Shania raised her hand excitedly, not noticing Killian besides her.

"Match Start!"

The audience immediately went silent, anticipating the first move.

Nothing happened as the silence stretched to the fourth second. The opponent at the right, a tall girl with a large bun of curly hair, fidgeted with her fingers.

She never raised her head, as if scared to make eye contact with the one in front of her.

Meanwhile, the smaller girl calmly twirled her curls on her hand. Her posture was unshakable and confident.

Killian clicked his tongue, reached Shania and snatched the paper in her hand. He saw their names..

Felina DiAth and Amira DiAth.

"They are sound users from the same district, aren’t they?" he tried not to raise his voice since Shania didn’t understand why he would be against it. "So why did you pair them up?"

He definitely didn’t remember pairing a sound element user to the same element as he believed matching opponents with worst match-ups would bring out a more interesting fight.

And one of the girls was an endangerment to the other.

Shania shrugged casually. "One is the top in her class and the other has the greatest affinity to Sound Element. The DiAth is currently the best at producing Sound Wardens so I’m just curious."

Her reasoning made Killian calm down. He might’ve done the same if that was the situation. Talent versus Hard Work.

But in this case, he knew Hard Work wouldn’t win against Talent. And he wasn’t in the mood to face that reality.

"What is Felina’s affinity score?" he asked.

Shania raised a brow. "You know her name? Well, 35%. She had the highest affinity two years back but because the sound element is a derived element, no one talked about it so much."

’Two years? So did she only register now?’ Killian’s attention returned to the match. Just then, Amira raised her hand, Killian knew where it was going.

Amira faced Shania and Killian, and shook her head slightly. "I am requesting to concede please. I am not confident enough in my skills."

There was a short gasp from the number of newbies seated opposite the arena, while the other ones wore a knowing look.

Shania frowned, taking the paper from Killian. "Amira DiAth, what is that supposed to mean? You concede defeat without trying? Did you not sign up because you wanted to attend the academy?"

The girl seemed to have already decided. She said nothing, but her expression had resolved. Shania sighed, looking at Killian to decide.

The crowd was unusually quiet and Killian could feel the stares on him. He knew that most of them considered Felina a superior, by their cultural hierarchy, so they understood Amira’s withdrawal.

However it would be against the rules to drop out without competing. He turned to the small girl, who was the bane of the problem, and she still wore her grin standing confidently.

When the silence took a second longer, Felina spoke up. She tilted her head innocently. "Ami dear. Would you just make a move? It will look bad on our district if you’re such a coward."

While her expression looked innocent, the words coming out from her lips didn’t match. "Also, It’s beneath me to make the first move to someone weaker than me. So do that as well."

With those few words, she had tossed every responsibility on the already scared girl. Amira pressed her lips together, dragging her pleading eyes away from Killian to the ground. "Y-Yes."

A part of the audience cheered with support. The other part stayed quiet, as if in mourning. Killian exhaled when the eyes were off him.

’I will most definitely not get involved in their politics.’

The match started. Amira closed in, but from all indications, it was clear she was trying to lose on purpose.

Felina’s stance shifted, her legs were spread apart and she looked like a beast about to pounce on her next prey.

A wide grin was already etched on Felina’s face, and it never faltered even when Amira reached her side.

Killian looked away, not interested in seeing another face get smashed.

As Amira’s right fist shot at Felina, and was grabbed mid-strike. Felina pulled her close, raising her knee in the same motion. Shania hissed as the knee-kick connected to Amira’s stomach.

Amira spat out saliva, and dissolved to the ground, while holding her stomach. The crowd didn’t cheer, and most physically covered their faces from the sight.

Felina stood proudly, staring down at the girl on her feet. "Don’t worry, Ami dear," she turned to Killian. "Leader-sir said you can try again later."

Killian felt the audience looking at him, but he didn’t care at that moment as he stared back at Felina. His fists balled besides him before he looked away.

Someone had to humble her and he’d try to find the right one.

Even if he didn’t want to interfere with their customs, outright dominating a weaker person should be shamed everywhere.

Shania tossed the paper in a nearby bin. She took the next names but Killian stopped her, holding her wrist. "They aren’t from the same district, are they?"

He really disliked when relatives had to compete against each other.

Shania shrugged, looking into the paper. Her expression was flat, bored of the circumstances regarding hierarchy that she knew she couldn’t affect.

Her face lightened up when she saw the next names. She showed it to Killian. "This is actually a good one." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Killian let go of her wrist, taking the file from the table. He remembered seeing one of the girl’s name but she never told him her element and kept mumbling shyly.

Her name was Ryuk DiDan.

From what Killian remembered of the locations of Amega Shania kept on talking about, that district and surname should be the same with hers. It should also be saturated with Mist Users.

So Killian asked. "She has the Wind Element. How so?"

"Well, her father is a Sound User and her mother, a Mist User." Shania raised a finger. "That is the first distinction."

She continued. "Since the Mist element is a derived element from Wind and Water; the Sound element is derived from Lightning and Wind. Perhaps, she awakened a basic element instead of the Mist or Sound. We all have high hopes for her."

As Shania spoke, Killian felt mana encircling his surroundings. It wasn’t threatening but he was curious. He glanced at the newbie’s position and a dark-haired girl jolted at the eye-contact.

Her bright blue eyes dimmed and she looked back at the walls behind, trying to act oblivious. Killian looked away when he felt her reach of mana retract.

’What the hell is that? It had no murderous intent but...’

’Why didn’t my tendrils react before I felt it?’