Chapter 149: Rise of a New Dark Horse
However, before Andrew's body could even collapse to the ground, Ian caught him and unhesitatingly made him drink two full restoration potions which totaled a whopping 400 silver coins.
The inexperienced people in the crowd were initially horrified after seeing the bone-chilling throat slash but after realizing that Ian, the one who slashed Andrew's throat open, immediately acted to save his opponent, the audience couldn't help but clap and cheer enthusiastically.
Such kind-hearted gestures were rare in the competition, gaining Ian a sizable amount of fans after such a heartwarming but classy act.
Due to the timely assistance, Andrew narrowly escaped the clutches of the grim reaper making his girlfriend who was watching from the crowd breathe a sigh of relief.
Still, the poor girl was shaking after witnessing such a traumatizing scene.
Fortunately, Ian wasn't such an evil individual, prompting the girl to thank the gods and goddesses for allowing her beloved to remain by her side.
Naturally, the girl was extremely grateful to Ian as well for deciding to spare Andrew.
As for the other representatives of Orion Academy, their hearts and fighting spirits were deeply shaken, making them almost decide to quit.
They were grateful that Ian decided to spare Andrew but at the same time, they were frustrated.
Coming into the Adventurer Academy competition bearing high expectations from the faculty and their fellow students, the remaining representatives found it hard to simply quit.
After all, if they lost, then they would only achieve a top 128 finish which was unacceptable for them.
Still, they understand in their hearts that if even Andrew was defeated quite easily, then they never stood a chance in the first place.
However, they were so used to mocking Colzen Academy that they couldn't bring themselves to surrender.
Thus, after going through a dilemma, the representatives decided to continue fighting until the end.
Jonathan and Grace, the assigned representatives to fight in the two-on-two battles, hopped onto the stage with unexplainable facial expressions, visibly going through some internal struggles.
As for Kiin and Siegfried, they were as happy as a clam when they stepped on the stage.
The two of them really liked the fact that Ian didn't deliberately kill the guy since they would be graduating soon and such kills during the Adventurer Academy competition might be detrimental to their future careers as adventurers.
In other words, they were happy that Colzen's reputation would probably increase due to Ian's actions, and they, as his teammates, would probably benefit as well both in the short term and long term.
Kiin and Siegfried looked at their opponents then looked and nodded at each other before drawing their weapons.
Judging from the look in the eyes of their opponents, they would probably win easily.
"Begin!"
Sure enough, just a few seconds into the battle, Jonathan and Grace were already in trouble.
Due to her unstable state of mind, Grace was failing spectacularly in holding off Siegfried who was graceful yet relentless with his attacks, making Grace stagger with each swing of his sword.
Unfocused, Grace used her skills [Stoic Lv.3] and [Iron Fortress Lv.2] badly, wasting two precious skills that could be used to protect the mage, Jonathan.
Meanwhile, although doing better than Grace, Jonathan was also having trouble dodging Kiin's arrows while trying to burst down Siegfried who was relentlessly attacking.
Methodically whittled down by Siegfried's and Kiin's attacks, the two heartbroken Orion representatives lost in two minutes, making the already dejected Orion crowd even more depressed after getting steamrolled by their rivals, Colzen Academy, who once again won with a resounding 3-0.
"H-Hey…Isn't Colzen bad news right now?"
"They're just too strong! A true dark horse!"
"S-Shit…Maybe they could even get into the championship stage?"
"Don't be ridiculous! They would have to defeat either Springvale or Amarantha to advance to the championship stage, just impossible in my opinion!"
Naturally, their easy peasy 3-0 win against an academy that had given them trouble in the past started a huge commotion in the crowd, finally making their name reverberate in the entire competition as a potential academy that would make it into the championship stages.
Although Orion Academy was fairly mediocre, they were considered as a gatekeeper academy which separates the elites from the mediocre ones.
Since Colzen defeated them fairly easily, there was no way for other people to dismiss Colzen as a shitty academy anymore, officially entering the ranks of the elites in this year's adventurer academy competition.
Suddenly, some people who saw Colzen's grand convoy remembered that Colzen dared to send two deans this year, making them shudder at the thought of Colzen actually making it into the top 8.
Still, two more notable opponents stood in Colzen's way so people didn't dare hype up Colzen too much for fear of embarrassment.
As for the Colzen representatives, they were happy about everything, be it the win or the commotion since all of those would benefit them.
Instantly after arriving at their academy station, Shye and the others were greeted by warm smiles, words of praise, a few high fives, and even some hugs from emotional instructors.
As for Instructor Fienna, She simply gave them a smile and a nod of acknowledgment after a job well done. She wasn't one to show her emotions easily and the representatives knew that so her smile and nod were just as good as a hug and a high-five in Shye's eyes.
*GROWL*
A sudden low-growl reverberated inside the academy station prompting everyone to look in the direction of the sound.
"Ahh…"
Wendy was inwardly embarrassed, however, it was not evident in her ice-cold expression.
Fortunately for her, everyone simply thought that it was cute. One of the few benefits of being a good-looking person.
Realizing that it was almost lunchtime, Dean Privett stood up, cleared her throat, and gave each representative a…coupon.
A bit embarrassed that they had to procure their own lunch due to a horrible loss last year, Dean Privett gave the students coupons that they could use to purchase something in the arena's canteen.
Naturally, the representatives understood their current status as a lousy academy that wasn't expected to get past the second round of matches, thus, no food was delivered to their academy station.
The representatives except for Wendy clenched their fists, inwardly vowing to change the fate of their academy with their own hands as the seven of them walked towards the canteen to grab some well-needed lunch.