Six days until the tournant.
My weekend excursion to the Blackwood Ridge had been highly productive, but the week ahead promised to be a massive headache.
Monday evening, right after dinner, a sudden magical summons was broadcasted to our Trivia tablets. It wasn’t a general announcent for the freshman class. It was targeted specifically at the top-ranked students—the so-called "Golden Generation."
[Directive: All Class-A and Special Exception students are to gather at the Spire Courtyard imdiately.]
The Spire was the towering architectural heart of the Magic Departnt. It housed the high-tier research labs, the Restricted Vault, and the luxury guest suites usually reserved for visiting dignitaries and Tower Mages.
By the ti I arrived at the grand, white-marble courtyard, it was already dark. The magical streetlamps cast long shadows across the gathering of elite students.
I leaned against a stone pillar, observing the board.
Ren Montclair was there, standing with his arms crossed, looking incredibly determined. Next to him was Emily, the Tower Mistress’s daughter, her icy blue eyes scanning the courtyard with detached indifference. Ariana Flahart was chatting loudly with a few other nobles, and leaning against the opposite wall, glaring daggers in my general direction, was Alicia Raven.
I didn’t have to wait long in silence.
The familiar scent of sweet vanilla and ozone hit a second before a small body practically launched itself at my chest.
"Sir Alex!"
Emma wrapped her arms tightly around my waist, burying her face into my neck. "I missed you all weekend! You wouldn’t even let into your room!"
"I was recovering from training, Emma," I said smoothly, resting a hand on her waist. "I told you I’d see you on Monday."
Before Emma could press the issue of my weekend isolation, heavy footsteps clicked against the marble.
"Alex!"
Maya jogged over, her uniform jacket slung casually over her shoulder. She completely ignored the murderous glare Emma instantly shot at her. Maya stopped right in front of us, a massive, excited grin on her face.
"Are you seeing this?" Maya asked, gesturing up at the massive, glowing Spire. "They actually called us here! Do you know what this ans?"
"Enlighten ," I replied.
"It ans we’re getting full physical and mana-core evaluations using the Spire’s artifact arrays," Maya explained, her blue eyes sparkling. "They asure aptitude, absolute affinity, circuit density... everything! But that’s not even the best part."
She reached into her canvas bag and pulled out a small, rectangular wooden box.
"Having an evaluation at the Spire ans they lock us in for the night to prep our cores. We get to stay in the Spire’s luxury suites! I brought this to celebrate."
She tapped the box. The glowing letters on the side read: [Luminous Puzzle].
"It’s really fun when you turn the lights off," Maya grinned, leaning in close enough that her cleavage was prominently displayed. "You just slide the pieces together in the dark until everything fits perfectly. Want to try it with tonight, Alex?"
The innuendo was entirely deliberate.
The temperature in the courtyard plumted instantly. Frost began to form on the edges of the marble pillar I was leaning against.
Before I could respond, Emma forcefully squeezed herself directly between and Maya, acting like an impenetrable physical barrier. She pushed her back flush against my chest and glared at the delinquent.
"What an absolutely brazen, filthy suggestion," Emma hissed, her angelic facade dropping into pure, aristocratic venom. "And I’m sorry to ruin your little commoner fantasy, but the Spire suites are strictly assigned by gender. You won’t be fitting anything together in the dark."
"Oh, really?" Maya scoffed, refusing to back down. She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up. "A little lock on a door isn’t going to stop from visiting my team leader. Isn’t that right, Alex?"
"You delusional cow, if you step within ten feet of his door, I will—"
"Attention, brats!"
Professor Cassandra’s booming voice echoed across the courtyard, instantly silencing the brewing catfight.
She materialized out of a swirl of localized shadows near the Spire’s grand entrance, taking a long drag from her pipe. She looked over the gathered students, doing a quick headcount.
"Montclair, Raven, Flahart, Emily... Edelhart," Cassandra muttered, her eyes pausing on and the two girls currently trying to murder each other over my personal space. "Good. You’re all here."
The murmurs died down. Everyone stood at attention.
"From tonight until tomorrow morning, you will be using the Spire’s advanced diagnostic facilities," Cassandra announced, a cloud of lavender smoke drifting above her head. "You will sleep in the suites, and tomorrow at dawn, you will undergo a comprehensive absolute evaluation."
A collective groan echoed through the elite students.
"An evaluation?" Alicia complained, crossing her arms. "The Exchange Tournant is next week. We should be doing combat drills, not taking written exams."
"It’s not a written exam, Raven," Cassandra snapped. "And it is exactly because of the Tournant that we are doing this."
Cassandra stepped down from the entrance, her expression turning dead serious.
"The rules of the Inter-Departnt Exchange have been modified this year," she explained, her voice carrying easily in the night air. "In the past, the tournant was a chaotic, bracketed free-for-all. Every student fought. It was a logistical nightmare, and frankly, a prolonged embarrassnt for this departnt."
She paused, making sure everyone was listening.
"This year, there is no free-for-all for the main event. Both the Magic Departnt and the Knight Departnt will select exactly one First-Year Representative. A single Champion."
The courtyard erupted into frantic whispers.
"One representative?" Ren muttered, exchanging a shocked look with Lena, who was standing at the edge of the courtyard.
"That’s right," Cassandra nodded. "Tomorrow’s evaluation will determine who that Representative is. The student chosen will fight the final, highly publicized duel against the Knight’s Champion. The winner secures a massive influx of budget for their departnt."
Maya’s eyes widened. She looked back at . "Wait, what about the rest of us?"
"The rest of you will participate in the preliminary skirmishes to earn your passing grades," Cassandra answered dismissively. "But the Representative gets the glory. And more importantly, the Representative gets the ultimate benefits. Full access to the Restricted Vault, a personalized recomndation letter for the Imperial Court, and absolute immunity from academic expulsion for the rest of the year."
At the ntion of the Restricted Vault and Imperial recomndations, the atmosphere shifted. The fear of facing a Knight vanished, replaced by the intense, greedy ambition of high nobility. Alicia’s crimson eyes practically glowed with determination. Ren’s fists clenched.
"Professor," Alicia spoke up, her voice ringing with confidence. "If tomorrow’s evaluation determines our Champion... what tric are we being judged against?"
"I was just getting to that. Pay attention."
Cassandra flicked her fingers. A wide, glowing screen of concentrated mana unfolded in the air above us, acting like a massive magical projector.
"The Knight Departnt is arrogant," Cassandra sneered, though there was a heavy trace of genuine concern in her eyes. "They have already publicly announced their First-Year Representative for the main event. They are trying to intimidate us before the evaluations even begin."
The mana screen flickered, forming a high-resolution image of a male student.
He had short, spiky black hair, dead, shark-like black eyes, and a lean, incredibly athletic build. He wasn’t wearing heavy plate armor; he wore a streamlined, lightweight leather combat suit designed entirely for aerodynamics.
The mont his face appeared, a loud, terrified buzz swept through the students.
"Is that... Ivan Baker?" "No way. They’re letting a monster like him represent the first-years?" "We’re dead. The Magic Departnt is completely screwed."
Even Alicia took a half-step back, her confident facade cracking slightly.
I studied the projection. I didn’t recognize the face, but the reaction of the crowd told everything I needed to know. This wasn’t a standard, heavy-hitting brute like the one I had swatted in the courtyard.
Emma, who was still pressing her back against my chest, looked up at the screen. Her golden eyes narrowed in distaste.
"You know him, Emma?" I asked softly, resting my chin near her ear.
"Yes, Sir Alex," she nodded, her voice dropping so only I could hear. "He’s an infamous commoner prodigy. He’s been ntioned several tis in the Royal Knight Order’s scouting reports for his unique innate trait. They call him ’The Flash’ or ’The Supernova’."
"Explain his trait. Briefly."
"He doesn’t use standard heavy Aura to boost his strength," Emma whispered, her tone turning entirely analytical. "He uses it to entirely eliminate air resistance and muscle friction. His acceleration is instantaneous. He can cross a twenty-ter arena before a standard mage can even form a single syllable of a spell."
I stared at the shark-eyed boy on the glowing mana screen.
A speed-type Knight. The absolute worst possible matchup for a stationary, chanting Mage. It was a guaranteed execution. No wonder the Knight Departnt had announced him early; they were ensuring the Magic Departnt’s morale was completely broken before the tournant even started.
If I hadn’t gone to the Blackwood Ridge this weekend, I would have been just as terrified as the rest of them.
But I had.
’Instantaneous acceleration, huh?’ I thought, a slow, cold, highly anticipated smile spreading across my lips as the new trait humd warmly in my chest.
’Let’s see how fast you can run when every ounce of kinetic energy you generate is absorbed and blasted right back into your skull.’
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