Chapter 60: Paula Mayr

The next morning, the academy once again gathered at the venue, and the competition resumed at the stipulated time. There were twenty-five matches in round three. Ain’s match was near the beginning of the round, and he won with relative ease. Hugo also attained a hard-fought victory, advancing to the next round.

After a short rest, round four commenced with a total of twelve matches. When it was Ain’s turn, he once again defeated his opponent unscathed. From the previous matches, Ain’s opponent was aware of his strategy and attempted to counter Malicious Gaze by keeping their distance, which ultimately failed. At this point, when spirit tamers only had one spirit pet and few spells, a long-range stun was an even greater advantage compared to flight.

As Ain walked back to his seat, the spectating participants and students discussed as usual.

“That skill is so powerful!”

“He’s defeated all his opponents using the same trick; it’ll get countered sooner or later.”

“There are still a few mechanical spirit pets left in the competition. When he encounters them, it’ll be game over for him.”

When the students’ discussions landed in the ears of the nearby teachers, they shook their heads internally. Malicious Gaze was indeed ineffective against mechanical spirit pets, but as spirit tamers above Rank-1, how could they be unaware of Ain’s true rank? There seemed to be more students who reached Intermediate Rank-1 in this year’s first interclass competition compared to previous years, some of the teachers thought.

After Ain’s match, round four continued. Frans Vaughan won his match as well, advancing to round five. Interestingly, Marius, Ain’s classmate, also advanced to round five.

As there were only twelve matches, the round went by quickly, and soon, it was the last match of the round.

“Next, we have Paula Mayr versus Hugo Ravenfall!” Following Teacher Linus’ announcement, Hugo left the seats and walked onto the arena. Hugo’s opponent, Paula Mayr, was another name familiar to Ain. She was often active in the group chat, acting as another administrator for the group aside from Frans.

When Hugo reached the arena, a petite figure with a dark green ponytail and bright green eyes also arrived. With a robotic countdown, the match began.

Hugo immediately hopped backward while summoning Ace and sent a mental command. He was aware of Paula’s usual strategy from the previous matches and planned appropriately.

On the other hand, a silver and green mechanical gauntlet simultaneously appeared on Paula’s right arm as she used Invigoration, a Rank-1 core spell capable of temporarily boosting her physical abilities.

After a brief flash of golden light from Invigoration, Paula immediately bolted towards Hugo. Hugo kept retreating to maintain a certain distance and raised his right arm to cast Spirit Blast. At the same time, Ace used Air Slash, sending green slashes toward Paula, who was attempting to approach him.

Spotting the obvious slashes cutting through the air toward her, Paula dodged with the assistance of Invigoration and her nimble body. But immediately after she dodged, a blast of spirit energy intercepted her path, forcing her to halt her advance.

Seeing this, Hugo’s eyes gleamed, and Ace silently sped toward Paula. Right after dodging Hugo’s Spirit Blast, Paula looked up and saw the Grand Eagle approaching her rapidly with faintly glowing wings.

Seeing this, instead of advancing like before, Paula concentrated for a split-second and cast Shield in front of her. What happened next proved her decision to be correct. Ace stretched its wings and waved them heavily, as if it was pushing an entire mountain. What followed was a violent gust of wind crashing toward Paula.

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Gale! It was a wind-attribute skill Ace had learned after the intraclass competition.

Boom!

The powerful gust of wind crashed violently into the shield, causing dirt and dust to cover the surroundings. Instead of halting, Ace circled in the air, aiming behind the shield, and used Air Slash once more.

Slash! Slash!

The sound of air being torn apart appeared as the slashes flew into the dust cloud, aiming at Paula.

Boom!

The attack landed and blew some of the dust away. Before the dust completely settled, Paula broke through it and dashed towards Hugo once more. This time, her clothes were slightly disheveled, but her body was covered in a green glow, teeming with vitality.

The Air Slash failed to directly connect, and only caused minimal damage. The slight scratches on her body had already healed in just a few seconds. This was because Paula used Heal, a wood-attribute skill capable of recovering injuries. Hugo was taken aback at the sight, as his opponent had never used this skill before. He focused on the gauntlet and realized the source of the Heal.

‘Damn it!’ Seeing his rapidly approaching opponent, Hugo quickly retreated. His plan was to end the battle with that last Air Slash. While retreating, Hugo began conjuring another Spirit Blast as Ace tailed behind Paula. Having cast a couple skills in quick succession, it required some time before using its skills again.

He considered letting Ace use physical attacks but hesitated when he thought of Paula’s finishing move. As Paula was only a few meters away, Hugo turned and used Spirit Blast once more. This time, Paula didn’t dodge but countered it with a Vital Blast. A green blast of spirit energy shot out of the gauntlet before colliding with the Spirit Blast midway.

Boom!

An explosion rang out in the arena as a shockwave swept past. Hugo felt the wind brush against his face as he turned around to escape once more. In a little while, Ace would be able to attack, providing him with another opportunity. But just as Hugo turned around, Paula, who was boosted by Invigoration, finally arrived within range. She brought her two hands forward and shouted softly, “Vital Vines!”

Following her shout, green vines, akin to emeralds, suddenly manifested out of thin air and entangled Hugo’s legs. In less than a second, the vines wrapped around his entire body, binding him tightly. A sense of exhaustion suddenly struck Hugo, and his strength began to leave.

“Huff! Huff” Paula panted lightly as she watched her incapacitated opponent.

“Screech!” Ace flew above Paula with its wings glowing once again, ready to attack. But after receiving Hugo’s thoughts, it unwillingly dissipated the gathered spirit energy and flew down obediently before landing next to its bound spirit tamer.

Seeing that her opponent had admitted defeat, Paula recalled the vines. When the strength returned to his body, Hugo slowly sat up and looked at his opponent before smiling wryly, “That’s an annoying innate talent you have.”

Hearing the comment, Paula smiled before replying, “Thank you for the compliment.” With this conclusion, Teacher Linus announced the victor, and the two left the arena toward the medics. Ain watched and let out a slight sigh at his friend’s defeat.

Hugo’s abilities were definitely above average, but his financial situation was precarious. Although he could afford some cheaper medicinal pills, purchasing spells and special resources was difficult. This could be seen from how the only core spell he knew so far was Spirit Blast, which he had received for free from the academy. Unlike Ain, Hugo hadn’t left the city to hunt or complete missions from the Spirit Tamer Association. And it was even more unlikely for him to do so now with the recent attacks from the Order of Blood Origin.

Since this match was the last match of round four, there was a short break before the next round. At this moment, there were only thirteen students still in the competition. Among them, excluding himself, Ain knew eleven of the students from the “Red Oak Elite” group chat, whereas the twelfth student was a dark horse. Frans, Paula, and Marius were among the students from the group chat.

After a short break, round five finally commenced. Having failed to advance to the next round, Hugo returned to the regular spectator seats. Ain sat by himself as he stared at the large holographic screens. With the familiar shuffling animation, six pairs and a lone name appeared on the screen. Ain easily found his name before turning his gaze back to the empty arena.

In their separate spectating area, Marius, Ain’s next opponent, stared at Ain’s back with a strange glint in his eyes before looking away.

It was noon, and the sun was directly overhead as the summer heat waves bombarded the city. A large retractable roof had been drawn over the spectating seats as the shade provided some relief to the students and teachers alike, who had been here for over two hours. There were only six matches in round five, and it was bound to be over quickly.

The first match was between Paula and the dark horse, Elina Reynolds. Although Paula put up a good fight, it still ended in her defeat. Ain watched this battle attentively, as Elina was among the students that he paid extra attention to. Based on her performance and some clues so far, he suspected her to have reached Intermediate Rank-1 as well.

As he contemplated, Teacher Linus’ voice sounded once again, prompting Ain to get up from his seat. “Now let’s welcome the second match, Marius Varro versus Ain Weisman!”