The Mysterious Black Magician

Kiko and his group were having a solemn atmosphere around them. Not only one of their members were defeated in the first elimination round, but they also witnessed something bitter, especially Kiko. Never did he imagine that Almina would suddenly hug that person.

How? When? Kiko repeatedly asked himself. For all this time, he thought that Almina was in love with him. But why? Why did she suddenly show up on stage and hug that person?

No. He knew the answer. He wasn\'t a dense person after all. But he couldn\'t accept it.

Kiko was so angry about it. He was so angry with what Almina did and that person. He felt cheated.. Kiko was accumulating hatred, and his friends were so angry as well and didn\'t like the things that were happening, especially yesterday\'s first elimination round.

They vowed to reach the final elimination together with all of their party members monopolized the ranking. No, they knew that it was impossible to attain because of those elite trainees. But at least they wanted all their members to reach a good height in the ranking.

That\'s why the first match of the first elimination round was a big slap on their faces. Their member, who they least expected to lose, was the first to get eliminated in the competition. Not only that, his enemy was that hateful person. The person who they hated from the start.

Who would have thought that he would come back after his disappearance for long? He should have gone for good without coming back. The academy was a very good place without him!

Nonetheless, that guy was truly a nemesis of their group! So, in this second elimination round, whoever among them had a chance to face that person would show no restraint against him, they would teach him his place and forcefully taught him that it was better if he hadn\'t come back.

They would be going to defeat him like stepping on a toad! 

In the group of instructors, Yman had also become their topic. His return was very unexpected to them. If they remembered correctly, he was the trainee who was supposedly the weakest among them all. That\'s why that fight he showed in the first elimination round was truly surprising.

The happiest instructor among them was Instructor Goki. He admired that person from day one. He was so looking forward to his next fight. That match of his yesterday was truly unexpected. Even in the instructor\'s circle, most of them agreed that Bruno was one of the hardest to deal with among the trainees.

But that young man did it! He dealt with him so easily like telling all of them that they\'re all wrong.

Hehe, Goki chuckled as he was excitedly waiting for the start of the next round. Right, he didn\'t expect that the young miss was affectionate to that person. It would be bad if the Master and Madam of the Amulet group would find out about it. Well, he could only let the young miss decide and turned a blind eye about it.

That person had truly unexpected luck huh. Goki thought. Well, he would be secretly cheering for them on the sideline. Nonetheless, he was so excited for the next round. A spatial ring on his middle finger gleamed. His deity was stored in it. He checked the time and saw just another 30 minutes for the start, and he also noticed that the plaza was already packed with the audience. 

Even Principal Mar and Chief Henderson were trying to recall him. Right, they remembered, he was the trainee who was about to face Almina Amulet in the duel that time in the training ground.

Wait, wasn\'t he also the person who left the academy? Principal Mar questioned no one but himself.

He was trying to contemplate. Regardless, he didn\'t know the reason for that person\'s sudden leave. But since he didn\'t announce that he would drop out, then no matter how long a trainee was absent, they could not expel him from the academy.

It wasn\'t a normal school or academy. These Human Cities were administered by magical power. In hindsight, it also acted like a normal school, but its focus was learning about magic and helping the trainees or students gain some combat knowledge both in terms of magic and hand-to-hand combat.

Bob and Chloe were heading to the venue together with their party members when they saw Mai and Brai heading in the same direction as them.

"Miss Mai!"

Bob called out with his loud voice. They glanced and saw them. The four of them succeeded in advancing to the next round.

Well, for someone like Brai, it was easy for him to win. Bob, Chloe, and Mai, on the other hand, had to fight with all their strengths to win.

Fortunately, Bob was able to learn some good ability while being under Instructor Torr. And he leveled up quite well in exploring the dungeon. He also learned an advanced level of body strengthening ability. But even with so many improvements, he wasn\'t confident that he could defeat that big guy in Kiko\'s party. 

Although he wasn\'t confident, it didn\'t mean that he just let himself be defeated.

"So, both of you, how\'s your training?"

Asked Mai. 

"Uhm, I\'m not confident that I can win the second elimination round."

Chloe replied honestly.

In the first round, she almost lost to the opponent with the same style as her. Her opponent was also using a magic-based pistol like her. On top of that, her opponent could summon a light shield and shoot paralyzing rays. 

If by chance those paralyzing rays hit her, Chloe was certain to lose. It\'s a good thing that her opponent was distracted by her new ability. The upgrade version of her purple shockwave. Because of the opponent\'s little hesitation, she was able to hit her with her magic-based pistol. And that\'s the deciding factor of their fight.

Mai, on the other hand, although she also faced a strong opponent, she was able to win in the end.

Mai and the others cheered up Chloe. Only Brai was silent within the group. He knew that cheering the others was unnecessary at this point where there was a high possibility that they would be facing each other later.

"Regardless, I still could not believe that Miss Almina had a thing to Yman," suddenly said, Mai.

"Right. It surprised us too."

Chloe was the one who agreed.

"Well, although my bro is an infamous person, it didn\'t mean that he\'s bad. It\'s just that some people made him look bad. In fact, my bro is better than that crazy Kiko. That guy is an outlandish self-centered idiot!"

Bob\'s unrestrained words came out of his mouth. It was his honest feeling. Though he truly envied his brother Yman. That guy almost kissed the Academy\'s goddess! For sure it wasn\'t only him who envied him at this moment.

If he saw him, he would certainly ask him if what was his secret. So that Bob could have a chance at the cute little girl from the elite class. Well, only his height was little, but in truth she was of the same age as them.

\'Wait, what is her name again?\' Bob thought.

For some reason, his mind diverted from the coming second round.

The group arrived at the entrance of the hall. It was the hall they used as the waiting room. 

But they noticed a crowd of people in the entrance.

"What is that?"

Mai asked as she pointed ahead of them.

"A commotion?"

Chloe replied.

"Wait, aren\'t they the participants who advance to the next round?"

"Right."

"I wonder what they are crowded at."

"Let\'s go and see!"

Mai urged them then dragged Chloe with her. Bob and Brai sighed then followed the two. They forced their way in the crowd and in the middle they saw Yman on his academy uniforms of HCZ7. He looks troubled though.

They wonder what it was.

Then they saw Kiko and his group in front of Yman. Wait, isn\'t it a bad situation?! They thought.

It wasn\'t a secret that Kiko had feelings for Almina. It was easy to guess just looking at him. At first, most of them thought that Miss Almina also liked him. 

That\'s why they wondered why Kiko and Almina weren\'t dating yet. They just thought that maybe Miss Almina was just a type of person who didn\'t give importance to her own feelings. And she seemed to be dedicated to her training.

But after yesterday\'s happening, all of them got a wake up slap on their faces after Almina ran to the stage and hugged Yman.

Looks like they were wrong all this time. It wasn\'t just because she was dedicated to her training in the academy. Rather, she had someone else that she likes.

And no one had an expectation of who it was. That\'s why it was a huge surprise to all of them.

At this moment, Kiko was staring at Yman with a cold expression. Bob was about to step forward as he thought that Yman was endangered. They knew how strong Kiko was, and he was even much stronger now.

Yman, on the other hand, had a nonchalant face.