'Phantom Flying Sword' or 'Sensory Link Technique'?
Seeing the young girl hesitating and unable to decide, the two waited for a long while. Then, as if suddenly receiving so kind of instruction, they both made a decision together.
"How about learning both, and seeing which one suits you better?" the two of them suggested.
"But, doesn't the rule say you can only learn one?" Sylutia lightly tapped her fingers, her gaze shifting elsewhere as she asked sowhat sheepishly.
"Normally, yes, you can only learn one. However, there are other channels and thods to obtain the qualification to learn an additional one."
"Co with us." As she spoke, that senior apprentice sister took Sylutia's hand and led her out of the reading room.
"There's a competition event being held today in the Hall of Suspended Threads, divided into different brackets. Although you are not a student of this college, as a visitor, you can participate in the simplest bracket."
"In this bracket, the highest tier a participating contestant can be is Third Tier. As long as you place within the top eight, you can obtain an additional qualification to learn a secret art," she explained while walking.
"There's an event like that? Thank you, senior apprentice sister." Sylutia nodded gratefully, though she didn't know if such a competition would be difficult.
If she didn't restrict herself to the abilities and thods of the Mage school, freely switching Aspects and professions, then even at only Second Tier now, she could defeat quite a few Third Tier opponents.
But right now, she couldn't reveal her identity, so the outco was hard to predict. After all, a difference of more than one tier in Aspect creates a very large gap, especially since those who can co to Rorik College are all elites among their peers.
After the three of them left the reading room, they t the old lady and her granddaughter in the lobby. She was surprised by the three of them rushing out in a flurry and was currently discussing future paths with Tigis.
"What happened? Why the hurry?" She could see Sylutia didn't look like she had chosen a secret art and was ready to learn.
Faced with the old lady's inquiry, the three explained the situation. Before they could even get an answer, Tigis, standing to the side, said she wanted to go see it too.
Seeing her granddaughter really wanted to go, she had no choice but to agree. So, the five of them headed to the nearby combat arena. Fortunately, it wasn't far from here, only about 800 ters away.
A little over ten minutes later, the group arrived. The combat arena was already filled with quite a few students and guests. So were sitting in the spectator stands watching, while others had signed up to participate in the competition of their choice.
After bringing Sylutia to the registration desk, the two explained the situation, and the registrar nodded.
"So it's a little sister who hasn't enrolled yet. In that case, you can only participate in the New Student Tournant. That's the competition for current students who have been enrolled for less than two years, and apprentices who haven't entered any college yet."
"This round has 64 participants, and it's an elimination tournant. If you can survive until the final top eight, you'll get a reward. Of course, the higher your ranking, the richer the reward."
"The first round has already started. The second round is still accepting registrations and will begin in about half an hour."
Although it's a round of 64, you only need to defeat three opponents to enter the top eight showdown. There's actually a relatively large luck component. However, such competitions are originally ant to stimulate students' motivation to learn, not necessarily to rank everyone with extre precision.
The large luck component also makes the competition more interesting. Even those with insufficient strength have a sliver of hope.
After helping Sylutia register, the five went to the nearby spectator stands to wait. It was only during the conversation that Sylutia learned the identities of the two senior students.
"My na is Dicas. I'm currently a Shadow Star First Class student. I've been at Rorik College for five years now."
The 'Shadow Star First Class' he ntioned is the rank the college assigns to Third Tier mbers. Starting from Shadow Star Fifth Class upon enrollnt, they gradually advance based on completed contributions, mastered spells, and strength improvents. If promoted to Fourth Tier, it's 'Gold Star Fifth Class' to 'Gold Star First Class'. As for Fifth Tier, it's 'Rose Third Class' to 'Rose First Class'. Beyond that, at Sixth Tier, they beco professors and powerful core mbers of the college.
Sylutia didn't feel much after hearing this, but the old lady beside her, upon hearing that both were 'Shadow Star First Class', had a slight change in expression. Seeing how exceptionally enthusiastic the two were towards Sylutia, she seed to guess sothing.
The combat arena was now divided into four large block grids, with matches happening simultaneously. This way, even if one match ended or wasn't exciting, spectators could imdiately shift their gaze to watch a match in another grid block.
Sitting in the spectator stands, Sylutia noticed that most participants in the New Student Tournant were Third Tier, with only a handful being Second Tier, and their records weren't good.
Thinking about it carefully, this was normal. If one could easily overco tier gaps in combat, then so many people wouldn't be so obsessed and eager for promotion.
Half an hour passed quickly. After the first round champion was decided, the second round officially began.
Sylutia also arrived at the designated waiting room and received her numbered tag.
"Hedra, Number 47." After taking it, Sylutia imitated the others and tied the tag to her waist.
The matches proceeded quickly, basically deciding a winner within two minutes. Including entering and exiting the arena, it was about 4-5 minutes per match.
"Contestant Number 47, versus Contestant Number 48, please enter the arena now." Hearing the referee's voice outside, Sylutia straightened her clothes and walked into the combat arena.
Although it was already late at night, the place was brightly lit. The huge torches surrounding the arena illuminated the environnt brilliantly.
Sylutia saw the few people on the distant stands cheering for her, nodded, then turned to her opponent. The other party wore a black uniform, appearing to be a freshman at Rorik College.
Neither held weapons in their hands, suggesting a pure Mage duel. After the announcer declared the start, the opponent took out a handful of strange powder and scattered it into the air. Imdiately, two pale, spectral-looking vicious dogs materialized and charged fiercely towards Sylutia.
Although they looked fierce, they didn't seem very strong, the young girl thought to herself.
[Bone Spirit Vicious Dog] (Second Tier · Dead Embers). A creature summoned by a spell. Limited duration. Body is semi-incorporeal. Extrely fast.
While the strength was indeed limited, the 'extrely fast' evaluation was correct. They started fighting forty ters apart, and in the blink of an eye, the dogs were upon her. If Sylutia were the type of student with slow spell activation, she would probably have to concede on the spot.
Facing the two vicious dogs attacking like the wind, Sylutia spread her hands. Several threads materialized beside her, floating and expanding, instantly shredding and cutting the two dogs into several pieces.
The destroyed Bone Spirit Vicious Dogs turned into glowing powder in the air. Under the opposing Mage's control, they attempted to coalesce and reform, but Sylutia didn't give them the chance. Instead, she continued to expand and arrange her threads, interfering with the opponent's manipulation.
A few seconds later, the opponent, whose 'Bone Spirit Vicious Dogs' couldn't easily reform, was entangled by the attacking threads and declared his surrender.
"Number 47 wins!"
After the match ended, he loosened his tightened collar, shook his head, and walked off the stage, complaining to his companions not far away.
"I got careless. I was thinking since the opponent was a Second Tier student, I'd catch them off guard and win directly."
He was a Third Tier Mage. Theoretically, he could also summon a 'Third Tier' creature to fight, but that would take much longer, with the risk of being quickly defeated by a lower-tier opponent during the process. So, he chose the extrely fast-summoning 'Bone Spirit Vicious Dog' tactic.
"Haha, it's fine. You can participate again in a few months. This kind of New Student Tournant is held several tis a year." Several companions comforted him, laughing as they walked off the stage. One of them even gave Sylutia a thumbs-up in praise.
The atmosphere is quite friendly, the young girl thought.
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