Chapter 58: Battle of the Halls: Start
The Second Academy dawned in a heated and amused clamor the following day.
Participating in the Battle of the Halls was a big deal for all the students, either for the experience or to try to get at least one victory. In addition, virtually any student can participate, although if they are not among the '3 chosen per hall', the rewards will be less.
This hall battle takes place in the Second Academy Arena.
All the students gathered there first thing in the morning; many were anxious, some were nervous, some of the stronger ones were quiet, and others just watched from the stands.
Although all could participate, not all were going to. Some would wait until the second year to try because they knew that in the first year, they would only be embarrassed.
First thing in the morning, the academy directors and many teachers arrived.
"Let's make this quick because we know you are all anxious to start the Battle of the Halls. The rules, I think you all know, but I'll say them again to remind you." Said one of the directors as he stood up on top of a dais to speak.
"First of all, the first phase of the Battle of the Halls will take place on each of those round tiles you see there. Each tile will have ten students, and only one of the participants will emerge victorious, meaning that nine people per tile will be eliminated in this first stage, but don't worry, if you are classmates, you won't face each other until the second stage.
In total, the first stage will leave 64 contestants; the top 64 who will move on to the next stage."
"The second stage is a 1-on-1 direct elimination battle, seeking to obtain the first position. The battle of the halls is simple, but the winner will always be worthy of his position, as he will have gone through all the corresponding battles."
"The rules are simple. Anyone who falls off the tile is disqualified. All kinds of weapons are allowed, but whoever dares to kill one of your comrades will receive the death penalty in front of his whole family, and we don't care who he is, so think twice before collecting old debts in this place. This is a friendly battle between comrades, not a battle to find a killer."
The director spoke with a firm tone of voice and without hesitation, even the last part of the rules he said as if it was the normal thing to do, and there even seemed to be a slight anger when he said it.
Clearly, these directors took the rules very seriously.
There seemed to be something else, though...
Standing next to Matt, Isla lowered her voice and spoke to him.
"Matt, this time, the directors seem to be very vigilant in that kind of case because there was an assassination attempt at the First Academy battle. The student who tried to murder his classmate was sentenced to over a thousand lashes and left a huge debt for his family." She said, startling Matt.
'Attempting to murder someone in front of the sight of so many people? Either there was irreparable hatred between them, or he was crazy.' Matt thought with surprise.
Once the director finished telling the rules and some of the prizes, all the students who were going to participate were sorted into different tiles at once.
Matt, Isla, Caspian, and others were soon in their respective oversized tiles.
All these tiles were arranged after counting the number of students who were going to participate. If there had been more than 640 students, a few more rules would have been added to have only 64 left at the end.
This time, the number of students was fair and necessary, so there were no additional rules.
Once all the students were on their respective tiles, a token was placed on each of the tiles, and the combat was kicked off.
"Start!" shouted the referees, standing to one side of the tiles.
Those tokens were the ones they needed to grab to move on to the next stage, so when the referees announced the start, many people on every tile rushed to the token.
Many of them collided with each other, sparking combat in every corner of this vast arena, but there were a few tiles that were quiet, staring into each other's faces.
Matt's tile was one of those.
'Tsk, why did these bastards play here? What bad luck do we have this year?' thought many students from different classrooms who were there.
There were two students among them who had superior combat power, as they were second years.
Luckily, there were none from the third year, but 2 second years were enough to push back most first-year participants.
One of them was also famous; among the sophomores, he was among the top 10 of the most powerful, so he couldn't be underestimated.
"Hehe, younger brothers, do you really need to extend this? It's better if they get off, and nothing will happen; there's no way they can do anything to me this time." Said the second year who was in the top 10.
The other sophomore smiled, "Right, this token is mine." He said and walked to the token, but the other sophomore gave him a stern look just before he got there.
"That token is mine; if you dare touch it, I will fight you and leave you severely injured. Do you want to push your luck?"
His words made the one walking towards the token stop and look at him, "Even though you are stronger than me, I am not afraid of you." He replied firmly, and sparks flew back and forth between them, scaring the first years a little.
These first years even took a step back in some fear.
Well, except for Matt. He simply walked to the center of the tile and grabbed the token under the gaze of everyone present.
Everyone stood in shock, watching this freshman grab the token as if he were at home; he even played with the token a bit when he held it in his hand, causing many first-year students' jaws to drop from the impact.