Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

Ritchie stared at the Sky Lightning Claw in the sky blankly. It was exactly the same as he had seen during the World College Tournament, except it was even stronger! It felt like the claws could easily tear anything to pieces!

"What do you think?" Mo Fan put his hands behind him and turned his face slightly in case the student might recognize him.

"That's it, that's the one, Lecturer Mo Yifan! Is that Mo Fan really your student? Did he learn this move from you?" Ritchie blurted out excitedly.

Making a name for oneself by dueling and winning the World College Tournament were things most fighters were envious of. Ritchie was an outstanding Mage in the Aorus Sacred Institute, but he was nowhere close to reaching Mo Fan's reputation.

Therefore, the man who won the World College Tournament had become Ritchie's idol, and the person he wanted to defeat the most!

To Ritchie's surprise, these three lecturers from China turned out to be Mo Fan's mentors! He was obviously going to choose them!

Mo Fan was getting into his role. He patted Ritchie on the shoulder and said with great motivation, "Ritchie, if you join the Institute of Liberty, you will only be a forward at most, which means you are only playing a supporting role. But if you join us, you will be the main protagonist, the soul of the team. Mo Fan was also the core of the Chinese team, so if you join us, we can definitely make you famous across the world, just like Mo Fan!"

Ritchie nodded. He was obviously the simple-minded kind. He was easily convinced when someone promised to help him fulfill his ambitions!

"Very well, we'll start training you tomorrow!" Mo Fan smiled.

------

Each team in the World College Tournament had five students, a standard format for team battles.

However, this open tournament was asking for teams of nine. It was a popular format in the Americas. The spectators also enjoyed it greatly.

Normally, these team battles with nine Mages on one team were only open for Intermediate Mages, as the power of Intermediate Mages was relatively limited. It was easier to choose the venue and handle safety measures for the spectators. The Magic Association had banned duels at the Advanced Level or above, so it was almost impossible to see an official battle between Advanced Mages or higher.

Most students at the Aorus Sacred Institute were Advanced Mages. They were like an independent country with their own rules, so the Magic Association had no right to interfere with their tournament. The Magic Association did not have a branch nearby, either.

The Aorus Sacred Institute WAS their Magic Association. They could just hold any tournament they pleased as long as they were able to handle the safety measures.

A battle at the Advanced Level had a higher requirement on the venue and the protective barrier. Only a place with deep reserves, like the Aorus Sacred Institute, could afford to hold such a high-level tournament. A venue suitable for holding such a high-level tournament would cost a hundred thousand every second!

A battle that lasted for ten minutes would cost sixty million!

A battle made up of nine-man teams would normally last for two to three hours, so the cost of a match alone was a huge fortune!

The teams of nine were the finale of the open tournament. The lecturers could recruit their students for their team in their classes. Before the teams were formed, the solo duels were only treated as a platform for the students to showcase their strength and the lecturers to show off how good they were at teaching, while earning extra income through betting.

If Zhao Manyan insisted on recruiting Ritchie, he had to be quite outstanding. He would become their money-earning machine after they trained him!

In addition, with Ritchie on the team, it would be easier to recruit the remaining teammates for the team.

"Boleyn, are you sure you want to join our team?" Mo Fan looked at the girl in surprise.

"Mm, I feel like I can learn a lot from you. Didn't Ritchie already join your team? I believe we have a chance to win the tournament if he's on the team!" Boleyn confirmed brightly.

"That's great. Healers are the hardest to recruit," Zhao Manyan smiled. He kept glancing at Boleyn's bust too. Impressive volumes!

"Err... lecturers, I would like to join your team too, but I'm not as impressive as Ritchie and Boleyn," Sunny said softly.

Even though Sunny was a high-achiever, Boleyn and Ritchie were two of the most brilliant students in the school. Sunny was not as capable as them in terms of dueling.

"That's fine, a Sound Mage also plays an important role in a team battle. You just need to learn from us, follow orders, and practice how to work together as a team. It's fine if you are not that good at fighting," Mo Fan agreed.

A Sound Mage would greatly restrict the opponent team's Destructive Mages. Mo Fan had been wariest of the Sound Mages during the World College Tournament!

"That means we now have three students on our team: Ritchie, Boleyn, and Sunny. We still have to recruit six more students for the team," Mu Bai murmured.

"Each team has nine members, which means there will be eighteen Mages in one match. It's going to be thrilling. Even I have the urge to join the tournament!" Mo Fan sighed.

"We won't have to recruit anyone else if you are in it. You can easily defeat nine people on your own," Zhao Manyan pointed out.

"You're exaggerating it, but the three of us can easily take on nine people," Mo Fan agreed.

"You can just let Little Flame Belle handle them all."

"Ugh, I almost forgot!" Mo Fan turned around and saw Little Flame Belle raising the skull above her head. She was trying to see through the skull under the sun.

Little Flame Belle had become ridiculously strong after she reached the Adult Phase. Mo Fan did not even dare to fight her now. He only had a slim chance of winning despite having so many Elements!

------

Ritchie was indeed impressive. Mo Fan thought he was only a peak Advanced Mage, but he was actually a Super Lightning Mage.

He had only achieved the Super Level recently, and still lacked control over the Super Lightning Spell, but he had no problem winning duels against students of other factions.

He won five duels in a row after signing up for them, making him one of the elites.

Zhao Manyan used their capital of two thousand and five hundred gold to set up bets and earned a significant amount of money from them. Their capital had now increased to five thousand gold.

Their capital had doubled in no time!

"Ritchie, if you can win seven in a row, we'll sponsor you a Soul-grade Wind Seed. The Wind Element might only be your Secondary Element, but it's impressive how you kept using a Spirit-grade Seed before now," Zhao Manyan offered generously.

Ritchie had won a lot of money for Zhao Manyan. Zhao Manyan was treating the student like his own son!