Kyla, Sheryl, and Jun from the Mystic Gate Academy were impressed by Avery's performance in the competition. Her smooth and stable movement from the start-up to the end of the battle wasn't easily achieved just like how she made it look.

"I didn't think that a battle with an automaton could be so graceful, I hope I can see that again..." Jun said after admiring Avery's amazing performance. Although there wasn't any explosive magic used during the whole battle and only pure enhancement skills were used, it was still amazing seeing the automaton cast a four-layered movement speed buff and be parried by Avery's Water Curtain Sword Art. The audience and announcers may not be aware of Avery's sword skills but these students from Zairus were surely aware of their teammate's ability. It would surely be a disaster for the automaton once Avery added Magic Skills during the battle.

"What are you saying? It wasn't easy for Senior Avery to limit her strength. She probably realized the capability of the automaton so she tried not to show all her cards. In any case, the purpose of this second round was only to battle the automaton for 15 minutes." Kyla who somehow knew it better replied. Her skills to analyze battles were improved due to her sensitivity in Mana having enhanced together with her affinity.

"Hmm... I wonder if I can do that as well..." Kyla added after contemplating a bit.

"Hey, Kyla. Your battle style is completely different from senior Avery, you just have to stick with your style." Sheryl commented without much of an expression and only focused on the next contestant that was trying to look for their weapon on the shelves.

"Hehe. Of course, I'm kidding. I'll probably only last in few exchanges before I'll be beaten by the automaton if I ever attempted to copy her style. That would be embarrassing."

"At least, you'll also gain a lot of attention with that. Haha. By the way, you've mentioned that you'll fight last this time?" Jun curiously asked.

"That's right. This time, they wanted me to watch all their battle carefully and learn some tricks." Kyla rolled her eyes and answered Jun. The three waited for the next contestants to have their mock battle. This time, it was Hector Newman's turn.

As the only male who was chosen to participate in this combat competition. His enthusiasm was at its peak. Surrounded by five girls, he had to at least impress one of them.

'I'll show you how to fight an automaton.' Hector said to himself.

***

Wallace had been curious about the A.I.'s gathered information. Although he wanted it to be placed at the back of his mind and focus on the competition, he couldn't help but think about his future plans.

Now that he had the A.I. and the Cube with him. He must plan his next steps. Currently, he tasked the A.I. to gather as much information it could get from this world and get a solid background about this world's level of science and technology. He had also tasked the A.I. to study the Mana Nuclear Reactor he made, study the Magic Spells, Magic Structure, Mana Formation and Array, Mana Study, Mana Artifact's 1st to 5th gen, puppetry, martial skills, traveler, and also get some general knowledge or skills that a Mage Doctor possesses for future references.

Once he gets that information, he planned to properly integrate advanced technology in his creations bit by bit. He would start from a small project to a very large one.

Truthfully, if it was in other's cases, an Artificial Intelligence's ability to learn can be so dreadful if it was not controlled properly by a human. Fortunately, Wallace wasn't worried about this because his Avalon was a bit special.

Wallace also remembered that this world's material development wasn't solid so he would also look into that. Regarding nuclear energy as another source of power, he hadn't forgotten it.

He had already discovered how the Mana suppresses nuclear fission reactions by blocking the movement of free neutrons and learned that nuclear fusion, which does not rely on neutron emission, would be unaffected by the presence of Mana. This discovery made him have a glimpse of hope about his future space travel. As long as he created a magic structure or a technology that would negate the side effects of having Mana, or create a field that would stop Mana from interfering with nuclear fission, he would have a chance of making nuclear reactors and weapons with the help of his A.I.

In all honesty, he wasn't sure if he could rely on Mana once he was out in space so he would have to create alternatives in many possible situations.

He may be thinking too far ahead. After all, there's still an issue about strengthening himself due to possible Meredith's Empire visit here. But all of these was also for himself. He had to set his goals and plan his actions so as not to waste time. He had to take his opportunity within these peaceful times.

As Wallace was about to fall asleep thinking of his future, the bus stopped and an announcement that they arrived in Bluefields City was heard.

"Ahh.. at last. I should probably meet Lucian or Max for now." The two were the bodyguard assigned to him together with Yumi as a manager. Once he informed them about his return, the two would surely spread the information and handle everything.

Wallace spread his Divine Sense and found the familiar Mana Fluctuations of Lucian and Max. The two seem to be inside the arena where the competition was being held out.

After going to a secluded place and confirming no eyes were watching him, he used his Void Phase and went near the two.

The two adult men were seen together and one of them was talking on his hidden microphone. He was reporting to their superior about their patrol.

They were within the compound of the arena and there was no presence of other people. They were probably making sure that no people were loitering around. Aside from them, Wallace had noticed a large number of Battle Mages working together to guard the arena to make the place safe.

"Eh? He noticed?" Wallace exclaimed as he was about to call Lucian and Max in the hallway. He sensed the presence of Troy Webb coming to his location at a very fast speed. Even Chalice hadn't noticed his Void Phase so Wallace was genuinely surprised, it was an impressive feat.

"Ah, no... It was probably a formation." Wallace stopped for a moment and used his Divine Sense differently. Unlike focusing his senses on the mana fluctuations of a person, he focused his attention on his surroundings instead.

It seems that any uncounted people within the arena would be felt by Troy, the one who placed the Magic Formation.

"I was careless, I focused too much on people's Mana Fluctuation even if the Divine Sense had noticed the unusual movement of mana." Wallace scratched his head as he still wasn't too versed in utilizing the full potential of his Divine Sense. Even though this ability could give him a lot of information, it was still depending on how he processes the information he was receiving.

"I felt that the place was safe because I'm no longer on that island." Wallace sighed as he admitted his mistakes this time.

"Let's just meet him then." But before that, Wallace called Lucian and Max's attention.

"Wallace!"

"Huh?"

Lucian was the first to notice Wallace followed by Max.

"W-where have you been? Yumi had been looking for you all this time." Max didn't expect that Wallace would just suddenly appear like a ghost.

"Are you alright? Have you eaten yet?" Lucian asked worriedly as he didn't bother to ask where he had been all this time. Wallace was actually a bit touched on Lucian's words asking about his well-being first.

Wallace laughed at this but momentarily stopped when he felt Troy's presence behind him.

"Oh, so it was you." Troy said blankly as he sized up Wallace. It seems that he was trying to find something from him.

"Have you met Yumi?" Troy asked after a few moments.

"No. I haven't seen her yet. I'd like to apologize to her. Can you tell me where-"

"I'm not sure where she is. Report to our coordinator if you still want to participate in the competition." Troy said as he turned his back from the three and walked away.

"I don't think that he likes me." Wallace softly said after confirming that Troy had left.

"Of course, he was assigned to take care of all of the nine students participating in the competition and one of them just left without any care to the superiors he left. Who wouldn't be mad?" Max teased Wallace as the two bodyguards was already glad since Wallace returned intact. Regarding Yumi's whereabouts, an Adept Mage would surely survive here. They were expecting that she'll be back in a while.

"I'll communicate with the relevant officers about your return. Headmaster Percival was truly worried about you, I believe that a special squad from Lucent Force was sent here recently to join an operation to find you." Lucian said which made Wallace remember Aaron's appearance. He was tempted to ask about Aaron's identity but he would be discovered that he already encountered them.