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

"So should we start their match?" Shania asked.

"Hmm." Killian stepped away from his position, facing the newbies area and keeping his eyes at the direction of the dark-haired girl. For some reason, she had moved seats and kept her head down.

"Start the next match, Shania."

The match started and the two girls called out stood forward. Killian frowned slightly, when he saw the Wind User, Ryuk.

Earlier, she had white hair contrasting with her dark skin, but now, she had a darker dye and her gaze was sharper. The air around her was very different from the earlier Ryuk he had seen.

He temporarily took his attention away from the dark-haired girl to watch the match. The other opponent looked confident as well, and her spiky hair gave her an unconventional appearance.

Killian remembered she was a Sound User. He looked towards Felina and she was seated amongst the crowd and not the other trainees. "This should be interesting," he muttered.

"Match Start!" Shania announced.

Their movements were not quick, but their pacing only lasted three steps around the arena before they closed in.

The spiky-haired girl swiped her feet under Ryuk’s in a motion too quick for her opponent to realize. Ryuk slipped right to the ground in a humbling stumble.

Unlike Jane, she also went for the hunt despite her opponent being down. Killian could tell that the presence of Felina had infected the other newbies from the Sound Districts.

Failure was not an option even if they would harm their own friends.

Ryuk’s eyes widened in fright, her shy self returning. But then her eyes sharpened again.

"<Wind Shield!>"

A path of mana encircled her frame, throwing the spiky-haired girl’s punch back. Ryuk quickly left the ground, and with wind swirling around her fists, punched the girl’s face hard.

CRASH!

The spiky-haired girl hit the wall, and slowly slid to the ground. She planted her feet on the ground first, then fell forward, holding her body off the ground with her hands.

The crowd cheered, reminding Killian that they were just here as spectators. He looked ahead towards Evelyn and Juda.

’Surely Evelyn would support the wind user to win. The girl also seemed to have a switch personality just like Evelyn’s cheerful to murderous.’

When he finally found Juda and Evelyn within the crowd, as they had changed their seats during the second round of matches, he found Evelyn quiet while Juda clapped.

Instead, it seemed Evelyn wore a frown. As if she could feel his stare on her, she locked eyes with him.

She mouthed with a small grin. "Make the cool hair girl win."

Killian squinted his eyes. Cool hair girl would mean Ryuk’s opponent. He sighed, looking away and shaking his head. He could never guess what Evelyn liked.

"She only cares for the cool-looking one to win. Well, of course, she cheered for Kirara during her match for being cool."

Also, she didn’t know the circumstances involved in these districts or the hidden tension. Killian partly wished the Sound User would win, so that her district wouldn’t have to control her life.

But in the grand scheme, he couldn’t control what happened.

Since Ryuk didn’t attack her opponent, the spiky-haired girl took the next three seconds breathing in and out, enduring the pain. She left the ground, striding confidently to the centre of the arena.

Blood dripped from the spiky-haired girl’s lips, but a small smile tugged at that edge. They stood between each other again, the silence stretching along with the tension.

"Ryuk."

Ryuk’s eyes softened. "Yes—"

BLAST!

Ryuk’s lower body shot backwards, as a wave landed on her lower stomach. It wasn’t a great hit, but the effect kept Ryuk lowered for longer than she should.

Killian noticed Shania getting irritated. Even amongst the audience, Evelyn nodded as if the move was conceptually right.

But Killian didn’t get it. The hit shouldn’t have done much damage. Yet the expression of betrayal on Ryuk’s face made him quiet.

He watched Ryuk force her body up, her eyes darkening with hatred.

Her opponent only smiled. "Let’s play fair, okay?"

While the words left her, Ryuk worked to dodge the waves leaving her with the drop of each word that targeted at her lower area.

A ball of wind formed in Ryuk’s palm, spinning faster and tighter before she thrust it forward, while still keeping her pace.

The compressed ball of wind shot across the stage fast enough to make others around feel the cold air, but Ryuk’s opponent twisted aside cleanly, dodging the attack with a grin still on her face.

Ryuk’s hand hovered around her lower region and a wall of wind encircled her waist. She stood straighter, her confidence returning.

Another sound wave followed immediately after, but Ryuk only swayed aside. In her two palms, balls of wind swirled tightly.

She sped towards her opponent, side stepping and jumping to the side to dodge the consecutive sound waves shot at her.

The spiky-haired girl clicked her tongue, her grin faltering. Every attack kept missing by an inch, and it felt like she trained Ryuk to get faster. Her eyes narrowed at Ryuk incoming.

Ryuk’s movements grew sharper the longer the fight continued, and her opponent knew that greater attack based on element was in Ryuk’s favour. The girl clicked her tongue and suddenly drew in a deeper breath.

The sound pressure around her frame thickened.

Only Killian noticed it. His gaze snapped back to Ryuk, still closing the distance oblivious. "This would be a painful one."

He could already tell that Ryuk’s opponent had a better control of her Sound Element than Ryuk, since the girl could say words that delivered sound waves.

Then—

"BLAAAST!"

A much larger wave exploded outward.

Ryuk’s eyes narrowed. She couldn’t dodge it with how close she was to the attacker. She forced herself to a halt first, and instead of dodging, slammed both balls of wind in her hand.

Terror flashed across her face as the thought that came to mind scared her, but the terror faded almost instantly.

As her hand stretched apart, a sphere of wind sped out. Ryuk caught the wind sphere she prepared and swung it hard toward the incoming sound wave.

The wind redirected the sound wave violently.

Straight toward the audience. Toward Felina.