Chapter 126: Promotion

"Ohohoho, now this is epic," Core remarked as he saw what was inside the arena.

Instead of a flat, barren stage to fight on, the arena was now a lush, green jungle, with croaking cicadas and buzzing insects within.

"You must be confused, huh? Well, I'm not going to explain it to you! The match will begin in 3… 2… 1… Start!" Julianne unexpectedly spoke out, announcing the beginning of the match with no further explanation.

"Well, it's not like this terrain is a problem or anything, but I'd rather end this match as soon as possible. Sorry to whoever set this up."

Rein summoned one of his swords and held it with 2 hands, activating the inverse of Lance's Spring.

Original Effect: Creates a shield of aura when infused with a protective item. Its strength and refinement depend on the energy expenditure of the user. When active, boosts the strength of those the user considers as allies while lowering it for those the user considers enemies. Does nothing for those who are neutral.

Inverted Effect: Creates an extension of aura when infused with an attacking weapon. Its strength and refinement depend on the energy expenditure of the user. When active, boosts the defense of those the user considers as allies while lowering it for those the user considers enemies. Does nothing for those who are neutral.

Using this, Rein created a gargantuan beam of black energy extending from his sword, dumping 30% of his energy into it. The shaded blade of the sword radiated darkness as it appeared in the arena, eliminating light as it reached the top of the arena's barrier in length.

"Take a few steps back. And, uh, you guys might want to duck!" Rein warned his teammates and his enemies, to which they complied, even his enemies doing what he said out of fear of the darkness-generating blade.

Rein heaved the sword in a mighty swing, cleanly chopping through all of the jungle trees that stood in his way, causing the very foundation of the arena to shake. All of the trees toppled simultaneously, causing an even louder tremor to occur within the arena's barrier, the spectators unable to feel a thing.

As the shaking resided and the smoke cleared out, all that was left was a field of fallen trees and tree trunks, the previously dense jungle now a clear, a hinderless battlefield.

"Perfect. I'll take the guy on the right, Xenia, you take the one on the left. Tap them lightly so you don't kill them," Rein commanded, taking over Core's job, which he didn't appreciate, but let him get away with since it meant less work for him.

"Roger that," she complied as she took off to left flank, flying straight towards the unsuspecting boy cowering in fear.

He put his arms up to his face in defense as she approached. She stopped right before reaching him, lightly chopped his neck, and knocked him out cold.

"My guy's down!" She exclaimed as she looked over at Rein, who had also done the same thing, putting a thumbs up as he looked back at her in affirmation.

"Aito?! Ardryll?! Come on, members of the Gilgang can't go down that easily!" Gilbert, who was standing in the middle of the 2 exclaimed, irritating Tanaga, who was in the audience.

"It's the Tanagan—! You know what, never mind," Tanaga stopped his retort, afraid of being laughed at again.

"It's over Gilbert. Give up!" Xenia voiced.

"Oh my… Okay, I'll raise the white flag! Just as soon as you help me out of here! My leg's gotten stuck under this trunk. I'm not injured, I just need someone to lift it," Gilbert begged.

"Huh? Is that it? I don't want to get violent on you, so okay. Give up as soon as I lift it though," she ordered as she landed in front of the stuck man.

Rein noticed her doing this, and frankly, he saw no harm in it. She would simply be releasing him from the binding on his leg. As Xenia reached for the log, Rein noticed something with his third eye. Gilbert had activated his Spring while touching the trunk Xenia was lifting, making him realize that he was able to activate it through derived touch, meaning if he was touching something the other person was directly touching, he could still activate his Spring.

"Haha! Your strength is mine! You let your guard down, fool!" Gilbert sprung up with his fist clenched, thrusting it forward at Xenia, who was still holding the log of wood, meaning she was unable to react.

"Wha!"

However, instead of gaining super-strength, Gilbert suddenly collapsed again, all of his bones feeling significantly weaker than usual. He began breathing heavily, immediately de-activating his Spring as it hindered him rather than helped him.

"What the hell?! I could've sworn I was using your strength! You can lift that whole tree for fuck sake!" Gilbert complained as Xenia set the tree down.

"Oh, he must've used my curse's strength… Haha, forgot about that," she thought as she summoned her greatsword, pointing it at Gilbert sternly.

"It's over now."

"And with that, Rein Xilris, Core, and Xenia Vossen advance to class C! Congratulations you 3. And as for the other 3, better luck next time! Try not to get expelled," Julianne announced as the crowd began cheering in jubilation, everyone except the 'Tanagang'.

"Ah for fuck sake! Gilbert just had to go and fuck it up! God damn it!" Tanaga raged.

"Very well. Now that the first exam is done, could everyone please head back down to the foyer for the announcement of the next match?" Wallace instructed, everyone following his words promptly as the class met back up in the main lobby of the arena stadium.

"Once again, congratulations to the 3 of you. That was a spectacular match to watch," Julianne commended as her greeting, along with Wallace and Ms. Zophia following behind her.

"Gotta say, I was also impressed. And I'm impressed that you managed to impress me. Good job," Ms. Zophia remarked, this being the first time any of the class had heard her give praise.

"Wow, you've never said that to me before. I guess our friendship doesn't mean anything to you, huh?" Julianne teased, Zophia now ignoring her as she had adapted to the situation.

"Nevertheless, let us continue. The second match will be between the top 3 from class C and the bottom 3 from class B. Class B, please go around to the other side of the arena to start. The rest of you can go back up to the bleachers," Wallace outlined, once again, everyone following his orders promptly.

Patricia Virvyre, Elyon Orirel, and Tanaga Yugoyaki all broke off as they made their way to the other side of the stadium, leaving  Kai Bihorn, Alan Waris, and Stacey George at the other end. Rein was the first to ascend the stairs to the bleachers, feasting his eyes on the strange state of the stage.

From the previous battle, Rein had left the stage barren, all of its trees cut down. However, it was now a completely different environment. He could sense the radiating heat from against the barrier, the sand on the floor blurring in a mirage of humidity. Tall cacti were dotted around the battlefield sparsely, with a couple of palm trees set to provide shade on each edge of the circular arena.

To Rein's surprise, the entire stage had morphed itself into a barren wilderness of heat, something which he had never seen before. The only place on the continent with this sort of environment was northwest Econica, in the Draconica region where Chloe was from. The terrain was called 'a desert'.

"Amazing… It's just like Draconica. Wow, I haven't seen a desert like this in years…" Chloe's eyes were glued to the biome of pale cream grains of sand, her eyes filled with a sense of happiness, with hints of loneliness stirred in.

The doors opened, letting in the competitors as their faces instantly dejecting, entering the scorching heat of the desert.

"What is this place?!" Screamed the panting Tanaga when faced with this hot weather.

"I don't think I can do this Tanaga…" Patricia complained instantly.

"Shut the hell up! We're not losing to these maggots!" Tanaga exclaimed, their opponents overhearing them.

"Maggots huh? I'll show you who's a maggot," Alan cracked his knuckles in anger, Kai promptly holding him back.

"Chill out Alan, the match hasn't started yet!" Alan frantically warned, Julianne reacting with a confused sound.

"Hm? Did I not say start? Whoops. 3 2 1 go," she swiftly announced, giving the competitors no time to summon their weapons or even ready their stances.

"Shit, will I even be able to activate my Spring in these conditions? I'll just have to wait and see," Tanaga thought as Alan came charging towards him weaponless.

"Huh? H-hey! Wait! I'm not ready ye—"

Without warning, Alan punched Tanaga at full strength, instantly knocking him out as his 2 teammates jumped away rather than helping him.

"Eek! Tanaga, are you okay?!" Elyon screamed as she rushed to the fallen man's side.

"You brute! How could you attack him when he wasn't ready!" Patricia scolded.

"I don't give a shit if you're not ready, nor do I give a shit that you're both chicks! I'll still beat your asses!" Alan angirly remarked, Kai hastily running to hold him back.

"Wow there, calm down buddy. Hey, could you two just surrender? Your friend there needs medical attention," Kai suggested.

"Well duh, we can't fight without Tanaga. We give up."

And just like that, the second match was over, Kai, Alan, and Stacey grasping a promotion to class B.