The time within the Royal Academy was passing peacefully. All the students of each year were busy challenging the top ten to snatch their spots.
At first, the students were reluctant to fight because the top ten from each year were stronger but after hearing about the tempting reward the King would give to the top participants of the tournament they were motivated.
As the day of the tournament neared, a few confident students challenged and fought against the top students. Even though not many were able to win, the Professors in charge were astonished to see some hidden individuals with great strength defeating the top ten.
From the first year, Kyle, Alec, Lara, Carcel, Mia, Lily, and Jake stayed in their position but the ranks below them changed repeatedly. To Kyle's surprise, Tray the boy who was following behind him entered the top ten after defeating Nike who was ranked 10 in the whole class.
From the second year, Blane was able to enter the top ten easily, and from the third year students mostly the top ten were defeated by their classmates except the top two students who were twins.
In the first-year training ground;
Nine was sitting beside Kyle as he looked at the figures present on the two Arena stages. In the first stage Alec and Carcel were having a friendly match while in the second stage, a brown-eyed youth was fighting with Lara.
Nine stood up and gazed at the blue-haired girl sitting on his left. It was Mia, she was playing with Bia wings with a smile.
"It's my turn next!"
He shouted with a serious expression while glancing at his opponent Lily.
From the original two months, only two weeks were left and soon the selection process for the tournament would end. That's why if he doesn't get a spot in the top ten within two weeks, he won't be able to enter the tournament.
Kyle stood up as well and patted Nine shoulder.
"Now that you have finally decided to fight. Be careful, she isn't weak at all."
Nine was able to sense the hidden meaning behind Kyle's words.
'She is strong. Make sure to not break your bones.'
He nodded with a solemn expression and entered the Arena stage under Professor Liam's eyes. Lily was standing beside the students who were watching Alec and Carcel fight but when she saw Nine she climbed the stage and stood opposite to him.
Nine's expression stiffened as he remembered the not-so-beautiful past. During the Selection process when they were fighting for a spot to enter the Tower of Opportunity she kind of roughed him up into a tattered mess.
He took a deep breath and took out his weapon. Lily smiled as her long hair floated behind her back.
After the Professor waved his hand both of them attacked each other with incredible speed.
Meanwhile, Kyle looked back and his eyes narrowed at Bia. He could see the gleeful expression on her face as Mia caressed her fur gently.
'I feel like someday you will abandon me for a beauty!'
Kyle scoffed because she didn't even reply and ignored him completely.
He sighed and sat down again watching Nine battle with a serious expression.
On the stage, Nine blocked another magical attack from Lily and jumped backward before attacking her with water bullets.
The fight continued and Kyle chuckled when he saw Nine getting beaten up here and there but in the end, the latter won after a long and exhausting fight on the stage.
Nine waved his tired hand and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I am in the top ten now!"
He smiled with satisfaction but his smile stiffened when someone from the crowd challenged him the next second.
Nine cleared his throat and looked at the muscular boy who just stepped out from the rows of students.
"How can you challenge one of the top ten so recklessly! Don't you have any sense? Do you want to get beaten up so badly?"
He said with a scoff but then his expression turned heavy as he looked at the youth.
"Sigh! Unlike you, Lily is strong so don't blame me if you break a bone or two...."
The students were silent in the training ground as Professor Liam stared at Nine who was busy threatening his opponent without any care.
After hearing Nine long and threatening speech the muscular boy hesitated but then Professor Liam raised his hand.
"Alright Nine will rest for half an hour afterward Duran will challenge him."
Nine grumbled and glared at the muscular boy while cracking his knuckles. He wanted to intimidate his challenger.
"Tsk, after I recover my mana I will see you! Just you wait!"
He gave the guy a last warning glare and jumped down from the stage. His eyes moved around before fixing on Kyle with a sigh.
'It's been a whole month already but nothing out of the ordinary happened inside the Academy. Does that mean the scene I saw would happen in the tournament?'
He massaged his temples with a frown. Nine had stopped going out for a while now and he had been watching over Kyle's surroundings.
He even followed the latter to the library but was shocked to find out that Kyle was learning about Arrays!
'Ugh... How can you have time to learn about Arrays when our schedule is packed with classes and training sessions!'
'Anyway, even though I was kicked out from the study by Vice Principal George I am sure he would keep an eye on us for a while after my sudden warning.'
He walked and sat beside Kyle who gave him a water bottle.
"They are fighting again!"
Nine clicked his tongue when he saw how Alec changed his opponent to Lara and Carcel was now fighting with Jake.
"Show off!"
Kyle chuckled but then he felt a little dizzy and his smile vanished replaced by a sudden cold chill shooting up his spine. Nine saw Kyle's unfocused eyes and stretched out his hand to touch his forehead.
"Are you alright?"
Kyle jolted and instantly backed away from his hand with a frown.
"I am fine."
"Hmm... Alright. If you say so."
Nine retracted his hand and prepared himself for the next fight with that idiot muscular boy.
On the other hand, Bia shuffled her wings and left Mia's side.
-'Are you alright?'
She flew toward Kyle before sitting on his lap while straightening her messy wings.
'I am fine but my body temperature is dropping too much. In the past two weeks, it's become worse. That's why I didn't let Nine touch me just now. My body is almost freezing he would've freaked out if he touched me.'
Bia hummed and slow waves of heat emitted from her body. The heat gathered around Kyle who smiled.
'When did you learn this? Also, You do know that it won't work on me because of my passive skill 'Fire Resistance'?'
Bia didn't reply and just sat down on his shoulder with a sleepy expression.
....
The next week in the Royal Academy was very hectic, mostly for the Professors who were in charge of supervising the 1vs1 battles between the kids.
In the last week, the atmosphere became a little tense and anxious because even the weakest students wanted to try their luck and they started challenging the top students. Even though the weak students were defeated, fighting so many battles was very taxing on the top students. That's why when three days were left, the Professors announced the end of the two-month battles.
The top 10 students from each year were selected and the Professors wrote down their names.
Meanwhile, George was busy as well because the Principal asked him to bring some Defensive Artifacts with him to the tournament. The location and everything about the Academies tournament was decided by the King himself so he didn't have any idea about it. He wasn't sure what type of stage would be waiting for the kids or him. That's why he picked one old Elder named Elaze and three capable Professors to accompany him.
The tense atmosphere around the Academy was gradually lifted when the Vice Principal appeared and gathered all the students in a large field. His eyes were serious as he started a long speech.
During the speech, he tried his best to console the students who were unable to participate in the tournament.
After the speech finished, one of the Professors handed him a name list.
George nodded and looked at the top students' names, his eyes narrowed a little when he saw Kyle's name but then he just shook his head with a helpless sigh. The Principal has already informed him about Kyle's actual talent two months ago.
He was shocked at first because how was it possible for the Academy Artifact to make a mistake while checking Kyle's talent? Not only that, the Artifact only showed Kyle's talent wrongly while everyone else talent was accurate!
George scoffed and saw Kyle's figure standing in the crowd.
'I need to verify his talent.'
He noted inwardly and raised his hand to quiet the students who were speaking.
"Alright. We will leave for the Academies tournament in three days through a teleportation device to avoid any problems. So all the students who are selected should rest for the next few days."
After George waved his hand, the students left one by one. The ones who were selected left the field with bright faces while the ones who weren't selected left with dejected faces.
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