Chapter 319: This Stubborn Sis-Con

For a moment, everyone grew excited.

Even the instructors and team leaders were no exception.

A duel between Heroic Realm experts is not something you see every day, and for Transcendent Level experts it’s a rare learning opportunity.

If it really was going to happen, then just this exhibition match alone meant their trip hadn’t been in vain, regardless of later results!

Anticipation flickered in Lin Mo’s eyes as well.

His current strength was roughly at Transcendent Level, and he had a basic understanding of Transcendent experts.

So how much stronger would a Heroic Realm expert be?

By level standards, these were all fighters above level thirty-one!

They did not waste anyone’s time. After Vice President Aaron announced the news, the two participants soon appeared before everyone.

One wore a blue-and-white robe, was slight in build, and looked to be around fifty or sixty years old. The other looked much more solid; despite his age he still had muscles all over.

Their ages were similar, and from their air it seemed their strengths were close as well.

“Before the demonstration begins, I have a few words I’d like to say to everyone present…”

The two stood on the huge arena platform in the square but did not start fighting immediately.

The robed man, probably the mid-aged leader of the Magic Academy’s Ice Element division, turned to the crowd. “This continent’s Academy Grand Competition gathers talented students and outstanding instructors from every kingdom. Its purpose is to promote exchange and cooperation between kingdoms and to select the finest talents… Our continent is not at peace. The Orc Empire is rising, undead disasters occur frequently, and many unstable factors exist. You are the continent’s youth and its future; sooner or later you will have to shoulder heavy responsibilities and face the coming upheavals… I believe that among those present, some will one day reach or even surpass our heights.”

“So let this fight be a demonstration for you, and a source of encouragement.”

After he finished speaking he turned to his opponent. “Dean Miles, begin.”

“All right!”

The other didn’t waste words. The instant he finished speaking he launched straight at him.

His speed was blistering, many of the young spectators couldn’t even see him.

But his opponent remained calm. Though he lagged in speed, his powerful spirit allowed him to sense his foe’s position.

The next moment, a sky-high ice-blue wall hundreds of meters tall shot up from the ground and rose to block the path.

Bang—!

With a tremendous boom, Dean Miles of the Warrior Academy smashed straight through that ten-plus-meter-thick ice wall with no theatrics.

At the same time, several ice spikes flew toward him.

There was no doubt these were common-grade spells—Ice Spike.

But when used by Heroic Realm masters, they felt entirely different!

At first the ice spikes looked ordinary, but as they neared they swelled wildly, expanding a hundredfold as if blown up by the wind!

Heh—!

On the field, Miles’s confident, bold laugh rang out. In the previous moment he had swung his blade, and the enormous blade aura instantly cleaved several ice spikes to pieces.

“Too careless!”

What met him was an even denser magic bombardment.

A blizzard engulfed the entire arena, countless flying snowflakes falling like razor blades, striking Miles with a clanging sound.

The duel left the surrounding audience dumbfounded.

Is this the power of Heroic Realm experts? Every move felt capable of moving mountains and seas!

Not to mention the towering ice wall alone was enough to make their jaws drop.

That huge wall, like an entire frozen mountain, had formed in an instant.

It was impossible to imagine how terrifying that mana was…

And even so, the two were clearly only showing off and sparring playfully rather than fighting to kill; they held back a lot.

The battle lasted roughly a quarter of an hour.

Finally, Miles shouted, “That’s about enough. One final exchange, then end it. How about that?”

“Fine.”

His opponent answered, stepped back a distance, and after a brief silence both launched at the same time with perfect coordination.

Ice Peak Collapse!

A colossal glacier hundreds of meters tall suddenly appeared in the sky. At the same time, a terrifying blade aura condensed along Dean Miles’s sword.

Boom—

With an earth-shattering roar that seemed poised to split heaven and earth, that terrifying blade aura surged forth. Simultaneously, the great glacier began to plummet.

“They’ve gone mad, these two have gone mad!”

Some spectators nearby panicked. The residual force of such fearsome moves could knock many people senseless!

But most of the audience, Lin Mo included, calmly watched.

The two techniques collided, tremendous energy pouring outward, threatening to reach the stands.

Then, at that moment, a powerful energy barrier suddenly appeared at the arena’s edge and absorbed all the spilling energy.

To the spectators, it felt like watching an incredibly realistic 4D movie—thrilling.

So thrilling that some timid viewers nearly fainted.

Yes, I’m talking about that shameless cat-eared girl who hid her face in Lin Mo’s chest and wouldn’t lift her head.

Of course, it was possible she was pretending to be scared and using the chance to act spoiled and clingy.

Lin Mo could see clearly that this duel was nothing but a display of muscle and technique.

Aside from the robed man’s earlier speech, the fight also demonstrated the Imperial Academy’s immense strength and showcased that powerful magic barrier.

Sure enough, the stage soon began introducing details about the magic barrier. “In this competition, we have further upgraded the energy barrier compared to last time…”

There was no denying the Imperial Academy was showing off, and it was hard to argue—they were truly formidable.

Lin Mo listened carefully to the barrier description, seeing if he could glean any useful insights.

The presentation didn’t last long and ended quickly. That segment was meant to let contestants fight without worry, confident they could unleash their full strength.

If Heroic Realm experts couldn’t break it, they certainly couldn’t.

When the speech concluded, applause and cheers from the crowd continued for a long time before gradually subsiding. The opening of the Grand Competition ended there.

Next came time for contestants to tidy up, rest, and adjust.

The matches would officially begin tomorrow.

“Let’s go. Get settled at the lodging places early, and you might even have time to stroll around…”

Elvish stood and glanced at the robed elder in red, then turned to them.

This old man wasn’t fussy at all; in fact, he understood young people well.

“Is that allowed?”

Sure enough, some students quickly asked excitedly.

“It’s your first time in the Empire’s capital; you must be curious. Just don’t stray too far, and be sure to return before nightfall to rest. The competition starts tomorrow.”

“Dean, don’t worry. We’ll be back in time!”

Many students looked delighted, especially two or three girls who seemed particularly excited.

Finnie showed interest, while Sherfilia remained indifferent with her usual cold expression.

Ellie didn’t care either; she was currently yanking Lena off Lin Mo.

That crafty one had been lying on Lin Mo for over ten minutes!

Ellie even regretted a bit helping her earlier with tricks and plans that led to this behavior.

The same guide led them to the accommodations arranged by the Empire.

Accommodation quality didn’t differ much between kingdoms; the rooms were quite good. Each person had a single room, fairly spacious and well-equipped.

After dropping their things in the rooms, the students couldn’t wait to go out and explore.

Lin Mo was curious about the capital too and planned to go out and see the city—and grab dinner.

“When are we leaving, Lin Mo?” Finnie asked excitedly, having already pushed open his door and trotted over.

Lin Mo smiled, ruffling her head. “Let’s go now.”

The Imperial First Academy covered a huge area, roughly ten times the size of the Kingdom Academy. The capital was even larger—rumor said the surrounding city walls were over a hundred meters high on some sides, and one side’s wall length exceeded two hundred kilometers!

It was undoubtedly a giant city, ranking among the continent’s top three.

Because of time constraints, they could only explore a small nearby area. Fortunately, the vicinity of the Imperial First Academy was one of the Empire’s bustling districts, so it was lively.

Along the way they saw many curious faces like theirs—contestants sizing up the surroundings.

Of course there were also students who belonged to the Imperial Academy, grouped in twos and threes, whispering among themselves with looks that resembled city folk looking down on country people.

Not all Empire students were like that…

Many well-mannered Empire students warmly helped these “guests” with directions and answered questions.

“Y-you… hello…”

A very small voice suddenly spoke nearby. In the noisy environment it would have been easy to miss.

Lin Mo turned and saw a timid-looking girl. On her chest she wore a badge with a symbol matching the guide’s.

Student Council member?

“Can I help you?” Lin Mo asked in an even tone.

“S-sorry!” The girl trembled all over and, for reasons unknown, apologized first. “I… I just wanted to ask if you needed any help?”

Her reaction was so adorably sincere that Lin Mo felt a strange twinge of guilt.

He hadn’t really done anything…

“Um… maybe. Could you take us to a nearby alchemy shop?”

“All right. Do you want the Ossivis shop or the Degaria shop? Ossivis shop’s goods are more—” Once she opened her mouth she suddenly lost her shyness and chattered away, and didn’t seem likely to stop.

Lin Mo listened for a moment and had to interrupt helplessly. “Which do you recommend?”

The girl paused her spiel, mouth half-open, stunned for a few seconds. “The Ossivis Alchemists’ Guild… how about that?”

“Then let’s go there.”

Lin Mo had planned to visit it anyway; in some ways it was part of Finnie’s family business. “Visit” was a generous term—it was really just a casual browse.

The Imperial alchemy shops indeed offered far more variety than those in the Kingdom, including some higher-end items, such as…

Advanced elemental reagents!

Lin Mo checked the price and immediately gave up that unrealistic idea.

The crafting difficulty and required materials for advanced elemental reagents start at epic level and demand multiple rare components, so the price gap versus mid-level was enormous.

Mid-level elemental reagents tended to cost around ten thousand gold coins, while advanced ones… Lin Mo looked at a few bottles and saw prices above two hundred thousand!

Even lower-quality advanced reagents were likely over one hundred fifty thousand gold coins.

Unaffordable, utterly unaffordable…

If they won enough prize money after the competition, it might be possible to consider.

He also glanced around the shop for other things, like weapons… the highest-tier weapons were Upper Epic Level!

But the prices… even more outrageous than the reagents—over four hundred thousand gold coins for some, and only a few pieces were available.

Their team didn’t have much money left. After buying some supplies they left the shop.

Lin Mo checked the items they had just purchased.

[Superior Mana Potion]: Rapidly restores a large amount of mana, allowing a Transcendent Level mage to recover 30% mana within three minutes!

He had also bought potions of the same tier: [Superior Life Potion], [Superior Stamina Recovery Elixir], plus [Specialized Stone Skin Potion] and [Spirit Calming Balm], among others.

The upcoming competition would be fierce, so such supplies were necessary. He might not personally need them, but Ellie and the others could.

During matches, when the girls were up on the arena, he couldn’t help them or heal them. That’s when potions became useful.

Of course, although potions were allowed, the number and maximum quality of potions usable per match were limited.

By the way, that little girl who had guided them earlier followed them the whole time.

“Um… since your shopping is done, I…” She seemed about to leave when Lin Mo called out.

“Wait.”

“Is there something else?” she asked, blinking.

“We haven’t eaten yet. Can you recommend a place to eat? You can join us as thanks for showing us the way.”

“Ah? N-no… that’s not necessary, thank you…” The girl waved her hands nervously, looking frightened.

“It’s fine. Trust me.” Lin Mo’s tone left no room for refusal. After a few breaths the girl could only nod.

Lin Mo watched her lead the way and a subtle smile tugged at his lips. Then he suddenly looked around.

This stubborn sis-con… can’t she just openly show her concern?

High above, on the roof of a building, Shirleyas’s gaze shifted as red eyes watched the crowd below.