326 Chapter 326: Which City District? (1/2)
”Divine Divination Academy, Aurora City District!”
The only reason why I actually heard that, out of all the other school announcements, was because Ding Ke Po and his teammates reacted to it in their usual boisterous fashion. The moment they heard which city district they were assigned to, they began chatting animatedly and discussing possibilities for the qualifiers.
”Jing Tian Academy, Aurora City District!”
”Oh, we're assigned to Aurora City District?” I asked, scarcely believing myself. At least it wasn't Tallarab City District – while the city was a lovely place, and the people were great, I sucked at desert warfare. I dislike sand – I avoided the beach as much as possible – and I hated the heat. That said, I wasn't very fond of the cold too, but I was at least used to it.
”Heh.” Ding Ke Po looked over in our direction and grinned. ”Fate has put us together! Don't worry, our Divine Divination Academy will take good care of you!”
”You ought to take care of yourselves first,” Craig Carlson responded derisively. ”Before worrying about others.”
The middle-aged guy continued to announce the assignments for the other academy teams, and I drifted off again. Finally, at long last, he finished announcing the very last academy and the city district they were assigned to, and smiled.
”That's it for the assignments. We'll send you the specific details of the assignments and the content of the qualifiers later. Needless to say, it will be heavily team-based. So ensure that you all work together! All participants, be reminded that you are to gather at the Stuart train station before 6am tomorrow morning. We will have trains taking you to your respective city districts from there.”
”Huh? That's it?” Kureha Franklin murmured, puzzled.
”What about the rules of the qualifiers?” Lilith Porter asked, looking worried. Lady, did you not just hear the guy literally say that he will send us the specific details for the content of the qualifiers later? She reminded me of those guys complaining in the forums without actually reading through the posts of other people (but expecting other people to read theirs and hypocritically attacking them for not reading their posts).
Castian turned completely pale as he went rigid atop his seat. He clenched his fists tightly, looking extremely worried.
He realized that if the organizers weren't going to announce the rules for the qualifiers, then it would be difficult for him and his allies to plan. They weren't even sure what format the qualifiers would take, or how they were going to compete – it was entirely possible that the lower-ranked teams wouldn't be able to ally or band together to gang up on the higher-ranked teams, depending on the circumstances or rules of the tournament.
”Of course!” Ding Ke Po was crowing for some reason. ”There is no reason for the tournament organizers to give us the rules right away! They planned to surprise us from the start, to keep us on our feet, and to test our adaptability!”
”He's right, you know.” Harrison Reed did a pose that would make Morgan Freeman proud. ”This isn't the first time that teams from various academies decided to form coalitions and band together in order to gang up on other teams. However, that obviously is unethical and should be considered against the rules and spirit of the tournament. So they're going to keep their cards close to their chests for now, and minimize the schemings and conspiracies. The tournament organizers want to see our strength, adaptability, skill and determination, not schemes and insidious plots. After all, backstabbing each other isn't going to lead to a healthy environment for mages who are supposed to work together and fight alongside each other in the future.”
”Exacta!” Ding Ke Po was now imitating an Arrancar. ”As expected of the Captain!”
We all stared at him, and he suddenly realized how embarrassing his antics were. Clearing his throat, he withdrew quietly back to his seat.
”Wouldn't that put us lower-ranked teams at a disadvantage, though?” Dong Fang Yue Chu asked, concerned.
”Are you buying that ranking bullshit?” I asked, annoyed. ”Rankings are not absolute. They don't determine the outcome of the match. And if our opponents prove to be stronger and more powerful than us, then they deserve to win. They deserve to be ranked higher than us. What, should they handicap themselves to give the rest of us a chance? How is that fair for them?”
”I think what Richard is trying to say is that these teams worked hard and sacrificed a lot to achieve the rank that they currently possess, and if you want to attain similar achievements, you should work hard and become stronger instead of plotting behind other people's backs and allying with other people to unfairly gang up on them.”
Theodore Hammond managed to surmise my statements in a more tactful and less offensive manner.
”Yeah, that's what I meant to say. I guess. Sorry.”
In any case, that was all we could do for now. There was no point thinking too much about this. Whatever happen would happen, and no amount of worrying would change that. All we could do right now was wait for the details.
”Well…that's that. I guess we should get going then.”
Harrison's words were marked with the furor of students rising from their seats and making their way to the exit. I caught sight of Lilith and a few other friends from other schools, and exchanged nods with them.
”Whoa! Why do you know Lilith Porter and Charles Lacroix?!” Ding Ke Po demanded when he saw me greet them from afar.
Pushing my glasses, I smiled and strode off, but not without a parting remark.
”That's none of your business.”
*
The next day, we arrived at the train station as stipulated by the tournament organizers. Even though it was six in the morning, the station was already packed full with students, with over five thousand students trying to gather into it. There were so many that we spilled out into the square outside the station, and not everyone could make it to the platform.
We weren't supposed to. There were already tournament staff in the area, overseeing the movements and transport of the students.
”Did everyone receive the stuff that the TOs sent out last night?” Harrison asked everyone as we gathered on the square.
”Yup!”
Right around 9pm last night, each of us received an email, which contained attachments in the form of a file. A tournament packet containing all the details of the tournament qualifiers, including vital information.
One of those vital pieces of information was being projected into the air right now when Harrison opened it with his smartpone to display a holographic display.
”This is a map of Aurora City and the terrain surrounding it. And just like the training camp we had under Instructor Feng Hai, there are certain objectives, which are marked out by locations on the map.”