CHAPTER 157: END OF THE FIRST ROUND (POINT RANKINGS)
Aurora walked toward a massive coliseum near where the habitats for magical beasts were located.
“Is it okay for me to go?” Aurora asked Edward over the communicator she was using.
She was heading to the large coliseum where the Cernunnos Academy was training.
The favor Elder Kernen had asked of her was to help him train with some of his students.
They had lost only one combat and even though they lost some members in their battles, giving points to the academy they faced; they were still almost unbeatable.
In that sense, they were tough opponents, and apparently, their numerical superiority was leading them to a more reckless path.
According to what she had heard from Rupert, such recklessness was generated by the pressure of losing the extra tournaments, which caused voices of indiscriminate dueling to appear.
Elder Kernen wanted her to train with them so that they would start to be more cautious and not get carried away so easily.
“Sure.” Replied Edward with whom she was communicating.
Since it was about training at another academy, she didn’t accept it so easily and asked permission from Edward, who was in charge of the Hero Academy.
What she wanted was not to be seen as a traitor or something like that, and end up ruining the unity of the academy.
Just as she wanted others to respect her command, Aurora was trying her best to respect others.
“Do what you want. Just try to get as much information from them as possible. We never know if we’ll face each other at some point,” Edward replied in a serious tone.
That was the reason he agreed to go.
By going to train them, she could act as a spy to observe the movements and learn the tricks to tell her colleagues.
The authorities distributed information about the students, but it was all superficial and there could be people like Alice who had a secret or two.
Elder Kernen knew what she was going to do and accepted it, as in a way they were both helping each other.
“I will. I must go,” Aurora replied, ending the call.
The huge coliseum that was her destination was in front of her, and Aurora entered the site, moving directly to the arena that was inside.
Most of the students of Cernunnos Academy were present, along with the beasts that accompanied them.
Aurora felt strange to see students and magical beasts watching her carefully, some showing curiosity and some seriousness.
She had seen them fight during whatever battle they had, but being in front of them was different, and more so when some magical beasts gave intense stares.
Seeing a cobra six meters tall and as wide as the torso of an average human was certainly intense.
The larger magical beasts were mostly A-ranked, and some of them looked as ferocious as they were terrifying.
Although the B-ranked students and their beasts looked less dangerous, the ferocity of the gazes did not change regardless of rank.
“Welcome!” Rupert exclaimed as he approached with a big smile on his face.
That giant gorilla, ten feet tall with a hulking physique and looks that would scare children, didn’t match his animated attitude.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Aurora said as she realized everyone was present.
Actually, she was on time, but if she had known that so many students were waiting for her, she would have arrived minutes earlier.
“No worries,” intervened Elder Kernen approaching with a smile and patting his partner who was in high spirits, commented. “We’re grateful you came.”
Aurora gave him a nod that it didn’t matter.
The truth was Jaxon had mentioned that he didn’t need them to come support him for the tournament like they did Vanessa and Taqiyya, so Aurora didn’t have much to do until Andrés’ tournament started.
Besides, it was fairly early and the tournaments would start later than the other days, which gave her time to train a bit.
“Come. Let me introduce you to an acquaintance of ours,” Rupert said invitingly to the students.
The students looked at Aurora and she gave a smile at Rupert’s encouragement.
“She is a first-year student of the Hero Academy and has come as a support of the academy,” Elder Kernen mentioned, and when some frowns were noticed, he added. “She is also a mercenary in Zerzura and is a close friend of the Cernunnos Academy.”
Aurora only gave a half-smile.
She had worked quite a bit with Cernunnos Academy and it was all thanks to her having a relationship with the magical forest.
While Aurora preferred to say she was close friends with Elder Kernen and those she knew rather than the academy, she understood that elder was trying to express authority and closeness.
“Don’t look down on her. There’s more to her than meets the eye,” Rupert growled and giving something resembling a laugh, exclaimed. “Otherwise she wouldn’t have earned the appreciation of us gorillas!”
Among all the students, three had a classmate who was a thundering gorilla, and it was those gorillas who grunted proudly.
“That’s enough. I doubt they have any interest in listening to my history,” Aurora interjected, with a relaxed expression.
Rupert’s words did not embarrass her.
And while the looks on some students’ faces were deep and doubtful, she was unfazed.
“Okay. Do you know why I invited her here?” Elder Kernen asked the students and looked at the young A-Rank young lady who raised her hand.
“To train with us,” replied the young female student who had an A-Rank thundering gorilla for a partner.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, though,” mumbled the thundering gorilla next to her.
The voice sounded feminine and calm as the gaze was on her.
Aurora had seen them fight, so she knew the student Ruby and her partner Lucrecia.
Unlike other gorillas more dedicated to the fists, Lucrecia could use the magic of nature and the magic of the earth, in what they called a shaman.
Such an ability allowed her to use magic to speak clearly.
“Exactly. Ruby got it right,” Elder Kernen replied and instead of giving more information or answering the gorilla’s words, he asked. “Anyone wants to give it a try?”
Practically, most students raised their hands as their beastly companions began to let out grunts or squeals, releasing some excitement.
Aurora shivered under the gaze of some students and her classmates.
It was one matter to see a thundering gorilla or a silent eagle watching her, but everything changed when a cobra hissed, giving the impression that it wanted to swallow her.
Not that she was afraid, but it was the enthusiasm they showed and the appearance of some beasts.
And here were some terrifying beasts.
Like the scorpion that was about two meters tall and four meters long or the rhinoceros that were similar in size and whose skin had a metallic sheen.
There was even a student who made a contract with a Komodo dragon.
That creature was not only large, measuring five meters in length and two meters in height, but its legs were thick and its body was tough.
If that beast bit her, it would not only paralyze her body, but its wound could generate necrosis... That was how terrifying that magical beast was after going through a change caused by magical energy.
What was worse was the S-Rank Himalayan Tiger that was looking at her, revealing its fangs.
It could be said that she was the prettiest of them all thanks to her white fur that looked fluffy, however, the aesthetics of that tigress was only a lie that hid a swift predator.
Those creatures were A-Rank and the S-Rank, not to mention the dozens of creatures that B-Rank and those students who were watching intently.
“I want to try,” said a muscular student as his steel rhino hit the ground.
Alvis an A-Rank fighter next to a ‘steel rhino’.
Named such because of their metallic hue, such rhinos were known for their terrifying charging strength that could generate earth tremors.
Its body was also very tough, with high defenses, which made it a tricky enemy.
Actually, she got some of the toughest opponents, as they were both Rank A.
However...
“Let’s go.” Aurora invited, giving a smile as she equipped her combat suit through the ‘quick change’ ability.
The pressure the students gave with their gaze expressed the unity of the academy against the outsiders and, in turn, the confidence they had, one that Elder Kernen said could lead them to act recklessly.
Aurora, who went to the middle of the arena, watched as Rupert led everyone away so they could begin the battle.
She opened and closed her fists, stretching her body as she watched as the barrier was activated to prevent serious injury during training.
Perhaps because of her relaxed expression, Alvis frowned, slightly annoyed, and her feelings were transmitted to her partner, who began to hit the ground harder and more impatiently.
With each strike, he generated a minor tremor.
“You may begin!”
As Rupert’s growling voice echoed and the rhino charged towards her and to the surprise of the others, she did the same.
Staring at the beast, her combat aura assimilated with her body, empowering her enough so that with each footfall she would break the ground.
Aurora moved, ready to stop the beast, and at the same time, prepared a powerful shock with her combat suit.
“GRAAA!”
Aurora caught the rhino, who roared loudly from its head and recoiled from the beast’s powerful charge.
Before the beast could move its head, she released the shock she had prepared.
“GRRAAAA!”
The beast lost strength and even though by the barrier it did not suffer damage if it was paralyzed.
Aurora had suddenly caught it and even though its exterior was hard, the rhino had opened its mouth and it was through that place that she released the lightning discharge.
Without pausing, she threw the beast to the ground, taking advantage of the beast’s charging force.
“GAA!”
Hearing the roar behind her back, Aurora turned around, throwing a kick at her opponent, who had charged in anger.
Seeing his partner fall and receive that blow that under normal circumstances would have caused serious injuries, made Alvis angry.
However, the man’s fury was of no use when Aurora’s kick landed on his face.
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She was agile and quick enough to surprise the young man.
Alvis, who could not dodge it, received the blow by covering himself with his arms and retreated several steps backward.
Aurora, instead of stopping, continued her attack without giving her opponent a chance to recover.
Although her fists seemed delicate, the force behind each blow was enough to make Alvis wince in pain.
And she continued, breaking through her opponent’s defense with a punch to the stomach, one to the chest, and finished her move with a kick to the head that sent Alvis spinning through the air before falling to the ground.
He was knocked out and rendered unconscious.
Aurora, at no time, left her opponent’s attack area, and neither did she employ more lethal tactics.
“...”
There was silence as they saw Alvis on the ground, completely unconscious.
Aurora had used a rhino’s specialty against him.
She took the charge in front of her and with the gloves enchanted with lightning, carried out a shock powerful enough to paralyze the beast and instead of electrocuting the body; it went straight to the mouth, being effective.
Then she took advantage of Alvis’ relationship and anger at losing his partner, to defeat him with ease.
Even if the barrier was active for some, it was difficult to see a partner being hurt, and it was not surprising that he became angry.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you something. Aurora has faced countless militiamen and faced waves and hordes of hundreds of creatures, monsters, and magical beasts,” Elder Kernen reported as if he had suddenly remembered.
For someone who had faced strong militiamen, a student had too many flaws and more so when this was not a battle to the death.
The magical beast was weak, especially for Aurora, who had been in Africa for years.
The bloody elephant of the horde in the Ark mission was more dangerous and difficult to defeat than this rhino and the beast tamer, who was an A-ranked fighter.
The expressions of all the students changed and Aurora shook her head at Rupert’s smiling and amused look.
They had warned her to show what she was capable of.
Unfortunately, Alvis and his classmates went down first.
******
Receiving the fresh beer from a drone, Liam leaned back on the couch, pulling his feet up onto the living room table.
Once Aurora and Alice were out, this place was practically his, so he could do as he wished.
“Tch...”
A click of tongue echoed through the place and Liam looked at the drone that was projecting the image of Serena, whose expression looked annoyed.
“Relax. It’s not like you ever won against me.” Liam said, giving an amused smile, looking at the hologram of Serena.
Actually, for a hardcore player, she was pretty bad at playing, and that extended to most games.
Liam could have used cheats like letting his AI play for him, but against an opponent like Serena, it wasn’t necessary.
“It was luck,” Serena replied as her holographic figure also sat on a couch.
They had just finished a game together and, as usual, Serena ended up losing.
Liam’s expression quivered, and shaking his head, he turned on the television.
Serena’s TV might have been turned on because both TVs were connected to reveal the same thing.
“It’s a few minutes before Andrés’ tournament starts. Do you want to see what the criminology guys did?” Liam asked curiously.
Serena shrugged her shoulders.
Actually, they were both present to watch Andrés’ tournament that would take place in a few minutes.
Serena’s lack of interest did not bother Liam.
He knew she was in a bad mood because of the successive defeats she suffered.
The television blinked and the picture of the replay of the crime tournament played.
The tournament was quite interesting from the start.
The participants were given a scenario of a room to analyze with their skills.
The goal was to solve a crime, or at least find out what happened in that room.
The twenty students had different rooms, and each room had very different styles from one another.
Some were messy, some were totally destroyed, and some were in complete order.
Liam focused on the Hero Academy, the Mechanics Academy, and the Aetherium Academy, which seemed to be the most interesting.
As always, descriptions of what happened in that room appeared next to each participating academy.
From murder, document theft, forgery, fire fraud to cheat the insurance company... The meaning of crime was varied, but all of them were subtly hidden.
The scenarios were not random but were intended to give the students difficulty.
One example was the Mechanics Academy that could use their drones to analyze the scenarios, using powerful analysis programs accompanied with experienced artificial intelligences.
That young man was given a murder scenario hidden through magic.
In the case of Hero Academy, as the young man was a psionic, he was given a scenario of counterfeiting through technology by the authorities, similar to Aetherium Academy.
“Aetherium Academy wins, leaving Heroes Academy in second place and third place went to Druid Academy,” Serena reported with a nonchalant look.
She was giving him ‘spoiler’ on purpose.
Liam’s expression quivered at that childish vindictiveness, but he kept looking and realized that Serena wasn’t lying.
The young Hero Academy student had a psionic ability with which he could see the past by touching an object.
Retrocognition, a skill that was undoubtedly useful in the field of criminalistics, and to the student’s regret, this time he had difficulties.
The way the documents were forged was such that they touched nothing that would give them away.
So even though the young man used his ability to see the past of the object and its surroundings, the entire room was still in order, as if nothing had happened.
Since his ability was not strong enough to go far into the past, the answer was to be found in the room, and so it was.
Through his ability, he noticed that at a certain point a small bolt fell to the floor and when the young man found it, he could see that a drone had made a large-scale holographic projection.
Fooling the man so much that he signed the documents with false words, he also concealed the subsequent investigation by fooling the young man’s skill because the scale of that holographic illusion covered the entire room and, to top it off, it was too realistic.
“So just for a screw... The tournament is basically showing how scary the mechanics are.” Liam commented with a sigh.
The drone was impressive, but whoever controlled the drone to generate and power that level of holographic was to be commended.
Basically, the mechanic fooled not only the young man but the man who was supposedly signing the document.
That feat was clear evidence that mechanics could be terrifying in their own way.
Unfortunately, the Hero Academy solved the problem too late, leaving the Aetherium Academy in the first place.
The Aetherium Academy student was more talented, as he not only used mediumship, but when he saw that it didn’t work, he touched objects using the psychometry ability.
This ability allowed the young man to know information about the object just by touching it.
The explanation given by the tournament hosts was that he could not only know how it was created but also the owner and history of the object.
Unlike seeing the past in a short period, this ability extended even further, which was frightening to the tournament organizers.
However, due to increased concentration, he found a way to solve the case and emerged as the champion.
The third was the druid academy, that logically solved the task, using more traditional methods mixed with magic.
“I like the tournament edition,” Serena commented suddenly.
“It’s great. I liked how they did the video of seeing the ‘past’ as if we could see the students’ skill.” Liam replied, nodding calmly.
The tournament was set up in advance and revealing in a straightforward way how the students worked everything out step by step.
Such rare abilities as mediumship, retrocognition, or psychometry acted strangely for normal people, however, a unique edition was held.
They saw the ‘past’ with retrocognition or saw how the object was created with ‘psychometry’ with an edit and quick response that made them feel as if they could use the ability.
“It’s about to start.” Interrupted Serena switching to Andrés’ tournament.
The various computer science students were in their rooms using the various computers.
Although there were academies that specialized in only one area, computer science was a fundamental part of a modernized and technological world like this and for such a reason, the academies had classes for those talents.
From using a holographic watch so common in these times to surfing the web or simply to keep information stored in an easy and organized way.
Even the mages and archmages that came from Terra nova had to adapt to this world and technology.
The academies had classes in this profession and while some were fully specialized, like the mechanics academy, other academies had this profession as a separate subject.
Andrés’ job was to keep an assault team informed about everything that was going on around them.
It was a job that seemed simple, but when you thought about what the mission was, things got complicated.
The assault teams were inside the virtual reality machine of the Cosmos company and each of them had a mission to perform, a difficult one.
However, since the student participants didn’t know about it, they thought they were running a team as an actual practice.
The mission of each assault team was revealed for the viewers and they were quite varied.
From fending off a wave of creatures, clearing dungeons or simply taking on humans.
Artificial intelligence dominated all enemies and each of the assault team members was the elite of Emperor Victor’s army.
Publicity for the army and publicity for the new machine of the Cosmos Company and, in passing, the ability of the students was tested.
“Keeping an eye on everything around him using the drones, radars, and cameras of the surrounding individuals is going to be difficult,” Serena commented, looking closely.
The assault teams to give the students’ eyes activated their radars and cameras while extending drones, which the young men in charge of the command center took control of.
With those ‘eyes’, Andrés had to guide his team so that no mishap happened.
Having to pay attention to so many drones was tiresome.
“Andrés has already performed this kind of task. I don’t think he will have any problems,” Liam said for his part.
When he fought against the Smilodon Fatalis on the Ark mission, it was Andrés who was in charge of being the one who gave reports and kept an eye on the battlefield, supporting his teammates with information.
The experience of doing it for the first time would be useful for him now, and even more so when this was just a tournament.
The tournament began as each assault team began its mission.
The aim of the assault team Andrés was in charge of was to enter a building where there were supposedly criminals.
Not realizing that the assault team was actually inside a virtual reality machine, Andrés was to mobilize the small scout drones.
Activating their radars, he reported the enemies’ positions and movements.
In the real world, Andrés watched the different screens, checking everything and reporting the most important details.
Not overloading his team with unnecessary information was an important quality that Andrés demonstrated in this small tournament.
He reported what needed to be reported, getting the assault team into the building and taking down those inside without attracting attention.
The drones were to scan the surroundings ahead, then after checking it with the radars, Andrés would report on continuing to the next floor.
The role he took was that of a command center that was in charge of guiding his teammates as much as possible, and it was practically him who gave an order.
The assault team obeyed every order perfectly, which meant that if the students made a mistake, it was the assault team that suffered the consequences.
That was happening in other videos, where there were mistakes because of unnecessary nervousness, causing the jump team to make mistakes.
The members of the assault team were experts and managed to survive, but that mistake diminished the appreciation of the judges and, of course, the members of the team they were leading.
Andrés, for his part, did his job well.
He went ahead with his scout drones to prevent any unfortunate events, checked the radars and other scanning systems, then gave the green light to continue.
Sometimes he recommended taking the elevators, other times using the stairs or other means to move up floors, always trying to be as tactical as possible, which was useful.
Another academy that showed significant progress was the Merlin Academy, whose student used mental magic to connect the team’s mind with his own and, of course, at the Aetherium Academy, the psionic who used telepathy also stood out.
Just because it’s a computer tournament didn’t mean students couldn’t use their advantage and more so for those students who didn’t have tech-related talents.
If they had a worthy skill as long as he prepared it beforehand, then it was allowed.
Even though the students did not know that the assault team was in a virtual reality machine, the spectators had to appreciate the authorities’ ability to make their powers take effect inside that machine.
“Oh, I like the event,” Vanessa muttered in an amused tone.
The ‘event’ she called it was when each student encountered a problem.
Even though there were mind magic mages, a psionic with telepathy, or a student with technology-related talent, they all had a big problem.
They infiltrated their spells, their telepathy, and their communication network, getting their next orders filtered to their enemies and they moved in consequences.
The mage controlled himself first by stabilizing his spell and managing to solve the problem.
The second was the psionic who controlled his equipment to warn him and then repelled the infiltrator.
For his part, Andrés took longer, but unlike the others, he counterattacked by infiltrating his opponent’s network, finding advanced information.
“Truly someone talented,” Liam commented as he watched Andrés’ performance.
Andrés’ speed in responding with emergency measures was certainly impressive.
He helped his team recover from the enemy counterattack, but instead of taking out the one who had infiltrated, he counterattacked and got information before ejecting him.
“Your Artificial Intelligence is too excellent. I can tell you went out of your way to help him,” Serena said, shaking her head.
Liam smiled as that AI came from the Cosmos Company he occasionally worked with.
It was very advanced, but there was a problem.
“Office jobs served quite well, huh...” Liam muttered with a smile.
The organizational jobs, information searching, and basically all the ‘rookie’ jobs Andrés had to go through were what led to him adapting to his AI.
It was true that the AI had no consciousness of its own and only served as a support, but it was up to each mechanic to get it to adapt and learn to help him in some tasks.
In this case, it helped Andrés infiltrate his opponent’s system while informing his team.
This situation was proof that habitually using their artificial intelligence helped both of them improve and more so when it came to a talent like Andrés.
“He has potential,” Serena stated with a nod and with a half-smile, she pointed out. “It just remains for him to develop it fully.”
The work Andrés was doing would give him experience, however, moving up the ranks was entirely up to him.
******
“Congratulations to Andrés for his first-place win and Jaxon for taking second place. You both did excellent,” Edward said with a smile as he applauded.
In the room where all the students of the academy were gathered, each one of them applauded for the victories of their classmates.
The next day would be the next round and, due to the organization of the authorities, it was determined that the fourth and fifth group would fight on the first day.
Leaving the first, second, and third groups for later.
It was sudden, but the tournament authorities commented that these unforeseen events were part of the rhythm of the international tournament.
Regardless of the reason, they would have to face Aetherium Academy earlier than expected.
A tough nut to crack.
Even though they would have difficulties, at this moment, they needed to celebrate the victory of their two team members.
Jaxon came out second, while Andrés took first place with superior skill to his teammates by infiltrating his opponent’s net.
It was true that the assault team was inside the virtual reality machine, but the jamming was done by real opponents.
“However, don’t let these victories go to your head. We have excellent teammates, but now it will be up to us,” Edward announced, observing those who would have to fight.
The students who came for the extra tournaments and who no one expected to be decisive ended up showing that they were excellent and fundamental.
In the five competitions, the academy earned 21 points, three less than the points the fighters earned, making them now have 45 points.
The next round would begin tomorrow, and the students needed to show their strength again, this time against a more tough opponent.
“I don’t want to keep the lead. I want to raise it even higher.” Edward announced, employing a deep tone full of vigor.
That the eyes of the academy’s strongest student were shining while lightning covered part of his body was undoubtedly fascinating.
The vigor and excitement he displayed pushed those listening to him forward, and several of them wanted to continue.
Marc and Nicole, like two fierce fighters, showed that fearless grin on their faces while others were smiling with a bigger grin.
“I want to go out tomorrow and crush our opponents,” Edward revealed, and revealing a cheeky grin, he added. “That I will do.”
Was he too arrogant? That his emotions caused lightning naturally let on that he was strong enough to change the weather with his emotions alone.
He was confident in his abilities and that confidence came from his ability and skill, so he had the strength to maintain his arrogance.
Now he was inviting others to show their full potential.
He was giving an invitation to show that enthusiasm and ferocity that Nicole initiated during the academic tournament.
“As for the S-Rank... They just have to let our A-Rank champion take over.” Edward commented with a mysterious smile, pointing to the young woman who was eating her chips.
He had heard about the brief confrontation they had, but Edward didn’t think much of it.
It was true that the individual A-Rank matches were random and while they might lose that match, they would recover once with the group matches, there was no randomness.
That meant that while it would be difficult for Alice to meet her opponent in the individual bouts, if or if they would meet in the group bout.
And the five points won in that section was what mattered.