Chapter 9: Inter-school Tournament

Chapter 9:
Inter-school Tournament

 

THE TOURNAMENT WITH the Gifted Institute took place a few days later. I was in top condition, prepared for whatever was to come. I’d already converted all the weapons Mr. Stoke gave me. Even identical-looking weapons could be worth different amounts of LP, depending on their condition. None of the individual weapons had been worth all that much on their own, but thirty of them together earned me 11,500 LP. That left me with a comfortable forty-seven thousand, opening up my options in combat.

The tournament was taking place in a large arena in town. It was normally used for fights between humans and monsters—sometimes just for entertainment, and sometimes open to betting. Between both schools, over a thousand people would be watching, so it would have been hard to accommodate them at the Hero Academy. I arrived at the arena just before nine. Emma and Leila waved to me from the entrance.

“Noooir, give it your best today!”

“Mess them up on our behalf!”

It was nice to have them cheering me on.

“I’m the first-year, so they’ll probably send me out first,” I told them. “I just have to do what I can.”

“Well, if anyone can beat all three of them, it’s you, Noir! You’ll take top prize!”

The students voted for their champion from the winning team, and the schools put up a prize for whoever won. That was my goal, but either way, I still wanted to settle things with Emilia. They weren’t going to put her up first, so I’d need to beat at least one other person to get to her.

I went down the hall and headed for the waiting room. When I found a sign that read “Hero Academy Representatives,” I went inside. It was a sparsely furnished room, with little more than a desk and a chair. There were two people waiting inside—a boy who was sitting on the chair with his legs spread wide, and a girl who was leaning on the wall. The boy glared at me.

“You’re the first-year representative?”

“The name’s Noir.”

“Well, you sure don’t look strong. But if you’re here, then I guess you gotta be half-decent.”

He had short hair without bangs, and his small pupils made his expression seem harsh. Even though he was sitting down, I could tell he had excellent balance. I decided to use my Discerning Eye on him.

 

Name: Fing Barabbas

Age: 18

Species: Human

Level: 145

Occupation: Student

Skills: Boxing (Grade A); Agility (Grade B); Stamina Up; Impact Palm, Afterimage Step

 

Ooh, he really was strong. I was higher-level, but he had some skills I hadn’t heard of. The way the King of the School Year Competition worked meant that it was about more than just pure strength. For example, even a relatively weak skill like Telekinesis had a huge advantage. But this guy didn’t seem like the type to win with tricks.

“I’m Fing. Hand-to-hand’s my forte. I’m a third-year, but this is my first time participating in the tournament.”

He shot the girl a look. She kept her arms crossed.

“Liddy,” she said. “I use daggers. It’s my first time here too.”

 

Name: Liddy Locun

Age: 17

Species: Human

Level: 72

Occupation: Student; Seeker

Skills: Throwing (Grade A); Faithful Short Sword; Pocket Dimension (Grade C); Booby Trap Perception

 

Seekers primarily explored dungeons. So she was working on the side too. Actually, didn’t that make me a seeker? Student, adventurer, seeker… I had a lot on my plate.

She had a similar skill set to the leader of those thieves I’d fought a while back. Faithful Short Sword allowed her to manipulate a dagger relatively freely after she threw it. With the Throwing skill and a Pocket Dimension for support, it was easy to predict how she fought.

“So do you mind if I go out first?” I asked.

“What?” said Fing. “Are you crazy? I’m going first.”

“Huh? I figured you’d put the first-year out early, to test the waters.”

Fing frowned. “This is a sudden death tournament. If on the off chance you’re really strong, you’d beat all three of them and claim the ultimate prize, right?”

“Yeah,” Liddy agreed. “Then you’ll get the item from the Gifted Institute. I dunno if you know, but there’s an unwritten rule: the prize is always an S-Grade item.”

Oh, so that was how it worked! The losing school gave a prize to the winner. If that prize really was an S-Grade item, I could understand why both of them wanted a shot at it. Of course, that just increased my resolve.

“Well, then I really want to go first,” I said.

“Of course you do,” said Fing. “So what do we do? Fight to settle the order?”

“That would just be counterproductive,” said Liddy. “It’s stupid to waste our strength before facing our opponents.”

She had a point.

“Then what do we do?”

“I have an idea,” she said. “We’ll use this.” Liddy held something up. It was just a normal, everyday coin.

“I’ll hide it in one hand, and you have to guess which one. Everyone gets five guesses. Whoever gets it right the most gets to go first.”

“Sounds good to me!” Fing agreed.

But I wasn’t so easily convinced.

“Liddy, I know you have Pocket Dimension. Are you planning to use that to cheat?”

“You have Discerning Eye?” she asked.

I nodded. The two of them were shocked.

“Now that’s impressive!” said Fing. “You really are a cut above the rest. So, Liddy, were you planning to trick us?”

She panicked. “N-no, I-I-I w-w-would never d-d-do that!”

We glared at her. Obviously, that was exactly what she had been planning.

“All right,” said Fing. “Then how about Noir and I do a coin flip?”

“No, I have Pocket Dimension too.”

“Aren’t we honest! You coulda just kept that to yourself.”

“This arrangement might only be temporary, but we are a team, and I don’t see what I’d gain from deceiving my teammates.”

Plus, it wouldn’t feel good to win that item by cheating. Fing seemed moved by my gesture.

“You really are a good kid. But really, how do we decide?”

Right, Fing couldn’t compete with either of us fairly. Fortunately, the door opened, and Ms. Elena came in.

“It’s starting soon,” she said. “Have you decided who’s going first?”

“Ms. Elena, perfect timing!”

I explained the situation and asked for her help. When she agreed, we started our guessing game. Here’s how the results shook out: Fing got it right four times, Liddy was right three times, and me? I was right exactly…zero times! If only we’d had to guess which hand the coin wasn’t in! Because I’d clearly mastered that.

Ms. Elena laughed. “Luck isn’t on your side today, huh? You’re just gonna have to sit and wait this time, Mr. Finisher.”

It wasn’t like I had another option. What a pain!

 

***

 

As the tournament began, we moved from the participants’ entrance to the arena. It was a big circular space, filled with dry sand and dotted with partially buried human teeth and monster bones. It gave the place a certain visceral feel. The audience was in tiered seats above us, so everyone could get a good view. This place was huge. Even if the entire student bodies of both schools were here, there would still be room left over.

“Woooo! You can do it, guys!”

“We’ll run you out of the Hero Academy if you lose!”

“Show ’em the power of the Gifted Institute!”

“Teach them just how strong we are!”

Everyone seemed really excited. Five hundred people had traveled from the Gifted Institute to support their representatives. It was a long way to come, so they had to be super enthusiastic. Including students from the Hero Academy, that made for a crowd of over a thousand. Voices of all sorts filled the air.

“The audience seems like they’re having fun,” Fing chuckled.

He sounded a little over it. I kind of agreed; I wanted to keep a cool head. We gathered in the center of the arena, along with the representatives from the Gifted Institute, one of their teachers, and Ms. Elena. There was a familiar face amongst the representatives from the other school. My eyes went wide.

“Mira?! What are you doing here?”

“Whaa? Noir?! I could ask you the same thing!”

“Why are you surprised?” I asked. “I’m one of the representatives from the Hero Academy.”

“What a coincidence! I guess you’re going last too?”

“Yeah, luck wasn’t on my side.”

“I didn’t even have a chance. Stupid school regulations!”

That was when I noticed Mira was the only one of them not in uniform. Even the Gifted Institute students in the audience were wearing them, so it was clearly some kind of requirement.

“Wait,” I said. “Is this what you meant when you said you had other things to do here?”

“Yeah! This tournament’s the other reason I’m here. It’s so annoying!”

Was that really the right word?

Ms. Elena stepped in. “I see you’re friends, but you need to be quiet while we explain the rules.”

In the end, the rules were simple: no killing; you lose if you’re knocked unconscious or verbally surrender; and no going up into the audience.

“We will referee the tournament,” said Mr. Torche, the teacher from the Gifted Institute. “You may put all your skills on display, but you will fight respectfully and without malice. Now we will begin with the first round.”

The rest of us had to watch the match from a spot slightly above the arena. The Gifted Institute’s observation box was on the north side, while ours was on the south. Before Liddy and I left, I used my Discerning Eye on their first contestant.

“Fing is strong, right?” Liddy asked.

“He’s strong and he has unique skills,” I agreed. “But his opponent is strong too.”

Fing’s opponent was an impressive-looking guy with long black hair.

 

Name: Todd Quincy

Age: 17

Species: Human

Level: 160

Occupation: Student

Skill: Hair Metamorphosis; Manipulate Hair;

Hair Extension

 

First off, he was a really high level. Mira was the same way. Maybe the Gifted Institute was full of students who were more powerful than your average adventurer. Also, his hair-related skills were creepy as hell.

The audience’s excitement swelled, and the match finally began.

“All right!”

Fing charged straight in while Todd’s hair grew to an unnatural length and tried to capture him. It was so fast that Fing didn’t stand a chance.

“Hee hee hee, weak.”

Todd laughed creepily, but the smug look on his face was quickly wiped away. Fing vanished from the tangle of hair and appeared next to it, still sprinting. That was probably an illusion caused by his Afterimage Step.

Fing smirked. “Yeah, you sure are weak—Impact Palm!”

He smashed the heel of his palm into Todd’s side, sending him flying several yards.

Nice!

But Fing wasn’t so pleased. “You…blocked it with your hair, huh? And it was really hard…”

It seemed Todd could adjust its strength with Hair Metamorphosis.

“Hee hee! That was the first and only chance you’ll get.”

The flow of the fight changed dramatically after that. Todd’s hair looked like black tentacles as it attacked Fing. Even with his Afterimage Step, Fing was quickly captured. Todd’s hair twisted around his neck, biting into his skin.

“Hee hee hee, better surrender before you pass out.”

“Ugh…I…surrender…”

“Good boy!”

And with that, the first match was over. Fing was taken to a medic, just to be safe.

“Ugh…I guess I’m up next,” said Liddy.

“Good luck.”

She nodded, but she didn’t look very confident as she entered the arena. She probably knew she was at a disadvantage here, and those fears proved to be correct.

Liddy pulled a knife from her Pocket Dimension, threw it, and manipulated its trajectory. Several knives flew through the air toward Todd, but he plucked each and every one out of the sky with his hair. Ultimately, it even snaked around Liddy’s ankle and hung her upside down.

“Hee hee, looks like everyone at the Hero Academy is a pathetic weakling. Come on, surrender.”

“Ngh… I surrender.”

That was two losses in a row for us. I was the only one left standing between us and total defeat. As I descended into the arena, the jeers from the audience were unbearable.

“Hero Academy suuuuucks!”

“The Hero Academy’s so weak. They can’t even put up a fight!”

“And this last guy looks even weaker than the first two!”

Maybe this sort of thing was inevitable. As much as this competition was meant to bring the two schools together, it clearly also stoked the rivalry between them. Plus, they had been encouraged by their two consecutive wins. Still, our side wasn’t much better.

“You’re all a disgrace. Go home.”

“How did those losers end up representing our school?!”

“They’re not good for anything except snatching badges. We don’t stand a chance…”

“Look, we don’t care if you lose, just don’t embarrass us, okay?”

It only got worse from there. The heckling was probably coming mostly from the second- and third-years, but I still could have used a little encouragement.

“Come on! You guys need to cheer on your own classmates! Noir’s really strong, he’s gonna wipe the floor with them!”

“Yeah. The only reason you’re all sitting here is because he beat you.”

It was Emma and Leila. I supposed they couldn’t stand to hear me bad-mouthed. That made me really happy. I flashed them a thumbs up, determined to win this thing.

“Yeah, you can do it, Noir!”

With Emma’s encouragement, I turned to face Todd. He looked a little irritated.

“Humph, you sure have some cute friends there. I bet you have a lot of fun at school.”

“Never a dull day!”

“I despise people like you. No wonder you Hero Academy kids are so weak; you spend all your time flirting.”

“Why don’t you say that again after you’ve tried to beat me?”

“Hee hee, I’ll make you regret setting foot in here!”

“Begin!”

With perfect timing, Ms. Elena called the start. Todd’s hair shot straight at me, and I fired off a three-foot-wide Stone Bullet.

“It’s huge!”

Todd was shocked by the size of the rock and focused all of his attention on it. He caught it with his hair and held it up in midair.

“Y-you had me a little off guard,” he said. “But I caught it.”

“All right, well, please stay put for a moment.”

I took out one of the spider silk balls and threw it, gluing his hair to the rock with its formidable stickiness. I repeated this a few more times, until Todd grew impatient.

“Hngh, it’s sticky! I can’t move…”

I sprinted past the boulder, closed in on him, and…

“Hah!”

I sliced his hair off, right in front of his eyes. The rock fell to the ground, and I held the point of my sword to his neck. It was just as well I’d seen him fight Fing and Liddy. I wasn’t sure I would have come up with that strategy otherwise.

“You try anything and I’ll slice your throat open,” I said with a smirk. “Feel like finding out which of us is faster?”

“Ugh… I-I surrender.”

And with that, my first opponent was down.

 

***

 

Emilia looked overjoyed as she joined me in the arena.

“That was a most unsightly defeat for us,” she told her allies. “But I’m grateful to have an opportunity to face Noir in battle.”

Todd didn’t reply. He just hung his head as he left the arena. Typical Emilia: sweet and proper on the outside, but rotten to the core.

“Maybe you shouldn’t act so cocky,” I said. “You could lose, you know.”

“Me? Lose? Perish the thought. Even if it were technically possible, we won’t lose today. After all, we have Mira.” It seemed even Mira’s classmates recognized how strong she was. “You may be friends, but don’t assume that she’ll go easy on you. Only one person earns the right not to wear a uniform. You’ll never beat her.”

“Not even if I manage to beat you?” I teased.

Emilia’s face was expressionless, but she seemed angry. Still, she had stalked and attacked me. The least she could do was laugh off that little jab!

“Just so we’re clear,” she said. “I wasn’t going all-out last time we fought.”

“Neither was I.”

“Very well,” said Mr. Torche, reading the room. “Begin!”

Emilia summoned the Metamorphic Frog, fed it a sword like she’d done before, then summoned another creature. It was a white snake, about six or seven yards long.

 

Name: White Snake

Level: 55

Skills: Squeeze

 

It seemed weaker than the Metamorphic Frog, but it was still big. If it got hold of me, it was probably over.

“A frog and a snake,” I said. “What an impressive combination…”

“Oh ho ho! Their names are Garma and Nyx. You see, their species prey upon each other. In other words, they’re natural enemies.” And yet here they were, standing side by side. “My training has turned them into allies. Uniting two such diametrically opposed creatures is an art.”

I see. So she’d deliberately picked them to show off her skills.

“Well, this is what I’m using,” I said.

“A morningstar?”

I spun the Shockwave Morningstar around and slammed the ball into the ground.

“Wh-what on earth?!”

Emilia trembled, and the monsters were frozen with fright. I settled on attacking the frog first. I made a beeline for it as it launched its blade-like tongue at me. Jumping with all my might, I fired a Water Drop from up high over its head. When I landed, I hit the soaked frog with an Ice Ball. Soon, a lot of its body was frozen.

“Ribb…it…”

The ice cooled it down until it couldn’t move.

“My poor, sweet Garma… ngh! Nyx, get him!”

The snake slithered toward me, but when I threatened it with Holy Flame, it stopped and flicked its tongue. It was apparently really averse to fire. That was perfect. As the snake hesitated, I took the chance to Bestow an A-Grade Lightning Elemental Weakness on it. It cost 2,800 LP in total, but I had LP to spare. Having a good reserve really did make fighting easier!

“Nyx! What are you waiting for? Bite his stupid head off!”

“Hissss!”

Unluckily for the creature, it did as she said. I fired a Lightning Strike from my fingertips.

“Sss…?!”

The White Snake let out a little cry and collapsed. It convulsed for a few moments, then just lay there with its mouth open.

“Its tail is moving,” I said. “It’s still alive.”

Having made sure of that, I walked up to Emilia and pointed my sword at her.

“I could have fried it to a crisp, but I get the impression that you care about your little pets. Maybe you should surrender so you can tend to them.”

“Y-y-you’ve bested me, utterly.”

Shockingly honest at the end. If only she’d been like this from the start. Then maybe we would have gotten along.

 

***

 

Emilia’s minions had taken quite a lot of damage, so she sent them back where they’d come from to rest and recover.

“Noir…I must thank you for being so considerate of my pets.”

“No big deal.”

“I am still a student of the Gifted Institute, so I cannot resent you for your victory. But I would like to give you a little thank you. Mira is a genius with enchanted items, and since she arrived in town, she has acquired another incredibly powerful weapon. Do your best.”

On that rather serious note, Emilia left, and Mira took up her place in the arena. The stands were buzzing with excitement. Even the people outside were cheering.

“You’re incredible! The best!”

“Thanks for redeeming us!”

“Damn, who knew the Hero Academy had someone that strong?”

“But Lady Mira is up next! She’s the strongest in our whole school. We’ve got this!”

Meanwhile, Mira and I were extremely calm.

“You sure are strong, huh, Noir?” she said. “You surprised me.”

“Still not a fan of going last though.”

“You should learn to take a compliment. Well, no matter who wins, our friendship won’t change, right?”

“Of course. And I hope to keep patronizing Santage Arms and Armor too.”

“That’s not what I meant! Well…I wouldn’t have you any other way. You don’t need to hold back. For the first time in ages, I’m planning to unleash my full power.”

Mira’s expression changed. Somehow, she seemed drastically more confident. I took a moment to examine her powers again.

 

Enchanted Item Mastery: Senses are heightened and physical abilities are amplified while in contact with an enchanted item. Furthermore, when the enchanted item possesses skills of A- to C-Grade, the item is functionally upgraded by one level. This effect only applies while the item is in use.

 

Wh-what an incredible ability! Even just using it with a normal enchanted sword or shield increased your physical abilities. But the scariest part was how it upgraded skills—boosting C-Grade skills to B-Grade, B to A, and A to S. She clearly really loved enchanted items. I gripped my sword and tried to fire myself up.

“The final battle will now begin!” said Ms. Elena.

The moment I heard her voice, I rushed in with lightning speed. Mira had one of those magic balls in each hand. She bounced them off the ground, one after the other, and sent them straight after me. I had to stop them. I knocked one away with my sword.

“Ngh, that was heavy…”

It had a skill that made it heavier. I couldn’t get to the other one in time, so I tilted my head to avoid it. It burned as it grazed past my cheek.

Now both balls were behind me, but I hesitated to make my move. Thanks to their Automatic Return ability, the balls whizzed through the air and back into Mira’s hands.

“These things are great!” she said.

“You have a skill on them that makes them heavier and bouncier, right?”

“Bingo. I’m a treasure hunter, so I have all sorts of enchanted items.”

Adventurers and seekers hunted for treasure, but it wasn’t our primary focus. We spent most of our time in dungeons. Treasure hunters, on the other hand, would go anywhere so long as there was treasure to be had. I heard they were active over very large regions.

“How long have you been treasure hunting?” I asked.

“Since I was three. I had something that could sense enchanted items, so I looked for stuff in all sorts of places.”

Talk about being born with a silver spoon in your mouth…

“And I have so many exciting items now!” she said. “But for now, think you can defend yourself against this ball?”

As she threw it, I edited the +10lbs skill to +0.1lbs and caught it with one hand.

“I made it lighter.”

“Seriously…? I-If you’re faking, that must’ve really hurt. Why don’t you try it again!”

I could have just done the same thing, but this time I broke its Elasticity skill. The ball was too heavy, so it wouldn’t bounce very well. Thunk, thunk. It bounced pathetically and came to a stop.

“I made that one too heavy.”

Mira looked astonished. This sure was a cakewalk when you had the LP to spare. She brought a hand to her cheek and laughed with delight.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha! I knew I liked you, Noir! I wasn’t very excited about the tournament because I was sure I was gonna win. But now I’m actually having fun!”

Mira put on an earring. This was no normal piece of jewelry.

 

The Gift of the Spear Earring

Grade A

Skills: Spearmanship (Grade S); Manipulate

Spear; Rapid Thrust; Stamina Reduction

 

It gave abilities to its wearer. That Spearmanship skill would have been A-Grade if it weren’t for Mira’s Enchanted Item Mastery. But the earring had a detrimental skill too. It made the wearer’s stamina drain more easily. I created the skill Mental Fortitude Reduction and Bestowed it on Mira.

“I got my hands on a nice lance recently,” she said. “I’m gonna use it.”

The item Mira showed off so proudly was an extremely plain and simple spear. The only unusual thing about it was its color: the handle was jet-black, and the blade was just slightly paler.

 

Interdimensional Lance

Grade S

Skills: Cut Spacetime

 

Hold on a second…that name sounded familiar. Wasn’t that the weapon Olivia had sold the other day? That must have been what Emilia was talking about.

“See this thing?” said Mira. “My dad bought it off a real pretty lady for like three hundred mil. I thought he’d been scammed again and got mad, but once I tried it out, it was obvious that it was special.”

“That ‘real pretty lady’ was probably my master…”

“Seriously?!”

Olivia said she’d sold it off because it wasn’t very powerful, but that was by her standards. In reality, it was an S-Grade weapon that could apparently cut through the fabric of spacetime.

“She’s a really incredible person,” I said. “I never imagined that Mr. Stoke was the one who bought it from her.”

“Luck really isn’t on your side today, huh?” Mira asked. “But luck’s part of the competition, so let’s go!”

She closed the distance between us in the blink of an eye and attacked with a practiced thrust. I parried with my sword, but only barely. Next, she unleashed a torrent of powerful attacks. Some of them were extraordinarily fast. That was likely her Rapid Thrust skill.

She poked several holes in my shirt, and unable to hold her off any longer, I stepped back to get away. When she tried to give chase, I fired off a Lightning Strike. Mira smirked.

“The Reversal Mirror Buckler.”

Mira pulled out a small round shield that had been polished to a mirror shine. I thought I’d landed a direct hit with my Lightning Strike, but it bounced off the shield and hit me instead.

“Gahh…”

Pain racked my body, but the damage wasn’t very serious. My S-Grade Lightning Resistance was doing its job.

“Gotta watch out for mid- and long-range magic attacks, ya know?” Mira grinned.

“You sure have a lot of nice weapons,” I admitted. “But using a lance while holding a shield is hard.”

“Of course it is,” said Mira. “But I can also fight like this.”

She cut a vertical line through the empty air, and something really strange happened. A hole appeared. It was as big as Mira and pitch-black inside. I couldn’t see anything in there.

“There’s more where that came from,” said Mira.

She ran around me, slicing holes in spacetime as she went. Her shoes had the Mercury’s Sandals skill, so she was exceptionally fast. When she returned to her original position, she was out of breath.

“Haah, haah, you see…these holes are connected. A person could go in one and come out another.”

“But you’re not doing that?”

“Exactly, because I’m doing this instead!”

Mira threw the lance into one of the holes with all her might. I knew it! She was using her Manipulate Spear skill! And I was surrounded by these holes. The lance came flying out of the one directly behind me.

“Whoa?!”

I just about managed to dodge. The lance vanished through one of the other holes.

“Haah, haah, haah…”

Mira was panting hard. She held her shield up to guard against any direct attacks, but she was visibly exhausted. That detrimental skill was really doing a number on her, and the skill I’d given her on top of that was no doubt taking effect too. I pretended to dodge the lance and used the opportunity to get closer to her.

I balked. “Huh…? Where did it go?”

The moment I spoke, the lance appeared from the hole behind Mira and flew right past her face. I ducked away, but it had really caught me off guard. That was close! I needed to wait for the right moment.

“You know, I’ve been exploring this hidden dungeon,” I said.

“Wow, that’s impressive.”

“I’m no Mira Santage, but I have some pretty good enchanted items myself. So as powerful as these attacks are—”

I sensed the lance coming from the hole diagonally behind me and pulled out the Shield of Champions to block. At the same time, I used Stone Rain to manifest rocks above Mira’s head.

“What the?!”

Unsurprisingly, Mira noticed right away and ran. But I predicted where she was going, threw my shield away, and used Shukuchi to close the gap between us. I took a powerful step toward her and swung my sword.

“Gyaah!”

Mira was terrified, but I stopped just before my blade made contact.

“Y-you’re not gonna hit me?” she asked.

“I would never hit a friend. But I’d appreciate it if you surrendered.”

Mira was sitting meekly on the ground, breathing raggedly and utterly exhausted. She took off the earring.

“I’d normally try to hold on a little longer, but I don’t think I have the energy.”

“Even when you’re low on stamina, a lot of people can push through with willpower. That’s why I gave you a skill to reduce your mental fortitude.”

“So that’s how you did it.”

Exhausted as she was, Mira stood up and raised her hands.

“I surrender! You win!”

Yes! It had been hard work, but I’d survived all three matches!

 

***

 

The students from the Hero Academy cried out for joy, while those from the Gifted Institute fell silent.

“Good going, first-year! You’re a real king!”

“I can’t believe you beat all three of them! That was so cool!”

“Thank you for preserving the honor of the Hero Academy! Thank you!”

“That’s our Noir! I knew you could do it!”

The last one was probably Emma. I found her in the crowd and waved. Next, I got rid of the Mental Fortitude Reduction I’d put on Mira.

I’d spent several thousand LP during the tournament, but I still had plenty to spare. Situations like this were probably why Olivia wanted me to earn so much.

“I got rid of that skill I gave you, by the way,” I told Mira.

“Thanks. I’ll tell my dad to give you a discount when the shop opens.”

“I appreciate it.”

Ms. Elena announced the Hero Academy’s victory to the crowd. I’d never heard cheering so loud. She also announced that they’d be collecting votes for the overall winner.

“Why even bother?” Mira cut in. “Noir obviously won.”

“I think so too, but rules are rules.”

“Well, it’s stupid if you ask me. Also, why are you crying, Mr. Torche?”

“Perhaps you will understand when you’re older…”

I had no idea what he was talking about, but it must’ve been rough. Maybe his salary was going to be docked or something? That would suck.

When all the votes were counted, Ms. Elena returned to the center of the area.

“I will announce the results for the Award of Excellence. The votes are as follows: Fing Barabbas, 5 votes; Liddy Locun, 1 vote; Noir Stardia, 1,123 votes! Which means the Award of Excellence goes to: Noir Stardia!”

“Who the hell voted for the other candidates?” Mira grumbled amid the earsplitting cheers. “Relatives? Fans?”

More likely just people who hate me.

Next, the teachers from the Gifted Institute gave Mr. Torche a box, and he brought it over to me.

“Now the Gifted Institute will present Noir with his prize!” Ms. Elena shouted. “Come forward!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

I was really excited. There was a good chance this would be an S-Grade enchanted item! I stepped forward and…