The Academy's Competition (V)

"What did I just witness?"

I mumbled to myself, still staring at the arena.

Leon, the so-called leader of the Sword Academy, was completely obliterated.

He didn't stand a chance.

Not even for a single moment.

Honestly, if I compared myself to Leon, I'd have a seventy percent chance of winning, but, just from the looks of it, Aestrea knew he was going to win since the beginning of the match.

It looked like the kind of arrogance of an experienced hunter.

Beside me, Ella tugged at my sleeve, her eyes wide in disbelief upon witnessing Aestrea's fight.

"Lucas... did you see that last move?" Ella asked me with a shaky voice.

I nodded at her words.

"Yeah... he used the density of his mana to create an air suppression explosion, resulting in a massive impact that sent Leon flying..."

Rose, hearing our words, took a step forward before opening her mouth.

"His mana level... is still lower than mine though."

"What?"

I turned my head towards her as my eyes widened in shock.

Rose crossed her arms and spoke with her usual sharp tone.

"His mana level should be around the B-rank, but somehow... its power reached the A rank or even higher than that during that single moment," she explained.

"It's weird... his density was very strong, but his mana capacity... it's loose. The flow of his mana veins is all messed up, to the point of his right arm's mana vein still being in recovery." 

Rose spoke, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Aestrea who was waving his academy's flag at the crowd.

"And not just only that!" Maya suddenly appeared, practically bouncing on her toes to grab our attention.

"His physical capabilities are much stronger than mine! Besides, he didn't even manifest his sword aura, he only relied on mana!"

Right!

I almost forgot about that!

He didn't use aura at all.

Aestrea's supposed to be a Magic Swordsman, the kind that combines both aura and mana, but this entire fight… there wasn't a trace of aura from him.

With his strength, he should be able to use aura.

So why didn't he?

I pondered over and over again, but couldn't figure out the reason.

"Ah… right."

Ella said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"I saw Azariah use his aura once... when he saved me."

Her words caught all of our attention, even Iris, who had been unusually quiet until now.

Ella placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, her expression thoughtful.

"His Aura... is terrific. While his mana is a silver color, his aura is a deep violet color," she then looked at her sword.

"My sword started trembling as he used his sword to cut down that monster. It was in a single swing of his sword, and the monster was cleanly split into two."

"A violet color...?" Iris muttered, and suddenly, her eyes parted slightly.

"Normally, a swordsman's aura manifests in a color that represents one's tendency, and Violet represents..."

"Luxury and power..." Rose finished her words, looking over at her fire staff before gripping it slightly.

"No one ever recorded had a violet color aura, No one has ever been able to embody 'power' as their defining trait. So, it means that Aestrea..."

"That freaking monster..." Ella muttered, however, her eyes seemed to shine even more than before.

It was as if she had a new goal or she was proud of something.

Even I was shocked, Luxury and Power were one of the seven strongest tendencies. And no one could ever get the violet color that represents them as their aura.

Aura wasn't like mana.

It was a reflection of a person's very essence, and the color represented their core tendencies.

While there were thousands of aura colors, only seven stood at the peak, representing the purest, most dominant aspects of the human spirit.

Violet was one of them.

And Aestrea was the only swordsman who could use it.

"Damn it..." I cursed under my breath, clenching my fists.

"How are we supposed to beat someone like that?"

But then I remembered.

The promise I made.

I swore I'd win this competition.

And no matter how monstrous Aestrea is, I won't let our headmistress down.

Not now.

Not ever.

...

"Alright, everyone!" Vivian's voice rang out as she addressed us.

"We've got two points on the board and three matches left. If we can secure just one more win, we'll have enough to advance to the next round!"

Anyone could see that she was really happy with the result even though she had a stern and resolute tone in her voice.

"The current score stands at: 2 points for the Holy Academy, 1 point for the Eternum Royal Academy, 1 point for the Beastkin Academy, and finally..."

Vivian paused, glancing dramatically at her clipboard.

"Zero points for the Sword Academy."

A faint chuckle rippled through our classmates at her last remark, but she continued on.

"So, like I said before, if we secure this match, we should have enough points to advance to the next round, we just need to be lucky enough!" she declared confidently.

She was telling the truth.

We just needed to be lucky enough and it should be fine.

For example...

If we were up against the Beastkin Academy and managed a win, we'd have three points.

If both the Holy Academy and the Eternum Royal Academy also won their matches, the standings would align in our favor.

From there, all we'd need was for the Beastkin Academy to lose one more match—or for us to scrape out just one more win—and we'd advance for sure.

So, we really just needed to be lucky enough.

And now it was time to draw the lots again.

Like before, each one of us picked up, except Leon who didn't come, and instead, a huge guy took his place.

Ella's number was 1.

Christina's number was 2.

The huge tiger's number was 1.

The huge guy's number was 2...

"Hah... lucky." I grinned.

My number was three, which meant another skip.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The crowd erupted and started booing at us the moment they realized.

We got the free win once again, but I didn't care.

Luck is also a skill.

So, I smiled at the crowd and walked back to my station.

"Perfect!"

"That's great, our representatives can rest for a little bit more." 

He glanced toward the group who had fought in the last match—Derek, Mia, James, and Maria.

I was technically part of that group too, but I didn't feel the need to rest.

My fight against Leon was beyond easy difficulty.

And the reason for that was that I found something special inside my body.

This body of mine… it was strange.

Not mystically or supernaturally, but in how absurdly powerful it was.

My mana veins were utterly chaotic—completely messed up. And yet, because of that, the flow of mana in my body was five times faster than normal.

It meant I could deploy mana at incredible speeds and absorb it just as quickly, however, controlling it was more difficult.

But it wasn't much of a challenge since I was already used to it.

The only question is...

How come 'I' didn't appear in the novel at all?

Like I mentioned before, my nickname "Moonlight Swordsman" appeared, but it didn't reveal my true identity.

It was strange...

'So... it must related to that prophetic dream...'

I thought.

It was the only possibility, even 'I' couldn't defeat that huge amount of beasts, especially since their leader was a named beast.

Even if I indeed used the combination of my aura and mana.

It would be almost impossible to do it.

Unless...

'Nope."

I shook the thought from my mind.

'That's too reckless. I'd probably break every bone in my body attempting something that stupid.'

Anyway, I should simply watch and continue to analyze the representatives of each academy, even though we almost have a guaranteed pass to the next round.

After an hour or so, the matches ended.

To no one's surprise, both the Eternum Royal Academy and the Holy Academy won their respective matches, granting a point for each of them.

With two matches remaining, the Beastkin Academy could make its comeback, but it was very unlikely.

Even if we did lose against it, it wouldn't be a problem since we have three points.

Because the Beastkin Academy would have a huge chance of losing either way if it met the Eternum Royal Academy or the Holy Academy.

So yeah, the lots were drawn once again.

And of course...

The Silverleaf Academy was against the Beastkin Academy.

Not to mention that the Holy Academy got a skip, and the Eternum Royal Academy easily won against the Sword Academy.

Because of that, our match was declared as the 'possible' last match of the first round of the academy's competition.

If Silverleaf Academy wins, the three academies are already chosen. However, if we lose, we will need to participate in another match to determine if we advance.

After all, the current score is now...

Our academy with three points, the Holy Academy with four points, the Eternum Royal Academy with three points, the Beastkin Academy with one point, and the Sword Academy with zero points.

If the Beastkin Academy did win against us, we would have another match, since it could still end up in a draw with our academy.

"Ahh... muscle-brained beasts."

"These ones are going to be pretty annoying."

I muttered to myself.

And if that was just to confirm my thoughts, their first representative...

Was the leader of the Beastkin Academy.

That huge muscle-brained tiger.

He was looking at me with a wide smirk, his eyes radiating a firm competitiveness. Out of all his matches, he had always won them even though his academy lost in the final part.

So, in reality, the Beaskin Academy only lost because the other student's levels were simply too low compared to other academies.

"Two attributes at A-rank... of course, strength, and vitality."

My eyes glowed intensely as a balance scale symbol appeared on them.

"Still..."

A faint smile appeared on my lips.

"It won't be enough to defeat me."