Barnes Mansion, Ishtar.

"Did you find something, Sixth Uncle?" Ander Barnes, the Lord asked, looking at the man in front of him.

The old man shook his head, "We haven't…"

"What do you think about that letter? Can it be a prank?'' Ander asked as he leaned back on his chair.

"Well, if that person infiltrated our territory and put a letter on your desk without anyone noticing it just for fun, then he really did prank us I guess…" Sixth Uncle replied.

"When will you stop that sarcasm, Uncle...I am already being fried by my wife everyday ever since that brat left...now you don't have to join in as well…" Ander said with a sigh.

A few days ago, Ander had just entered his chamber only to see a shadow standing in the room.

Before he could even do anything it just straight out disappeared leaving behind a letter on his desk.

The letter asked him to protect his loved ones well….

What was this supposed to mean? If it wasn't a prank then was it possible that the man was warning him of some danger or was the old man challenging him and was the danger himself ….

Ander shook his head. If that old fellow had really had ill intentions, he could have caused more than enough trouble that day…

But no matter how he searched, he couldn't find anything wrong around the City except for the usual stuff which happened all around the year.

"Bang!"

The door to the room was suddenly flung open and Lear's mother entered the room like a storm.

Ander immediately hid beneath the table. He was scared, it seemed that his wife had finally snapped.

Last time he just tried to enter the bedroom and a knife came flying out, he was avoiding his wife ever since.....

"Sixth Uncle, have you seen him?" She calmed down after realising that the old man was present in his room as well and decided to ask him respectfully.

The old man didn't reply but his eyes turned in a certain direction.

...

Ander who had been hiding beneath the table heard the door shut and sighed in relief as he got out of the desk.

"Darling, would you mind telling me whom you were hiding from?"

The voice immediately drained all the color from Ander's face. He immediately turned around to see his wife standing there and the person missing was the Sixth Uncle.

"I-I wasn't hiding…my files fell down. I was looking for them…" Ander said while sweating.

"Anyway, hurry up and switch on the television..." She wasn't in the mood to bicker with him right now and looked a bit worried.

"What's wrong?" Ander asked with a frown and switched on the television.

A few seconds later his expression changed while his wife couldn't help her tears.

What was going on with her son? Why?

She didn't know whom to seek answers from.

The image on television showed Lear standing there with a sword in his hand facing his own brother Arthur on the stage.

…..

Orca Academy, Capital.

A few minutes earlier….

The opening ceremony was nearing its end. Once the pledge had been taken by the students, the headmaster took their seats with all the representative students by their side.

On the stage, performers made their way to entertain the crowd.

Famous singers, actors and Mages one by one came out to put on a show for the people.

On the Headmaster's stands...

"Now then, what shall we do...isn't it a bit too dull without any of our students out there?" The Headmaster of Orca asked with a smile.

The rest of the headmasters looked at the old geezer and smiled. Everyone knew that the old man was up to no good.

"Sir, we have been conducting exhibition matches all around the year. I don't think it will be anything new at this point…." The Headmaster of Ocien said and the rest were in agreement.

At this point of time, no one wanted to send out one of their own to fight. After all, the competition has begun...

They didn't want their leading student to get exhausted or injured and give other Academies a lead…

"Isn't there an Academy who still hasn't shown it's cards yet? I am sure people are a lot curious about them…" the old man said as he turned his head toward William, the headmaster of Arcane.

It was true...Arcane hadn't participated in a single exhibition match and people were saying that they got accepted on sympathy…

"Yeah, it sounds good to me.." The headmaster of trinity said with a nod.

The rest of the headmasters agreed as well.

As long as it was Arcane no one had a problem. Even if they got accidentally dragged into a match with Arcane, there was nothing to worry...they probably couldn't even scratch their students…

Even the lead student of the Arcane was the trash of Barnes House, what could they possibly do?

William looked at his father in anger. The old man has deliberately aimed at him. He didn't want his students to win the competition and the artifacts to fall into their hands...it was crystal clear…

It was just the beginning and he has already started to target them, only God knows what else was in store for them…

He couldn't retort now that all of these people had taken one side.

"Then who will go against my student?" William asked as he looked at them.

"We will leave that to your choice? I am sure no one here minds…it's only a spar after all nothing serious.." The Headmaster of Orca smiled and no one raised any objections.

William looked at Lear by his side. The choice was his, he was the one fighting..….

Lear looked at the people who were waiting to be picked. Most of them weren't interested and maintained a calm expression except for Arthur and Melan who had a bit of a special relation with him….

"Ishtar…."

Arthur frowned on Lear's choice and so were the rest. But soon, it became clear within their mind….

The guy must have chosen him to save his ass. After all, his brother would definitely go easy on him.

But Arthur knew that it wasn't that simple. He was having a hard time believing all of this...Lear hadn't ever raised his fist on him…now he was asking for a fight...

All of this was a bit too hard for him to accept.