"No matter what time it is, I'll be by your side the very first moment," Smith said seriously, holding Xi Congqing's soft hand.
Xi Congqing's heart skipped a beat at his words.
Especially when the one saying them was Smith, who was undeniably handsome.
Though he still had a hint of youthful immaturity, there was no denying his maturity. He had the kind of look that mixed charm, coolness, and elegance—three parts handsome, three parts cool, and three parts refined.
She wouldn't give him a perfect ten, only because she was afraid he'd become too smug.
But just as she was about to get lost in his serious gaze, Xi Congqing suddenly yanked her hand back, slapped his palm hard, and snapped:
"Stop talking nonsense and taking advantage of me!"
"Ouch! You can talk without hitting, you know!" Smith yelped, pulling back his hand.
Why did this girl have no sense of humor?
"You better get going!" Xi Congqing huffed, pushing him away before returning to her room with flushed cheeks.
---
Jinghai College. Student Dormitories.
Inside the special dormitory reserved for students participating in the college competition, Lin Yun, Qing Lan, and ten others stood in a neat line.
Before them stood Lin Hai, the president of Jinghai College, looking thunderous.
"In the first round, you actually lost to Huaihai College?" he barked, his face stormy.
"Do you even realize that you're the elites of Jinghai College?!"
"Each one of you is a third-level mutant! You're supposed to rival the elite teams of other academies!"
"Your mission is to take first place!"
"As the strongest academy in the Southeast Region, if we can't even secure first place in the competition, how are we supposed to lead the Southeast Region College Alliance?"
Lin Yun spoke up, his tone quiet but firm, "Even if we don't take first place in the competition, Jinghai's overall strength surpasses the others. We'll still maintain our influence."
Lin Hai's eyes widened in fury at the rebuttal.
"Jinghai College must dominate in every category, every round—no exceptions!"
"Now, there are still two rounds left. All of you, listen well—if we don't place first, I will hold each of you accountable!"
"Yes, sir!" everyone responded in unison.
Lin Hai stormed off, leaving the group staring at one another in silence.
"We just underestimated Huaihai College a little. Was it necessary for him to explode like that?" someone muttered.
Lin Yun turned to glare at the speaker, and the complaints stopped immediately.
"The principal's words are final. Starting now, we must stay sharp. We cannot let anyone take first place from us again. Understood?"
"Understood!"
---
The Second Round Begins: Singles Competition
The second stage of the college competition was a singles event—one-on-one duels.
This round was by far the longest and most complex due to the sheer number of participants.
Each college had ten competitors. With thirty-four colleges in total, this meant 340 individual battles in the first stage alone.
The competition followed a knockout format. First, colleges were paired through a drawing system. Seventeen matches would be held in the first round, and the winners would proceed to the next stage while the losers were eliminated.
The seventeen winning teams would then be grouped again into eight matches—sixteen teams—with one randomly selected team receiving a bye, automatically moving forward.
After that, those sixteen teams would be narrowed down to eight, plus the exempted team, making a total of nine advancing colleges.
This process of drawing, fighting, granting byes, and giving "wait for battle" spots continued through several more rounds until only four teams remained for the semifinals and, eventually, the finals.
Because of these bye and wait-for-battle mechanics, a college could theoretically advance to the semi-finals with very few actual matches—provided they had extraordinary luck.
---
As the second round began, all colleges once again assembled in the plaza for the lot drawing ceremony.
By now, the performance from the first round—hunting monsters—had given everyone a rough idea of each college's strength.
Unsurprisingly, lower-ranked colleges hoped to avoid the stronger ones during the draw. Whenever they ended up matched with a high-ranking opponent, groans and complaints could be heard from their camps.
Meanwhile, average-strength colleges were quietly pleased when paired against weaker ones.
The atmosphere during the drawing was lively, filled with tension, hope, and the unpredictability of luck.
For colleges of equal strength, the directors might exchange friendly smiles and handshakes in front of the crowd—but behind closed doors, they ordered their students to go all-out and crush the competition.
Huaihai College got a fairly favorable draw. Their first match would be against Kamikaze College, which was ranked last among all the schools.
First place against last place.
An easy win. They could practically sleep through it.
---
The Matches Begin
Each of the ten students from one college would fight one-on-one against ten students from the opposing college—ten matches in total per group.
With thirty-four colleges split into seventeen groups, the first stage would feature 170 duels. It would take several days to complete all the rounds.
The match between Huaihai and Kamikaze Colleges was the very first on the schedule, acting as the opener for the entire round.
Both college leaders met briefly to determine the order of their participants.
Xi Congqing was placed second to last. Smith was given the final spot—essentially the "goalkeeper" of the team.
But opening the competition for Huaihai College was none other than Wei Lin.
"Brother Smith, I'm going up now," Wei Lin said, taking a deep breath.
"Go and crush them!" Smith grinned.
"I will!" Wei Lin nodded with resolve.
As Wei Lin stepped onto the stage, his opponent followed suit.
From Kamikaze College, it was a young man named Cai Kun. He was tall and skinny, dressed in a black jacket and beige pants. His thick hair was parted in the middle.
"Kamikaze College, Cai Kun," he introduced himself in a flat tone.
"Huaihai College, Wei Lin," Wei Lin responded simply.
This was a friendly competition on the surface, so a simple exchange of names was sufficient.
Above the stage, holographic screens lit up, displaying their abilities:
Cai Kun – Beast Transformation Type
Wei Lin – Wood Type
A murmur spread through the audience as they saw Wei Lin's attribute.
"Wait, he's a Wood-type?"
"They're actually sending a Wood-type to fight? Does Huaihai College have no one else?"
"Wood-type abilities are useless! What's he gonna do, plant flowers?"
Laughter rippled through the crowd.
Even Cai Kun couldn't help but sneer when he saw Wei Lin's element.
"Wood type? How dull. Just surrender now and save me the trouble."
Wei Lin didn't respond to the taunts.
Instead, when the referee shouted "Begin!", he instantly formed hand seals and channeled his spiritual energy.
"Wood Element: Heavy Rain of Pear Blossoms!"
With a surge of power, hundreds of sharp wooden petals rained down like a storm, catching everyone off guard.
Øóffer going on for diamond tier
pàtreøn (Gk31).