Unedited chapter. It will be edited soon.

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"How was the fight? I could see you won quite easily, after things got complicated for you." Laura approached Louis to ask him about it.

"I wanted to continue learning about his martial arts, but I guess there are some things you just can't do. I had to win before I got exhausted," he said.

"I can see you're more tired than usual. Will you be able to continue?" she asked.

"No problem," he replied clearly.

"All right, then."

"How did you do?" Louis asked as he sat down to rest.

She smiled. "Well, I'm already higher than I got in the last tournament, so I'm pretty satisfied."

"And you achieved that without even using your main weapon. So that's great," Louis added, and she agreed.

Although... the reality is that even if she used it, she wouldn't have a big advantage in a combat arena.

The distances were very short, so her power was tremendous, but her rivals, who were more focused on this type of battle, had a clear advantage over her.

Whether a martial artist, a mage, or a swordsman, they all had a great advantage over an armamentist in arena combat, unless she could move well. That's why she was practicing her footwork so much these days.

She hoped that would make the difference; she didn't want to fall just after advancing one rank, when she had really grown strong enough.

"I hope everything goes well," she said.

After that little chat, they both started watching the final match.

"You're up against one of the three stars," she said suddenly, remembering.

"It looks that way. And, in fact, I'll be up against one right now and when I reach the semifinals. I won't be able to relax from now on."

"Haha... well, I can't say anything either. The guy I'm up against is almost as troublesome as one of those three. And then I'll probably have to face Mark."

"It's time to show who you are, isn't it?"

"Sigh. It seems so."

"Don't you like showing off your albinism?" he asked, curious. "I may not be the right person to ask, but I have to say that your albinism is really beautiful. I don't think you should feel ashamed, if that's why."

"Everyone has their own secrets to hide, Louis," she replied casually.

'Although it's not like I remember my own secrets very well,' she thought, clearly reproaching herself for that answer.

Louis had no choice but to nod.

"I guess you're right," he said.

The fight in front of them continued and ended a short time later.

Then all the quarterfinals were ready.

As Laura expected, the troublemaker she had mentioned earlier won, the very one she would have to face. All that remained was to decide when each of them would fight.

The first match was Mark's.

The second was the second of the three stars, the one that would surely go to Louis in the semifinals.

The third match was Louis. And the fourth and final match this time was Laura's.

"Phew, at least we'll be able to get plenty of rest," she said with a slight smile.

"Although I really would have liked to go first, don't you think? We could think about finishing the fight quickly so we can rest for the duration of the rest of the fights, because then we'll have to fight almost immediately."

"Oh." She realized. "That's true."

They hadn't finished talking when Mark had already started his fight.

And he thought what Louis had thought: give it his all to end the fight as quickly as possible, so he could rest more.

This time he didn't hide his power and took advantage of the distances in spectacular fashion. What looked set to be one of the most impressive magical battles due to Mark's opponent's repertoire turned into a one-sided massacre that shocked the audience and left one undisputed winner: Mark Neville.

Even the elders and leaders from different castles who were present were amazed.

"That boy is a very good magician," said Hardrial as he watched the end of the fight. "He has improved a lot since the last tournament."

"Haha," Robert Neville laughed proudly. "Indeed, this is Mark's true power, although he still seems to be holding back."

Hardrial nodded. "If all goes well, Mark's platonic love will be his rival in the semifinals. Do you think that will affect his performance?"

"So that girl is your other student, Miss Laura..." He nodded thoughtfully. "I don't think it will affect my son. He's determined to get first place before graduating, so I think it will be an exciting battle if it happens."

Hardrial smiled with a sigh. 'At this level, even if Laura has what it takes to beat him, all the flaws of a sniper weapon master against a mage will come to light.' He sighed.

He hoped his student wouldn't be too affected if she lost, as it was very likely to happen. Although it hadn't come to that yet.

The second match began, and just like the first match, the second of the three stars swept through it. The same thing happened as before, where the three stars swept through their quarterfinal matches, but where their opponents weren't really that bad.

There was simply too much difference between the top three and the rest, to the point that it sometimes seemed laughable.

They were the Three Stars of the Academy for a reason. Although this time they seemed to be more serious than usual, as they weren't giving their rivals a chance.

"It's because of the Tower's Teachers' Mural, eh," Hardrial thought as he watched everything unfold.

Professor Niles was trying to take the top three spots again, which would position him as one of the most impressive professors, having achieved it twice in a row, since he was the teacher of the previous stars.

In fact, he wasn't just trying to take the top three, because if the student facing Laura could beat her and the third star beat Louis, there would be four this time, which could be a first.

He wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Professor Hardrial, do you think that girl can really make it to the semifinals?" Rebecca asked suddenly.

"She's not that easy to beat, that's for sure. And I can also say with certainty that she doesn't want to give up this position. It would be unfortunate to only move up one spot in the rankings after so much time."

"I see." She nodded.

"Why? Are you planning to bet?" Hardrial asked, curious.

"No, not really," she replied. "I just don't think Professor Niles deserves to receive that award twice in a row. We already gave him that pleasure once, and these kids can't give it to him again," she said, clearly despising the professor.

Evergreen agreed with her. "He's very arrogant, and although he's good at teaching, he doesn't excel at many things. His academic magic often has errors, but he's the one with the fewest errors in the entire academy. But when I went out into the world, I realized that a magician with so many errors in his teaching shouldn't be so highly praised."

Hardrial laughed a little. 'You've earned the hatred of the two magical pillars of the empire, Professor Niles. That's not very like you,' he thought.

But he didn't care.

This time, at least, he was sure to have one in the top two.

Louis.

While he had no idea how strong he was in terms of statistics, he was completely sure that he had more than 100 points in them, so he had the level to be one of the stars, which he would surely have to increase after the tournament.

After the second match ended, Louis was called to the arena; it was his turn to fight.

It had been really quick.

He was up against the third of the three stars, someone quite impressive who had only lost to Mark in the previous tournament and then went on to win third place.

He and the second of the three stars were very evenly matched in terms of strength, and they were all above level 100.

"Louis von Habsburg," he said suddenly. "I've heard of you."

"I hope you haven't heard any strange rumors. Some people make things up," Louis replied with a laugh.

"Hahaha, I like you." His rival took his response in stride. "I don't think what I heard is a bad thing, but now that you're in the top 10, you'll be able to participate in the Battle of the Hierarchies, and who knows? You might surprise us all. So, how about you stop here? We're in the arena, and I don't want to intimidate an armamentist, because I liked you from the moment I saw you."

Louis sighed. "You know, I've always found tournaments boring, and this one is no exception. I really prefer adventure, battles under the table, mysteries, intrigues... Is it strange for a young man like me to enjoy political intrigues more than battles in the arena?" he asked.

"Eh..." He smiled strangely. "I guess so, it is strange. But that being the case, will you do as I say?"

"But despite that, there's still something I like to do. I'm very competitive, and suddenly there are several rivals who seem unbeatable in front of me and a rich reward waiting for me at the end. I'm sorry, but I want to see what you seniors can do. So I'll have to face you."

"Tsk, what a problem. People really like to make me move today." He stretched several times. "You can call me Drake, please don't make fun of my name. I already know it's horrible."

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