Kaelen sheathed her short sword with a sharp click. The mana encasing her battle-staff faded, and she offered a hand to Lazlo, pulling the groaning Ranger to his feet.
"Good fight."
she said simply.
"My bird hates you now,"
Lazlo grunted, rubbing his bruised chest, but he shook her hand with genuine respect.
"I didn't expect you to make that move, Thorne."
Kaelen did not respond and just turned to the crowd, acknowledging the roar of applause. But her eyes didn't linger on the cheering students. She looked up toward the designated Participants Section.
There, sitting in the back row alongside Eliza and their fellow participants for their event, Ray Croft watched.
He didn't cheer. He didn't wave. He simply caught her eye and gave a small, slow nod.
Suddenly, Kaelen felt a mental sensation deep in her mind.
Good positioning.
Ray had used the Understudy Protocol’s ‘Resonant Communication Link’ and stripped the distance between them. Ray’s voice echoed clearly in Kaelen’s mind as if he was right in front of her.
You were able to control the tempo and end the fight decisively, well done.
Kaelen allowed herself a small, hidden smile. That quiet, technical validation was worth more than ten thousand screaming fans.
Thank you.
She thought back.
The link then faded, leaving her focused and grounded.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
Bruce's voice cut through the celebration, amplified to ear-shattering levels.
"Give a hand to our combatants! But do not go anywhere!"
Bruce glided over the sands, looking smug.
"Wasnt I right?!"
Bruce asked the crowd as he looked and pointed at the floating scrying artifacts.
"I told you the 3rd Level Group would bring the explosion! And indeed we started with a bang! But this is just the beginning, the other participants of the 3rd Level Group are sure to give us a more exciting fight!"
Bruce gestured to the screens as the next set of names flashed up.
"Coming up next! The Shadow of Statecraft, Dawn Moran the Rank 3 Deep Veil a favorite from the Minor College of Intelligence (Statecraft). Will her shadow arts match up to the sheer firepower of the Arcanum pyromancers or Valor spellswords? Let’s find out!"
The 1st Round continued at a breakneck pace. Dawn Moran proved why she was a Tier-3 Deep Veil operative, disappearing into the shadows and striking her opponent’s blind spot before they could finish a chant. The crowd roared, the healers ran, and the Main Qualifiers churned on.
Once the 1st Round of Dueling Event concluded, the arena shifted gears.
"And now!"
Bruce announced, wiping sweat from his brow.
"We trade swords for science! It’s time for the Alchemy & Potioneering Gauntlet!"
Twenty portable workstations were immediately set up in the arena, each equipped with identical cauldrons and a precise set of ingredients.
"This is not a freestyle event!"
Bruce explained, his voice echoing.
"This is a test of Precision. Every candidate must brew the Lumina-Draft Potion. The Proctors will judge the result based on Luminosity and Purity. A perfect brew shines like a star. A failure... well, it looks like swamp water."
"Time starts... NOW!"
The alchemists began to chop, crush, and stir. The arena fell into a tense silence, broken only by the rhythmic bubbling of liquids. It wasn't flashy combat, but the tension was palpable. One wrong stir, one degree too hot, and the potion would destabilize.
1 hour later, the proctors moved down the line holding their measuring crytals.
"Candidate 1: Dull. Disqualified."
"Candidate 2: Cloudy. Disqualified."
"Candidate 5: ...Excellent. 95% Purity."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Then, they reached a 2nd-Circle Glass Vial student from the Minor College of Apothecaries (Arcanum). He was sweating profusely, his ladle shaking. He had added too much Sun-Root powder in a panic.
"Che..check mine please."
The student stammered.
The proctor leaned in.
"It’s vibrating."
FLASH.
The cauldron didn't explode with fire; it detonated with a blinding flash of pure, uncontrolled light. The entire front row of the audience covered their eyes, blinded by the sudden
"Flash-Bang."