146: Chapter 146 You've Changed
After a chaotic melee, only two people remained on the field.
Luo Zhongheng and the Lightning Mage faced each other from a distance, their expressions solemn.
The entire venue fell silent as everyone stared at the center of the arena.
After a brief silence, the two moved simultaneously, summoning stars.
Twenty stars, four Star Arrays... two light blue ice arrays with biting cold winds, and two purple thunder arrays with destructive pressure.
The casting speeds of the two were neck and neck, and they shouted their magic names almost at the same time.
“Ice-Binding Chains!”
“Thunder Strike!”
Two spiked ice chains burst out from the blue Star Array, shooting toward the Lightning Mage on the opposite side of the arena.
At the same time.
A bolt of violent, thin purple lightning shot out from the overlapping purple Star Arrays.
Boom...!
The thin lightning and one of the ice chains collided violently between the two.
A loud explosion erupted, and a cold shockwave swept in all directions.
After shattering the ice chain, the thin lightning continued to fly toward Luo Zhongheng.
Meanwhile, the second ice chain rushed toward the Lightning Mage without slowing down at all.
Bang!
Sizzle...
The ice chain slammed hard into the Lightning Mage.
At the same moment, the thin purple lightning also struck Luo Zhongheng.
Both were blown back simultaneously, slamming heavily onto the ground.
The audience gasped; both lay on the ground, motionless, seemingly both unconscious.
After waiting for a minute, two referees stepped forward to check.
Just then, the Lightning Mage's body trembled slightly, and he slowly stood up.
The spectator stands for Fengze Magic Academy instantly erupted in cheers, which soon swept through the entire venue.
Fengze Magic Academy had won.
A dead silence hung over the spectator stands of Longwei Magic Academy.
All the teachers and students looked at the arena with gloomy, disappointed faces.
The Vice Principal sighed helplessly and signaled several teachers to assist Teacher Xu Linjiao in bringing Luo Zhongheng and the others back from the field.
The referees had already carried the four unconscious people out of the arena.
They were handed over to the solemn-faced teachers.
The four were brought back to the academy's seating area.
The next group of academies then took the stage.
They were only knocked unconscious and had not suffered serious injuries.
Without needing Healing Gel or healing magic, they would recover after a few hours of rest.
The tournament continued.
After a while, the four unconscious team members finally woke up one after another.
Upon learning they had been brought back by the teachers and that the match was lost, all four had faces full of frustration.
Luo Zhongheng’s frustration was particularly obvious.
After hearing from his classmates that they lost only because the opponent stood up first,
he silently clenched his fists, his gaze tense.
Seeing the children's dejected appearance, the Vice Principal sighed again and spoke:
“Don't be discouraged by one failure. You've already won one match and have another chance; that's enough. Just do your best in the next one.”
“Exactly. Besides, they are Thunder element; they naturally counter us. It was already a hard fight for you to take down the rest of their team.”
“That's right. If they hadn't targeted Qiao Liya first, we would have had a chance to win. They knew you two were the hardest to deal with, so they had two people tie you down to eliminate Qiao Liya first.”
“Don't lose heart; just win another point in the next match.”
“And Fengze Magic Academy’s ranking last year was higher than ours to begin with, so losing to them isn't entirely unexpected.”
After hearing the Vice Principal's words, the other students also stepped forward to offer comfort and encouragement.
Some words were facts, while others were just well-intentioned consolation.
Under the repeated persuasion of the crowd,
the four's moods finally calmed down a bit.
That's right, they still had the next team match; if they won, they could get another ten points.
When the time came, as long as Lin Fan won his individual match, the academy could advance to the second round!
Thinking of this,
the four truly felt relieved, and the stifling frustration in their chests from the loss dissipated quite a bit.
They turned their attention back to the arena.
But throughout all of this, one person had been sitting in the corner, not saying a word.
That person was, naturally, Lin Fan.
The corner of his mouth curled into a disdainful, cold sneer.
He looked at the group of students comforting Qiao Liya and the others.
They couldn't even beat an academy ranked sixteenth last year, yet they dared to say they would reclaim their honor in the next match?
Had they forgotten?
Is the opponent for the next match Chichao Magic Academy, which was ranked ninth last year?
With yesterday's performance, did they really think they could win?
Lin Fan only found it laughable but did not speak up.
In his view,
the Vice Principal's words were merely to soothe their hearts.
Now that Qiao Liya and the others had lost a match, if the academy wanted to advance to the second round, their only hope was him.
If he couldn't win both of his individual matches, Longwei Magic Academy would be eliminated in the first round.
The result would be even worse than last year.
Time passed as other academies took turns competing on stage.
The performance of the top four academies was exactly the same as yesterday.
No matter who the opponent was, it was a crushing victory.
They didn't even need the whole team to act; one or two people were enough to wipe out the opposition.
Such a stark disparity
made the teachers and students of Longwei gradually feel that losing to Fengze didn't seem so unacceptable after all.
After all, they had only lost by a narrow margin, unlike other academies that were completely crushed by the top four.
A few hours later, the final match... Qingyu Magic Academy versus Wangzhe Magic Academy... ended, with Wangzhe Magic Academy taking the victory after several minutes of intense fighting.
Just like yesterday.
After the two teams left the field, Jiang Tianhai appeared in the arena.
He gave a brief speech and announced the end of today's schedule.
After Jiang Tianhai left, the audience began to file out.
Lin Fan also stood up to leave, when someone suddenly called out to him from behind.
He turned back and saw it was the Vice Principal.
He could recognize her voice.
The surrounding teachers and students also turned to look, curious why the Vice Principal would call for Lin Fan.
Yang Yong gave the Vice Principal a look of secret dissatisfaction, then turned and left indignantly.
“Something the matter?”
Lin Fan spoke; his tone wasn't exactly polite, but it wasn't rude either.
“Follow me.”
The Vice Principal was silent for a moment, then dropped those words and turned to walk away, giving Lin Fan no chance to refuse.
Lin Fan looked impatient but followed anyway.
The two left the Longwei seating area.
They walked into a less crowded area inside the arena and finally stopped.
The Vice Principal turned around and gazed at Lin Fan.
Lin Fan raised an eyebrow and looked back.
After a few seconds of silent confrontation, the Vice Principal finally spoke:
“You've changed.”
“What do you mean?”
Lin Fan asked calmly.
“Your eyes are different from before.”
“You don't care that I'm the Vice Principal, nor do you respect that my strength is greater than yours; it's as if you're afraid of nothing.”
“Of course, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. But if you don't know your limits, it will also invite trouble.”
The middle-aged woman had a gentle expression on her face.
Lin Fan's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Such a change was only natural...
He was no longer the Lin Fan of the past; with the System and standing at the pinnacle of mage ranks, what did he have to fear?
“Is that all?”
He asked after a moment of silence.
A flash of surprise crossed the Vice Principal's eyes; she hadn't expected such a reaction, as if it had gone in one ear and out the other.
She thought of something and smiled softly.
“No, I called you for something else.”
Lin Fan looked at her, signaling her to speak plainly.
“I think you also realize that there's basically no hope for the next team match.”