Mage Manual

Chapter 104: Chapter 97 Can’t Hold On Anymore

Sword Flower University, Starfall Auditorium.

“…To vigorously promote the spirit of active and adventurous endeavor, to create a healthy and positive competitive atmosphere, and to foster friendly exchanges between Sword Flower University and Truth University, the stage is now handed over to the outstanding students from both institutes. Let them compete under the watchful eyes of the stars in a friendship match.”

As Sonia’s voice echoed, the dome of the auditorium rose dramatically. The lining of the dome was unexpectedly made up of mirrors—cleverly positioned so that their reflections made the starlight shine down like spotlights in the auditorium. Everyone appeared to be draped in a thin veil of starlight, the lights even more dazzling than the indoor lighting from before.

In the Kingdom of Stars, all significant events must take place under the starry sky. If the starry daytime is deemed ‘work time,’ then the glittering night is ‘entertainment time’—of course, ordinary people couldn’t enjoy such a grueling schedule, only Mages who could rejuvenate through exploring the Void Realm could afford such leisure.

Moreover, the starlight was more than just a spectacle; it symbolized the favor of the Magic Master of the Dazzling Stars, and thus, Mages who entered the Void Realm at night for battle, studying, or training received additional blessings, however slight.

“During the intervals when the starlight cascades down, please welcome Professor Oreron from Truth University and Professor Nidara from Sword Flower University to share their views on the friendship match,” Arsen said.

Naturally, such a social evening would not see the presence of university presidents. After all, the time of Legendary Mages was extremely precious and even the Void Realm couldn’t get enough of it. Hence, Truth University sent ‘Weapon Master’ Oreron as their representative, and Sword Flower University dispatched ‘Rhythm Sword Saint’ Nidara.

Nidara glanced at the students from Truth University and said indifferently, “Reonie, make it quick later. I’m in a rush to get to the Void Realm and have no interest in staying at such a boring gathering.”

The burly Oreron huffed coldly; his head was completely bald, and his body was tattooed with various line designs. If it were before Sonia had fought the Thunder Holder in the Void Realm, she wouldn’t have recognized that Oreron’s tattoos were likely the amplifying products of the Thunder Technique faction.

Despite his rough exterior, Oreron spoke quite politely, “I hope tonight’s friendship match allows outstanding students from both universities to gain something. I’m looking forward to the performance of the students from Sword Flower University, but I also believe in the abilities of our students. I plan to take on an Apprentice this year—if you don’t perform well, this opportunity might just be snatched away by a student from Sword Flower University.”

The students from Truth University appeared indifferent, nodding slightly towards Oreron, clearly not considering Sword Flower University a threat.

“Haha, both professors are really full of animosity, with Professor Oreron even offering the reward of an Apprentice,” chuckled Arsen. “It’s been five years since the ‘Weapon Master’ has taken a new apprentice, and every Apprentice he personally trained has advanced to Two-Winged before graduating. It seems tonight’s friendship match will definitely be thrilling.”

Arsen skillfully steered the professors’ remarks into a seamless conversation, flawlessly circumscribing any faults. He glanced at the dome, which was a few seconds away from unveiling and casually said to his co-host, “Sevi, what do you think?”

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Sonia, who had maintained a professional smile up until now, suddenly couldn’t keep her composure and looked at Arsen with a gaze filled with terror.

Wasn’t it agreed to avoid speaking to me directly and not let me improvise, and that you’d outshine everyone on your own?

It wasn’t really Arsen’s fault, as he thought Sonia was just being polite, and it would look too selfish if he hogged the limelight alone; two hosts were there to create a lively back-and-forth dialogue to energize the atmosphere. How could he just let Sonia stand there looking foolish?

Moreover, he had picked up the conversation, said the right things, and letting Sonia say a few nice words to fill the time wasn’t too much, right?

Soon, Arsen would realize how overboard he was; overwhelmingly so. If he were to describe it using the popular movie and TV series “Love That Crosses Time and Space,” it would be like ‘I want to run five seconds back in time and shut my mouth.’

“I think Professor Nidara is a high-EQ person.”

“Oh, why is that?”

“Because Professor Nidara speaks such low emotional intelligence here, not only has he provoked the disgust of the teachers and students of Truth University, but he’s also irked all of us organizing the event. It shows that we aren’t worthy of him using emotional intelligence. Thus, those he does treat with emotional intelligence must be very high-status people, so he is indeed high in emotional intelligence.”

Sonia smoothly said, “Perhaps only at a dinner party where the president is present can we see Professor Nidara’s display of high emotional intelligence. So, Professor Nidara’s eloquence is quite good, just a bit rotten; and his demeanor is hard to evaluate because he simply has none.”

Silence.

Except for the sound of the dome unfolding, there was hardly a whisper in the event. It should be noted that although the dinner wasn’t public in nature, it wasn’t sparsely attended either, with one-third of the professors and top students from all grades gathered together.

They stared at Sonia on stage, all dumbfounded, but unfortunately, Professor Nidara was sitting in the far corner, and no one dared to specifically turn their heads to observe his expression.

Lois and others peeking from backstage were also stunned. They had anticipated Sonia’s performance tonight, but they hadn’t expected her to actually pull this off.

Even Arsen was momentarily stunned, his mind turned to mush, completely unable to devise a clever quip to follow Sonia’s words.

“Ha ha!”

Professor Oreron’s thunderous laughter rang out as he clapped, “Well said, Sword Flower University truly is full of talents!”

“Truth University isn’t far behind,” Sonia said, “With Professor Oreron, a man of your all-polite words, Truth University has truly struck gold. One must admire the excellent matching mechanism of Jiale City. Professor Oreron and Professor Nidara are well-matched in every respect.”

“How am I all polite words?”

“You just said if Sword Flower University’s students win over Truth University’s students, you would take on research apprentices from Sword Flower University, isn’t that polite words? Your past three apprentices were all high-grade students from Truth University. You’re clearly issuing an empty check; you’ll proceed as usual once you return and won’t really take on students from other schools as apprentices.”

“Of course, my words are true!”

“Then put it in writing! Seal it with a contract! Make it official!”

Some students who loved to see a spectacle also shouted, “Yes, put it in writing!”

The students from Truth University immediately retorted, “Why should we issue a written agreement just because you say so?”

Watching the dinner gradually turn into a marketplace brawl, Arsen suddenly realized that this might be the biggest challenge he had ever faced in his career as an emcee, without a doubt.

He decisively shouted, “Now, please welcome Lauren Z from the Sword Skill Department of Sword Flower University and Rigang Carol from Truth University to the stage for the first one-on-one friendly match!”