The judge kept staring hopefully at the Imperial students tangled in Silver Grass, as if hoping they'd turn it around. Don't get what he's hoping for—or does he think no one noticed their team's protective artifacts shatter?
In this comp, any artifacts are banned, and using them auto-eliminates you. So it's all decided; no sudden friendship power surges possible.
"Ahem-ahem." TuTu coughed loudly while spectators and even some of her own teammates gawked at her in total shock.
Not every day you see one genius so utterly outclass others, especially from a more prestigious uni. Only a couple, including Zhao Manyan, weren't too surprised—they'd seen TuTu's power firsthand during the abandoned factory incident.
Hearing my girl's cough, the judge finally snapped out of it, glanced once more at Director Sun He, and declared our win:
"First match goes to Mingzhu University!" One screen immediately showed our score against Imperial—1:0 in our favor.
The second round should start soon, with tougher guys coming out... though even if only TuTu stayed from us, the result wouldn't change a bit from the first. Mu Ning Xue might freeze some Silver Grass with her pseudo-domain, but she'd fall in seconds too.
Without her artifact Ice Bow, she can't match High-tier mages now. And even the bow would only stall them, as shown in canon. Luo Mian wasn't the strongest at that level, and he survived with no major wounds.
TuTu definitely surpasses him in defense now. Just one Sand Aloe leaf proves it. I won't even mention artifacts and enhanced bodies. Damn, only now, comparing to canon events, do I realize what monsters I raised. They'd wipe the canon with it and keep going... until they hit the first Warlord.
And at this triumphant moment, Mo Fan chose to finally show up, acting like nothing happened. Eh, even in canon, as the team's main attacker and after getting a rare anti-spirit artifact as an advance for his fight, he managed to be late and let his uni lose the first bout.
Now he was even later, but luckily we didn't need his power. Still swine behavior, considering he was the only one late. Look, Luo Sun and his buddy are already discussing changing Mo Fan's nickname again. And all variants somehow include "lazy" in various forms...
"Teacher Gu, put me on the team; I'll take Mu Ning Xue!" As soon as he got close enough, he yelled it at full volume, smiling confidently, like being late then dictating terms to the teacher was totally normal and proper etiquette. Man, not for me to complain about lack of manners.
"Who put you in charge?! Latecomers don't get a say! Scram; we're fine without you!" Luo Sun jumped on Mo Fan immediately, seeing a good chance. Why's he got a grudge? Mo Fan beat him only once at entrance exams and didn't even injure him.
Weird Chinese mentality. Even I did him worse, but he wouldn't dare snap at me. Nothing surprising, though—with my backing, I'd just beat him if he tried acting tough. Luo Sun just likes bickering with people, apparently.
"What's it to you? I'm talking to the teacher! Teacher Gu, put me in! You can count on me; I'll beat her and uphold the uni's honor!" Ignoring the fatty, Mo Fan hounded the teacher. Any normal prof would've told him to pound sand, but this is Teacher Gu! Director Xiao's top offender! So...
"Doesn't matter to me either way. Two spots for Mu Bai and Mu Nujiao; distribute the rest yourselves—I'm not dealing with it. But submit candidates to that window in five minutes, or we're disqualified." Waving off Mo Fan, the slacker kept smoking. Eh, why'd Director Xiao send him specifically? Oh right, because of me... Actually, on second thought, he's a decent guy.
Predictably, with the green light, Mo Fan hounded the others to let him into the arena team. He even tried roping me in, but when I asked where he spent the week in Three-Step Tower he owed me from school days, he backed off quick and kept his distance. Guess he still hates paying debts. Some things stay constant life to life.
In the end, without my meddling, Mo Fan did snag a team spot. Bragging he'd take the enemy's strongest. Since no one around believed in this fool's win, they calmly yielded possible spots.
It got to where we couldn't find a fourth member—nobody else wanted to go, hoping to watch the show from the stands. Sighing again at Chinese logic twists, I just invited TuTu, and we barely registered the team in the five minutes.
Would've been a laugh if they'd DQ'd us over that. Imperial's director probably would've given a standing ovation to our stupidity. I wouldn't even blame him. But I wouldn't join in. Our side wouldn't get it.
Our opponents' team, oddly, matched canon. Probably 'cause it was their strongest lineup; no room to strengthen further.
The team included:
My cousin—the future second-strongest sorceress, specializing in ice element. If anything, I reserved first for myself. If they outdid me with all my advantages, it'd be embarrassing. Mostly to me.
Second among their participants was Lu Zhengge—a guy who fangirls over Mu Ning Xue and dreams of her stepping on him... ahem, let's skip that. He specializes in the summoning element and possesses a Nightmare Wolf at the Pack Leader level. The strongest among them after my cousin, and only because without his wolf he's almost useless.
The remaining two guys—Ming Kong and Xiao Feng—are just solid, sturdy mages specializing in the lightning and wind elements. Essentially nothing special, just the best in their age group. They don't stand out in any other particular way.
Hm, how to play this fight so that I win decisively as I promised Principal Xiao, and motivate my cousin to work harder on herself in the future.
However, looking at Mo Fan, who was simply radiating his battle spirit and anticipation, I realized that, at the very least, we wouldn't beat TuTu's record for the fastest match completion.
After all, I myself want to see how my cousin will thrash him!