anwhile, within the waiting room, Nyx stood in front of Amyra, her face more serious than ever as she looked at her friend with calm blue eyes.
"Hey... Amyra..."
She waved her hand slightly, unsure of how to act around her ever since her confession at the hotel.
Though Amyra didn’t seem to share her awkwardness, she simply smiled softly.
"Hey, Nyx. Ready for today?" She said, her voice as friendly as ever, even as they were paired against each other for today’s match.
"I want to ask you sothing..." Nyx said, clenching the edge of her clothes tightly in her hand. "Don’t go easy on ."
She finally looked up, her eyes eting Amyra’s violet ones.
"I know the last ti we fought in virtual reality, I lost easily without much resistance. I know I might have seed weaker, and I also know you are a lot stronger, but... please give it your all."
Her expression hardened with determination.
"Because I am going to fight with everything I have... without holding back."
In the past few months, although she hadn’t reached her peak yet, Nyx had risen high enough to be considered a monster among those of her age in this world.
She never revealed her rank, but her current strength was sowhere around Grandmaster rank, a level even geniuses of this world like Alden and Amyra hadn’t reached yet. And more importantly, even this Grandmaster rank wasn’t close to her true peak.
It was because of her ho-world advantage.
Unlike people in this world, she had awakened her mana before she could even walk properly, and had been trained ever since. So her rank being far higher than others her age made sense.
But she knew better than anyone that despite the gap in rank, Amyra was sohow evenly matched with her strength.
Amyra gave her a knowing smile.
"I know you are not weak, Nyx. And I was never planning on going easy on you. Because as we are now... if I let my guard down even for a second, I’ll lose before I realize it."
Nyx’s eyes widened slightly, a small smile forming on her lips. They chatted for a few more minutes before Alden entered, his face as calm as ever.
—
Ti passed, and soon the announcent for the comncent of the Quarter-Finals echoed through the waiting room. By now, all the participating students of the first year had gathered.
The announcers continued, praising the event and its sponsors as they began calling candidates in pairs, one by one.
Lucy and Quinn.
Lucien and Grey.
Amyra and Nyx.
And finally, Cedric and Alden.
These were the matchups.
Although all matches were to be held simultaneously, the candidates were called separately for presentation and audience engagent.
Alden didn’t recognize three of the candidates, but the fact that they had reached the quarter-finals alone spoke volus about their strength.
His gaze shifted to Lucy and Quinn as they were called first. Lucy had short black hair and narrow grey eyes. At her waist were two guns, and on her back rested a rapier.
’Damn... what kind of fighting style does she even use...?’
Alden wondered, his attention drifting to her opponent.
Quinn was a short elf with green hair and golden eyes, carrying a large bow on his back.
They exited the hall wordlessly and after five minutes, the next pair was called.
Lucien and his opponent, Grey.
Lucien looked as ordinary as ever, despite Alden knowing what kind of fool he was, while Grey was a robust dwarf wielding a hamr nearly twice the size of his body.
Alden found himself silently hoping for the dwarf’s victory. Not because he wanted to fight him but simply because he wanted to see Lucien get beaten.
Still, he knew that was wishful thinking. From what he could sense, Lucien’s strength far exceeded Grey’s.
After they left, Amyra and Nyx were finally called.
Alden wished them good luck, his gaze tinged with excitent as they moved towards the exit of the waiting room.
Out of all the matches, theirs was the one he was most curious about.
Although he could sense their power to be around the Adept rank, he knew they were hiding sothing far beyond, sothing even he, with all his skills and sharp senses, couldn’t fully comprehend.
But one thing was certain—
They were far stronger than what they showed.
Now only he and Cedric remained in the waiting room. The silence between them was heavy, neither of them speaking a word.
After so ti, they were finally called to the arena.
Alden stood up without a word and walked out, Cedric following behind him.
"Alden..."
He called out just before Alden could exit completely.
Alden turned around as Cedric gave a small smile.
"Good luck... because I won’t be holding back anything in our match."
Alden looked at him for a few seconds, but said nothing. He simply turned and left, his expression as neutral as ever.
The mont he stepped out of the waiting room, the roar of the crowd, louder than ever before, crashed over him as the announcer called his na.
"Now we have Alden, rank 3 of Astralis Academy, and the personal disciple of the strongest Archmage and Principal of Astralis Academy, Jeremy Voicforge!"
As soon as the announcent ended, flashes from countless caras engulfed him, and the crowd erupted, chanting his na.
The announcer continued.
"Facing him is the second son of the Draven Family, and half-brother of Alden himself, Cedric Draven, representing Elven Academy in this tournant!"
Cedric stepped out as well, coming to stand beside Alden as the two walked toward the only empty dueling platform among the four.
The other three platforms were already occupied by their respective pairs.
Once they arrived on their duelling platform, Alden looked at his surroundings once, looking at the vast crowd, then at his friends, Amyra and Nyx standing on another duelling platform, then finally his gaze shifted back to Cedric as the announcer finally announced the start of the match.
"Now that all first-year candidates are present, the Inter-Academy Quarter Finals shall begin imdiately!"
User Comments
0 comments from readers