Close Combat Mage
chapter-170

Chapter 170 – Attending the Tournament Once More Pt. 2

Ever since Suo Jia had first entered Holy Light, the water element was no longer the weakest element. In fact, it was the exact opposite; water elemental Mage Apprentices had defended the championship for three consecutive years. If they won this year as well, it’d be the fourth time.

Although Suo Jia hadn’t attended last year’s competition, the championship had been won by the group that Aimi and Aila had formed. The outcome of this year was also unquestionable; the current Aimi and Aila had long since surpassed the formerly 8 year old Suo Jia. In addition, they were no longer the youngest students in the academy; by the end of this year, everyone would be 12 years old.

With Suo Jia in the lead, the two girls wearing blue mage robes followed behind him with slightly lowered heads, and all three quietly entered the King of Kings Tournament arena. The reason Suo Jia had come today was because he wanted to personally witness the girls’ showdown!

However, nobody else know this. When they suddenly saw Suo Jia appear, all of the people present gasped in shock. Who was he? Everyone in the academy, regardless of male or female, new admits or graduates, knew of him.

They also all knew that once he appeared, the championship would have no suspense. It wasn’t that Holy Light hadn’t produced any super talents; actually…the number of geniuses in Holy Light was 80% or above of the students. Only 20% or below weren’t geniuses. Everyone knew that because the academy only accepted 100 students every year, it’d be extremely hard to enter without being a genius.

As soon as Suo Jia entered, the Holy Light Academy’s headmaster welcomed him with a wide smile. Originally…since Suo Jia was a mere student at the school, the headmaster wouldn’t have acted this way. However, Suo Jia was already a high-ranked Knight. If anyone dared to act disrespectful to him, he could easily challenge the offender into a fight legally approved by the empire!

Although the headmaster wasn’t afraid of being challenged…only idiots would try to provoke Suo Jia, as everyone knew of his relationship with the imperial family. It didn’t matter if one had a higher or lower noble rank.

Moreover, Suo Jia was a rare expert in the academy that only appeared every 1000 years. In addition, the headmaster personally frequented the White Villa to eat, and he had been quite well catered to. At this point, he wouldn’t be willing to not give face to Suo Jia.

With a smile on his face, the headmaster rushed up to Suo Jia and laughed, “Knight Suo Jia, why have you come here today? Could it be…”

With a smile, Suo Jia shook his head and interrupted the headmaster firmly, “Don’t bother guessing. I didn’t come to attend the tournament; I just came to watch.”

The headmaster nodded in response and continued, “That’s right, even if you did win, it would be useless to someone like you. In that case, let’s go over there together to watch the competition. The view there is better!”

Suo Jia glanced around from the corner of his eyes, and then nodded. Accompanied by the headmaster and under the gazes of over 10,000 students, Suo Jia and the headmaster began to walk toward the platform.

“Gasp!” Seeing the headmaster and Suo Jia sit down on the platform, the students couldn’t help but sharply inhale. What exactly was he doing? He even dared to brazenly sit next to the headmaster?

Seeing the shocked crowd of people below him, Suo Jia smiled. Truth be told, he was also slightly uncomfortable. However…he was already the highest-ranked Knight, a true aristocrat. Receiving this much courtesy was to be expected. On the contrary, if the headmaster hadn’t offered, that would’ve been a mistake. Aristocrats and commoners had to be differentiated in this way.

Although Aimi and Aila also held noble titles, their ranks were still too low, and couldn’t qualify as genuine aristocrats. They couldn’t even count as pseudo-nobles. In general, if they really had to be ranked, they would only be minor nobles. They didn’t have money or power, and even the commoners didn’t pay them any attention.

Suo Jia smiled as he looked at the two girls behind him. He had always wondered exactly which of the two was more powerful.

Although the two frequently trained together, it wasn’t a competition, so it was hard to make them actually go all out. Normally, they’d stop the practice once contact was made. Suo Jia knew that only at today’s competition would he be able to truly examine their strengths!

At the moment, the two girls were covered with large blue cloaks that covered their entire bodies and their heads, and they were standing there quietly with their heads lowered. Suo Jia knew that they were currently resting, preparing themselves for the upcoming tournament.

For the past few years, these two girls hadn’t actually participated in the King of Kings Tournament. They had only gained the crown within their age group. That’s why…these two girls were extremely foreign existences to the academy’s people. The people were only concerned about whether or not Suo Jia would participate in the tournament, and nobody even thought of the two girls.

However, the reason for Suo Jia’s return was precisely because of the two girls. In his opinion, the champion could only be one of these two. There were absolutely no other options. Their given Legendary ranked magic equipments alone were already things that no student here could currently stand up against.

Time slowly passed by. Eventually, it was time for the competition to start soon. Under the referee’s command, each of the champions from the various age groups appeared on the stage. Just then, Suo Jia lightly snapped his fingers, and then made strange gesture with his hand.

Receiving Suo Jia’s message, the two girls respectfully nodded, then quietly left the platform and walked towards the competition arena. Only after they had arrived at the center of the arena did they stop in their tracks.

“This…” Seeing this scene the headmaster couldn’t help but be confused. He didn’t understand, why had Suo Jia’s companions gone there? Were they trying to cause a commotion?

Noticing the headmaster’s puzzled expression, Suo Jia smiled and said, “They are also students of the academy. Moreover, they’re my classmates. The reason I came today was because I wanted to watch them have a showdown!”

The headmaster couldn’t help but shake when he heard Suo Jia’s indifferent words. Theoretically speaking, students of the same age group couldn’t possible encounter each other in the competition, unless they both charged their way through to finals. This was something Suo Jia must’ve known. In that case, why had he said those words as if they were obviously inevitable?

Both the headmaster and the other students were extremely puzzled. When they saw the two figures in blue in the arena, they couldn’t figure out who the girls were. Why had they come here? Could it be that…they were also participating in the tournament?

As everyone was wondering this, the students from the lower age groups all chose their opponents. Afterwards…the King of Kings Tournament began. The course of battles was uneventful. Although there were no lack of dark horses that appeared, there also weren’t any highlights to the battles to speak of. It was simply borrowing the power of magic equipment to gain advantages. Even if people won, it wasn’t anything strange.

Finally, it was the girls’ turn to appear. Under the gazes of over one hundred thousand students, the two girls easily overturned all the other contestants, defeating opponents with their overwhelming might as they attacked separately. Not much time had passed before they had managed to clear all of Holy Light Academy’s contestants! Nobody had lasted over 10 seconds against them, regardless of whether they were warriors or mages.

Finally, the only two remaining figures on the stage were the two girls covered in blue. However, up until now, their identities remained unknown to everyone. They had never once removed their cloaks, even in battle.

The headmaster shot Suo Jia a shocked glance. The situation had really gone as Suo Jia had anticipated; it had really become a showdown between these two girls. However…considering their strengths, any other result would’ve been abnormal. They had already far surpassed other people, and had reached the realm of an Advanced Mage!

Under the numerous gazes of the audience, the referee declared that after a half hour break, the King of Kings’ final round would officially begin. However, to everyone’s surprise, the two girls shook their heads, indicating that the round could start now.

Since neither party had any objections, the referee obviously didn’t object either, and immediately declared for the two to prepare themselves. The round would officially start a minute later. Faced with this announcement, the two girls inwardly began to feel excited. The competition until now had just been a good warmup. Now they’d be able to actually compete, and bring out their strength to the fullest!