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nAs the young man stepped forward, it became apparent that he was none other than Vale Chambers.

nVale couldn’t help but smile inwardly, knowing full well why his abilities had thwarted the Untainted Sentinels’ inspection.

nWith his own array of powerful spells, including Divine Sense, Meridian Access, Incorruptible Body, and ESP, it was no surprise that he could hinder their attempts to probe his body. He also had his Mystical Items with him, the Obsidian Amulet from Heinz…

nLastly, his passive Spell Dispersion further added to their confusion. After all, all these Spells are high-level. One of them was even Level 9 or one step away from reaching the Perfect Realm.

n“Seniors, is there a problem? I’m confident that your Disease Inspection Spell is working on me…” Vale calmly addressed the Untainted Sentinels, ensuring that he didn’t impede the specific spell they had employed.

nHis heightened Spirit Strand allowed him to discern whether the intrusive spell targeted his Spell Lights or not. He made sure only to cancel the Spells that were trying to invade his secrets.

nOld Fletcher, taken aback by Vale’s response, found himself at a loss for words.

n‘This…’ 𝒊𝓪.𝙢

nHe had contemplated asking Vale to remove any protective mystical items he might possess, but the young man had cleverly preempted that possibility. By affirming that the Disease Inspection Spell should work on him, Vale had left no room for doubt.

nOld Fletcher realized that challenging Vale’s statement and being proven wrong would only lead to further complications.

nAfter all, all five of them are aware that the Disease Inspection Spell was indeed working fine as he had claimed.

n‘Tsk…’

nThe situation had taken an unexpected turn, so he wasn’t able to immediately reply…

nHeadmaster Jean keenly observed the exchange, his sharp mind piecing together the puzzle.

n‘Ohh~’

nHe recognized that Vale’s ability to counter their inspection was likely a manifestation of his affiliation with the Malefic Branch. 𝙡𝒆𝙖.𝙘𝙢

nImpressed by the young man’s resourcefulness, Headmaster Jean couldn’t help but hope that Vale’s peers, such as Evelyn and others, would display similar ingenuity and skill.

n‘I hope all of Heinz’s pupils would be as good as him or even better…’ Jean thought momentarily as he couldn’t help but feel excited for the future of the Dark Arts Faction. After all, he believed that Heinz’s success would be the success of the whole Faction.

nHeadmaster Jean then turned his attention to Old Fletcher and inquired.

n“Do you have any further questions for the young man?”

nThe hallway fell silent as all eyes focused on Vale, awaiting the next course of action. To be honest, the other students here were also baffled as to why they suddenly called out to Vale.

nAt this moment, as Fletcher was thinking of a response, another Untainted Sentinel took over.

n“Headmaster Jean… We meant no harm to the young student. Yes, the Disease Inspection Spell is working on him as he said. However, we wanted to ask him a few questions… To be exact, we wanted to ask him if he knows a man named Clovis Skye.” Teresa said as she shifted her attention to Vale Chambers.

n“Clovis Skye?” Jean squinted his eyes as he had no idea about this person. At the very least, he couldn’t recall this name right now.

nHe shifted his attention to Vale and noticed that the young man remained composed and looking at the Sentinel without any fear.

nHe then spoke to Vale using his telepathy, and after confirming that there was no problem, he allowed Vale to reply.

n“I’m not aware of that person, Miss Sentinel.” Vale replied.

nAs he thought that Teresa and Clare would press further, they actually just nodded and turned their backs.

nThe inspection of the Sentinels was done just like that.

nHowever, this wasn’t good for Vale…

n‘That reaction… I’m sure they’re still suspecting me.’ He couldn’t help but frown after seeing how Teresa and Clare had easily given up.

nAlthough they only had a brief encounter before, he could tell that these two were persistent and wouldn’t give up just like that.

n“Alright… The mood has soured, but we’re fine. Think of it as their tactic to break our morale, so we mess up in the Competition. They might do this underhanded tactics, so we won’t get our footing in this Competition. However, keep in mind that everything will change this year.” Headmaster Jean said as he encouraged the students.

n“Yes, Headmaster!”

n“We will show them who’s the boss!”

n“That’s right… We will dominate this time!”

nHeadmaster Jean smiled after seeing their reaction.

nOver the past few years, the Competition has always been difficult for them even though they were stronger individually. It’s all because the Academies are working together to deal with them. Even if they could excel in some individual competitions, they would still rank in the bottom three for the overall Academy Score.

nHowever, that would finally change.

nThe students weren’t sure why it would change, but it was, of course, thanks to the Headmaster and a few members of the Order of the Evanescent Vessels working behind the scenes. Well, even the Secret Organization had actually helped them without them knowing about it.

nThe previous close connections of the Arcane Path soured over the years.

nThe Mystic Arts Faction started hating the Alchemy Arts Faction for taking a huge chunk of their business. The recording crystal business was part of it.

nThe Rune Arts Faction and the Psychic Arts Faction are now being accused by the Harmonious Arcane Path Association of colluding with the Secret Organization.

nThe Elemental Arts Faction was also being targeted by other Organizations as tens of thousands of the Elemental Talismans they sold weren’t working properly for some odd reason.

nThe Summoning Arts Faction had also started fighting against the Church of the Divine Sorcerer because the church claimed that the source of their Grimoire was from an Evil Existence. They obviously didn’t like it. So, in turn, the Knights Faction and the Combat Arts Faction had to step in to protect the church…

nMany more situations had happened over the years, and the Dark Arts Faction had secretly sided with some Factions to give them a helping hand.

nNow, the Dark Arts Faction only had to worry about a few Factions, which they no longer consider as a threat.

n‘If it’s only 4 or 5 factions we will be dealing with… Then this will be a piece of cake…’ Headmaster Jean thought as he led the students.

n***

nA day quickly passed, and during this time, the students indeed received a few “bullyings” from the Holy Arts Faction, but as the Headmaster told them, they made sure not to cause problems.

nThey silently gritted their teeth as they swore to deal with them in the Competition.

nFinally, on the next day, the long-awaited Competition commenced.

nThe grand arena brimmed with excitement and anticipation as representatives from various academies, audiences, nobles, and arcanists from all corners of the kingdom gathered to witness the spectacle.

nUpdated from 𝑖𝘳.𝒸ℴ𝑚

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