Crushing flags and claiming the Villainess

The next morning, all eight members of the Elite team were told to gather in the canopy tent provided to them by the management. Not only them but all the eight teams were provided separate tents to do the preparation and discussions.

The eight from the Rookie department were gathered for a meeting in a different section of the same tent, while Annabelle took charge of discussing things with the Elite team.

There were two benches on either side of the table and a long whiteboard on which Anna wrote ’POINTS.’

"Let’s talk about the sudden change brought by the council before we get onto the points distribution they have chosen." The points distribution per match has also changed, naturally, since the pattern of the tournament has changed as well.

Austin was sitting beside Valerie while wearing his training gear, as he and the others heard the President and the Captain of the Elite department speaking, Explore more adventures at NovelBin.Côm

"We all knew that the most points a school could have earned were from the squad matches which happened in the beginning. However, things have changed. Because they are testing each student, they would be providing points based on how many students from each academy pass the first round."

Saying so, she wrote on the board: Per student a hundred points.

"..!!"

"Huh?"

"Woah…"

That took everyone by surprise since the squad matches only offered two hundred points, and here, if every student passes their matches, a single academy would gain eight hundred points—a huge initial head start.

"Isn’t that a lot? Victory in every match would put any team in a dominant position." Sheldon asked in a grim voice.

"That’s right. However, it’s highly unlikely that any academy would get to have all their warriors in the second round, so rather than focusing on winning all matches, our focus should be on winning as many matches as we can. Not only because of the points but also because…having less than four qualified students would disqualify us from the tournament." Anna delivered very concern-worthy news.

However, it was expected. If four members couldn’t pass the first round, then it has been the rule of the Tournament to not let losers continue in the tournament.

"So, like, if four of us don’t pass the first stage, we would be asked to pack our bags and bye-bye, huh?" Rudolph sighed.

"We can be dragged down because of others’ failure in this…totally unfair." Elara exasperatedly muttered as she glanced at Austin—only to feel a chill running down her spine when her eyes went toward the pair of dead eyes staring at her soul.

"Guys, don’t be so pessimistic. We all have proven our worth to be here and have prepared for this so surely we won’t lose just like that." Rhea suddenly got up and tried to calm down the situation. In her opinion, these people are the best warriors she has come across. That’s why it was a little confusing for her why they were being so negative and concerned.

"If you don’t know among our competitors is Ravencourt and Auroracrest academies. They have been battling at the top for the winner’s position for the past couple of years. Every year, our academy either doesn’t reach the final round or if they do, we always have lost in one-on-one battles." Ryan spoke to the over-enthusiast girl.

"But we have Valerie this year!" Rhea spoke in retaliation while gesturing toward the violette beside her.

Valerie heaved a sigh as she suddenly got up and Rhea instantly sat down. Every mouth that opened to say something, instantly shut down as Valerie stood beside Annabelle.

With her hands behind her back, she uttered, "Until we don’t cross the first round, we don’t need any discussion since, during the first round, it would all depend on our individual abilities. So rather than depending on others or fearing about other’s performance, go and train for your matches. After all, on the battlefield, we all would be standing all alone."

Those words left no room for any question or discussion. After all, what Valerie said was true.

Once she was done, she returned to where she had been sitting previously.

Austin held her hand and gave a soft nod to the girl.

Anna nodded as she said, "As Valerie pointed out, there’s little point in arguing over things we can’t control. Since we don’t know who we’ll be facing, discussing the strengths and weaknesses of our potential opponents is irrelevant."

A few nodded while a few just remained silent.

Since there was nothing else to discuss, the students were told to return to their rooms.

Austin and Valerie were making their way out of the tent when suddenly, Rudolph called out, "Wanna spar?"

Austin raised his brows, "You sure? Won’t you get bored?" In the past, they stopped sparring because Rudolph continued to grow, while Austin remained stuck at the same level, and eventually, Rudolph lost interest in sparring against him.

Rudolph said, "You have and will again defeat an enemy higher in rank than you…I don’t think I can take you lightly anymore."

Valerie smiled upon hearing that and she also encouraged, "Don’t under-evaluate yourself, Austin. I know you would be considerably challenging even for an A-rank."

Austin smiled upon hearing her words, as he shrugged and said, "Well, I was going to train anyways. Let’s do it like old times."

The four of them, adding Rhea to the group, reached the training hall provided to the students.

Naturally, providing everyone a separate training hall was impossible.

Only a huge hall was provided, but it was spacious enough for everyone to take their corners and train as they usually do.

"Hmm…" Austin hummed in surprise seeing and hearing those loud noises of the collision between the students.

There were a few who were standing out a lot. And there were a few who were even using their shard, even though that was a risky move in Austin’s eyes.

Seeing those blurry figures and the massive dents in the training hall forming because of the pressure behind those attacks, Austin muttered under his breath,

’The competition is going to be one hell of tough.’

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A/N:- I hope you all enjoyed reading the chapter. Thanks for reading, drop a comment.