The crowd cheered as the match ended. Though the result was unexpected, it was still an entertaining match to see overall. Especially when one of the top-ranked in the academy was knocked down within minutes.
Rodric Madele was known to be the tank within his cohort. With his big body physique accompanied by his muscles and with Earth-magic being his specialty, he was able to execute large craters and boulders to his advantage and used it as body armour for himself. For him to even make a mistake, underestimating his opponent, he shouldn't be able to be knocked down after getting hit once. But the fact that it did make the match even more exciting.
Rodric's combat instructor was one of the few who was surprised at this development. He didn't expect one of his top students to fail but he was pretty satisfied with how his student would grow from this experience. His statement to the news reporter was stated as follows:
"Rodric Madele was one of the outstanding students I had in my class. When it came to handling his opponent, he was one of the stronger students I had, progressing at an extremely fast pace despite only having 4 magic circles. With his quick thinking, he was able to overcome every attack like a strong shield, allowing him to charge at his opponent while ignoring the opponent's magic that bounced off of him.
To be able to land an attack in that split second and to do it with such grace. His opponent was strong. However, It was also because he looked down on his opponent, which led to his defeat as well. Rodric, I hope you grow from this."
With that statement ending, the remaining contestants were transported back to the main stage. This is followed by the announcement for the next event:
"Due to the first round being done exceptionally fast, even breaking the record for fastest elimination of contestants. The 2nd event will be held today instead of tomorrow. The remaining 100 contestants were confirmed with the last person to be eliminated being Rodric Madel. I will now announce the details for the next event."
With the announcement being shown on the screen, the contestants and audience turned their attention to the words displayed on the screen.
Team Battle: Capture the egg.
"Each team would need to have a total number of 5 members to attend this event. The rules for this event are simple.
You are to retrieve the egg of the magical creatures that your team leader is about to pick in the least amount of time possible.
You are allowed to use whatever spells you like to attack or defend as the crystals will once again take damage for you.
The 5 teams that either got eliminated by the magical creature or took the longest time would be eliminated from this competition.
That is all for the rules.
You have 10 minutes to find your teammates. Please find your teammates, and the hunt will commence shortly."
With the announcement made, the contestants started running to find someone that could pair together with them.
However, 2 groups were already formed way before the announcement was made.
It was Cedrick Jenkins's student.
The first team consisted of an all-girl team, Shirley, Renne, Ava, Eve, and Grace.
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The second team consisted of Desmond, Zenith, Trevor, and Riri. The second team was still lacking one member until someone walked up to them, asking:
"Can I join you for this match?"
The last member of the team happened to be Jade Chong, the sister of Red Chong. Of course, none of the students knew who Red was since they were the student of Cedrick Jenkins.
With members all agreeing to accept Jade as the last member, all teams were formed.
Leaders of each group were called to draw lots for the monster they were facing.
Team 1, with Shirley as the leader, drew a lot for a Cockatrice.
Team 2, with Trevor as the leader, drew a lot for a Wyvern.
Out of all the creatures that the others had to face, the cockatrice and the wyvern are one of the toughest and most dangerous creatures to encounter. These are creatures that have taken the lives of many mages.
The crowd went silent as they started murmuring among themselves.
Is that even fair?
- Against a Wyvern as a green robe is too much.
- If you think that's bad. Look, there are 3 white mages up against a Cockatrice.
- What bad luck...
- I mean, no one would blame them if they lost. The difficulty level just shot up to the roof.
The mood around Red's students was depressing. No one believed in their abilities. They already deemed that it was useless going against these beasts. But Red's students, on the other hand, had a different thought.
With that Team 1 readied themselves and stepped into the portal to face their target individually.
**
[Irene's POV]
A Cockatrice.
To be allowed to start showcasing their abilities, this was supposed to be the perfect scenario to show their capabilities. However, for them to be up against such a terrifying creature at the start. This was truly bad luck at its finest.
White (Beginner)
Yellow (Intermediate)
Green (Advance)
Blue (Scholar)
Purple (Sage)
Bronze (Wiseman)
Red (Arch-Mage)
Black (Master)
Looking at the first team, it would be hard for them to last even 1 minute. This was a monster that even purple-ranked mages have difficulty with due to its ability to turn anyone into stone when meeting its gaze. It could also spew out a poisonous breath at its target.
What can 3 white, 1 yellow, and 1 green mage do to win against it?
Exhaling a deep sigh, I prayed that this competition wouldn't demoralize the students and they would be motivated to continue striving to do their best.
Even Gerald who was sitting me turned his head towards me, shielding his eyes, with him saying "I don't have the heart to watch this."
As the bell rang, inevitably I too found myself looking at my feet, trying to avoid watching my student getting destroyed by the Cockatrice.
1 minute passed.
The crowd was still silent. No one spoke a single word during that period. Were they doing better than I thought? As I pondered a little longer, the bell rang once again.
"Match over."
Match...over?
"HUH?" I immediately raised my head, just to find the girls returning from the stage with one large egg carried by Grace.
"What just happened..' Gerald asked me while pointing at the girls.
That's what I want to know.
Looking at the screen, I could see that the head of the Cockatrice was gone.
What the hell did Red do?
The screen thus started replaying the scene, showing what happened in that short period again.
**
Cockatrice. A creature that has the head of a rooster and the body of a dragon. It's an aggressive creature that will attack anything on sight due to its characteristic as a territorial beast.
Shirley knew the characteristics and behaviour of the creatures. Because of that, as the one in charge, her plan was to Immobile the cockatrice by killing it in a single blow.
As they got transported to the mountains. The pressure emitted by the Cockatrice was strong enough to make a normal grown man pass out. But for these ladies, there was something scarier than this chicken.
That something had ordered them to win at all causes. If not, there would be a 'remedial' lesson for them.
With a deep sigh, it was time to work.
Immediately, the Cockatrice caught their scent and immediately charged forward them, thinking of them as food.
With the Cockatrice rushed out without a care in the world, it charges towards Shirley aiming for her neck. Just before its beak could land on her, suddenly the world turned dark for it.
There was a spherically shaped ball surrounding the head of the Cockatrice. At the corner of the screen, Renne can be seen chanting spells and directing her wand at the head of the Cockatrice while being hidden in one of the trees.
It was [Mana Shield].
With the Mana shield wrapped around the head of the Cockatrice, Ava immediately appeared next to Renne, casting another spell, [Water Gush].
The spell allows users to summon a pool of water to wherever their wands are pointed at. In this case, the water was summoned within the sphere, filling in the Mana Shield like a fish bowl.
Ultimately the water starts to cover the Cockatrice's head and it starts to drown. It was like a prison for the target. A water prison.
The beast now aware that its life is in danger started thrashing about so that it could break out and escape.
But that's not how it ended.
The last spell was conducted by Eve Orean as she tap her staff against the water prison, she whispered one word: Freeze.
In that few seconds, the entire water contained in the Mana Shield froze, including the head of the Cockatrice. Grave then slowly made her way to the egg of the Cockatrice to retrieve it and returned with the rest. As they slowly walk back to their initial starting point, Eve snaps her finger, shattering the ice that contained the head of the Cockatrice, instantly killing the Cockatrice.
The crowd could do nothing but stare at the screen with their mouth wide open. While the elder mage stares with an amused expression. The headmaster and deputy head simply smiled and laugh.
"That young man taught his student some outrageous things, didn't he?" The headmaster said while chuckling.
The deputy head smiled and replied, "It reminded me of someone's teaching years ago."
With that, the first team ended their challenge in 2 minutes.