Chapter 127

127 Shock.

Kartan Shin stated that the battle mages could be targeted by both sides, the mages and the warriors. Following this Richtor unveiled his details putting him in a tough spot. Valerian had decided to beat the shit out of this guy as soon as he catches up to him.

Seemingly the lesson given twice was not enough. This time it will be a public lecture. Kartan Shin asked, “Do you guys have any questions?”

Valerian looked around and found that none of the students asked any questions. Kartan Shin opened his mouth and said, “Since none...”

His words had yet to stop when Valerian raised his hand and said, “I have a question, Teacher Shin.”

Kartan Shin located the source of the voice and found a delicate child, with silver hair standing among the crowd, not only the teacher but even the students all focused their gaze on him. They were surprised, because hardly ever would any student come forward to raise a query.

They all recognized him from his silver hair, and thought, ‘How stupid.’

Valerian had exposed himself, but his IQ was better than this batch of dimwits. Kartan Shin raised his eyebrow and asked, “What is it?”

“Actually, I have two questions. One, can I target my opponents with any method I deem fit? Or do I have to deal with them in kind, for example, do I need to face a mage with magic and a warrior with battle skills?

Second, Can I bring my magic beast companion along?”, his calm manner was surprising to the people, they did not expect him to even go and say, ‘I am a battlemage. You are looking for me.’

.....

Kartan Shin said, “You can use your skills at your own discretion, this competition is not going to bar you, however, since you have the best of bother worlds, you will have to face higher obstacles. Also, your magical beast companion is not allowed to attack.”

The calm tone was a cover-up for the diplomacy. During one of his lessons with Fallax, Valerian had asked the old man, why the entire education block is made around the battle mage tower. The old man then replied to him, “To keep things in check.”

The meaning was obvious that the other two groups used this to put pressure on the Battlemages because they were scared of their talent. However, if they did things a bit too much, the result will be adverse, and the battlemages will rebel.

Valerian nodded and said, “I understand, rest assured, my magical beast is an infant. She is kind and benevolent until some fool tries to attack her directly.”

While the first half of the speech was calm and soft the last sentence was definitely aimed at the students from all the other branches. He did not even care if they were all provoked or enraged by this. Kartan Shin nodded with a solemn expression, and said, “Since the doubts have been rectified, you may proceed to the starting point.”

Valerian did not rush, he waited patiently for the other people to move forward and start climbing the vine. The green vine was as thick as a group of elephants, and it was protruding from the corner of academy island. The students were all trained, regardless of being a mage or a warrior, they all were capable of maintaining balance at high altitudes.

Valerian wanted to wait so that he could easily move around and if necessary attack the people sooner because the students were already fighting with each other as soon as they stepped on the vine.

Out of a total of four hundred fifty students, thirty have been disqualified, while thirty were pushed off the vine, leaving behind three hundred ninety. And this was only when they had climbed twenty meters of the vine. They still had to cover a length of four hundred eighty meters.

As the crowd grew sparse, Valerian made his move. He dashed forward, aware that the few people, who were waiting along with him were all going to target Valerian, as he looked weak and alone.

However, when the boy rushed, they did not expect him to be so fast. Fortuna was stuffed inside his shirt so that she would not fall, and only her head was left peeking from between the gaps in the button.

The people chased after him, but if it was so easy to catch him, would he have come so far?

...

On the assessment island, a lot of people were sitting in high-raised stands. Among these people were Fragrantia, and Stephanie. The former was here to see her son, while the latter was here to check on her daughter, Ashlyn.

Stephanie was the empress of the Sapientia Empire, and also, the would-be in-law of Fragrantia. The two of them were sitting next to each other, with faint smiles on their faces, however, in their hearts, they were cursing each other and tearing each other bald.

Stephanie had taken this opportunity to see the new prince of the Verus royal family. She was here to audit his performance and caliber. She wanted to see what did this orphan hold that made the empress adopt this child into her family. She was a snobbish person and thought if Valerian was to enter the royal family, then it will be demeaning to her elder daughter.

Fragrantia, on the other hand, was here to see how her nephew will slap these pricks back in their faces. They were all gazing at the images being projected by the light magic spell cast by a few light magic teachers.

Fallax appeared beside Fragrantia and sat down. Stephanie was surprised but then she looked at the old man and was surprised. She stood up and bowed to him as she said, “Greetings, Magnum Magister.”

Fallax looked at her and nodded, indicating her to sit down. He said, “Fragrantia, what made you come here?”

Stephanie was shocked to see that the old man was treating the empress so uncouthly. However, what happened next shocked her even more, Fragrantia sighed and said, “Old man, my son is participating can I not come to watch him?”

Fragrantia also had a similar attitude towards this reverend person. What the hell was wrong with these two? Fragrantia noticed the gaze of her in-law and chose to ignore her.

She asked, “How is he doing?”

“He is doing rather well, other than the fact that he has already leveled with Vertex, with a grade six in all aspects of his blessings, he has mastered the Filum Vita to a master level. You should hear him play, it is very pleasant, however, Lilian said that he is extremely lacking in the terms of expression.”, replied Fallax.

Fragrantia nodded and caught the sliver of surprise in the eyes of the Empress of Sapientia.

...

Valerian had stepped on the vine and was shuttling through the number of students blocking the path. They were too embroiled in their own conflicts to pay him any attention and the silver-haired boy used this to sneak through. Some of the other great students of the mage and warrior groups respectfully were doing the same.

They wished to save energy in case they ran dry in the second round. Richtor suddenly cast a spell, but before he could even finish the incantation. Valerian cast a wind movement spell to push himself back. The next moment, everyone saw his elbow connecting to the fatty and knocking him down.

Richtor did not fall off the vine, and neither did he died, he was simply knocked out. A warrior student decided to catch up to Valerian and reached behind him, but the distance between them could not be caught up. This was the difference in their grade. While the young boy was a grade six, the person tailing him was a grade five.

Valerian, however, was still annoyed and he cast the earth bind. The efficiency of his spells was very good, the warriors were useless. They would have to wait for a few minutes before the spell vanished on its own. While the mages were going through another torment. They were all knocked out cold with a quick neck chop.

As they climbed the wind grew stronger, and the vine swayed a little. Valerian was not affected by any of it and climbed at a stable pace. This shocked the spectators, the judges, and also the people responsible for creating such situations.

They did not expect this frail-looking kid to be the one who crossed the first half of the vines first. At this point, he noticed that the vine has become thinner. Raising his head, he found a sauve stadium on the top of the island.

He became excited and picked up the pace. The people who tried to attack him with spells were missing their attacks, every now and then. Suddenly, Valerian jumped off the spot, and cast wind movement to carry himself forward and land ahead of everyone else.

The people did not expect him to turn the tables in a blink, his operation shamed the mages and the warriors for looking down on him.