~Chapter 10- The Masked One takes the stage~

The two girls re-entered the finalist's lobby and were greeted by the others. With Corri and Hita's match concluded, the only bout left in round 1 was Efilon and Seraphi.

Ruben was talking Seraphi through strategy before the match, but the masked boy still sat in the corner with his eyes closed, paying no mind to anyone. The only match he bothered to watch was the one between Aero and Ruben.

Cho spoke, "And for the final bout of round 1! Efilon Vs Seraphi. Both competitors are new to the tournament, yet they made it to the finals in their first outing! Let's give them some encouragement!"

The crowd cheered for the two competitors. Seraphi had to go at an angle to get through the door with his massive frame and he headed for the stage. Efilon opened his eyes, and walked through the lobby past everyone, his eyes focusing on Aero as he left.

"Weird guy," Jirro commented, "Aero, how tough do you think he is?"

Aero turned, "I fought him a few times, but the last time I did we were evenly matched."

"You fought him?" Jirro asked astounded, "When?"

"The last time we fought was earlier this year," Aero said, uncharacteristically serious. Nothing seemed to bother Aero, but somehow this Efilon guy did.

"I fought him last year too. He got the drop on me and managed to get away with the Academy's orb," Hita added.

Corri looked at the masked boy again as he took his place on stage, the idea of him being as strong as Hita or Aero seemed unlikely, "What about Seraphi?"

Ruben turned, "Seraphi is really strong. I told him to start out gentle so he didn't seriously hurt anyone."

Aero winced, "Seraphi shouldn't hold back."

The crowd spoke as Efilon and Seraphi took their places on stage.

"That's a big Densius."

"Should it even be allowed to compete?"

"That kid doesn't stand a chance."

Corri and the others watched closely as the match began. Seraphi very slowly threw its hulking arm at Efilon, but the masked boy sidestepped out of the way with ease. Seraphi threw very restrained punch and Efilon hopped on top of its rocky arms. He ran along it, and threw a light punch to the giant's chest. Corri expected the strike to do nothing, but Seraphi reeled back from the blow.

"Point to Efilon! 1-0! Return to your starting positions!"

"He's a nimble young man."

From Seraphi's reaction, Corri could tell that was the first time anyone had hurt him over the course of the tournament.

"You don't have to be so gentle bud! You can be rougher with this guy!" Ruben shouted out. Seraphi nodded its head and returned to its starting position.

The drum was beat and Seraphi took Ruben's advice, throwing wide and fast hooks with its hulking arms, but Efilon dodged each blow with grace.

Seraphi went to slam its arms down on Efilon, and the masked boy jumped from the edge of the stage. Corri expected him to fall to the ground, but he simply floated in the air out of Seraphi's reach.

"He can fly?" Corri asked astounded. Both Aero and Hita nodded.

"Shouldn't that count as a ring out?" Ruben asked.

"It only counts if they touch the ground outside of the ring," Hita replied.

Seraphi lifted its hands, revealing the crater it created. Efilon flew behind it, and struck the giant Densius with another light punch. Seraphi writhed in pain from the strike.

"Point to Efilon! 2-0! Return to your starting positions."

Ruben called out to Seraphi again, "Give him everything you got! He can take it!"

"Going for a knockout?" Jirro asked.

"Yes. He's too far ahead to win any other way," Ruben justified.

Efilon and Seraphi took their starting positions. The Giant Densius reeled its massive arm back, wound it up, and threw it forward with all the force it could muster. But Efilon didn't move. He simply raised an arm to meet it.

There was a shockwave as Seraphi made impact. But Efilon had caught the blow with his hand, hardly buckling his arm to hold the punch back.

"That's impossible," Ruben muttered in disbelief.

A purple light emanated from Efilon's hand, and a Focus Burst erupted from it. The rock's composing Seraphi's arms crumbled to pieces, and the Densius was launched off the fighting stage.

Cho could barely believe what he saw, it took him a moment to say, "Point to Efilon! 3-0! Efilon takes the match!"

There was delayed applause from the crowd. They were in disbelief as well. Efilon floated from the stage to the Finalist's lobby. As he walked in, he made eye contact with Aero before taking a seat in the corner of the room and closing his eyes again.

"What a great first round! But the best matches are sure to come. We'll resume after giving the remaining finalists a brief respite," Cho announced to the crowd.

Among the bleachers were Razan and Lucar. The two were frozen into silence. They had been watching their children fight, but it was the last match which caught them off guard. When the masked boy levitated in the air, it brought back a spur of memories for the two brothers. Memories of a friend who could fly just as Efilon had.