking the sunlight, and the temperature on the field suddenly rose by several degrees.
They coiled forward, but their speed was very fast!
Seiichi gripped his scabbard with his left hand, drew his sword with his right, and flashed. More than a dozen dazzling sword lights appeared, and all the incoming giant flame snakes were cut into two pieces.
"Flashy but useless."
Yamada Akira brought his hands together, and the broken flame giant snakes in the air wove together, forming a massive fireball, tens of meters wide. The yellow flames slowly deepened, and the temperature rose.
It came down! Targeting Seiichi!
Boom!!!!
A giant wave of flames spread across the entire arena, only stopping when blocked by the massive wall, preventing it from rushing towards the other battlefield.
A curtain of light formed by hundreds of sharp sword energies cut open a large vacuum within the flames, not a single spark touching Seiichi.
"You have some skill, but it's still far from enough. Continue."
His calm tone made Yamada Akira's face twist slightly. He bent down, pressing his hands to the ground, veins bulging on his arms as spiritual power gathered into the earth.
"Explosive Flames — Earth Rend!"
Fine cracks appeared on the hard ground, and burning high temperatures came out from the cracks. In just a moment, massive pillars of fire shot up into the sky.
With a few sidesteps, Seiichi easily dodged the flames erupting from the ground. Although the ground was hot, as long as the contact time was very short, it would not cause damage.
"Large but rough."
Jumping out of the ground fire-covered area at extreme speed, Seiichi held his sword with one hand.
"Flames are not used like this…"
The long sword, made from fine steel, shook slightly, making sad sounds. The sword body slowly turned red, and the air three inches from the edge warped slightly. Everyone felt a destructive power building within it.
"Red Nichirin Sword!"