Reynolds came up and also won his battle against a student at the Seventh stage of the Arcane Plane. The student was from the Earth Hall, so he mostly focused on defense, Reynolds just bombarded him with a series of attacks until his opponent made a mistake from the pressure.
After Reynolds battle came to an end, the group exited the arena. Since they had already battled, they had no other reason to stay. They all wanted to go train and focus on the next task ahead.
Grey headed to the valley, to continue practicing inscribing. It wasn’t going to be easy, the only way he could truly get the hang of it was through trying continuously. He failed, he tried again, he failed again, he tried again. The cycle went on till he went home.
Even after getting home, he still continued with his practice. He could feel he wasn’t too far away from making his first inscription. So he continued doing it even after the failed attempts. Since he wouldn’t be having a battle tomorrow, he stayed up late because of his practice.
The night passed with Grey still being unsuccessful, he managed to get up early, albeit tired. The pressure inscribing placed on spiritual energy was huge, and because he did it over again the previous day, he was exhausted.
“There is no way I can practice this today” Grey knew he was at his limit, if he tried to force himself, it would only be causing more harm than good.
Twenty battles took place yesterday so today only seven battles would be fought. After the battles, they would have to pick a new number. This was the reason Grey came.
They didn’t come to the arena on time though, by the time they arrived the first set of battles were just rounding up. They found a seat and waited patiently for the second set to finish, so they could pick their new numbers and head back home.
The second set soon started and they all watched the match, Grey was particularly lazy due to the stress of his training. He just wanted to head home and get some sleep, he wasn’t confident he could even prepare a meal for Chris, so he decided to head home for a rest.
After some time, the second round ended. The instructor once again stepped into the arena.
“All students who advanced should come to the platform,” said the instructor.
They all stood up from their respective seats and headed towards the platform. The number of students had reduced from one hundred and seven to a meager number of twenty-seven.
“Just like the first round, a student will get automatic advancement since there is an extra student. The student who picks plaque number fourteen would gain automatic advancement” After saying this he took out the box and placed it in front of him.
“Now step forward and pick a plaque,” The instructor said.
The plaques were all facing downwards, so there is no way for the students to know which one had the number fourteen. As they were lining up to go pick the plaques, Klaus wanted to get in front of Grey, but Reynolds immediately held him and pushed him towards his back, and stepped in front of Grey.
There was no way he was going to allow Klaus to do the same thing twice. They were the last three on the line, so they would get to pick the last three plaques.
When Grey thought about the first incident, he also pushed Klaus behind him. Now Klaus was the last person on the line, he wouldn’t even get a chance to choose which plaque he would like to pick. Although the picking was random, the chances of getting the plaque numbered fourteen was much higher than when he had to pick the last plaque.
Klaus complained when he saw how they were acting, but no matter how much he talked to them, they refused to let him be ahead of them.
Soon it was the last three plaques, Reynolds was the first to step up, and he picked one of the plaques. Grey followed and picked another one leaving the last one for Klaus.
Klaus grumbled under his breath as he walked over to pick the plaque.
“This round’s battles are arranged in the same order as the previous round. Since there are only thirteen battles, all the battles will take place tomorrow” The instructor said before walking out of the arena. On his way out, he suddenly turned and asked.
“Which student has the number fourteen?”
All the students looked at their plaques. With none stepping forward. Grey and Reynolds also looked at their plaques and shook their heads with disappointment, they clearly did not get the lucky number.
Klaus grumpily looked at his plaque, his facial expression suddenly changed. Grey noticed the sudden change in Klaus and couldn’t help but take a peek at the plaque, his eyes opened wide when he saw the number fourteen boldly written on it.
Reynolds curiously looked at it also when he saw Grey’s weird behavior, the result almost made him pass out from shock.
Klaus stepped out and showed his plaque to the instructor.
“You again,” The shocked instructor said. He still remembered how Klaus also got the lucky number in the first round. Now in the third round, he also acquired it. The shocking part was the fact that the plaque he picked was the last plaque there.
The surrounding students were also surprised since they knew Klaus was the one who also got the automatic advancement during the first round. The eyes they all used to look at him was filled with envy. Not fighting means he is already so close to obtaining a spot at the competition.
Klaus smiled and nodded.
When Klaus stepped forward, Reynolds edged closer to Grey and asked with a whisper.
“Can we really get good luck if we decide to follow him?”.
Grey slapped Reynolds at the back of his head when he heard this question.
“I only asked a question” Reynolds whined.
“He was just lucky,” said Grey. Klaus was lucky, too lucky even. For him to be able to consecutively get the automatic advancement twice in a row, was unbelievable.
“Too lucky if you ask me” Reynolds stressed the first part of his sentence.
Klaus returned confidently. He looked at Grey and Reynolds before laughing, they were the ones who pushed him to the last spot. They even picked before him, yet they surprisingly missed the plaque.
They all headed back towards their seats to meet up with Alice before leaving.
“How did it go?” asked Alice.
“It went well” Klaus replied with a grin.
“Oh, I saw you meeting with the instructor, was there a problem,” The curious Alice asked.
“It really isn’t a problem per se, I got the automatic advancement” Klaus spoke like it was something normal.
When Alice heard this, even she couldn’t help but wonder how lucky Klaus was. Getting the automatic advancement twice in a row was something that had never happened in these sorts of tournaments before.
“I’m just too awesome. Once again, my awesomeness scared my opponent into admitting defeat without even seeing me. You should learn from me, my lessons start at sunset every day, you should not miss it, especially you Grey. You haven’t hooked up with one girl since you came to the Academy” Klaus said shamelessly.
Grey glared at him when he heard the last part of the statement. Alice giggled when she heard this and Reynolds couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I still haven’t found the right one,” Grey said gritting his teeth. Klaus has always used this to mock him, but there was nothing he could do about it. Due to his handsome appearance, a lot of girls approach him. He always declines their offers.
There was a time he went to an occasion with Klaus, he had to leave the occasion quickly due to the number of girls who made advances towards him.
Reynolds had a girlfriend once, but they aren’t together anymore. Klaus is the only one who hooks up with another girl the moment he breaks up with one. He was already tagged a playboy by Alice.
They all played and laughed on their way home. The group always enjoyed each other’s company, having a girl in their midst didn’t dampen the fun at all, it unexpectedly increased it. They all had playful personalities, so they got along pretty well.
The moment Grey got home, he fell asleep. His head was a wreck, and he needed some time to rest. After getting a good rest, the fatigue will surely fade away.
By the time Grey woke up, it was already dark. He felt the fatigue had decreased, if he could get a good night’s sleep, he would be as good as new tomorrow morning, if not even better.
Grey had a meal before he continued his rest. This was the first time in a while now that he got a good rest, and it felt refreshing.