"Miss Nightingale!" Lancet exclaimed.

Estelle composed herself, cleared her throat and looked at Lancet. She was slightly alarmed that she was looking up at him this time, unlike the last time they spoke.

"Lancet Leogardt," she said with formality. "It’s good to see you again. I haven’t... gotten the chance to personally congratulate you for what you did in Hebthej."

She covered half her face with her immaculate fan and semi-bowed. "Please, forgive me for that."

"What?" Lancet raised his brows. "No, that’s all fine. I’m just really happy I ran into you."

His cheeks immediately reddened, remembering how his body had planted into her breasts. Lancet suddenly feared that he had sounded a little perverse by saying that.

"I didn’t mean it like that," he waved his arm close to his chest in a frantic gesture. "I’m not like happy I collided with you. It’s just..."

Estelle closed her eyes softly and opened them. "I understand what you meant, Lancet. No need to fret."

Lancet looked at her for a second then let out a breath of relief. "Phew. Well, that’s great."

But rather than leaving, he just stood there looking at her, and she did the same, making for a greatly awkward moment.

"Is this about the Open Pores Technique?" Estelle asked, finally breaking the silence.

Lancet realized himself and snapped out of it. "Yes!" he basically exclaimed. "It is! Ever since I returned, I’ve been going to the Class Group-D Grace Hall during recess just like you asked. But you haven’t shown up."

Estelle’s thin brows creased slightly, a look of surprise on her usually stern face. "You have?"

Lancet said, "Yes! Every other day like you said."

Estelle gazed at him for a moment, enthralled by what she saw. Then she asked another question. "You’re really that serious about learning the technique?"

"I am," Lancet assured her.

They gazed at each other for a while longer, as students and professors walked by them.

"Magnificent," Estelle muttered without even knowing.

Lancet wondered what she meant.

"Very well then," the Empath Mage said with finality. She adjusted her posture, standing straight and placing her crimson-gold fan over her lips. "We can not commence during the Inter-Class Competitions. I will only be helping you win over my students."

Lancet smirked.

"But once the Competitions are over and the Academy is done glazing over the victors," she eyed him with a promise, "then we can begin your training."

Lancet’s eyes widened with excitement. "Thank you! Thank you, Miss Nightingale!"

"Don’t thank me yet," Estelle whispered as she stepped aside and continued on her way, "my training methods are a form of punishment."

Lancet watched her leave, scratching the back of his neck. ’She’s really intense,’ he thought. ’But she’s also really... pretty.’

"Lancet!"

He quickly spun his head to the sound of his name. Kasto and Anita were reaching for him like furious tentacles of an octopus monster. "Where the hell have you been?! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!"

"Come on!" Kasto held his forearm tight. "You know Year One gets the worst seats on the platform. We have to get the best of the worst!"

"Okay! Okay! I’m coming!"

They dragged him into the crowd of students that clustered through the corridors and hallways then spilled out of the main entrance to the courtyard.

There, a breathtaking sight awaited them.

Numerous blue, transparent cylinders rose directly from the grassy courtyards and reached upwards to the sky where the monolithic platform floated.

At first, they looked like they were made of glass or metal, but they were actually created with force fields. Students were excitedly stepping right into the blue cylinders, causing the field to ripple like water. Then they would position themselves in the dead center of the circles.

A second later, a flash of light would envelop them, and they were shot upward at breakneck speeds, turning into streaks of light ascending to the heavens.

Kasto pointed dramatically. "There!" he shouted over the chaos. "The transport tubes!" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Around them, students were practically vibrating with anticipation.

"Move over!"

"Hey! I was waiting for that one!"

"You stepped too early, idiot!"

A pair of Year Two students vanished upward in one of the cylinders, their uniforms fluttering violently from the sudden acceleration. Nearby, a nervous first-year hesitated at the edge of another tube before his friend shoved him inside with a laugh.

The moment the boy reached the center— FWOOOM! Blue light swallowed him and launched him skyward.

Lancet watched the transport streams streak upward like beams connecting the academy to the floating structure above.

It honestly looked absurdly expensive.

"That looks fun!" Anita squealed excitedly, her eyes reflecting the glowing blue pillars. She pushed her friends playfully. "Let’s go!"

They broke away from the crowd and rushed toward a cluster of empty force fields. Lancet watched as Anita and Kasto stepped into two adjacent cylinders.

"See you at the top, Lancet!" Kasto grinned, giving a two-finger salute right before a pulse of light swallowed him and launched him skyward. Anita followed a second later, giggling as she shot up into the clouds.

Taking a deep breath, Lancet stepped forward. The moment he crossed the blue barrier, a warm, static tingle washed over his skin. He planted his boots directly in the center of the cylinder.

A voice echoed calmly from somewhere inside the cylinder. "Transport initialized."

Then, FWOOOM!

The ground vanished beneath him and Lancet was shot upward.

The acceleration hit him hard enough to make his stomach tighten for a second, but the ride itself was unbelievably smooth. Blue streams of energy spiraled around him as the academy rapidly shrank below.

The world around him blurred into a vertical streak of colors. He felt no wind, only the exhilarating velocity of the ascent.

Below him, the sprawling, gothic architecture of Awakener Supreme shrank into a miniature model, while above him, the bluish, heavily armored underbelly of the floating stadium rapidly expanded until it eclipsed the entire sun.

With a soft chime, his momentum decelerated smoothly, and he stepped out through a glowing doorway with dozens of other students into a brilliantly lit concourse.

When Lancet laid his eyes on the place, he immediately stopped walking.

"...Holy shit," he muttered under his breath.

This place was unbelievable.

"Welcome to The Competition Platform!" an automated melodic voice echoed from the speakers, vibrating through the pristine tiled floors.

The voice carried through the stadium with almost ceremonial grandeur.

"All participants and observers are advised to proceed to their assigned seating sectors."

Instructors and senior ushers were already shouting, waving glowing batons to coordinate the endless stream of arriving students. "Class Group-D, to the lower eastern quadrant! Move your feet! Summoners to the green banners, Elementalists to the red! Enchanters to blue! And Specialists to the yellow banners!"

Students were cheering madly, forgetting that they were all here to compete.

.

Kasto suddenly appeared from somewhere behind Lancet, waving wildly.

"LANCET!"

Anita was right behind him, bouncing excitedly on her heels. "Look at this place!" she screamed. "This is insane!"

Lancet stared at the platform with disbelief. "Tell me about it."

This platform was way bigger than any stadium. Heck, it was the size of a small city.

Together, they jogged through the tunnel, emerging out into the open air of the seating tiers. Lancet couldn’t stop staring. The place looked like a futuristic colosseum, but not without the Gothic grandeur of this world.

The seating tiers rose like majestic, artificial mountains, wrapping around the arena in a perfect, colossal circle. Hundreds of thousands of seats were divided into distinct, color-coded sectors, currently filling up with tens of thousands of Awakeners.

Above the highest tiers, massive holographic scoreboards hovered in the air, glowing with crisp, golden numbers that currently read zero across all four Class Groups.

Hovering around the perimeter and dipping low over the crowds were spherical, brass-plated floating cameras—magitech drones that buzzed like giant mechanical insects, broadcasting the popular event to people that were tuning in all over the world.

But the true spectacle was the center.

The arena floor was a vast, flat expanse of interlocking crystal blue plates, stretching so wide you could fit an entire neighborhood inside it.

The latent magical energy within it was impossible not to feel. Lancet could even sense the vibration beneath the sole of his boots. That platform right there was capable of shifting its topography at a moment’s notice to create mountains, forests, or labyrinthine ruins.

Whatever was needed for a challenge.

The atmosphere was intoxicating. A hundred scents filled the place, but all interpreted into the scent of excitement.

The collective roar of the students—cheering, chanting, and shouting insults at rival Class Groups—created a physical pressure that vibrated deep in Lancet’s chest.

This was the pinnacle of Awakener Supreme. This was where legends were made and futures were shattered.

This was why he loved that stupid novel.

The stadium lights flared, shining like miniature suns, and the automated voice boomed once more, commanding the attention of every soul present.

"Students, Staff, Administrators! Please take your seats and buckle the belts! The 174th Inter-Class Competitions are about to begin!"