As he approached the place where his companions had gathered, Enrico noticed that Victoria was standing apart from the others, wearing a bored expression.
'And to think all this boredom will disappear when she experiences fear for the first time.'
[I don't like her. To me, she's nothing but a coward.]
'She's not entirely a coward. She was simply afraid and couldn't move forward. That's pretty human.'
[In short, a coward.]
As he approached Elaris, Enrico noticed that the fight being broadcast to determine the final participants in the qualifying rounds was coming to an end. Only five spots remained to be filled.
"Did anyone interesting show up among them?"
"No. They're all below the expected level. From what it seems, the only ones capable of giving us a good fight are the students ranked first in their respective academies or the representatives of the best academies in each territory."
The five best academies were Astrong, from Sanos; Shengtian, from Tianlong; Della Corona Academy, from Vesparello; Aurora Viva Academy, from Floravita; and Ryuuen Academy, which had surpassed Tsuyokuni's former best academy to claim first place.
'Just like in the original story, everything is happening as it should so far. Even so, I need to focus completely on finding out whether there's another reincarnated person, like Giulia, but at a different academy.'
[That'll be difficult, since they can choose exactly when to show up. Maybe not all of them are crazy like Giulia.]
'Found one.'
[How? Where?]
Following Enrico's gaze, the System identified a boy who was breathing heavily as he fought. At first, she didn't understand what Enrico meant, but after examining the student's ranking and academy, she finally understood.
[Isn't that the second-best academy in Sanos? Besides, I don't remember this boy being among the five students chosen from Sentinel Academy in the original story.]
'Yes. He doesn't appear in the story, and I don't believe I've caused any changes that could have affected his academy.'
Another thing that made him certain the boy was a reincarnated person was his fighting style. He was using something resembling boxing, a form of combat that didn't exist in that world.
'Giulia has probably noticed it too. Let's observe him from a distance and see what happens.'
[It's quite possible they'll try to fight to the death.]
'I hope not. The boy seems to know practically nothing about this world, so he's a complete newcomer.'
The student seemed quite innocent and was doing his best to face his opponent. Precisely because of that, he was perfect prey for the other four reincarnated people.
[I won't lie. Seeing how hard he's trying makes me want to help him.]
'He must have a better System than mine. Actually, the others probably do too.'
[I hope he dies, along with his fellow reincarnated people.]
The boy's magic was also quite basic, just like Enrico's and Giulia's. The difference was that his affinity was with Earth. Perhaps that was the only thing the three of them had in common: they had all received only basic affinities.
'If they hadn't been reincarnated into bodies with greater potential than mine, I'd feel connected to those two.'
"With that, the first stage has come to an end. I would like all the students to proceed to the center."
Sofia's voice echoed throughout the dome, amplified by magic, announcing the end of the fights.
"Enrico, let's go."
"I'm coming."
Enrico moved alongside Elaris. The two were the first to arrive at the center, where the representatives of each academy began forming lines, arranged from first to fifth place.
"Very well. I'll now explain how the final stage will work. As most of you already know, we'll form groups of six students, who will face one another individually to earn points."
Each participant would have six matches, and the number of points received would depend on the outcome of each confrontation. The sixth round would be a rematch depending on the group's ranking. At the end of the six rounds, the fifteen students with the highest scores would be chosen to participate in the battle between academies.
In the event of a tie for one of the spots, a tiebreaker would be used. The tied students would have to compete in a seventh round, and whoever won would secure their qualification.
The scoring system was relatively simple. A decisive victory would be worth seven points, a clear victory would grant six points, while a narrow victory would earn five points. A draw would guarantee two points for each participant, and a defeat would award no points.
"These are the simplest ways to earn points. However, there are other ways to increase your score, even if only by smaller amounts. Defeating an opponent with a higher ranking than yours can earn you two additional points. A quick finish grants one more point, winning without taking any damage guarantees another, and a victory achieved through intelligence is also worth one extra point. This way, you can earn up to ten points in a single match, which is the limit."
Participants could also lose points due to penalties.
Using forbidden magic would result in the loss of two points. A serious offense, such as attempting to kill an opponent, could cost ten points and even result in disqualification. Cheating would also be punished by deducting two points, while abandoning a match would result in the loss of three.
"We'll remove the protective barrier around you. That's precisely why there's a rule prohibiting you from killing your opponents. This will be a real battle between you. If we kept the barrier, some of you might take actions you normally wouldn't, since there would be no possibility of dying."
The ninety participants would be divided into fifteen groups, identified by the letters A through O, each consisting of six students. That was why exactly ninety qualifiers were needed for the final stage.
"The battlefields are located beneath this dome, where there are combat arenas I created myself. And there's one more thing: even if you don't finish first in your group, you'll still have a chance to make the list of the fifteen best students on the continent. So give it your all until the very end."
With all the rules explained, the students finally understood how the competition would work. For many commoners, who didn't know much about the tournaments held every year, that information was especially important. Until then, most of them had only known that the participants were always the strongest students from their respective academies.
'As far as I know, the king of Sanos is beginning to take measures to allow ordinary commoners to watch these tournaments. Of course, they'll have to pay a certain amount of money.'
[Pretty clever of him.]
"Now we'll decide who faces whom. Look at the magical hologram."
A large hologram appeared in front of the participants, displaying the names of the ninety students. The entries began spinning rapidly, mixing together before gradually separating.
As time passed, the names became clearer and began falling into the luxurious boxes representing each group.
'Let's see who I'll be facing.'