Chapter 849 Preliminary Round

849 Preliminary Round

The rules were simple.

Three students—all of them in the same group—would enter the stage and fight for a total of five minutes. If a winner emerged within that time, then they would be considered the victor of the round and advance to the Main Event.

If no single victor had been established after the time limit was exceeded, then the one who dealt the most damage and had the least damage inflicted on them would be the winner.

To determine this, three judges—reputable, unbiased Instructors—were placed in an elevated platform to watch the entire Preliminaries.

Hence, by the end of the whole event, only thirty-two students out of the ninety-six would qualify for the main event happening the following day. Needless to say, the hall was electric with anticipation and excitement.

So many Dragons had turned up as spectators for the Prelims, and even more were going to show up for the main event.

This was an event of the year.

"Round one of the preliminaries... involving Sha'la, Fi'tzari, and Ll'oyd..."

The three students stepped into the stage, their levels of confidence varying from one person to the other. Sha'la and Fi'tzari were both in the Second Stages, while Ll'oyd was in the third. It was clear who had the most charisma out of all of them.

As they finally settled on stage, and the cheering crowd was finally silenced, the Announcer raised his voice and announced the start of the match.

"... Begin!"

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~

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"So... are you going to make a bet?" The three judges who sat at their prestigious position—an elevated platform high above the other students—looked down at the match as one of them spoke up.

It was none other than D'aru, one of the Frost Dragon Lord's Squad members.

He had a cheerful smile on his face as he observed the students fight amongst themselves. His colleagues—L'ester and O'jog—had more bored expressions on their faces, but he seemed rather excited for a mere Preliminary Match.

"What's the point?" L'ester, the most logical of the three sighed. "Based on what I've observed, your students will be the one winning this Event."

The reason was simple.

Of the three Stages, the third years were by far the most competent... and their instructor was none other than D'aru.

The guy seemed all cheerful and carefree, but when it came to tutoring wards, there was no better candidate. He was basically set up for success, having the strongest class and the best skill in terms of teaching. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

After analyzing the odds, L'ester already gave up on victory and yielded it to his comrade.

But—

Looking at these students of Class 1-A, and even the other Classes in the same Stage, it was easy to see that a lot of them were worried. Just as they suspected, the Stage 3 students had the upper hand.

But—

'As expected. The winner was already determined in my mind the moment I saw their Status Windows...'

—Not all the students felt the pressure that others had.

Rey, for one, didn't feel anything.

~Can't believe I have to wait so many rounds until my turn.~

Lucielle was feeling rather impatient, since she wanted to return to her room to continue her research on a particular Magic Theory she was formulating.

According to her, it would be the next big thing.

"Well... all in due time." Rey responded to her in a slight whisper, glancing at his fellow classmates as he witnessed them making their best attempt at a strong facade.

He knew how they felt deep down, though.

'I've seen the Status Windows of every student here, including the seniors we are matched against. And... I already know who's going to win or lose.'

Other than Lucielle, Adonis, and himself... no other Stage 1 student was making it past the Preliminaries.

'No matter... it is what it is.'

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

I'm dealing with a lot of IRL problems right now. I really don't want to let you all down, but it's pretty serious.

I'll do my best to keep releasing chapters, though.

I appreciate those who reached out, and everyone who keeps supporting me.

Cheers!