21 Chapter 3 (6/7)
Oletha Harrison, twenty-five years old, level 30 Light Mage. She joined the Mages' Academy of Sinerin at the age of ten and quickly became one of the top geniuses of Sinerin. At the age of twelve, she advanced into the Intermediate-tier of Light Magic. At the age of sixteen, she mastered the Intermediate-tier which surprised all students, professors, and the Principal of Sinerin. It took her two years after that to advance into the Master-tier. It has been only seven years, and Oletha managed to master the Master-tier of Light Magic. Oletha was the strongest Light Mage that Mages' Academy of Sinerin has ever trained in the forty-eighth calendar of Toria Continents. Everyone who knows Oletha believed that she would advance into Legend-tier then Saint-tier. Perhaps even God-tier in the future. Oletha Harrison was the victory key for Sinerin to defeat Flumen in this tournament.
In the room dedicated to Student Master Mages of Nosh. Kain was still sleeping while his teammates continued planning strategies for their upcoming battle. They didn't know which group they would encounter first, that was why they must have battle plans for all groups to secure a victory easier.
Merlara Selorn, thirty years old, and is the leader of this group. Merlara said, "As the leader and the strongest here, I should fight first. I will defeat as many of them as possible." Merlara believed in herself because she was a level 30 Thunder Mage. More importantly, Merlara was the only one in this group to have reached the maximum level of the Master-tier. Merlara felt like she could break through at any time to step into the Legend-tier.
Elion Orbryn said, "Merlara, Kain should fight first because he is the weakest of us all. Let him lose the first round. His objective is to bring the first opponent's mana down as much as he can. I will go second to defeat that first opponent."
The Student Master Mages tournament battle is also different compared to Novice and Intermediate. They will fight one versus one until the last magic caster is standing.
For example:
Member A of team 1 versus member A of team 2. Member A if team 1 wins then he/she will continue to fight with member B of team 2. There will be no rest between matches. They will fight until the last member of either team remains standing.
Ferel Tarsis said, "Look at Kain, all he does is sleeping all day. I wonder why the Principal would allow him to join this tournament. I heard that he had just advanced into the Master-tier. I know he is one of the geniuses in our Mages' Academy. But a rookie like him can't do any good for our team in this type of tournament."
No one objected to Ferel because he was right. Even if they have a chance to win, a rookie like Kain will tremendously bring that chance down.
Faziel walked into the room and said, "We have one Novice team and one Intermediate team advanced into the next battle. I have just found out that your opponents will be the Student Master Mages from Mages' Academy of Sinerin. How is the team planning going here?"
Except for Kain who was still sleeping, the whole team started thinking to themselves, "Sinerin? How unlucky for us. The chance we have for an advance into the next battle is zero percent."
Merlara said, "Professor Blonigan, we are still debating to see who is going to fight first."
"Isn't it easy? Let the weakest fight first. Reserve the strongest for last."
Elion said, "See? Like I have said, let Kain fight first."
Ferel said, "Professor Blonigan, why would the Principal allow a rookie like Kain Almos to joined this tournament? I know he is a genius, but he is too new to the Master-tier."
"It was Professor Biersack's idea. He wanted Kain to get familiar with this tournament for next time."
"Next time? Did you mean ten years from now? You do realize that this is our last tournament, yea? How do you expect us to win having a newbie like Kain!? My apology Professor Blonigan. I should not raise my voice against you."
"I understand how you all feel. Look on the good side, how many tournaments have we won? None."
"How is that good!? My apology again, I shouldn't raise my voice."
"Well, now you can blame your result of losing this tournament on Kain instead of taking the blame for yourselves. Right, Kain?"
Kain just woke up, he laughed and said, "Definitely, Professor Blonigan. Everyone, let me fight first. I won't hold back my power. If I can take all six members of the other team out then that would be okay, right?"
Except for Faziel, no one laughed at Kain's joke. Their opponents were students of Sinerin, ranking #2 of all Mages' Academies. Even if Kain has mastered the Master-tier, it wouldn't be possible to defeat two students of Sinerin in a roll. In the tournament ten years ago, three out of six Student Master Mages of Sinerin were level 30 magic casters.
Faziel said, "Okay, go ahead and warm up. Your team will be fighting next. Right now, Flumen is fighting with Lylnesle. They should finish soon."
Flumen would definitely win. No doubt about that.
Merlara asked, "Professor Blonigan, is there any advice you have for us?"
"Sure. It's okay to lose, but you must lose beautifully."
"Eh?"
"Sometimes the losers can be more famous than the victors. It is all about how that loser loses."
"Professor, I don't understand."
"Merlara, everyone knows Mages' Academy of Sinerin is stronger, and their chance of winning is much greater than us. Many people believed that our Mages' Academy would lose, and they aren't wrong about it. But they still want to watch the battle, why is that? Because they wanted to see how we lose. If we give up the moment before the battle starts, then we will lose in a very ugly way. But if we struggle and do the best we can to bring four or five members of the opposing team down, then we lose beautifully."
As Faziel was explaining, Vincenzo walked in. Faziel turned toward Vincenzo and asked, "How did Lylnesle lose?"
"Ugly. Flumen had three members left."
"Everyone, did you hear that? Lylnesle loses in an ugly way. Now cheer up, go out there and lose beautifully!"
This was the first time those students listened to that kind of advice. They walked out to the arena battleground together with one goal in mind, which was to lose beautifully. Except for Kain though, he secretly activated the [Infused Blood] spell to use the blood pool inside his Blood Pendant for casting magic spells instead of using his mana pool. Kain double-checked the Blood Pendant, making sure it was well hidden before stepping into the arena.
[Infused Blood], level 10 Blood Magic spell.
Four months ago. In Mages' Academy of Nosh. Rogal Caligarus walked into Kain's room and patiently waited for him to finish his meditation. After Kain was done meditating, he opened his eyes, looked at Rogal, and said, "Senior, thank you for waiting."
"Kain, Master Whistler wanted you to participate in the upcoming tournament."
"Senior, I have advanced into the Master-tier. I can not fight in the Intermediate-tier anymore."
"I know. You have stepped into the Master-tier for two years now. Vincenzo did a good job of not making a big deal out of it. Kain, what is your current level?"
"Twenty-four."
Rogal opened his eyes widely hearing Kain's answer. Several seconds later, he said, "Gained three levels in two years. No wonder why... Kain, just one more level, and you can cast [Conjure Ice Gargoyle] spell. Here, take this."
Rogal then handed a Blood Pendant to Kain and continued, "This is my Blood Pendant. It works similarly to your Blood Ring, if not better. The blood pool inside this Blood Pendant is enough for you to conjure a thousand Fire Demons or a hundred of Ice Gargoyles. After the tournament is over, find a good opportunity to give the Blood Pendant back to me. Kain, always double-check to make sure you have hidden it well and don't let other people see it. What is the status of your current Blood Ring?"
