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Every participant of the close-range division gathered in the middle of the arena. The total number of participants easily exceeded 200 students, as everyone had the same right to join without any limitation.
It was possible for the arena to hold such an amount of students because Alesia had used her <Space Magic> to widen it.
I could see a lot of Temperantia Academy's students among the participants. They made up at least half of the participants themselves.
Because of the tournament's format, no one wore armor and only wore the training suit prepared specially for this tournament. It was black in color with golden lines, which apparently were designed by Emilia, that emphasized the participant's body contour.
In fact, I also wore a similar training suit underneath my academy uniform.
They held various weapons, such as a spear, a sword, a mace, an axe, and even a pole made from a mixture of ironwood. They were lethal but couldn't be used to kill people at once. The nuns and priests from Castitas Church stood by to heal every participant here.
And even if they accidentally got killed, they would also revive a few hours after the tournament ended.
For some reason, the students from Patientia Academy had prideful looks and confidence spread across themselves. When I observed them, they wore things like rings, bracelets, earrings, and other small accessories.
"They arm themselves with magic items," I muttered, narrowing my eyes at Alesia. "Is that allowed?"
"Yes." Alesia nodded slightly. "It's illogical, but people believe that the ability to obtain magic items is part of the student's capability. Thus, as long as that magic item is obtained from their 'adventure outside the Academy City,' they are able to use it in this tournament."
"Who made such rules?" I asked her while having a guess in my mind.
"It's that pig."
'As expected.' I sneered and looked down at the arena again.
Above the arena was a crystal ball.
This was the magic item used to record the tournament and connected to another crystal ball in the plaza and some places of the Academy City and stream the fight in real-time. So people who were unlucky enough and didn't get the tickets could watch the tournament.
And at the end of the hall, above the spectator seats, was a board that would show the name of who was eligible to enter the final and the academy they represented beside their name. Each side had names for different divisions.
Currently, all of them were blank, with only numbers up to 20, except for the general study division, which only had three numbers, and for the close-range weapon division, there was already a name written on it. It was my name with a crown beside it.
'I guess that crown is for me to pass without needing to pass the preliminary.'
As I thought that, the host moved to the platform near the spectators' seats.
"Alright!" He shouted loudly into the microphone, bringing excitement to the hall. "Let the preliminary of close-range weapons begin! Survive and move to the next stage, students!"
"Three!"
The countdown started.
"Two! One!"
Everyone joined in shouting the countdown and raised their hands. With smiles on their faces, they all screamed together.
"Begin!"
The participants raised their weapons, and the battle royale began with the sound of metal clanging against each other. They shouted their skills, activating some beginner <Sword Slash> or <Sword Edge>.
Watching them was the same as watching kids trying to swig their weapons. The students from Temperantia weren't so bad. They formed a group and defended their position in the ring's corner. They knew that as long as they could still move, they wouldn't be eliminated and teleported away by Alesia.
And those from Patientia had better physical abilities due to the magic items they wore. I bet those magic items were from their families that they hid in the forest and the students found 'accidentally' when they were exploring.
Well, it wasn't like I was there to destroy them all at once.
Not surprisingly, the students from Castitas Academy got eliminated first. More often than not, the ones who aimed to be church knights attended Temperantia Academy because they had better education to raise knights.
The battle continued in chaos. Those who couldn't fight anymore automatically teleported away. Their clothes were designed to trigger the teleportation magic Alesia set up within the barrier in this hall.
"Arrghh!"
"Die!"
Some unpleasant shouts came from the arena. One by one, students retreated and teleported away with a blue light. <Space Magic> was truly convenient. I wanted to learn it, but it was impossible.
Anyway, the fight was so boring that it made me sleepy and yawned. The Temperantia Academy's headmaster also yawned in boredom, not even caring if his students passed or not. No, he was confident that at least some of his students would proceed to the final.
As for Alesia…
"…"
She didn't say anything. The Virtue Royal Academy's students were eliminated one by one. I noticed a familiar face belonged to Oliver there, and he managed to hold on by joining forces with 6 Temperantia Academy students and holding a shield in the corner.
'So he also joined this tournament. He's holding on well.' My lips curled up slightly as my gaze went over to the spectator seats. There, Karin was sitting with Eliza, cheering for her fiance. 'The magic division tournament and the general study will be held tomorrow, so Eliza has time to watch.'
My childhood friend somewhat looked a bit disappointed as she looked over my way for a second.
Only 23 participants were in the arena. And the number of those from the Virtue Royal Academy was… one. Temperantia still had six students left, who joined forces with Oliver. The others were from Patientia Academy with their overpowered gears because of the bad rules proposed by that pig.
Because the defense of the joined force couldn't be broken, the Patientia students fought each other. Some hated each other, so it was natural they fought among themselves. The preliminary ended with 19 final students left.
"I should give my students magic items," Alesia muttered with anger mixed in her tone. But then, she sighed and looked at me expressionlessly. "Do you need a magic item to win?"
"Hahaha, are you joking, headmistress?" I laughed because her humor was really good. "Do you think I will need any to beat all of them?"
"I just want to show off my magic item collection to that pig." The headmistress replied with a small smile. "They look so proud because they have 11 students entering the final with the help of magic items. How irritating."
"Well, they're just lucky." I shrugged my shoulders. "How will the participants of the final be put against each other? Is it random?"
"Yes. That board will choose the opponent" Alesia nodded, pointing to the board for a close-range division that was now filled with names.
Oliver and Temperantia Academy students somehow were placed on the 13 to 20th rank.
"They will be divided into groups A and B before the opponent is decided."
"I see." I nodded in understanding. "Well, that board is a magic item, then?"
"I made it two hundred years ago," Alesia replied without changing her expression, but there was pride mixed in her tone. "Because it was old, it might have an error and put Patientia Academy students against a certain person. But I am sure that it's still random, so there is no problem." Her lips curled up in a rare grin.
I knew what she meant and smiled softly, "Maintaining a magic item is hard, after all."
Nodding in understanding, Alesia didn't say anything and just looked over the arena. Everyone had left already, and it was now being constructed into an archery range for the long-range division tournament.
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