As Leo realized that he can't stand against the robot unless he reveals his soul skills, he purposely got hit by the saber while protecting his inner organs with soul energy.
A large cut was slashed onto his chest while he flew back.
Falling on the ground, a few feet away from a student, Leo then controlled his blood vessels and spit out the blood.
Everyone immediately alarmed as the Robot didn't stop and dashed towards the fallen boy.
Just like the Reaper predicted, the instructor quickly moved from his spot and managed to save him just in time.
He then deactivated the robot with the button and apologized to Leo before healing his injury with a five-star healing card.
Everyone else looked at the robot in panic. They clearly don't want to risk their lives while sparring with it.
"I guess there seems to be a malfunction. I'll contact the principal and report him about it." He dismissed the robot with reluctance. Gilaes cursed himself for letting Leo try it first. 'Damn… I should have asked this blank-faced brat to be the one to test it. Anyway, he'll stay here for the next two years. I can wait for another chance.'
"Okay, since student Leonard was fine, let's continue with today's lesson. Before that, let me inform you of a few things. You'll likely hear it again from your homeroom teachers, in the upcoming days. It's about the Annual tournament."
The instructor managed to change the topic quickly and clear this tense atmosphere around the students.
"Soon, the annual tournament will be commenced, where you get to acquire the bonus score for the final examinations.
Just like every year, students below grade-10 that made to top 10 will be exempted from final exams and directly move to the Elite division during the next semester.
And also, the top two students from each grade will also move to the Elite division without having to attend the exams.
As for grade-10, those who reached rank-5 are automatically eligible to graduate from the academy.
Still, you have to work hard for AEE (Advanced entrance examination) to get admission into universities to pursue higher education or aim for Special Academies.
Anyway, I think I said too much. So, I'll stop here. The rest will be explained by your homeroom teachers.
For today's last class, let's see how much every one of you improved comparing to the first day.
All of you, group up according to your soul ranks. Rank-5 to the left, Rank-4 in the middle, and Rank-3 to the right."
"Azrael, let's go?" Claire nudged him before stepping forward to join the other rank-5s.
Azzy also followed her. From grade-8, he's the only one in the group. As for grade-9, along with Claire, there's another boy who broke through to rank-5.
The rank-4 grade-10s can't help but look at the three of them in envy.
Overall, seven members stood together.
"Okay, Augustine, Gideon, Snivy…"
The instructor divided the rank-4 students into twenty groups with five in each team.
"Students with rank-5 souls, you already proved your progress. You may relax."
He then pointed to the rank-3s who are mostly from other divisions of grade-8, and said in a serious tone, "You guys need to work hard. If you don't make it to rank-4 by the end of the semester, you might need to depend on your theoretical examination scores."
After giving a serious warning to them, he called two teams and called for a team battle.
An hour later;
"Okay, team C wins. Good job." As everyone clapped to the winning team, he continued, "Now, the last battle is between Team T and Team A. Come forward."
From Team A, Gideon from grade-8; Snivy and Augustine of grade-9, Soul weapon division; Hurley and Eugene of grade-10, Soul weapon division, stepped forward, together.
After the other team also gathered at the platform, everyone summoned their Arcana.
Strangely, by coincidence, all of the students from Team A have a weapon Arcana spirit. Gideon has a lightning sword, Snivy has a giant hammer.
When she summoned it, everyone was surprised. For a petite person, the hammer was too huge and also appeared heavier. The students even wondered where she is getting such strength to swing it like some kitchen knife.
As for the other three, they are nothing special. One has a dagger; another has also a sword while the last one has a metal rod. However, none of those three are of gold grade. So, no one paid much attention to them.
On the other hand, the opponent is a mixed team, comprising of a weapon, two plants, and two beasts.
"Ha…" Gideon was the first one to charge towards his opponent. However, before he even reached half the distance, all of a sudden, a tree root erupted from the ground and captured his leg before hanging him upside down, surprising everyone.
"Oh! That's a good one…" The instructor praised her from the sidelines. He was indeed impressed with her sudden ambush.
"That's Mia Leveret. My classmate." Claire whispered to Azzy. "Her father was ex-president. She's also Senior Leonard's cousin."
Azzy nodded plainly in response. He was only staring at Gideon, who was hanged upside down at 10 ft away from the ground. Claire can't help but puff her cheeks and mumble to herself, something…
Right then, to everyone's surprise, the petite girl raised her 3m big hammer above her head and unleashed, "Soul skill: Iron Smash"
As the hammer landed on the ground, it started to shake for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, a giant iron fist erupted from the ground, right below the opponent team.
While the three of them were able to escape, two of them were hit and flew towards the sky for more than two hundred meters.
"Eh?" Snivy halted her footsteps and glanced at the sky. She didn't expect the effect would be that great. After all, when she used it on the monsters, she found there wasn't much result.
Along with her, the others also stared at the sky.
The instructor immediately stopped the match and quickly dashed towards the place where they will likely fall.
If they flew back, he wouldn't have bothered to save them. However, they flew upwards. He thought they will be injured heavily at this rate. Since it is just a spar, he decided to catch them.
He also summoned his Gorilla to help him out. This twenty feet big monster was enough to save them.
Soon, everyone saw the two kids were falling at a high speed and the Gorilla spread its arms to catch them.
Right then, the girl of the Leveret family, spoke, "I wanted to keep this skill as a secret for the national tournament but I guess I have no choice."
The two-meter Oaktree suddenly extended its branches towards the sky and caught both of them, perfectly before bringing them down to safety.
The instructor then scolded Snivy for using such a dangerous skill on her friends. He then praised Mia for her quick thinking.
Meanwhile, Azzy spoke to himself, "If she can master her soul skill, she would be able to control the direction of that Iron fist."
"Hmm?" Claire and some other student from grade-10 turned their heads towards Azzy and wondered whether he was the right person to talk about control.
***
Finishing the class, Azzy returned to the dormitory. Now that Oakley and his family no longer lived in the mansion, he felt pointless to live there.
"I'll go first…" Azzy spoke to Gideon as soon as he opened the door. He rushed to the bathroom to shower, first.
"Fine… it's not like I'm objecting." Gideon replied while walking towards his bed.
Eight months ago, when he shifted to the dormitory, at first, he was given a room for himself but then, Gideon, who wouldn't leave Azzy alone, ended up being his roommate without even telling him while leaving poor Lark.
When Azzy found it out, he got incredibly annoyed and directly asked him, why he doesn't just ignore him like everyone else…
In response, Gideon simply replied that from the moment he has seen him, he felt Azzy was kinda like family to him. His behavior also constantly reminds him of his relatives. That's why whenever he was with Azzy… Gideon never missed his distant home.
Azzy, who understood what Gideon was talking about, didn't complain anything from that day.
Back to the present, for the rest of the evening, the two became busy with homework of common subjects.
From time to time, as usual, Gideon kept on chattering about this and that. In response, Azzy just listens quietly while continue to do his own thing…
Three days later;
The two of them arrived at the classroom, ten minutes before the time. However, to their surprise, their lazy homeroom teacher, Rubin was waiting for them.
Both of them greeted him with a slight bow while wondering what's going on...
"Go and sit."
Not only them, but the other eight students also wondered about his strange behavior.
After confirming that everyone arrived, he spoke, "Today, we got an important notification from the principal. He wanted to inform all of you that, this year, our school is about to host the prestigious Champions League."
"Champions League?" As soon as the students heard those two words, everyone's eyes lit up in excitement.
The only exception was Azzy, who was still staring at the teacher with blank eyes.
As a person who was banned from sparring against fellow humans, whether it is the Champions league or the world league, they aren't worth much to him.
Rubin continued, "That's why the annual tournament was pushed to two weeks earlier. Right after the tournament, the champions from all over the world will arrive at our academy."