After the five-minute break was over, Seth stepped onto a platform. He saw a thin boy. The boy looked a little on the weaker side, so Seth assumed he was a magician. However, when Seth inspected the boy he was met with an unparalleled surprise.
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Seth jumped back and warily stared at the boy. The system was bugging, this was the first time Seth had seen anything that hadn't gone the system's way. The boy looked at Seth quizzically and the man shouted for the matches to begin. Seth rushed at his opponent with his full speed, he couldn't estimate him at all. The boy was hit by Seth, only to fly to the edge of the platform, his shirt getting caught on the corner. The boy got to his feet after unhooking his shirt and looked at Seth, Seth shuddered. This boy had taken a blow that even the Higher Mortals around the campus couldn't have taken. He also seemed to have the luck of a saint.
Seth's mouth slowly stretched into a wide grin as he sprinted toward his adversary. The boy looked up at Seth only to be knocked off of his feet and sent flying off of the platform. Just as Seth thought the fight was over, the boy seemed to hit something in the air and was bounced back toward him. Seth watched the boy fly back at him and hit the ground beside him. Seeing that the boy had missed him, Seth punched at the boy, only for his punch to deal a glancing blow because the boy tripped over a stray pebble when getting back up. Seth knew he would only be able to win if he could use up all of the boy's luck or somehow make it better for the boy to lose the match than to win it.
Seth kicked at the boy's head, dealing another glancing blow because a strong breeze knocked him off balance. Seth regained his balance and punched down at the boy's head. It was a direct hit, the boy's nose was broken and a tooth had fallen out. His luck had run dry, he was dragged off the platform to the infirmary. Seth looked around at the other platforms, all but a few of their battles had ended. He was one of the last people to finish their 1v1.
Once all the matches were finished, there was no break time before the next one. Seth was matched up against a greasy-looking fat boy, seeing his stats, Seth was surprised. The fat boy had a Vitality even higher than Seth's! The rest of his stats, however, were quite average. It was only due to his insane Vitality stat that he was able to last this long. Seth finished the match in just a few seconds, slapping the boy off of the platform as soon as the match began. Seth was now in the top 64, he only had six matches left to win first place.
Looking at his competition, Seth could tell he would win. He could see two other babies that had 1000 Luck, they most likely had systems as well. But everyone had stats with an average of a fifth of Seth's, he would win no matter what. Seth could even see that some of the teachers had lower stats than he did. There was no doubt in his mind that he was the absolute prodigy of the time. Everyone that had the ability was at the Royal Academy, there would be nobody else that had his Growth Speed.
Seth was now confident in his fighting abilities and his ability to grow faster than anybody else in the world. He breezed through the next three matches before coming face to face with another system user. Seth had already inspected the user, they were nothing special. He just watched the system user for a few seconds before kicking him off the stage. Seth was able to use more force than with the other matches because of his opponent's strength being a little higher, but he still had to hold back a lot.
Seth had finally made it to the semi-finals, just two matches away from first place. Seth's competition were all Higher Mortals, the same level as some of the teachers. He was still way ahead of them though, and he was still growing by the minute. Seth's Growth had reached a little over a base stat a minute on all of his stats! He was gaining 1700 stats a day! Seth's Growth would only get faster as he sacrifices his stats and uses treasures.
Seth looked back at his opponents, his eyes suddenly filled with disdain. They were nothing compared to him, he was a genius in the truest sense.
Seth easily won both of his next matches, winning first place without even blinking. He was congratulated and given a voucher for a uniform and a weapon from the armory. The top 3 were given diamond badges to put on their uniform. The top 32 were given gold, the top 216 were given silver, and the rest were given bronze. Seth assumed that the badges signified the class you were put in. Seth was surprised to see a face he recalled being given a diamond badge and a uniform voucher, it was the boy that had done something to the system.
The people that had lost the 1v1s were put into a losers bracket, the weird lucky boy had won that and got third place. Seth went over to talk to him, seeing that the boy was going to be in his class and that he was the strongest kid Seth had met.
"Hey, I'm Seth. What's your name?"
"I'm Spencer, Spencer Moore." Spencer looked as if he wasn't talking to a human, but a wall.
"How old are you?" Seth decided to press on, Spencer might become a good ally against his enemies, Seth could take a little rudeness for a strong ally.
"I-" A strong breeze blew Spencer's uniform voucher away as he reached out his hand. Seth ran after the flying voucher and used magic to stop the wind. Seth handed the voucher back to Spencer, who finally smiled in response and took it from his hand. Seeing how he had finally broken the ice, Seth continued to talk to Spencer, he saw a lot more results afterward. Spencer had a lot in common with 13-year-old Seth, before he was captured by the government.
Spencer was just trying to live a relatively normal life, but his luck wouldn't let him. Spencer was like randomness personified though, sometimes he felt like something was forcing him to do things. Spencer said that he even felt like he was being forced to be amiable to Seth and that it was like his luck was controlling him. Spencer didn't really hate it all that much though, he felt it was nice to be in the back of the carriage rather than having to drive it all the time.
Seth could see why Spencer felt that way, sometimes he just wanted to take a break too. But Seth also knew, if you were in the back seat, someone else was driving. The question was: Who was driving? At the question, Spencer realized that he wasn't being himself. He was being repeatedly influenced and controlled by someone. He was acting as a tool, as a puppet, he might even be influenced right now.
Needless to say, they both hit it off instantly. Spencer decided to follow Seth until they found a way to fix his luck problem. Seth knew that Spencer's luck was completely outside the system's jurisdiction, it was probably a much higher level than it too. Seth felt that Spencer would even be able to show him a path to go after he beat the strongest thing that has power over him. He would be able to become the one thing in the universe.
While Seth was having his delusions of grandeur, Spencer was thinking about what Seth had said. If he was really being controlled by someone or something, he was a little miffed, but he didn't really care all that much. Spencer didn't hold a trauma like Seth, he hadn't gone through a horrible experience. Spencer just felt sorry for Seth, he had heard of people going crazy from mental disorders, he felt that Seth was developing one.
Spencer wasn't being completely truthful with Seth, he was also a reincarnator. Spencer was a reincarnator but he didn't have stats or Growth or anything like that, he just had his luck. Spencer had come from Earth, just like Seth, but he had lived a normal life. Spencer had a completely different viewpoint from Seth. Seth was out for revenge, Spencer was given a second chance in a game he had already beat, there was nothing to compare.
Seth was brought back to reality when the students were shuffled back inside the castle walls. He and Spencer walked back together, a lot of eyes on them as they were first and third place in the tournament. They had shown themselves to be stronger than the rest of the students, they would go places. The students were given dorm rooms, Seth and Spencer shared a room, they both had a feeling his luck was involved. The two unpacked and set up their room, before going back to the main hall for their first dinner at the Royal Academy.
The rest of the night was uneventful, Seth completely forgot that Augie existed and spent the night talking to Spencer about his luck. Seth wanted to know more about how Spencer's luck worked and how it could help him. From what Spencer said, Seth could tell that his luck was almost completely random. It was like rolling a die and deciding what to do based on the number shown. His luck had almost no in-between, it was either all in or all out.
After interviewing Spencer for almost two hours, Seth began to practice controlling his magic. Spencer watched Seth practice magic and felt an urge to try it as well. He saw Seth controlling the different colors of elementals and tried to do the same. After trying for ten minutes, he was able to move the elements around and create small things with them. When Seth noticed Spencer controlling elements like him, he went over to help. Seth felt that he should help his ally and he thought that with Spencer's luck there was a chance that he could gain something.
Seth's thinking was correct, but his luck was not good. When Seth helped Spencer control the elementals, a large number of light elementals entered the room due to his magic power. The elementals were being controlled by someone and seeing that Seth was controlling a dangerous number of elementals, they let out a strong burst of light. Everything in the room was destroyed and everyone in a 50-foot radius was woken up.
A few guards ran over to Seth's room to see what the commotion was, only to see two kids lying on the ground in pain. When they asked Seth and Spencer what happened, the boys said that Seth had been attacked when he was practicing controlling elementals and lost control. The guards believed the boys with suspicion but they could see the first place of the tournament getting attacked.
There was no reason not to believe Seth, but they still had their doubts about the situation. Perhaps Seth and Spencer just weren't believable enough, but they just felt that something was off about this. The boys could see the doubt on the guards' faces, but they didn't know what to say. Seth and Spencer were given a warning and a new room. After the guards left, the boys resumed their magic practice but with much fewer elementals.