The festival grounds were louder than Eira had imagined.
Even before the competition began, the air felt heavy with mana and expectation. Students from different schools filled the field, their uniforms marked with symbols of rank and magic type. Some laughed too loudly. Some stood stiff with nerves. Others simply watched everything around them like predators measuring prey.
Eira stood at the edge of the preparation area, adjusting the strap of his bag and trying not to feel small.
He was thirteen, young and naive, so were the rest of participents.
Kara had warned him about this place. Lior had joked about it. Ethan had worried over it.
Still, he had come.
An official waved his staff, and glowing numbers appeared above different groups.
"Group forty-two."
Eira stepped forward.
Four others were already there.
A boy with crackling lightning around his fingers looked at him once and frowned.
"We were short one person," he muttered.
A girl with wind magic floating around her shoulders shrugged. "He'll do."
The earth mage glanced at Eira's simple clothes and sighed. "Just don't slow us down."
"I won't," Eira said quietly.
The horn sounded, causing ringing in his ear too loud, making its noise for about 30 seconds. Eira was surprised as the ground shifted beneath him.
Walls rose from the earth. Wind currents formed between floating platforms. Some areas shimmered with hidden traps. He had never encountered such a magnificent display of magic. He was in awe, but the rest acted casually, none of them even moved an inch, no surprised look on their face; they were dead serious.
The first round had begun.
The goal was simple: reach the center marker.
The path was not as simple as its rule.
The group moved fast following their leader. On the surface, they all looked like a group, but under it, they made sure their talents were displayed. Players usually take one of two paths: hide their ability as much as they can, so that opponents don't target or learn about their weakness. And then there are people like Eira's team, who are confident in their ability and ready to pick a fight with whoever stands in front of them. Each displayed their true strength and stood out in the crowd.
They didn't wait for him. So Eira followed without using his magic, just with strength, overcoming the little obstacles left for the last person in the elite group.
He ran across unstable stone. Jumped broken gaps.
Rolled under falling debris. He didn't use magic. He used the instinct he learned to yield by observing the adventurers.
Twice, he avoided traps before the others noticed them. Once, he grabbed the wind girl's arm and pulled her back just before the ground collapsed beneath her.
She stared at him. "How did you see that?"
"I felt it," he said.
She didn't understand — but she nodded anyway.
Near the center, the chaos thickened. Groups collided. Magic flared.
That was when Eira noticed her.
She stood on a raised stone platform, calm and still, while everything around her burned and shattered.
Light green hair tied loosely behind her back.
Pink eyes focused and sharp.
Flowers bloomed beneath her feet where she stepped.
Lyria.
She lifted her hand. Vines lashed outward. They weren't aimed at Eira. But he reacted anyway.
He ducked.
The vines snapped through empty air where his head had been. Her eyes flicked to him. Luck or skillful? She wasn't able to decide, but her eyes remembered his face.
Then she turned away.
His group reached the center marker.
They had qualified.
"You're not useless," the lightning boy admitted.
Eira almost smiled, but they turned their back before he could even reply.
---
The second round announcement followed quickly.
" Participants will pair into teams of two. Enter the dungeon and retrieve the core crystal. Maximum ten teams advance."
Students rushed to form pairs.
Friends grouped, and everyone turned their backs. Strong students gathered quickly. Popular ones were surrounded.
Eira stood alone.
He expected to stay that way, preparing to do it alone. Remembering all the people who had shown him support, he wanted to prove that they were right to place their good luck.
Then someone stopped in front of him.
Lyria.
Up close, she was smaller than he expected. Not fragile — just… human. Not the popular god-tier kid. Just a pretty and cute kid witha frown on her face.
"You," she said.
He blinked. "Me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She studied him carefully. "Because you dodged my vines."
"That was instinct," Eira replied, taken back from her reasoning. She has noticed that very small detail in the chaos.
"That's what makes me curious."
People around them whispered.
Some stared and cussed at the no-name commoner.
The red-haired noble boy clenched his jaw at their unexpected partnership.
"I'm Lyria," she said.
"Eira. Eira Lumi, you can call me El. That's what Neo calls me." Eira spoke, trying to be friendly.
"Whatever. Don't get in my way. I will get the core myself and don't do anything unnecessary that will get you killed."
"I wasn't planning to."
That earned a faint smile.
---
The dungeon swallowed them. The entrance sealed behind them. Eira was still not used to the magic, while she stood perfectly elegant.
Blue crystals embedded in the walls glowed faintly.
The air was damp and cold.
They walked in silence at first.
Then a spider-like creature dropped from the ceiling.
Lyria raised her hand.
Thorns pierced it instantly.
She didn't look back.
Later, a floor trap shimmered faintly.
Eira grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back.
A blade swept through the air where her leg would have been.
She froze.
Then looked at him.
"You saw that?"
"Yes."
She watched him more carefully after that.
They moved smoothly together.
She attacked with full force. He noticed. She defended. Her magic was mesmerizing.
He warned.
They found the crystal together.
When they returned, people called it luck.
They didn't care how close the timing had been.
They didn't care how many traps they avoided.
They didn't care how she had chosen him.
They only saw what they wanted to see.
A commoner being carried by an S-rank noble girl.
---
The red-haired noble's anger burned openly now.
"This is ridiculous," he snapped to his friends. "He doesn't belong here."
His father sat in the noble section, watching with narrowed eyes.
"He's disrupting things," the man said coldly. "Make sure he's removed."
---
Before the final round could begin, officials gathered.
Whispers spread.
Then an announcement was made.
"Participant Eira of the outskirts village is disqualified due to age and lack of formal academy registration."
The words hit harder than any blow.
The crowd murmured.
Some looked relieved.
Some looked annoyed.
Lyria stared at the officials. "You allowed him to compete."
"You were allowed to choose," one said. "We are allowed to correct mistakes."
Eira bowed slightly.
"I understand."
He turned and walked away.
---
That night, he sat alone outside the city walls.
The adventurers found him there.
Kara crossed her arms. "They did that on purpose."
Lior scowled. "Cowards."
Ethan sighed. "Politics."
Eira smiled faintly. "It's fine."
Kara knelt in front of him. "You're not done."
He nodded.
"I'll keep training."
"Illegally?" Lior asked.
Eira smiled slightly wider. "Probably."
Kara laughed.
"That's our boy."