Encore tested the poison on herself, and before long, she developed the corresponding antidote.

"This kind of severely diluted potion, made for the sake of concealment, is just too simple in structure. Figuring out the antidote is a matter of minutes."

Encore handed the antidote to Hilia, adding, "This antidote contains some ingredients that assist magic power circulation. Drinking it not only makes you immune to Essence of the Dark Dream, but also boosts the efficiency of your magic power operation, reducing waste when casting magic. I checked the rules for the Mage League—long-lasting potions that accelerate magic power operation can be used before the match."

"How long does the immunity last?" Hilia asked.

"Not sure about the other concentrations due to lack of samples, but for the one you gave me, you’ll be immune for at least 24 hours."

Hilia said, "I have a feeling someone might use Essence of the Dark Dream during the tournament. If possible, I hope you can make more so everyone can protect themselves."

Encore nodded. "Leave it to me."

Other than that, Rose didn’t give Hilia any more hints.

Time moved smoothly to the day the preliminary round began.

Mr. Nikodemos, who was leading the team, brought everyone to the backstage of the competition, and reminded them, "The draw was already done yesterday. You should all have seen your opponents for the preliminary. Remember your match times—you absolutely cannot miss them."

Someone asked, "Professor, won’t the mentors come to remind us before the matches?"

Nikodemos looked at him and said, "If you’re confident you’ll win a place—top sixteen in the team battle or top thirty-two in individuals—the school can provide a wake-up call service. But, of course, you have to sign a contract. If you fail, you’ll have to pay the school 100 gold coins as compensation for the service."

Everyone fell silent, not daring to speak.

gold coins are no small change.

Even though most Tier Three Mages could afford it, being able to doesn’t mean you want to waste your money like that.

Signing such a gambling agreement—if you lose, you really lose everything.

No one had further questions. Nikodemos continued, "The rules for the preliminaries are a bit different. The individual matches grant six battle opportunities; you must win four to advance. Team matches are also by draw—win three matches to qualify. But there’s a twist: in team matches, winners face winners, losers face losers, until someone wins three matches to move on. If you lose three times in a row, you’re out early."

Hilia listened carefully. While she was pondering, Rose’s voice sounded in her ear: "Swiss-system, huh? Not a bad format."

Hilia didn’t really know what Swiss-system meant, but as a Mage she quickly grasped the rules: in the end, half the teams are eliminated.

There are 64 teams in the team event. With this competition format, 32 are knocked out, and the rest enter the elimination rounds—one match to decide winner or loser.

In the knockout stage, the eight teams with three-to-zero records won’t face each other in the first two rounds—meaning from top 32 to top 16 and then 16 to 8, strong teams are guaranteed spots in the top ten.

Though she now understood the format, after hearing Nikodemos explain it again, Hilia felt there would be way too many matches to play.

If all goes well, it’ll take about a month, ending in August.

Of course, teams with zero wins and three losses can go home early.

But compared to the matches, what Hilia cared more about was another issue: "Mr. Nikodemos, if something unexpected happens during the tournament, like a sect attack in Kost or whatever, what happens with the matches then?"

Nikodemos looked at Hilia and smiled slightly, "Good question. A hundred years ago, when the tournament’s rules weren’t so developed, something like that did happen. At one Mage League, the host Empire went to war with another country, and the tournament was stopped midway.

"After that, backed by the five great Empires, the Mage League Committee developed a series of emergency response rules, including responses to earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and other disasters.

"To use your example, if it happened, the Northern Alliance takes full responsibility: they must resolve the sect issue as quickly as possible, then resume the interrupted matches. If a sect attack results in contestant deaths, the Northern Alliance pays hefty compensation."

As he spoke, Nikodemos paused, then smiled: "Of course, there are two more possible emergencies: the Northern Alliance can’t fend off the sect attack; or the Northern Alliance dodges compensation or refuses to continue the matches. For the former, not much can be done; for the latter, it’s likely war would break out again. But you don’t need to worry about that. With me here, you’re safe outside the arena."

"Alright."

Hilia asked no more questions.

After answering a few more students, Nikodemos sent everyone off to get ready for the first round.

Before everyone left, he asked, "No one here is doing both individual and team tournaments, right?"

Everyone shook their heads.

Nikodemos said, "Good."

...

Soon, the first match began. Hilia’s team’s first opponents were the squad from the Southern Blue Dragon Empire’s national selection. The entire Holy Maiden Squad took it seriously. At the start, Phil used a holy link to share everyone’s spiritual power, then they all attacked fiercely. After observing the enemy’s tactics, they’d decide whether to employ the Judgment tactic.

But they quickly found out this opponent was pretty weak. It took them less than three minutes to send that team out of the ring.

After it was over, Doris commented, "Not as good as Sea Witch Terksey."

Hilia rolled her eyes. "Don’t forget you slept through the Terksey match."

Doris put her hands on her hips. "That’s exactly why—they’re not as good as Terksey. I could beat this lot in my sleep."

Benovia laughed. "Don’t get cocky just because one team’s weak. For all we know, we’ll face a powerhouse in the next match."

Encore nodded in agreement. "Benovia’s right. Later we should study the other teams and see who our biggest threat is."

"Let’s head back first. We’ll review other teams’ matches once the mentors send us the recordings."

"The second match isn’t until tomorrow anyway, no rush."

The girls chatted as they left. Nikodemos and the other mentors congratulated them.

Not long after they returned, the school’s other two teams came back as well.

One team was happy, the other dejected.

Hard to say if they just ran into a strong opponent or weren’t strong enough themselves.

Either way, Hilia felt she now understood why the Divine Magic Academy hadn’t placed in ages.

"Anyway, don’t worry about it. Let’s just focus on tomorrow’s match."

After they got back and received the match records from their mentors, Hilia and the others started studying diligently.

But plans couldn’t keep up with changes.

The next day, as they waited in full readiness, they discovered—

Their scheduled opponents were absent.