"River Bend Academy five nil against Vigilante Academy, obtain their first victory without any accident. Freshman Queen last year, Chaos Valkyrie Sullie and her mysterious variant bloodline challenge Audrey for the title of the strongest female student!"
"Golden Stag will purportedly use an all-substitute lineup against Snow Wolf, their main five members won’t show themselves for the first match."
In the fifth day of the greatest annual congregation in Eichemalar, the Hegemonical Cup of Starry Sky Braves, Breith Magazine’s headlines were as eye-grabbing as ever.
"Sullie was definitely not a match for Audrey last year, but this year, it’s hard to tell who’d win and who’d lose if they were to fight."
"Team Golden Stag is truly arrogant."
In front of a small inn, people from Iron Forest Academy and Divine Shield Academy sat in a dining room and ate breakfast, casually chatting while reading the new issue of Breith Magazine fresh from the oven.
"Charlotte! Ivan! Ferguillo!"
All of a sudden, they heard a warm and familiar shout.
"Hoh…"
Seeing the figure trotting their way from the head of the street, some musclemen from Iron Forest Academy exhaled and looked at Charlotte. "Charlotte, this guy finally came to see you."
"Hey, Ayrin, as her boyfriend, we’ve been here for several days but it’s only the first time you came to see her, aren’t you a bit too lacking?"
They’d lost to Ayrin in the tournament, but for some reason, they couldn’t muster any hostility whenever they saw him.
Or perhaps it was just as Ferguillo said. Whether victory or defeat, they hadn’t left any regrets back in the tournament field.
Or perhaps it was Ayrin himself that was really too convincing, someone impossible to feel hostile against.
"What nonsense are you guys spouting now!" Charlotte grabbed her fork tight. She was even of a mind to stab it into these guys.
"Nothing I can do. We’re definitely going to face Silver Trout Academy soon, so I have to use the little time we have and train." Ayrin scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "There are two arcane skills that are really pretty difficult. I can’t totally master them even now."
"That freshman in Silver Trout is so strange, are you confident you can defeat him?" Wilde couldn’t stop himself from asking.
"Of course I am," Ayrin said, immediately excited. "They’re very strong, but we’ll definitely going to beat them."
"That was a dumb question. This guy would probably answer like that even if he were going against Dragon Breath Academy." Wilde exchanged a glance with his teammates nearby and suddenly felt his question just now was very silly.
"Did you already think of a way to counter Shinro’s arcane skill?" Ferguillo asked in a faint tone, watching Ayrin coming in front of him.
"That’s right." Ayrin nodded. "I’m hard at work learning two arcane skills. As long as I can master them, I should be able to defeat him."
"You directly told us a secret like that, aren’t you afraid we’ll leak it?" a muscleman from Iron Forest Academy said, interrupting.
"How’s that possible, we’re all friends here. You guys definitely have our back." Ayrin laughed out loud, then asked again, "Are you going to watch the tournament today? The first match today’s already Golden Stag’s match, and then Sophia and the others are fighting after that. I want to go and see Golden Stag Academy’s strength, and I also want to cheer for Sophia and the others."
"This guy…"
Ferguillo looked at this guy who was often slow on the uptake, who looked pretty silly, but was unexpectedly impossible to dislike. He would even from time to time move others. He put down his half-eaten toast and stood up, saying faintly, "Ayrin, we’re about full. We’re heading to the arena first, you and Charlotte come later?"
"Full?" Two guys from Iron Forest Academy blinked. They thought, they were clearly only half done with the meal. But Wilde immediately stared at them and said in a hush, "Are you guys pigs? The boss is clearly giving him some alone time with Charlotte, get it?"
Ivan stood up as well with a smile. "We’re also pretty full."
"You guys…" With a woosh, Charlotte’s cheeks instantly turned red.
"What, do you want us to stay behind and keep you company too?" Some musclemen from Iron Forest Academy immediately winked and made eyes, looking eager.
When she thought that she had no idea what these guys might say if they were to stay behind, Charlotte lowered her head and said with incomparable shyness, "It’s still better if you guys go first." It made everyone laugh out loud.
"Charlotte, what the hell are you doing? There’s nothing going on, why are you so tense?"
"Honestly! There’s nothing between you and him, get a grip and act normal."
Charlotte silently swore at herself while she ate her food, her head lowered, her heart exceptionally tangled.
But as soon as she opened her mouth, Charlotte almost directly became dizzy, because, for some inexplicable reason, the words that came out were: "Why aren’t you with Sophia and the others, why did you think of coming to see me?"
Ayrin didn’t pay attention. He merely said, his face brimming with excitement, "They have to go to the contestant preparation area today, we can only watch them from the stands. Plus, I’ve been wanting to watch the tournament together with you for a long while. I finally have time today."
"Then what about Chris?"
Charlotte almost passed out as soon as the words left her mouth.
She was itching to stab herself with the fork. She felt as though her whole being was going off the rails.
Every word she said was without head or tail.
"I think she’s also using every second to train painstakingly." Ayrin was still slow on the uptake. He merely said, "By the time we face Silver Trout, she’ll definitely be even more powerful than she used to be."
"How are your arms?"
Charlotte finally felt she was somewhat back to normal.
"No big deal." Ayrin smiled and flung his arms wrapped in bandages. "They don’t hurt all that much anymore. I should be able to participate in the match against Rapier Academy."
"You have to fight even against Rapier Academy?" Charlotte lifted her head, startled.
Ayrin nodded. "Teacher Carter’s planning for me and Moss to go on stage as much as possible so that we can progress faster. For the others, it’s best to keep their strength secret. Against Silver Trout Academy, it should be an especially hard confrontation ."
"Teams like Silver Trout and Golden Stag, they’re an entirely different affair compared to a team like Mountain Kings." Charlotte let out a soft breath. She touched her slightly burning cheeks, finally feeling herself back to normal. "Almost everyone on their main rosters masters special taboo skills that are impossible to totally understand for those on the outside. Also, what’s the most fearsome is, many of them have the talent of unique bloodlines. In theory, if you can defeat team Silver Trout, then you’d really have the strength to challenge for the cup."
"Charlotte." After Charlotte was done with her meal, walking toward the arena together with Ayrin, Ayrin suddenly yelled her name.
Lost in thought, her eyes entranced by both their shadows, Charlotte came back to her senses with a start. She turned around and looked at him. "What?"
"Are you free in the next few days?" Ayrin asked, looking at her.
"Why?" Charlotte suddenly felt a little guilty again.
Ayrin’s smile brimmed with expectation. He said, "I’d like you to help me with training."
"Me, help with your training?" Charlotte stared in a slight daze.
"Yeah." Ayrin nodded firmly. "It seems I prefer training by fighting. If you were to fight against me, then with your fighting ability, it’d surely squeeze out my potential all the better."
"But…" Charlotte was a little hesitant.
"What, you’re not free?" Ayrin was a bit disappointed.
"Alright then." For some reason, when she saw the disappointment in Ayrin’s eyes, Charlotte suddenly nodded as though she were possessed by demons.
"Great!" Ayrin immediately jumped in joy.
All around them, people walking by suddenly looked in their direction.
"Hey, isn’t that Ayrin from team Holy Dawn?"
"Who’s the girl with him, it doesn’t look like she’s wearing Holy Dawn Academy’s clothes."
They heard sudden whispers.
Charlotte suddenly blushed a little. "Really, I just agreed to help with your training, why are you acting so happy?" she said in a hush, stamping her feet.
"Of course I’m happy. I don’t know why, I feel particularly happy just talking with you." Ayrin laughed happily, then scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "In fact, the first time I saw you jump down from the wall in Divine Shield Academy and land with a bang, I already thought you were particularly heroic, particularly pretty and particularly strong. Back then, when we were going back with Moss, we even talked on the way about why you seemed so heavy, but your figure was still so fine, not fat at all."
"Glib!"
Charlotte’s face became even redder. Her mood soared for some inexplicable reason.
She gave Ayrin a glare. There was a sudden spring to her steps, a little bounce, an extremely rare occurrence.
"Strange."
All of a sudden, she heard Ayrin mumbling behind her.
"What’s the matter?"
Charlotte turned around and looked at Ayrin.
"There’s someone like Lotton, his eyes are very strange when he looks at me."
"Him?" Charlotte followed Ayrin’s gaze and saw the back of a boy clothed mainly in blue, but with great white patterns. She suddenly blinked. "That’s Hawkmoon Academy’s school uniform."
"Someone from Hawkmoon academy?" Ayrin shook his head, even more baffled. "I"m not sure why. Lotton gave me a weird feeling before, this person also gives me a weird vibe."
"You noticed him looking at you right now, then the feeling he gave you was the same as what you felt when Lotton focused on you?" Charlotte frowned. She immediately noted down this person’s appearance and distinctive traits.
His build was probably about the same as Ayrin’s, with long brown curly hair.
His walking posture was very peculiar, as though he only used the tip of his feet, while his heels never touched the ground.
"Hawkmoon Academy has a match in a bit as well. When the time comes, we’ll take another good look at this person," she told Ayrin.
What was different from an ordinary team member was, she and Ivan often went on missions with Lannister’s troops and received special training. Hence, she and Ivan were certain that the aura coming from Lotton that day in the tournament was definitely the aura that only an arcane master who already went through many real close-quarter fights could have, or even that of someone who already killed many people.
If someone like him were to stare at someone and reveal some hostility, some desire to kill, then someone with keen perception might well feel strange vibes.
This person from Hawkmoon Academy also gave Ayrin the same feeling, so this made her instantly feel that this person was as suspicious as Lotton.