A new day, has come and with it the entrance exam continued.
Ash with his astonishing winstreak was able to easily qualify for the tournament that would be taking place today.
Arriving at the exam hall Ash was pleasantly surprised to see the place rather empty.
Of course it was only empty when compared to the crowd from yesterday, as a large portion of those that were in attendance yesterday didn't make it into the tournament.
Of the roughly two thousand that were here yesterday a mere four hundred made it into the tournament.
The number wasn't small by any means, but it was definitely a noticeable decline.
Stepping up Ash looked around and saw that most of the arenas were already filled with people fighting.
Seeing him wandering around an examiner quickly approached him.
"I'll register you as having arrived so you can begin your matches. Please show me your arm."
Ash complied with the request and extended his arm to the person.
The sticker momentarily lit up before its light disappeared.
"Okay we are all set."
Then as if on command the sticker lit up and led Ash to where his first match of the day would take place.
Stepping into the arena he quickly locked eyes with the person on the other side.
It wasn't someone he knew, but that was only natural, it's not like Ash knew that many people.
The person standing there was a boy of similar age to Ash.
In his hand rested something he hadn't yet seen be used.
It was a handgun.
His first instinct was to question if it was safe to use such a thing, but remembering back to how he fought he quickly disregarded the notion.
He gripped his sword and waited for the buzzer to sound.
'I have to use Delusion instantly I don't have room for mistakes.'
A gun was scary in many ways. It was quick to shoot and hard to dodge.
Ash could only hope that the usage of Delusion would give him the chance her needed to close the distance.
*Bzzt*
Amidst his thought process the buzzer sounded and the fight began.
Just as he had expected his opponent was quick do draw his weapon, not even waiting a second to shoot at Ash.
Ash didn't let the gun distract him and kept on charging towards the guy, fully believing that all his shots would miss.
And they actually all missed their mark.
As he closed in Ash raised his arm fully ready to go in for the kill.
He slashed down at full power, hitting the kid head on.
*Boom*
The booming sound sounded, but something was off.
Ash felt something hard, like he had hit an indestructible rock instead of a fragile person.
Upon getting a better look he could see that the person who should have been injured was perfectly fine.
'Is it a skill?'
He waited for something to happen, but nothing did.
The person couldn't move.
That was when a tall black haired man walked into the arena.
"You won, your slash triggered the emergency defense system."
"And you are?"
Ash asked the mysterious man, since while he looked the most like an examiner his vibe was different and he also wore a uniform slightly different from the ones he had seen so far.
"I'm Professor Erebus, I'm in charge of teaching magic theory – anyways right now you can just think of me as just another examiner."
"Were you watching me?"
"Is that a problem? You drew quite a bit of attention yesterday, so I figured it's best if I stick close."
Ash's face flushed with slight confusion, before Erebus continued.
"Mainly because I figured you might trigger the defense system, even yesterday you were so close to doing so."
The professor moved towards the frozen person, briefly touching him.
Upon being touched the defense system deactivated letting the person move once more.
Then the Professor just turned around waving back to behind him.
"Anyways, that's all I wanted to say for now. Just have fun."
Ash was standing there, still unsure of what to make of this professor.
Then he felt his sticker buzz again, his next match has already been found.
...
Victory after victory came to Ash.
Even though these opponents were meant to be the best of the bunch Ash could only feel disappointed.
Though there was a part of him that had expected such a turn of events, ever since he heard that Ilyana was meant to be strong Ash had pretty much came to terms with the fact that his opponents would be weaker than expected.
'At this pace I doubt anything will change before I get to the top ten.'
And his suspicion was correct.
Every match that followed, moved similarily.
Ash would use his Delusion, they would mess up in some form and then Ash would ruthlessly slash them down.
For the however many matches he had played, this script barely changed.
By the end of the day, he found it difficult to decide if today was any better than yesterday.
He atleast got to fight, but the result were all the same. It was barely any different from if they just forfeited.
"We are done for today, come back tomorrow. We should be down to the top sixteen."
'Top sixteen.'
Hearing the number Ash felt that tomorrow there might be something to actually look forward to.
As he left a somewhat familiar figure entered his vision.
It was a girl with long braided ocean blue hair, all matched with an equally blue set of eyes.
'It's the girl from yesterday.'
Of his opponents so far, she was certainly the one that left the biggest impression.
She still wasn't someone Ash considered a threat, but her way of fighting was unique... she was interesting.
'I wonder if she is still in the tourney?'
Such a question went through his mind.
She was supposed to be strong afterall.
Then a rather uncharacteristic thought surfaced in his mind.
'Should I just ask her?'
He actually wanted to speak to her.
The only thing that was stopping him from going there and striking up a conversation was his lack of skill when it comes to... you know talking.
Still as she seemed to be alone, he felt he wouldn't disturb anything.
So though reluctant he slowly approached her.
At first she didn't notice, but once he got closer even she was able to detect him.
'What does he want?'
She asked within herself, unsure if she should even be entertaining the idea of talking to such a person.
"Hello."
Ash was the first one to speak upon their meeting.
"Hi..."
The air was filled with the stench of cringy awkwardness.
Ash was just bad at talking, while Ilyana herself was somewhat scared of him.
"So are you still in?"
"In...?"
"The tournament."
"Yes."
"Aha, that's good..."
That was when a sudden realisation sunk in Ilyana.
'He's so awkward.'
Normally this wouldn't be too important, but after their encounter yesterday she had built an entirely different image of Ash in her head.
He was supposed to be someone cold, psychotic, someone that showed no weakness.
But the boy that stood before her was nothing more than just that, a boy.
Coming to this realisation her tone instantly eased, becoming more comfortable.
"I guess you are also still in, right?"
"Ah, yes I won all my matches today."
Ash replied awkwardly, but even he was slowly getting accustomed to the conversation.
"How were you matches, were they... difficult?"
Ash asked sheepishly wanting to see if he was an outlier.
"My matches... I'd say they weren't too bad. Leaning a bit closer to easy than difficult."
"Ha, that's good to know."
Seeing how happy Ash was to hear the answer she asked.
"Why does that make you happy."
"It's because, it's good to know I'm not alone. Frankly my matches have been a bit too easy..."
Ash said while scratching his forehead.
'Wait, I only said it leaned towards easy, not that it actually was.'
But seeing the look on Ash's face she couldn't bring herself to clarify.
"Actually, I suppose this is a good opportunity."
"A good opportunity?"
Ash asked back, unsure of what she was gonna say.
"Since we are in the top sixteen, our attendance is all, but confirmed."
"Wait, really?"
Seeing the surprise on Ash's face she continued.
"I mean there are around two hundred new students for each of the two departments every year. This means that since we are in the top sixteen, we are guaranteed to make it."
"I suppose that makes sense, but I'm still concerned about my written exam."
"I wouldn't worry too much, it's not that important."
"I was also told that."
Then Ilyana suddenly stopped the conversation and interjected.
"Anyways, since we are gonna be attending the same school, we should use this as an opportunity to introduce ourselves."
Then Ilyana straigthened herself before striking a military esque pose and speaking.
"I'm Ilyana Shuvalov eldest daughter of the Shuvalov family."
Seeing as she introduced herself Ash was up next.
"I'm Ash Luchassi, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Ilyana noted his name before opening her mouth.
"Well then, nice to officially make your aquintance Ash!"