418 Chapter 418: Absorption (2/2)

\”Are you trying to do a kill-team here in the national tournaments?\” Dong Fang Yue Chu joked. Then he snickered. \”Knowing you, Richie, you just might actually pull it off.\”

\”Oh yeah, I still remember how Richard team-killed Crowley's Grand Arcane Academy all those months ago.\” Lily was getting excited. \”Maybe he'll replicate a miracle right here, right now!\”

\”One match at a time,\” I told her before she could get too carried away. \”Before we talk about team-killing or whatever, at least allow me to get through this match. I might be able to exhaust their fourth member, but I definitely can't guarantee that I can win.\”

\”Agreed.\” Harrison nodded again. \”One match at a time. Focus on the next opponent, and we'll see where that takes us. Otherwise Craig will step in for the fifth round. But…\” he placed a hand on my shoulder. \”Don't push yourself. We still need you for the next round. Don't destroy yourself to ensure we get through to the next round, only for you to be unavailable for the semifinals against Pendragon Academy.\”

\”Ha ha, Captain, you're talking as if we're already assured passage into the next round!\” Craig chuckled. \”I like your confidence.\”

\”Actually…if we're talking about progressing to the next round…\” This time, it was Bu Fan who stepped in. \”If Richard does fall in the fourth round, send me out for the fifth round instead of Craig.\” He nodded in Craig's direction. \”Since you need him for the team match, it might be a better idea if I do the last individual match instead. That way, even if I somehow lose, you'll still have all the core members for the team match intact.\”

\”Good point,\” Harrison agreed. \”We'll do that then.\” He then turned to me. \”Good luck, Richard. Let's see if you can gift us a miracle.\”

\”I'll do my best.\” Taking a deep breath, I sat down on the devastated stage and closed my eyes to take a breather. Right now, every second was precious, and I needed to recoup as much mana as possible. Luckily, I had absorbed a great amount of mana from Miura, so I was able to recover a lot faster than I would have normally.

Over at Saint Teresa Academy's side, Kureha and her team were in turmoil.

\”How is this possible?!\”

\”We lost three individual matches in a row!? To the same person?!\”

\”What's going on?!\”

\”Just who is that guy?!\”

\”…I should have known.\” Kureha Franklin bit back her frustration as she listened to her teammates bitch and whine. \”I told you not to underestimate him. Didn't I tell you that I've fought alongside him before? And this isn't even his true power. I teamed up with him and Troy King once to fight against a dragon, and I remember telling you guys how he nuked an entire mountain range with a single spell?\”

\”Yes, and he still hasn't summoned that black dragon you showed us.\” Miura mused, her fingers on her lips. Then she smiled mischievously. \”Is it true that he rejected Cecilia Stuart? And she has decided not to pursue him?\”

\”Yeah,\” Kureha replied distractedly, not sure what this had to do with anything.

\”You don't feel anything for him, Captain?\”

\”Feel anything?\” Kureha frowned, puzzled. \”I feel that he's quite the dangerous opponent. As I said, I fought alongside him before, and I know how strong he is.\” She scowled. \”This is why I told you guys not to underestimate him! Just because he's from a B ranked school like Jing Tian Academy doesn't mean he's weak!\”

\”No, that's not what I meant…but I'm sort of relieved.\” Miura giggled. \”If neither you nor Captain Cecilia wants him, then I might just take him for myself.\”

\”That's assuming he doesn't already have a girlfriend,\” Lute Dragoon replied. Then he glowered at her. \”You're supposed to be in my harem!\”

\”You already have over a hundred girls fawning and spoiling you.\” Miura tried not to roll her eyes, especially when she felt the intense glare from Lute's harem, which included his mother, his stepmother, his half-sister, his childhood friend, a princess, and a hundred other girls that he met throughout his life and fell for him by virtue of him being a harem protagonist written by an Indonesian writer who loved harem manga, light novels and anime (you could tell that he was a gigantic fan of High School DxD). \”And let me guess, even if does have, you'll just steal her from him anyway.\”

\”I can't help it! I was created to be the ultimate Alpha Male, completely irresistible to all beautiful girls in the world! There is no girl who won't fall in love with me! Gotta catch 'em all!\”

His fellow team members regarded him with disgust…well, mostly. Eliza was too taken with her cousin, Melina, to have any interest in guys. Honestly, Kureha did find herself somewhat attracted to Lute, despite his obnoxious personality, and Rossetti found him cute. Miura admitted that he was definitely handsome, but she did find his contrived density and poorly conceptualized \”innocence\” and \”naivety\” disgusting. Not to mention, his creator would leak out at some times and display his true arrogance. The guys definitely didn't like him that much.

\”Whatever. I just like to keep my options open. He's my kind of guy, and that wood magic he used? He didn't just absorb my mana. He sort of captured my heart.\” Miura laughed. \”Jokes aside, he's very similar to me. It's too bad I haven't reached the point where I can summon a demon with my black magic, otherwise I might have stood a chance.\”

\”He smashed through your Garden of Black Roses, which nobody except our captain had done so before.\” Eliza looked glum. \”I made the stupid mistake of underestimating him…I should have known he was a formidable foe.\”

\”Richard didn't actually smash through my Garden, to be fair.\” Miura stroked several silky strands of her hair. \”He sucked my mana dry, which caused me to be unable to maintain my Garden of Black Roses. A very different approach, one that relies on more insidious, scheming methods instead of the usual brute force and raw strength tactics that you guys are so found of.\” She chuckled. \”Like I said, he's my type.\”

\”Anyway…\” Kureha glanced at Rossetti and Kufa. \”Are either of you confident of winning against him?\”

She had seen me remaining on stage and she guessed correctly that I was staying for the fourth round.

\”Uh, well…he has quite the troublesome magic…\” Rossetti began timidly. On the other hand, Kufa stepped forward and bowed.

\”Captain, if you don't mind, I would like to face him.\”

\”Oh? Kufa, you think you can win?\”

\”Who knows?\” the dark-haired Samurai shrugged. \”But I would very much like to test my blade against his. He's the same class as me…in a fashion. But therein lies his weakness…his sword skills are not as polished as mine, mainly because he focused on sharpening his summoning abilities instead. If that's the case, I think I can exploit his lack of swordsmanship and prevail.\”

\”All right then.\” Kureha nodded without any hesitation. \”I'll be counting on you.\”