My question was answered when I noticed the body's chest ever so slightly rise and fall.
"Someone take him to Medical." Miss Skyline said, quite dismissively, almost disregarding the guy's condition as two students dragged him through one of the two doorways to the arena.
"H-hey can I sit here?"
I looked up to see a girl. She had dark blue eyes, short red hair and wore glasses. She looked quite ruffled as if she had been in a struggle with her hair looking slightly messy while she looked at me with a shy expression on her face.
"Yeah, sure." I said gesturing the seat next to me.
"Your name's Lazuli, right?"
Lazuli suddenly looked slightly startled.
"Yeah, that's my name." She had a somewhat timid voice. "How did you know?"
"I have a good memory," I said frankly. "And I
remember when Miss asked you a question and said your name yesterday."
What struck me was that she didn't look shocked, suspicious or even scared.
Instead, she seemed genuinely interested and listened to me intently with wide eyes. There was not a hint of the fear and dislike that I was getting used to in the school from the other students.
I briefly saw the two students, taking the unconscious body, leave the arena with the body in tow out of the corner of my eye.
"Were you just fighting Lazuli?" I asked.
Lazuli suddenly looked very flustered and seemed a little alarmed or a bit embarrassed.
"Ye-yeah I just did my duel" She said looking down slightly, her face slightly red.
"I'm a Tanker Class Ethereal as well as one of the five incarnations, including you, at this school."
Is she really embarrassed about that? Seriously, is she just a little shy or is she actually ashamed about that?
"You know, for someone who acts quite shy,"
I said. "You sure seem to pack a punch considering the state of that guy. He didn't seem like a pushover either."
"I'm sorry about that." She muttered.
You have got to be kidding.
"Why are you apologising for that?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
Lazuli looked up at me in surprise.
"But doesn't that make me unattractive or something." She said,
"Like a girl being a Class that is themed around brute strength and muscle power."
"Ah I see." I nodded.
"You see what?"
"I'm guessing it's a mix of two things. Number one." I said holding up a finger. "A Tanker Class Ethereal is stereotypically seen to be a big man with muscles the size of boulders or something like that. Two. Because of that outlook it's led to dumbasses at this school to not be very welcoming, am I ringing any bells?"
At first Lazuli was still before nodding slightly causing me to sigh.
"Thought so." I muttered leaning back in my seat. "
It's stupid to act like that. Ignore those people, personally I think it's great if you're a
Tanker Class. They get the most opportunities in Valhalla as they can not only do heavy lifting but also boost the physical attributes of their comrades in any team-based combat work which is very prevalent there."
Lazuli continued to be still while also staring at me intently with wide eyes.
"Tha... that's really interesting and surprising." She said looking up at the ceiling. "I never thought of it that way before."
"The most surprising thing is that you asked to sit next to me." I said, causing her to quickly turn to look at me. "So far you're the only student who has looked at me with a positive attitude."
Lazuli cocked her head to the side in confusion leading me to close my eyes and explain
"Every student who sees me in the labelled Higher Building, or in Class One – S, immediately looks at me with an unwelcoming expression once they see this lion symbol."
I gestured to the badge on my shoulder
"Shion doesn't give me that look but she definitely doesn't look at me with any fondness. So far, I'd say she views me as someone who's a nuisance, annoying, or just something that's below her."
"That makes sense." Lazuli said, nodding.
"About Shion I mean. She's definitely the most powerful person in this school, including the staff. She's only here to master her Skills and increase her Ethos production."
Lazuli was interrupted by Miss Skyline.
"Shion and Kane House. You're up next. Your fight starts when the bell is rung."
"Speak of the devil." I said as Shion and Kane stepped into the arena from opposite ends.
They're both Dragon Ranks so this should be fairly even. Luck of the draw, I guess.
Shion remained completely still, standing up straight, while Kane got into a boxing-like stance. His muscles suddenly seemed to tense and grew almost twice their size as his skin gained a rock like texture to it.
"Those are the Class Specific Skills, Wall and Enchantment Magic with the latter being used to increase his physical strength." Lazuli said focused on the battle.
"Another Tanker Class then." I said.
The bell rang.
As soon as the noise was heard Kane rocketed forwards, the ground almost cracking beneath his feet at the start as he barrelled into Shion.
Or I guess that's what the plan was.
Kane passed right through Shion as if she was made of thin air and then just barley dodged a tennis ball sized blast, that looked like a sun, which smashed into the wall behind him, sending out a small explosion of dust.
"Don't slow down." Shion said and rapidly fired the same blasts again, chasing Kane around the arena.
Kane backflipped over a blast and landed right in front of Shion.
"Got you!" He roared and threw punch after punch and kick after kick, all of which passed right through her body.
A sword seemingly made out of golden orange like flames formed in her hand, swiping it up and drawing a nasty slash across Kane's chest before she then pointblank to the face, blasted him with a mini sun. He yelled in pain as he was thrown across the arena, the smell of burning flesh coming from the slightly smoky slash in his chest as well as his face. He barely had time to recover as he got to his feet before he was then hit with another attack.
A large golden orange beam, that seemed to flicker a little like flames, roared out from her hand and smacked into Kane. He crossed his arms in front of his face as the attack hit him. His feet digging into the concrete ground as he was forced back, the heat coming off the blast was insane.
I was a good distance away from the arena but it was like my face was way up close to a bonfire.
The ground beneath his feet and the wall behind him started to ever so slightly glow red from the heat as his arms were burned horribly; however, he still continued to block Shion's attack. Shion narrowed her eyes and the attack suddenly doubled in size, completely consuming Kane in an instant for a good few seconds before an explosion of flames erupted from the beam, covering half of the entire arena.
The dust eventually cleared revealing an unconscious, horribly burned, but just barely alive Kane laying face first in the ground which was dented and cracked while also slightly glowing a dark red.
"She sure is powerful. I think she actually tried this time as well." Lazuli said, looking at Shion in awe.
"No." I said, causing Lazuli to look at me confused. "She is incredibly powerful. But from what I saw she didn't seem to even be trying nor take it seriously. It was more like a toddler playing with a new toy before throwing it away once they got bored. I didn't see a single drop of effort from her at all."
"I think you're right." She said as Shion exited the arena.
I flicked back my dark blue hair as sat down in my chair and watched two students take the barely living body of Kane out of the colosseum.
Bastard deserves it if you ask me, in fact, he's lucky I didn't kill him. He had been harassing me over text messages and no matter how many times I blocked him he still somehow found a way to text me again. He's got balls I'll give him that but if you think that you can harass The Phantom Mage without any consequence then you have no hope.
I watched Miss Skyline work her magic as she fixed the arena. Our Teacher's Unique Skill, Restore, allows her to repair damaged materials back to their original form before said damage occurred all the way down to their atoms.
She'll probably have to go see Kane herself after what I did to him. I just want this to be done already so I can go back to studying. This is just to check up on our Ranks and our current strength. I don't mean to be arrogant, but I am the strongest Ethereal in the school as even before coming here I demonstrated at my maximum power I can destroy the Solar System about five times over or so. I shouldn't really be here if all I'm going to be tested by are these weaklings.
When Miss Skyline finished restoring the arena, she turned round to face her students while also briefly looking in the book she was holding that presumably held the selected opponent matchups for each student.
"Ok this one should be interesting." Miss Skyline said smiling.
"Amane Bakura and Byron Gorgon your up."
My attention was instantly drawn to the two students that would be fighting. Byron was a Dragon Ranked, Mage Class Ethereal who is the second strongest in this school. He's the only person at this Ethation school to actually make me try a little which deserves merit.
If I remember correctly, he specialises in the Skill Lunar Magic with one of the Seven Deadly Sins Skills. I own one myself, the Skill Gluttony which allows me to absorb none-physical attacks from Ethereals who are the same or a lower Rank than myself. I then temporarily stack the power of said attack onto my own.
I put my fingers on my chin in thought.
I believe Bryon possess the Seven Deadly Sins Sloth Skill which is an Active Skill that instantly tells the user what Skills, Rank, etc an opponent has. While not an offensive skill, it can be incredibly useful and allow the user to quickly adapt to their opponent's power and fighting style.
"Yo Amane I'll go easy on ya ok." Byron said in his cocky deep voice. He had a large build and a buzz cut.
"Sure." Amane muttered, entering the arena himself.
Amane Bakura. How will you play this out?
The Lion Rank transfer student from Valhalla. The one Lion Rank, who for some reason, is in a class meant for Hydra Ranks or higher. I tired researching up on her, but I found completely nothing, the girl's a complete mystery.
I watched Amane, her face remaining expressionless as she cracked her neck while she got ready to fight.
Even though you say the reason why you're in class 1 – S is because you're a spy of sorts and while that could very well be true, I don't believe it for a second that's all there is to it.
"What are you hiding Lion Rank?" I mumbled to myself.
"Ok Amane let's see what you got." Byron grinned, with a glint in his brown eyes.
Byron may seem like a good guy but he's actually a bit of a scumbag who'll take out anyone no matter who they are.
The bell rung out loud, signalling the fight to begin.
Purple Lunar energy flickered around Byron while he took one step forward while Amane with her right hand by her leg snapped she fingers. In an instant, red lines suddenly drew themselves all over Byron's body as blood gushed out of each line like a fountain of gore before his body then split down the middle into three pieces as he fell to the ground dead. The three, you could almost call them slices, of Byron hit the ground with a wet smack, painting it with blood.
Everything and everyone were still and deadly silent before one female student let out a scream.
Miss Skyline in a flash appeared in front of Amane and I immediately felt the pressure of her Ethos, as if it was almost suffocating.
"What the hell did you just do Amane?" She growled in a voice that was deadly quiet.
Amane stared directly into Miss Skylines furious eyes with her own blue ones, still wearing that expressionless look on her face.
What do you mean Miss?" she said calmly. "At least in the Ethation Schools in Valhalla, all duels, no matter practice based or official, the act of killing is allowed."
I stared in great interest at the scene unfolding before me, watching Teach release her clenched fists and heaved a very heavy sigh.
"I can't fault you for something you did not know." She said as she began to restore the Colosseum back to its original state as Amane raised an eyebrow. "For the record Amane, killing is not allowed in practice duels such as these. Remember that for next time. Those who've had their duels are dismissed."
Teach sounded very tired as she looked at Amane sternly while she casually walked out of the arena and colosseum like it was another typical day.
WHAT THE HELL!! JUST A SPY MY ASS! SHE KILLED A DRAGON RANK ETHEREAL INSTANTLY WITH WHATEVER SKILL THAT WAS!
I clenched my fists as flickering golden orange flames briefly flashed around me.
Amane most likely will try to avoid me until we're back in our dorms so I'll just wait for her there.
"And she will give me the truth." I said, through gritted teeth, before letting out a roar and slamming my fist into the wall behind me. A spiderweb of cracks spread widely around my fist stretching even to the ceiling.
"You okay there Shion?" Miss Skyline called out to me sounding irritated.
"Yeah." I replied, pulling my fist from the wall. The centre of impact glowing a dark hot red. "I'm perfectly fine."