Death Mage with an SS-Rank Talent-Chapter 155

The group arrived at a big stadium, right in the central part of the city, where most of the important institutions of the city were located, except for the two academies.

They were outside because the students needed to go and face the monsters outside in order to better themselves, while facing more dangerous ones.

If any dangerous monsters slip in, the academies would eliminate them. They always make sure that the monsters that can roam are ones that are similar in strength to the students or less than them.

So, for a better environment, required for the student’s growth, most academies are situated outside the city.

Unlike them, almost everything else, like Alliance Tower, Hunter’s guild, etc... are present in the central area. Though there are branches in other areas for easy access, these would be the main buildings of those organisations.

---

The same man who coordinated Stage One appeared high in the sky this time.

Unlike before, where he had to stand before just the students, now he had to stand before a lot of people, who may not see him clearly if he stands on the ground and also

"Everyone, welcome to the annual Inter-academy tournament. What we are going through would be Stage two of the tournament, and it was decided to be duels. There are two hundred and twenty-five participants, which is an odd number, but it is what it is".

"Each one would draw a token from one of the bowls present here. There would be a number imprinted on that, and that would be their number. The computer would draw numbers randomly from 1 to 225, two at a time. The two numbers that were selected would fight each other".

"One of you gets a free pass; who it would be depends on your luck. The duels would continue until only fifteen remained at the end. This means that everyone has to fight four matches or get the free pass, as there would always be an odd number after every round".

"These fifteen would be participating in Stage Three, the final stage of the tournament, which would decide who would be top ten, but that’s for later. For now, let’s concentrate on Stage Two".

"Students, pick your tokens", the man said as he turned towards the participants from the spectators.

One by one, all the students picked a token and returned to their place, where they stood before.

"Let the draw start", the man spoke, and numbers started to appear on the board that was placed above the stadium, floating in the sky.

After a while, two numbers stabilised on the board.

"It’s 126 Vs 57. Participants who had drawn these numbers stay behind, others can retreat to the participant stands", the man ordered them.

Unlike how it was for others, participants and Coordinators have direct access to enter the grounds easily. They can watch from their area and enter the grounds when it is their turn to fight.

---

After everyone cleared, only two students remained along with the cordinator.

One of the students was none other than Aaron, who was surprised by the glare and a bit of hatred he was getting from his opponent.

"Huh? Why is he looking at me like that? Do I know him? I don’t think so", Aaron thought for a minute about his opponent.

Aaron was surprised when the opponent was glaring fiercely at him, as if Aaron had murdered his parents. Aaron couldn’t understand why the boy opposite him was like that. No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t remember the face at all.

Aaron first thought that he might have known this one from his school days. After all, everyone drifted apart to various academies based on what rank they achieved and what profession they awakened.

He was from a small school, with only a few awakeners every year. Two students ending at the same academy would be a miracle. So, he thought that he knew this one from school, as he hadn’t had any interaction with other academies till now.

No matter how much he thought, Aaron couldn’t remember the boy at all. He was sure that he had never seen him before, and since names were not listed, he couldn’t recognize the boy.

"Wait, the only time I clashed with the students was at the end, when ten students surrounded me and my team. There were ten, so that makes two academies in full. Hmm, is that not correct?" Aaron couldn’t help but think that.

He observed the Sword Academy symbol on five of the students, but didn’t pay much attention to the other students’ symbols.

"No, that was not it. The other five wore the same symbol. That means this one is not from either the academy. Is one of them related to him?" Aaron wondered.

It was the only thing that he could think of until the other one spoke. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

"I have been preparing for months to show the world that I am number one among the current generation, and that starts from beating you down, Death Mage", the boy spoke in a demeaning manner, especially when he said Aaron’s profession.

It was as if he were looking down on this profession.

This angered Aaron a bit. Almost everyone he came across either looked down on him due to his profession and didn’t care much about him, not until he had shown his worth.

"It was as if the world wanted me to show my worth by beating the Student of the Year. I’ll show all that I am the top student of the year, and that achievement should have been mine months ago", the boy continued his ramblings in a loud voice, and it can be heard perfectly by almost everyone.

Even the ones who didn’t hear learned what was happening. This only raised the spectator’s enthusiasm to a higher degree. They are not interested in plain fights. They need a lot of panache in their fights, and this drama would surely give them what they want.

Hearing those words only angered Aaron even more. He wanted nothing but to smash the boy opposite him, but he quickly calmed down, thanks to his high INT. It was easy to understand why the boy was saying those words.

"A clever strategy. Making me angry before the match would make me commit mistakes, which he can use to eliminate me easily. You wish", Aaron thought as he quickly calmed himself.

The match is about to start, and there was no need to get angry. He can just squash the boy in the match and show him that angering others is not always a brilliant strategy.