Extra Of The Magus Academy

Every participant stood at the central courtyard the next day.

Standing right in front of them was the grand hall where they would be competing, but they weren't allowed to venture in until the Exchange, which was now a few days away.

There were a total of 100 students participating; 25 from each Academy.

"Both Apprentice and Intermediate Stages have 10 participants each, while Expert Stages have only 5, making a total of 25 from each of the 4 Academies, a total of 100 Students." Beatrice Lampshade repeated what many students had already observed.

However, it was only protocol for her to do so.

"I will now reveal the schedule for this year's Academy Exchange." She began. "The contest will last a whole week, with each day contributing to the grand finale that will occur on the last day."

Once she was done explaining, the schedule was basically thus:

Day 1: Prelims for Apprentice Stage Find adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

Day 2: Prelims for Intermediate Stage

Day 3: Prelims for Expert Stage

Day 4: Part 1 of the Main Tournament for all the Stages (Round 1)

Day 5: Part 2 of the Main Tournament for all the Stages. (Round 2 and 3)

Day 6: Rest Day.

Day 7: Final Matches for all the Stages (Apprentice, Intermediate, and Expert) and the announcement of results.

Some details, such as the nature of the Prelims, and who the students would be facing, were kept a secret, but none of the students were confused as to what they had to do in these matches.

They simply had to be the strongest person on the stage.

"The training grounds are always open for those willing to train seriously. You are all advised to use your remaining time to hone your skills and prepare for the Exchange, instead of goofing off and starting fights." Beatrice added.

This caused quite a few students to wince.

"That is all. Have a pleasant day."

*********

'She really hit the nail on the head, huh?' Ash thought to himself as he glanced to his side.

Unsurprisingly, he saw a rather interesting sight.

Kellion, while being as inconspicuous as he could about it, was trying very hard to gain Seth's attention—all to no avail. Seth simply had no interest in Kellion, so he paid the rough boy no mind.

'Looks like Kellion is still desperate for that rematch.' Ash smiled. 'Then there's him…'

He glanced at another person whose attention was on Seth.

'Nero Desgarron too, huh? It was only a matter of time before the strongest student began to notice his successor.'

Taking his attention away from Seth and just looking around, Ash could recognize a lot of people. Since he read the Academy Exchange Arc quite a few times in the original story, he knew a lot about these characters.

It was very exciting seeing all of them come to life like this, but he kept his cool.

'This will be an interesting event for sure.'

*********

[Later That Evening]

"That arrogant prick… why won't he fight me?"

Kellion was walking by himself after managing to escape the watchful gazes of his seniors. He couldn't help but feel the pang of annoyance after getting his ego bruised multiple times by Seth, who repeatedly ignored him.

It was frustrating to see someone his age ignore him to such an extent.

'No one ignored me in the Asura Spirit Academy…' He sighed. 'Just because he beat me once, he thinks he's better than me or what?'

He always got what he wanted due to his incredible strength, so not being able to get his desired rematch with Seth made him restless.

"Damnit… damn!"

As he kept grunting and muttering to himself, he felt a shadow creep up on him.

"You—!" He took a fighting stance as soon as he sensed the presence and caught a glance of the person. However, the moment he gave the person his full attention, he sighed and shrugged off the encounter.

"Oh. It's just you…"

It was nothing but a pale, harmless shadow.

"You thought I was my brother?" The calm voice of Ashfelt Zephyr floated in the air as he smiled in amusement.

Kellion did not respond with a smile, or with any kind of friendliness.

He simply glared at Ashfelt, almost in a threatening manner, and walked away not too long after.

Clearly, he didn't think the loser twin was worth his time.

"Come on, don't go yet." Ashfelt's voice echoed as the distance between them grew wider. "You haven't even heard me out yet."

"What do you want?" Kellion grunted.

"I want to make a deal with you."

"Not interested."

"Really? It could benefit you, though."

"I highly doubt it."

"Well, you're really missing out on—"

"Look!" Kellion stopped walking and turned to the smiling Ashfelt. "I don't care about you or whatever you're sellin'. The only one I want to talk to is your brother, so maybe let him approach me with this deal of yours."

Ash sighed.

His approach was clearly not working.

"Maybe if you give me the Spirit Stones you owe him, I could convince him to talk to you… maybe even consider that fight you've been egging him about."

"Pfft! You? Somehow, I doubt that."

Kellion might have been a musclebrain, but he was no fool.

He knew Ash was just bluffing, looking for any way to get his attention and perhaps reap some sweet rewards. However, he was no sucker.

He wasn't going to give some loser weakling what he wanted.

"You should still hold up your end of the Duel, though. That means handing over the—"

"Seth won that fight, so I would gladly hand those Spirit Stones over to him if he came to ask for them himself." Kellion stated bluntly. "So stay out of this, runt."

Once again, the ruffian began to walk away.

'Damn… I really can't reason with him in any normal way.' Ash sighed once more. 'I could also try gaining his respect and attention by fighting with him, but I'm not confident in beating him with the current powers at my disposal.'

Unlike people like Arius and Dustan, Kellion was the real deal.

Not only did he have raw strength, but his battle instincts made him a nightmare to deal with in battle. Sure, he was lacking in the skill department, but when the gap between two fighters was too large, brute force would always emerge victorious.

It was a tall task to ask for, so Ash figured he was better off retreating for the moment.

'I really need those Stones, though. Time is running out…'

"Hey!"

Kellion's voice suddenly echoed out, clealry calling for Ash's attention.

"Hm?" Ash raised his eyes to look at the boy. 'He's grinning broadly, and that tone he used… don't tell me…'

He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

"You're close to your brother, right? Doesn't that mean… Seth will come to fight with me if I roughen you up a little?"

'Ah, fuck! I knew it!' Ash's eyes widened in terror. 'This maniac!"

"I'll take that as a YES!"

"No, it's not a yes. It's a very bad idea, and you won't get what you want if you do that."

"Hehe… somehow I doubt that."