The First Duel

Teacher Lucas only had a thinly veiled smile when Hayato eagerly jumped on stage. His eyes quickly flickered over to Asher, initially expecting for him to come on first. And when his gaze flicked back over to Hayato, Teacher Lucas could spot some immediate difference between them.

They may both be Earth Tier talents, yet their statures were utterly opposite.

Asher stood with a calming expression on his, not exuding any overwhelming air of confidence and pride. He looked simply honest and determined, which went naturally well with his decent looks.

While with Hayato, Teacher Lucas could feel his prideful aura as soon as he landed on stage. His stance stood rigidly tall, making himself seem larger than he really is, almost as if he considered himself superior to most people.

Teacher Lucas didn't show any outwardly different reaction. But he did make a mental note that this boy certainly was similar to their top Ranking geniuses, even before he attained their sort of power.

As Hayato walked towards the center of the stage, Teacher Lucas asked him, "Ah. An excellent talent to start the duels. Who do you wish to challenge?"

While observing the stage, Asher believed for a second that Hayato would challenge him. Considering the overwhelming animosity he has towards him, it would only make sense.

And if he does decide to challenge him, Asher guesses he would have a nice warmup fight before crushing Jayline.

But in a twist for Asher, Hayato didn't even spare a glance over to him. He kept his eyes on Teacher Lucas and simply asked, "I wish to fight Zeke Nunez."

"Wha?? He wants to fight him?!?"

"That's someone on the Ranking List!!"

There was an immediate uproar within the students; immense disbelief filled the air over everyone. Everyone on the Ranking Genius List was known in some shape or form. And Zeke Nunez was at the very bottom of the Ranking List.

Such a low ranking still caused tremendous waves in nearly all students.

Even at the bottom, Zeke was still a powerful student in his own right. In fact, all students know him as one of the most powerful Peak Early Stage Spirit Tier cultivators.

Among the Early Stage of the Spirit Tier realm, not many could match him throughout the whole Academy! And the only ones above him were absolute monstrous powerhouses in their own right.

So it came as quite a colossal shock that Hayato, a student who had only recently awakened, wants to face a beast of a student like Zeke!

The students were thinking, did he go absolute mad from his high talent?!

In contrast to the shocking bustling, Teacher Lucas was completely serene. He stared evenly into Hayato's face, only to see a firm resolution swirling around in his eyes.

"Are you quite sure about this?" Teacher Lucas asked, only for a verbal confirmation.

Hayato simply nodded and didn't speak further. He didn't need to spare any more words as he was utterly confident in his decision.

"Very well…."

Before Teacher Lucas could finish his words, the wind started to swiftly kick up. A powerful presence had rapidly approached the stage, causing Hayato to narrow his eyes.

His Academic uniform got ruffled from the fierce wind, but Hayato's body didn't sway at all.

Teacher Lucas only had a slight inquisitive expression, waiting for this presence to make their appearance. Despite the fierce winds, his clothes didn't move a single inch.

It took all of a second before that presence finally showed themselves.

All eyes had gathered on a handsome young man that appeared within fifteen feet directly across from Hayato.

This handsome young man had a well-defined jawline and a robust body that emitted a natural aura for battle. Even before the duel started, the young man's Magical Aura had leaked a bit, already showcasing his unfathomable power.

Teacher Lucas took a single glance at Zeke; his eyes calmly stared as Zeke hurriedly took a bow of respect at him.

Nodding his head at him, Teacher Lucas had then said, "It appears that Zeke was conveniently just over here. Now then, are you two prepared to battle?"

As Teacher Lucas asked, Hayato and Zeke matched each other's gaze.

There was a slight burning fire swirling in Zeke's pupils, being a bit excited to face off against an Earth Tier talent. Even though he was utterly assured of his victory, Zeke was curious about what the power of Sword Qi does and the hidden skills Hayato may have.

In stark contrast to Zeke's eager expression, Hayato was simply indifferent. He still carried the same arrogant stride as if he was simply even above Zeke.

And that kind of disdainful confidence already began to irk Zeke.

Even though he had his own pride, Zeke found the way Hayato looked at him as incredibly annoying. Wanting to give him a little bit of humility, Zeke began to say,

"So….to think we have another Earth Tier talent. But, just because your talent is incredible doesn't mean you should get overly cocky. Let me show you why-"

"I doubt you'll show me anything." Hayato had swiftly cut him off, not wanting to hear any more of his condescending dribble.

Immediately after he interrupted him, Hayato jumped several feet back.

"Hmph. Such arrogance will only be your tragic downfall." Zeke snorted with his own disdain and jumped the same distance back.

Immediately, everything turned silent as anticipation burned through the air.

What should've been a surreal sight of a newly awakened Spirit Tier cultivator facing off against one of the Peak Early Stage Spirit Tier cultivators was now making everyone a bit excited about what's to come.

Even as they all thought Hayato would lose, they wanted to see just what was giving him such high inflated confidence.

After only a few seconds of silence, Teacher Lucas had then said,

"Begin!"

And then, without anyone noticing, Teacher Lucas vanished from sight.

The duel may have started, but Zeke was still casual; his posture was filled to the brim with confidence. He curled his eyebrows at Hayato and tried to speak more.

But right then, the whole atmosphere on stage abruptly changed.

Sparing no time, Hayato had unleashed a full burst of his powerful Magical Aura! And against everyone's expectation, they all went wide-eyed at Hayato's explosive power.

Numerous students felt entirely rigid, experiencing Hayato's Magical Aura at first hand. His power was immense, akin to a surging tidal wave that warped newly awakened students' bodies!

Immediately, everyone's anticipation shot through the roof! Hayato wasn't bluffing at all; he really does have the power to back up his arrogance!

Zeke dangerously narrowed his eyes and had to fully unleash his own Magical Aura just to gain a stable footing. Amazingly enough, he had actually felt considerable pressure just from Hayato's Magical Aura!

Their clashing Magical Auras caused the air currents to turn suffocatingly heavy, kicking up the wind into an intense whirlwind.

Even before they began fighting, Hayato and Zeke seemed evenly matched.

"Hmph." In response to their even powers, Hayato merely snorted. He didn't hold back at all and pushed his Magical Aura to his total limits!

A more significant pressure crushed down in the air as Hayato's Magical Aura tore right through Zeke's and unleashed a tremendous suppression onto him!

Zeke's pupils dilated to needle sizes. He actually could barely move his body!

Zeke quickly realized, like this, there wasn't much he could do. Even if he unleashed his own Magical Aura to its limits, Hayato would still overpower him!

"Ahh?!? How the hell is he so strong!!" The students were in utter awe.

For all duels, they were at a reasonable distance from the metallic stage. But Hayato's Magical Aura was just that strong; it managed to wash over everyone there.

There wasn't even a single exchange of moves. And yet, the battle already seemed so unpredictable. One's Magical Aura tells a lot about one prowess as it correlates with every stat in their System's soul.

Asher was the closest to the field, and his expression wasn't shocking or even serious. He was expecting something from Hayato, and while he is indeed powerful.

Asher just felt it was a bit….weak. Hayato's Magical Aura pressure was but a breeze to him.

Before Asher could compare himself more to Hayato, Zeke had finally decided to counteract.

Even though Hayato had an advantageous position, he was content with letting Zeke experience the might of his overwhelming prowess.

And that infuriated Zeke to no end! The air turned incredibly hot as flickers of a fiery purple glow emitted from Zeke's body.

'Chi!'

In that instance, Zeke erupted his Spirit Aura, shrouding his entire body in brilliant purple flames!

Jaws nearly hit the floor when witnessing Zeke's magnificent Spirit Aura. Even before they exchanged a single move, Zeke was already forced to the point where he's using one of his trump cards!

The suppression on Zeke instantly broke, and he had regained complete control of his body. And without waiting for even a nanosecond, Zeke rushed down Hayato, leaving behind a trail of sizzling purple flames in his wake.

Hayato's still calm face was right within Zeke's eyes, and he wasn't moving at all.

A bit of a cruel smirk curved Zeke's lips as he was going to wash away that previous embarrassment of their Magical Aura clashing.

Uncaring how hard he was going to hit Hayato, Zeke brought his fist down like an executioner hammer right towards Hayato's head! With his speed, there simply shouldn't be any way for Hayato to dodge his deadly strike.

But when Zeke brought his mighty fist down, he didn't feel any human flesh. His eyes blinked as Hayato had suddenly disappeared from his vision, causing him to strike only empty air.

In just a split second, Hayato moved with incredible speeds, just narrowly dodging Zeke's flaming fist, appearing over fifteen feet to his left.

And before Zeke turned his attention on him again, Hayato decided to go all out as well.

His expression became severe, feeling a considerable pressure against Zeke's Spirit Aura. It was only by the skins of his teeth did he dodge that last attack, and there wasn't any way Hayato was going to let Zeke control this battle!

'Chi!'

Right then, Hayato erupted his Spirit Aura, causing his body to gain a chilling gray Sword Qi aura! His power soared towards Zeke, toppling over the mild pressure he felt before.

Zeke narrowed his eyes again as Hayato became a legitimate threat to him again. His drive to win only got more fuel, and his purple flames intensely burned for his next attack.

But before Zeke could even process his next attack, a gray figure had suddenly flashed in front of him, causing him to rapidly blink his eyes.

Hayato appeared within four feet from Zeke almost instantaneously! His speed surpassed even his, and his pressure was ruthless.

Zeke had to sallow his surprise and tightening lump in his throat. He pushed his power to its absolute maximum and struck out his fist right towards Hayato's face.

At the same time, Hayato struck out with his own Sword Qi-covered fist, pushing his powers to their limits.

Even before clashing, Zeke already felt immensely suffocated from Hayato's overwhelming power.

'Bang!'

Purple flames and gray Sword Qi burst against each other, spraying wildly into the air. And in that instance, a figure got sent soaring backward.

"Ahhh!!"

Zeke hoarsely screamed as his blood flew around the whole stage.

Pure bewilderment crossed nearly every student's face, and some even felt a bit queasy at Zeke's current state.