A/N: Hey guys, author here! First off shout out to CPT Ratchet for PR! Also I might have potentially found someone who will draw the cover art. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Enjoy the chapter!

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“The competition is called the School Qualification tournament. The tournament is used by Sinara Academy to determine the students that will represent our school against the five other academies on the continent in the winter. It will be held during the span of the last semester.

All the beginner and intermediate students will compete in the tournament to determine who the better magician is. The advance ranked students are out of the school collecting beast cores so they will not participate. All students must compete in this tournament unless they go to the Administration Building and fill out forfeit paper. The deadline to forfeit is this Friday.

The rules for the tournament are simple. It will be held as a singles match and will be fought until one side is incapable of resisting or if the panel determines a match is leaning toward one contestant’s side too much for the other contestant to be able to overcome and win. Contestants may also yield at any time during the match.

All magic are allowed, but you must not aim for a vital area or to cause severe injuries. Weapons are also allowed but they must be blunt and cannot be aimed for vital areas on the enemy. If on the rare condition a contestant kills their opponent, intentionally or not, they will be dismissed from not only the tournament but also from Sinara Academy.

The people who make it into the top ten of the tournament will be qualified to represent Sinara Academy in the Xiosu Rising Star Tournament. The tournament was created by the Founders of the five Kingdoms as a way to promote youth growth and for the schools to showcase their most talented students.

The students that make it into the top ten will be selected as the representatives. The top six will be the primary contestants while the other will serve as the reserves in case of an accident. Those who are in the tournament will be exempt from any class work. As long as you are still in, you will not have to go to class.

Many of the current great mages and warriors began to create a name for themselves after participating and making an impression at the Rising Star Tournament. All the major powers within the continent consolidate to Felsia Kingdom during the winter for this tournament.

All of them send numerous people to scout out and even potentially recruit the talented ones to their side. It isn’t rare to see Kingdom’s offer nobility or major guilds to pour funds and manpower at them. All kingdoms and major guilds greed over finding the students with the most potential to become a great warrior or mage after all.

I know it may sound a daunting task for all of those here to make the top ten. You just entered the school two months ago while the others have been here for years. Don’t lose hope though! There have been instances of a Knight rank defeating a King rank and becoming a representative. Also this class surprisingly has three King ranked students already. I have high hopes for you all and look forward to see all of your hard work!

Well then, let’s go over the Civil War in the Sunder Kingdom during the ye…”

’A competition huh? Zer and I should be fine making the top ten but I’m worried about Winst… Even though he is at the peak of Knight Rank in earth magic, he only just started training in swordsmanship… Well it just means that we just have to train him harder!’

Even though the lecture had begun, Azrael’s mind was already full of thoughts about the the upcoming tournament. He looked at Winston with eyes of worry. With the thoughts of harder training for him though, it slowly turned into an evil grin.

Winston, focused on the lecture, began to feel a sudden cold sweat coming. Slowly turning his head to the right, he sees Azrael and Zer who had changed seats to be beside them from the second class on look at him with evil grins. Seeing these evil faces, he could immediately tell what they were scheming!

’Tho…Those bastards! They’re thinking about how to make training harder for me! Fiends! Devils!!’

Seeing Winston’s face pale, both Zer and Azrael couldn’t help but inwardly laugh.

‘I didn’t expect there to be someone other than Zer and I to be in the intermediate class though… I wonder who it is.’

Azrael was honestly surprised that someone else in the class was at King Rank. Unfortunately except for Winston and Zer he didn’t have much contact with anyone. In the end it didn’t matter who it was he just had to defeat them like any other foe.

“So what you think about this tournament Az?”

“It should be fun. I’ve got a basic grasp of the strength of the intermediate ranked upperclassmen. You and I should be able to handle the ones that are fire, water, and darkness affiliated.”

“There is an earth element upperclassmen that is going to be a challenge. His name is Wright. He likes to form an earth barrier around him for protection while he casts an attack spell. It’s annoying to deal with. Also I heard that there’s two really strong wind element females. One’s an upperclassmen named Cynthia. She uses the element’s advantage in speed to travel quickly while looking for a weakness in the enemy. The two are supposedly dating. The other is the third person in our class to be in an intermediate rank. She’s someone I know pretty well. Her name’s Han Byul and she…”

“What?! Han Byul?!”

Right now the three were heading out of the forest. After putting poor Winston through even harsher training, the three were returning to their dorm. Hearing Azrael’s surprise outburst, Zer stops and looks at him with surprise. For the past two months that he knew him, he had never seen Azrael show such emotion. He started wondering what his friend’s connection was to Han Byul.

“Hmm….. Az, what kind of connection do you have with Han Byul?”

“Um… well about that…”

“He totally hugged the Princess in front of all the freshmen at the opening ceremony!”

“WHAT?!?!”

While Azrael had been struggling to find a way to explain what happened, Winston cuts him off and began explaining what happened to Zer.

“Man, you should have seen it. When Azrael saw Han Byul, his face became pale and he immediately rushed toward her, pushing everyone in his way back. Right when he was about to reach her he suddenly yelled “CHRYSTAL!!!” before rushing into her and giving her a hug. It was awesome man!”

Hearing what happened, Zer couldn’t help but question the validity of it. Even if he lost some of his composure, he didn’t think Azrael would do something like that. With a face showing his doubt, he looked toward Azrael, expecting him to deny it, but to his surprise he just slowly nodded with a flushed face when he noticed Zer looking at him.

“Wh..what for real?! You really did that?! Pfft…. AHAHA! Oh god I’m going to have to ask Han Byul about that next time…”

“Oh god… please don’t man I’m already embarrassed enough for causing that scene and mistaking her for someone else….”

Azrael could only bitterly smile at Zer and Winston who were laughing so hard that they fell on the ground. After giving them a moment to enjoy themselves, they finally head back to the dorm. Saying goodbye at the lobby, they go into their room to prepare for the next day.

For the next week, the three trained with more drive as they wanted to be at their best for the tournament. During this time, Azrael had changed from using the wooden sword to a staff so that he could get the feel back. Slowly, but surely, the feeling of holding it became familiar, almost as if it was an extension of his own body.

“Hey Az! I was told that your weapon is finally done! Let’s get Zer and head to Leah!”

“Oh it’s done finally? Let’s go.”

It was currently Saturday. Azrael had been meditating to purify his mana inside the room when Winston had barged into the room in a rush. Hearing that his weapon was finally finished, he immediately stands up and agrees to go. After waiting fifteen minutes for Zer to come down to the lobby, the three head off to the capital in a carriage.

“Ho…. As expected of Wozeal family..”

Inside the carriage, Zer was looking around at the interior of the carriage with approval.

“Don’t you have fancy carriages also Zer? Your dad is the prime minister of the Rhostaz Kingdom after all.”

“We may have some money, but nowhere near as much as the Wozeal family has Az. I believe they’re ranked currently as the second richest family in the continent.”

“WHAT?!”

Hearing that for the first time, Azrael turns around and looks at Winston with shock. Laughing at Azrael’s expression, he throws up a V sign.

“Told you that you don’t need to worry about anything monetarily any more man.”

“You know Winst…. There’s this castle I been looking at…”

Hearing Azrael’s joke, Winston rushes over and puts him in a headlock while rapidly moving his fist horizontally over his scalp. While Azrael was fiercely struggling to get out of the hold, Zer just watches them and laugh. With the three joking around, fifteen minutes quickly pass by and they arrive to Leah. Arriving at the capital, Azrael sticks to the window and looks at the city with interest.

The capital was built on a large hill with its white walls standing tall and majestic for all to view. The buildings were built in a circular fashion, with the road spiraling up and inside of the previous road. Even though it was still early in the day, the roads were so packed with citizens that the carriage was barely inching forward at a snail pace.

“Wow Leah sure is amazing…”

“Is this your first time here Az?”

"Yup”

“It sure is busy like usual. I hate small the roads are here. In Sol the roads are much larger and the city is easier to traverse.”

“Well you got to admit that Leah would be one hell of an annoying city to attack though Winst. Even if the enemies got past the walls somehow, the roads are so small that it’ll be easier for the troops to protect against a larger numbered force. They’ll also have the advantage as they will be fighting from the upper position always. The buildings are also so tall that they are perfect for archers and mages to cast magic down from. I been trying to convince my dad that we need to build some of our forts and cities like Leah….”

It was obvious to see how much Zer admired the way Leah had been built. Azrael nodded his head in agreement also. Leah was a living nightmare for enemies that attempted to invade. The troops could most likely easily defend against an invading force ten times their size.

After an hour of traveling through the city, the carriage finally arrived in front of the armor shop in the business district. Getting out of the carriage, Azrael stretches out and relieves the tension in his muscles. Once all had gotten out, they enter the shop.

The shop was a simple one that was twenty tatamis in size. The owner had tables lined up on the floor with displays of sheaths, greaves, helmets, and other armor. On the walls swords, spears, lances, axes, and several other types of weapons were hanged.

In comparison to the simple look of the shop, all of the items inside were of top quality. Each of them had graceful designs and it could be felt how much effort the blacksmith put into each.

“Oh Master Winston, we have been waiting for you. The weapon you asked to be created is in the back, please wait a moment as I bring it..”

Hearing the door open, a personnel from the shop stepped out from the back and saw them. Seeing Winston, he immediately heads over and gives his greetings and a bow before going to fetch the weapon.

While the three waited, Zer and Azrael began to examine the weapons in finer detail. As they were admiring them a clear bell sound echoes through the room announcing that the door had been opened. Turning around to see who entered, time seems to freeze as he gaze upon the person had just come in.

At the entrance was a girl who seemed to radiate the whole room with light. With her short green hair that reached the tip of her chin and sky blue eyes, she looked an angel that descended down onto the world.

The girl, seeing the three, shows a slight look of surprise before bringing a smile upon her face that seemed to warm his whole body.

“Why hello there Azrael. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

In front of Azrael was the person who was more beautiful than even the moon. In front of him was someone who shone even brighter than the sun.

In front of him stood Han Byul.