Chapter 1418: The Spotlight Draws Near

Raze wasn’t entirely sure whether the situation with Professor Tink had truly been resolved or not. Still, the fact that he hadn’t attacked Tink when he had the chance, that had to mean something. Maybe that was his way of proving he was being honest, or at the very least, not hostile.

There was no telling what Tink was really thinking beneath that unreadable expression. Perhaps he’d concluded that going up against the Dark Magus was a losing battle from the start. If that were the case, then maybe he believed there was no point in confronting Raze head-on. By the time they reached the arena, Tink might have already made up his mind to report the truth to the Grand Magus himself.

‘The only thing I can do now is hope… hope that he believes in me.’ Raze clenched his jaw, pushing the doubt to the back of his mind.

If there was one glimmer of hope that had come from the conversation with Tink, it was the realization that people’s opinions about the Grand Magus were already starting to shift, at least among those who had been around him closely. That was the only reason Raze had a shred of faith that Tink might actually choose not to turn him in.

“Ibarin… you had something good,” Raze muttered to himself. “You had something great, and you could’ve kept it going for your entire life. But in the end, you might be the cause of your own downfall.”

From everything he’d gathered so far, Raze was confident that there was now enough evidence against Ibarin to sway public opinion. Once he uncovered the magical formation, he’d be able to extract several key memories, memories that would reveal the truth behind Ibarin’s actions.

There was the false accusation, how Raze had been framed for distributing those special pills to the students during the event. Then, there were whatever underhanded tactics Ibarin had used to eliminate or sabotage other promising professors. Raze had a strong feeling there was even more buried beneath the surface, but even if this was all he had, it was already enough to build a solid case against the man.

With renewed purpose, Raze made his way toward the coliseum, and he arrived just in time.

It wasn’t hard to find the group of students. They stood out immediately, not because of how they looked, but because of the crowd that had gathered around them. The commotion had started before they’d even entered the arena.

“Hey! Hey! All of you, back off already!” Liam’s voice cut through the noise as he tried to wave people away. “You’re suffocating us, man! Give us some space, please! It wasn’t like this until we kicked Central Academy’s butt. Why don’t you go bother them instead?!”

The students stared at the arrogant Liam with a mix of confusion and disbelief. Was he really the one who had made a difference in all of this? It was hard for them to imagine someone like him amounting to much. Instead, their eyes drifted toward the others standing nearby.

Some of the academy staff and professionals who had come to observe had already begun doing their own research into Wilton Academy after the stunning upset. They had looked deeper into the records, digging through student rankings and event logs. The names that kept coming up were Piba, Chiba, Londo, Yolden, and Moze.

Apparently, some of them had even recognized Moze and the others from smaller events and exhibitions they had participated in before.

“I heard those five actually beat a pair of Central Academy students in one of the early exhibition duels,” someone whispered excitedly in the crowd.

“What? And no one told us this earlier?” another replied, clearly frustrated. “If I had known, I would’ve voted for Wilton to win the Dimension Outing!”

“Yeah, right. Even those who did know Wilton had won something still didn’t vote for them. Winning one small event doesn’t mean they’d succeed in a full team event,” another countered. “But now… things feel a little different.”

A wave of curiosity swept through the crowd. Students leaned forward, excited voices overlapping.

“Can we ask… which of you guys are going to be participating in the Special Display Event?” one student called out. “Are we going to see some rare traits? Unique affinities?!”

“These guys are seriously annoying,” Yolden muttered under her breath, crossing her arms. “They’ll find out the answer to that in just a few hours anyway.”

The other academies couldn’t help but watch with a tinge of envy. Wilton Academy, once considered a quiet underdog, was now the center of attention. The buzz surrounding them was undeniable.

Still, not everyone was ready to just accept this shift in power.

“Don’t worry, everyone,” Lee Roy spoke up, addressing the murmuring students around him. “We’ve all seen something today, Central Academy isn’t unbeatable. That’s something we should all take to heart. If we win these events, we’ll be placed in the same spotlight as them. We’re not any weaker than Wilton Academy.”

It was strange for the other academies. For the longest time, they’d felt like there was an unscalable wall standing between them and Central Academy, an unreachable level of skill, reputation, and status. But now, for the first time, that wall had a crack in it.

Maybe that’s all it ever took, someone to break through first.

Now that Wilton Academy had defeated Central, the other academies were beginning to believe, truly believe, that they had a shot at glory too. If Wilton could do it, then maybe they could as well. After all, if one academy could topple a giant, why couldn’t another?

And now, they didn’t just want to be inspired by Wilton. They wanted to beat them too.

“Come on, let’s just head inside already,” Safa said with a sigh. “We’re getting way too much attention. I’m sure Raze will be able to find us when he needs to.”

Even though Raze had spotted the others among the crowd, he chose to hang back for a moment. Just in case. He wanted to be certain there were no sudden movements from the staff or any unexpected shifts in the atmosphere.

If Professor Tink had reported anything, even in passing, it wouldn’t take more than a heartbeat for the academy’s security to act. But Raze didn’t sense any changes, no hushed conversations, no watchful eyes on him. That likely meant everything was still fine. Tink hadn’t said anything.

“It’s okay!” Raze suddenly called out, stepping into full view, positioning himself right in front of the group, including the teachers.

His arrival was so sudden and quiet that no one had even noticed when he’d appeared. Those who were paying close attention, especially the sharp-eyed students from other academies, gasped as they realized that a white-haired student had seemingly appeared out of thin air.

“Let’s begin the next event,” Raze said with confidence.

****

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