Once again, Alexander silenced his spectators.

  No one there, perhaps with the exception of a she-wolf and a young woman, expected him to reveal such mastery in such an incisive manner while being completely pressured.

  Thousands of people throughout Twin City cried and cursed furiously as much as they could upon losing their bets.

  However, some people, lucky or crazy—including Diana—couldn't be happier with this turnaround.

  Alexander, who should be the happiest with his victory, remained serious and stared at Jason. "Did you let me win?"

  "No," assured Jason.

  "I'm sure your grip was a bit loose during my last attack," pointed out Alexander.

  "Your last blow happened in a very unexpected way and came at the moment I was adjusting my grip on the sword," explained Jason, sighing. "I always take a while to get used to wielding new swords."

  "So it was luck," commented Alexander, extending his hand. "You had the advantage for almost the entire fight."

  "Luck is also part of a person's strength," said Jason as he shook Alexander's hand. "You also improved a lot during our fight."

  As soon as they shook hands, Alexander gave a small smile—as if he noticed something—and the audience began to applaud them.

  "You can let go of my hand now," said Jason somewhat awkwardly after a while.

  "I'm trying, yet my body barely responds" explained Alexander, completely stiff.

  Upon seeing the winner of that tournament suffer such a strong recoil effect from pushing his body to the limit, the audience didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

  The winner was going through difficult times while the runner-up seemed fine.

  Sensing that Alexander was not well, Ocean jumped from the bleachers into the arena with Diana on her back.

  This scared several people, but no one stopped them on Lucas's orders.

  When the academy's specialists entered the arena, Diana was already using magic to try to help the stiff Alexander recover.

  Even though he was physically still, he took advantage of this "free" time to finalize the tournament mission and receive his reward.

  『 Missions 』

  Academy Tournament

  Mission Type: Combat.

  Mission Description: Win the novice tournament. Completion Evaluation: {S}

  Optional Additional Difficulty: Win without offensive spells. Completion Evaluation: {S}

  Rewards: (250k XP points), (4 growth points), (20 free attribute points).

  Ding!

  [You completed the mission: (Academy Tournament)]

  [You received: (250k XP points), (4 growth points), (20 free attribute points)]

  Ding!

  [You leveled up. But due to the interference of your special skill |Attribute Control|, all your attribute increases upon leveling up were denied and converted into free attribute points.]

  [+50 free attribute points]

  [+1 growth point]

  "Winning this tournament without using offensive spells earned me good rewards from this mission," analyzed Alexander in his thoughts. "It's just a shame that this doesn't seem to work, or even matter, in dungeon missions."

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  When Alexander's treatment ended, people were already leaving the arena and Diana was about to cry.

  "You don't need to cry," consoled Alexander. "I won't die so easily."

  "But you worried me a lot," replied Diana, trying not to cry.

  "It's alright. I'm already better," assured Alexander. "We can even go now."

  "You can go back with Ocean, Diana," said Lucas, entering the conversation. "Alexander will be a bit longer. There's someone who wants to talk to him."

  Diana was clearly reluctant about that situation, but Lucas eased it for her: "You don't need to worry. I promise."

  "You can go, Diana," said Alexander, waving to her. "I shouldn't be long."

  "Before I forget this, professor," said Alexander, turning to Lucas. "Doesn't this academy tournament have a considerable prize for the winner?"

  "Even when injured, you don't forget the money," commented Lucas in a disapproving tone.

  "Don't worry, kid. The academy is quite generous with all its promising students," assured Lucas. "Here. The prize for the tournament winner is 5 big black diamond coins."

  After taking the storage item with the tournament prize Lucas threw to him, Alexander gave Diana a large platinum coin, letting her buy whatever she wanted so they could celebrate when he returned.

  "Let's go," said Lucas. "I don't like keeping that person waiting."

  Nodding and responding to Lucas's unusual seriousness, Alexander followed him to the front of a room with large doors. They reminded him of those in a dungeon BOSS room.

  Not for their appearance, but for the aura of danger—or promise—they exuded.

  Upon being allowed by the person inside the room, Lucas entered and presented Alexander. "Here he is, professor."

  "So this is him," commented Lucas's professor. "Interesting."

  As soon as his words fell, the individual focused his gaze on Alexander, who felt invaded.

  As if something wanted to see through and inside him.

  "No wonder you have such a good physique," commented the individual to Alexander. "You're part dragonewt."

  Upon hearing that comment and associating it with his |False Status|, as well as what he had felt, Alexander was certain that this individual had appraised him.

  Not wanting to linger in front of this person, who was clearly a powerhouse and could appraise people, Alexander began to feel a bit anxious.

  Even though he had only seen the falsification, he was still the first person to appraise Alexander like that, leaving him apprehensive.

  Who knows, perhaps if he had enough time he would be able to see the truth.

  Alexander didn’t know how much of his status the individual could actually see, but just to be safe he modified his |False Status| to hide as many things as possible without ceasing to have a plausible status for his strength.

  Noticing Alexander's surprise and fear, Lucas just laughed. "You don’t need to worry, the professor is one of the pillars of the Empire; a living disaster; an incarnate 'Force of Nature'. With a single spell he could wipe Twin City off the maps—so it's not so surprising that he can see through people and their physiques."

  "He doesn't mean you any harm," assured Lucas. "After all, if he did, you wouldn't be here more and no one would say anything."

  "..." Alexander.

  "You're part dragonewt, but it seems your draconic lineage isn't very strong or hasn't been fully awakened yet," commented the individual, taking the floor again. "Perhaps someday in the future you'll manage to awaken more of your lineage and improve even further."

  "..." Alexander.

  Feeling anxious to get out of there, Alexander spoke up: "So, director, if I’m not being too bold, could you tell me what you want?"

  "Direct… I like people like that," confessed the director, not showing surprise at being recognized as the director.

  "In a few months the Imperial Tournament will take place and our academy will host it this year," explained the director. "All the relevant academies in the Empire will compete, and each will send three competitors."

  "The point is that the great academies have the tradition of sending one participant from each year—to demonstrate the level of each of their 'harvests'," pointed out the director. "And I want you as one of the representatives."

  Not wanting to get involved with the director or draw more attention, Alexander began to think of ways to refuse. "Since you like direct people, let me be direct, director. I don't want to represent the academy."

  The director immediately narrowed his eyes and began to reassess Alexander, which made him even more uncomfortable. "Can I ask why?"

  "Since you already know about my physique, the situation is easy to explain," lied Alexander. "I intend to go out to train now that I've learned to fight with my spear. Above that, I intend to earn money to buy several high-level 3rd evolution dragon cores to awaken my lineage."

  "As you must know, finding cores like those isn't easy, much less if you stay in one place," said Alexander, adding a bit of truth to his lie to give it more plausibility.

  The director thought for a bit. After a while he seemed to have decided something. "Everyone has their problems and I won't stop you from trying to awaken your lineage."

  Alexander was extremely happy to know that the director was yielding and wouldn't force him to participate. However, he soon added: "But if the situation is as you say, I have the solution. All you need to do is participate in the Imperial Tournament."

  "If you participate in the tournament representing the academy, I will give you 1 dragon core with the specifications you mentioned—from my personal collection. And if you, by any chance, manage to place among the top sixteen, I will also give you another one," promised the director. "I guarantee that those from my collection will be better than most you'll find for sale even if you search throughout the Conquest Continent."

  Noticing that Alexander was still reluctant, the director committed a bit more: "If the energy from the cores you receive still isn't enough to awaken your lineage, I can use some connections to help you find more cores easily. That wouldn't be a problem for me."

  "Director, the conditions you're offering me are very good—I'm very grateful for them. But may I ask a question?" requested Alexander.

  "Of course. Ask," said the director upon seeing Alexander's interest.

  "If I win this Tournament… If I bring the champion title among the academies to the Twin Combats Academy… What will be my reward for such an achievement and contribution?" asked Alexander.