Before them stood a towering building, reaching skyward with at least twenty floors by Elric’s rough estimate.
Neve glanced up and down its height before asking, “Why won’t they let us inside the academy?”
Elric chuckled softly. “Even though the academies are all part of the Federation, they’ve developed their own rivalries over time. You must’ve noticed it...”
He turned to Neve, who was listening closely, and for a moment his mind drifted—thinking about ‘Miss Alone.’
Neve caught the pause. “Why did you stop?” she asked.
Elric laughed awkwardly. “Just remembered something funny.”
Neve gave him a flat look, as if she were staring at a complete weirdo.
Shaking his head, Elric smiled and said, “Forget it. Let’s go meet our new instructors and classmates.”
The two stepped into the building and were immediately met by a vast main hall, bustling with activity. Some of the staff members stood at attention, ready to assist, while some others were already guiding groups of newcomers — most likely students and instructors — through the grand space.
It didn’t take long before a man standing nearby, dressed in the staff member uniform, approached them with a polite smile.
“If you need any assistance, please don’t hesitate to ask,” he said warmly.
Neve looked ready to ignore him and move on, but Elric stepped forward and asked,
“Where can we get a room?”
He barely finished the sentence when he felt a frigid stare burning into him from beside.
Realizing his mistake, he quickly corrected himself before the staff member could do any more damage.
“I-I mean... two rooms.”
The tension melted away like snow under a blazing summer sun as Elric thought to himself, It’s already bad — no need to make it worse.
Without so much as a change in expression, the staff member replied politely, “Please follow me.”
Elric nodded, and with Neve trailing behind, they were led toward a reception desk stationed a few dozen meters ahead.
Noticing there was no line, Elric briefly wondered why, but quickly reasoned it out — with so many staff members around, it was only natural for the flow to stay smooth.
At the desk, the staff member asked them to present their academy badges. After a quick inspection — having made sure they weren’t fake — he returned them along with two keys, each marked with a room number.
After a polite thanks, Elric and Neve began wandering the main hall.
“What now?” Neve asked, her voice casual as she glanced around.
Still scanning the area as if searching for something, Elric answered, “Now, we need to find an instructor.”
“Why?” Neve asked, mimicking his surveying gaze across the expansive hall.
Elric’s gaze locked onto a middle-aged man with short black hair, dressed in a uniform similar to the instructors at Univara Academy — though his attire was red instead of the usual blue. Without hesitation, Elric began striding toward him, calling over his shoulder, “Come.”
Neve snorted but followed anyway, her footsteps light behind his.
“Excuse me,” Elric said politely as he approached the man.
The instructor glanced over, making a noncommittal sound — “Hmm?” — as he turned to face them.
Catching the man’s attention, Elric offered a warm smile and began, “I’m—”
But before he could finish, the instructor’s eyes widened in recognition.
“Elric Everhart?” he asked, a note of surprise in his voice.
Before Elric could even respond, the man’s gaze shifted to Neve — and again, surprise flickered across his face.
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“Neve Whitlock?” he uttered, the surprise deepening.
Neve barely gave him a nod, her attention already drifting. She found the vast hall around them far more interesting than the instructor standing in front of her.
Composing himself, the instructor asked, “What are you two doing here? This hotel is supposed to be reserved for Quarath students and instructors only.”
His tone grew slightly guarded as he added, “Are you here to gather information on our students?”
Elric offered an awkward smile and quickly shook his head. Pulling out his badge to ease the man’s suspicion, he said,
“No, nothing like that. We’re students of Quarath Academy.”
The instructor stared at the badge and then at Elric, momentarily at a loss for words. After a few seconds, he muttered under his breath, “Is this really happening?”
Shaking off his disbelief, he looked back up at Elric, a wide grin spreading across his face.
“Since when did you become a student at our academy?” he asked, beaming.
“Yesterday,” Elric replied sheepishly.
The instructor chuckled heartily.
“Good, very good!”
As if suddenly remembering something, the man spoke with an apologetic tone,
“I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Carl, an instructor at Quarath Academy.”
“Nice to meet you, Instructor Carl,” Elric replied with his usual warm smile.
Carl, clearly pleased, waved it off.
“Just call me Carl,” he said, grinning. Then he added, “Since you're here, I take it you’ll be participating in the tournament, right?”
Elric nodded.
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
“Perfect! I’m sure you’re already familiar with the rules, but if you need anything, just let me know,” Carl said enthusiastically, already picturing his academy claiming victory at the very first Birth of Deities.
“Actually… I’m here to ask about the tournament rules.” Elric scratched the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed.
Carl froze for a moment, his expression blank, before blinking and asking, “You really don’t know them?”
Elric simply shook his head.
“But didn’t you plan to participate with Univara Academy?” Carl asked again, a hint of confusion in his voice.
Elric shook his head once more, his gaze steady on Carl.
“Why?” Carl pressed.
What was the point of studying the rules and participating when I couldn’t even beat one of the generals? Elric thought to himself.
Still, none of those feelings showed on his face. Instead, he smiled calmly and said, “I was trapped inside a portal and only got out a few days ago. I didn’t have time to look into the rules. Could you give me a brief rundown?”
Realization flickered across Carl’s face. He nodded immediately.
“Of course. Let’s sit down first.”
The three of them found seats among the many couches scattered throughout the hall and without wasting time, Carl launched into his explanation.
“The tournament will consist of three rounds. The first is a free-for-all stage. A hundred students will be on the field at the same time, and the last five remaining will advance to the next round.”
Not giving Elric a chance to ask any questions, Carl continued excitedly, “The second segment starts the very next day. It'll be one-on-one battles with random matchups. We'll have someone — someone who chose a time-based class — overseeing the matches and timing every fight. The faster you win, the higher your rank.”
Carl barely paused before moving on, his enthusiasm building.
“Finally, the last segment won’t be pure fighting — at least, not in the traditional sense. Participants will be allowed to challenge higher-ranked students to claim their spot. If you’re challenged, you can’t refuse — if you decline, you automatically forfeit your rank. To keep it fair, though, each student can only be challenged once per hour and a maximum of three times in total.”
Seeing Elric and Neve paying close attention, Carl grinned and added, “Also, priority for issuing challenges goes to the highest-ranked student directly below. For example, the second-ranked student gets the first chance to challenge the first-ranked. If they pass, the third-ranked gets the opportunity, and so on — until the challenged student has fought three times or there’s no one left who wants to challenge them.”
Elric quietly processed the information Carl had shared, while Neve, uninterested in the details, kept her focus elsewhere. Her thoughts were simple yet true: I just need to beat everyone.
As Elric ran through the rules in his mind once more, he finally spoke up, “I have two questions. First, how many participants are there?”
Carl let out a quiet sigh, then replied, “Just barely above a thousand.”
“Why so few?” Elric’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Considering that Univara Academy alone boasted a student count of over a hundred thousand, Elric couldn’t wrap his mind around how the first-ever tournament — one with all four academies involved — could have so few participants.
“It’s because only those who have cleared a Green portal are allowed to participate in the tournament,” Carl explained slowly, his mood dipping slightly.
Elric couldn’t help but blurt out, “There’s no way that so few people cleared a Green portal after all these months.”
Carl nodded grimly “You’re right. By now, that number should be at least ten thousand, if not tens of thousands. But as this is the first tournament, there’s one thing we can’t guarantee…” He cast his gaze downward, his voice dropping “…their lives.”
Elric, taken aback by the admission, paused to digest Carl’s words.
Has risking my life and facing death become so normal to me? Elric thought, his mind drifting for a moment. I never even considered that others still have qualms about it. Strange. Is it because I’ve been surrounded by people who treat portals like training grounds?
He couldn’t help but smile at the thought. I bet those seven wouldn’t even flinch if they were told to enter a life-and-death tournament.
Chuckling softly to himself, Elric shook off the fleeting thought, lifting his head to find Carl staring at him with a strange expression.
Realizing his chuckle might have seemed out of place, Elric quickly added, “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
Carl gave a small, relieved nod, his tension easing now that he knew Elric wasn’t losing his mind.
Elric cleared his throat, offering a light smile as he tried to ease the tension.
“My second question is… who are the strongest participants?”
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