Chapter 59: The End of the first round
The afternoon sun continued its slow descent across the enchanted dome of Aurelius Academy as the first round of the Inter-Class Grand Tournament pressed relentlessly onward. There was no pause for celebration after Lina’s victory.
The healers carried Gideon from the arena, the shattered stone floor was restored by earth mages in a matter of minutes, and before the dust had completely settled, the giant projection board above the stadium had already begun spinning once again.
Another pair of names appeared.
Another battle began.
The rhythm of the tournament became merciless.
Students barely had enough time to leave the arena before the next competitors were called. The referees’ voices echoed continuously across the Great Colosseum while the crowd shifted between excitement and anxious silence. Every match ended the same way—one student advanced, the other disappeared into the medical wing or walked away with their dreams of victory shattered.
Hidden inside Lina’s carry-bag, Qhuin quietly watched everything.
He no longer paid attention to the cheering spectators. Instead, his crimson eyes followed every movement within the arena with unwavering concentration. His mind was observing every combatant who displayed even the slightest hint of potential.
A Class A noble swordsman entered first.
Unlike Gideon, the young man fought with remarkable elegance. Every strike flowed smoothly into the next, overwhelming his opponent through constant pressure.
Within three exchanges, he defeated a Class C student without receiving a single scratch.
The audience applauded loudly, but Qhuin remained unimpressed.
"Strong technique," he thought calmly. "But impatient."
Every finishing combination ended with the same flaw, the noble committed his entire weight into the final downward slash.
Against weaker opponents, it looked spectacular, but against an equal, it would leave his ribs completely exposed.
Qhuin silently discarded the boy from his immediate concerns.
The projection board spun again.
Another match.
This time, one of the unexpected Class E students stepped onto the arena floor.
The young commoner carried an ordinary iron spear scarred by countless repairs. His uniform was faded compared to the polished academy attire of the nobles surrounding him, yet his eyes never wavered.
His opponent laughed before the battle even began.
The laughter ended six minutes later.
The commoner survived through sheer determination, refusing to retreat despite multiple injuries. He sacrificed positioning repeatedly just to land a single decisive thrust that forced his noble opponent out of bounds.
The stadium erupted, some cheered and many nobles frowned openly.
Qhuin’s ears jolted.
"Poor technique and footwork, an exceptional resolve."
He remembered the face, not because the student was particularly dangerous...
But because desperation often produced unpredictable opponents.
Hours slipped by, and fire scorched the arena, Ice coated broken stone before melting beneath explosions of lightning.
Axes and Spears splintered, shield after shield shattered under relentless impacts.
By late afternoon, the healers moved almost as constantly as the competitors themselves.
The excited cheers that had greeted every match during the morning gradually faded into quieter applause.
Too many students had already fallen, and some hopeful faces had disappeared through the gates leading toward the infirmary.
Even the air felt heavier.
The sweet scent of enchanted flowers surrounding the stadium had long been replaced by the smell of scorched earth, sweat, and lingering mana.
Lina watched quietly beside Chloe and Mei, her own match replayed itself over and over inside her mind.
Each time she remembered a movement she could have executed more cleanly.
A step that had been slightly too wide, a parry that had carried too much force.
She unconsciously tightened her grip around the hilt of her sword.
"I still have a lot to improve," she murmured.
Chloe glanced sideways at her before laughing softly.
"You beat a Class C noble, and you’re already criticizing yourself."
Lina smiled sheepishly.
"That’s because I know how many mistakes I made."
Inside the bag, Qhuin gave no reply.
For once, he agreed with her completely.
As the afternoon stretched into evening, the projection board finally slowed.
The last battle concluded beneath an orange sky.
A bell rang across the Great Colosseum.
The referee stepped into the center of the arena and raised his voice.
"The first elimination phase has officially concluded!"
Exhausted applause echoed throughout the stadium.
The enormous magical display flickered before replacing the tournament brackets with the updated statistics.
One glowing number appeared after another.
Remaining Participants: 300
Beneath it, the surviving students were divided according to class.
Class A — 150
Class B — 89
Class C — 50
Class D — 9
Class E — 2
Class F — 0
A wave of murmurs swept through the audience, no one was surprised that Class A dominated the tournament.
The surprise came elsewhere.
Only nine students from Class D had survived.
And somehow...
Two students from Class E had clawed their way into the second round, which was unexpected.
Class F had been eliminated, not a single representative remained.
Mei stared at the floating display until she finally located her own name.
"...I made it."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, a second later, relief spread across her face.
"I actually made it."
Chloe immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I told you that you would."
Mei laughed, though the exhaustion in her voice remained obvious
"I honestly thought I was finished and would be removed from the rank because I wasn’t called to the arena."
Lina reached into her bag and handed Mei a flask of clean water.
"Relax, I don’t think it works like that, you did well."
They all giggled as Mei accepted it with both hands before taking several grateful mouthfuls.
"Thank you."
Around them, eliminated students quietly departed the stadium.
Some limped, some cried openly, especially the noble who lost to the commoner in class E, his face was dark with rage as he walked away.
Others walked in complete silence, unable to accept that their tournament had ended after only one match.
Qhuin watched them disappear, there was no satisfaction in their defeat.
Only certainty.
A tournament of fourteen hundred participants had never been designed to reward effort.
It existed to separate those capable of climbing higher from those who would remain behind.
As the surviving students slowly exited into the cool evening air, the academy courtyard became noticeably quieter than it had been that morning.
Three hundred remained, eleven hundred were gone.
Inside the safety of Lina’s carry-bag, Qhuin quietly opened the glowing blue interface through Lina’s device
Rows of names began scrolling before his eyes.
He ignored most of them, one after another, until three unfamiliar names caused his gaze to stop.
The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"So..."
"There are still a few interesting pieces left on the board."
With a thought, he closed the window.
The second round was approaching.
And for the first time since arriving at Aurelius Academy...
Qhuin found himself genuinely looking forward to what came next.
The three girls left the Great Colosseum together, walking shoulder to shoulder through the endless stream of exhausted students.
Around them, conversations buzzed with excitement, disappointment, and nervous speculation about the second round. Nobles discussed tomorrow’s brackets with forced confidence while commoners simply celebrated surviving the first day.
Keeping their heads low, Lina, Chloe, and Mei blended naturally into the crowd, drawing no unnecessary attention as they made their way back toward the academy dormitories.
By the time they reached the Class A residence, twilight had settled over Aurelius Academy. Lina unlocked the heavy oak door to Room 402 and stepped inside with a long sigh of relief.
Chloe and Mei lingered only long enough to exchange a few tired smiles before returning to their own rooms to recover from the day’s battles.
Silence settled over the room.
Lina closed the door, engaged the lock, and finally allowed the tension in her shoulders to disappear. She carefully lifted Qhuin from her carry-bag and placed him atop the polished mahogany table.
Without the slightest hesitation, the tiny white rabbit hopped toward the small plate of sliced fruit waiting nearby and claimed a fresh piece of apple as though nothing remarkable had happened throughout the day.
Lina watched him for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh.
"You really are unbelievable."
Qhuin ignored the comment completely, lazily chewing his apple while gazing through the window at the darkness spreading across the academy grounds.
The reflected moonlight shimmered within his crimson eyes, hiding calculations that neither Lina nor anyone else could begin to comprehend.
Inside her mind, his calm, resonant voice finally echoed.
"The cattle have been thinned, brat."
"Three hundred remain."
"Tomorrow, the nobles will stop treating this as a school exercise..."
A brief silence followed.
Then his voice became colder.
"And the real blood will begin to flow."
Outside, the academy rested beneath the quiet night.
Neither the girls nor the thousands of sleeping students knew that, even now, imperial shadow-guards had already begun quietly searching through academy records, noble archives, and commoner registries for one particular first-year swordswoman.
The storm had not yet arrived, but it was already moving toward them.