Max walked through the Academy gates rubbing his hands. The weather was getting colder and colder with each passing day.

The Academy was crawling with people. In a normal situation, it wouldn't be saw.

Max could see the signs leading towards the exhibition hall where the fight between the celestials was going to take place. It must be the reason for the crowd.

….

"Why are you guys in my dorm?" Axel asked with a yawn as he rubbed his eyes. His hair was a mess and his pajamas made Lear's face twitch

"You aren't coming for class?" Max asked in confusion.

"I don't have one early in the morning…" Axel replied before turning around and falling onto the bed once again.

"Tsk..luck guy…." Lear gritted his teeth. The cold indeed affected them. No matter how strong were the mages, in the end they weren't the ones to mainly focus on their body.

Even though it was possible to use the mana barrier to protect oneself from cold, it would mean a continuous consumption of mana which was probably not the best idea.

"What happened to your face?" Max asked as he looked at the band-aids on Lear's face. His face looked a bit swollen and red at places too.

"N-Nothing, I just fell on the stairs yesterday…." Lear said as he laughed awkwardly.

The duo walked out of the dorms when Lear suddenly asked, "Do you want me to come and cheer you?"

"Nah…. I don't want to lose a winning battle. So... no thanks.." Max replied as he continued to walk calmly.

"Tsk...don't blame when you lose without my cheering…" Lear said with a snort.

…

Max parted ways with Lear and went towards the Disciplinary Committee to report to the Committee Head. The committee held a meeting at the beginning of every week. Every member had to be present and all the matters would be discussed in it.

As Max entered the building, he bumped into Erina.

"It's you, I finally met you. I have been searching for you…" Erina said as she grabbed Max's hands.

"Umn...did you need anything from me?" Max asked in confusion, he didn't think that she had any reason to look for him.

"Yes, I do. I have to hear a lot from you…" Erina said as she looked at Max with eyes full of expectation.

"Will you leave him Senior? I think he needs to be in good health today. You shouldn't mentally drain him…."

Max turned his head to see Norek entering the building.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Erina said as she looked at Norek who just gave her a sweet smile.

Max once again couldn't help but think that this guy was a mistake, he clearly had a more feminine aspect to him.

."Let's go, the Committee Head is already here…"

…

"Everyone is here, I guess…"

As soon as Max entered the room, he heard Argus's voice and saw that most of the seats were filled. He suddenly felt a gaze on him and saw Victor smiling.

Max, Erina and Norek took their seats and Argus finally spoke, "Let's begin then..."

With that said, the people began to give their reports one by one…

...

"Is there anyone who has to say anything more?" Argus said as he looked around.

"I have to…" Max suddenly raised his hand.

"Oh! Sure go on…" Argus said in surprise. He was not expecting Max to speak.

Max just wanted to raise the topic with the student's behavior in the classes. Aside from that, he was interested to know whether the committee knew anything about the hidden cult.

After Max was done speaking, everyone's face sank. It seemed this wasn't the first time it was being discussed in the place.

"We haven't found any concrete evidence regarding this….." One of the guys spoke as he looked at Max.

"The students themselves don't know about it. It is as if they are following just because everyone else does…" Another person said.

"Those are just rumours that the students from the commoner sections had made themselves and ended up believing in it." Victor spoke as well and everybody else sighed.

This seemed to be the most logical explanation. A couple of coincidence and over-exaggerated rumors had given birth to this secret group.

"Well, I think there isn't any smoke without any fire." Erina suddenly spoke. "I don't think it's entirely false. If it really was, there is no way that these rumors would have lasted this long, because from what I have heard these rumors had been present for a long time…"

"But we still can't change the fact that we haven't found anything as of yet…" Victor retorted.

"Whether these rumors are true or false, it still can't change the fact that students are afraid of it." Argus finally intervened, "As the disciplinary committee, it's our responsibility to look after this matters….I want you all to interact with the students and submit your findings next time…."

Everyone nodded.

"One more thing, about the practice match." As soon as Argus said that, everyone sighed.

No one had expected things to take turns the way it did. It has gone from a simple test to the only god knew what.

The Committee was made to stop violence and maintain peace and the way it looked now, it seemed that they were the ones promoting it.

"Let's announce the motive of the bout before it begins….and try not to go overboard both of you…." Argus said as he looked at them.

"Injuries are inevitable, unless the opposite party timely surrenders…" Victor said as he looked at Argus.

"In that case, don't push yourself. If you feel that you can't carry on, just surrender. Got it?" Argus said as he looked at them.

Everyone nodded their heads agreeing with it except for the two participating.

The meeting was over and everyone finally got out of the room.

As Max was on his way out, Victor passed by him and whispered, "Don't blame me....its your fault for messing with people that you aren't suppose to..."

Max smiled as he replied, "I wonder how long you are going to blame others for your own failures..."

Victor paused as he turned around to look at Max, his eyes carried a terrifying glared. In the end, he controlled himself and gave a Max a last glare before leaving.

….

Max went to his class as usual. He was carefree while people around him gossiped about the different topics including him.

"You are indeed a fool…" Tyler said calmly as the class was over.

"Well, you can check out if I am a fool or not…." Max said with a smile.

"You might be a Masochist but I am not a sadist. So I won't be going…" Tyler replied as he ignored him.

Max shook his head and walked out of the seat. The time for the fight had come.

….

On the other side, Lisa urged Elly and Aria to go with her as well, "Let's go and watch it. I even made a bet with Janet. I will treat you guys if I win…"

"Whom did you bet on?" Aria asked.

"Max…" Lisa replied..

"What's there to watch then, there was still a chance for Max winning by thunder striking his opponent but now, you have even ruined it…." Aria said with a sigh and Elly nodded.

"That's rude…." Lisa said as she stood up and dragged both of them, "Come, I will show both of you….today I have my lucky start on my side…."

…

On the other side, Erina was also walking towards the stadium where the match was about to take place when she met with Nathan.

"You sure have time to be lazing around, I think it's better if you spent it on training." She said with a smile.

"I did enough, besides it won't be that tough…" Nathan said as he turned around with a confident look on his face.

Both of them were going in the same direction.

"Huh? Aren't they fighting today?" Suddenly a reporter noticed both of them. The fight between them should be taking place soon but why were they going in the opposite direction? Now that he carefully looked, they weren't the only ones. A lot of students were moving towards the same place.

"Hey let's go and check out what's going on…" the guy said to the cameraman behind and he nodded.

…

"You aren't going?" Lora asked Lear, she knew about the fight as well.

"It's fine….he will win…" Lear said with a smile.

"You are that confident?" Lora said in surprise.

"Kind of…"

…

Axel on the other side hesitated before finally making the decision, "He said it wasn't a big deal....in that case, the one who needs my support is Mio-chan...."

Axel looked at his laptop where the show was airing live, the title was "Mio-Chan in Trouble"

...

"I didn't think you would be here as well…" Kain said in surprise as he looked at the guy calmly gazing down the scene below.

"It isn't every day that you get to see something like this…" Werner replied as he looked at the scene below, 'I didn't think it would be this easy. I didn't even need to do anything to rile people up. Now all that is left is to see whether this person can help me achieve what I want…'

He had the same plans as Max but his objective was way different than Max, in fact it was totally opposite to him.

Werner smiled as he looked at the person who had just walked up to the fighting stage.

…

"Aren't there too many people?" Max muttered as he looked at the audience around, 'Bahamut will definitely be happy after hearing about this'

"Let me announce the purpose of this bout, today we are here to just have a combat ability test. So please refrain yourself from spreading any false information…" The guy speaking was from the disciplinary committee.

The crowd immediately broke out in whispers as they heard about it. They had obviously come here after hearing the exaggerated rumors.

"What's there to watch then? It's just a simple sparring match…" one of the guys said.

"Tsk….don't you get it, that is just a cover for the match…."

"I think so too…."

The crowd as usual didn't stay down for long, it wasn't easy to convince people when they believed something specially when they weren't alone in the group of believers.

The person announcing sighed, the plan didn't seem to work. He shook his head before taking the mic and announcing.

"The rules are the same as the ones followed in official matches….

"Now let the fight begin!"