The entire group fell silent for a moment.
Their gazes shifted over to the battlefield where another group of twelve had started their battle.
Theo hadn’t even given the new group a chance to set up.
Only two minutes later... all of them had been defeated.
’’Yeah...’’ Leon’s voice trailed off.
His gaze shifted to his groupmates uneasily.
’’I say we skip this challenge.’’
None of them hesitated before nodding.
As their gazes locked back onto the arena, the special gate slowly rumbled open.
But the atmosphere had already changed completely.
The next twelve students entering the arena exchanged uneasy glances before slowly spreading out.
Their earlier confidence and anger had long disappeared.
Theo watched them with a faint smile.
’Look at that,’ he thought, cracking his neck. ’They seem quite afraid of me.’
Lightning crackled under his feet.
ZAP!
He shot off towards them.
The battle unfolded much like the previous ones.
Students tried their best to maintain distance, using as many spells as possible to force him away.
But it made little difference.
Every attempt to regroup or attack simultaneously was interrupted by Theo.
One after another, he picked off the members in the midst of their group.
Suddenly, Theo slid to a halt.
’What?’ he thought.
Despite still being surrounded by seven members, his gaze landed on a large fireball floating above a female student several yards away.
Her expression was pale, while her arm trembled slightly.
’Not good,’ he thought.
The fireball shot forward, heading straight for him.
Without hesitation, he jumped back with all his might.
BOOM!
A large explosion rang out.
Theo landed two dozen yards away, his eyes widening slightly.
’What the fuck did she do?’
The flames slowly dispersed, revealing the aftermath.
Six figures lay inside the scorched crater, thin mana barriers covering their bodies.
Not a single one of them had remained standing.
Theo’s mouth fell open slightly.
’There’s no way she just did that...?’ he thought.
As he glanced over, he noticed the girl had collapsed onto her knees, trembling.
She stared blankly at the destruction she had caused.
Theo’s expression only grew stranger.
’Did she spend all her mana on that too?’
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Theo slowly walked forward, his trident resting on his shoulder.
The girl still trembled violently, her eyes on the floor.
"I..." she muttered weakly, staring at her own hands. "I didn’t mean..."
Theo stopped right in front of her.
As she glanced up, he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
’’Well,’’ he muttered, raising his trident. ’’Guess this is the end.’’
Without another thought, he swung down hard.
THUD!
A barrier popped up around the girl.
Even so, she was still sent rolling aside from the impact.
’That was... anticlimactic.’
DING! DING! DING!
Loud bells echoed through the arena.
Theo slowly glanced up.
The announcer had appeared back on the screen.
The chubby man cleared his throat lightly and loosened his tie.
’’Well...’’
He looked around the stands before letting out a helpless laugh.
"I don’t think anyone expected today’s tournament to go quite like this."
A few faint laughs echoed out through the audience.
Only a moment later, a loud whistle echoed out, followed by cheering.
Theo glanced over for a moment, a smile appearing on his face.
Owen stood in the stands, yelling his name as he pumped his fist into the air.
He paid absolutely no mind to the furious stares around him.
’Heh,’ Theo thought, shaking his head.
The announcer awkwardly coughed into his microphone.
’’So, uhm, I want to give the screen to another person!’’
That’s when another man appeared on the screen.
He looked to be in his late fifties, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit with a dark red tie.
His silver hair was neatly slicked back, paired with a thin, well-groomed mustache and a stern expression.
’’Please,’’ the announcer said, lowering his head slightly. ’’Welcome our dean!’’
The entire audience remained silent for a moment.
Then, one by one, students rose from their seats, giving the dean a respectful round of applause.
The man simply nodded once.
Only after the arena quieted down did he finally speak.
’’I’ll keep this brief,’’ he said emotionlessly. ’’Well over a hundred students have been defeated.’’
He folded his hands behind his back.
"According to the tournament rules, each of those students has forfeited half of this semester’s cultivation budget."
A heavy silence fell over the arena.
It almost felt ridiculous to listen to.
’’The university board found that unfair,’’ the dean continued. ’’Therefore, instead of taking 50% from the defeated students, we’ll be cutting 25% from ALL ordinary student budgets.’’
Absolute silence.
The ordinary students didn’t even know how to respond.
That moment only lasted for a second.
A wave of stunned voices spread throughout the stands.
’’WHAT?!’’
’’Why are we getting punished for their losses?!’’
’’Yeah, screw those losers!’’
The dean remained completely unmoved.
He simply waited for the uproar to die down.
An entire minute went by before everyone finally fell silent.
Each ordinary student sat on the edge of their seats, some even biting their lips in hopes of good news.
’’Should any of you find that unfair...’’ the dean continued emotionlessly. ’’There is a simple solution.’’
He raised his arm in Theo’s direction.
’’Convince him to give it back.’’
Complete silence fell once more.
It had reached a point where you could hear a pin drop anywhere in the arena.
Slowly, hundreds of eyes shifted toward Theo.
Theo blinked, taken aback.
’Seriously?’
Even he hadn’t expected things to develop like this.
Before he could even set his thoughts straight, one student stood up.
’’Please!’’ he shouted, lowering his head. ’’I need those resources!’’
Another stood up beside him.
’’You already have more than enough!’’
’’Please, just give us our share back!’’
One after another, more students rose from their seats.
’’You already have the Phase One rewards!’’
’’Hand our resources back!’’
’’Yeah, just give them back!’’
Some lowered their heads, almost begging him for their resources.
Others simply looked at Theo expectantly, as though waiting for him to nod.
To them, it almost seemed obvious.
He had already proven he was stronger than everyone else.
Surely... he didn’t actually need all those resources.