Apart from that, Harry’s ’mana core’ had finally reached the second stage, aning, he could now showcase more of his elental skills like [Lightning Whip] that were considered ’tier two spells’ by the public.
However, he doubted he would even need to do so, since the number of people capable of standing against him in the competition were only few.
"Hey Harry!" A familiar voice suddenly reverberated in the air, subconsciously causing a slight smile to bloom on Harry’s lips.
"Nathan." Harry replied, turning his head to the black haired boy waving at him from the distance.
This ti, the combat mage was standing with an orange haired student, who Harry instantly recognized as Stanley Bennet.
He t him from the ranking event, as he was also one of the students that qualified for the finals.
From what he knew, he was also a combat mage, and it seed like he and Nathan were quite close.
"It’s good you’re here, let’s just head to the event hall together." Nathan said, with a slight smile.
’Harry? Harry Ainsworth?’ Stanley mumbled inwardly, his gaze lingering on Harry as he walked towards them.
He also knew Harry from the ranking competition, as he was pretty much the "dark horse" of this year’s event.
Not only did he display great strength in all the competitions, but his elental power was also insane. Harry was one of the few in the event that he had his eye on, in fact, he hoped he wouldn’t have to face him at any point.
’But... doesn’t his face seem a bit... familiar?’ Stanley thought, his expression squeezing slightly as he tried rembering where he had t Harry before.
Before long, it clicked in his mind, and his eyes couldn’t help but widen in shock.
The first ti he t Harry was in the training center, he rembered watching a duel between him and another Elentalist called Justin.
Back then, Nathan "forced" him to place a bet on the fight, which he eventually lost.
’But the Harry I t then had a shattered mana core foundation... does that an he only recently awakened his affinities?’ Stanley thought, his brows creasing slightly in confusion.
Thinking about it now, it made sense if Harry only recently awakened his affinities, as it explained why he wasn’t already popular in the academy.
Didn’t that basically an he rose to his current level in only a few months? It was quite ironic, since Harry was still at the first mana core stage, yet with what the power he displayed, it didn’t seem like he would have any problem with even second stage Elentalists.
’Terrifying...’ He thought, a cold chill running down his spine.
"Hey Stan, this is Harry." Nathan said, lightly tapping his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.
"You should know him from the competition, since you both qualified." He continued, talking as if he didn’t also qualify for the final round.
"Yeah... I do." Stanley said, still surprised at how close Nathan seed with Harry.
Harry simply nodded at him, his mind blank on what else he was supposed to do.
With that, the trio continued walked towards the event hall.
The air between Stanley and Harry was quite awkward, however, Nathan acted as so sort of bridge, talking endlessly to them both.
***
A few minutes later...
Cheers and shouts from different students repeatedly echoed around the event hall, as the audience couldn’t contain their excitent for the final stage of the ranking event.
It was sothing they had all waited eagerly for, and now that it was here, they were all overjoyed.
In various sections of the hall, there were five sets of five chairs, each adorned with a golden star on top.
The chairs were arranged in such a way that anyone would have a clear view of it, as long as they were in the event hall.
Just as one might have expected, those chairs were seats for those who would be participating in the final round of the event.
As of now, none of the twenty-five finalists were present in the hall. Unlike the last ti when all of the participants were present among the audience, this ti, they would be called out, group by group.
[Finally, the mont we’ve all been waiting for is here!! The final stage of the ranking competition!]
The comntators voice reverberated around the hall, causing the audience to explode into another round of cheers and shouts.
He then went on to explain the basic rules of the competition, with the audience listening attentively.
*
anwhile,
At the backstage, Harry and four other students could be seen sitting down, with their backs rested on the wall.
Standing beside them were two instructors, with their eyes strictly watching the students.
Most of the students were very nervous, as the thought of the upcoming final weighed heavily on their minds.
The only one who didn’t seem too bothered were Harry, and a tall blonde haired student, who simply kept looked around nonchalantly.
For him, this kind of thing wasn’t exactly new, as sothing similar had been done the previous year.
Harry’s brows furrowed into slight frown, and before he knew it, a heavy sigh left his lips.
’I just want to be done with all of this...’ Harry thought, his eyes drifting towards the door at the end of the room.
Behind that door, was a pair of curtains, which led to the main stage, where the competition would take place.
They had been seated here for a few minutes now, waiting for their group to the called out.
From where he sat, he could clearly hear the loud shouts and cheers of the audience, along with the booming voice of the comntator as he called out the participants of the final stage.
How the final stage of the event would take place had already been explained to the participants a few days prior, the only thing they didn’t know until today was their group and the opponents they would face.
The final stage was divided into two rounds. For the first round, the twenty five finalists were grouped into five, and from each group, only one person could qualify for the ultimate stage.
aning that, only five people were going to qualify for the last round, while the rest would be eliminated from the competition.
It was the final round that wouid determine who would erge as the new rank one student of the academy.
Harry was in group three, and among the other four Elentalists in his group, there was only one student he felt he had to watch out for, and that was the tall blonde haired boy.
He wasn’t just an ordinary student, but the rank seven student of Vane academy.
Harry witnessed his power during the other stages, and while he was sure he could take him on, he didn’t plan on letting down his guard.
His na was David Stein, an early stage three Elentalist with peak grade wind affinity. His talent was nothing to scoff at, which also explained how he was able to climb to the top ten academy ranks.
Just when he was finally starting to lose patience, the comntator’s voice suddenly reverberated through the backstage.
[And now we call on the mbers of the third group in this event!!]
[....]
’At long last...’ Harry mumbled inwardly, a slight smile gracing his face, as he gently stood up from his seat, making a few stretches.
[The first mber of the group, a powerful wind Elentalists and one of the prestigious elite students of the academy! David Stein!!]
Whirr!
The door slowly slid open with a low whirring sound, with the bright lights from the event hall seeping into the backstage.
David slowly stood up, letting out a light yawn. A strange glint flashed across his eyes, as his gaze lingered on Harry for a few seconds, before he finally walked onto the main stage.
Yeaahhh!!
David!!!
The minute his feet stepped outside the back room, the shouts imdiately exploded in intensity, as his fans in the academy cheered endlessly for him.
Just then, Harry rembered sothing, causing him to let out a deep sigh.
’I didn’t even check his stats...’ Harry thought, barely holding back the urge to smack his forehead.
However, he didn’t ponder too much on it, since he could still check it another ti.
[And then, unto the next mber! An unexpected wild card in the event, showing great power and unpredictable strength! Harry Ainsworth!!]
Hearing his na, Harry’s lips curled into a slight smirk and he slowly walked unto the stage.
The hall quickly exploded into another round of shouts and cheers, and most of the female students among the audience started chatting among themselves how handso he looked.
Harry simply ignored those types of dumb remarks though he couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed by so of the things he was hearing. However, brushing the thought off, he simply followed the instructor who guided him to his designated seat.
He slowly took his sit, but he couldn’t help but feel a little weird as he was placed under the spotlight.
Seated beside him was David, who kept replying to all the cheers directed to him with a simple smile.
’I doubt I’ll ever get used to this...’ Harry thought with a wry smile. Having spent his entire life overlooked and discriminated against due to his lack of a mana foundation, being the center of attention filled him with an unfamiliar sensation. However, it didn’t feel bad.
Unexpectedly, he felt a familiar gaze lingering on him, and he slowly turned his head around, his eyes locking with Trent’s, who was seated just across him.
***
This Chapter has finally been fixed, I’m very sorry for the inconvenience. I should have fixed it sooner, but my app is having a bug, so I couldn’t update the Chapter unless I increase the word count.
And about the poor update, that was because of my exams. I was so busy last month, that I didn’t have ti to write any new Chapters. Keep supporting manaless mage, thanks for the support. :)
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