Next morning, as the participants made their way to the arena stage, the audience cheered wildly. But since it was the final round, the tension in the air kept building with each passing second.
Once they were on the stage, George, the Vice Principal, greeted them. He started by congratulating the finalists and then explained the rules for the final round.
"After discussing all day yesterday, we've decided to keep the final round the same as last year. It will be a one-on-one battle among all the participants."
The participants looked at each other, realizing that the Royal Academy usually selected 200 students, but this time there were 401 participants. This meant that 201 participants would be disqualified in this round. But how would they fight a one-on-one battle with 401 participants?
George smiled and, noticing their concerns, he calmly reassured them.
"I know what you're all thinking, but don't worry. To even out the number of participants, we've decided that one lucky participant will be exempt from the final round and directly enter the Royal Academy."
All the participants and even the crowd went wild hearing his words. It was the first time in history that the strict Royal Academy was choosing someone based on luck!
The weak participants, who had less chance of winning in one-on-one battles, started praying to become the lucky ones. However, amidst the crowd, there was a certain someone who had a hunch that he would be the lucky one, considering he passed the last two rounds with cheating.
Kyle looked at his brother, who was also praying for him to become the lucky one. Then he looked at the Vice Principal with a complicated expression. Entering the prestigious Royal Academy was good, and he would gain a lot of resources through them, but now he was having second thoughts. Was the skill he learned this important that they were willing to let a weakling like him enter the Academy?
He knew that in this dangerous and vast world, he was just a side character with meager power and normal looks. That's why he just wanted to have a normal life. He was not cut out to become a hero, nor did he want to become one. It's not that he didn't have ambitions like others, he also wanted to become someone powerful in the future. But considering his talent was only (B)-rank, he knew not to dream of the impossible and accept reality.
Suddenly, George's booming voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"All the participants will get number plates based on their tokens. Then, I'll choose someone from the crowd to randomly select the lucky participant! The rest of the participants will fight one-on-one battles according to their number plates. The participants having number plate 1 will battle the participants with number plate 400, number 2 will battle number 399, and so on."
After George explained the rules, all the participants were given number plates based on their tokens. Then, George pulled out a big box and placed it in front of everyone. He randomly chose someone from the audience.
All the participants looked at the randomly picked person with anticipation. She was an elderly woman in her late fifties.
The woman was happy to be chosen. She approached the Vice Principal and peered into the big box in front of her. With a nod from George, she reached inside and selected a number plate at random, handing it over to the Vice Principal.
George looked at the number plate and announced the result with a loud voice.
"Token Number 1055, plate number 303, please step forward."
Kyle let out a big sigh and stepped forward. He wasn't surprised at all because he already expected this to happen.
The audience erupted in cheers as Kyle made his way toward George. However, their excitement quickly turned into silence when they realized it was him. They had witnessed Kyle's unusual circumstances in the first round and saw how effortlessly he breezed through the second round. And now, he had secured the lucky spot! How could someone be this fortunate?
The other participants looked at Kyle with suspicion. The same thought crossed their minds, Is he cheating? But knowing that the Royal Academy never tolerates deceit and always conducts fair entrance tests, no one voiced their suspicions.
Neon, unable to contain his excitement, leaped to his feet and cheered at the top of his lungs. He still couldn't believe that his lazy brother Kyle had made it into one of the kingdom's most prestigious academies! Neon wanted to rush to the stage and shout to the world about his brother's stroke of luck, but he restrained himself, mindful that they were still in the midst of the final round.
On the other hand, the Vice Principal had a dazed expression on his face as he saw Kyle stepping forward among all the participants.
'How the heck did this lad get selected?'
He didn't know what to do anymore. He had already talked to the Principal last night using a communication crystal, and the Principal had explicitly told him not to help Kyle. Even though the Ice Dragon's skill was important to the Principal, he didn't want to have a useless student in his academy.
'Even though he lacks potential, with this much luck, even I'm envious of him!'
George sighed inwardly and shook his head. He then asked Kyle to sit with the teachers instead of going back to the audience seats. He just hoped that Kyle could learn something from the upcoming battles.
Finally, the final round began, with twenty different participants fighting simultaneously.
Alec, Carcel, Mia, and Lara were not matched up against each other. It seemed the academy made sure not to match up the talented individuals. They didn't want to miss out on any talent.