Chapter 21: The Grade Competition

“One... one thousand gold coins!” Roland’s eyes shone. “Brother Gebaz, does the grade tournament really have a prize of one thousand gold coins? How can I enter?”

Gebaz shook his head with a sigh. “Ah, you’re not planning to participate anyway, so why ask?”

Karina gave Gebaz a little push, scolding, “Stop teasing Roland already!”

Gebaz burst out laughing and said to Mahler and Bill, “See? Didn’t I tell you our fourth brother is quick to jump at the sight of money? If I told him about this, he’d definitely want to join!”

“All right, fourth,” Bill, the third brother, explained, “actually, it’s quite simple to sign up for the tournament. You just need to register with your subject teacher. When the time comes, someone will notify you about the matches.”

“Register with my subject teacher?” Roland hesitated. He was currently studying three branches: fire, lightning, and darkness. Which teacher was he supposed to sign up with?

Mahler, the eldest, narrowed his beady eyes and grinned. “Fourth, you can sign up with any of your teachers in those three branches and you’ll still be able to compete. However, if you do well, the teacher you signed up with will receive some rewards from the academy! Heh, if you ask me, you should just sign up with Miss Monroe, your fire branch teacher.”

Roland nodded. Among his three teachers, he got along best with Miss Monroe of the fire branch. His former dark branch teacher, Mr. Harvey, had held him in high regard, but since Roland refused to serve as class monitor and rarely attended his classes, their relationship had grown distant. As for Mr. Sophit, the lightning branch teacher, Roland had barely spoken to him. So, he decided to register with Miss Monroe from the fire branch.

“I’m telling you, fourth, there are no restrictions in this tournament. You can use magic from any branch you’ve learned. So if you run into that brat Treshey, you’d better teach him a lesson!” Mahler said heatedly.

“That’s right, fourth. He’s always bothering Karina in the water branch class. If I hadn’t been in that class too, who knows what he might have tried!” Gebaz added. “But he hasn’t been to class these past couple of days. No idea why!”

“I’m afraid Roland won’t meet him in the tournament,” Karina suddenly interjected.

Mahler looked puzzled. “Why’s that, Karina?”

“Treshey has already advanced to the second year.” Karina’s eyes flickered as she glanced at Roland.

“Second year? So he’s already become a level two mage?” Bill was stunned.

“To reach level two from level one in less than a year, that’s just...” Mahler shook his head in disbelief.

“Bill, that’s on par with your sister Victoria’s record, isn’t it?” Gebaz asked.

Bill nodded. Indeed, for Treshey to advance from level one to level two in less than a year was as fast as his own sister had managed.

Did this mean the academy had produced another prodigy to rival Thomas and Kerson? The group exchanged glances, and as if by tacit agreement, all eyes landed on Roland.

In truth, Treshey had rushed to test for level two as soon as he broke through, mainly to set a new academy record. Although the upcoming tournament was a matter of pride for his year, advancing to second year immediately would earn him a place in the academy’s records, and of course, considerable face in front of Karina.

Roland, who was wolfing down his meal, felt uneasy under their stares. He swallowed with difficulty and asked, “What’s with you guys? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Plump Mahler blinked his beady eyes and gave Roland a speculative look. “Fourth, you seem pretty calm. Don’t tell me you’ve also...”

As soon as he asked, all four fixed their gaze on Roland.

“All right, I’ll admit it. I also managed to become a level two mage a few days ago,” Roland confessed under their intense scrutiny.

“Yeah!” Mahler and the others cheered, drawing curious looks from other students in the dining hall.

Mahler gave Roland a hard punch. “Really, fourth? You upgraded to level two and didn’t even tell us so we could celebrate? Hmph, were you just trying to avoid treating us to a meal?”

Roland could only laugh. Ever since he’d become a level two mage, he hadn’t attended his old classes at all. The spells taught to first-years were no longer of much use to him. With the semester nearly over, he planned to get tested and move up to second year when the new term began. In the meantime, he focused on consolidating his level one magic and devoting more time to second-level necromancy.

He hadn’t expected Treshey to become a level two mage during this time as well. Although Roland had learned an extra branch of magic, he hardly needed to study fire magic at all—the white stone had done most of the work for him. All he needed to do was remember the casting methods. From this perspective, Treshey truly was a genius.

After their meal, Roland didn’t go to the rear mountain to train as usual, but instead headed to the dormitory with the others.

As they neared Dorm 2015, they saw a figure in red lingering by the door. When they got closer, they all exclaimed in unison, “Miss Monroe!”

Monroe was wearing a form-fitting red dress that accentuated her stunning, voluptuous figure. When she saw them, and especially Roland, her eyes lit up, and she walked over quickly. “Roland, why haven’t you been coming to my classes lately?”

“Teacher, I...” Roland was about to explain, but Monroe smiled, the corners of her mouth curving up. “No need to explain. You barely attended my classes for half the year, and I didn’t hold it against you. Missing a few more days is nothing.”

Her smile was as warm as a spring breeze, leaving Mahler and the others momentarily dazed.

She continued, “Treshey has advanced to second year, so the position of class monitor is now vacant. I’d like you to take up the post. I trust you have no objections?”

“Teacher...” Roland began, but Monroe spoke again. “Roland, I’ve also signed you up for the upcoming grade tournament and given you our class’s ‘seed slot.’ I assume you’re fine with that too?”

Monroe’s string of announcements left Roland momentarily stunned. When she finally paused, he hurriedly asked, “Teacher, what exactly is a seed slot?”

Before Monroe could answer, Mahler, eager to make an impression, cut in, “Fourth, the grade tournament is a competition between seven classes. Each class selects a seed, so there are seven seeds in total. These seven don’t need to compete in the initial round.”

“The rest of the students compete in elimination matches, and the top nine join the seven seeds to make sixteen. Those sixteen then face off head-to-head in knockout rounds until a champion is crowned. So being chosen as a seed is a big advantage.” Mahler finished his detailed explanation and looked at Monroe, who nodded approvingly, making him beam with pride.

Monroe approached Roland, her fair hand gently patting his shoulder in encouragement. “Roland, prepare well. I have high hopes for you. If you do well, I’ll receive quite a reward from the academy.”

Her frankness drew knowing smiles from the group.

“All right, I’ll leave you boys to it. I have matters to attend to,” Monroe said.

“Teacher, you’ve come all the way to our dorm. Won’t you come in for a bit?” Gebaz and Bill said eagerly.

Monroe waved them off. “Thank you for the invitation, boys, but I truly have things to do. Next time, I’ll visit when I have the chance.”

They watched her shapely figure sway away, and immediately began whispering among themselves.

Time flew, and the day of the grade tournament soon arrived. First came the ‘preliminaries’—an open challenge among all students except the seven seeds.

After ten days of fierce competition among more than five hundred participants, nine emerged victorious. To their delight, Gebaz from Dorm 2015 was among them, so their dorm had two of the final sixteen. They celebrated their success with gusto.

The next morning, all first-year students gathered early at the tournament grounds. The eight arenas from the preliminaries still stood, and today the champion would be decided there.

Roland and his three friends joined the fire branch team, arriving early. As they chatted and laughed with classmates, a mocking voice called out behind them, “Roland, I wonder what you did to bribe Miss Monroe into giving you the seed slot. Hmph, doesn’t matter. When you lose to a non-seed competitor and get knocked out, let’s see how you show your face then!”

They turned, frowning, to see a burly student from the fire branch grinning derisively at Roland. They all recognized him—Warren, Treshey’s roommate. When the 1991 dorm had challenged the 2015 dorm, he’d been especially loud.

He too was from the fire branch. With Treshey moving up to second year, Warren had assumed he’d become class monitor and get the seed slot. Instead, Monroe gave both to Roland, who hadn’t attended a fire class in over half a year. Warren was deeply dissatisfied, and after losing in the preliminaries, he hadn’t made the final sixteen. Seeing Roland now only fueled his resentment.

Before Roland could respond, Mahler suddenly grinned mischievously and called out loudly, “Warren, do you dare to make a bet with me?”