For the rest of the first day Lily wasted her time playing on the beach, even inviting her other teammates like Corey and Issac to play beach volleyball.
The warm sea breeze blew across the shoreline while the orange evening sun reflected beautifully against the water. Students from various academies wandered around the beaches surrounding Bayarm Academy, though most of them still kept an eye on their future opponents.
Lily, however, clearly wasn't one of them.
She dove across the sand and slapped the volleyball back into the air.
"Corey!" she shouted.
Corey jumped with all his might before smashing the ball downward. Unfortunately for him, Issac casually stepped forward and blocked it with one hand, causing the ball to bounce directly into Corey's face.
Smack.
Corey collapsed dramatically onto the sand.
"Ow! My nose!"
Lily burst into laughter while clutching her stomach. "That was pathetic!"
"You could at least pretend to care!" Corey complained while sitting up.
Nearby, Olivia sat under a beach umbrella reading a book while occasionally glancing toward the others with visible disappointment.
"They're supposed to be tournament participants..." she muttered.
Leon lazily sat nearby with his feet buried in the sand. He originally refused to join, but after Lily repeatedly targeted him with the volleyball every time he relaxed, he eventually gave up and entered the game.
Issac remained as expressionless as ever even while playing. Every movement he made was precise and efficient, almost machine-like.
Lily pointed accusingly at him after another failed spike.
"You're too serious for beach volleyball."
Issac tilted his head slightly. "Is there a wrong way to play?"
"Yes," Corey immediately answered. "You're making us look bad."
Leon yawned. "You already look bad."
"Whose side are you on?"
"Not yours."
Their casual arguing continued until sunset painted the sky orange and purple. By the end of the day, almost everyone was exhausted.
Even Lily, who normally seemed to possess endless energy, finally collapsed onto the sand breathing heavily.
"This island is great..." she mumbled while staring at the sky.
Corey crossed his arms behind his head. "If only there wasn't a tournament tomorrow."
The mention of the tournament made Lily pause for a second before immediately shrugging.
"That sounds like tomorrow Lily's problem."
Olivia, who had walked over by then, sighed deeply.
"You're impossible."
By the time the group returned to their dormitories that night, everyone was completely drained.
The temporary dorm rooms provided by Bayarm Academy were far larger than the ones at Formosa Academy. Their room overlooked the sea directly, allowing the sound of waves to echo faintly through the windows.
Lily and Olivia took turns showering before collapsing onto their beds.
Olivia buried herself underneath the blanket immediately.
"I still can't believe sand somehow got inside my shoes, socks, sleeves, hair, and notebook."
Lily rolled onto her side lazily. "Maybe the sand likes you."
"That's not comforting."
Lily stared toward the ceiling quietly for a moment.
Tomorrow would officially be the start of the interschool tournament.
Even though she acted carefree earlier, she still felt excited deep down.
Students from all over the sea region were gathered here. Strong opponents, unique magic, unknown spells.
Just imagining it made her grin.
Eventually, exhaustion overtook both girls and the room became silent except for the distant crashing of waves.
The next morning, Lily woke up to the sound of the sea colliding against the rocky sides of the island.
Bright sunlight shone through the curtains while seagulls cried outside.
She slowly sat up and stretched.
"Morning already..."
After changing into her uniform, Lily turned toward Olivia, who remained fully wrapped inside her blanket like a cocoon.
"Olivia."
No response.
Lily poked her shoulder.
"Olivia."
"Mmm..."
"We're going to be late."
Olivia pulled the blanket tighter around herself.
"Five more minutes..."
Lily stared at her silently before suddenly pulling away the entire blanket.
Cold air immediately struck Olivia.
"My blanket!" Olivia shouted while sitting upright in panic.
Lily grinned proudly. "Good morning."
"You're evil."
"Correct."
After several minutes of Olivia complaining while preparing herself, the two girls finally left the dormitory.
Outside, Bayarm Academy was already bustling with activity.
Students from various academies filled the pathways leading toward the arena. Some looked nervous while others confidently discussed strategies with teammates.
Professors floated overhead using wind magic or magical artifacts while staff members organized the massive crowds.
The giant arena itself looked even more impressive during daylight.
Massive stone pillars surrounded the circular structure while illusion magic projected the tournament symbols high into the air.
When Lily and Olivia entered, most participants had already gathered.
The same elderly dean from yesterday stood near the center platform alongside his advisor.
Unlike before, however, it was the advisor who stepped forward to speak.
He loudly cleared his throat, instantly silencing most conversations.
"To all students and professors," he began, his magically amplified voice echoing across the arena, "I will be the one explaining the rules and presenting the tournament brackets."
With a wave of his hand, dozens of glowing magic circles formed in the air before merging together into a massive illusionary board.
Names rapidly appeared across its surface.
Lily's eyes widened slightly.
"That's a pretty advanced illusion spell..."
Olivia nodded. "The mana control needed for something that large is ridiculous."
The advisor continued speaking.
"First, students participating in combat may not receive outside assistance during matches. This includes direct interference or communication from professors."
The board shifted.
"Secondly, the tournament will be divided into singles, duos, and trios as agreed upon by the participating academies."
The brackets reorganized themselves.
"Finally, a participant or team will lose once they surrender or are judged incapable of continuing combat by the referees."
The advisor folded his hands behind his back.
"That concludes the rules. We wish all students the best of luck."
As soon as he finished speaking, the giant bracket stabilized completely.
Excited murmurs spread throughout the arena.
Lily immediately searched for her own name.
After scanning the trio division, she finally found it.
Lily Hart
Leon Green
Issac Blues
"The only trio team..." Lily muttered.
Leon and Issac were both from her class, though she rarely interacted with either of them.
Leon was loud and lazy.
Issac was silent and terrifyingly calm.
The two of them, however, were surprisingly close friends.
Lily glanced toward the duo division next.
Olivia Key
Corey Key
Olivia's expression instantly darkened.
"Again?"
Nearby, Corey looked equally offended.
"Why do you sound disappointed?"
"Because I saw your name."
"That's actually hurtful."
The other duo team from Formosa Academy consisted of Piper Liek and Elizabeth Troth.
Meanwhile, the singles representatives were Kyle Toyne and Terry Wiles.
As Lily continued observing the brackets, she noticed Leon and Issac standing nearby staring at each other silently.
No.
Really staring.
Issac maintained his usual emotionless expression while Leon struggled to keep his own eyes open.
Several seconds passed.
Finally, Leon blinked.
"Ah! I lost again!" Leon groaned dramatically.
Issac remained completely still.
Leon pointed accusingly at him. "How are you so good at this?"
"You're just bad at it," Issac replied calmly.
Lily walked over in confusion.
"What are you two doing?"
Leon scratched the back of his head.
"I'm trying to make this stone-faced freak react to something."
Issac didn't even blink.
Lily stared at him for a moment before giving up.
"Whatever. We're not losing tomorrow."
She clenched her fist confidently.
"The councillor said he'd teach us a spell if we win."
Leon immediately looked uninterested again.
Issac also showed almost no reaction.
Both of them possessed unique magic.
Unlike normal elemental mages, unique magic users often created abilities naturally suited to themselves. Because of that, standard spells held far less value for them.
Lily, however, mainly relied on elemental magic and needed to learn spells traditionally through books and teachers.
Seeing their lack of enthusiasm irritated her slightly.
"Hey, at least pretend to care."
Leon shrugged lazily. "Fine. I'll take it seriously."
Issac silently nodded once.
Satisfied enough, Lily immediately dragged both of them toward the training hall since the trio matches would begin tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the singles tournament officially started.
Several arenas activated simultaneously across the massive stadium.
The first duel for Formosa Academy was between Kyle Toyne and Minos Laet from Clover Academy in the east.
Lily and the others paused their training briefly to watch.
Kyle walked calmly onto the platform arena while Minos adjusted his gloves confidently.
Because multiple battles were happening at once, the referees skipped lengthy introductions.
"Begin!"
The moment the signal was given, Kyle attacked immediately.
Dozens of metallic circles appeared behind him before rapidly transforming into floating spiked iron balls.
With a wave of his hand, the projectiles shot forward violently.
Minos reacted quickly.
A thick earth wall erupted from the ground directly in front of him.
Boom!
The spikes slammed into the stone surface, embedding themselves deeply.
Dust exploded outward.
His specialty must be earth magic, Minos thought while observing Kyle carefully.
Kyle continued attacking relentlessly.
Metallic spikes, blades, and fragments continuously flew through the air from impossible angles.
Minos calmly dodged and blocked.
To the audience, many attacks seemed to miss entirely.
But in reality, tiny metal fragments had already sliced several shallow wounds across Minos's arms and shoulders.
Minos narrowed his eyes.
He raised his hand.
A massive stream of flames burst toward Kyle.
The heat distorted the air itself.
Kyle responded instantly.
"Sandstorm!"
A violent swirling storm of sand and metal fragments erupted around him, swallowing the flames completely.
The audience murmured in surprise.
Minos smiled instead of panicking.
He snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, a geyser exploded upward directly beneath Kyle.
The concentrated stream of boiling water pierced straight through the metallic barriers Kyle formed defensively.
Kyle gritted his teeth in pain.
Part of his leg was sliced and burned simultaneously by the high-pressure water.
Several students winced.
Lily frowned slightly while watching.
"That looks painful..."
Kyle rolled sideways before slamming both hands onto the arena floor.
"Pillars!"
Massive metallic poles erupted upward around Minos instantly, trapping him inside a cage.
The audience gasped.
Minos immediately tried to escape using wind magic.
However, the air around him strangely refused to gather properly.
His eyes widened slightly.
The giant metal pillars surrounding him were glowing red.
The temperature inside the cage rapidly increased.
The massive poles slowly bent inward like melting steel.
Minos hurriedly cast water spells desperately toward the heated metal, hoping to cool it.
Instead, the water instantly evaporated into thick steam.
The inside of the cage became unbearably hot.
Sweat poured down Minos's face.
The surrounding metal glowed brighter and brighter.
Finally unable to endure it any longer, Minos shouted loudly:
"I surrender!"
The moment he surrendered, the metallic pillars instantly retracted underground.
Fresh air rushed into the arena.
Kyle breathed heavily while supporting himself with one leg.
The referee raised his hand.
"Winner, Kyle Toyne of Formosa Academy!"
Cheers immediately erupted from the Formosa students.
Even though his leg was injured, Kyle still smirked proudly while walking off the arena.