Chapter 391: Not just any noble.
If it were only Esmeralda and Layla that were remaining, Dustin and Vlad would not only survive the remaining 2 minutes, but they would even win the match.
The issue right from the beginning had always been Blake. He had single-handedly eliminated 3 of their teammates, so with his presence, there was no way they were winning.
‘He didn’t use the artifact in this match, seems like the real owner had collected it.’ Blake thought.
The gauntlet Dustin had used in their ranked match was a demigod tier artifact. Since it was one related to the earth element, Blake’s guess was that he had gotten it from a family member to help him in the match.
Blake soon returned to his seating area as he waited for the current round to be over, but that was when he heard the news about Serhan’s match.
Apparently, Serhan and Camilla were paired with 3 other first-year students as they went up against Luciano, Haldor and 3 other demoted 2nd year students.
When the battle started, the 3 first-year students moved to the corner of the battlefield as they didn’t want to partake in the match leaving only the siblings.
…..
As for Luciano’s team, the same would have happened, but the demoted 2nd-year students didn’t dare to leave his team. This led to a 2 v 5 situation that got them wiped out in under 2 minutes.
‘Lol, this is extreme bad luck!’ Blake found it very to not burst out in laughter.
All matches soon came to an end and the students were given time to rest up and regenerate mana for their next fight.
Blake used this time to go and meet up with his original team who were all still in the competition.
They relaxed and chatted about their matches till 30 minutes break was over, and Professor Gibson had returned to the center of the battleground.
“There are 21 students left, meaning 1 student would have to sit out this round, but just like last time he or she would gain 5k points.” Professor Gibson said.
Immediately, a holographic box appeared and began randomly toggling between all the images of the surviving 21 students before stopping at Blake’s picture.
The rest of the 20 students couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief when they saw this. This was at least going to give everyone a fighting chance.
‘Casting void shift drains a lot of mana. So this gives me more time to regenerate my mana for the final fight.” Blake said as he took another bottle of mana potion.
As for missing out on the extra points from eliminating people, Blake wasn’t too bothered because he already had a lot of points, and if he ended up winning, then it would compensate for the extra points.
(AN: Mana potion doesn’t instantly give the user mana. It increases the mana regeneration speed of the body.)
Once that was out of the way the random selection began.
The first team of the first match was Damon, Esmeralda, Aaron, Layla, and Tessie. The team had 3 plant users, 3 water users, 2 lightning users, 1 earth user, and 1 darkness user.
The second team consisted of Michelle, Castiel, Haldor, Brian, and Sach. It had 4 fire users, 3 earth users, 1 lightning user, and 1 darkness user.
“Castiel’s team has a lot of fire power and defense. I would have said they would be the winner, but on seeing Damon I would have to change.” Blake said.
The darkness element was only 2nd to the space element, and although Castiel also had the darkness element, Blake who had fought alongside both of them knew Damon was more skilled.
“Come to think of it. Is Damon a noble? If so what noble family is he from? Blake couldn’t help but ask.
Blake had noticed a few odd things about Damon. His dressing style was always black and the quality of the materials was always top-notch. This could be attributed to being rich, but that could mean he was from a rich merchant family.
That brought up another question. Why was he respected even by students from the top 3 families? ．
Blake had always noticed in team exercises that Damon would be given the leadership position without questioning even when top-ranking demoted 2nd-year students were in the team.
Also, there was the darkness artifact he had used during the last team test. Darkness artifacts were as rare as the element so him having one was a sign that he wasn’t any ordinary person.
The 2nd match lineup wasn’t as interesting as that of the first. The only people Blake knew in the 1st team were Beyoni and Kade, while Luciano was the only person he knew in the 2nd team.
“I already know who the winner is, so let’s see how the first match ends.” Blake said.
After every team was done with their preparation, Instructor Zirrack gave the signal to begin.
The 3 plant users immediately dropped Mother Tree seed on the ground.
Almost instantly 3 Mother Trees grew out of the floor as their roots covered the entire battleground.
“We have more firepower so get close and unleash your spells at them.” Michelle said as they all split up and began moving towards Damon’s team that was at the top of the Mother Tree.
Apart from Aaron, Esmeralda and Tessie didn’t have blood to activate the Mother Tree’s second form. This made it less difficult for Michelle’s team to weave their way through the plant roots.
When they had gotten close to the bottom of the Mother Trees that was when black mist covered the entire area including them. At the same time, water spells began hauling at them.
‘That was a clear trap, but it’s not as if there was a better option.’ Blake couldn’t help but comment.
Damon’s team had the high ground, so their goal would be to wear them out by attacking them from the top and bottom. So Castiel’s team was forced to move closer to end the match quickly.
[Since it’s a clear trap, they should have a way to counter it, if not they would have surrendered right from the start.] The system said.
‘That’s my cue!’ On seeing Damon activating Night mist, Castiel followed suit as it didn’t take time for his night mist quickly cover the same area as that Damon.
As the caster of night mist, they could choose who would be able to see. In this case, they were 2 different Night mists covering the same area meaning everyone was equally blind.
That was when Michelle and her team began the second phase of their plan.
Although they couldn’t see, they changed their location and easily used the fire element to destroy every root below them, before setting a defensive perimeter of fire and earth around them.
Once they were sure they were safe, that was when they began firing at the Mother Tree with their heavy spells.
The problem with Damon’s team staying on the Mother Trees was that their location couldn’t change. So no matter how and where Michelle’s team fired, it would either go for the Mother Trees or the opponents.
“She really deserves to be in the top 5.” Blake was impressed by Michelle’s strategy.
The firepower from her team was just too much. The Mother Trees had taken a lot of hits, and those on time were finding it difficult to keep defending.
“Unfortunately for her, there is a reason why Damon had always been rank 3.” Blake said as he saw Damon jumping down from the Mother Tree.
Damon activated his darkness artifact as he jumped down from the Mother Trees. This time it wasn’t to conceal himself but to increase his senses.
Although it wasn’t going to let him see through Castiel’s night mist it gave him a general understanding of mana flow of the environment.
Once he got to the floor, Damon saw the mana flow of all the plant roots. It looked like a river of mana with chaotic tides, but on looking around he soon found the river had turned to a dome where mana was constantly being shot out.
‘Jackpot!’ Damon instantly knew it was one of his targets.
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