Feeling nervous about going ham, Shye swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, breathing heavily as he tried to dy his doom.


    There was a chance of him inviting disaster should he show too much talent.


    After all, there were rumors of people who could extract talent from adventurers through some kind of sinister method.


    These were the people he wanted to avoid the most, however, it didn''t mean that he was scared to go up against them.


    If encountering them was inevitable as he climbed the adventurer ranks, he might as well secure some much-needed support from a prominent guild.


    How would he do that? By showing them that he was worth nurturing of course!


    Dispelling the doubt shrouding his heart, Shye firmly mped down on the life staff, grasping it between his teeth—his gaze aze with resolve to dethrone An.


    ''F*ck it all, it''s showtime!'' Shye thought, returning one of his greatswords to the system''s inventory by pretending to put his hands inside his fake spatial bag, then, once his left hand was free, he took out another weapon thatpletely destroyed everyone''s sense of reality.


    On his left hand was an elemental staff usually used by mages to increase the power of their elemental skills.


    "R-R-REPRESENTATIVE CROWLEY TAKES OUT AN ELEMENTAL STAFF!!! WHAT DOES HE PLAN TO DO WITH IT?! T-THERE''S JUST NO F*CKING WAY THAT HE–"


    While the bbergastedmentator was speaking, multiple scorching-hot orange balls of fire hovered around the periphery of both ember wyverns before slowly floating towards the representatives as though modern-day homing missiles.


    Subsequently, once the ming balls were about to hit Shye, a huge thick stationary water wall appeared in front of him, protecting him from the wyvern''s attack.


    ncing in his direction, Damien, whose barrier was being ruthlessly battered by the ming balls, went wide-eyed.


    "What?!" eximed Damien. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. ''HOW?! HOW COULD THIS MERE HILLBILLY HAVE A SUBCLASS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE?!''


    Initially, he believed Shye had exhausted his arsenal, so he never anticipated any further abilities, let alone the use of mage abilities.


    On the other hand, Siegfried narrowed his eyes. ''You…have a lot of secrets, my friend…''


    "S-S-SENIOR CROWLEY IS MIGHTY!!"


    "SENIOR CROWLEY IS MIGHTY!!" cheered the Colzen crowd upon witnessing their respected Senior Crowley perform another miracle right before their eyes.


    Unfortunately for Shye, although the hydro wall managed to weaken the wyvern''s attack, it wasn''t enough topletely block it.


    Seeing the ming balls continue on their way towards Shye, Damien smiled widely.


    His barrier was on itsst legs as well but from the look of things, Shye would perish first.


    The crowd cheered like crazy—most of them standing while waving their fists around.


    They knew that the pivotal round was nearing its conclusion.


    Eagerly waiting for Shye''s moment of defeat, Damien gloated, however, just a short whileter, the smile on his face was slowly reced by shock as a thick aqua sphere covered Shye, protecting him from the weakened ming balls.


    Witnessing Shye performing miracles one after the other, Damien was in utter disbelief, overlooking the fact that his barrier was also on the verge of breaking.


    The balls of fire mercilessly battered the representatives'' barriers—massive cracks appearing on both before scattering to the four winds.


    Sess!


    Both representatives withstood another attack from the wyvern!


    Regrettably, after protecting their users from the remaining fireballs, both barriers were depleted, disintegrating into small particles and leaving the two young representatives defenseless against the next attack from the wyverns.


    Realizing this fact, Shye and Damien swiftly sprinted away from their respective wyverns.


    Luckily for Damien, one of his self-buff skills, [Enhance Agility Lv.4] had recentlye off cooldown.


    Since the rune barrier engraved on his armor was triggered using mana, he still had the stamina to activate this final skill, allowing him to dy his impending doom for a few more milliseconds.


    Seeing the developments onstage, everyone supporting Colzen, both those in the arena and Colzen City, gasped in horror.


    At this rate, Shye would lose!


    Even Damien was already celebrating inwardly.


    Who could have imagined that a simplemon skill would determine the victor?


    As much as he hated Shye, he had to admit that the hillbilly gave him a hard time, however, in the end, it was him who won.


    Or so he thought…


    Just as the wyvern''s enormous tail struck Shye, the life staff on his mouth shone brilliantly before a thick white barrier appeared around him.


    Although his new skill, [Physical Barrier Lv.2(Umon)], provided no defense against elemental attacks such as the balls of fire, the vermilion orb, and the me breath, it was a perfect countermeasure against a physical tail swipe attack.


    Still, the attribute gap between him and the ember wyvern was vast.


    Hence, although the barrier managed to temporarily block and partially reduce the power of the wyvern''s attack, it was destroyed in just a single second.


    The wyvern''s tail then continued forth, seemingly tearing the air around it as it viciously advanced towards Shye.


    However, just before the wyvern''s tail made contact with Shye''s body, he used hisst remaining skill, [Swallow Step Lv.1], to put a bit more distance between him and the wyvern''s tail.


    Since the skill was only level one, the distance it covered didn''t allow him to dodge the attack, even so, it was enough to make someone cry in anguish.


    "NO!!"


    A voice filled with desperation and despair emanated from the half dome next to Shye''s, followed shortly by a sickening crack that echoed throughout the entire arena as Damien was struck squarely in the chest by the wyvern''s tail.


    Before everyone could process what happened, an azure ray of light flew straight towards the An ringside seats, materializing into An''s strongest representative–staring at the ground, empty-eyed.


    "No…T-There''s no way…I''m…I''m from An…" mumbled Damien, who miserably lost against someone he deemed beneath him.


    A few momentster, the crowd burst into the loudest cheers that would exceed one''s imagination.


    The two Colzen deans, the Colzen instructors, thepanion students, the students watching thepetition back at the academy, and the staff members all jumped and hugged each other in utter tion.


    They expected a top-eight finish, who would''ve thought?


    "CAN?! YOU?! BELIEVE IT?!! ONCE. UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A MEDIOCRE ACADEMY!! A MEDIOCRE ACADEMY THAT DETHRONED ALL THREE KINGS!!


    THE CAPTAIN OF THE REBELS, SHYE CROWLEY, BRILLIANTLY WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR COLZEN ACADEMY!!!"


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