Chapter 92: The Bait has been Set.
Aiden finished his training for the night and walked back to his room. He met Aaron in the hallway, and they walked together. They both washed up, cleaning the day's sweat and dust from their faces and hands.
After that, Aiden sat on his bed and absorbed mana from the air around him, feeling the familiar energy fill his chest. Aaron did the same in his own bed. After they were done, both boys went to sleep. They slept in their room peacefully, the only sound their quiet breathing.
Morning came. The sound of birds chirping outside could be heard through the window. Sunlight entered the room through the small glass panes, making bright squares on the wooden floor. After a few minutes, Aiden woke up.
He stretched and went to the washroom. After cleaning his face and brushing his teeth, he changed into his fighting clothes—a simple black shirt and black trousers. They were comfortable and easy to move in.
He came back into the bedroom and saw Aaron sitting on his own bed, already awake. Aaron greeted him with a smile. "Good morning."
Aiden replied, "Good morning." Then Aaron got up and went to wash up. While he was gone, Aiden once again sat cross-legged on his bed. He closed his eyes and absorbed mana from the surrounding air, topping up the energy in his heart.
Aaron came back a little later, his hair damp. He sat on his bed too and began his own mana absorption. After about an hour, both of them felt refreshed. They left their room and walked to the academy cafeteria.
In the cafeteria, they met Olivia and Victoria. The four friends got their breakfast—eggs, bread, and fruit—and sat together to eat. They talked about small things, but a nervous energy was in the air. After eating, they all walked to the main arena where the matches for the top 16 were going to start.
This time, the contestants had a special waiting room beside the main crowd area. Everyone in the stands could see them through a large window.
Of course, there were different waiting rooms because of the conflicts between some students. Aiden and his friends entered their assigned room. They saw Angela, Peter, Ashley, Ian, Jack, and Henry already sitting there.
These were all the students who did not have any big grudges or fights with each other, so the academy placed them together. Jack saw Aiden and his friends enter. He whistled and said with a grin, "So the noble slayer is also in our room."
Aiden didn't reply. He just walked past everyone and sat in an empty seat by the wall. Olivia and Victoria started talking with Ashley and Angela. All four girls sat together in a small group. Aaron greeted the others politely and then chatted with Henry about the upcoming matches.
Ian picked up his chair. He carried it over and put it right beside Aiden, then sat down.
He looked at Aiden and said, his voice serious, "This time, I want to fight you at full power. So you better not get disqualified until we face each other."
Aiden heard this. He didn't mind it. He knew Ian was very competitive and wanted to beat him fair and square. Ian had challenged Aiden four times in the last year, and every time, Ian had lost.
After the last loss, he had stopped challenging Aiden and just focused on training until he was confident he could win. Now, in this contest, Ian was finally sure he could beat Aiden.
As they all chatted quietly in their room, the other waiting room was also filled with contestants. This room held Noah, Joshua, Gary, Kyle, Isaac, and Jeremy.
They were all sitting far away from each other, except Isaac, who was sitting beside Jeremy. They didn't get along well, but all of them were from noble families. They had unofficially decided to work together for one goal: to defeat Aiden.
As they sat in their separate, tense waiting rooms, Principal William arrived on his high balcony overlooking the arena. He looked out at the huge crowd. Then he said in a loud, clear voice that echoed everywhere, "Attention, everyone!"
The moment he spoke, the crowd went completely silent.
He then continued. "As you all know, the second contest is reaching its final stage. You have all witnessed the students fighting each other and their strength. Now, only sixteen students remain. And after today ends, only four will be left."
"The winner of this tournament," William announced, his voice growing more serious, "will be given a chance to enter the academy vault. They may take one artifact of their liking from it. What they find will depend on their mana sensitivity and their luck. If they are lucky… they could even get a Stage 3, Stage 4, or even a Stage 5 mana artifact from the vault."
The crowd gasped. A loud murmur of shock and excitement rippled through the thousands of people. A Stage 5 mana artifact was a legendary treasure. Such things had caused wars between kingdoms in the past. And now, one of these 16 students would get a chance to have one for themselves, just by being lucky.
This was a prize of significance that had never been given before in the academy's long history.
As the crowd buzzed with disbelief, William continued. "But it will be very difficult to find the Stage 5 mana artifacts. In this whole academy, there are only three of them. There are thousands of other artifacts in the vault. So, if you are extremely lucky, you might be able to get one."
William was confident that Aiden was going to win this competition. So he had used a Stage 5 mana artifact as bait. He wanted to see what the noble families, especially his enemies, were willing to do for such power inside his own academy.
The moment he announced that a Stage 5 artifact could be the prize, all the big noble families watching from their private balconies began to plan.
On the balcony right beside William's, Edward Draconia was once again present. But he was frowning deeply. He did not know what William was planning. He looked at his butler, Luke, and asked quietly, "What do you think about this reward, Luke?"
The butler thought for a second, then replied politely, "My lord, I think this is a bait. Principal William is using it to lure out all his enemies who were after his Stage 5 mana artifacts… especially that one."
Edward nodded grimly. "I have the same thought. That old fox knows how important that artifact is. Thats why he's using it as bait to lure all of us out. The most frightening thing is… we all know it's bait, but we will still have to take it. We have no other choice. That artifact is far too important."
On the balconies below theirs, many other high-ranking nobles were seated.
In one balcony sat a man with yellow hair, the same color as Angela's. He had the same kind eyes, too. This was Angela's father, Lucas Fray. He had soft facial features, but his body had a strong build.
He looked gentle, dressed in a neat white suit. He was a Stage 4 mana cultivator and the current head of the Fray family. A butler stood beside him.
The butler asked, "My lord, what action should we take?"
Lucas heard this and replied calmly, "There's no need to do anything. This is bait that Sir William has laid to lure out his enemies. We are allied with him, so we will not interfere." The butler bowed slightly. "Understood."
In another balcony, a man whose face was covered by a plain white mask sat quietly. He wore a long black robe that hid his whole body. This was Jeremy's uncle, Harold Jeagar, a Stage 4 Illusion mage. A maid stood silently beside him.
He then ordered in a low voice, "Take the necessary measures to make sure Jeremy wins this tournament."
The maid nodded once. "Understood, sire."
In yet another balcony was a man with black hair and dark, sunken eyes. Dark circles hung under them. This was a high-ranking elder of the Hawthorne family and Kyle's personal teacher. His name was Lawrence Hawthorne.
A few servants stood beside him, but they looked wrong—their eyes were dull, and they stood perfectly still, as if not quite alive. Lawrence had turned them into half-puppets; their minds were still there, but their bodies were under his complete control. Lawrence was a Stage 4 Puppeteer mage.
He gave an order without looking at them. "Try everything in our power to make sure Kyle wins this tournament. No matter what. We must take that artifact for ourselves." The servants did not say a word. They simply vanished from the balcony to carry out his will.
On the last major noble balcony sat a man with sandy yellow hair. He was the head butler of the Huxley family and also the leader of their guards. His name was Gerald Hansley, a Stage 4 mage. Beside him stood a few men wearing plain white robes. The one in front then asked, "Sir, what should we do?"
Gerald thought for a moment. "This is clearly bait laid out by Sir William. Our lord, the Pope, does not wish to get into conflict with any of these noble families. We will obey his orders and not interfere directly."
While these powerful nobles planned and schemed for the unknown artifact, the students sitting in the waiting rooms were left in complete shock. They hadn't known the reward for winning would be this huge.
When they heard about it, a fierce desire to win ignited in every single one of them.
At this moment, Aiden was seen sitting quietly in his seat. For the first time in a very long time, his dark eyes were filled with a sharp, burning desire. Now, he truly wanted to win this tournament.
He knew that if he got a Stage 5 mana artifact, his strength would jump. His chance for revenge against the Draconia family would increase dramatically. Now, for the first time since he had joined the academy just to hide and learn, he was taking this tournament completely seriously.
Principal William saw the new, determined looks on the students' faces from his high balcony. A small, satisfied smile touched his lips before he continued speaking.
"The matches for the top 16 have already been decided by random draw," he announced, his voice booming across the silent arena. "The first match will be between Jack Kensington and Peter Crux. The second fight is between Olivia Azirph and Kyle Hawthorne. The third match is between Ashley Lopez and Joshua Draconia."
Aiden's eyes snapped toward the window separating the waiting rooms. Joshua was in the other room. Ashley was here, looking suddenly pale.
William went on. "The fourth match is between Henry Gorgon and Noah Huxley. The fifth match is between Ian Pavlov and Angela Fray. The sixth match is between Aaron Ainwell and Jeremy Jeagar."
Aaron clenched his fists. Jeremy was strong and cruel.
"The seventh match is between Victoria Grayson and Isaac Rosier." Victoria took a deep breath beside Olivia.
William paused, letting the pairs sink in. Then he spoke the final pair.
"And the eighth and final match of the first round… is between Julian Cross and Gary Amorth."
As William announced this, everyone prepared to take the artifact for themselves.
The bait was set. The stage was arranged.
At this moment, in a faraway mountain inside a cave, an old man with a long beard looked at a screen. On that screen, Aiden's face was shown. The man was watching Aiden while his eyes were shining brightly.
Author's Note: A mysterious figure is watching Aiden. Who do you think this mysterious figure is. Guess in the comments.