Manaless Mage



For some reason, Harry's face and appearance always seemed to get more handsome every time she saw him. She didn't even know how Susan was still able to look him in the eye without getting flustered.

Susan was the one that said all three of them should meet up together a few minutes before the ranking competition began.

According to her, the three of them were the most crucial part of the team. She had a particular role for each of them.

Although they had already talked it over during training, she still asked them to meet so they would go over it again.

Apart from that, she wanted the members of the team to be close to one another in the event hall, so they wouldn't face any problems when it was time for their team to participate.

"Yeah… I'm sorry." Harry said with a wry smile.

Actually, the reason he delayed by a few minutes was because he was busy checking his stats and skills on the system, and also because he got lost in his thoughts.

Fortunately, there was still a few minutes before the ranking event began. Since Susan didn't ask them to meet at the exact time the competition would begin, they still had a few more minutes to spare.

"Whatever. Let's just go." Susan said. Her eyes lingered on Harry for a few seconds and a rather strange glint flashed through her eyes before she turned around and started leaving.

'It's hasn't even been a week since I last saw him… yet something about him doesn't feel the same.' She thought, while letting out a low exhale.

Lin's eyes darted between Harry and Susan, before she eventually turned her head away in embarrassment and also started walking away. However, she still remained at a rather close distance to Harry, her cheeks bright red and her eyes darting back and forth.

Harry didn't even pay any attention to her. Though he found her actions quite weird, he simply felt that it was because she was nervous about the event.

***

A few minutes later.

Seated in the middle of the audience was Harry, his eyes were glued on the large stage in the middle of the hall, while Susan and Lin sat together at his left side.

The ranking event hadn't began, so the stage was currently empty, and didn't seem any different than it would normally.

The gazes of the majority of the students seated around them were on them, with the most attention being on Susan.

Despite only seating down and doing nothing, Harry could still hear the murmurings of the students.

Most of them were murmuring to themselves about his appearance and how handsome he looked while a few were actually insulting him, however, he wasn't a stranger to such comments and only ignored them.

Susan also did the same, and only Lin seemed bothered by the gazes they were receiving as her face turned slightly red with embarrassment and her breathing was a little heavy.

This was the first time she was receiving the much attention from students, and it made her really nervous.

She turned to her teammates seated besides her, but seeing how unbothered they seemed made her feel even more embarrassed. It felt like she was the only one who was finding it hard to deal with this "normal" situation.

"Hmm." Susan mumbled to herself. In Susan's hand was a short, thick black card on which the number "16" was written on it.

She turned the card repeatedly, however, expect from the number written on it, and the logo of the academy at the edges, the card was completely blank.

That number written on the card was their team number. It didn't necessarily mean their team was the sixteenth to be registered as the numbers were generated randomly.

When it was their turn, their team number would be called and they would step up on the stage.

From what she knew, about fifty teams were participating in this stage. Half of those teams would be eliminated, while the other half would be allowed proceed to the next stage.

When a team loses, it practically meant all members of that team would also be disqualified, so this first stage was one that was meant to eliminate half of the participants.

Just then, a voice reverberated from the speakers placed in different parts of the hall.

[I welcome you all to the first stage of Vane academy's ranking event! As you all know, passing this stage is what determines whether you'll be allowed to proceed to the next stage of the event!]

The voice reverberating from the speakers was that of one of the instructors, known quite well for his role as commentator during the academy's events.

[This first stage is a flag-hunting competition. The two teams participating in this competition would be given a flag each.]

[The stage would be divided into two "domains", one for each team, and your team flag would be in your team's domain.]

While he was still speaking, the large stage suddenly started changing. A couple of white demarcations started appearing on the ground.

They spread around the stage, dividing it into two equal parts and also forming a small circle at each end of the stage.

Out of the circle, a small hole opened up and two flags popped out of the holes. The one at the right end of the stage was red while the one at the left end was green.

Harry's eyes widened slightly as he watched this intriguing sight.

From Susan's expression, which didn't show any tinge of surprise or awe, it was clear that this was a regular occurrence during ranking events.

However, this was Harry's first time witnessing this, so the sight awed him.

[The goal of this event is to retrieve the other team's flag and bring it into your own domain. As long as you're able to do this, you've won the competition.]

[Also remember that you have to protect your flag, the moment the other team manages to secure your flag, your team has lost.]

[There are a total of fifty teams in this stage of the event, but only twenty-five teams would proceed to the next stage!]

[And with that, let the first stage, begin!]

Just then, a huge yellow hologram appeared at the top of the stage. It had a rectangular shape and the way it was positioned made it seem like it was floating in the air.

A couple of tabs appeared on the hologram, displaying the words "Team 20 Vs Team 10".

Under the tabs, were the names of the students in the teams.

A weird glint flashed through Harry's eyes, as he caught sight of a familiar name in the tabs.

***

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