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Silently glancing at the Ikusei University students, who had suddenly regained their fighting spirit despite their crushing defeat, Russell didn't know what to say. "It seems their muscles have successfully seized control of their brains," he muttered.
He stepped off the stage and rejoined Lucian and the others. "Let's go. We can check out the situation at the other schools now."
Lucian and the others nodded. They had been planning to do so anyway. As the match against Northgate ended, the crowd gathered around their venue gradually dispersed. However, a few students caught Russell's eye.
They were a group of young men dressed simply, almost austerely. The young man in the lead saw Russell looking at him, nodded, and smiled. Russell responded with a polite nod.
"What are you looking at?" Lucian asked, following his gaze with curiosity. "They seem to be students from Northwestern University of Science and Technology."
"What did you see?" Grant asked, noticing Russell's serious expression.
"Their leader," Russell said, retracting his gaze, "is not easy to deal with." Although he hadn't seen the opponent's cards yet, Arrogance had been sending him a constant sense of danger. And with his current mental strength, he could sense that the other party had basically reached the threshold of the gold level. It's just that he may not have such an exaggerated mental capacity as mine.
"He should be almost at the gold level," Russell concluded aloud.
Lucian and the other three were stunned for a moment. As top students of Northgate University, they naturally understood the weight of his words. "Why would such a person go to a school that we've barely heard of?"
"Maybe he wants to play 'one man, one city'," Russell shrugged.
"?" Unfortunately, Lucian and his friends didn't get the sports reference.
Watching the people from Northwestern go away, Russell stretched. "Let's go. We shouldn't run into them for a while." He walked towards a nearby venue where a large crowd had gathered. Lucian and the other three followed him in silence.
Because of the crowd, they couldn't see the action in the venue clearly. After a moment's thought, Russell let Arrogance possess a Shadowkhan, then had the strengthened minion lift him up.
"Phew, that's much clearer now." He sat on the shoulder of the symbiote-infused shadow warrior, Arrogance helpfully extending several tentacles to support his back like a chair.
Just as he was about to take a closer look at his potential opponents, a burning gaze stung his face so much that it hurt. He turned his head and saw a female cardmaker sitting on the shoulders of a giant, muscular man, looking at him intently.
"The girl from Capital University?" He was stunned, then gave her a friendly smile.
However, the female cardmaker was obviously stunned for a moment when she saw Russell's face, and then looked at him with a strange, almost arrogant expression. Russell was confused by her attitude for a moment, but when he saw her right hand subconsciously stroking the muscular man's chest, a chill instantly spread throughout his body.
He rolled his eyes at her and mouthed, "I'm not gay."
The female cardmaker smiled understandingly upon seeing this.
Russell was too lazy to explain any further and turned his attention back to the center of the venue. Although her mind is a bit dirty, he admitted to himself, the strength of her card is indeed good.
"By the way, which two schools are these?" he asked Lucian, who was standing below him.
"This should be River City University and Lakeside University," Lucian answered quickly. He had already done his research.
"As expected of you, Wikipedia." Russell nodded with satisfaction. It was comfortable to have smart teammates; he didn't have to bother collecting information himself.
Lucian was already used to Russell's weird nicknames. "I'll take that as a compliment."
While they were talking, the situation on the field had changed. According to Russell's observation, the students from River City University used cards basically related to water. It wasn't surprising; the name of their university practically gave it away. It was said that the principal who founded the school was a diamond-level cardmaker whose main deck was a systematic fleet of warships. Not a mythological one, but a modern, human fleet. His famous saying regarding the comparison was, "Poseidon? How many divisions does Poseidon have? Blast them!"
Of course, these ordinary students definitely didn't have such exaggerated cards. So far, Russell hadn't seen a single actual ship card. Most of them were cards of naval officers and soldiers, like a modified version of Admiral Nelson.
However, just as he was thinking this, a cry of surprise rang out from the crowd. The next moment, a huge destroyer appeared out of nowhere on the battlefield.
"...Isn't anyone curious about where the power source for that comes from?" Looking at the destroyer floating in the air, Russell couldn't help but complain. God knows how incongruous this scene was.
For most of the students watching, this was obviously the first time they had seen a card like this. And no matter whether they were men or women, it seemed no one could resist something big, thick, and hard—referring, of course, to the naval guns.
However, unlike the energy attacks Russell had expected, the sturdy cannons fired round, physical shells with a deafening roar. "Although it floats, the weapon system is still kinetic?" Russell scratched his head. Not that kinetic weapons were useless; as long as the shell was hard enough, it could cause massive damage.
When the shell, which was as tall as a person, hit the target after drawing a strange parabola, a violent explosion occurred, and red flames shot straight into the sky. Russell could now be sure that this was definitely not a normal shell.
"This really opens my eyes. Human imagination is indeed endless," he muttered. "It's a pity I don't have any Kantai Collection cards, otherwise I could try them out."
As the smoke gradually dissipated, the faces of the students from Lakeside University turned gloomy, while the River City students cheered. Looking around, Russell found that the battles for the day were basically over. "Let's go back. There's nothing else to see."
At this moment, he caught a glimpse of the female cardmaker from Capital University riding her muscular man towards him. Russell's face darkened, and he quickly asked Arrogance to take him away.
The female cardmaker was left standing alone in the crowd, sighing. "Why did he run so fast? I wanted to exchange ideas with him."
Russell didn't know what she was thinking. If he did, he would have apologized three times over. What can you, an Ice King, possibly have to communicate with me, a Rock King?!
Time came to the second day. The venue was completely different from before. First of all, the original small battle venues had now been merged into a giant arena, thanks to the hard work of the seniors from the Civil Engineering Department. Secondly, the audience. Although there had been some spectators before, the number hadn't been large. But now, the national competition was being broadcast live to the whole country.
In the VIP guest seats to the north of the venue, many important figures who were rarely seen together were greeting each other. If Russell were here, he would realize that no one present was below the Emerald level.
"Chancellor Valeron, long time no see," an energetic old man in flowing robes greeted a middle-aged man with a stern face.
"It's been a year, hasn't it, Archmage Alaric?" the middle-aged man, Chancellor Valeron, responded with a smile.
Archmage Alaric nodded, then asked the question on everyone's mind. "Will His Majesty come to watch the games this year?"
A trace of indifference flashed across Chancellor Valeron's eyes. "I do not know His Majesty's arrangements."
Archmage Alaric was not surprised by his attitude. Today, it was difficult for people to still have awe for the Royal Family. The theory of the "Divine Right of Kings" had become a dead end. You say you are the King? Come, look at the God Card in my hand and tell me again who you are. As for natural disasters... changing the weather wasn't difficult for a powerful cardmaker. There were too many people in the Federation who could call the shots. The only reason the Royal House still existed was that they were extremely talented in their "side jobs"—generals, scholars, craftsmen... and cardmaking. Although there hadn't been a Palace-level cardmaker in the Royal family for generations, there had been quite a few Diamond-level ones. This forced the court to acquiesce to their existence, but they held little real power.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this," Archmage Alaric smiled, skipping the topic. "Which school does Chancellor Valeron think is more promising this year?"
"For the team competition, I'd bet on Federation Science & Technology University. After all, they have two students who ranked first last year. As for the individual competition... Russell from Northgate University and Holden from Kirin University are both strong contenders."
Archmage Alaric was noncommittal. "Is it impossible for Northgate to win the team competition? After all, Russell's strength is truly terrifying." Russell was now Blake Whitmore's disciple, and coupled with his duel against Wade a few days ago, everyone in the upper echelons of the Federation knew his name.
"Heh, the team competition is five-on-five. Archmage, your view is biased," another old man responded.
Chancellor Valeron nodded. "That's right. Although Russell is very powerful, it is still a bit difficult for one person to carry a team against a strong school."
Archmage Alaric shook his head. He still had higher hopes for Northgate. The remaining four members weren't that bad; they should be able to take down at least two or three opponents.
Seeing that Alaric did not argue further, Chancellor Valeron looked bored. He walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the contestants waiting for the draw. "Yves St. Clair said he would come to watch the finals."
Although his voice was soft, it was like thunder exploding in everyone's heart. Many people stood up suddenly, forgetting their manners. "Chancellor, is that information accurate?" He didn't reply, just glanced at the questioner. Everyone instantly realized he wouldn't joke about such a big thing.
"Is the secret realm in the Shu Highlands alright?" one of them asked, his face ugly. After a moment, Valeron replied clearly, "It is fine. However... the demons there can't do anything to Yves. He can now move around in a limited way."
The hearts that had just settled instantly rose again. After Valeron finished speaking, he looked at the people in front of him with different expressions and shook his head in his heart. A bunch of insects. "Well, Yves knows how to handle such important matters. Next, let's see what geniuses will emerge in the Federation this year."
Russell, off the court, had no idea he was being talked about by a group of big shots. At this time, he and his companions were staring at the big screen in the center of the venue. The next draw would determine the first round of the main competition.
Capital University vs. New Metro First High.Kirin University vs. The Federation Mystics College.Northwestern University of Science and Technology vs. Harbor City University.
Seeing this, the Northgate team was stunned. "Is Northwestern so unlucky? First they ran into Imperial College, and now Harbor City? Harbor City is not a pushover."
Just when they wanted to say something, the words "Northgate University" appeared on the screen.
Northgate University vs. River City University.
When they saw their opponents, several faces looked a little strange for a moment. After all, they had just watched River City University's match yesterday. They hadn't expected to meet them today.
(End of this chapter)