Right after the host declared the start of the match, the entire arena area was instantly struck by organized chaos. All teams from various kingdoms immediately moved at full speed, running to spread out leaving the arena towards the academy hallways to find the flag.
But, not for Arvin. He was still standing frozen in his place in the middle of the arena, not moving a single step at all.
While the others relied on physical speed, Arvin used his analytical instinct. His gamer instinct said very strongly that the flag could not possibly be hidden in a far place. Often, the hardest challenge is a psychological trap hidden right in front of the eyes.
His eyes moved quickly, sweeping and observing the surrounding spectator grandstand area carefully. A few seconds later, he realized there was one thing very strange in his vision. Among the many spectators he saw, there were two students wearing a bright red bandana on their heads. The red color was very striking amidst the crowd.
That must be the flag! said Arvin in his heart, smiling faintly because he was very confident in his instinct. I have to win this tournament round as fast as possible!
Zoom!
A super sonic boom sound suddenly exploded and sounded quite loud breaking the arena air.
In the blink of an eye, Arvin's body disappeared from the middle of the field. He dashed very fast cutting through the air towards the spectator grandstand and immediately stopped right next to the student wearing the red bandana. The strong gust of wind from his movement made the dust around the grandstand fly.
"Hey you, I want the bandana on your head!" asked Arvin directly without small talk.
All the spectators in the grandstand gasped in shock. They were very surprised by the very fast movement that had just been made by Arvin, especially the student who was currently sitting right near the blue-haired youth.
"W-What do you mean?" asked the student in shock, moving his body backward reflexively. However, both his hands immediately went up and held the bandana on his head tightly, as if he completely didn't want to give it away. "This is my favorite bandana! For sure I won't be willing to give it to you!"
"I am very sure that is the flag!" chimed in Arvin, still insisting and holding his ground, staring sharply at the student's hand. "Quickly take off that bandana from your head right now! If you don't want to hand it over nicely, then I won't hesitate to snatch it forcefully from you!"
The minor chaos in the grandstand did not escape the host's sight.
"What exactly is happening here?" exclaimed the host in confusion, her voice echoing throughout the academy area. "Participant Arvin Vedegra suddenly dashed and is in the spectator grandstand! What is he planning there while the other participants are busy looking for the flag?"
Meanwhile in the grandstand, the student looked away and remained stubborn not wanting to give the red bandana to him.
Seeing the uncooperative behavior of the student who didn't want to take off his bandana, Arvin let out a soft sigh. He then was very forced to do what he indeed had to do.
Crack!
The air temperature around the spectator seat suddenly dropped drastically. Within seconds, the student's body, starting from his toes creeping up to his chest, froze by a thick block of blue ice. The poor student instantly froze, completely unable to move his legs up to his back at all.
"Quickly hand over that bandana now, or I will shatter your body to pieces along with this ice!" threatened Arvin with a very cold and low tone. His gaze sharpened and pierced, as if he was looking at a helpless prey. "I only want to see and confirm the shape of that bandana! What is so hard about taking off that bandana just for a moment?"
Feeling the bone-piercing cold air and the very real threat of death from the blue-haired youth's gaze, the student's courage instantly shrank.
"A-Alright, you win. I surrender." said the student with a resigned tone and a trembling voice holding back the cold, completely helpless with the state of his body that was already frozen.
With trembling hands, the student untied the bandana from his head and handed it over.
As soon as it was released from the tie on his head, the bandana cloth directly unraveled lengthwise and changed shape into a small red flag.
Without thinking twice, Arvin immediately took and gripped the flag, then snapped his fingers to cancel his ice magic in an instant.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation, cutie." he said sincerely with a satisfied smile.
With the red flag already safe in his hand, Arvin immediately jumped down and returned to the middle of the arena. He stood firmly while raising his hand holding the flag high into the air so everyone could see it.
"Incredible!" exclaimed the host from the podium, her eyes widening in disbelief seeing what happened. "Participant Arvin Vedegra has successfully won this first round, while simultaneously recording his name in history as the fastest participant to ever finish this first round in the entire inter-academy tournament across the continent!"
The announcement that echoed loudly throughout the academy made the footsteps of the other four teams who had just arrived in the academy hallways stop instantly. They heard that very brief victory announcement and simultaneously turned around directly, running back towards the arena.
As soon as they arrived back in the middle of the field, they all widened their eyes in shock seeing Arvin standing casually holding the red flag in his hand.
"Wait a minute! How could you possibly find that flag so fast?" exclaimed Prince Raven who had just arrived panting, feeling unacceptable with the instant defeat. "You must be cheating!"
Arvin turned his head calmly, looking at Raven with a flat expression.
"Cheating you say?" replied Arvin with a mocking tone. "As a noble, you should have used your thoroughness more to confirm and observe your surrounding area carefully before running blindly!"
Arvin then raised his hand and pointed straight to one corner of the spectator grandstand opposite them.
"Use your eyes and look there! There is another student sitting wearing a red bandana on his head!" said Arvin with a loud voice. "I realized and found it after feeling very strange that there were two spectators in far apart positions wearing a bandana with the same and very striking color!"
Arvin lowered his hand and stared sharply right into Raven's eyes.
"Before you judge me and accuse me of being a person who cheats, you should first confirm that your brain and your eyes are working in sync!"
"But I am still sure that you must be cheating and secretly conspiring with them and also the committee!" exclaimed Raven not wanting to lose, his pride increasingly unacceptable of being humiliated by Arvin's sharp logic in public.
Arvin only snorted softly, looking at Raven like looking at a fool.
"If you accused Prince Lionias of doing that, your accusation is still very logical, because he indeed comes from this Victoriaz academy." answered Arvin casually, presenting a hard fact. "But you accuse me instead? Did you forget that I am a student who comes from the Astoria Kingdom? How could I possibly know them and the committee here, you idiot!"
Instantly Prince Raven fell stiffly silent. He opened his mouth but not a single word came out, completely unable to refute the absolute logic thrown by Arvin. The dark maroon-haired youth could only clench his fists and stare sharply at Arvin with full frustration.
After the debate subsided and the situation became conducive again, the event continued with a symbolic handover session.
The small trophy for the speed competition category was officially given to the representative team from the Astoria Kingdom. The sound of applause filled the spectator grandstand again, acknowledging the sharp instinct of the team leader.
"Once again, congratulations to the winner!" exclaimed the host smiling looking towards Arvin who was holding the victory trophy in his hand. "Prepare yourselves everyone! Because tomorrow morning, the second round of the tournament, which is a one-on-one match between the predetermined participants, will soon begin!"
And with that closing announcement, the tournament event on the first day was officially over with the absolute victory of the team from the Astoria academy.
Both the participants in the arena and all the spectators in the grandstand, one by one began to stand up and leave the arena in an orderly manner, before finally walking to disperse themselves leaving the Victoriaz academy area to rest and prepare themselves to welcome the fierce battle tomorrow.