The next day arrived quickly.

From the very moment the light of dawn cracked at the edge of the horizon and began dispelling the darkness, the air on the campus became charged with anticipation.

The atmosphere grew electric with tension.

It tingled the nerves.

"Finally, the day has arrived!"

"Ah man…! I can't wait to see what the battle will look like!"

"Virlyd is definitely going to win!"

From the very moment the students stepped out of their dorm rooms, the only thing that they cared to talk about was the final match-up of the selection process of the Vertir Combat Competition in the Magic Contest.

In particular, they couldn't help but speculate how the battle would go, how their chosen favorites would perform, and what the ultimate outcome would be.

More than anything, however, they hoped for a good battle that satisfied their excited hearts.

Then there was the money that they had spent on placing bets on who they thought was going to win. The commoner students were in particular eager for this, for they had bet very little money compared to the affluent students, who had drastically increased the total betting pool.

If they won their bets, the pay-outs would be massive for these students, enough to make an impact on their family finances. There were even students who hoped to win enough to pay back family debt so that it wouldn't be as burdensome on their parents.

Regardless, the finals for the selection process were a loud event that drew the attention of the entire student body, with ninety percent of them showing up for the seven-combatant battle.

While there were students who had missed the preliminary tournament because of how long it took the day prior, not even they dared to miss the final round.

The final round was held in a different location of the combat arena, which was different from the general-purpose combat facility that they had used for the tournament.

Instead, the students were guided to a vertir.

Vertirs were a traditional kind of colosseum-like infrastructure that was culturally native to the nation of Elendir. It had been developed to accommodate the old aristocratic class of the country in prior centuries for viewing magical combat.

Because Elendir's magic combat culture involved a lot of flying combat where mages were expected to rise in the air to great heights and make use of all three dimensions to the very fullest in the past, the infrastructure of the viewing platforms had also evolved as such, expanding upwards more than they did outwards.

Of course, once the monarchy was abolished and even the peasant class gained the privilege of viewing magic combat, the traditional vertirs quickly made way for more modern integrations, making them resemble more modern stadiums for other sports and contests.

"Take your seats and please remain quiet, do not disturb the seven finalists who will soon battle in this vertir!"

"Please walk in a line!"

"Do not fight over seats, please!"

The staff assigned to managing the event spent nearly half an hour simply settling the excited students in their seats and keeping them calm and seated. The students of the magicademy, who were inherently juvenile because of their age already, were especially rowdy that day.

"You bastard, what did you say?" One boy stood up, snarling at a girl seated several seats away.

"I said your oh-so-precious is already an old man," the girl huffed with a hint of disdain. "The fact that he still hasn't managed to graduate despite being twenty-five years old is so pathetic! Even if he does win, it would essentially be a grown man beating up a bunch of teenagers. He should be charged with child abuse!"

Her words were venomously provocative.

"Don't you dare insult Virlyd!"

"Hey, violence is prohibited!"

"Someone call the security!"

The rambunctious boy found himself floating midair as an apprentice mage serving as a guard landed behind him, his wand pointing at the two who had broken into a fight.

"That's enough."

It wasn't the only incident that occurred.

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The students, in their charged atmosphere of passion and emotional investment in the Vertir Combat Competition, crossed lines, resorting to physical violence to break up their fights.

It only made the air feel even more charged to the point that almost none of them could even remain still and quiet.

"Dear fellow students,"

A powerful, familiar female voice spread across the entire vertir.

The students' bodies quietened down as their attention was drawn to the spacious combat arena of the Student Council President.

Mileila looked even more dazzling than she normally did.

Her golden eyes sparkled with an enthusiastic energy not unlike that of the students, yet her expression was tempered with a degree of composure and discipline. Her long, flowing green hair seemed to almost glisten in the bright light of the morning Sun that illuminated the entire vertir.

"I understand that all of you are very excited for the momentous event that will be unfolding here today."

Her tone was measured.

"Yet, you must learn to control your passions."

Her voice grew more stern.

"Violence and aggression to resolve your disagreements is unacceptable. Do not forget who you are and why you have come here."

Her golden eyes sharpened.

"You are mages who have come here to master the power of magic. And what is the single greatest trait that a mage requires to master magic?"

She didn't even need to supply the answer.

It had been hammered into them from the first day that they had begun studying at the esteemed magicademy.

Discipline.

Self-control.

"Remember that."

The air in the magicademy cooled down a little as the volume of the murmurs reduced, and students heaved a sigh, tempering their passions a little. Instead, they simply decided to let reality itself solve their disputes in the form of the outcome of the final round featuring the seven strongest students of the magicademy.

Whatever disagreements they had would be validated or denied by the outcome of the final battle, causing a rather intense silence to take over the entire vertir.

"Man… this feels even more tense," Kelton murmured softly as he glanced around. "This match is gonna be crazy."

Natana's expression grew nervous.

"I hope big brother Cæ will win."

"I'm sure that he will do his best to secure victory even if the odds don't favor him," Melia reminded them. "Now we just need to trust him."

Natana nodded with a tense expression, before her gaze returned to the vertir.

"Students of the Elendir Institute of Magic, now that you have all gathered and settled down, we shall commence the final round of the selection process," the announcer informed all of them. "I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that this tournament will not directly decide who will represent this magicademy as a contestant in the Vertir Combat Competition, but rather that this tournament will merely determine the tentative candidate."

The students were already aware of this, of course.

"And having said that, I now welcome the seven finalists of the selection process to enter the combat arena of the vertir!"

The student body erupted into cheers as all seven finalists emerged from paths outside the combat arena, directly leading them to the elevated, spacious arena.

The air grew heavy the very moment they arrived, entering the platform.

Each of them had an entirely different presence that day than they did in their regular day-to-day activities.

There was an intensity about them that was simply not there any other time.

The one that drew everybody's attention the most was none other than Virlyd Mir. His eyes were sharpened with a grim seriousness, causing his presence to become even more suffocating and indomitable in the eyes of the young student body.

The gauntlet around his fist was clenched tight, making almost anybody who actually saw it gulp.

He had appeared calmer and composed in the selection process, where there was virtually no chance of his defeat, no matter how humble he was. Instead, there was a massive intensity about him, weighing down on everybody even remotely in his vicinity.

The other six, however, looked like they had honed their concentration and mind, equipping themselves to bring out their very best in the final round.

Mira Mierta's prosthetic was made of orichalcum.

The clanking metal sounds it made with each step she took only conveyed its toughness to anybody gazing at it, making them entirely unwilling to take even a single hit from her.

It made her strikes dangerous even without magic, but with her highly proficient mastery of magic, her attacks went even further, even if power wasn't her specialty.

Her sharp black eyes were fierce with defiance.

Dranst simply shifted his thick glasses as his eyes never once shifted from the thick grimoire in his hands. Its outer cover was an extravagant three-dimensional bind with gemstones embedded in the thick cover.

While his expression was more hardened than it normally was, he didn't once take his attention off the book, giving him an air of mystery. And yet, when it came to mystery, none were more mysterious than Miranda Walyn, one of the very few spirit mages in the entire student body.

Very few of them knew all that much about spirit magic, making it rather fascinating and interesting. She was the only candidate who smiled and waved for the cheering students, carrying herself with a noble bearing.

CLINK CLINK CLINK

The rattling sound of swaying chains also attracted a lot of attention from the students as they gazed at the cold figure of Kyrell Singe, the chain user. He was a dark horse who had performed even better than anybody had expected from a former slave, now adopted as the heir of a minor, affluent family.

Seol Gordnt emerged from within his waiting room with an expression of sincere seriousness. He was the most normal student among them and was the least divergent from the norm.

STEP

The students turned their attention to the final of the seven with as their eyes widened with what they saw.

The air around Cæ was perilously sharp.

His stormy gray eyes were narrowed with a ferocity lingering within their depths. His right eye was a shade lighter than his other eye, blending with the sclera eerily. The scars that ran down his face and neck gave him an even more dangerous vibe to his presence.

"Ah man… he's so scary!"

"I heard he wiped out a squad of apprentice mages of the Colohen Mafia in the slums!"

"He was dominant during his matches yesterday as well! I'm looking forward to seeing how well he performs today!"

The seven contestants had arrived, entering the combat arena as the bright light of the morning Sun illuminated them.

STEP

The seven stopped the moment they took a single step in the combat arena.

The air in the vertir was tense.

The atmosphere tingled electrically.

"Draw your wands and weapons."

Within seconds, they had taken their respective stances.

Cæ's arm stretched out in front of him as he raised his wand up front.

"And… begin."

Just like that, all hell broke loose.

RUMBLE

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