The Tournament (2)

The first to take the strength test was led by a handsome boy, though I didn't know his name. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Li Yi Fei had actually wanted to be the first to do it, but was stopped by Zhang Zhe Rui.

It was a wise decision. As expected, Zhang Zhe Rui was the brains of their group. Going first in these kind of things was never ideal. After all, you were able to gain experience by watching other people. Being the last one to go in this scenario isn't bad at all.

The handsome young man strode confidently towards the bland looking stone slab.

"Hmm...Gao Ruo Jie, is it?" Mr. Wang looked at a clipboard held in his hands. "Let's see...your team members are Fu Xia, Lei Mu, Du Ruo Gang, and Qiu Chen."

Apparently, a sheet of paper listing everyone's names and the team they belong to was what was on the clipboard.

The boy named Gao Ruo Jie nodded, then pointed at the strength testing artifact. "Uh...so I just hit this thing right?"

He still looked skeptical. On the surface the stone slab looked just like a tall rock, easily breakable with magic. Mr. Wang, however, merely smiled. "Correct. Hit it with all of your strength."

"Er...okay. Then, here I go-!"

Gao Ruo Jie shut his eyes and began concentrating his mana as the rest of us watched in interest. Then, his eyes snapped open and he formed a swirling fire ball within his hands.

"Level One Fire Magic - Flame Lotus!" he yelled.

A beautiful fiery lotus formed within his palms, and he launched it towards the stone slab with all his strength. At first, I was worried about the explosion that would come with it, however-

"Huh?" Gao Ruo Jie blinked a couple of times to make sure what he was seeing was correct. "No way..."

The strength testing Magic Artifact only had one bar lit up. As soon as the flame lotus came in contact with the stone, it was sucked into the slab of rock. The explosion I was concerned about...never came. From this, I had pretty much grasped how this artifact worked.

Basically, whenever an attack came within range of its built-in detector, it would convert and suck in the mana of that attack, kind of like how I did with the stone pendant. However, it didn't use that mana to replenish itself like I did - instead, it gauges the power of the attack, and the bars shown on its surface would light up correspondingly.

It was a simple concept, but none of us had thought it would actually function like this - we were all fooled by the outer appearance. Mr. Wang seemed pleased with our surprise, as if he had been waiting for this moment.

"Would you like to try again?" Mr. Wang asked, trying to hide his laughter.

Gao Ruo Jie gritted his teeth. "Ngh! T-That wasn't my true strength. I'll use a Level Two spell this time..."

Saying that, he concentrated his mana once again and prepared to unleash a another Fire Element attack.

"Level Two Fire Magic - Abomination Flare!"

A massive swirling ball of fire that threatened to burn the entire classroom to a crisp appeared, but before it could even cause any damage, the stone slab sucked it in. After a while, two bars lit up dimly on its face, and Gao Ruo Jie sighed in defeat, returning to his seat without even being told to, since he knew his turn was over. His teammates also looked at him with disdain.

"Well...don't be too frustrated. Very few exceptional talents can reach the third bar in their 2nd Year, after all," Mr. Wang comforted. He then turned towards the rest of the class. "Now then, I assume you all now have a good understanding of how this artifact functions and just how difficult the test is. Who will be next?"

This time, it was Li Yi Fei that raised his hand. Looks like Zhang Zhe Rui couldn't hold him back any longer.

"Alright, Li Yi Fei, come on up." Mr. Wang moved aside and signaled for him to come closer.

"Hmph! Unlike you weaklings, I'll reach the sixth level of this damn thing easily!" he boasted while walking towards the tall grey stone slab positioned upright on the floor.

I sighed. He didn't understand Zhang Zhe Rui's intention in not letting him go first at all, did he? When it came to this idiot, it made no difference whether he went first or last. I looked over at Zhang Zhe Rui who had a conflicted expression on his face, and felt nothing but pity for him. Serving such an incompetent young master...truly a painful experience.

That being said, no matter how low his intelligence is, his strength was the real thing. He had two innate elements, and that was considered a talent for humans. Trash in other races, but a talent by human standards.

Li Yi Fei had Sky and Fire affinity, much like Yu An Yan. He appeared to be debating inside his head which element to use. At last, he settled on the Sky element, and began concentrating his mana.

"Level Two Sky Magic - Lightning Blitz!" he chanted, and pointed his finger towards the stone slab.

A deadly purple electricity bolt flew out of his hand, and headed straight for the stone slab. Sky Magic was known for its powerful AOE (area of effect) spells, but Lightning Blitz was one of the few single-target point style attacks. The stone slab, however, didn't care what type of spell he cast. It was drawn in easily, just like before.

After a few seconds, three bars lit up on the front of the stone. "Not bad," Mr. Wang mused.

Li Yi Fei himself, however, didn't seem to be satisfied with this result. After all, he had boldly declared he would reach the sixth level with ease just a minute earlier. And now...only reaching the third bar was like a direct face slap to him.

"I-Impossible! There must be something wrong with this stupid artifact!" Li Yi Fei yelled, and prepared to unleash another attack. However, I immediately noticed this time, he was unleashing a powerful AOE-type spell. That would destroy the entire classroom before the stone slab would even have a chance to suck it in-!

Fortunately, Mr. Wang also noticed this, and put a stop to Li Yi Fei's movements by using his own magic.

"Level One Earth Magic - Bind," he said calmly, slamming the floor with his palm.

Roots sprouted up from the ground, and entangled Li Yi Fei's hands, taking him by surprise and preventing him from doing any damage.

"Wha-! Let me go! Hey!" Li Yi Fei struggled to break free, but the bonds were too strong.

Although only Level One Magic, Mr. Wang was an Ancestral Mage. His mana was far more refined and powerful than the likes of Li Yi Fei. Therefore, even if he is using Level One Magic, it is more than enough to restrain a weak Novice Mage.

"You had your chance. Give up." Mr. Wang spoke coldly. He wasn't afraid to offend the Li family, since he had the school backing him up.

Li Yi Fei glared at our teacher, but eventually succumbed. "Tch..."

Mr. Wang sighed as Li Yi Fei dejectedly walked back to his seat, where his two lackeys were waiting to comfort him.

"Alright...who's next?"

*****

- A Few Minutes Later -

All the other teams have finished taking the strength test. So far, Li Yi Fei's team was still the highest, with 3 bars. However, our team - Yu An Yan - still had not gone yet. I didn't know what level she would achieve, but I have faith it will be at least four bars.

"Alright, Yu An Yan, you are the representative of your team?" Mr. Wang asked.

Yu An Yan nodded, and headed up to the front, where the stone slab was waiting. She then looked back at me as if asking which element she should use, and I shrugged nonchalantly. My eyes said 'just give it your all'.

She sighed at my uselessness, and took a deep breath to calm down. I watched as she began channeling her mana with her eyes closed.

When she opened them, the preparation was ready.

"Level Two Fire Magic - Pyroflux!" she chanted.

Pyroflux was one of the spells I had learnt through the Yu family library. It made sense that she would know it as well. Though in terms of power...Twin Dragons was probably better. I wonder why she didn't use it instead?

Two powerful blazing lines of fire that shook the entire room shot out of her outstretched palms, only to be sucked in effortlessly by the dull slab of stone. I began holding my breath without even realizing it.

After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, the bars on the stone slab's front face reacted.

Mr. Wang almost dropped his glasses. "T-This is...a level 5?!"

"Woo-hoo! Way to go, An Yan!" Qing Yue cheered from beside me.

"As expected of her," Feng Mian joined in as well, smiling happily.

Yu An Yan turned around with style, and gave me a flirty wink. She then strode proudly back to her seat, flicking her hair back in the process. All eyes were on her as she did this; it was a sight too beautiful and attractive to not see.

Li Yi Fei wasn't too happy about this outcome, but there was nothing he could do with Mr. Wang there monitoring him.

"A-Alright...that was unexpected, but it was a pleasant surprise. The highest level I have ever seen a 2nd Year reach on this throughout all my twenty years of teaching, was a level 4," Mr. Wang remarked, still a bit bewildered. However, as expected of a teacher, he quickly regained his composure and announced the result.

"With this...the victor of the strength test is Yu An Yan's team. They will automatically advance to the intra-class tournament finals. The other teams will duke it out, and whichever one wins among the four will challenge them for the right to participate in the main tournament happening tomorrow. That's all. Any questions?

Mr. Wang looked around the class for any raised hands. "No? Alright, then let's begin heading for the Arena."

The Arena he was referring to was the indoor arena within the school, not the outside one where the main tournament would take place. I wonder, what kind of battles lay ahead? I predict Li Yi Fei's team being the ones to challenge us in the intra-class tournament finals, but as for the main tournament, I had no idea how it worked or which opponents I would be facing.

And above all that, there was still one massive problem: Liu Jian. Even now, I still hadn't come up with a good strategy to counter him. To be honest, Liu Jian himself wasn't the biggest trouble. The real mystery is how he managed to find out about my powers. There's a very little chance one of the girls or Song Qian Long leaked the information, so someone either overheard us talking about it or Liu Jian had acquired the info through some other method. Either way, it was something I needed to be wary of.

My secret...wasn't so secret anymore.