Half a month had passed. Here are the scores for each school!
A group of exchange students watched Sunny Finch. "Sunny," one asked, "should we activate it?"
Sunny nodded. "Do it. Who cares? If there were problems, the organizers would have stepped in. This must be connected to the upcoming project. After all, we were told that after the Dragon Pillar competition, there's another phase Erwin personally announced."
Hearing this, the students nodded. They took out the activation item and followed the method they had been taught.
The instant the item was used, patterns flared to life at the base of the stone pillar.
At the same time, on a certain mountaintop, the crimson sigils before the Cavendish family members also lit up.
The Cavendish family didn't hesitate. They channeled their magic through their wands, which were driven into the ground. Their faces visibly paled as their magic reserves were rapidly drained. They had expected this, so they remained calm.
The group repeated the process. They took out enchanted crystals, which dimmed as the energy was siphoned from their hands. The infusion continued until the blood-red patterns turned completely golden. Only then did they stop, collapsing weakly to the ground.
"I'm exhausted," one panted. "This feeling of having your magic drained is awful."
"I know. I don't know what Master is planning, but this thing consumes a staggering amount of magic."
"Mission complete. It's time to leave. The rest is up to the other teams."
They nodded. To be precise, there were nine such teams in total, all prepared. The blood-patterned lines were already on the ground. Now, they inserted their wands into the earth, quietly awaiting the next phase.
In the Changbai Mountains, after the stone pillar was activated, the students retreated. The pillar itself seemed unchanged, but Sunny felt a subtle difference she couldn't quite place. After observing it for a while and finding nothing overtly unusual, she decided not to waste time.
"Alright," she announced. "Let's search for the next pillar! This terrain favors us. The compass is affected, but it can still point us in a general direction. We need to establish our advantage now."
The students nodded and, as planned, spread out to continue their search.
The spectators watched the four schools closely.
The second pillar was found by Hogwarts. While not as convenient as the exchange students' method, their magic was still effective. Following their activation, Beauxbatons found their first pillar. A week into the competition, three schools had made progress.
Unlucky Durmstrang, however, was not only suffering from poor fortune but also relied on inefficient methods. Even with the real Viktor Krum back, they were purely relying on chance. If their luck was bad, they had no chance at all.
Fortunately, their luck held. Another week passed, and Durmstrang finally activated their first stone pillar. At that point, the progress of the four schools was equal again.
After half a month, the locations of the dragon pillars had been roughly mapped by all four schools. However, they still lacked the necessary items to activate them. But they had searched vast areas, and everyone knew the number of activated pillars would soon surge. Most importantly, the battle was about to begin.
As the outer areas were cleared, the teams drew closer to the center. The chance of the four schools meeting—and clashing—grew with every step. The audience, bored with the past two weeks of routine searching, began to anticipate a fight.
And a fight was exactly what they got.
The exchange students took the lead, activating two dragon pillars in quick succession. Hogwarts and Beauxbatons each managed one. The score stood at: Exchange Students (3), Hogwarts and Beauxbatons (2), and Durmstrang (1).
Only two pillars remained. Durmstrang was effectively out of the running; even if they found the last two, they couldn't win. All eyes turned to the other three schools. If the exchange students secured another pillar, the competition was over for Hogwarts and Beauxbatons. For the latter two to win, they had to claim the remaining pillars consecutively.
No one relaxed. None of the contestants knew the current scores, so no one would give up.
After activating their third pillar, the students gathered.
"We have three," Sunny said. "We need four to guarantee victory. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang definitely can't reach that. Hogwarts might, if they have a hidden method, but we've almost searched the outer areas. The remaining items are in the center. We'll have to fight for them."
She paused, her gaze sharp. "So, our goal is simple: grab one item. Don't waste time. Secure one, and we retreat. We lost the first two rounds; we won't lose this last one. We only need one item. Get it, and we leave."