"That's strange. I don't recall Jarek being a part of the shadow class. When did he learn shadow laws? Or am I getting so close to the grave that I have forgotten something?" The bearded old man asked jokingly, turning his gaze to his grandson, Ernst.
Ernst shook his head and replied with a small smile. "No, you are correct. The only elements he studies at this academy are fire, wind, and lightning. Grandfather, you really have no shame saying that when you have an entire century left to live."
The bearded old man let out a hearty laugh at Ernst's response.
It was only after he had calmed down that he turned to Ernst, still smiling, and asked, "So, then from where and when do you think he learned shadow laws?"
Ernst took a moment to think and answered, "It was either that he got it from a fellow student or an outside source. But I think the former is the most likely."
Surprisingly, he had reached an entirely different conclusion from Brynhild's.
The Deputy Academy Head raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why not the latter? What makes you think he didn't get it outside?"
Hearing this question, Ernst replied, "From our investigations from when he first enrolled here, we found that he had no ties to any cultivator or cultivation group whatsoever. He was just a common mortal orphan, albeit a wealthy one with several businesses alongside his partner, who goes by the name Eira, who also happens to be a mortal..."
Hearing this, the old man interrupted Ernst as he voiced his doubts. "Ernst, you say he was a mortal orphan with no ties to the cultivation world, then when did he become so wealthy?"
Ernst was surprised, having never seriously thought about this point.
"Couldn't he have just gotten lucky and found a valuable cultivation resource, which he earned him a lot of money? At least that's the only thing I can think of."
The bearded old man nodded as well, but was still able to see some flaws in this line of reasoning.
Questions like 'Under what circumstances did he get those resources? Did he just find them, or was there more to it? And despite having those resources, how was he able to hold on to them without losing his life?'
But he didn't voice these questions as he felt that there could also be logical answers to them, like, maybe he found them coincidentally. Jarek wouldn't be the first person in the world to have such a small, fortuitous encounter.
As for how he was able to keep the resources without dying despite being a mortal orphan, the old man couldn't deny that there were few good cultivators in the world.
Who is to say that they wouldn't help the kid?
But it wouldn't hurt to get to the bottom of this, especially when it concerned their most talented student.
"It seems a thorough, in-depth investigation will need to be conducted to get to the root of this."
Ernst nodded and spoke up, "It will be carried out starting tomorrow. You can expect the full results after a week."
While the matches went on, one after another, Jarek was meditating in his chamber.
Soon, every single fighter had fought in one match.
Among all these people, naturally, some stood out: Asvald, Brynhild, and Astrid.
And of course, Jarek, who dominated Velkrith.
If it wasn't clear enough to all that Velkrith was a powerful opponent in his match, the second highlighted how much of a threat he was.
Jarek believed that if Velkrith and Astrid were to battle with nothing but their weapons, Velkrith would undoubtedly be the victor.
In fact, if his devouring laws were as developed as his shadow and time laws, he would have been able to force Jarek to reveal more of his cards.
Sadly, with his defense not being up to par, he could only wait for his defeat.
He was at too much of a disadvantage.
Nevertheless, the match had drawn the audience's attention.
They admired Velkrith's determination, who jumped straight into Jarek's lightning just to create an opening to launch his own attack.
They were also impressed by Jarek, who at the last moment revealed an unexpected ability, one no one thought he had.
Of course, with his trump card out in the open, his chances of winning this tournament were now less than they would have been since they would be prepared for it.
Or that's what they thought, completely unaware that Jarek would shock them again.
Now that every participant had fought one match each, it was time for their second one.
Yes, unlike the previous day, they would be required to fight two matches.
And so, the second round of battles began after an hour.
By this time, every fighter had recovered their energy and their wounds had been fully healed.
While the first battle was underway, good news finally came.
Not for the fighters, but to a cloaked figure in the audience.
Another cloaked figure approached him and delivered the good news.
"... he has agreed to cooperate with us and by tomorrow morning, his people would have gathered all the information related to him." The cloaked figure spoke with a whisper.
These two cloaked figures were indeed Thrain and Leif, who had returned to deliver this message.
Thrain, who had gotten what he had wanted, sighed inwardly.
'What a shame. The bastard has grown a bit cautious since I last saw him. He used to think with his lower half and was driven by his greed. Too bad.'
He lamented that he could use that greedy and lecherous man to accomplish his objective.
But at least he was able to achieve the second-best outcome.
As for the worst outcome imaginable, Thrain had put several countermeasures in place to ensure it didn't occur.
Thrain was a pessimistic man and always tended to think about the worst-case scenarios more often than he should.
For example, this meeting in the Myriad Dao Academy was such a case.
It was another countermeasure to protect his life if Jurgen had chosen to keep track of Leif's movements after he left the Mayor's Mansion.
He was sure that if that were the case, then once Leif entered the gates, further monitoring would be incredibly difficult.
That and the cloak Leif put on once he entered the gates added another layer of security.
Thrain had indeed grown to be a slippery snake and a cunning fox throughout the years.
No matter how Jurgen tried, he simply wouldn't be able to get rid of him.
"Good. Now we wait." Thrain replied shortly.
Once today's matches end, Leif would go and stay in a separate inn from Thrain's and go to the Mayor's Mansion early the next day.
He would once again deliver the information to Thrain inside the academy.
Thrain had thought everything through.
Though he was just being a little too cautious.
For now, he sat leisurely, watching the current match with some interest.
It was a battle between a male ice phoenix and a vampire.
An attack of darkness was heading towards the ice phoenix, who responded in kind.
|Ice Art: Wall of Ice|
The ice was shattered into countless smaller pieces, but just like Brynhild's firewall, it was designed to buy him enough time to dodge the incoming attack.
Once he was at a safe distance, he launched his own counterattack.
|Ice Arrow|
The vampire formed a small barrier made of darkness for defense, which was able to resist a few of the ice arrows.
But the attacks persisted until a few seconds later, the barrier broke apart, and the arrows rained in on him.
He was forced to create another barrier despite the intense pain he felt.
He looked like a porcupine with all the ice arrows stuck in his body.
If it wasn't for his strong vitality, he would have lost the battle then and there.
It was only when the ice phoenix used the same attack once more did he fell unconscious due to blood loss, and the ice phoenix was declared the victor.