The two opponents stood before each other in their vision existed only the other.
Looking at the blue haired girl standing before him Ash had a clear advantage as he knew a bit about her, he read her file afterall.
And viewing the last match also gave Ash some ideas as to how strong she was.
He couldn't underestimate her, but that didn't mean he had to be overly cautious either.
He knew he could beat her, while not weak she certainly didn't amount to anything special.
Meanwhile the girls thoughts were showing something different from the composure Ash was displaying, she was angry.
Angry at the fact that this person looked at her with such indifference, that was what she hated the most.
The girls name was Ilyana Shuvalov, just one of the many noble children in attendance during today's entrance exams.
As a family with deep political and military ties expectations within were high.
Her family was famous for their bloodline carrying a unique form of ice magic, which she had also inherited.
And till today everyone who has encountered her came to admire her strength.
Praises and encouragement were all she was familiar with, so the utter lack of interest Ash had displayed greatly upset her.
Looking at the boy before her she was quickly able to tell that he was much the same as her last opponent.
A sword user.
Seeing this she knew just how she'd deal with him.
'I'll show you just why I'm so amazing.'
Then suddenly the timer started a countdown before the match would commence – and then.
*Bzzzt*
The buzzer sounded the match has begun.
Ilyana was quick to throw her icicles in Ash's direction.
But what she saw made no sense to her as all her shots were missing their target.
'What's going on?'
Panicking she quickly erected a wall of ice before her, before throwing out two unassuming shards of ice.
They were her two summoned spirits, two was the highest amount she as a Rank 2 could summon.
As the ice's surface was seethrough she was able to roughly make out what was happening behind and despite her expectations the boy didn't stop.
He kept on charging forward with the same speed as before.
Once he got closer she could see him raising his sword into the air above his head.
The summons also did nothing to stop him as all their shots were also missing their target.
In just a manner of seconds after the match began Ilyana could only watch as the boy's sword lit up the whole room around, before he eventually slashed down.
*Boom*
The ice shattered into pieces instantly, her only source of defense instantly gone.
He was now right next to her ready slash down.
In that moment she instinctively activated her minor skill Shield instantly erecting a small barrier of pure aura around herself and started shouting.
"I FORFEIT!"
*Crack*
The barrier cracked, the sword stopping just inches away from her.
Ash quickly sheathed his sword before looking at her.
'Did I overdo it?'
He asked internally unsure if his actions were excessive.
Then he looked at her sitting there on the floor, shaking and awkwardly extended his hand to her.
"It was a good fight."
Though he said that, both parties knew he was exaggerating. Since the fight itself only lasted a mere few seconds.
Still hearing his casual tone helped Ilyana calm down from this near death experience.
Taking his hand she slowly stood up, before quietly walking away.
She didn't feel like talking to Ash in any form after such a defeat.
Those that were watching were shocked by what they had seen.
Ilyana was famous among the nobility, she was famous for her strength and battle IQ.
But that Ilyana has lost almost instantly, with no way to fight back. All while her opponent looked completely unharmed.
As a result all those that were watching could only hope that they wouldn't be matched up with this beast of a human being.
And even if they were to be matched up, they all felt like forfeiting was a much better option than fighting.
These were still the qualifiers afterall, so long as they did well on their other matches they could still get into the tournament that would happen later.
As Ash walked out of the arena it didn't take long for him to get scheduled for another match.
This time his opponent was also a sword user like him.
Looking around Ash could see that the crowd of spectators has increased since the last match.
Word of his last match has quickly made rounds around the exam hall.
All were eager to see what the one who beat Ilyana so easily really had to offer.
Seemingly the only one unaware of what had happened was Ash's new opponent, who was surprised to see such a large crowd gather above.
'Is he famous or something, or am I famous?'
He asked internally unaware of what Ash had done just minutes ago.
"Let's have a fun match."
He proclaimed in a friendly tone.
"Sure."
Ash's answer was much less enthusiastic or friendly, just a simple agreement to have fun.
Of course he knew full well that only he would be having fun.
*Bzzzt*
Soon as the buzzer sounded neither of them wasted any time and were quick to close the distance.
The opponent this time seemed to be the speedy type as he closed the distance in much quicker than Ash was able to.
He now stood mere inches away from Ash ready to slash at his most vulnerable place.
But just as he was about to slash, something odd happened as he could feel himself momentarily losing focus, giving Ash just enough time to block his attack.
Seeing as his strike failed he kept on attacking, but failed each time.
That was when Ash suddenly pushed him back by a few meters.
"Watch your head."
Ash shouted, but before he could realise what was happening Ash's shinning sword was already above him ready to slash down.
He quickly moved his sword in an effort to block the oncoming slash, but upon contact it quickly shattered.
Seeing as blocking it was impossible in that fraction of a second he backed away by a few inches just so it wouldn't hit him head on.
*Boom*
The slash exploded.
He was able to avoid the worst of it, but even then he felt that there were injuries all around his body.
Just being close to the slash riddled his body with injuries, were he to have been hit by it, he would have certainly died.
Coming to the realisation a familiar sentence left his mouth.
"I FORFEIT!"
He ahouted at the top of his lungs.
Ash quickly lowered his sword sheathing it, before giving his opponent a satisfied grin.
"Thanks, I had fun."
Then Ash just turned around and left, maybe heading to his next match.
As the boy looked at Ash's profile walking further and further he could only think one thing.
'He's a psychopath.'
...
Overlooking the match among the crowd were two people clad in a white uniform.
They were professors and also examiners.
"Shouldn't we stop him?"
The younger of the two a woman with squirrel like features asked.
"It's fine, you know that they are protected by the charms that were put on them."
The other of the two a man with deep dark hair and eyes answered in a firm tone.
"I know that, but these charms are undisclosed. The fact that he would use such strong attacks against other students–"
"Means he's serious about attending the academy, it's a good thing. I wouldn't worry so much Professor Amber."
Amber's face still showed disagreement, but then he continued.
"Besides I don't think you'll have to worry about him injuring anyone for a while."
He pointed towards the arena where Ash was heading.
"Those kids aren't stupid."
...
Stepping into the arena Ash found himself face to face with his next opponent, a small girl with an unproportionally large sword.
'So this is my next opponent.'
Ash unsheathed his sword ready to fight and the buzzer was about to sound when the girl spoke up.
"I'd like to forfeit."
She said sheepishly, with a tiny voice.
"Forfeit? Already?"
The girl jumped hearing Ash's voice, but answered nonetheless.
"I–I don't thi–nk I can win. So–I wish to forfeit."
She seemed visibly scared while saying this, so much so that it confused Ash.
'Am I that scary?'
That was when he looked around at the crowd of onlookers and each person showed a similar reaction.
Each time he looked at someone, they would slightly jump and avert their gaze.
They were scared of him.
Ash didn't understand what it was that scared everyone so much.
To him his fights seemed normal, yes they were one sided, but nothing more.
But to those watching Ash seemed like someone that was ready cut down everyone in his way for a chance to enroll in Icarus.
They had their own resolve, but dying was just beyond that. They just couldn't risk it. It wasn't worth fighting him especially not during the qualifiers.
In the end the girl walked away as did Ash.
Yet, his next match went rather similarily.
"I forfeit!"
Then the next one.
"I forfeit!"
And so on.
At the end of the day Ash could only stand there in disbelief.
He had an impressive eighty six victories under his feet with an even more impressive zero losses to match.
Yet of those eighty or so victories only two were actually ones he earned through combat.