The colosseum in which the duels commenced was preposterously large, but considering the number of students that attended, it made sense.
While not every first and second year dueled, anyone above rank five hundred from the first years was allowed to choose any second year and duel them if they wanted to.
Just as any other colosseum it was split into two parts.
The cavea, the place where the people who observe the fights abide, and the arena, where the actual hostilities occur.
Caecus ascended the stairs of the cavea, having spotted Titus' soul already.
The surrounding chatter was loud.
So loud even, that Caecus decided to fortify the reverse assimilation on his ears.
After climbing an innumerable number of stairs, he finally reached the Titanus heir.
Titus looked up immediately, when he felt Caecus' soul, and his face brightened.
"You're here, great!"
The tall boy patted the seat next to him.
Caecus returned the smile he was given, and nodded towards the lowest seats in the colosseum.
"Can we sit down there?"
"Why? The sight up here is best." Titus' face shifted into one of confusion.
"..." The blind boy felt a vein on his forehead pop.
In response to Titus, his hand waved before his eyes.
Seconds of silence later, the previously confused face changed into one of understanding.
"O-oh… I'm sorry. I forgot." Titus mumbled gingerly, while avoiding eye contact.
'As if that would change anything.'
Caecus shook his head, and proceeded to return downstairs.
Titus stood up immediately, and followed.
More and more students were sitting down, so Caecus' pace increased.
Not after long, he was at the foot of the cavea, the arena where the duels would inaugurate right underneath him.
The seats were simple, made out of wood and without cushion.
It smelled like cedar.
Caecus lowered himself into a seat. He felt Titus' large frame settle down next to him.
Lightly, in thought, his fingers brushed the fibrous, weathered material of the seat.
Taking notice of Caecus' distant mind, Titus nudged the blind boy.
"What's wrong?" Titus' head slanted sideways.
The blind boy's attention returned to the present, and he shot Titus a smile that seemed a little too sharp at the corners.
"No worries, I was just in thought. Anyways, will you fight?"
"Of course. It's seen as a tradition that anyone from the main family of a corpus is supposed to attend this."
"Really?" Caecus bit the nail of his thumb. "Say, if I were to fight, who would you say I should challenge?"
"Well, the event is supposed to show us how strong the second years are, so normally the person who matches your rank." Titus straightened his back, and stretched his arms. "I will personally duel rank twenty five, so matching my tournament rank."
'It's not like I have some honor to protect or anything, and technically I'm part of the main family too, so might as well give it a try.'
As they sat there, more and more people inundated the previously empty seats, the souls Caecus sensed now numbering multiple thousands.
Still it felt like something was missing.
A girl was.
Time passed, and ten minutes later, the principal appeared in the midst of the arena.
How did Caecus know that it was the principal?
Simple, the soul essence he expelled while just appearing revealed him as a rank eight entity.
The sheer amounts utilized for that were so ridiculous that Caecus felt like all of his soul essence combined didn't compare to even a speck of his.
And he was totally correct.
As soon as the principal materialized, everyone in the colosseum fell silent, and turned their heads towards him.
Silence was an extreme contrast to prior.
He had a decent height, two meters to be exact, and long silky hair flowed down to his waist.
There was nothing crazy about his physique, but considering his rank, it was clear that his muscles were far stronger than any other person's.
His form was dressed in something that seemed like a standard cloak.
"Welcome first and second years of Psychéion. I am the principal, Chiron Centaurus, and currently only one of five rank eight paragons that our country, Anima possesses." He raised both his arms to his sides, and a bright smile that was way too perfect appeared on his face. "I am also one of the oldest people in our world. You may ask why would someone like me teach? The truth is simple. Once I internalized my concept, I have become the representation of nurturing and teaching. Nothing brings me more joy than doing so, and as long as I will do so, I will neither die, nor grow weaker."
His body started… levitating?
Caecus didn't know if his echolocation was fooling him, but he felt the principal hovering in the air.
"Congratulations for passing the entrance exams, first years. And congratulations to the second years for making it to a new school year. As it's been a tradition since the birth of this academy, the duels may now begin!"
A paper with a feather manifested on Caecus' lap, which startled him.
There was only one thing engrossed in it.
"Write the name of the second year you want to duel on this paper."
The pen trembled in his hand, but steeling his resolve, he took a deep breath and wrote.
Rank 300
When he finished writing, the paper started vibrating, and heating up.
Then it disappeared.
'This must mean it was accepted… right?'
With raised eyebrows Caecus turned towards Titus, whose paper vibrated as well, and then nodded.
Heart beating heavily, he started fidgeting with his bracelet.
"Are you nervous?" Titus asked.
Caecus nodded.
The black haired boy didn't even notice it, but when he shifted his attention back to the principal, he felt him sit… above the arena?
He didn't sense a chair, but the form of Chiron was in a sitting position.
'If he can fly, he can probably sit in the air too.'
As far as he knew, the rules here were the same as the political duels, just that the principal would intervene every time a fatal, or crippling blow would occur.
A few minutes passed, and the first duel started.
It was rank eighty-eight versus rank ninety-five, the first year Elysium Nero, versus Tartarus Bianco.
Both were slightly bigger than normal sized corpora, so not many people from Nero or Bianco were attending.
'They are probably the heirs.'
Ironically, Nero and Bianco were rivalling corpora.
'Makes sense why Elysium challenged Tartarus even though he is higher ranked.'
Chiron waved his hand, and their chosen weapons appeared.
Ironically, both of them used swords.
'Always swords.'
Caecus shook his head distastefully while clicking his tongue.
Titus' head tilted sideways, when he noticed it, but his gaze returned back to the battle.
"Once this coin touches the ground the battle begins." The principal said while taking out a circular piece of metal.
Pling!
With a snap of his thumb the coin flew through the air and started rotating around itself, while falling towards the arena.
Caecus could feel both of the heirs starting to allocate their soul essence.
'Tartarus is still at rank two, considering his rank… the second years must not have many rank threes.'
Their soul density was about the same.
'Seems like the only thing that can make either of them win is superior skill.'
The coin touched the ground.
Immediately, the two's silhouettes collapsed into blurs.
Clank!
They entered a blade lock, the two forces pressing against each other.
Nero's boy, assimilated a big chunk of his soul essence, pushing Tartarus away.
In response, Tartarus assimilated his own share of soul essence, making them evenly matched once again.
The ground underneath them was digging up from the pressure of their feet.
'Their blades are constantly in contact…'
There was only one thing that mattered in that clash.
It was strength.
More and more soul essence got assimilated, until the both of them were down to their last ten percent.
Then Tartarus changed.
He released the pressure from the contact, guiding the blade to slip past him, and sending Elysium stumbling.
Tartarus followed by kicking Elysium's feet away, and the Nero heir who had picked up momentum from the clash fell face first to the floor, making for a comical sight– not that Caecus could really see it.
A few chuckles were to be heard.
The blade of Tartarus was now aimed at the neck of Elysium, right about to sever the spinal cord, when Elysium just vanished.
"The winner of this match is Tartarus Bianco!" The principal shouted, raising his hands.
Everyone around Caecus was clapping, so he followed.
After that match, and seeing how close it was, Caecus got motivated.
'I must have a chance too!'
The ends of his mouth twitched slightly, and the next students got called.
Twenty matches later, the second years had won every single one of them, which of course was to be expected, but still demoralized the upcoming combatants.
Caecus didn't let himself be affected.
"Caecus Caelum, and Adrian Ensis next!"
Ensis was a well renowned swordsmanship corpus.
Before he knew it, the scenery around Caecus changed, and he was in a vast field, with a boy who seemed to be around a head taller than him standing twenty meters across from him.
He felt the principal's presence over him.
Then, he realized that a certain someone must be watching him too.
'Aurelia.'
Caecus' heart felt like it was about to burst, from how heavily it was beating.
'I can not mess up now. I CAN NOT MESS UP.'
Pressure built up in his jaw.
The air smelled like sweat, and the ground was mainly made out of dirt that naturally occurred for damage reducement.
Chiron added salt into the wound.
"Ohoh! A blind one! This will be amusing to watch." A bright smile streaked his perfect face.
Surrounding him the atmosphere seemed to shift.
The eyes of everyone in the stadium were on him now.
Everyone.
And he could feel their gazes very strongly.
Releasing the reverse assimilation on his hearing, Caecus could hear a wave of murmurs running through the crowds.
The black haired boy's heart skipped a beat.
"A blind person? At rank 300?! Impossible!"
"How can he be ranked higher than me, he's blind and half my size!"
Biting his lip, Caecus swallowed the lump that was growing in his throat.
The air seemed to be humming with anticipation.
Twin daggers appeared in his hands.
Adrian had a… sword.
Caecus felt the opponent gather his soul essence, and noted that it was only a third of his.
Plink!
The coin hit the ground.