Chapter 466: Bad Luck
Sonya was playing in a match.
However, it wasn’t the Meteor Trial but the Celestial Palace Trial, a five-person team battle representing their school. The roles were divided into Vanguard, vanguard, Center, Sub-chief, and chief. Each person could only compete once, and the lineup had to be submitted before the league started, without any changes allowed mid-tournament.
To avoid scenarios where a top-tier competitor faces a lower-tier one, which would harm the spirit and viewership of the competition, the Celestial Palace Trial didn’t purely focus on win-loss records. Each match earned 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points respectively. Thus, even if a team lost the first three matches, the 4+5=9 points from the Sub-chief and chief could still reverse the situation. This meant that schools had to arrange their competitors from weakest to strongest; otherwise, they would be vulnerable to a comeback.
Being a single combat event, the restraint among different Spellcasting Sects was particularly evident. Bad luck could indeed lead to a fire sorcerer getting severely beaten by a water sorcerer. Therefore, although Sonya was the chief in Friendly Matches, she could only serve as the third Center in official competitions.
The Sub-chief was her familiar senior sister, Leoni, while the chief was a fourth-year student, Negus Barver, once heralded as the “Swordgrass.”
Like Sonya and Leoni, Negus was a student of the Sanctuary sorcerer “Rainstorm Singer” Valenteen. He had remained low-profile over the past year at Swordflower College because he spent most of his time adventuring in the Abyss’s third and fourth layers. If it weren’t for the College League, he likely wouldn’t have returned to the surface. He was a pure battle sorcerer.
Negus becoming the chief in the Celestial Palace Trial was a natural choice. He had already stepped into the Time Continent in his third year and completely formed his Golden Wings within a year and a half. He also had multiple Abyss Adventure experiences, making his qualifications and combat prowess unmatched by Sonya. There were rumors that Negus had already been reserved by the Royal Family’s Starburst Guard and would become a Sword Noble immediately after graduation-the lowest noble title in the House of Nobles, the starting point for the ruling class of Stars, and truly a person with a bright future.
As for who would be the Sub-chief between Sonya and Leoni, Professor Trozan mentioned that there had been debates at the school level. Both had become two-wings sorcerers around the same time, and Sonya had even defeated Leoni head-on. However, they ultimately chose the safer option, Leoni.
After all, in the Celestial Palace Trial, the lineup can’t be adjusted once submitted. If a participant encounters an opponent who restrains their abilities, they’ll have no leverage to fight back. While Sonya is indeed stronger, Leoni, with her three years of sorcerer experience, has much richer combat experience and a far more developed spirit system compared to Sonya. Hence, she has a lower chance of being restrained by opposing competitors.