303 Chapter 303: Challenge
No matter how depressing the situation is Mage Feather still has to do her job if she wants to keep her affiliation with the Academy
The number of Senior Mages in the outer walls might not be comparable to the number of Junior Mages but there were still quite a number of them as long as one is looking for those that are at the low cycle
There are many mages that want to be affiliated and become an instructor at a second-rate academy for the salary and benefits that they would receive in exchange for doing their job
Even if Mage Feather resigned there will be a lot of people that will gladly accept her position
“Now, before you open your reward boxes, I will tell you something first” she said, gathering the attention of the fifty students
“The City of Hope has always been promoting competition amongst the mages in hopes that that would push them to strive to become stronger. As an Academy for Battle Mages, Tryst Academy naturally also promoted friendly competition and rivalry” she continued before waving her wand around and the student tokens of the students suddenly lit up and projected a screen that shows a list
“To become stronger, resources are necessary. You can gain resources by proving yourselves. Each of you already has one reward box but if you want more then compete for it!”
“That list shows the name, cultivation rank, and cultivation path of each and every one of you. A Spirit Mage at the 4th cycle can issue a challenge to another Spirit Mage or a Body Mage at or above the 4th cycle. A 3rd cycle Deviant Mage can only issue a challenge against a fellow Deviant Mage at the 3rd cycle or above. You can only issue a challenge to mages at or above your level. Whoever won the challenge would receive the reward box of the loser”
“Of course, the challenged has the right to decline but let me tell you this. Just because you are admitted to Tryst Academy does not mean that you can relax. If your performance is found to be lacking, you will be kicked out of the academy. You have to push yourself to improve and in your life, there would be many instances where you have the choice to take a risk in exchange for great rewards or keep it safe and risk stagnating. The choice is yours!”
With the sudden competition that was announced the primary target is naturally Rezen. He was a product of nepotism and no one has seen his full power before, and they assumed that he was weak
No doubt that most of the ones that could challenge him would challenge him. As a second-rate Academy, while the number of Spirit and Body Mages outnumbered Deviant Mages there are still quite a number of them
At the very least there would be five people that has the qualification to challenge Rezen
“Just click the name of the student that you wish to challenge and it will be recorded. Does anyone have a question?” Mage Feather asked and surprisingly there was someone that the students didn’t expect that raises his hand
“Instructor, are there any rules that we have to follow? For example, we cannot heavily injure our opponent?” Rezen asked and the students snickered at him. They thought that he was afraid of being hurt
“As long as you don’t cripple or kill your opponent everything is fine” the Instructor answered and Rezen grinned
“Is that so? Good then” he said with a bright smile
While Rezen is willing to accept infamy as long as the advantages outnumber the disadvantages, it was still better if he don’t have such a bad reputation
He now has a way to clean his name to some extent
While overflowing with confidence, Rezen clicked the names of everyone that he can challenge without hesitation much to the surprise of his classmates
Even Mage Feather was surprised and worried. Inside the academy, Rezen cannot do and have everything. He might be given undisguised favor but a competition like this is still something that the academy will take seriously as this is a way to help the students grow
ƥαṇdαηθνε|
However, if she were to dissuade Rezen then her reputation will further worsen and he can only pray that Rezen would at least be able to keep his reward box
The students clicked the names of the people that they want to challenge. Of course, there are also those that didn’t join and they didn’t issue a challenge to anyone while declining the challenge sent to them
“Belazark, watch and learn. If you don’t want to worry about anyone killing you, you must have the power that will prevent them from doing so” Rezen said to the little snake hiding in his shadow
Even if Mage Feather can sense Belazark it was not uncommon for mages to have a familiar
——-
The challenges will happen exactly in the place where the students are gathered. Mage Feather sent multiple white feathers and these feathers landed on the ground and erected an invisible barrier with numbers on top
This gives the students the space they need to fight while also making sure that no stray magic will affect the battles of other people
Considering that Mage Feather is at the Senior Rank then even if the students use everything they have, they still wouldn’t be able to break the invisible barrier that she erected
On the screen projected by Rezen’s student token, there was a number that appeared. It means that he is to enter the barrier with that number for his challenge
With a smirk, Rezen went to the barrier with the number ‘5’ on top and there he faces a female mage
This female mage has short red hair and she was wearing a tube that covered her chest area and a pair of navy pants
She gave off a wild and aggressive aura and she wielded both a wand and a sword
Spirit Mages commonly use magic wands as their weapons while Body Mages often use cold weapons like swords or spears
As for Deviant Mages, they can choose either and some even chose both since a magic wand and a magic sword would help in the diversity of their attacks
The more costly wands or swords have built-in spells that could be activated at will. As such, there is a huge advantage to using both a magic wand and a magic sword
“It was you, right? You’re the little bastard that the Instructor helped to cheat. To think that you will issue a challenge to me, it seems like you are too naive and sheltered” the woman said with a wild grin and Rezen just shook his head
“We will see whether I am naive or just confident” Rezen replied while holding his magic wand in front of him
“Hahahaha! I like your guts! Come! I will let you do the first move to show you the difference between our power!” She said with a loud fit of laughter and Rezen’s smirk grew bigger
“Then you have my thanks!” Rezen said before he seemingly vanished from his previous location
The woman’s eyes trembled at Rezen’s great speed and she hurriedly slashed her sword behind her
Clank!
Rezen’s magic wand and his opponent’s magic sword clashed, sending sparks everywhere
“Heh… it seems like you possessed some manliness inside of you!” The woman said and she was forced to reevaluate Rezen
Just like the others, she thought that Rezen is just fortunate enough to have the academy be biased toward him. Even his current cultivation might only be because of the resources he consumed. But it seems like that was not the case at all. At the very least, she judges that this guy has some skills
“No one in their right mind would choose to be a Deviant Mage if they are not confident to succeed” Rezen replied before he raised his right foot to throw a kick but he was blocked by the woman’s magic wand
It was not easy wielding two weapons at a time but it has its own advantages
“Well, I take it as you have guts” she replied. Rezen’s skills were unexpected to her but she is still confident
However, Rezen did something that causes her expression to fall
This man actually opened his mouth to release a stream of solar energy. Without a choice, the woman moved back to put some distance between her and Rezen but the latter was relentless with his attacks
He condensed five fireballs and have them attack his opponent and in return, the woman erected five layers of earthen walls. One earth wall for each fireball