84 Passing together

Ray woke up at 6 am that morning. Instead of putting on the standard uniform like every other day, today was different. Usually, when inside the academy... 

Students were only allowed to wear the school uniform with training equipment.

The weapons dedicated for training were mostly made out of wood. This way, they wouldn't seriously injure themselves when sparing. The only time they were allowed to use their beast gear was on missions and when hunting.

Ray had successfully dyed all his current equipment in red with black outline. His fanged Boar chest piece, his newly acquired shoulder guard and his boots which were only standard equipment and were nothing special...

As for his gauntlets… They were already red so there was no need to dye them. Today, everyone taking part in the tournament was to wear the best gear they owned. 

A part of it would allow one to use their real weapons. The tournament was taking place at the sports arena in the city. It was around a 20-minute walk from the academy. Although the city was filled with mostly knights, it didn't stop everyone from participating in regular activities. The city had an arena where they would often host sporting events or team games. This was where all the students were to gather today.

Looking around, In the dorms, Ray could see everyone seemed to be nervous, to the point that some helped each other put on their gear and equipment for their hands were shaking too much.

But for Ray, it didn't really matter as much.

While the rest were still struggling to get ready, Ray decided to leave the room and get a head start on everyone. He didn't get to see the city as much before because of his jam-packed schedule. So he wanted to take this chance.

While walking through the city, he noticed the atmosphere was different than usual. The whole city felt alive and less tense. Usually, the knights were always serious and on guard. But today, it felt more like a festival. Another big difference was the people inside the city. Avrion was filled with mostly just knights with a few merchants here and there. 

Today, there were people from all different cities who came to visit. Once a year, Avrion would open its gates to surrounding cities for the tournament. A lot of nobles would look for talented knights to recruit to their own army or even use as a guard.

Now, everyone at Avrion wanted to become a knight and fight in the frontlines against the Shadow Plague. But due to the high prestige that Avrion Academy had, a lot of people sent their sons and daughters to train here.

Finally, after a good walk and touring the place, Ray reached the arena. Outside was jam-packed with people waiting and full of energy to enter.

The starting event wouldn't even start till nine so it was impressive to already see this many people waiting outside. Luckily, there was a separate entrance for the participants. 

Outside the participant's only entrance… A lot of parents had come to visit their children and wished them good luck before letting them head back inside.

As Ray walked past the crowd waiting to get inside, he could hear the remarks they made about him.

"They really allowed a redhead to enter the competition?"

"Even his gear is red. Does he want to curse the whole city?"

"I hear the academy has allowed other redheads to enter the competition as well."

"Oh, how Avrion academy has fallen. Perhaps I should have sent my son to another academy this year."

The comments used to bother Ray a bit when he was younger but now, he was used to it. It has been a while since he had gotten this type of treatment. Ever since his match with Sebastian, Ray never heard a single word of disdain from the other students. Well, at least not in front of him.

He continued to go inside and followed the signs to the waiting area for the contestants. The signs led him to an underground stairway, eventually to a huge set of double doors. When Ray entered, his eyes met with a huge hall. 

The hall was as big as the dining hall at Avrion academy. The only difference was there were no chairs and tables.

The hall was currently half-filled with contestants. In total, there would be around 350 contestants competing in this tournament. Some contestants were practising inside the hall or checking their equipment.

Others had formed groups and were chatting casually. It was a mix of 2nd and 3rd-year students and the difference in equipment was dramatic. It was obvious that the third years had an advantage in this tournament. Every year so far, a third-year student had come out as a winner. 

It was an expected result.

In truth, the tournament was a way to show the second-year students that they had a long way to go to keep them from getting lazy.

His roommates still hadn't arrived and even though Ray spotted Harry and Jasmine around, he didn't bother to go over and say hi. He wouldn't exactly say they were friends. Instead, he decided to go to an empty space in the room and practice meditating.

After an hour passed, the room was beginning to fill up. The double doors opened and recognizable faces walked through.

"There, Ray's there..." Kyle pointed.

The entire group came over to where Ray was, giving him company and started to talk about the upcoming tournament.

"How did you get a space like this all to yourself?" Kyle asked.

Even though the room was full, for some reason, the space Ray had gone to when he first arrived never became filled with people. People avoided him like a plague.

"I think people are just avoiding me." Ray replied.

"You're like a human repellent. We should start taking you with us to restaurants." Everyone ignored Kyle's remark and it suddenly got quiet.

Martha broke the silence by saying. "I heard the first round is going to be a battle-royale style."

"Yes, usually they split the rounds into two groups." Slyvia said nodding her head in agreement. "Second-year students go first and then the third-year students. The last ten students go through to the knockout stages which are one-on-one."

"There are ten spots? That's great! We can all go through together..." Monk smiled in enthusiasm.

Hearing this, for some reason a slight frown had appeared on Martha's face. "But that means we might end up going against each other after that."

"We can deal with that when the time comes." Dan replied. " We want to prove ourselves right? Then, it's something we have to do. No personal feelings involved!"

They couldn't argue with that, all they needed to worry about was doing there best.

Suddenly, Slyvia placed her hand in the middle of everyone. They all looked at it strangely, wondering what she was trying to do.

"Then, let's promise to get the top ten spots together." Slyvia said.

One by one, they started to put their hands on top of each other, all apart from Ray who felt this was a little childish.

"Come on Ray!" Kyle said. "Stop being a sour Grape."

Reluctantly, Ray placed his hand on top with everyone else as well.

"Together."

"1, 2, 3…"

"Hurrah!" They all shouted.