Spring Tournament

"Classmate Adrias Cromwell. Are you inside?"

"Yes."

The day after the commencement ceremony, someone knocked on my door first thing in the morning.

I had just gotten out of the shower from my early morning workout.

Roughly drying off, I opened the door and there stood the assistant professor of combat magic for the Ministry of Magic.

"What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to give you instructions for the spring tournament, and since you're checked out without a magic tablet, I'm here to see you."

I've been waiting for this.

I took the flyer from him and listened to his explanation.

"I'm sure you're aware of this, but I'll explain it again. First of all, since you've been promoted to fourth year this year, you don't have veto power over the tournament. As you know, the results of the tournament and the content of the matches will count towards your grade in Combat Magic, and your opponent will be drawn by lot. Your opponent will be drawn at random from the Faculty of Knights and the Faculty of Magic, and you may draw your name here and now."

The assistant held out a crystal ball.

I vaguely remembered doing this before, so I placed my hand on the crystal ball and infused it with mana.

8.

The number came up much earlier than I expected.

The number of participants in this annual tournament is approximately 3,000.

It was like another festival, with about 2,000 knights and 1,000 mages battling it out.

'This is actually good. It's better to get it over with and get some rest than to wait in the queue.'

I wrote my name and number on a tablet held by a teaching assistant who checked my number.

"Adrias, classmate, entry number eight confirmed. Your opponent is classmate Aslan, a second-year knighting student. Do you wish to withdraw?"

"No."

"Confirmed. Adrias, please come to the staging area of the Knightly Faculty Great Arena by 8:00 a.m. next Monday. The entire tournament is two weeks long, with two bouts per day for the first week. If you win, you will play two matches each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then advance to the round of 32 beginning on Monday of the second week."

"Okay. I see."

"Good luck then."

After the assistant left and I returned to my room, I finished running a hand through my damp hair.

Adrias' memory flashed back to a tournament I had participated in as a young sophomore.

"First-round elimination.

I chuckled bitterly.

The tournament was not open to freshmen who entered this year, but only to students who had been promoted to sophomores.

And while it was voluntary for juniors, it was mandatory for seniors.

"Of course, you could just opt-out.

In the fourth grade, the penalties for abstaining were so severe that a failing grade was inevitable.

So even those who didn't like fighting had to grit their teeth and try to pass the first round.

With the entire academy participating, the atmosphere was almost like a year-end festival.

There were even prominent figures from various countries watching the tournament and scouts from various organizations, so it was a great opportunity.

The event also motivates freshmen who have just entered the school to practice.

The sight of strong seniors was enough to motivate them to train.

'Just do enough. Just enough to graduate.

I opened up my talents and attributes for the first time in a long time.

-Talents: Vessel (Unique), Evolution (Unique), Enlightenment (Epic), Original Sin (??)

"Abilities: Black Magic Commander (Combat), Elemental Magic Water (Support), Potion Making Buff (Combat), Athletics (Talent), Combat (Talent), Mana (Support).

Compared to the beginning, something has significantly increased.

I've never seen more than one unique characteristic when playing games, but now I already have two, and there were characteristics of grades I had never seen before.

'What's with the question marks?'

In my view, Original Sin is a bit special, so let's put that aside. With just the Grail and Evolution, I could probably slap most playable characters a few times.

And there were talents that were just as important as characteristics, attached to me like a leech.

'I learned the basics of swordsmanship from Nickel and acquired the Combat talent by breaking through Laziness's barrier. The Mana talent unexpectedly evolved...'

At first, I didn't have anyone who could be considered a trash character, but now there were a few characters better than me.

It felt like the product of my efforts over time, and the sense of accomplishment was extraordinary.

"With this, I won't kneel anywhere."

However, the problem is that my opponents are too strong.

Of course, there's no rush right now, so I need to act with some composure.

'But do I really need to hold back?'

It was a sudden thought, but I wondered if there was any need to hide my abilities.

In any case, even gatherings that could be considered enemies were interested in me, and that damned Emperor was undoubtedly paying attention to me due to the Original Sin hidden by my father.

The Jeppar sect might not be as terrifying as the top two, but they already held enough grudges.

In this situation, it seemed pointless to hide my abilities.

It might be better to become famous enough that no one would dare to touch me recklessly.

"That's not a bad idea, is it?"

There's nothing like a tournament to make a flashy debut, and the timing was right.

Adrias Cromwell, who only died after making little progress in the game, was now ready to take off.

The weekend passed, and the day of the tournament qualifiers arrived.

As soon as I finished preparing and entered the waiting room of the main arena, there were bustling students stretching or getting ready.

'My opponent is Aslan from the Knight Department, 2nd year. I feel like I've heard of him before.'

With so many students around, I didn't know most of them except for some notable figures or peculiar individuals who caused incidents.

That meant there was a 99% chance that my opponent in the first round would be an unremarkable guy.

Since it was just the qualifiers, I didn't bother drawing my sword and planned to rely solely on magic for the match.

In the past, it would have been risky, but now, with all sorts of talents, especially mana and combat talents, I was confident.

"Participants numbered 1 to 20, please come out!"

The assistant from the Knight Department in charge of the event came into the waiting room and called the players.

Following him outside, I noticed the stands were still quite empty.

'But there are still a few people here.'

In one of the seemingly empty sections, there were students who appeared to be freshmen sitting.

Most of the freshmen were more interested in enjoying the romantic academy life than putting effort into training, so there didn't seem to be any players among them.

'Wait, there is one.'

I saw Lucia Everlast with Vivian, holding popcorn as they sat down.

Did she not participate? She's still a 3rd-year, and considering her personality, it seemed plausible."

"I thought Vivian would participate..."

At that moment, Lucia saw me and waved her hand.

"Hey! Senior! Adrias! Over here, here!"

She's quite familiar with calling me now, even using my name.

I looked her way and smiled, raising my hand in response.

Beside her, Vivian waved her hand faintly.

Then, a Knight Department professor in the middle of the arena shouted.

"Now, please arrange yourselves on the arena according to your numbers."

The main arena lived up to its name with its spacious size, divided into smaller sections to create a total of 10 makeshift arenas.

Each arena had two assistants placed for contingency purposes.

"Tolman is also there."

Professor Tolman Venual, a combat magic professor, stood silently in the arena.

He was disciplined after a previous incident, but it seems he was released a little early.

It's good to see him again.

Coincidentally, the arena I was assigned to was close to where Tolman was standing.

"Though you all probably know the rules, I'll explain again. Killing results in immediate expulsion, attacking a defenseless opponent also leads to expulsion. Attacking a surrendering opponent will result in disqualification. For any other injuries not amounting to serious harm, the assistants and professors will decide the severity of the offense."

I looked at a Knight Department student in front of me.

Now in the second year, he seemed more full of enthusiasm and passion rather than experience.

"Two rounds a day, and today is not the end."

I felt the need to manage my stamina.

"Talking is prohibited."

"Yes, sorry."

As I grinned nervously and lowered my head, Aslan on the other side glared at me the whole time.

"How long will you keep laughing?"

But wait, isn't that his habit from earlier...?

Ding!

The whistle blew.

Though I planned to finish quickly to manage my stamina, it just didn't work.

"Gris."

I used the basic spell, Gris, as my opponent noticed and tried to dodge left and right.

I anticipated his movements and prepared the spell in advance.

"Earth Shield."

Puff!

As my opponent tried to dodge to the side, an Earth Shield rose from the ground.

In that moment, it created an image of him crashing into the Earth Shield himself.

"Argh! Tricks...!"

Enraged, Aslan tried to gather himself and raise his head, but I was already standing right in front of him.

"Hello?"

Thump!

My fist struck his jaw, and I followed up with consecutive punches.

With my opponent disoriented, I showered him with the justice of my fists.

As Tolman Venual watched the match, he was shocked to see a sudden beating taking place.

Despite the severity of the situation, the assistant acting as the referee did not intervene, causing Tolman to become suspicious.

He noticed that the student giving the beating was wearing a wizard's robe, which was odd since the student being beaten was from the Knight Department.

This raised further questions in Tolman's mind about what was really happening in the arena.