Valerian’s body appeared in the same white space, but this time instead of the beastkin, standing in front of him was a girl with white hair and crimson eyes. She had slightly elongated ears and visible fangs.
’A vampire.’
Indeed, the girl who stood in front of him belonged to the vampire race. Their key features were their crimson eyes that shone like spilled blood and their sharp fangs.
The vampire girl was holding two steel daggers with runes running across the blades.
’She has an enchanted weapon, is she a noble?’
A normal commoner would need to work for decades to afford an enchanted weapon; to create an enchanted weapon or armor, it needed to be imbued by a runesmith, which was an extremely rare profession.
And the way she carried herself, poised, steady, and already trying to calculate how to defeat Valerian as quickly as possible.
’She’s C+, not bad. But only barely above average for a noble.’
The projection made of light appeared again in the air, counting down from 10. Valerian still had his hands in his pockets and didn’t bother to take them out for this opponent.
The vampire was clearly dissatisfied that he wasn’t taking her seriously, but the aura around Valerian, the constant waves of mana flowing out of him and the way the mana hugged him, made her hold her complaints.
As the timer began to tick down, the atmosphere grew suffocating for the girl. With every change of the number, her nervousness increased. And when the timer finally reached 0...
Before she could even start circulating her mana, she was enveloped by the barrier and taken away.
’That’s two.’
Valerian was fully abusing the fact that no one could die here. When the timer reached 0, he had been about to create a space crack right where her neck was. But before the crack could form, the barrier whisked her away.
Since the barrier worked with time rather than life, it could detect a killing blow before it landed. Recognizing that the attack would kill the vampire if it didn’t intervene, it took her away immediately.
’This barrier is incredible. What would happen if it were cast over a battlefield? And what if the principal can decide who the barrier applies to?’
An army where soldiers disappeared before they could die. If the principal were ever to wage war, there was very little in this world that could stop his army.
Fortunately, he had no interest in conquest and war, choosing instead to simply be a teacher.
Valerian’s form disappeared again as he was whisked away to his next fight.
Outside the pocket dimensions, the colosseum was emptier than before, as all the new first years had been sent to their matches. The students from the other two years remained in the stands, watching the broadcasts.
In a booth overlooking the colosseum and the cluster of pocket dimension bubbles floating at the center sat a young girl around nineteen years old.
She had shoulder length pink hair and lively pink eyes. Coupled with her beautiful face and energetic personality, she was one of the most popular third years. Her name was Selene Vane, and she had been chosen as the commentator for this year’s ranking tournament.
"And the Elven Princess takes down another one! Her poor opponent didn’t even last five seconds! Is there anyone who can stop the [Loved by Mana] of our generation?!"
The crowd below cheered at the top of their lungs as the most exciting fights were broadcast for everyone to see.
"There seems to be another contender for rank one, and he’s even faster than the princess!"
One of the screens cut to a very brief fight between a red haired human boy and another with black hair and red eyes.
"The name of this contestant is Arthur von Pendragon, a human of no prior renown, yet he’s dominating his opponents! I know you’re all dying to know his rank, and let me tell you, this one’s a bombshell: Arthur von Pendragon is S- rank! At sixteen years old!!"
Gasps rippled through the stadium. An S- rank at just sixteen was unheard of. The previous record holder was Seraphine herself, having reached A rank at sixteen. But the leap from A to S was massive, making it all the more unbelievable that someone outside a renowned noble lineage held an S- rank.
"He also possesses six affinities, including the mysterious Void affinity! The princess will need to give it her all when they meet in the semifinals!"
Valerian had been placed in Block A, Arthur in Block B, and Seraphine in Block C. The only way for Arthur and Seraphine to clash was if both reached the semifinals.
"But wait, there’s someone else! And this one is even faster than Arthur!"
The largest screen switched to a scene that had already repeated itself ten times.
Two contestants would appear, and the moment the timer hit 0, one of them would be enveloped by the barrier and sent away, leaving the horned contestant standing alone.
"And who might this looker be?!"
Selene’s voice echoed through the arena. The female students, and quite a few males, stared in a daze at the horned contestant on screen.
With his shining silver white hair, regal pair of onyx horns glowing with a subtle purple hue, glowing cosmic purple eyes resembling a living galaxy, and strikingly handsome features, Valerian’s mere appearance had the crowd mesmerized.
"A little bird told me this is the adopted son of the Solaria Kingdom, Valerian von Astrea! And this one is even crazier than Arthur von Pendragon! He is also S- rank! And he has six affinities, some of which I’ve never even heard of! Space, Cosmic Fire, Void Lightning, Event Horizon, Absolute Zero, and lastly, Starlight! Our rising star seems to have quite a thing for the cosmos!"
Unlike the uproar Arthur’s reveal had caused, Valerian’s introduction left the stadium in stunned awe.
Everyone’s focus returned to the massive screens displaying the same sequence over and over. Two contestants would spawn in, and one would vanish the instant the timer hit 0.
An oppressive weight settled over the upperclassmen watching the broadcast. The thought crept in: What if they were the ones in that ring? Would they be able to fight back, launch an attack, or even land a single hit?
The quiet realization that they couldn’t, that a mere first year could defeat them effortlessly, spread a heavy silence across the colosseum.
Selene quickly caught on to the suffocating mood Valerian’s display had created. Being the seasoned performer she was, she immediately moved to lighten the atmosphere.
"Alright everyone, let’s take a look at the other contestants! These matches should give us some close, edge of your seat action!"
The feed shifted away from the one sided stomps of the top contenders to the fierce, neck on neck clashes between the other students.
High above the arena in a luxurious private lounge hidden from view, the academy’s professors and executives watched the tournament unfold with keen interest.
"This year’s batch is even better than the last."
A burly man with bronze skin, short military cut brown hair, and amber eyes spoke as he stood by the window overlooking the floating pocket dimensions.
His body was covered in scars, some looked as if a massive beast had torn into him, while others were clean marks left by bladed weapons.
"Especially those three... This year might actually be interesting."
A second instructor chimed in, a tall, elegant woman with long elf ears, silver hair tied in a bun, and piercing silver eyes.
"Who do you think takes the tournament?" the burly man asked.
The elven woman paused for a few moments, considering her answer.
"Valerian von Astrea takes this one, without a doubt."
Her answer made the man raise an eyebrow.
"What makes you so sure? Arthur is an S -rank too. He could easily take it."
"Call it a woman’s intuition."
She offered only a faint smile, the silence that followed making it clear she had no intention of elaborating.
The man let out a heavy sigh and turned his attention back to the matches.
"Women..."
Far in the back of the lounge sat a single chair. It was neither an extravagant seat nor a throne, just a simple wooden chair. Yet the figure seated upon it was anything but ordinary.
Sylas Starlight looked straight past the arguing professors. His gaze pierced through the dimensional layers, bypassing the broadcast screens entirely to peer directly into Valerian’s pocket dimension.
A broad grin stretched across his face as he watched Valerian’s every move.
"Show them why you are the last Celestial."
His words went unheard by everyone in the lounge, but there was one person who caught them.
Valerian’s head snapped around, searching for the voice that had just echoed inside his mind.
’What was that?! Someone knows...?’
He didn’t have much time to dwell on it, however, as his next opponent materialized before him.
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