"What…what did I just say?!" Perspiration was running down her pale face and she was clearly panicking.

"You said that you and Adrian will be able to defeat them," I told her with a grin.

"I can't believe I just said all that! What do I do now?!"

"Uh, beat them up during the exam, of course."

"Why does Sensei sound so happy about this?!"

"Sorry." I chuckled. "But thank you."

I finally understood. Melina's strength stemmed from her determination to fight for others, rather than for herself. I was delighted that she would stand up for me and Adrian. That made me proud as her tutor.

"Yeah, thank you!" Adrian joined in. He raised an arm and flexed it enthusiastically. "Let's show those girls what we're made of! We'll beat them and prove to everyone that we are not incompetent!"

Melina glared at him. "Why did you have to go and provoke them, Adrian? Calling them monkeys and making fun of them…"

"But it's true, isn't it? Weren't they screeching like monkeys?"

"Yeah, they were." Melina couldn't help but giggle at that. Then she held Adrian's hand. "Thank you, Adrian. I'm grateful to you as well…for standing by my side, and sticking up for me. I must have shown you an unsightly side of myself. I hope to repay the faith you placed in me." She turned to me. "And yours too, Sensei. I will demonstrate that your confidence in me is not misplaced."

"I'll be looking forward to it." I smiled, and then crouched down to place each hand on their shoulders. "All right guys. If you find yourself in a losing position, do not give up. Remember what I taught you. No matter how bad the situation seems, you can always turn the tables on your opponent. Lure them into a false sense of security and ensure that their overconfidence is their undoing."

"We will!" Adrian promised. He then grinned. "We'll show everyone that your teaching methods are correct, Brother Richard! We'll bring honor to your name! So that when you establish your sect, you can spread your name far and wide!"

"Dude, this is not a cultivation story. I'm not going to found any sect. You're in the wrong genre." I sighed and shook my head. Beside him, Melina giggled again. Then she looked up and smiled brightly, squeezing both Adrian and my hands in hers.

"Let's do this!" She met my gaze, positive energy flaring up brilliantly in those ruby orbs of hers. "Please watch me, Sensei! Adrian and I will both do our very best!"

"You can count on me!"

And so they took to the stage while I made my way to the spectator seats. This being a tournament styled practical examination, I wasn't allowed to interfere, so I ended up being given a place high up. I wasn't fond of the distance between my seat and the arena, but I couldn��t complain. Fortunately, I could adjust the view on my lenses to magnify the arena and the partic.i.p.ants in it. Wearing gla.s.ses was so convenient.

"Oh? So you're here too."

"Eh?"

I glanced up and caught sight of Miura La Noir. She smiled as she took the seat beside me, her head tilted curiously.

"I did hear that you are the private tutor of a couple of middle school students." she glanced down at the arena. "Are they up next?"

"Yeah," I confirmed, clasping my hands and looking almost as if I was in prayer.

"You look nervous."

"Well…I am. For them."

Miura laughed throatily. "You aren't the one taking the exam, you know? In fact, I heard that you already pa.s.sed yours."

I didn't pay any attention to her, and instead glanced upward where a familiar figure sat with several VIPs. Fergus Franklin – Melina's father – was watching from high above, along with his father-in-law and a few other big names. Kureha Franklin was also present, seated near them.

Seemed like the entire Franklin family had shown up to watch.

It wasn't just them. Sacha Stuart and several representatives from the Stuart clan had also turned up, and even Cecilia herself was seated near Sacha and his wife, watching her cousin. I glanced up and exchanged a nod of greeting with them.

"Oh, you seem quite close to the Stuart family too, huh?" Miura remarked. I shrugged noncommittedly. I had no obligation to feed her any information regarding myself or my connections with other people.

"What's this? Are you nervous?" Rossetti Picket also arrived, smiling as she teased me. She took the seat beside Miura. "I didn't know you were interested in the middle school tournament, Miura."

"Well…I'm actually interested in someone else." Miura chuckled, much to Rossetti's puzzlement. The auburn-haired dancer stared at the black mage, then shook her head.

"As cryptic as always."

We weren't given much time to speak much because there was a blare from the referee's horn, and the partic.i.p.ants for this round walked out from the tunnel. Zooming in on the figures with my gla.s.ses, I could make out Adrian and Melina, walking in a straight line and proceeding toward the battlefield. The both of them were armed with swords…because that was the only weapon I could teach them. Well, I could teach them archery, but my skills in that were pretty bad, considering I tended to throw a nuke and hoped it blew up everything, including my target.

On the opposite end was Nirvana's team – four of them. Two against four. Not favorable odds at all.

"That makes no sense." Rossetti frowned as she leaned forward. "Where's the rest of their teammates? Why is there only two of them?"

"They couldn't get anyone to join them," I replied coldly as I folded my arms.

"Eh? Wouldn't they be at a glaring disadvantage?"

I glanced at the stage and smirked. The arena was set to simulate an actual battlefield, with a forest of trees on one side, a hill, several ruined structures and a tower in the center. At the opposite ends of the coliseum were smaller hills, a single flag planted in them.

Good. The terrain was favorable for my charges. As long as they made good use of cover, they would be able to nullify the opponent's numerical advantage and carry out hit-and-run tactics. Furthermore, we were familiar with what sort of personality Nirvana possessed, and we could exploit that as well.

"Students." Teresa Taylor, the headmistress of Saint Teresa Academy, had walked to the podium, an exquisite staff in hand. She smiled as she gazed over the students in the arena, her eyes proud. Evidently she was heartened by the progress they had made throughout the semester. "Today is the day we see the fruits of your hard work. We will be looking forward to seeing how far you have grown."

Melina and Nirvana glared at each other from the opposite side of the arena, one determined and the other derisory. Unaware or uncaring of the rivalry between them, Teresa Taylor raised her staff to release her announcement.

"Without further ado, let the Saint Teresa Academy's end-of-semester practical examination tournament commence!"

There was a cheer, and the exam began. Not the actual tournament, though. Even though the partic.i.p.ants had emerged, they were currently strategizing.

I glanced at Nirvana's team, and was unsurprised to see that all four members were frontline fighters. None of them specialized in ranged magic, and all of them held melee weapons. Nirvana herself wielded a mace for some reason. Her teammates wielded a rapier, a whip, and another mace. It would be troublesome for Adrian and Melina to engage them in close combat.

On the other hand, they didn't have to worry about long-ranged spells coming from the enemy. Of course, both of them already knew that. I had ensured that they did research on their opponents beforehand.

Intelligence, as always, was key.

Even Adrian was looking nervous, his hands shaking as he clutched his sword. He glanced at the trembling Melina, who looked pale.

"Hey," he a.s.sured her with a forced smile. "It's okay. We'll definitely win as long as we stick to the plan."

The plan. Right. The format of the tournament was fairly simple, a "game" where you had to catch the opponent's flag to win. Each team could have up to five members, but Nirvana chose to bring four members. Whereas Adrian and Melina weren't able to recruit anyone else into their team. That might be bad, considering the goal of the game.

Each team had been allocated a specific area – those hills at the opposite side of the arena – where their flags were planted. Successfully protecting your own flag while stealing the enemy's was the condition for victory. Also, you could recapture your own flag from the enemy by defeating them and taking it back, so it wasn't an automatic loss once they got their hands on your flag. The same went for the opposing team – just because you captured their flag didn't mean you automatically win either.

On the other hand, if neither team managed to successfully capture the other's flag within fifteen minutes, then they would count how many members had been eliminated – in other words, killpoints. In this way, Adrian and Melina's team had the advantage because they could theoretically score more points than the opposing team. Obviously you could also win by incapacitating and defeating all the members of the opposing team. It was also possible to get draws, but neither team would want that.

I knew that Adrian and Melina wanted to win. So did Nirvana.

My lips curled into a smile. Nirvana's desire to win would be her team's undoing.

The referee walked up and rang the bell to signal the start of the match. The timer began counting down from fifteen minutes, and both teams sprang into action.

"Let's go!" Adrian said, thrusting his sword forward.

Even though each team would normally leave at least a single person behind to guard their flag, neither team did so. Nirvana and all her members hurtled forward, while both Adrian and Melina hurried into cover.

Just as we predicted. Knowing Nirvana's personality, she wouldn't be satisfied with merely taking the other team's flag.

She would want to crush both Adrian and Melina in combat, and humiliate them in front of everybody. She was the type who enjoyed beating up her victims with her own hands – almost at the expense of victory. No, to be more accurate, pulverizing her victims with that ugly mace of hers was the victory that she sought. As I said, as long as the other team was fully eliminated…and there were only two targets.

Nirvana was aware of that as well, and she couldn't wait to beat the two of them up to a pulp.

"I'll head straight for their base!" Melina shouted as she sprinted into the thick of the forest. Nirvana narrowed her eyes as she turned around, tracking her movements. Adrian paid her no attention and instead grinned.

"Leave them to me! I'll delay them as much as I can!"

Wooden branches and vines exploded out of his sword as he dove at the opposing team. Sakura petals also streamed around him, forming a deadly barrier that simultaneously served as a cloud of swords.

"!!"

Nirvana's team was forced to scatter. As for me, my eyes widened. Adrian, that scoundrel…to think that he was capable of casting two spells at the same time? Even veteran mages had difficulty executing two spells simultaneously, yet he was pulling it off with ease.

The guy was talented, that was for sure.

"Surround him!" one of Nirvana's teammates shouted, and they obliged. But there were only three of them. Their leader was gone, having smirked and disappeared into the forest after her true target. However, none of the trio complained, and they attacked Adrian in near flawless synchronicity.

Fortunately, Adrian had wrapped himself in impenetrable defense and their short-ranged spells bounced off his cloud of Sakura petals. Above, Cecilia nodded in approval.

"Adrian has improved remarkably…it seems like Richard really taught him a few tricks."

"Why do you think I request Richard to teach Adrian?" Sacha chuckled smugly as he rubbed his chin. "I know he will be the one to bring out my son's full potential."

While Adrian continued to distract the opposing team, Melina continued to run toward the opposite hill, a sudden spell halted her in her tracks, and she instinctively spun around to face her a.s.sailant after dodging it easily. Standing atop one of the outcrops of artificial ruins was Nirvana, her body wreathed in blazing mana.

"I'm delighted that you were so cooperative enough to come straight to me, Melina!"

Looking down on the blond swordswoman from above, the gladiator sneered contemptuously.

"Or did you perhaps think that you could win by avoiding combat and stealing our flag?"

She then flicked her hand casually and giggled.

"It's true…right now our base is empty. Of course you would think that it's open to attack. And if you indeed succeeded in seizing our flag, you would get all the attention you crave."

Nirvana then burst out laughing.

"How naïve. But you know…if all you wanted was attention, then you just needed to ask. I will be more than happy to oblige you."

In a single bound, she leaped off the outcrop and dove at Melina, raging mana swirling around her mace and strengthening her strike. Cackling hysterically, Nirvana sped right toward Melina, s.a.d.i.s.tic violence in her eyes.

"I'll break all your limbs…until you're lying on the ground and begging me to stop!"

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