“…”
A short silence lingered as the boy turned to him with a confused expression.
“That was me, you idiot! And I’m older than you… kid!” the boy screamed, gazing at them with cold eyes.
The pressure in the air subtly increased, like gravity itself had leaned closer to listen.
Nox instinctively put up an ice crystal.
Seconds later, something slammed into the ice, shattering it and sending a painful vibration up Nox’s arm.
“There’s a faint blue smoke around his telekinesis,” he thought, trying to evade the attacks.
They weren’t fast, but barely visible, making it hard to dodge. He knew that one proper hit would mean certain defeat.
“You probably came in by teleporting. Is it that guy there?” the youthful man asked.
Regea pointed with his finger at himself, not sure who was meant.
“What? I’m no-”
“Yes, he is. We will use it against you too!”
Nox forced his expression to stay tense, hoping the man wouldn’t notice how deliberately wrong the claim was.
With a brief glance, Regea understood his plan.
“Your range is probably around ten meters. I’ll just keep you at a distance,” the man replied, launching another attack.
Nox’s core burned faintly, each spell drawing from reserves that hadn’t fully recovered from the last fight.
The enemy wildly swung his arms around, an attack scraping his neck. Blood splattered onto the ground.
Regea lifted his arms, trying to summon a golem, but Nox stopped him.
“Not yet.”
“I’ve got to do something,” he thought, turning the arena into an ice field.
With his last reserves, he grew multiple ice crystal and stacked them on top of each other, blocking the enemy’s sight.
“Teleport us now!” he screamed, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Two creatures appeared behind the man, running toward the flag.
“Hah, I anticipated this. You can’t attack immediately after teleporting!” he shouted.
While turning around, he extended his arm. With a slapping movement, an extreme force destroyed the two beings.
His face was a mixture of shock and arrogance; he wondered whether they had teleported in time or died.
“I- I told y-”
His confidence lasted just a fraction too long.
“Golems?” His voice cracked, surprise finally breaking through his composure.
He immediately turned around, but it was too late.
“Did you anticipate this too?” Nox asked, standing before the confused man.
Time seemed to slow as Nox started running. In the corner of his eye, he saw two members of the Bombaclats group rushing in.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
For a brief moment, no one moved, as if the arena itself needed time to accept what had just happened.
Everyone just watched as Nox as he rammed his sword through the enemy and sliced the flag in two with a single dash.
“Team B is eliminated.”
“The winners will be teleported to the academy in 30 seconds.”
After the other team disappeared, Nox rushed outside.
“Lina! Are you okay?” he shouted, desperately searching for her. His chest tightened before logic caught up with him.
“Oh, right. She’s probably eliminated.”
Embarrassed by his excitement, he marched over the bridge.
“Huh, what’s that?”
A small screen lay on the stone floor.
Name: Mana Detection Device
Grade: Rare
Type: Device
Description: Displays every mana source in a 50-meter radius. 17/100 usages remaining.
“They won’t mind if I take this, right?” Nox thought, taking the item with an innocent face. “It won’t hold for long anyway…”
He glanced once more at the empty arena before slipping it away, half-expecting someone to shout at him.
“Good job,” Regea said, grabbing his shoulder.
“I didn’t steal anything!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh… nothing.”
The area around them suddenly changed. Nox’s vision blurred as he felt his body being transported at light speed.
His stomach twisted violently before the sensation released him.
“Hah, my head hurts,” he thought.
“Noxi, wake up!” someone said, shaking him.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Lina staring at him. He lay on the cafeteria floor; multiple students gazed at him with scrutinizing eyes.
“You won! Good job.”
“It was all thanks to you guys.” He quickly shot up, his stomach aching.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“You sure?” she asked, checking him out.
Acting distracted, she slowly slid her hand under his shirt. Her fingers hesitated for just a moment before continuing.
“Uhm,” Nox quickly turned away, his ears turning red. But he didn’t stop her. He didn’t have a reason to, after all.
“Guys, stop. The principal holds a speech now,” Beatrice pleaded, glancing at the dozens of students around them.
“Hello, everyone. You all fought well, but in the end, only one team could win,” Albrecht said. “Congratulations to team C!”
“But let’s move on to the important part. Just because your team placed well doesn’t mean your individual group’s placement will be high. Defeating players can earn you a lot of points too!”
As he clapped his hands, a large screen appeared once again.
Flag Tournament Ranking:
- Unstoppable (78,211 points)
- Bunnies (62,330 points)
- Pros (56,538 points)
- Swifties (53,424 points)
- Bombaclats (48,603 points).
.
.
“Huh? We’re only second?” Nox thought, glancing at the screen.
The gap between first and second felt uncomfortably wide.
“Ouch!” he shouted as Lina stomped on his foot.
“What do you mean by ‘only second’?” she asked in a strict voice.
“I- I mean it’s great, but how does Unstoppable have so many points?”
“They were the group that single-handedly defeated fifty students of our team. It seems they never intended to go for the flags in the first place,” Beatrice answered.
That kind of confidence unsettled Nox more than brute force ever could.
“I see a lot of disappointed faces, but don’t worry. The missions will play a major role in the overall ranking too,” the principal said.
“You will take normal lessons for the next week until the ranking.”
With a warm smile, he descended the podium and walked out of the hall.
Immediately, students started talking and complaining.
“W- We scored a lot of points, but our mission points aren’t many. We’d be lucky if we make it into the top ten,” Regea stuttered. Still, he seemed quite relieved.
“That’s tr-”
“Nice job, guys!”
Two students approached them.
“Hello, Alma and-?”
“Oh, I’m Amon Lolhamer. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Aren’t you the guy who attacked us… Alma’s ex?” Lina asked, eyeing him.
“Y- Yeah, I am.”
“There’s been a small misunderstanding,” Alma replied, looking away with a mixture of relief and regret.
“Okay. What are you guys going to do for the rest of the day?” Beatrice asked.
“Oh, isn’t it obvious?” Alma smirked deviously. She regained her confidence, changing her mood almost as fast as Lina.
“I’m going to enjoy the night with Amon, of course.
She put a finger over her lips and left the four baffled teenagers standing.
They were pretty sure what that meant, the pictures not leaving their head.
“Anyway, I have something important to discuss with Beatrice and Lina,” Nox said, trying to change the topic.
“W- What about me? Do you guys hate me now because I didn’t do a good job?” Regea asked, his eyes turning watery.
“No, No! I just have to ask them some girl stuff, and it might be embarrassing for them if you were with us.”
“Oh, I understand.” He sounded overly relieved as if that mattered more than anything.
Regea nodded at Nox as if sympathizing with him.
The three walked through the corridor to their dorm.
“Why are you lying to your friend?” Lina asked.
“I could hardly tell him what this is about, after all.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Beatrice interrupted.
“In ten days, it’s Regea’s birthday,” Nox replied.
“W- What? Shit, I don’t have a present. Do you have a present? What should I do?”
Beatrice started to look around in panic, her hands trembling uncontrollable. She tried to grab something out of thin air, then looked disappointed.
“Relax, it’s still ten days. We will get your dear Regea a beautiful present,” Lina said.
“O- Okay, should we go right now?”
“Let’s go after the ranking. It’s already evening, after all.”
“Nox and I have to meditate now,” she added, leaving the helpless Beatrice alone in the corridor.