"The formation...

Although there haven't been many precedents, it is possible for it to malfunction.

To begin with, a student wouldn't have the power to interfere with a formation of that caliber, not through any means.

I can confirm that as a Formation Grandmaster."

Gerold's ruling set off a wave of relief in Emil's heart.

Right now, his fate lay in the judges' hands.

If they decided he was a cheater, then he was a cheater.

But if they were gonna judge him fairly, then no matter what the students said, his name would be cleared.

He wasn't expecting much empathy from his ever cold and distant Formations and Inscriptions teacher, Gerold Nesta.

But it seems like he was at least a fair judge and wasn't discriminating against him.

Unlike somebody else.

"Alright boy, how did you pass the third stage then huh? You telling me you didn't cheat your way there? How will you explain yourself?"

Osric burst out with a pressuring voice.

It was like he was interrogating a criminal.

Emil's heart beat sped up, but after looking at Piers, he calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and started speaking.

"My Fire element wasn't of much use underwater, not to mention i was alone too.

My only chance of passing the river would be augmenting and hoping I could outrun the fishes. However, I haven't learned how to augment yet, so I had no choice but to try something else.

After testing the waters by dipping my feet into it, i realized the fishes didn't show any reactions towards me.

I had an idea but only one way of testing it.

At that point, that idea was my only chance of passing through the river, so I decided to put my faith into it since the match was as good as lost if I didn't.

I jumped into the water and started swimming across, but the fishes didn't show any reaction just like i thought.

My theory was that they didn't target me because I wasn't using any magic, no spells, no augmentation.

I believe that's how I passed the river."

Emil gave out a lengthy explanation of his experience, his voice calm with barely any pause, but no hints of hurry.

His story sounded credible, but there was only one way to confirm it.

The judges looked at each other and confirmed one another's thoughts before Piers started talking again.

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"Correct, the Golden Carps indeed were supposed to show reactions only to the presence of mana.

This was a secret method of passing the stage, intentionally implemented by us.

But only those brave enough would dare try."

Emil sighed yet another breath of relief. He was safe again.

Osric leaned back on his chair, his arms crossed with an annoyed look on his face.

He was drinking when he was reading the information regarding the competition last night, that must've been why that little detail slipped his mind at that particular moment.

To begin with, he didn't think the weakling, that little wuss who couldn't even lift a sword on his first day would have the balls to try such a method.

It wasn't his fault for thinking he was cheating, anyone would think that way.

He assured himself with those excuses and justified his moronic actions earlier, almost making a fool out of himself in front of everyone.

"I believe no one has any qualms about the fourth stage?

The pattern was there for anyone to see.

Participant Emil noticed it because he was the only one to pay attention."

The crowd rumbled a bit, their voice unifying and giving birth to incoherent utters.

Nonetheless, no one had anything to say in protest. Not the spectators, not the other participants.

Just like Piers said, the falling rocks' patterns was there for anyone to see, they could only blame themselves if they rushed too much and couldn't notice it.

As a matter of fact, the same went for the fifth stage.

Everyone saw how Emil was about to lose multiple times, and discovered a passageway through sheer luck.

If he just stumbled upon the passageway, then they'd have something to say about it.

But they saw for themselves how he almost succumbed to the powerful winds and failed the stage, before discovering the passageway by kicking the same spot multiple times to get his stuck sword out.

If being lucky was considered cheating, then all stage five participants should be disqualified since they all got lucky at some point.

At the time the spectators may have been complaining about the strange series of coincidences, but now that it was time for judgement no one was gonna make a fool out of themselves by blaming Emil for being lucky.

"can you elaborate on how you passed the final stage?"

It was an obvious question everyone knew the answer to. but Piers felt it was necessary to clear everything up.

"Yes sir. I didn't have any special tricks to passing the last stage. I just summoned a spell and ran up the staircase like everyone else. But because I didn't use any mana throughout the entire competition, my mana core was full and I had an easier time climbing."

Again, the crowd started rumbling, but couldn't come up with anything else to accuse Emil of.

He was clean, 100%. Confirmed by the judges themselves.

However, they still had one card they hadn't used yet.

"He should be disqualified, he didn't pass through the second stage, it's not fair to everyone else!"

"Yes, there's no way he would've won if he had to fight like the others, he has to be disqualified!"

"Disqualify, Disqualify, Disqualify, Disqualify!"

"Silence!"

Osric's thundering voice came in handy to shut the protesters up.

Once the venue was quiet, the judges started speaking among themselves.

"Ashdown won fairly, he shouldn't be disqualified for something he wasn't responsible for."

Piers stated his opinion.

"I'm in agreement. Passing through the second stage normally may have changed the results, but it wasn't his fault the formation malfunctioned. I believe he mustn't be disqualified."

Annora, Emil's combat theory teacher rose in support.

"Hmm, I agree with Miss Grimald, but not disqualifying him would be unfair to all other participants. I'm afraid i have to vote for his disqualification."

Eydis the fox feigned sadness as she voted for against Emil.

"He should be disqualified no questions. We qualify him and he wins the match, what about the other students? Are they a joke?"

Osric didn't sugarcoat his words and let everyone have a piece of his mind.

The only person who hadn't voted yet was Gerold.

His vote would be a tiebreaker, everything rested on his hands.

All eyes on him, Gerold opened his mouth after thinking for a while.

"It's true, the results would've certainly changed if he passed through the second stage normally.

But it's also true that the formation malfunctioning wasn't his fault.

By definition, it would be unfair to both qualify and disqualify him.

Hence, i have a proposition."

The conversation between the judges continued for a while longer.

Annora and Piers seemed delighted to hear Gerold's solution while Osric was annoyed. Eydis on the other hand didn't sem to mind it too much.

After coming to an agreement, they announced their ruling.