Chapter 434: Duel

As the Clash of Champions began, the participants were called to prepare themselves for the assigning of their numbers.

The tension in the air could be felt as everyone eagerly awaited the announcement of their opponents. Soon enough, the matchups were determined through a random selection process.

Vermont, Academy of Dark Arts versus Lovell, Academy of Beast Arts.

Lakrine, Academy of Summoning Arts versus Farrel, Academy of Psychic Arts.

Rakmiths, Academy of Elemental Arts versus Mortimer, Academy of Transformation Arts.

Kildare, Academy of Knights versus Langhorne, Academy of Combat Arts.

Adaereth, Academy of Rune Arts versus Aufidius, Academy of Alchemy Arts.

Dorelts, Academy Mystic Arts versus Magrath, Academy of Holy Arts.

The arrangement appeared acceptable, but Vale couldn't help but think that it was planned after seeing the Princess' reaction, including the smug faces of the panel of experts.

Vale shook his head at this as he focused on the announcements made by the organizers.

Since there was only one stage, the battle had to be done one at a time.

The first battle on the stage was set to be between Vale of the Vermont Academy of Dark Arts and Cain of the Lovell Academy of Beast Arts.

"So we will start with an exciting battle..." Odessa, the Royal Mage, muttered as she heard the first battle would be participated by a student that garnered her curiosity.

It was the same for the panel of experts watching the event. They all looked at Vale either with curiosity or with animosity.

Apparently, when Vale completed his performance in the Spectacles of Talent, he had already caught these people's attention.

Because of that, the experts, including Odessa, went to the organizers to get a copy of the Recording Crystal to rewatch Vale's performance.

They had to watch it a few more times to understand the phenomena that Vale had created.

In the end, all of them felt something off about the Aurora that he had shown off, but none of them could find real problems with it.

They could only tell that the Aurora doesn't seem to be a harmless ability...

Their investigation didn't end there. They also used their influence to get Steven's recording crystal! This made them aware of Vale's ability inside the Labyrinth... They had all seen Vale's performance, and even Odessa was already thinking of recruiting Vale in her Mage Tower.

After all, she doesn't discriminate against people. It doesn't matter what Arcane Path you choose; she'll gladly accept you if you have enough talent.

'He defeated that Evil Creature so easily... It must be a Forbidden Art, but since it's only a recording, we couldn't tell what forbidden art it was.'

'Now that you're going to fight a genius Beastmaster, I'm sure you'd be forced to use that same technique... If that were a Forbidden Art, then this would be the last competition for your Academy.'

'Show us that technique once again, Vale... My Appraisal Eye would always be here.'

These were the thoughts of the panel of experts watching the first duel commence.

Vale could feel their intense gaze and was momentarily confused about their unusual behavior.

Anyway, he may not be aware of why they were looking at him like that, but he had a guess about it.

"Ohh... Is that the guys who showed us the Aurora?"

"Indeed... His team also broke the record of the Labyrinth completion. Although they're only fourth-year students, they're all promising."

The audience buzzed with anticipation, expecting Vale to emerge victorious due to his previous performance.

However, as the battle commenced, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

'I knew it... There really is something off with this stage...' Vale silently thought after stepping on it.

A subtle formation art was activated, and he wasn't sure what it did to him... However, he suddenly felt that his Spell Lights were disturbed.

Furthermore, he wasn't sure if it was really part of the competition or just aimed at him.

"Stand within the inner circle of the stage." The referee of the match said as he waited for Vale and Cain to be in position.

Vale wanted to ask the referee about the formation art, but Cain suddenly sent him a message through telepathy...

'Just surrender... You're not my real target, and you might just die since I can't properly control my power. Do it while I'm being kind.' Cain said with a calm tone but arrogant behavior.

Vale was a bit speechless as he didn't know what to say...

He just continued approaching the referee, and as soon as he got inside the inner circle, the referee immediately announced the start of the duel.

He didn't bother to repeat the rules at all, leaving Vale no chance to ask about the Formation Art...

'Mhmm?'

As Vale wanted to cast his Ghost Hands and Dusk Imprisonment at the same time, he realized that his Dark Spell Lights became blurry...

They were still there, but they seem to have been temporarily blocked!

'Is this the Formation Art's ability? What the... They're blatantly cheating already?' Vale thought as he looked at Cain...

'It seems that he didn't know about the Formation Art affecting me...' He thought.

This sudden handicap was a surprise for Vale, but he wasn't too worried about it. Aside from his incredible Attributes, he also noticed that his other Spell Lights worked perfectly well.

'Very well... Let's win this for now and ask the Headmaster what to do after this.' Vale thought of a plan as he looked at his opponent.

In the meantime, Cain, with his mastery of Beast Arts, summoned the strengths of various beasts to enhance himself.

As a genius fourth-year student of Lovell Academy, he was able to draw upon the power of four beasts! Normally, only in 7th year or higher could do something like this.

Vale could even see the phantom image of four beasts that Cain used to strengthen himself... A huge dog, a fierce falcon, an aggressive crocodile, and an exotic swordfish!

This was the first time Vale had seen anything like this, so he couldn't help but wait for Cain to finish his ritual...