*BOOM*

Flames raged in the skies of the Norse city.

The blast that occupied at least a five hundred meter radius, burned everything in its path. Since its in the sky there is not much to begin with. Most of the brunt was also taken by the Paradise Inn.

Of course, it is still not as much as the woman that came after Sam.

Sam on the other hand was nowhere to be seen. He disappeared from the people's eye on his harbinger. Almost like a flash of lightning. The elders of the Norse academies that are in charge of the security came running after they saw the explosion.

They knew that the people that are not involved in the solo combat will be completely protected by the people that are involved in the solo combat. However, every year it is a norm for the elders to monitor the security.

They arrived at the scene of the explosion and saw the corpse of the woman was burned to the crisp. Except for the token and the spatial ring that she wore, everything else was burned. Even the sword was broken under the impact.

The elders landed there and checked her credentials. They found her disciple token that represented her academy.

Among the two elders, one of them frowned. It was a student from his academy, the Hel academy and he knew the student.

"She is our Solo and team combat candidate.

" He muttered only loud enough for the other elder to hear.

"I am sorry for your loss.

"

The other elder spoke casually and walked into the Paradise inn to check the situation.

Luckily Sam was in the top floor. Previously, he was in the floor below that and it was destroyed because of the previous day's fight, now that floor and the floor above it which he stayed in now, was also destroyed.

At least, the floors below it are still okay, except for some slight rubble and the disturbance.

None of the people that are inside are injured. They are protected from the attacks by the formation.

The elder sighed at the destruction and noticed that several second grade students are hurriedly moving around as if searching for someone. After asking some questions and exploring some speculations he realized that they were after Sam.

"Oh, boy

"

He muttered and immediately ran back to the Thor academy. He met with Olaf and reported.

"Sir, it seems like the info about Sam's performance in formation prelims has reached all the academies. They are faster than we estimated, he is being targeted by the other solo combat participants.

He killed two people. One of them is from Hel academy and the other is from Loki Academy (The guy who died of poison and gun shots. The one who attacked Sam at the academy entrance)

"

Olaf sighed and said.

"I thought this year's security will be easier since most of the combat participants are being restrained by the formation from hurting other people.

But now, even using the solo combatants they are using extreme methods.

"

"How do you want me to proceed with this, sir?

" The elder asked.

Olaf shook his head and said.

"What is there to proceed? At least in the previous time, we could have given them warnings for the assassination attempts, but now they are playing within the rules. Even if all the other candidates target him, we cannot do anything.

Just leave him be and do not interfere. The formation wouldn't take it lightly. It is programmed that way.

"

"Alright, sir.

"

After the elder left, Olaf took a swig of some hard liquor.

"Why the ** is that guy here this time as well? I thought I wouldn't get involved with him for another year. He made a mess in just the freshman tournament, what the hell is he going to do this time?

"

He spoke out loud as he looked at the sky out of his window.

Olaf is not just worried about the chaos, but also about his students and candidates. Apart from the Olympian regions, Thor academy has been the biggest victim of Sam.

In the freshman tournament, there was that rigging issue and there was issue with Ivar.

Apart from Icarus, Ivar was the most active with the cases in the court and put Thor academy through hell.

If that is not enough, there is that expedition. They lost a lot of potential candidates that could have been the future of Thor academy's formation expertise.

He lost a lot of precious candidates in both combat and auxiliary departments. The good thing is that he didn't face the same level of pressure as the Zeus academy. He managed to placate a lot of clans and families that lost their descendants in the expedition.

He also pushed the next prospects higher in hoping to cover the losses created. Just so that new prospect's families will fill in the gaps in the support created by the old families. He also needs to ensure that Messenger council is satisfied with the competition this time or the worth of the city will be decreased.

With all this stress mounting on him, he was relieved when he heard the competition rules.

No killings until further notice from Messenger council.

As for why he was relieved? Not just because of the grudges and other stuff. Rather, the competition itself is a harbinger of chaos along with the celebration.

The competition is not just a place for students to gain glory and rewards. It is also the biggest factor in deciding the rankings of the academies. In fact, it could be the biggest factor. If performed badly, the support from messenger council will be reduced, their location will be changed and the density of energy within the area will also change.

They will also lose their pocket dimensions.

The worst of all, they will be prone to attacks from other Astral Region academies.

So, every year one thing happens to almost all the prospective champions. That is at least one assassination attempt. The academies will come with a clear plan on how to gain enough wins to keep their ranking in place or to grow higher.

And in every field that they want to win, they would try to pick the brightest candidates and take them out.

Even if they cannot gain the first place, they will take out the candidates just to increase their rankings. The attacks always happens. For that reason, the security of the competition is usually very strict.

And it will be increased as soon as the first competition starts. The real deal candidates will be identified in the prelims and they will be targeted.

Sam's formation created more waves than he could possibly imagine. In fact, a video of that competition is currently playing in the Thor academy's formation department as their elders are trying to figure out its construction principles.

If possible, they would figure out a formula and feed it to their candidates to increase their chances in the next round.

It seems like Hel and Loki academies took a different approach. They sent their combat participants to take Sam out and in turn lost two candidates and from the looks of it, they are not going to stop any time soon.

Olaf just hoped that he could feel a bit of relief before this competition ends and that will only come if there are no major mishaps that could throw Thor academy off its current position.

While Olaf is current stressing out, there is someone that is feeling even more stressed. It is the old strategies of the Thor academy students.

Right now, there are only three candidates standing in front of him.

"I told you to lead people to him. Why on earth would you tell your team member to attack him directly? Are you out of your mind?

"

The old man asked through his gritted teeth.

The youngsters stayed silent.

"And you didn't even engage with him. Instead you attacked their top candidate. Rashma… from the information I gathered, there is only one term that could be used to describe her. She is a **ing animal.

Even if all of you gang up, you might not win. Why would he attack her instead of Sam?

"

He almost wanted to scream out loud and it took everything in his power to stop himself from doing so.

"Sir, we did try to do so. But he was quick on his feet and it connected Rashma. He even used a transference scroll, but she still managed to come all the way to his hiding location and destroyed him.

However, we did manage to find a way to lure people towards Sam.

I took the video of the formation he created in the prelims and showed it to my grand uncle. He evaluated the formation highly and I took a video of that formation and sent it to various academy teams that are interested in gaining higher ranks in formations.

Now, he is being targeted like crazy.

He will definitely be down on his luck soon.

"

"But I heard, he killed two people that came after him and disappeared.

"

"I believe that is even better. This way, he is accumulating grudges. So, while cleaning up all these people, he will also become primary target in the tournament.

I am also gaining the evidence for his previous achievements in inscriptions and his weapon making skills. I am going to make him gain as many enemies as possible. Even if he repel them he will be making enough enemies to be targeted by most of the alliances in the tournament.

"

The old man scratched his chin and said.

"Not a bad idea, I guess. Not bad kid. You are finally learning.

"