Chapter 31: Victoria's Decision

“Rollin, don’t think that just because you won the grade championship you’re something special. In my eyes, this championship is worth nothing!” Tracy spat out venomously. For some reason, every time he saw Rollin and Karina together so intimately, anger surged uncontrollably within him.

“First, I never said there was anything special about being the grade champion. Second, how you view this championship has nothing to do with me. Boss, let’s go.” Rollin found this unreasonable fellow rather disagreeable and had no desire to entangle with him further.

Muller and the others ignored Tracy as well, following Rollin to head back to their dormitory.

“Karina, ever since I moved up to second year, it’s been so long since we last met. Tomorrow’s the start of the holidays—how about we have dinner together tonight?” As Karina silently walked past, Tracy stopped her.

“Sorry, I already have plans with Brother Rollin and the others,” Karina replied, turning him down.

The words “Brother Rollin” instantly reignited Tracy’s fury. Ever since he first arrived at the academy a year ago, he’d been smitten by Karina’s quiet sweetness. Later, since they both attended the Water class, he thought he finally had the perfect opportunity and had never ceased his pursuit of her. Yet Karina always found reasons to refuse, always mentioning “Brother Rollin,” which made Tracy detest that name to his core.

“Hmph! Rollin, I challenge you! The winner gets Karina; the loser has to stay away from her!” Tracy, unable to contain his rage, shouted loudly.

“Sorry, not interested,” Rollin replied indifferently without even turning his head.

Seeing Rollin’s retreating figure, Tracy’s face flushed with anger. He swiftly chanted a spell, and three blue water arrows shot straight towards Rollin’s back with tremendous force and speed—far surpassing even Trevila from the Water class, who fought Rollin in the championship.

“Brother Rollin, watch out!” Karina, who had fallen behind, hadn’t expected Tracy to attack suddenly and quickly called out a warning.

Rollin had already been prepared—a white, bone-like shield appeared behind him.

But unexpectedly, there was no sound of impact between the water arrows and the bone shield. Turning around, Rollin and the others were astonished to find that the three water arrows had completely vanished, leaving only three small piles of shattered ice crystals on the ground before them.

“Attacking someone from behind isn’t the act of a true man!” came a cold, clear voice.

“Sister!” Bill called out joyfully. Standing not far away was a stunningly beautiful woman with golden hair and dressed in purple—Bill’s sister, Victoria.

Victoria smiled indulgently at Bill, then turned her cold gaze on Tracy. “Did you forget what I told you last time at the entrance of Dorm 2015?”

Seeing the icy beauty, Tracy shivered involuntarily. The memory of being frozen into an ice sculpture outside Rollin’s dorm was still vivid. His earlier impulsiveness evaporated as he gradually regained his composure.

“Hmph! Rollin, you got lucky in the first-year championship because I wasn’t there. Wait for me in second year—I’ll knock your teeth out in the next championship!” After leaving this threat, Tracy glanced fearfully at Victoria and quickly walked away.

“Sister, why didn’t you teach him a lesson?” Bill shook his fist at Tracy’s back.

Victoria affectionately ruffled Bill’s hair. “Brother, I’ll leave him to you. One day, when you’re strong enough, defeat him fair and square!”

Bill pouted. “But Sister, that guy’s improving so fast. I think only Rollin can match him here!”

“Miss Victoria, it’s been a while! Since our fourth has won the grade championship, we’re heading back to the dorm to celebrate—why don’t you join us?” At this moment, Muller and the others came over.

Victoria looked at Rollin in surprise. “I just saw Tracy, and he seemed to have reached the rank of Second-Level Mage. If you could stand against him, does that mean you’ve also reached the second level?”

“Sister, he’s not only a Second-Level Mage—our fourth also knows necromancy. And in the championship finals, he faced off against Simone, who also reached the second level!” Bill explained.

A glimmer of intrigue flashed in Victoria’s eyes. “It seems your class has quite a few talents. Work hard and aim to break the record set by Thomas and Carson!”

Everyone fell silent at those words. After all, Thomas and Carson were the only two prodigies in over a thousand years of Porter Academy’s history to graduate as Seventh-Level Mages before the age of thirty. Only a genius like Victoria would mention breaking their record so lightly.

Noticing the strange expressions on everyone’s faces, Victoria couldn’t help but smile. “I only came to speak with my brother, so I won’t join you at the dorm.”

Muller, Gebaz, and the others shook their heads in disappointment.

“Brother, the academy breaks for the holiday tomorrow. I wanted to let you know—I won’t be coming home for the Martial God Festival this year. Tell Father and Mother that I’ll be staying at the academy to train, preparing for the trial in the Maya Mountains six months from now.”

The Martial God Festival commemorated Aragon, the Martial God who unified the continent. It was the most important festival on the Aragon Continent. On this day, people from all walks of life would set aside their work and return home to celebrate.

Bill grew anxious. “Sister, the Maya Mountains are the most dangerous place on the continent—it’s too risky. Maybe you should…”

Victoria cut him off. “Bill, I’ve thought this through. Training in the academy alone won’t allow for rapid breakthroughs. That’s why I’m determined to train in the Maya Mountains this time. Don’t try to persuade me.”

Bill could only smile wryly. He knew his sister was strong-willed—once she decided on something, it was nearly impossible for anyone to change her mind. His only hope was to tell their parents, hoping they might persuade her.

The mention of the Maya Mountains piqued Rollin’s interest. “Miss Victoria, there must be many powerful beasts in the Maya Mountains. What level of mage would it take to enter safely?”

Victoria smiled. “Safely? Even a Ninth-Level Magus, or a Sanctuary Magus, couldn’t claim to be safe there!”

Rollin was astonished. “Then you…”

“It’s all relative. The Maya Mountains are vast, and magical beasts are strictly territorial. High-level beasts tend to stay in the inner regions. I’ll only be training in the outer areas, where mostly low-level beasts reside, so it’s not as dangerous as you imagine.”

Rollin then asked her many questions about the Maya Mountains, as he knew that once he reached the third level, he would need to go there to unlock the ancient ruins. It was best to be prepared in advance.

After chatting for a while longer, Victoria took her leave.

Back in their dorm, Rollin and his friends indulged in eating and drinking. Muller distributed the 4,000 gold coins he had won. He initially wanted to give Rollin 2,000 coins and split the remaining 2,000 among the four of them, but Rollin refused.

Having already received a 1,000 gold coin prize for winning the championship, Rollin insisted on not taking any share of Muller’s winnings. In the end, Muller had to split the 4,000 gold coins equally—Muller, Gebaz, Bill, and Karina each got 1,000 coins.

“By the way, Fourth, you’ll probably want to buy gifts for your families before heading home. I suggest you go to the Imperial Capital, Hertz City. They have everything you can imagine—if you can think of it, you can buy it!”

“That’s right, Brother Rollin! We’ve all been to the capital a few times, but you’ve always been too busy training. Tomorrow, you should come with us and have a look,” Karina chimed in eagerly, her eyes shining—shopping always held the greatest appeal for girls.

Gebaz and Bill agreed, and Rollin had no objections.

As they ate and drank happily, there was suddenly a knock at the door.

“I’ll check—it’s probably some glutton from the neighboring dorms,” Rollin said, putting down his knife and fork and getting up to open the door.

But when he opened it, he was taken aback. “Professor Harvey, what brings you here?”