“Additionally, with the way the bracket is structured, not only do we need points, but it is technically single elimination. One loss, and we are out and can’t gain any more points.” Leaning back in his chair, Cynrik noticed Headmaster Rivia nodding in approval.

“You are correct; the team with the most points in each round will be considered the winner and will advance further into the bracket. Although it is possible not to achieve the maximum amount of points and still win the round, the more points we earn, the better the rewards received at the end of the Competition.”

“Also, you are incorrect about the level of your opponents. Mainly due to how the three bye-round seeds were chosen. Let me put this out there, Ivar, multiple Academies in your group do not come from our Country.” Tapping away on his Watcet, the three Seeded Academies who got a Bye-round appeared on a new screen.

“Winter Springs, Seed One going into our Group bracket, come from the allied Beast Nation, Amestruous. In their Country, they are considered the top Academy, and as such, they earned their Seed with prestige, and in last year’s Competition, they came in 8th place.” An image of two groups of seven people holding trophies appeared on display. Each of these young adults had some physical trait, be it horns, animal ears, or in one case, batwings.

“Last year, their Tier-2 and Tier-3 Teams dominated their bracket, and it wasn’t until they reached the Top 8 that they were utterly defeated by the current seed 1 of Group 1, Poldo Academy from the Elven Nation.”

Leaning back in his chair, Cynrik took note of the individuals from what was indicated as the Tier-3 Team before speaking.

“I assume all team members are competing again this year.” He said with a bored expression.

“Yes, unlike us, who will have an entirely new team this year, most of the top-placing Academies haven’t changed their roster much—reaching Tier-3 isn’t as easy as you six have made it.”

“Moving along, Charleston and Scottsdale are Academies from the human Nation of Erosia and reached the Top 32 in last year’s Competition. I will send you the footage from all the top team’s previous events so that you can grasp who your potential opponents are.” With that said, the two virtual displays behind Headmaster Rivia disappeared, and the room fell silent as everyone thought about the next couple of months.

Eventually, after several minutes, Cynrik heaved a sigh before standing up.

“We have wasted enough time here, Headmaster; with only a little over 48 hours left until the first round, I need to get everyone into tip-top shape. We will be heading to the training arena to test the changes to our Affinities and get a handle on these so-called Runic Diagrams.” Waving his hand, Cynrik picked up several textbooks that had been resting on the desk since the initial conversation about the Diagrams started.

“What? Are you leaving already? Don’t you have more questions you need to be answered?” Scrunching his face in confusion, Headmaster Rivia flared his nostrils as he spoke.

“Hehe, I always have more questions, but that isn’t the point, and now isn’t the time for them. I need to ensure my team is ready to go; relearning skills is only scratching the surface. Don’t forget that all six of us need to consolidate our advancement, as well as we need to pick our new classes. There are too many things to do and not nearly enough time.”

“Reach one goal, create five more, heh, you know how it is. OH, send us that slacker fourth-year from last year’s team. I need to get his ass ready to go as well.” Turning his back on the Headmaster and waving, Cynrik motioned for the other members of MyrkLys to join him.

Unbeknownst to everyone, with the wave of his hand, an inky blob flicked off his finger tip and headed in Geralt’s direction before hiding in plain sight.

Cynrik’s dismissive attitude and lack of urgency in his voice didn’t sit well with Geralt, but what could he do? The boy had always been the wild and overly arrogant type, to begin with.

Left alone in his office, all he could do was look to the sky, say a few curses meant for Cynrik, and call in the staff members who chaperoned MyrkLys’ Passing Down Ceremony.

But before he did that, Headmaster Rivia quickly notified the seventh member of the Tier-3 Competition team and informed him to head over to the Training Arena along with Instructor Garrison.

Massaging his temples and slumping in his chair, Headmaster Rivia had a bad feeling that this Group of First Year students was biting off more than they could chew, but then he remembered the reading he received from his scans of Cynrik and Brance.

“Hah, those two little monsters are going to cause an upheaval this year; I only hope they don’t put too much work on my table; I already have it hard enough as is dealing with the Board Members thanks to the budget and cost of raising those six.”

—

The members of MyrkLys silently made their way down the building and out into the campus of VSFA, and half an hour later, they were back in the massive arena where they had their fights against the instructors not long ago.

Moving to the center of the stone and dirt-filled battlefield, Cynrik suddenly spun around and addressed the group.

“Listen up; for the next two days; we aren’t leaving this arena, so get rid of any thoughts of sleeping until we get on the bus to head to the venue for Round 1.”

Clapping his hands and bringing out all the training equipment that should have been stored back in the dorm, Cynrik set about giving everyone their training tasks, the first of which was to read through the Runic Diagram Text Book.

Of course, the first person to make a run for it upon seeing the textbooks was Gabby and Milo, but with his new AGI stat, Cynrik quickly captured the cat and rabbit before scolding them and forcing a study session.

While Benny and Melody studied together on the bleachers, Brance chuckled before sitting beside Gabby and helping her.

Unlike the other three members of MyrkLys, due to the presence of the Mind link, and their connection as Over-Break Hosts, Cynrik could transmit all he read in the textbook to Selene and Brance while Brance shared his experiences and the sermon given by Tobs.

Two hours later, Selene broke the training montage with some devastating information, or at least it was in Cynrik’s mind.

Cynrik, we need to talk about something I found out…When you were bouncing around fixing the Aether Capsules, I wanted to tell you, but Headmaster Rivia told me Melody’s Mom, Professor Claire, wasn’t forced to sign a Contract like all the other Chaperones. To say Selene was scared of her boyfriend’s reaction would be an understatement.

Between his high-strung lifestyle and paranoia, she knew this information would completely derail him, but at the same time, it was better to hear it from her mouth instead of finding out later on his own.

Upon hearing her statement, Cynrik froze in place, and an ominous cloud of energy swirled violently around his body for half a second before disappearing, something that caught every member of MyrkLys’ attention.

Sel, explain everything he said, word for word. Was the response gotten after the energy disappeared. Knowing any delay would only make the situation worse, Selene quickly detailed every facial expression and tone Geralt used when speaking about the topic.

Good, **ing excellent, GOD DAMN IT! Trying his best to keep his rage and paranoia in check, Cynrik cursed in the mind link making Selene and Brance flinch.

Brance even got to his feet and was ready to act, just in case Cynrik went after Melody, who at that moment was looking over at the leader of MyrkLys with worried eyes, thinking something was wrong with him.

Calm down, Cyn, we don’t know all the info yet, you can’t just…

BAMMMM!!!

Before Brance could finish calming down, a thunderous bang echoed through the training arena.

“HEY, YOU LOT, LISTEN UP; AS YOUR SENIOR AND THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO HAS TAKEN PART IN NOT ONE BUT TWO COMPETITIONS, I WILL BE TAKING OVER LEADERS…” Just as Cynrik was about to lose his temper, the door to the arena was kicked open, and an overbearing young man in his late twenties with blue hair entered before screaming out his demands.

However, before he could finish the word leadership, Cynrik flashed over too fast to see, caught him by the face, lifted him into the air, and slammed him on the ground creating a one-meter-deep impact crater.

Eyes wide with fear and hatred, the young man struggled against Cynrik, leading to more pain for him.

“You see, you picked a bad time to start this arrogant young master **; luckily for you, I need a sparring partner,” Standing up and bringing the young man’s face close to his, Cynrik snarled with a sinister tone that sent shivers down the young man’s spine.

Swirls of visible and tangible Mana erupted from Cynrik’s body as a shadowy figure appeared behind his back, colored in all shades of his Affinity.

The Headless and limbless shadowy figure shifted from a misty form into a translucent and solid mana-construct skeleton ribcage before merging around Cynrik’s Body.

IS THAT FIRST FORM SUSANOO? Brance screamed, momentarily stunned out of his mind, and observed the figure slowly merging around Cynrik’s body, painting him in all the colors of his Affinity.

BRANCIE, SNAP OUT OF IT! We gotta stop him! Kicking off the ground and racing toward her boyfriend, Selene howled to draw Brance back to reality.

“Gabby, Milo, you guys go by the bleachers; stay out of this; I don’t want you, Benny, or Melody getting caught in the crossfire. Big Brother is in a pretty bad mood. I…don’t think he is gunna kill that guy, at least I hope he won’t.” Shooting a glance at Gabby, who was already on her feet and getting ready to help out, Brance shook his head and gave her an order before rushing off to join Selene.

“Who *BAM*gave *BAM* you, *BAM*, the RIGHT to waltz in here *BAM* and demand to take over my team?” After finishing the last slam, Cynrik threw the young man in the air, spun around, and kicked him square in the chest. This rocketed him several hundred meters before colliding with Brance, who had jumped into action and caught the young man’s broken body.

“What in the hell is going on here?” Just as Cynrik was about to grumble about his brother interfering, an angry Instructor Garrison entered the training arena and was surprised to see the broken and hanging-on-by-a-thread young man he had seen entering the arena minutes before.

His eyes then fell on the ghastly four-colored Mana Construct rib cage surrounding Cynrik’s body, and he raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Welcome to the party, Instructor Garrison; I was only disciplining this little chicken ** that showed up right before you. Would you believe he had the gall to demand leadership of my team? The balls on this guy.” Cynrik snorted as he dismissed the Mana Construct surrounding his body.

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