Chapter 54: Standings!!!
After an intense day of competition was over, the ranking system for each level was created based on the difficulty of the opponent and the result of the matches.
In the level 1 elemental competition, Lancelot Jr was ranked 6th, due to his ruthless subduing of the man of steel.
He was given two days of rest due to his injuries and the principal ensured that all level 1 were on temporary rest because of Lancelot Jr.
The crowd had no way of venting their frustration, Lancelot Jr had made them lose a fortune, and they sought an opponent who could get revenge for them.
Lancelot Jr slowly sat on his bed reading a book on the history of the fire nation.
Principal Gladys walked in to see him in a trance-like state as he perused the book with full-blown concentration.
"How do you feel?" The Principal asked.
Lancelot Jr looked up to meet the caring gaze of the Principal as she spoke;
"Are you able to compete tomorrow? ...The standings of who you'll face would be announced when the time comes!"
Lancelot Jr listened carefully to the principal, he neither uttered a word nor refute her words.
He just sat silently and listened.
He then decided to respond after a while;
"l will be ready tomorrow", There was a burning desire in his heart as he spoke.
"l know the crowd is against you, but if you can manage to pull off a win this time, it would improve your rankings among the elemental competition." Principal Gladys encouraged.
The principal smiled then continued speaking;
"Your first performance was very captivating, even a mysterious man from the Earth nation had requested to see you, but I refused. Even the Emperor gave his full backing to this mysterious man, yet I told him that you won't be able to meet him till the competition is finally over, and I wouldn't permit any form of such meeting."
Lancelot Jr was initially listening with a lazy expression as the principal spoke, but as soon as she mentioned the word 'Emperor', the spirit speaker immediately spoke;
"You must avoid the meeting with the Emperor and anyone around him for now, he is the one who killed your father unfairly, he lured him into a trap and killed him with the aid of his sister",
Lancelot Jr's eyes lit up, 'He killed my father' He thought in his mind.
He then gave a bow to the Principal,
"Thank you for all you have done for me
Principal Gladys, I will do my best to make you proud".
The Principal smiled as she turned to leave. After she left, Clara entered with a bowl of fruits
"Hey buddy, you need to eat up", she said cheerfully.
Lancelot Jr smiled as he saw Clara, he was extremely delighted.
Mr. Thomas also followed her from behind, as they both smiled at Lancelot Jr,
"How do you feel now buddy?", Mr. Thomas asked with a smile.
"l feel good" Lancelot Jr replied, "l am ready for tomorrow's match"
"The match is already tomorrow?" Clara gasped , she felt it was too early, her heartbeat sped up at an alarming rate,
"l will go and meet with Principal Gladys and give her a piece of my mind, they cannot burden you with so much responsibility, you have barely recovered yet she wants to use your usurping of the last fighter to raise fame for herself, she should get another scapegoat"
Clara was extremely vexed, Mr. Thomas had to place a comforting hand on her hands to calm her down while Lancelot Jr, smiled before he spoke;
"I'll be fine, mom, I just need to finish these fruits," he said with a smile.
Clara also shared in the humor as she laughed.
The fame of Lancelot Jr started to spread throughout the whole school, even General Suzie Wang who wasn't in school had heard of him.
A first-year scholarship level 1 fire elemental who beat a 3rd-year level 3 metal elemental to a point where he needed serious medical attention was no laughing matter.
The news itself made her delighted but she didn't feel interested in these small matters, to her, a piece of worthy news would be that of a
higher ranking student like a level four, or a possible presence of a level 5 elemental which was being anticipated by many.
Her disinterest was only her own, it didn't stop the fame of Gabriel Li.
Whispers and gossip rang from every corner, from the school to beyond the school, everyone talked of the experiences they witnessed.
A day passed and it was time for Lancelot Jr's second match. The venue was packed full. Everyone was present, even people who weren't initially interested in the competition came to witness it.
They had lost too much of a good show the last time to not appear. Even some TV stations were on ground to capture the event live, apparently, all other competitions in other schools paled in comparison to the outstanding and mouthwatering showdown of this one.
Ticket prices for Lancelot Jr's match were increased because of the huge population that decided to watch.
They needed a way to control the ever-increasing crowd that kept rising every minute.
Even with the increase in ticket prices, it didn't stop the crowd that was interested in buying the ticket, it even made more to come.
For years, no academy has produced a talent as outstanding as Lancelot Jr, to see a student go toe to toe with the 3rd year and level 3 elemental and not only hold his own but put
him down in a humiliating manner, only made the matter juicier.
"l placed a bet the last time against that kid, I used all my savings and lost a lot of money, pfft , I want to see the kid suffer." A man who has just bought a ticket was complaining to another.
"Why don't you go and bet against him?" The person he was talking to wearing a yellow shirt and black trousers, responded.
"Are you crazy, I was nearly broke, I even had to borrow to pay back some of my debt which I incurred from betting against him if I do that now and he wins I would really be in trouble." The other man spoke again.
The man in a yellow shirt chuckled and spoke, "I have colluded with a teacher from within. She also hates him to the core, her name is Mrs. Jackson, the librarian, she is prepared to help us win big this time, and she has promised to mess with the selection board" The man spoke with complete confidence.
"Are you certain?" The other man asked in disbelief.
The man in the yellow shirt nodded to affirm his words.
'In that case, I have some money I borrowed, I should be able to gain a fortune from his loss and pay it all back" the other man finally said, trying more to convince himself than the man standing before him.
At this point, they both entered the Arena to get seats for the match, while they await the betting boxes that were being passed around the elated crowd.
The betting boxes made betting for the match easy for all people who were interested in placing a bet.
Instead of the struggle to stay on a line and stand in front of a betting shop to place bets, a box would be passed around. Betting was made easy.
All one would need to do was to select the person you are supporting to win and the amount you wish to bet.
After doing that, one could sit and wait for the match to end, so based on the number of odds and the result of the match, it would reflect the pay the person would get from it.
But if the person placing the bet was unlucky and the person he bet on lost, he would lose all.