Chapter 122: A Favor

The academy dining hall was in a chaotic frenzy.

“Did you hear the report yesterday?”

“It’s amazing new portals! Where do you think they lead?”

“I don’t know, but I’d like to take part.”

“Are you crazy? It’s an unknown danger!”

Animated voices came from all over the dining room.

Yesterday the Church of Time and Space held an international announcement and despite the news, most of the young people were excited.

Instead of fear or concern, most were curious.

They didn’t know what it was about, but something that needed to be reported by the Church itself must have a considerable danger or affect humanity.

Aurora, who listened to the conversations, nodded quietly.

Listening as students spoke with emotions was certainly better than seeing them scared or panicked and out of control.

“The name is pretty scary,” Nicole muttered as she ate.

“I don’t know for me it’s cool,” Andrés replied, and seeing everyone looking at him, he shrugged and commented. “If we’re talking about the name, it sounds cool, and if we’re talking about danger, then it’s not cool at all.”

Alice nodded, half-heartedly agreeing from that perspective.

“I’m still impressed with the way they react,” Cithrel interjected with a sigh.

They weren’t the only ones debating over the name, students scattered around the dining hall were talking about that topic.

At the same time, they were also giving their guesses as to where it would go or where it would appear first.

The situation was quiet for a news story with a big impact.

Perhaps the different articles and assumptions during the previous week helped that now such news did not have so much effect.

That some nations were preparing for such a situation, creating protocols in case one of those portals appeared, helped.

Still, it was a strange way to react.

“Creatures and calamities appear in your world often,” Alice commented as she finished her breakfast.

Terra nova was a dangerous world where extremely strong creatures could appear or where a ruin could bring a ‘calamity’.

“Yes, I know. However, denying that this situation is dangerous because of uncertainty is just a way to hide from reality. Just like people who live in big cities do, believing that those dangers that appear in the distance are minor and will never reach them. Forgetting that in a corner, many people end up dying,” Cithrel said in a serious tone.

“...”

The answer was silence, and the atmosphere immediately became heavy.

Perhaps being around Cithrel, they forgot that she was a ‘princess’ and had to take the big picture of the situation.

Besides, she was the Crown Princess, who was first in the line of succession.

Her way of looking at the situation was very real, and no one could deny that she was right.

People in big cities felt safe because of governments or powerful guilds that could protect them, yet multiple areas had no such security.

Not every country and not everyone could claim to can withstand any situation.

Africa was an example of people who could not take care of ensuring their survival.

It was already difficult to resist a lunatic and his militiamen; it was clear what would happen if something as big as the Abyssal Portals appeared.

“We know, but this is the only thing we can do,” Clémentine muttered with a sigh.

Her voice carried a slight sense of helplessness and frustration faced with the fact they couldn’t do much, and the group shared that frustration.

Nicole, Leslie, and Erica all gave bitter expressions and, although Andrés was taking another path, he also sighed.

The sigh of Clémentine, an A-rank, showed the helplessness that was magnified for the others who were only B-ranks.

What could they do in such a situation?

“Besides, this is better than them becoming headless chickens in the uncertainty of what will happen,” Alice interjected in a nonchalant tone as she opened her bag of chips.

Joking about the name was a way to relax from the worry of this event and then acting that way was better than them being freaked out by the uncertainty of the infinite possibility.

“I understand. I got carried away,” Cithrel replied with a half-smile.

Aurora could sense that Cithrel’s words were not spoken out of kindness, but that she was puzzled by what the current situation was like.

For someone who was under the Emperor of a powerful empire, she found the way the Earthlings handled themselves and acted disconcerting.

It was a kind of culture shock that showed, in a way, that she was someone who would care about her subjects.

Aurora understood the students’ frustration and Cithrel’s reaction.

She also felt powerless when she was out of Africa when she could do nothing and when those who ruled responded in a way that went against her values.

Still.

“You don’t have to worry about that issue. You are a student now. What you need is to get better and better and, for now, others will take care of those portals,” Aurora said, observing the students seriously.

Again, she had taken the role of ‘boss’ of the mercenary group and the students who heard those words nodded solemnly.

She was also a student, and she was also an A-rank, but that didn’t matter.

Her ‘role’ as ‘boss’ was engraved on the students and it was hard to go against her.

“It’s already time for the combat class. They will surely reveal the issues related to the tournament.” Aurora said to change the subject.

Accepting that change of subject, everyone headed to the combat room as well as other students.

Despite the recent announcement, all the students were excited about the academic tournament.

They would face second and third-year students, so it made sense that they would be excited.

With quick steps, all the students arrived at the sparring room, where Edward and Professor Miller were waiting.

“I see that many of you are excited about what is coming,” Professor Miller said, nodding softly.

Although Aurora was busy putting the academy aside, in reality, the preparations for the tournament were always going on.

Most of the students worked and trained very hard to show their strength.

A tournament always aroused competitiveness and such competitiveness always led to their improvement.

Now all the student’s Aurora knew were excited about the tournament.

“First, as you know, demonstrating your skills in the tournament will give you a chance to be chosen to take part in the international tournament, where the best will go,” Professor Miller said.

For the international tournament, the people who would take part were chosen.

If the champion won, it would go, but the number of students needed for the international tournament was larger and other students needed to be chosen.

“However, just because we choose them does not mean that they cannot be changed. If during this competition you see that we placed a student you think you can replace for the international tournament, you can always challenge them to take their place.” Professor Miller explained with a smile.

Champions and runners-up could be chosen, but among the other positions, they were usually very similar in strength.

Now Professor Miller was encouraging them to go head-to-head and get even better, challenging their peers.

Avoiding that thought that someone might be better than someone else or that they won by luck.

“As for the others, I’ll leave it to Edward who will be in charge of the tournament this year.”.

With those words, Professor Miller stepped back, letting Edward step forward.

“We have many students, both first, second, and third year. Many of whom will participate in the tournament to show their skills,” Edward commented and looking around at everyone present, he remarked. “But I guess everyone is eager to have a place in the international tournament.”

What drove all the students to improve was the international tournament.

This was the first year that the hero academy would participate in an international tournament, and that meant that the participants would carry significant weight and responsibility, but would also gain recognition and prestige.

Those who from the early days of the academy wished to take part in the academic tournament now aimed to make a place for themselves in the international tournament.

“If so, then you have nothing to worry about. For the individual bouts, there will be two categories; B-Rank, and A-Rank. Since there will be many students taking part this year, the bouts of all the entrants will be random and they will face other individuals from their same rank until they reach the finals,” Edward announced calmly.

Some looked at him blankly, and Edward began his explanation.

There were seventy students in the first-year combat class and while not all of them would take part in the individual bouts, most of them would.

Taking the total number as a base, they would be divided into two and through a random choice made by the academy, the matches would begin.

The winning group would move on to the next round where the same thing would be done and so on until only the winners remained.

It was a rather ‘basic’ way of organizing the tournament, but everyone cared about the international tournament, and the possibility of challenging someone who had a vacancy solved any conflict of interest.

In this way, luck was a big factor, but it would not be a big factor for the international tournament and even less so when there was the possibility of fighting for a vacancy.

The same format applied for the individual A-rank tournaments, which had a smaller number of students.

As for the group tournament, there were no rank limits and students could be from any group.

The major reason was that if it was divided into categories, the group A-rank category would be a sparse number of participants.

That is how rare A-ranks were among sophomores and juniors.

However, Edward himself emphasized that they would arrange the orders of those bouts.

That meant that a group of five A-ranks would not face a group of five B-ranks, at least not until the finals.

Since the group part was just a way for students to take on higher-ranked enemies, the lack of organization bothered no one.

In the first place, the group participants would not get a place like the individual combat students for the international tournament.

In the end, what the academic tournament was all about was for the students to improve and share experience, trying to progress together.

One could tell that Director Vincent cared about them improving rather than giving recognition to the winners.

Of course, this basic mode of organization did not mean that there was no reward.

“For both the individual and group tournament, there will be rewards from the academy. As for those who are selected for the international tournament, they will receive full support from the academy,” Edward announced with a smile and, looking at those present, he added. “You can see more information on the academy’s application or ask your questions through that medium.”

With those words, he withdrew, giving the impression that he had a lot of work to finish.

The students murmured and huddled together, looking at their holographic watches.

“Even though he doesn’t seem to like tournaments, Director Vincent is being very supportive of the students who will be participating in the international tournament,” Alice commented as she looked at her holographic watch.

When they talked about support, they were talking about securing excellent equipment for the students who would take part in the international tournament.

That meant a tremendous expense, and it showed the firm support of the director.

It was very certain that the other academies would do the same.

“I will leave for training. The first individual fights will start from tomorrow.” Nicole said with an animated expression.

That she stretched her arms as if she was about to enter an intense combat showed how excited she was.

“I’ll go with you.”

Everyone present left for training, and they left Aurora with her gluttonous friend and Cithrel.

Venali had also left to help the students with their training, as he was usually always busy when he was at the academy.

“It’s quite a while until the next class. Do you guys want to do anything?” Aurora asked curiously.

Technically, they were in combat class time, but Professor Miller had retired.

That equaled time off.

Cithrel was about to respond when a female student entered the room and approached the group.

“Aurora, can I talk to you?” Vanessa asked with an odd expression.

Her tone sounded a bit embarrassed and at the same time, with no other choice.

Since it sounded like it was a personal issue, Aurora stepped away from the group, with Vanessa at her side.

“What’s going on?” Aurora asked curiously and calmly.

Vanessa hesitated for a moment and in the end, receiving the look and attentive look she was giving her, she spoke.

“I have a problem and I wanted to see if you could help me,” Vanessa murmured in an awkward tone.

Her tone wasn’t just coming from the complexity of the task, it was about the difficulty of asking someone else for help.

However, Aurora smiled.

“Sure, as long as it’s in my power, I’ll help you.”

A simple and clear answer.

Even though she had not yet heard what it was all about, she could always lend a hand.