Chapter 136 Tournament? (2)
"An academy tournament? And she wants me to participate? Is she that desperate to win?" Michael could not help but think. After all, his strength had reached Tier 2, and she had most likely noticed it by now.
It would be stranger if she hadn't; her strength was much higher than his.
He was not against participating, but he assumed it would look bad for Vivum if they ended up destroying all their competitors. They might even get the wrong idea and think he was some sort of instructor; all sorts of misunderstandings could arise.
But he didn't really have anything else to do, so he decided to go through with it regardless.
The participants were pretty obvious: Michael, Chloe, Elizabeth, and Kevin. As for the last one? He had no clue.
Liam was a good candidate. Despite his looks, he was a close-range fighter—a brawler at that.
His physique had undergone quite a big change as well. It reminded Michael of the people from the gym back in his first orphanage. Those guys were definitely buff, and now Liam was too.
There were some other candidates; however, they did not stand out as much.
After a bit of time passed, Amanda cleared her throat and spoke up again. "From your enthusiasm, I see most of you are eager. However, while I observed you, I picked out the five who will be going to the tournament."
'While you observed us? As if you didn't already have your ideal candidates in mind' Michael scoffed at her bullshit and continued to listen as she began calling out names.
"Kevin, Elizabeth, Michael, Chloe, and lastly, Ella," she announced, waiting for everyone's cheers.
However, no one cheered. That was because no one knew who Ella was.
'Who the fuck is Ella?' Michael was clearly confused. He had memorized the names of everyone in his class, and not a single one of them was named Ella.
But just as their confusion grew more apparent, a figure walked out from behind Amanda and stood among them.
She looked ordinary—brown hair and brown eyes—nothing stood out.
To the others, anyway. Michael could tell that she had a Tier 1 mana core—not a common sight for someone so young.
Probably some kind of setup. You know how Amanda is. She's most likely planting that girl to watch over you. While she's young, she's not as young as she looks. I can tell you that much at least.
'Why would she order someone to keep watch on us..? Aren't I here?' Michael was a bit skeptical but nonetheless nodded at the girl, receiving a nod back.
They all stood together and waited for Amanda to speak again, instructing them on what to do next.
"Right. Glad you all got acquainted. The rest of you who have not been chosen can go back. The same applies to you as well, Lena. I will take over from here," Amanda instructed, and the students began to disperse.
Lena looked a bit hesitant but nonetheless went back into the academy. Even though a large part of it was destroyed, it seemed she still had obligations to attend to.
"As for the five of you, come with me," Amanda said and walked off the podium. The familiar car and driver stood by the side. The car was spacious enough to fit all of them inside.
Michael could sense another individual in the car, someone with a mana core who was at least Tier 1.
So many individuals who would be considered powerful were gathered, and yet the world was still mostly unaware of them.
That just means the oath is working. Nothing to be surprised about.
Michael shrugged at the system's comment and got inside the car. For some reason, the atmosphere felt a little tense.
However, the strangest thing was that the person inside the car looked exactly like him—to the point where it felt like he was staring into a mirror.
"This is your replacement, Michael," Amanda's voice rang out from behind him, causing further confusion.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"What are you talking about?"
"You and I are going to be doing something different. While these five participate in the tournament, we will be uprooting a certain scheme that has been brought to my attention," she explained as the car suddenly began moving.
He was too in the dark to make any assumptions, so he simply nodded back at her.
'This is a bit sketchy, no?'
Yeah, seems uncharacteristic for Amanda to seek your help when she's probably one of the strongest people in this world. But who knows? Maybe there's some secret agenda that requires your help.
'Must be it...'
Michael chatted with the system a little more as Amanda did not go into further details.
The ride, aside from the occasional bickering between Kevin and Elizabeth, was relatively quiet. Due to the tinted windows, Michael could not see where they were headed.
Not that it mattered; he had the system—more specifically, the map. It showed they were heading southwest from Vivum.
The only city in that direction was Elarion. Its size was just slightly larger than Vivum's, but it was not as technologically advanced.
That didn't mean they were primitive. Instead, they focused most of their research on magic and how to implement it into daily life. Their buildings might look as modern—if not more modern—than Vivum's.
Nonetheless, the journey would take a few more hours. The continent was massive, and even though Elarion was the closest city to Vivum, it was still far by Michael's standards.
He found it fascinating that the person in the car felt like his double—just a little weaker.
'I wonder if he also has the light affinity...' M Michael tried to gauge the person's mana signature with his Eyes of the Healer. However, it didn't work, as Amanda suddenly stepped in front of him.
"Don't do that. Keep your curiosity in check," she said in a threatening tone, shooting him a small glare before sitting back down.
'...Yeah, something is definitely up.'
I agree.
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After a few hours of driving, Michael could tell they were close—only a few kilometers remained until they reached the city.
Everyone else was busy on their phones. Michael, uninterested, decided to practice his mana instead.
He cast a few Swords of Light and made them follow alongside the car, performing all sorts of turns, even killing a few monsters in the far-off distance.
While his control hadn't improved as much as it did with the imps, his range had increased significantly. He could now control all the Swords of Light within a 10-kilometer radius.
Finally, Elarion appeared on his 30-kilometer map. At first, it looked relatively normal. However, the aerial view of the city was shocking.
There were so many green dots that he could barely make out the buildings.
As expected, a few red dots were mixed in. Finding them in such a large crowd would be difficult.
After a few more minutes, the car stopped, and the driver got out to open the door.
The moment Michael stepped out, his eyes widened.
There were all sorts of buildings—even towers—scattered across the skyline. All radiated massive amounts of mana. If Michael used his Eyes of the Healer, the only thing he'd see would be mana.
But that wasn't all. The city had a ground floor as well—spacious, with only a few nearby houses. However, in the far distance, Michael could see many more using his map.
All the buildings had mana engravings. It almost felt like the rift situation all over again. However, everything was stable, meaning nothing would form.
The city reminded him of Japan. He had visited a couples of cities a few times during his mercenary days, loving its architecture. Seeing a similar aesthetic here was heartwarming.
Even the people wore traditional-looking clothing, many in yukatas, typically worn during sumer festivals.
The battle between academies is like a festival as well. It happens every two years. If you decide to stay in this world for some reason and attend the academy's fourth year, you might be able to participate.
'No, it's fine, I'll just do the little side mission with Amanda and get going' Michael decided, noticing Amanda moving forward with the others following her.
'Guess I will go along as well...'