852 Adonis' Match
The audience was ready to be blown away once again.
After all, among the next contestants was yet another one of the Class 1-A students; the last one competing, in fact.
"Round twenty-five of the preliminaries... involving Lan'griz, Ras'ta, and Ad'oni..."
However, he wasn't the only star of the show. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"I-isn't that Lan'griz?"
"The genius of Stage 3?"
"He's the youngest of their class, yet he is said to be the best."
"Ohh! I heard it from my daughter. Every girl in school has some sort of crush on him!"
"I want to root for the Stage 1 kid, but... this is just unfair, isn't it?"
"He doesn't stand a chance..."
That was the general consensus of the sensible watchers of the match. There were a few, of course, who still held out hope for the underdog.
But, they all knew that his victory was an unrealistic expectation.
He was up against two Stage Threes, one of which was going to graduate very soon and have a sure internship in the Capital.
The distance in skill and talent was clear enough.
The contestants themselves should have known this as well, yet Ad'oni was completely calm as he came to the stage.
Even as he took his position among the other two seniors, he remained unfazed in the slightest. He simply stood still and waited for the match to begin.
"Just out of courtesy, I plan on ending this rather quickly. So, if you don't resist or struggle, it'll all be over before you can blink." Lan'griz spoke as he looked directly at Ad'oni.
The boy said nothing.
His golden hair simply danced softly as he stood still and waited for the referee to announce the start of the match.
The last senior on stage also said nothing, but his expression already made it clear that he had resigned himself to fate. He would have surrendered, but since Lan'griz wanted to look good in front of the audience, he needed two opponents to serve as his punching bag.
He planned on making quite a show.
"Out of courtesy? Don't make me laugh." The condescending voice of his junior shookLan'griz to his core the moment he heard it.
Were they supposed to cheer for the winner, or pity the losers? How exactly did the boy called Ad'oni win? They couldn't decipher it.
And so, after a few seconds of confusion and utter stupefaction, they resorted to the only rational thing they could think of.
"WOOOHOOOOOO!!!"
The thunderous cry of the crowd seemingly caused the air to vibrate.
Still, despite the loud ovation he received, Ad'oni still had no emotion on his face. He simply accepted his victory and left the stage to sit among the victors. Nothing else mattered to him.
*****************
"Fine... I'll admit it. Your kids are good."
D'aru sounded deflated as soon as Ad'oni was declared the winner. Just like the audience, he had taken a few seconds to process what he had just witnessed.
Unlike them, though, he clearly saw everything that happened.
'He moved incredibly fast, grabbed both of their faces with his palms, and sent them crashing on the ground, all within a second, before walking a few steps away from them.'
The speed and strength needed to achieve such a feat was unreal.
"Yeah... Ad'oni just doesn't know how to hold back." O'jog grinned as he watched the match's conclusion. "I could say the same about Luc'ia, but she seems more interested in having fun than anything else."
The other two had to nod.
"The only one holding back so much is R'ai. That's what makes him so interesting..."
Initially, D'aru and L'ester could not understand their leader's fixation on mere students of Stage 1—especially a nobody that just joined the Academy.
But they understood better after the demonstration before them.
These ones were strong.
*
*
*
[A/N]
Thanks for reading.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll try to speed things up as quickly as I can. After all, there are some sweet things up ahead...