Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! Chapter 143: 143-I Really Need To Be In This Competition

Read chapter 143 of Reader Mage-Stubbing August 10! by A_Random_Turtle on NovelPedia.

The auditorium was so silent that every step the arriving students walking onto the podium took echoed within the space. There were twenty students in total. Ten each for both academies. Everyone watched them, scrutinizing their every move, every twitch, every glance, with eyebrows like checkmarks. If one walked into the auditorium without a clue in the world what was going on, the tension in the air would freeze them right where they stood, and their curiosity would undoubtedly be spiked. Merlin was no different from the rest of his mates. His demeanor stilled, aiding his observation as he watched with piercing scrutiny as the students of Crown Academy and Nikita Academy walked in, dressed in the tracksuits of their academies, white and blue respectively; and behind them were their supervisors, a young lady and a man. They stopped just beside the podium, and after giving their greetings to the instructors and Headmaster Im Ilseong, they turned to face the auditorium in full. Everyone audibly sucked in deep breaths, pulses racing so fast that they could be heard. The competition was right before them. Every single student of Prestige Academy had their own reasons to want to partake in the tournament; Merlin, for one, wanted to selfishly prove to his parents that he could do without them breathing down his neck at every turn. But the one thing that brought each and every one of them together was the prospect of taking their academy to the top spot in the rankings. They had the home advantage. They could do it. Professor Jung gestured at the arrivals and said, choosing to speak in the universal tongue of the world, “Directly to my side are the students of Nikita Academy, and beside them are the students of Crown Academy. They are, respectively, as you all should know, the third and first ranked Mage Academies in the world. They will be your competition during the tournament.” Silence was the reply of the students of Prestige Academy. No murmurs as they were usually inclined to do, and definitely no cheers. Professor Jung smiled. “Stop being so tense,” she started. “Regardless of the status of our academies being on the line, we’re all Mages. At the end of the day, the rankings won’t matter in the face of battle, and we’ll all be required to team up. So make friends with each other, will you?” The silence dragged on a bit longer. But it broke soon enough. “Yes, professor!” the students of Prestige Academy replied in unison. Professor Jung nodded. “Then…” She turned to the supervisors. “The instructors of our guests will introduce themselves; after that, I’ll give the details of the tournament, and we’ll close with a speech from the headmaster. If you will?” The instructors of Crown Academy and Nikita Academy glanced at themselves. The lady gestured at the podium, giving the man the go ahead. He nodded and walked up. Professor Jung shifted. “Hello, students of Prestige Academy,” the man began, his voice deep and low. “My name is Sergei Ivanov, and I am an instructor of Nikita Academy in Moscow, Russia. I will be serving as the supervisor of my students, and will do my best to support in any way I can to the success of the festival and tournament.” Prestige Academy students stilled for a second, and then a glance from Professor Jung brought about a roar of claps. Instructor Sergei Ivanov was a man of an austere presence almost as chilling as Professor Dmitri’s, if not worse, but sounded a lot more easy. He had light skin, pale, blue eyes, and iron-gray hair deeper in color than Senior Sun-Hee’s, but visibly thinner in form. On the matter of his introduction, he didn’t say any more. He glanced at his students, perhaps contemplating on if he introduced each of them. But he seemingly decided against it as he shifted away from the podium a second later, giving way for the lady to take the stage. “Good morning, everyone. It is still morning, right?” she began with a smile, composed and casual. “It is an honor to stand before you today,