The Stargazer

by Nikostar A

  Sooner or later, his Space would expand. It was better to have too many resources now than to lack resources later. His Space greedily accepted all the water Alexander poured in but after a while, the latter started to be bored.

  "Let's check the Space and see it improved," said Alexander.

  With a thought, he was transported into the Space. When he opened his eyes, Alexander immediately noticed a change. There were still tiny sprouts scattered everywhere but just in front of him, at the center of the space, was a small pond.

  "Did all the water I send come here? I suppose it would take time for the soil to absorb all of it. But something is strange. I remember the Space being a flat land, so how did all the earth form a hole for the pond to form? Also, there is a tiny hill over there now...."

  Alexander observed the changes in his space. It seemed that the Space reacted to his will, moving the particles inside to make room for a small water storage. He still did not understand how the Space was functioning. According to the manual he obtained, the Space should slowly evolve on its own; as long as it had enough mana and resources, it would slowly turn into any other worlds like Earth or Loha.

  The problem was the astronomical amount of mana needed. Most of the members of the Anterlope clan would die before their space could reach that level. Even if they gave up their whole lifespan to improve their space, it would not be enough to turn their space into a real world.

  Alexander had long been doubtful about the physics of his space. Whenever he was here, there was light, regardless of what time he was transported here. High above his head, was a giant motionless sun at its zenith.

  According to the manual, the sun would remain like that until his space was at least ten times larger than its original size. Then, a day and night cycle would be established. A weather pattern would later appear when the Space would become fifty times larger than its original size. While the size of the space would be increasing, the size of the entrance would also increase, allowing Alexander to bring in larger objects including other human beings.

  "Too bad I can't stay here for too long. What if someone comes to check out on us? I should just resume sending in more water..." said Alexander. The short break was over; he needed to resume the boring task of transferring water. It was a rare opportunity; as long as he stayed at the academy, who knew how long it would take to get that much water.

  ***

  At the same time, in another room of the hotel, Sebastien Lafouche was diligently meditating, moving his mana in his spirit circuits. Sebastien was proud of his achievement; he worked hard and trained as much as possible and slowly, his strength increased. He climbed the ranks of the Flemming Organization and was now a team captain recognized for his strength.

  Hard work always pays off; that was his motto. Sebastien was already acknowledged as one of the strongest mages of the Flemming organization. Whenever he would walk around, he would cause his peers to feel a strong pressure. Nowadays, few dared to go against him.

  "Knock knock knock"

  "Who is it?" thought Sebastien when he heard the knocks on his door. He did not like being disturbed during his meditation. He opened the door and found the four recruits of the organization.

  "Come in," grumbled Sebastien. He invited the students in his room. They all quietly sat on the sofa, unsure of what to do next.

  After a few seconds, one of the girls, Sheila spoke, "Captain, we were wondering if we need to do anything about Alexander Vagras. He severely injured Jeremy and caused Marcus to be severely punished. The organization warned us to not do anything at the academy but now that we are outside, should we try something?"

  Hearing the student's suggestion, Sebastien immediately frowned. He had already been informed of the conflict but as someone who climbed his way from the bottom, he hated the shameless domineering acts of the ones in power.

  "No. We won't do anything against him. We are a team; what will the others think if we gang up on our teammates? Furthermore, I already know the situation. Do you know that Frederik Lombardi has almost lost his seat on the board of directors because of his reckless actions? Not mentioning the case of his own son, when Jeremy was hurt because of his orders, Frederik Lombardi was forced to give up a large amount of resources and influence."

  "None of you is allowed to make a move against Alexander. We can observe him and see if he can really use magic without being detected but apart from that, we must not do anything. You are under my responsibility; if I find out that one of you overstepped the boundaries..." Sebastien glared at the students, inadvertently releasing more mana than usual.

  He knew that those students were simply listening to the people from the organization. They were all taught by a few mentors and it was very likely that those mentors stood on the side of Frederik Lombardi.

  The students shuddered in silence. No one dared to argue.

  ***

  On the next day, Alexander joined the other students for a meal in a large private room. The duels would take place in a few hours but no one was nervous; all the students here were confident in their strength. They were all groomed by their organizations and all had outstanding performance indexes.

  Alexander ate in silence. He found it awkward to speak to the other students who had already formed their groups.

  At the end of the meal, they were all escorted to the Arena of Kalesha. Arenas were places where magic duels took place. It was not a very popular place in Kalesha but arenas of other cities were usually always booming.

  When they arrived, Alexander saw another group of people waiting at the entrance. "You finally arrived, old friend." A young man walked out of the group and greeted the director of studies.

  "Steve! I did not expect you to arrive so early. These are our students, are yours ready?" answered the director of studies while pointing at Alexander and the other students.

  The two sides started sizing each other up. There was a bunch of youths waiting behind the man called Steve. Just like the students from the academy, the young rogue mages all came from different backgrounds and countries. They were accompanied by a few other senior mages, there to coach and protect them during the exchange.

  Aside from the representatives of the organizations and the senior mages, none of the students or the young rogue mages spoke a word. They all acknowledged each other but their interactions did not go any further. They were all competitors and most of the rogue mages were jealous of the students.

  Why did they become rogue mages? It was because the spots of the academy were all seized by the students in front of them.

  Alexander was not particularly impressed by the rogue mages lineup but it was very likely that they were stronger than the students of the academy. There were several reasons for that but the major one was the training program. The students of the academy grew in a very sheltered environment and only battle each other if they wanted to. On the contrary, the rogue mages encountered dangers since the first day they officially became a mage. Rogue mages did not have any training facilities or resources; they needed to plunder others to grow and it was reflected in their training program.

  The seniors shared a few pleasantries before entering the arena.

  "Alright, in what order shall we do it? To mix things up, should we alternate between solo and duo matches?" proposed Steve while laughing.

  "Alright, but we should already write down which student will fight which match. We cannot change the order afterward!" said the director of studies.

  "Sure. Let's fill in the form. The contract with the governments has already been signed. Does your side know the rules?"

  "Don't worry, I already told them what they need to know." The director of studies quickly wrote down the names of the students while talking to Steve. The two used to be friends before they went separate ways.

  After the forms were filled and checking that everything was in order, they all moved to the spectator seats. Then, the director of studies announced the first match.


  "For the first match, can Numhom Wangwon from Arcana and Jason Wilcock please enter the arena!"

  Chapter 33: Close matches

  Numhom Wangwon was one of the two women from Arcana. She came from Thailand and was relatively popular at the academy. Her face was only average looking but her body was hot and easily made up for it. She was gifted with a slim willowy figure and a large voluptuous chest. The two bulging peaks through her jacket were the largest Alexander had ever seen.

  On the other side, Jason Lumbert had a more modest appearance. His long curly hair was starting to cover his eyes. He wore a simple T-shirt with the logo of the Exil and a pair of tracksuit pants. He stood nonchalantly on his side of the arena. With his hair hiding his eyes, nobody knew where he was looking.

  When he saw that both sides were ready, the referee, a staff member of the arena, gave a signal and the fight started.

  The atmosphere changed. Numhom was the first to make a move. She took a step back and used the spell: [Lightning Strike]

  A lightning type spell. All lightning type spells were classified as intermediate spells. This element was considerably harder to control but Numhom was able to easily direct the lighting at Jason. The lightning went through Jason and the latter suddenly disappeared.

  "Shadow Clone!" exclaimed Alexander when he saw the lightning go through the rogue mage. He instantly recognized the spell used. 'Looks like all the rogue mages are quite strong.'

  Next to him, the students also started discussing among themselves. The other student from Arcana, Alicia Stones, turned toward the captain of Arcana. "Miss, will Numhom be okay?"

  "I don't know. They seem to be equally strong and Numhom is used to fighting defensively. She should be able to hold for a while but the question is who has the highest mana reserve... This fight is different; you don't have any talisman of protection and as long as you can resist the pain, the fight is not over. Numhom has a small advantage with her healing spells but her opponent is strong too."

  At the same time, the director of studies turned toward Steve, "Old friend, you have raised a fine young man."

  "Haha, that lass is not too bad but it is like the lady from Arcana said. It will be a battle of attrition and unfortunately, I think that all your students are bound to lose these battles."

  The director of studies frowned and silently shifted his attention back on the arena.

  Numhom constantly moved around casting spells. Her large chest danced all over the place as she moved; for the first time, she was regretting having such a huge rack.

  [Thunderstorm]

  [Glacial hand]

  The two mages both activated their spells at the same time. Numhom's body became covered with lightning sparks; she directed all the sparks to her right hand and with a throwing motion, released all the sparks toward Jason.

  The latter used an ice type of spell, causing a giant hand of ice to rise up from the group, aiming for Numhom. The lightning sparks exploded on the giant hand, causing three of the fingers to fall off but in the end, the hand was still mostly intact.

  It violently smashed Numhom whose body was sent flying.

  "Cough Cough," She quickly stood up and attempted to heal herself, [Cure Wounds].

  Jason was not going to allow her to recover, he used [Earth Spike] and forced Numhom to move but he was one second behind as she had already successfully healed her wound.

  Numhom grimaced; although her wounds were healed, the pain was still there. It was the first time she was fighting a mage without a talisman of protection. She needed to persevere; she was a proud recruit of Arcana.

  She unleashed a barrage of spells, injuring Jason in the process but at the same time, her mana was starting to run dry. In the end, Jason was about to throw a [Water Lance] at Numhom but the latter hurriedly surrendered when she realized that she did not have any mana left to protect herself. The referee quickly intervened, shielding the female student from any more harm.

  The medical staff of the arena also moved quickly, checking Numhom's state. She sat on the floor, completely exhausted from the lack of mana.

  "Andrea, are you not going to announce the winner?" asked Steve with an innocent smile.

  The director of studies frowned and nodded. He was not very happy that one of his students had lost but he was still an honest man. The rogue mages did abide by the rules and did not go for Numhom's life. "The first point goes to the Exil! Can the next four students prepare themselves for their match."

  "Jason! Jason!"

  The rogue mages' side exploded in cheers when Jason returned to the spectator seats. They were all impressed by his strength and even the senior mages nodded and clapped their hands.

  On the other hand, the students of the academy were completely silent. A dejected Numhom quietly made her way back to the spectator seats. She sat next to Alicia who immediately held her in her arms to comfort her.

  Nobody in the team blamed her; they had all witnessed the fight. If it was them, they were not even sure they would be able to hold for that long.

  ***

  On the stage, two students from the Watchers were now facing a pair of rogue mages. They both held small daggers similar to what Sonya Kress was using when facing Alexander.

  The two students looked at each other and smiled. They were perfectly synched as if they already knew what the other was thinking.

  The battle started and immediately, the two students became invisible. The rogue mages frowned.

  [Detect]

  The rogue mage used the spell to look for the students but the spell failed. "Looks like they know how to hide," said the rogue mage to his partner. They were already aware of the specialty of The Watchers. "Let's do this."

  [Cinderstorm]

  [Swirling Tempest]

  One fire-type spell and one wind-type spell. When used together, the two spells reinforced each other. The tempest would carry the flames around, burning everything along its way.

  Suddenly, a semi-transparent figure appeared and charged at the rogue mages. The winds were too strong for him to stay hidden.

  One of the rogue mages quickly reacted; he stopped the Cinderstorm and turned toward the transparent figure.

  [Demon Flare]

  A giant purplish flame flew toward the transparent figure but the latter did not react. He continued to charge toward the rogue mages even though the [Demon Flare] was in the way. He fully trusted his partner and as it turned out, he was right to do so.

  Just as the [Demon Flare] was about to hit the transparent figure, it suddenly changed its trajectory and exploded next to the transparent figure.

  "This... Spellbender?" commented Alexander. He had long used Jagur, the Observer to have a better look at the fight. The second recruit of the Watchers had been standing at the back, casting that particular spell.

  The rogue mage was surprised but did not have time to react, the student had already managed to close the gap and jumped toward him. He tried to dodge the attack but was still stabbed in the shoulder by the short dagger.

  He felt an electric shock flow through his body. His body unwillingly straightened as he fell, face first, on the cold floor of the arena.

  It was the spell, [Paralysis] that prevented the target from making any move for a short period of time.

  Despite seeing his defeated partner on the ground, the other rogue mage did not give up. He started casting [Wind Assault] but was instantly interrupted by the second recruit of The Watchers.

  The fight turned into a two versus one and without any surprise, the Watchers ended up getting the upper hand. Having confirmed that the rogue mage was unable to fight back, the referee decided to intervene, putting an end to the fight.

  Just like that, the academy won their first point, catching up with the Exil.

  Steve did not seem to be very affected by his side's defeat. Instead, he laughed lightly and said, "Andrea, your students are not too bad after all. What would you say if we make a little bet?"

  "A bet?
What sort of bet? Are you not already satisfied with the agreement you have with the UN?" said the director of studies. He was in high spirit after seeing how easily the academy won this battle.

  "The agreement with the UN is something else. It has nothing to do with me. What about betting about who will win this competition? The academy or the Exil? Just like in the old times when we used to play poker."

  The director of studies was immediately interested. He had been an avid fan of gambling in his youth. "What do you propose exactly?"

  "I know you cannot bet the resources of the academy but what about a few spirit stones? I have five hundred with me. What about you?"