Scarlett and Tessa were also shocked, but not by the power displayed—rather, by the sudden shift in demeanor.
It seemed that while Alex was beginning to heal, he still had triggers that pulled him back into who he once was.
So the moment he returned to his seat, Tessa asked:
"What happened to you in there? You suddenly got really angry." She sounded worried.
"I don't know, but seeing that mocking expression seemed to ignite something in me," Alex replied. He then explained what went through his mind during the fight.
Tessa understood. After all, Alex still blamed himself for not being there to protect his friend at that time, and coupled with his already low opinion of nobles, that reaction felt almost inevitable.
As they kept chatting, Tessa's turn eventually came.
She also had to fight a noble: Thom Elderane.
The moment the referee started the match, Tessa cast a fireball—much larger than what most expected from her.
But unlike Alex's opponent, Thom didn't underestimate her, as she already had a reputation. He immediately cast a nature-based defensive spell: Cocoon.
Alex thought defending with wood against fire was a poor decision, but he still watched, assuming the noble wouldn't be that much of an idiot.
As the fireball exploded, Alex realized the cocoon was hollow—there was no one inside. Thom had escaped through an opening at the back, effectively turning the cocoon into a wall.
Not only that, but he took the opportunity to cast a sound spell, and a sonic wave rushed toward Tessa, pushing dust across the arena floor.
Tessa cast Ice Shield and covered her ears with her hands. Her ears still rang a little, but nothing serious happened. Since the shield didn't break, she used it as cover to cast Ice Spear from behind it.
Thom dodged to the side and cast Nature's Whip.
A thick vine grew from Tessa's flank, whipping at her with high speed.
She hid behind her shield again, but the whip broke through it. Tessa didn't seem to take into account that the sound wave could potentially weaken the shield without leaving visible marks.
Tessa was hit in the midsection—not very strongly—but enough to throw her back.
During the flight, she cast Fireball Barrage, and a flurry of fireballs appeared mid-air.
Thom cast Cocoon again, but this time he couldn't escape from the back, as the fireballs covered a wide area.
Tessa quickly regained her footing and dashed forward.
Once close, she used Fire Jet, a novice spell that made her spew fire from her hand until she canceled it or ran out of mana.
As the wood began to heat, she cut off the spell and quickly cast an ice spell behind the cocoon, where the fire hadn't touched.
The spell she used was Ice Rose Field.
The floor froze, with roses of ice blooming outward. Stepping on them would cause a thorn to pierce the feet, freezing and slowing the target.
After casting it, she resumed using Fire Jet.
Thom noticed the front of the cocoon charring while the back remained intact, so he opened it and stepped out—only to fall into Tessa's trap. And an ice thorn pierced his foot.
He yelped, the membrane activating and greatly increasing the effort it took to move that leg.
Tessa heard him and realized her trap worked. She rotated the cocoon and, the moment she saw him, she casted Ice Spear.
Thom, hindered by the slowing spell, tried to cast Cocoon again, but Tessa was a couple beats faster, and the spear landed on his chest, ending the match.
The siren sounded, and the referee announced:
"Winner: Tessa!"
Once she returned to her seat, she heard Alex say:
"Congratulations, you played him well," he remarked.
"Well, thank—" But before she could finish, he cut in, "But you made a couple of mistakes too."
Alex smiled cheekily at her, and Tessa retorted with a humph, looking away.
During the following matches, Alex dominated almost every opponent. After all, he trained to defeat people and monsters stronger than him, so those at his level were relatively easy to beat, with a few exceptions.
The main reason for his dominance was that most students didn't know how to defend against his Water Spear ability to alter its trajectory mid-flight, rendering walls and open shields useless.
This gathered the attention of the onlookers, wich whispered things such as "Is he even human?" or "How did he manage to even be that strong?"
Alex paid no attention to such stuff, since for him those whispers weren't worth his attention.
The one who did indeed like such attention was Scarlett, who was smiling from ear to ear.
She was so proud of the fact that Alex was so dominant, and knowing that she took part in his growth made her praise herself, for how much of a good teacher she was.
In the end, Alex still never used his new skills.
And he intended for that to remain the case for as long as possible.
One noticeable pattern was the difference in how he approached fights. When facing a commoner, he allowed them to display their skill, to gather reputation and points, only defending before finishing the match. But when facing a noble, he went all out, not giving them a moment's peace.
Tessa, on the other hand, seemed to have a much easier time with her later opponents, so either the first dude was especially strong, or the rest were simply weak.
As the fights progressed, the number of commoners dwindled quickly, since nobles had a blatant advantage.
Their artifacts subtly altered their spells, granting boosts they shouldn't have.
And while that alone might not have meant much, combined with the membrane increasing their firepower, the effect was significant.
The stacked boosts made an apprentice-level spell hit like a novice one, and a novice-level spell approach quasi-advanced strength.
This gave Alex and Tessa trouble here and there, but nothing they couldn't handle.
Both eventually reached the final sixteen.
This round was drafted like a traditional tournament, using lots.
Alex and Tessa landed on opposite sides of the bracket—meaning if they won all their matches, they would face each other in the finals.