Death Mage with an SS-Rank Talent-Chapter 154

The two days of recuperation given to the students went by, and it was time for the second stage of the tournament.

Unlike before, when the students acted carefree during the start of Stage One, this time it was different. The stress on the students’ faces is apparent. This was mainly due to what happened in the first stage and what would happen in the second stage.

Almost every student believed that they were the best of the best. They thought that they could easily make it to the second stage, but they were proven wrong.

Lots of academies have lost at least one or two, with a few even eliminated to the full. The eliminated, well, there was nothing else they could do about that, but the real pressure was on the academies that still have one or two students.

The pressure on these students was at an all-time high. Depending on how they perform, it would be determined whether their academy would continue in the tournament or not.

Also, there is something else. Unlike before, they now have to fight among spectators, which means the reputation of the academy is at stake.

The better they perform, the greater the chances that their academies will pick up some promising talents in the coming year. So, the staff that came along stressed this point, which only increased the pressure on the students.

Doing so would not be a good thing at this point, but some academies were desperate as they are on their last leg, but not all were like this. Some academies have a good 3 or 4 students remaining. So, the pressure on them was not much, unless they belonged to the top ten in the last few years.

Only they were worried that their top ten status might go away if they were a little careless.

This only increased the pressure on the students that remained, as losing now, they would be blamed more than those who lost in stage one. It was kind of unfair, but there was nothing they could do about that. They can only blame their luck on this matter.

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Unlike other academies, Dusk Academy faced no such pressure.

It was already known that one of the top five academies was eliminated. Only three more academies were able to keep all five students and proceed to the second stage, and all these were ones that were in the top five before.

No matter how they perform, a top-five rank was guaranteed. So, there was no such pressure on them. Of course, that doesn’t mean they didn’t get any lecture from the Vice-Headmistress.

She gave them a short speech before leaving for Stage Two.

Unlike what most academies did, Lyanna didn’t pressure the students, rather she made sure that they won’t cocky just because of past ranks or what they had achieved in the first stage.

Nothing can be said for sure until the last moment. So, even a small mistake can cost them dearly, which Lyanna can’t let happen, as it would be more embarrassing than losing all students in the first stage, like the Sword Academy.

Sure, the rank would be better than Sword Academy, as all its members made it to the second stage, which she wanted to continue and not stop the flow.

If it were any other year, she would have never considered that, but this year it was different. There are many talents that were born this year who can change everything in seconds if given the chance.

First, there was the SS-Rank awakener, and in her own academy, the Death Mage boy, he eliminated all five members of Sword Academy at the same time, single-handedly. Sure, he used his skeletons to do that, but from the looks of it, those skeletons didn’t appear as normal skeletons.

They are powerful than they should be, at least at this stage.

If Aaron was at least Rank-4 or Rank-5, she would have thought that it was possible, but that didn’t cause much alarm among the academy nor in the alliance.

Mutated Skills.

This was the term assigned to skills that work differently than they should. They have seen mutated skills many times.

Also, there is Talent.

Aaron never registered whether he had a talent or not. Not many would, unless they can get something beneficial from the reveal.

The chances of him having a talent that can boost his undead are not out of the question.

Many professionals would get talents that are useful to them in one way or another, and though not common, there are people who have talents that align with their professions, effectively improving their efficiency.

It only made them raise the importance of Aaron a little bit, that’s all.

If he really does have talent that can boost his undead, then his undead would be very effective while fighting a lot of monsters at the same time, especially when hordes of them attacking cities and towns.

Though everyone is interested in finding out the true reason, they didn’t ask.

It is taboo to ask details of others like that. Asking someone’s profession is not wrong, as they need to know what one can do and if they need them, but other than that, details like skills or talent are considered secret and can’t be asked, ever.

So, Lyanna, though became partially a friend to Aaron, didn’t ask him about the matter.

Aaron thought that she might ask him, or someone from the alliance would do so. He prepared a lie for them, but no one asked him about that. It relieved him a little, as there is a chance that they can catch him in a lie. So, no one asking anything was the best course for him.

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Just like before, for stage one, Dusk Academy, along with Valiant and Mirth Academies, travelled in the same van towards the place where Stage Two would be held.

Unlike Stage One, which was held outside the city, it was not the same for Stage Two. It and subsequent stages, if there were any, would be held inside the city, where many could watch the fights that would occur.