Chapter 149: Rivals Meet Again

The competitions of the day concluded smoothly, with no unexpected moments occurring. In the junior level competitions, Shenwu Academy advanced to the next round, while in the intermediate level competitions, Fengshen Academy advanced with a decisive advantage. In the senior level competitions, Shenwu Academy surprisingly also made it through!
After all the results were determined, Holy Light Academy and Fengshen Academy emerged as the biggest winners, accounting for six out of the remaining nine teams. Shenwu Academy secured two spots, with the last spot going to Brightness Academy. In the senior group competitions, Brightness Academy demonstrated formidable strength—its light mages’ abilities shocked Rod, as their power far surpassed that of mages from other schools. As for Qingliu Academy, it suffered a complete defeat and was eliminated!
A night of training helped Rod return to his best form. Today was a day of rest, giving the teams that advanced to the next round a day to adjust and prepare for the more intense battles ahead.
After getting ready, Rod headed to Training Ground No. 5. As expected, everyone was already there, including Alice and Lucia. Upon seeing Rod arrive, they quickly gathered around him. Perhaps due to today’s day of rest, there were also many students in the training ground.
After gathering everyone, Rod led them to a small forest within the academy. Taking advantage of the quiet surroundings, they began a new meeting.
Surprisingly, Alice and Lucia, two women who hadn’t been highly regarded initially, had gathered information that was no worse than, and in many cases even more comprehensive than, that of the other team members. After some discussion and organization, they finally obtained some useful information, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Good, all the information is here. If nothing goes wrong, the opponent will likely send these three people for the one-on-one matches. Against us, they’ll be: Ciel, at the beginner level of a Golden Warrior;Xier, at the peak level of a Silver Warrior; Paul, a high-level archmage; and the lightning mage.
All three are very strong. According to the information, ever since this team was formed, they’ve always fought in one-on-one matches in all competitions. They’ll likely be the same three against us.”

Now, let’s make the assignments. For this match, our teams remain the same: Viski against Thell, and I againstXier. As for the duel between the mages, it’s Anna’s turn—Kenny will take a break and face the Thunder Mage. Anna’s Earth magic has a clear advantage over it!” Rod said in a low voice, frowning slightly. The opponents were generally stronger, especially in terms of mages. Thunder mages already had top-tier attack power, the strongest among all mage types! In comparison, our own mages fell far behind.

The duel between the mages had become the most critical factor—there could be no mistakes. At the very least, they needed to draw, as discussed yesterday; otherwise, the Holy Light Academy would be in a very disadvantaged position.

Thinking of this, Rod took a deep breath, looked at Anna, and said solemnly, “This match depends on you. I hope you can hold your ground. Success or failure hinges on this one attempt—just give your best!”

Seeing Anna’s tense expression since he made the arrangements, Rod reassured her, “It’s understandable. The outcome of the match essentially depends on Anna. Anyone in such a situation would naturally feel immense pressure. All I can do is comfort her.”

After arranging everything, Rod came up with a backup plan. Seeing it was getting late, he told everyone to go rest and regain their strength for the upcoming battles.

After saying goodbye to everyone, seeing Alice and Lucia starting to argue again, Rod quickly found an excuse to leave that chaotic place and finally found some peace.

Walking toward the dormitory, observing the students coming and going and feeling the lively atmosphere, he suddenly felt a sense of enjoyment—something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

A commotion ahead caught Rod’s attention. A crowd had gathered there, seemingly because of some incident. Out of curiosity, he approached the scene.

Pushing his way into the crowd, he saw what was going on inside—several people bullying one person! After identifying the bullies, Rod felt a bitter smile. It seemed fate brought them together again; wasn’t the leader among those bullies the very Nils who he had dealt with harshly before? He never expected to run into him even inside the Holy Light Academy, and it seemed he was also a student there. Who would have thought such a person could be an Academy student?

Looking at the bullied student lying on the ground—a frail warrior—he immediately recognized him as a Bronze Warrior. Frowning, he stepped forward, blocking those guys from attacking again, helped the boy up, and turned to confront them, asking in a deep voice, “What do you want?” They looked like hooligans from the Academy, and Rod had no good feelings toward them at all.

“Knight Rod!” At the sight of him, the faces of those men changed, and they whispered to each other. Knight Rod—this name had become famous everywhere these past few days. Even if they tried to ignore it, how could they not know?

How could he appear here? That was what everyone was thinking. With Knight Rod here, things seemed troublesome today.

“Knight Rod, I didn’t expect to see you again!” Nils said coldly, staring at Rod. He would never forget this guy who had humiliated him.

These past few days, hearing his name meant he knew she had returned. But probably due to his strong strength, his current fame, and the protection of the Academy, he had been waiting for the right opportunity rather than acting rashly. To think he had appeared in front of him voluntarily! This thought ignited anger in him. He glared coldly at Rod.

“Oh, isn’t this Lord Nils? Yes, it’s been quick to meet again, huh? How was that acrobatic performance last time? It made you famous, didn’t it? Do you want to try it again?” Rod asked lightly, trying to hold back his laughter.

At these words, Nils’ face changed rapidly, eventually turning a pig liver color. His eyes widened in fury, bloodshot, as if he wanted to swallow Rod whole. It would have been fine if they hadn’t brought up that incident, but now, the anger flared up again, and the scene from that day replayed in his mind like a movie!

That humiliating scene, the one that brought him utter shame and made him the subject of ridicule throughout the entire capital, kept tormenting his nerves! His breathing grew heavier, his eyes turned fierce and blood-red; he clenched his fists and slowly raised his head to look at Rod, stepping forward inch by inch. Everyone noticed this, and the tense atmosphere spread to everyone’s heart.