BXBX NOVEL Chapter 72 - The Tournament (4)
The Class A battles ended with Xuan Kun obliterating the other teams entirely. At first, I questioned how he didn't become the team to automatically advance to the finals of his class, but after some careful thought and considering his personality, he probably held back on the strength test on purpose just to participate in more battles, and crush more people.
And after completely annihilating the other four teams, it was confirmed The Cursed Warlocks would participate in the major tournament tomorrow. This was troublesome for us, since it wasn't just Xuan Kun who was dangerous on their team - the other four team members were also exceptionally strong.
My guess was all the strong people of Class A flocked to one team, in order to secure success for the class as a whole in the main tournament. But the leader of The Red Dragons...he really did hold hatred for Xuan Kun inside his heart, I could sense the killing intent from all the way here. Unfortunately, he just was not strong enough to do anything.
In addition to my ability to read the auras of powerful individuals, I am also able to sense killing intent within a certain distance from me. I know a lot of people harbored hostility towards me since I have multiple beauties hanging around at my side, but most of them didn't go to the point where they wanted to actually murder me.
Xuan Kun, though...this morning in the elevator, the killing intent from him was the largest I've ever sensed, full of malice. However, my desire to end HIS life was just as strong. Congratulations...you have successfully pissed me off, my former brother. I wasn't some hero of justice, but I also won't sit idly by when an innocent person is getting humiliated to that degree...since I was once a victim of it as well, I knew just how painful it is.
I held this thought in my mind as the battles of Class B began-.
*****
"First up in the battles of Class 2-B, we have The Golden Crusaders vs. Team Kraken!"
I sighed. The Kraken was a Mythical Magic Beast, capable of demolishing an entire city with a swing of its arms (tentacles?). It was usually considered bad luck to name your team after an evil monster of mass destruction like this, but then again, Xuan Kun's team name was The Cursed Warlocks...
Ming Hao wasn't on neither team, so I didn't pay too much attention. The Golden Crusaders won in the end, though Team Kraken put up a surprisingly good fight. Both teams however, weren't too strong. We could handle them for sure.
"Next up, we have The Catalysts vs. The Black Knights!" Song Qian Long announced through the loud speakers of the Arena.
I sighed once more after I realized neither team was Ming Hao's. He was the exact opposite of Xuan Kun - trying to avoid battles as much as possible, similar to me. Without a doubt, his team was the victor in the strength test, thus automatically advancing to his class's finals. I expected this from how careful he was with his Magus Rankings profile, but even then I couldn't help being a bit disappointed.
With this, Ming Hao was the only one I didn't have any knowledge at all on. That fact bothered me, since I couldn't devise a plan without any information. While Xuan Kun may be a more troublesome opponent because of his personal hatred towards me, Ming Hao was more dangerous in my opinion.
"Duel End: Victor - The Black Knights."
The duel ended with The Black Knights as the victors. If I had to say, they weren't that weak. The five team members had good synergy with each other, and it was clear they were close friends. Every single one of them had excellent teamwork skills, and they are able to face battle with a smile. However...their next opponent would be Ming Hao's team, after a short break to recharge mana and strength. The school would provide mana potions at this kind of time free of cost, so the contestants can be up and ready for another fight as soon as possible.
Still...I had a bad premonition for these five black knights.
*****
- 10 Minutes Later -
"And for the finals of Class B, we have The Black Knights, with two victories, against The Lion's Roar, who still have not even shown their faces on the Arena!" Song Qian Long yelled, in an attempt to sound excited.
...I cannot believe this man was my godfather.
Usually, in a tournament like this, you would expect two pretty girls doing the live commentary and announcements, but instead, we have our principal, an - although powerful - old man. It wasn't like I would get hyped up about this tournament had it been two beautiful ladies commentating instead of this damn old geezer, but still.
I shook away these thoughts and focused on the matter at hand. So Ming Hao's team's name was The Lion's Roar, huh?
When the two teams walked on the stage, one wearing black, the other wearing gold, I was surprised. Not at the colors, but at the team composition of The Lion's Roar. Usually, the team leader would stand in the middle, at the front. But instead, Ming Hao was off to the very side, as if he was unimportant to the team.
I furrowed my brows. Was Ming Hao not the team leader? As I held this question in my mind, the battle began.
The teams clashed at each other with all their might...except for one person. He didn't take a single step from where he was, and just stood there nonchalantly.
"What is he doing...?" I muttered out loud.
The person I was speaking of was none other than my primary investigation target, Ming Hao. Did he know I was watching, and intentionally didn't do a single thing? If so, then he is very strong, to be able to figure out my intentions. However, the possibility of this is low...he probably just didn't want to show anyone his abilities, not just me in particular.
Still...this is troublesome. Even with Ming Hao not doing anything, The Lion's Roar was dominating this 4v5 battle. The teamwork of The Black Knights from before was now nowhere to be seen, due to the constant distraction and harassment from The Lion's Roar. They were slowly losing a fight they should've had an advantage on.
Suddenly, The Black Knights' assassin-role member got impatient seeing Ming Hao just chilling in the back-line doing absolutely nothing, so he decided to circle around and ambush him from behind. However, he was swiftly intercepted by a short but sturdy boy, who was the main defender on The Lion's Roar.
"Tch..!" the assassin of The Black Knights tried to use his speed to swerve around the muscular student, but-
"I won't let you!" the defender of The Lion's Roar yelled, before slamming his palm into the ground and chanting, "Glacier Form - Wall!"
A massive ice wall spanning horizontally across the entire Arena battle platform's width rose up from the ground, blocking all enemies outside. The other Lion's Roar team members fell back into the safety of this covering as well. This short yet strong boy was an Ice Element user, just like Feng Mian. It was a versatile element that could be used both for offense and defense, more so than any other one.
Furthermore...if I had to say, his Glacier Form was stronger than Feng Mian's. But at the same time, the boy looked pretty tired after that one spell, and I guessed that was his ultimate move, more or less. I made a mental note of that and added one more task to my to-do list - figure out a strategy to counter that huge wall.
I could just blast it away, but a spell of that caliber would not only draw unnecessary attention to myself but also cause a powerful explosion upon contact with the wall. It could possibly hurt my own allies, if Yu An Xue was too busy to put up a defense.
The wall collapsed, and The Lion's Roar now knew to keep an eye on the assassin. Before the poor assassin could even react, all of the Lion's Roar's members (excluding Ming Hao) leapt towards him and swiftly cut his school crest. It was a frightening scene, seeing an assassin, who specialized in speed among other things, be cut down before he could even react.
After that, it became an even 4v4 match, except The Lion's Roar was far more coordinated and more powerful even by individual basis. The match soon ended with The Black Knights' leader getting his school crest broken. Both teams retreated from the Arena platform, and Ming Hao, who had done nothing this entire round, silently followed them.
I wonder...these four all protected Ming Hao when he was in danger. If he was really just a normal member, and someone who doesn't even fight at that, there wouldn't be any reason to guard him, and end up using their only defender's ultimate move in order to do so.
The only answer was this:
Ming Hao was their leader, but they didn't reveal that to anyone else. Though to anyone who watched their fight just now carefully, that fact should now be as clear as day. There was no other reason to protect a useless person that didn't contribute anything to the team.
However, that raised another question - if he really was useless, why was he selected as the leader? Well, he ranked pretty high on the Magus Rankings of our school, so he definitely isn't weak. Then the only conclusion that makes sense, would be he's hiding his strength, as much as possible. Similar to me, in a sense - except I still would have to fight when the time comes, albeit not seriously, in order to fool Liu Jian. It didn't matter to me personally if we lost, but I have the four girls on my team to think about.
Basically, I had to hide my strength but not completely, and also at the same time win the tournament.
I sighed as I thought about this.
...How troublesome.