Chapter 63: How come I actually got paired with Felicity?

Every student entering the Elite Class undergoes a Ranking Tournament within their first month at the Academy.

This tournament isn’t just an assessment—it’s meant to show students where they stand in terms of strength among their classmates.

The forty students in the class are split into eight groups of five for the Group Stage.

The ones with the most wins advance to the top eight, then the Knockout Stage begins until a champion is decided.

Credits are awarded based on the final rankings.

Most students are buzzing with excitement—finally, a chance to show off their skills in front of their instructors and classmates.

Xi Ya is the only one who can’t muster any enthusiasm.

Everyone else gets to shine on stage; he gets to be a punching bag.

Four matches in the Group Stage means four rounds of beatings.

He trudges to the back of the line, waiting for the draw.

“Oh no, I’m done for!”

A wail comes from the front of the line.

Xi Ya looks up to see a student clutching his freshly drawn lot, his face twisted in despair.

“How is it Group 3? I got paired with the Gong Nu…”

Grouped with the Gong Nu?

Yeah, that’s a death sentence.

The Gong Nu in question is Aishalier, the top student in the class.

Her strength is so far above everyone else it’s not even close.

Before entering the Academy, Aishalier underwent all sorts of swordsmanship training within her family, and her skill isn’t any worse than the ordinary Magic Swordsmen on the front lines.

Rumor has it that when she first started practicing the Sword as a child, she even received guidance from Yin Hui Jian Ji.

So drawing into the same group as her in the Group Stage basically means no chance of advancing—only one person can move on from each group, and to do that, you’d have to beat Aishalier.

Though, if anyone in the class could rival her, it’d have to be Feili, the Destined Heroine.

In the Game, the finals of this Ranking Tournament were also between those two.

Xi Ya mourns for that student for two seconds.

Any group but Group 3, and he had to draw that one.

He himself isn’t worried at all.

It doesn’t matter which group he gets—there’s hardly anyone in this class he can beat anyway.

If he runs into Aishalier, he’ll lose even faster and save himself the suffering.

He looks away and shifts his gaze to the pink-haired figure standing in front of him.

As long as he doesn’t end up in the same group as this Female Sea King, he’s fine.

After waiting in line for a while.

“Xi Ya, your turn~”

Feili finishes her draw and steps aside, gesturing with her hand to offer Xi Ya the floor.

Xi Ya steps up, reaches into the draw box, and pinches the last lot inside.

Just as he’s about to pull it out, he sees Feili standing across from him, smiling at him.

“You’re done with your draw. Why are you still standing there staring at me?”

He stops what he’s doing and eyes Feili warily.

“Mhm~ I’m just curious which group Xi Ya will draw.”

Feili leans over the edge of the table, peering down into the opening of the box.

Seeing this, Xi Ya shoves his hand in deeper, using his arm to block the Cave Entrance.

“Curious my foot. There’s only one lot left in there. Just check the registration sheet and see which group is empty—you’d know my group anyway.”

“That’s no fun. I just want to see Xi Ya pull it out himself.”

“Go play somewhere else. What’s there to see?”

Feili’s stare is making Xi Ya’s skin crawl.

He just wants to get rid of her.

“It’s plenty fun to see~”

Xi Ya clicks his tongue.

The moment Feili isn’t looking at the box, he yanks out the lot in one swift motion, then slaps his other hand over it.

He steps back and quietly peeks at the lot in his palm.

But before looking, he asks:

“What group did you get?”

Feili chuckles and generously holds her own lot up beside her ear, giving it a little shake.

Xi Ya can see it clearly—”6.”

Group 6, huh?

Then he’d better not be Group 6.

Xi Ya glances at the lot in his hand.

It’s “9.”

Phew~ Scared him half to death.

So it’s Group 9 after all…

Xi Ya relaxes his grip and is about to walk over to tease Feili when he notices she’s still staring at him with that same unnerving smile.

“Why are you still looking at me?”

“Mhm~ I noticed Xi Ya let out a sigh of relief, and I was thinking—maybe Xi Ya read the lot upside down~”

As she speaks, her eyes flick toward the lot in his hand.

Xi Ya freezes.

Something’s wrong.

Wait.

There are only eight groups total.

Where did Group 9 come from?

Damn it!

It’s Group 6!

How did he actually end up in the same group as Feili?!

He stands there, stunned, the lot in his hand crumpled into a tight strip.

Feili smiles and walks over to Xi Ya, waving a hand in front of his face.

Once she confirms he hasn’t short-circuited, she says with a teasing lilt:

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you~”

Then she lets out another little laugh at him and turns around to register her group number.

Xi Ya stares at the “6” on the paper, wanting to cry but no tears coming.

He’s going to get beaten up by Feili.

Xi Ya walks up to the Spectator Seats and plops down on a random seat near the edge.

He looks across the arena and spots Griffin and Kaelan, two instructors, also coming to watch.

Those two sure love spectating.

They were both there the other day when he had that Sword Duel with Keluolunsi—Xi Ya noticed them the moment the match started.

Every time the Academy holds any kind of competition, they show up to watch.

Especially Griffin Professor—he’s so busy with his Magic research, yet he never misses a single match.

Honestly.

If Kaelan’s got nothing better to do, fine, but you’re just going to join in on the fun too?

No more research, is that it?

Those two instructors show up a lot in the Game’s background as well.

Watching them chat and react in the Spectator Seats is pretty entertaining, especially Griffin—every time Feili wins, he jumps up and slaps his knee like he just lost money betting.

At the thought of that image, Xi Ya smiles, and his mind drifts back to the Ranking Tournament.

His matches are all scheduled late, and the one against Feili is dead last.

At least it delays the beating—a small consolation for his nerves.

Not far away, Dailina spots Xi Ya.

She walks over and sits down beside him, seeing the lifeless look on his face.

Curious, she asks:

“Xi Ya, what’s wrong?”

“Sigh~ Nothing much. Just got put in the same group as Feili.”

Xi Ya sighs.

“Huh? Then you two are going to be opponents?”

“Yeah. Nothing I can do about it—just bad luck.”

Xi Ya thinks back to how Feili seemed to dawdle for half a minute when it was her turn to draw.

He wonders what she was up to, and a suspicion creeps in—maybe she was secretly swapping lots.

No, impossible.

By the time it was her turn, there were only two lots left.

If she switched them around, the registration later would show one group with too many people and another with too few.

Fine.

So it really is just bad luck—both remaining lots were 6.

Xi Ya props his head on his hand and glances at Dailina, noticing she seems a little down.

“Dailina, what group are you in?”

“Group 3…”

Group 3?

That’s not good.

“I’m in the same group as Lady Aishalier… The other students in my group seem really strong too. I probably can’t beat them…”

Dailina lowers her head as she speaks.

“Don’t lose heart, Dailina. Just do your best—that’s what matters. You’ve got this.”

Xi Ya encourages her.

“Mhm.”

Dailina puts on a smile.

“You too, Xi Ya. I hope you can beat Feili.”

Him beat Feili?

Yeah, no.

Even ten of him wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Cough, cough. I’ll try my best.”

Xi Ya turns his face away, feeling guilty.

All he hopes for is a loss that isn’t too embarrassing.