Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Time flew by quickly, and soon it was Monday once again.

"You're not looking well. Did you have a nightmare?"

Xiya, who shared the same dorm, noticed that Mo Ying was completely distracted.

"Ah, how should I put this..."

Remembering what had happened yesterday on the central street, Mo Ying still felt a bit of psychological pressure.

Although she hadn't faced the murder scene directly or witnessed that bloody spectacle, she still felt lingering fear.

"Something bad happened yesterday. I don't quite know how to describe it,"

Mo Ying didn't know how to explain last night's events to Xiya.

"Today is the practice match—are you sure you're up for it?"

Xiya picked up her cup and started rinsing her mouth.

"Not a problem, trust me,"

Mo Ying was rinsing her mouth too, so her words weren't very clear, but Xiya still understood her.

Mo Ying spat out her mouthwash, patted her face, and once again looked full of energy.

Mo Ying grabbed Xiya's shoulder, and with a single spatial shift, the two of them teleported straight to the training hall.

By now, the massive training hall was already packed. There were students from all departments, as well as teachers.

"Has the roster for today's matches come out? Are we in it, Teacher Liushu?"

Mo Ying and Xiya found Liushu, who was standing at the top of the spectator stands with a half-finished bowl of noodles in his hand. Shuang Yun was at his side.

"Hmm, today there are solo matches for Mo Ying and Shuang Yun. Xiya's is tomorrow,"

Liushu said as he picked at his noodles with his chopsticks.

"How do I participate in my solo match?"

"Hmm? Just wait for your name to be called. You're in the second training hall, right? Let me check."

"Ah, you're both from the second training hall, so just wait for the referee to announce your name and your opponent,"

Liushu finished the soup in his bowl and glanced at Mo Ying.

"Mo Ying, you're in bad shape," he immediately saw that she wasn't herself.

"Pulled another all-nighter gaming?"

"No, she came back early last night and slept early," before Mo Ying could speak, Xiya explained for her. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NoveI-Fire.ɴet

"So it was a nightmare then? Seeing you so listless—will it affect your performance today?"

"None of that! Don't make wild guesses, I'm fine,"

Mo Ying shook her head vigorously in denial.

"Hmm... I won't pursue it then. As long as you perform normally, I'm not worried about your abilities,"

"Alright, the principal is here. Time for us to head in,"

Liushu stood up, tossed his bowl into the trash, and walked inside.

The other three followed him into the training hall.

The huge training hall was instantly filled with people—mostly teachers bringing their students.

Principal Alitos stood at the podium on the highest point, with Wei by her side flipping through some documents.

The principal cleared her throat in front of the microphone and began her speech.

It was mostly the usual: safety first, do your best, friendship before competition, and so on.

Liushu was nearly lulled to sleep listening to it.

Most others didn't listen either—they all knew this was just for show.

"Ah, I have a little more to add... Ahhh, stop pulling me, Wei."

Principal Alitos seemed to want to keep talking, but Wei forcibly dragged her down and took her place at the microphone.

"That endlessly chattering hamster has been thrown off, so I declare the match open."

"Calling me a hamster is way too much!" shouted Alitos, poking her head up in protest.

Wei said only that and then withdrew from the platform, replaced by Teacher Zhi Ying.

"Hello everyone, I'm Zhi Ying, and I'm the referee for this practice match. Since Director Wei said to start right away, I'll now explain the rules," she announced as the students buzzed below.

"Alright, alright, I know everyone knows the rules, but rules are rules, and I have to announce them. I'll be brief."

"First, absolutely no attacking when the opponent's Prism is broken—absolutely not allowed."

"Second, students can use their own weapons or the ones the school provides. The school's weapons aren't bad, but if your own are more comfortable, you can use those too."

"Third, there are no restrictions on what magic you can use, but no props are allowed, and absolutely no tampering with the training hall ahead of time."

"Fourth, match-fixing is forbidden. Anyone caught risks expulsion."

"The rest of the rules you more or less know. The most important are those four. Now, matches will be decided by system draw. Please return to the stands."

The students quickly headed back to the stands.

"The first match: Yi Wei from the Support Department versus Wu Xing from the Medical Department."

As Zhi Ying finished, the elevators in the training hall activated, sending the two students to the left and right sides of the arena.

Director Wei stood between the two students.

If anything unexpected happened, she could intervene immediately.

Mo Ying felt as if, perhaps just her imagination, Wei glanced at Yi Wei from the Support Department.

Was it some kind of secret signal?

Yi Wei and Wu Xing said nothing and took their places.

"Start the countdown,"

Wei said coldly, then stepped back.

The mechanical voice echoed across the hall.

As the voice fell, both students attacked simultaneously.

"The Medical and Support departments settle matches with force too?"

Mo Ying hadn't expected that.

"How else? Compare healing spells?"

"So how is the finals of the Sky Ladder Tournament handled? Isn't it a bit unfair to let the Martial Department and Magic Department go against the Medical and Support Departments?"

In prior Sky Ladder Tournaments, each department determined their own champions, but this time, there was supposed to be a single overall winner.

"Students from the Support or Medical Departments, when facing Martial or Magic students, can pick two students they've defeated to help them, to maintain power balance,"

Liushu explained—a rule Mo Ying didn't know about.

"That's the official rule."

"Match over—Wu Xing of the Medical Department wins."

As they spoke, the match ended.

Not even two minutes had passed.

Shuang Yun was surprised.

"Uh... I'm not sure what's going on with the Support side,"

Liushu looked at the expressionless Yi Wei silently leaving the arena, his own expression quite complicated.

The Support Department student had been instantly defeated by the Medical Department—pretty much what happened.

"That girl looks a bit familiar,"

Mo Ying said about Yi Wei.

She remembered—the last time she'd seen the nun talking to Wei, it seemed it was her.

Mo Ying wasn't too sure.

She could only say their builds looked alike; she'd never seen the girl's face.

"The second match, support's Yin Lin versus Medical Department's Meng Yin."

Wei announced coldly.

"No, no, something's odd here,"

This time, Mo Ying watched attentively.

Last time, during Yi Wei's match, she and Liushu had been talking and she hadn't paid attention, but this time she watched the whole thing.

"That Yin Lin didn't even try, just wobbled a bit and lost."

"Ah, well, there are Support students who don't know how to attack. Maybe she's one of them,"

Liushu smiled nervously.

"Why do you seem nervous?"

"You're imagining things."

Xiya stared at Liushu.

She still felt he was tense.

"Why pay attention to me? Can't you focus on the match?"

Liushu changed the subject.

Xiya refocused on the arena, but she still thought Liushu was acting suspicious.

Yin Lin and Yi Wei—was there something off about them?

Xiya's intuition was sharp.

But she didn't overthink it.

Then it was the three of their matches.

They all defeated their opponents smoothly.

Mo Ying, even in her poor state, still overwhelmingly beat her opponent.

Xiya also won easily.

Shuang Yun, though, was in real danger—her Prism value was nearly depleted, but she scraped through by luck.

Mo Ying and Xiya could be called prodigies; compared to them, Shuang Yun was clearly less gifted.

"Well, anyway, congratulations to the three of you for advancing. Not going to celebrate? Bring me along—on your tab, of course,"

"Teacher Liushu, shouldn't it be you treating us? Why are you making us pay?"

Mo Ying retorted immediately.

"Ah, just a joke, don't take it seriously,"

Liushu shrugged helplessly.

"You seem almost disappointed,"

"No, not at all, it's your imagination,"

Liushu shook his head at once.

But everyone knew his personality, and they all smiled at each other.

"Since you're done, I'll head back now."

"You're not going to watch the rest?"

"Nothing left worth seeing. I'm heading home to cook noodles,"

Liushu waved nonchalantly and walked straight out of the training hall.

He didn't care at all about his three students.

He was just as carefree as ever.

"Why would someone like Teacher Liushu choose to be a teacher?"

Xiya wondered out loud.

"I think it's strange too,"

Though she hadn't been at Dreamscape Academy long, she could easily sense that Liushu was very different from the other teachers.

The other teachers were all severe and strict, only Liushu was so laid-back.

To put it bluntly... this sort of personality wasn't really suited to being a teacher.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=