Before Saylor Vane could start a protest, Holmes looked his way, releasing his level suppression on the young child.
Saylor broke out in a pool of sweat and looked downwards, face crumbling against the pressure.
"Now that both the trial of perseverance and agility have been concluded, I would like to first congratulate all 513 of you," Holmes sincerely applauded, "There will be a 3-hour intermission before the next combat trial."
"Since there is an odd number of combatants, 1 of you will be chosen to get a BYE straight to the finals," Holmes declared, "I'm sure everyone knows who he will be, Young student Markus Blackwell, who has broken the historical records of the Valerian Royal Academy."
Markus nodded with grace and respect, "I am still willing to accept any challenges from anyone who isn't convinced by my strength, Inspector Holmes."
Holmes laughed heartily, "Alright, be that as it may, if they haven't already been convinced by your monstrous display of talent and power from the previous 2 trials, I'll permit them to send you a challenge request."
"Firstly, I would like to invite you all to the dining hall, to replenish your strength and sate your hunger. The past 5 hours have been challenging for you kids," Holmes led the way in calm, practised steps.
They entered the spacious dining hall with a capacity of 1000 seats. Professional chefs stood behind the serving counters, ready to fill up plates for the starving children.
A generous variety of dishes utilising tier 1-2 ingredients was displayed around the entire dining hall, and the starving batch of kids ran towards counters, lining up for their favourite dishes.
Markus and Rosanne leisurely browsed the large assortment of beast cuisine, took their portions and settled down in the middle of the dining hall.
Soon, several curious participants joined them at their table: Louise Litt, Mika Ross, Richard Zane, Harvey Lecter, Jessica Johnson, Donna Michealson, and Shiela Cahill crowded around them.
"So, Markus, how did you train for the trials?" Donna curiously looked over at Marku's small frame.
"Nothing much, we just focused on body refining when we could. Grandpa would also apply tier suppression during our training," Markus explained, his movements precise and elegant as he navigated through his meal.
"You learn to move as if fighting under 5 times the gravity."
"Must be nice," Jessica muttered, her fork and knife scraping slightly against her plate. "Having level 70 high humans for grandparents tends to improve the efficiency of training."
Markus and Rosanne cleaned their plates up and went over to the tray return station before heading to the combat hall.
"By the way, my friendly suggestion, challenge me after the combat trial. I would rather not send you to the infirmary before you get accepted into the academy," Markus winked at the new group of friends at the dining table.
Saylor looked at Markus with venomous eyes, surrounded by his group of cronies, sticking with him due to Vane's family influence.
Soon, more students arrived at the combat arena, overlooked by parents and guardians seated above.
Each student will be matched by a random lottery system, winning allows them to progress to the next round, and the last winner will face Markus, the current top scorer for this year's batch of students.
Saylor took the stage, matched against a C-tier Earth elemental student, his eyes filled with rage, full of jealousy and resentment.
"Begin"
Holmes declared.
"Poison claw!"
Saylor leapt forwards covering a large distance as his hands formed poisonous claws, aiming at his opponent.
"Earth spike!"
Saylor sidestepped the jutting spike from the ground, countering with a precise strike, a wide gash crossed his chest, as it bled and turned a bruised, toxic purple.
"Saylor of the Vane family wins."
Academy medics sprinted up onto the arena stage, their movements precise and practised as they stabilised the wound.
They set the injured student on a stretcher and ushered him towards the infirmary for immediate treatment.
Rosanne cleared her battles with precise strikes that warranted no medical treatments.
Using her superior speed and strength, she knocked out her opponents in 1 clean blow, showing grace and compassion in the arena.
Sloane and Isolde cheered her on, as she blushed and went back to her place beside Markus after every round.
Before long, the quarter finals began.
The remaining participants were competing for ranking and resources.
Rosanne dashed forward, her opponent, Shiela, condensed orbs of blood, sending bloody projectiles at her.
"Blood needles!"
Rosanne weaved through the wave of needles.
"Blinding light!"
An orb of light detonated, stripping Shiela of her sight as Rosanne lunged forward, sending a practised chop aimed towards the base of Shiela's skull.
"Rosanne wins by knockout"
Holmes declared.
Rosanne cheerfully hopped down the stage,
"How did I do, brother?" Rosanne looked at Markus with her practised puppy eyes.
"Not bad, but you're too linear; you could have used footwork whilst dodging to make yourself more unpredictable," Markus commented.
"Ahh, I forgot about it, fighting them isn't as difficult as fighting your brother, I got lazy hehehe," Rosanne shyly said.
**
"We'll have a brief 30-minute break before the semi-finals, our first matchup, Donna Michealson vs Jessica Johnson"
"The second matchup, Rosanne Vance vs Saylor Vane"
**
Jessica won by an extremely close margin against Donna. Jessica's nimble reflexes weaved through the battlefield.
She dodged wind blades whilst striking Donna's nerve points with lightning strikes.
Turning Donna's arm limp, she had no choice but to surrender, ending the match.
**
A dark crooked smile spread across Saylor's face, "I'll show you the true world of pain, the arrogance of Markus, and you need to be made an example of."
"Begin"
Holmes waved his arm downwards.
"Blinding light!"
Rosanne leapt forward with the flicker step technique, her body blurring seemingly vanishing from sight to the spectators.
Saylor snapped his eyes shut and threw his arm up in a desperate guard.
Boom.
A full force blow landed on Saylor's arms, "Gotcha," he grunted under the pressure.
Using the momentum of her strike to pin her arm against his own body.
Before Rosanne could step back, "Poison Claws!" Saylor shouted, his poison claws cleaved its way through Rosanne's abdomen.
The strike wasn't deep enough to be fatal, but the toxic mana incapacitated her.
"Winner Saylor of the Vane family!"
Saylor threw a venomous glance towards Markus.
"You're next, prepare your neck!"
**
Saylor made quick work of Jessica, applying the same techniques against Rosanne.
Markus looked at Saylor with indifference, like the way a gardener looks at a persistent weed, something that would soon be dealt with and forgotten.
"The Grand Finals, Markus of the Blackwells vs Saylor of the Vane's"
"You both are at the pinnacle of Valerian's hopefuls this year, no fatal injuries!" Holmes declared.
"Take your stances,"
"Begin"
"POISON CLAWS!" Saylor lunged forward, running straight at Markus, intending to finish him off in one strike.
"Spatial bubble," Markus lazily activated his skill, hands behind his back, ready to receive Saylor's advances.
Saylor struck the spatial bubble, unable to pierce Markus's domain.
"WHAT SORCERY IS THIS!!!!"
"Just admit it, you're too weak to touch me," Markus stared indifferently at Saylor.
"Let's end this farce, Spatial blade!"
"The Spatial Blade didn't cut through Saylor's armour or bone; it simply deleted the space where they existed."
One moment, Saylor was lunging; the next, his limb was sliding to the floor in a spray of cauterised crimson, the cut so clean it looked like a surgical mistake.
The room plunged into silence, both the observers and students alike, stunned at the audacity of Markus's ruthlessness.
The boy carried the traits of Blackwell's true legacy.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, HOW DARE YOU, I'M FROM THE VANE FAMILY, YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" Saylor screamed as he clutched his shoulder, bleeding out on the floor.
"You're fortunate the Academy prohibits killing, I'd have taken your head for your insolence," Markus sneered, "Vane family? I'm from the Blackwells; your influence means nothing compared to our strength."
"Markus wins, congratulations!" Holmes declared, "Medical team, quickly bring Saylor to the infirmary."
With current magical and medical advancements, reattaching a severed arm would take no longer than a day.
Markus casually stepped off the stage, walking towards the infirmary to check on Rosanne.
"With that, I declare the end of this year's Valerian Royal Academy Trials!" Inspector Holmes declared.
"I would like to congratulate the top 300 students who qualified. I hope to see you, promising Valerians, make your mark in society soon."
Holmes politely bowed to the audience and students.