The heavy double doors of the Main Hall thundered shut behind the four Year 2 representatives, sealing them inside a space so vast it felt like stepping into an ancient cathedral dedicated purely to violence and authority.
Glowing runic arrays hummed along the towering marble pillars, casting a cold, ethereal light over the hall.
Banners representing the Great Aether Empire, hung from the vaulted ceilings, swaying lazily in the ambient pressure generated by fifty of the most dangerous young minds in the empire.
Lynx stood with his three girls, his hands tucked loosely into his dark, trimmed Year 2 trousers.
His heterochromatic eyes swept over the gathered crowd with a calm, predatory indifference.
The composition of the roster was clear at a glance.
To his left stood the Year 1 prodigies, five fresh faces, their eyes wide with a volatile mix of anxiety and raw ambition.
Naturally, the Year 2 slot allocation was heavily skewed.
It should have held ten separate students, two from each elemental affinity, but Lynx alone occupied five of those spots, leaving only five other Year 2s to share the floor with him — Kira, Lira, Ava, and two other elite representatives from Earth and Ice Affinity Class.
Further back stood the Year 3 veterans, fifteen seasoned combatants radiating dense mana, and finally, the wall of Year 4 behemoths. Twenty senior students whose physical presence alone warped the air around them.
As Lynx scanned the senior ranks, his gaze crossed paths with Eleanor.
The Academy Queen stood flanked by her personal escort of elite girls, radiating a tranquil, blinding elegance in her immaculate golden uniform.
Her striking purple eyes locked onto Lynx’s.
The moment their eyes met, Lynx offered her a casual, almost lazy nod. Eleanor didn’t frown, nor did she ignore him.
With a subtle, barely perceptible curve of her lips, she returned the nod, a gesture of silent recognition that didn’t go unnoticed by the surrounding elites.
Standing right next to Eleanor’s group, however, was a tall, incredibly handsome male student clad in a Golden Aether Blessed Academy Year 4 uniform.
He had short, impeccably trimmed black hair, a razor sharp jawline, and eyes as cold and blue as glacial ice.
His posture was military rigid, his spine straight as a spear.
Lynx didn’t need to be told who he was, the guy was stealing side glances at Eleanor every three seconds like a desperate thief trying not to get caught by the guards.
Instinctively, Lynx’s Primordial Vision flared, a subtle translucent panel superimposing itself over the noble’s frame.
[Name: Julian Frostborne
Class: Blessed
Age: 21
Affinities: Ice S-Rank, Fire A-Rank
Blessings:
Frostfire Heart: Converts thermal energy into permanent frost armor. Increased speed by 30% when swapping between Ice and Fire Affinity. Reduced mana drain by 20% when using Fire or Ice Affinity.
HP: 61,000 / 61,000
MP: 79,000 / 79,000
STR: 40,000
AGI: 30,000
STA: 40,000
INT: 30,000
DEF: 40,000]
Lynx hummed internally, his face remaining entirely expressionless. Not bad for the king of the academy. Impressive stats for a human at his age, right up there near Eleanor’s tier.
But to Lynx, whose baseline attributes were comfortably sitting in the half million range, Julian was nothing more than an ambitious insect playing in a sandbox.
Julian, however, was far from calm.
The King of Aetherion Academy had caught the silent exchange between Lynx and Eleanor, and it sent a cold spike of agitation straight through his chest.
Julian’s ice blue eyes narrowed, locking hard on Lynx.
He had spent years building his dominant reputation, standing as the undisputed male monarch of the student body.
Yet here was this Year 2 student—a guy who was strong enough to occupy five full spots by himself—walking in like he owned the entire hall.
Julian’s gaze flicked to the women with Lynx.
Kira, Lira, and Ava were breathtaking, their vibrant, newly enhanced beauty barely trailing behind Eleanor and her high tier escorts.
Worse yet, Julian watched as the surrounding Year 1 and Year 2 students. Young men and women who usually bowed their heads or sought Julian’s favor. They were currently looking at Lynx with wide, awestruck eyes.
Lynx didn’t just walk into a room, his charm and massive baseline stats gave him a passive, suffocating gravity that made everyone else look like background extra characters.
It irked Julian to his absolute core.
Julian’s eyes shifted toward the side of the Year 2 rank, noticing Peter Musk standing rigid in his deep blue uniform.
Peter was practically vibrating, his eyes bulging as he stared at Lynx with a violent, bloodthirsty hatred that radiated across the stone floor.
Julian’s eyes then tracked Peter’s line of sight down to Ava. Peter’s own twin sister, who was practically clinging to Lynx’s arm, her cheeks flushed, her lightning aura buzzing softly, and her eyes swimming with absolute, unconditional love for the monster who had disgraced her brother.
Julian’s lips twitched into a subtle, cruel smirk. So the golden boy of the Musk family lost his sister to the academy’s new favorite monster. Fascinating. Pure, unadulterated hatred is so easy to manipulate.
Before Julian could ponder the thought any further, the heavy air in the Main Hall suddenly crushed downward.
The ambient chatter vanished instantly.
The temperature in the room plummeted, replaced by a suffocating, fiery pressure that made the stone floor groan.
From the raised podium at the front of the hall, two figures stepped out from the shadows of the runic pillars.
Professor Rose walked in front, her crimson hair fluttering as her terrifying, fiery aura rolled over the fifty students like a tidal wave.
Beside her stood Professor Henry, a formidable Year 4 instructor whose dark, heavy presence smelled distinctly of crushed iron and raw mana.
Rose scanned the room with a gaze so intense it felt like hot metal pressed against skin. Her stern eyes lingered on Lynx for a full two seconds before sweeping over the rest of the ranks.
"Weak," Rose spat, her voice ringing out like a war hammer striking an anvil. The sheer weight of her casual aura hit the room.
Instantly, knees buckled.
The Year 1 prodigies gasped, dropping straight onto one knee as sweat instantly poured down their faces.
A dozen Year 2s and Year 3s groaned, forced into a bow under the sheer density of an SSS ranked Professor’s pressure.
Even some of the Year 4 seniors had to shift their stances, gritting their teeth to resist the suppression.
Only Lynx stood completely erect. His dark uniform didn’t even rustle.
His head was held high, his heterochromatic eyes staring back at Rose with cold, unyielding composure, as if her crushing aura was nothing more than a mild spring breeze.
Rose pulled back her pressure, letting out a heavy, disappointed sigh as she shook her head.
"Look at you all. Groveling over a fraction of my residual mana. If this is the state of Aetherion’s top fifty representatives, the other three empires won’t even need their Year 4s to wipe the floor with us. You will lose. Horribly. Publicly."
The students who had been forced to their knees pushed themselves up, their faces burning with embarrassment, their eyes sparking with fierce determination.
"Listen up," Rose continued, her voice cutting through the hall like a razor.
"The date has been fixed. The Grand Blessed Tournament will officially begin on Monday, September 1st. Exactly two weeks from today."
A wave of shocked murmurs immediately rippled through the ranks.
"Two weeks?" a Year 3 student muttered in disbelief. "We were supposed to have at least a month."
Rose raised a single finger, and the room snapped back to dead silence.
"The moment the Headmistress locked in our final 50 student roster yesterday night, the official submission was sent to the Council. The other three Empires. Void, Heather, and Bacon, agreed to move the date forward. And it was finalized."
Rose’s eyes swept over the hall once more, dropping her next bomb without a second’s hesitation.
"Since the vast majority of you are utterly lacking in real combat edge, the Academy has decreed a mandatory shift in training. When I call your name, step forward."
She didn’t read from a scroll. Her voice echoed with absolute authority.
"Lynx Azarion."
A sharp, collective intake of breath echoed through the hall.
Peter Musk stared at Lynx’s back with eyes so intense it looked like the blood vessels in his retinas were about to snap.
Lynx casually stepped out of the Year 2 rank, walking forward with smooth, rhythmic strides.
"Eleanor Haleborn.
Layla Solara.
Iris Nightglow.
Rhea Dawnwhisper.
Nadia Goldspire."
The Queen of the Academy and her four Year 4 elites stepped forward with flawless, regal grace.
"Julian Frostborne.
James Shantel.
Mars Richardson.
Kol Mikel."
Julian straightened his collar, stepping forward alongside three Year 4 males, his ice blue eyes sweeping over the crowd to soak in the admiration.
The ten students who were called lined up at the very front of the hall, their backs facing the remaining forty representatives, their gazes fixed squarely on the two Professors standing on the elevated stage.
Rose folded her arms across her chest. "All of you present here will be immediately relocated to the Restricted Area inside the Academy Forest.
Effective today, you will be surviving, hunting, and fighting beasts for one full week without any of the Professor’s support.
You need blood on your hands, strength and true desperation in your eyes before you set foot in the Grand Blessed Tournament."
The hall erupted into outright chaos.
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