Chương 130: First-Years

Viren had a hard time believing his mentor. Not only had he gone on to challenge one of the Guardians of Rhel, an Empyrean-ranked mage who was nearly unmatched in the entire Realm, he was carrying out that challenge on his own terms. Basically, theirs was a contest of proxies. The winner of their little feud would be decided by how far their chosen participant went in the tournament. Fighting directly was, apparently for them, uncouth.

So, Viren was under the impression that Ryland would ensure his chosen student was as enhanced and empowered as Ryland could make it seem. After all, he wanted to win, didn't he? There was absolutely no doubt that the Guardian would go to great lengths to ensure his protégé would be victorious, by whatever means necessary. Powerful Inscriptions, enhancing spells that went off during combat itself, perhaps even Relics secreted away upon the student's person. Nothing was necessarily off the table.

Unless the student was Ryland's. For he had decided that such lengths weren't needed. According to him, he had already taught his students exactly what was needed to win. It was now up to Viren to secure that victory. On the one hand, Viren had no room for argument. Morally, Ryland was right. Using all those additional factors that were out of Viren's direct control would make his efforts ring hollow.

What was more, if Viren could win without whatever advantages his opponent would have, then his triumph would be all the sweeter. But at the same time, the disadvantages might just be insurmountable. He still had no idea who his opponent in the tournament was supposed to be, nor what power they'd possess.

"Stop tearing your hair out," Acrypha said.

"You'll be fine."

"I'm not tearing my hair out at all!" Viren said.

"Not literally. But you certainly look like you desperately want to." Viren groaned. She was right though. There was no point mentally flagellating himself about it. He just needed to focus on every encounter as it arose. As the time came for the first bout of the first-years, Acrypha clapped Viren on the back as he left. He almost stumbled.

"Don't worry. It's just another first-year. You can take him." Viren's mind was populated with unhelpful questions. What if his current opponent was the exact person the Guardian had chosen to favour? What if he lost his very first match? What if he only brought even more humiliation upon Arcoryx Academy? What if he died? Focus. He had to focus. At least the rising intensity of his bout made him momentarily forget about his troubles. The pennants were flying. The banners were fluttering.

Everyone was in a mood ready to excitedly watch the battle about to unfold. Viren honestly appreciated that. The Rhellian Institute had been dominating, yet that hadn't reduced the enthusiasm from the other academies, especially not from the Arcoryx camp. They cheered him on, his name bounding out of their mouths like the call for a hero. If for nothing else and no one else, Viren needed to step up. The announcer named him, then moved on to his opponent. Deplorably, Viren couldn't recall the boy's name.

Blood was rushing past his ears and his heart was thumping like a live animal trapped in his ribcage. Why in all the Realms did he feel even more stressed out than he had when he had been present in front of a Calamity?

"…can you hear me?" the Rhellian student was asking. His smirk was visible through the open visor of his helm.

"If you're that scared, you can just give up, you know. No one's going to think less of you. You guys are already as low as you can get." A vein pulsed on Viren's forehead.

"I don't need to hear you to beat your dumb magic out of you."

"Big words for a little guy." Stupid Rhellian wasn't more than half a head taller than Viren, which was tremendously annoying. But getting riled up wasn't going to help. The angrier he got, the more he'd lose control, and to win here, Viren needed absolute control over his magic.

"How about I put you out of your misery?" the Rhellian said." [Shatter Beam]." The spell came out fast. For a second, the moment seemed compressed in time. Sounds stretched and distorted, the air had turned to heavy weights on Viren's shoulders, and every stimulus felt as though it was frying his very nerve endings. And Viren still managed to cast his magic. The one he had been preparing all throughout his last semester. The one Ryland had helped him achieve through the semester-long project.

Simple Glyphs of Ignition. At Tier [7].

They appeared to his right, just in time to push him away with rocketing bursts. With great ease, Viren dodged the crackling beams from his opponent.

"What the—" The Rhellian bit down on a curse as the crowd, especially the Arcoryx Academy students, oohed at the exchange.

"Those Glyphs… you're just a first-year. How'd you manage something like that?" The pounding pressure that had been affecting Viren all this while now gave way to slowly building euphoria. He could do this. He could make it work.

"I worked my butt off so I could wipe the smirk off of jackasses like you, you dolt. [Overburn]!" Since it was Viren's turn to attack, he left nothing off the table. There was no room to hold back. A flood of fire swamped his opponent in moments, though a barrier flashed into being to stop the fire from actually hurting the Rhellian. He then proceeded to counterattack, more beams shooting through the flames. Viren was already dodging with Glyphs of Ignition, however.

Then he was sending in more spells against his opponent. The battle was turning into a dance of burning flames and sweeping beams, chants and cheers accompanying the booms and bursts of their spells. Viren could only keep up with his opponent thanks to his Glyph of Ignition. Every time he dodged, he sent another silent thanks in Ryland's direction, though he didn't dare take his eyes off his opponent. Mostly because he realized he was technically still inferior.

While the Glyph of Ignition had surprised Viren's opponent with its relatively high-Tier, in truth, the Rhellian's average spell power was far higher than Viren's. Plus, he was more experienced at this too. Despite his training from the Excursion Club, Viren was outmanoeuvred multiple times as they dashed across the arena. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You're a pest," the Rhellian said." [Shatter Rain]!" Instead of beams charging through the air across the arena, now they plummeted down from high above. Viren had his barrier spell active, but the way they cracked over and over was proof that his overall magic couldn't stand tall against everything the Rhellian could dish out. But he wasn't here to match his opponent's firepower. He was here to win. Crackling beams emerged from the Rhellian's hands, each one held like a sword.

He advanced, his speed easily eclipsing whatever Viren might have put out. What kind of training did these monstrous students go through? Viren shrugged off the first frightened impulse he received, then charged in as well. The Rhellian's eyes widened momentarily, but his expression returned to one of confidence when Viren just cast [Overburn] as he had been doing for a while now. Another flood of flames blanketed the Rhellian for a moment, though he was once again protected by his infallible barrier.

But that was fine. Viren's goal hadn't been to hurt the fellow. Rather, he had successfully obscured the student's view. Now, he charged right through his own flames to smack into his opponent's barrier. That stopped the Rhellian short, and his surprise meant his reactive slash with his crackling beam-blades only broke Viren's barrier but didn't really hurt him. But Viren got his spell off." [Fuel Soul]!"

Immediately, Viren's flames ate through the Rhellian's barricade spell, his body quickly overtaken by the roiling fire. He didn't scream. Instead, he threw himself back and immediately rolled across the ground, quickly trying to snuff out the flames while not panicking overmuch. There was that incredible training again. But Viren was ready to take advantage. Glyphs of Ignition fired at his back to send him shooting towards his opponent just as he got to his feet with his armoured robes scorched.

But before the Rhellian could utter out another spell, Viren crashed into him. With a Glyph of Ignition powered punch. The Rhellian student went down. Viren was basically on top of him, ready to release more fire. His opponent didn't move, eyes wide in surprised defeat.

"A-and the winner of the bout is Viren Alderman!" the announcer shouted, disbelief echoing in every syllable he uttered.

"From Arcoryx Academy!" Thunderous cheers followed that announcement. The Arcoryx contingent was barely restraining themselves from swarming the field and burying Viren in their euphoria. Viren himself was simply too stunned, especially now that the adrenaline of the battle was wearing away. He had done it. He had won. The very first person to do so from Arcoryx Academy. Viren found his head turning to Ryland, who was surprisingly not looking at Viren.

Instead, he was busy staring daggers at the Guardian who had challenged him. With everyone else too busy being enraptured by Viren's surprise victory, almost no one else noticed that little exchange between the two strongest mages present in the area. But Viren could tell that, though his victory felt sweet in the moment, he had just complicated things for both himself and Ryland. Ryland slowly smiled at the Guardian. Nesmel couldn't decide where to look.

He was constantly turning back to face the arena, then back to Ryland, then the arena again, and so on. It was almost satisfying to see the look on his face go through so many changes in such a short time.

"It seems congratulations are in order, sub-Academ Ryland," Guardian Nesmel said.

"Are they?" Ryland asked.

"I don't think so." Nesmel raised a silvery-golden eyebrow.

"No?"

"Not at all. Your attempts to lull me into a false sense of security are quite dull, Guardian Nesmel. I will accept your congratulations, however, only once this tournament has ended. For we both know that wasn't at all the student you favoured." Guardian Nesmel considered Ryland for a while. Then he smiled again, though not at all affably this time.

"How shrewd of you. That explains why you appear to have done nothing… overt to assist your little protégé. Though, what did you teach him to help him win so handily?"

"Nothing at all. Nothing but the magic that he'd have learned on his own eventually."

"Hmm, I see…" He clearly didn't quite believe Ryland, but then, Ryland wasn't exactly obligated to convince the Guardian of anything.

"I'm glad you're having fun," Yulkaviel said as Ryland took his seat to observe the next few matches.

"In your own way, that is."

"We all must find our own enjoyment from wherever possible," Ryland said.

"Indeed." They proceeded to spectate the rest of the bouts for the day, all of which involved the first-years. All of which Arcoryx Academy continued to win. Against everyone. Nephrix and Nephrax defeated students from Jure and Eviliyen. Bulgon knocked out another Rhellian student despite sustaining some injuries himself. And then it was Acrypha's turn. If all the others had been hard-fought, more or less even contests where Arcoryx's victories had been surprising, there was no such doubt when it came to Acrypha.

She practically destroyed her opponent in less than two minutes.

"The winner of the bout," the announcer said, unable to keep the shock he shared with practically the rest of the arena.

"Is Acrypha Lowen from Arcoryx Academy!" Despite several victories in a row, Arcoryx Academy remained raucous. They cheered now for Acrypha no less intensely than they had done for Viren himself, which meant the air itself pounded with the intensity of their excitement. It wasn't long before the announcer revealed the end of the day's bouts. When Ryland returned to the rest of the academy, the others at his back were significantly less cheery than the previous day.

Not a single Arcoryx student had been defeated today, and the lone victory Rhel had managed had come due to a bout against one of the Jure students. In other words, much like a reverse of yesterday, it was the Rhellian Institute who had been soundly humbled.

"Sir!" Viren said excitedly when Ryland arrived. They were all apparently going out for a celebratory treat.

"You're obviously invited too. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't even be going on this trip."

"That's right," Bulgon said, nodding his rocky, forgean head effusively.

"That Glyph of Indomitability you taught me really helped today. I wouldn't have won without it!" Several other first-years all chimed in how Intuitive Magic had been the class that had made the most difference today. So, it was all thanks to Ryland that they had secured a victory.

"I wouldn't go that far," Ryland said.

"I simply provided the right guidance. Without your own efforts, you wouldn't have come this far. Be proud of yourselves, and what you've accomplished so far. But always keep working, and never get ahead of yourselves. You still have a long way to go." They accepted his words like they were uttered by the Great Gods themselves. Ryland declined the invitation, choosing instead to take some time to himself before tomorrow. He thought about checking out the Crypts too, but that could wait.

Better to pay attention to this little challenge he had been given by the Rhellian Guardian. The next few days unfortunately returned to the same routine. The second, third, and fourth-year academy students were more or less overcome by their Rhellian counterparts, quickly conceding defeat. All three academies of Arcoryx, Jure, and Eviliyen were soundly beaten, Rhel standing on top in each round, winning handily.

For the second- and fourth-years, two Rhellian students claimed the victory in the tournament, both of them fighting against fellow Rhellians at the end of the brackets. The third-years had a surprise victory from a Jure student who managed to pull it off despite the odds stacked against her. Then, a few more days later, the first-years were back at it. While a few Arcoryx students ended up losing, Viren, Acrypha, and Bulgon all made it through to the last round after hard-fought victories.

For all but Acrypha, at least. The hopes of Arcoryx Academy now lay squarely on those few students. And maybe Ryland too, after the reveal of his little challenge against the Guardian, though he was trying not to think too hard about it. For the time being, he simply watched the students performing to the best of their abilities. He watched them beat more Rhellians, Eviliyen, and Jure students.

He watched the groupings turn out to place Acrypha against Bulgon, where both of them shook hands and decided to forfeit the match simultaneously. The move was a shock to practically everyone, though it made sense given the context. Ryland found himself applauding their gumption and faith. For their match was one of two semifinals. The other one had Viren facing off against a lone Rhellian combatant, fully armed and armoured.

But rather than fighting against each other like the Rhellians in the other years had done, Acrypha and Bulgon had decided to place their full faiths in Viren. So essentially, the second semifinal had turned into the final bout of this whole tournament. One where Arcoryx Academy and the Rhellian Institute would lock horns one last time.

"I suppose it's finally been revealed," Guardian Nesmel said as he descended past where Ryland sat next to Yulkaviel once more.

"And with the ruse now up. I can pay full attention to my favoured student." Somehow, he managed to make that sound like a threat. One Ryland would need to answer.

"Will you go join them?" Yulkaviel asked. Ryland considered for a moment, then shook his head.

"I think Viren and I will be fine where we are."

"And might I ask what your prediction of the outcome is for today?"

"Why, Viren's undoubted victory, of course."