Construction was well underway as the days passed, and the tournament was set to commence the next morning.
The remaining weeks had flown by quickly.
Between school and daily training, all contestants pushed themselves to increase their mana and add the final touches to their moves.
Mages and swordsmen with construction-type abilities were stationed across the building sites, shaping steel, stone, and wood with their magic.
The area was strictly off limits to anyone without authorization.
Everyone focused intensely on their own preparations—sharpening weapons, enhancing equipment, refining techniques, and perfecting finishing moves.
Well… everyone except Team Reginald.
Rex, Jayden, Nadia, Luke, Sarah, and even Myra were all fast asleep during the day, sprawled across their beds while the rest of the academy participants was buzzing in frantic last-minute preparation.
This was because Luke had suggested the group have a massive free-for-all to expose each other to as many abilities as possible.
They fought until almost midnight, the training grounds glowing with mana clashes long after everyone else had gone to sleep.
By the end, they were completely mana-depleted, bruised, and exhausted—desperately needing rest.
Now, at two in the afternoon, Jayden finally stepped onto the training grounds.
Sunlight reflected off the polished tiles as he walked out holding his instruction book.
"I don't want to sound conceited," he muttered to himself, "but I honestly don't need to be training right now. At my level, I feel like I can beat any student during the tournament. Worst case scenario…"
He glanced down at the seal constricting his mana, the faint runic glow hugging his wrist.
"But I'm nowhere near the level where I can fight any of the Celestials… or even beat Dad. Not yet. So I have to increase my mana, and this is the best method." He lifted the book briefly.
Jayden sat cross-legged on the ground beneath the warm afternoon sun and closed his eyes.
He was preparing to use the latest skill he had obtained from the book the previous night. He had been far too tired to try it then, so today would be his first attempt.
Flipping to his bookmarked page, he reread the instructions.
The new skill wasn't a regular attack—it was an aura extension.
An aura extension was exactly what it sounded like: stretching one's mana aura outward. The distance depended on the amount of free mana one had accumulated.
Another major factor was one's control; aura extensions allowed special moves to be performed within the expanded space depending on a mage's elemental attribute.
Luke, for example, having mastered wind magic to near perfection, could spread his mana across a forest-wide radius, unleashing countless near-invisible wind slashes capable of cutting anything within that domain.
Jayden read the instructions again slowly.
The key was to visualize the glowing lines that appeared on his body when activating Logic Disruption—now extending from his skin, crawling across the ground, and forming a boundary.
"Aura Extension: Chamber of Time," Jayden whispered.
The golden lines crawled from his skin like serpents of light, slithering across the ground for nearly seven meters before curving upward—forming a half-completed dome.
"Come on… come on…" Jayden strained, sweat running down his forehead.
Suddenly, the golden line shattered like glass, bursting into glittering sparks that vanished with the wind.
"No!!" Jayden shouted, slamming his fist into the ground.
He wanted this skill badly—not for combat but for training.
The skill allowed him to slow time within his aura extension. But since time couldn't move at different speeds in one space, the skill instead created an alternate duplicate dimension, mirroring whatever area his mana covered.
Only the caster could access it.
After countless attempts, inhaling and exhaling with sharp focus, Jayden finally succeeded.
The dome sealed fully, humming in quiet golden resonance.
The goal now was simple—channel mana and absorb mana. Repeat endlessly.
Ordinarily, this training method took two months for geniuses in magic.
For normal people, half a year to master mana control but Jayden had all the time he needed.
He created a clone—one of the skills he had learned during the past two weeks—and left the clone in the normal world.
"Just in case." He missed.
"I'll probably be out by evening," he thought, unaware of how time twisted inside the subspace.
Sabrina Page strolled through the streets of Avarice. Children laughed, parents chatted, shops bustled, and the warm breeze carried scents of roasted bread and fresh fruits.
The entire scene irritated her—her urge to kill barely restrained beneath the surface.
She approached the construction site.
Towering structures rose rapidly as workers used magic to assemble stadium walls, support beams, and massive stands.
Bright arcs of mana flashed like fireworks as mages pushed the limits of their craft.
"With magic, even a stadium this big can be built in a day," Sabrina murmured with a twisted smile.
She neared the gate, but a guard stepped in front of her.
"Sorry, miss, but you're not allo—" He paused. "Juliet? Is that you? Long time no see. You look amazing."
He blushed, clearly stunned. He knew Juliet, and Sabrina—disguised perfectly—recognized him too.
They had been friends once, a time Sabrina had long forgotten.
She forced a sweet smile.
She wore a black velvet gown clinging tightly to her curves, a thigh-high slit and dangerously low neckline revealing just enough to disarm any man.
Her long black hair flowed like silk, and her violet eyes shimmered with hypnotic allure.
"Don't flatter me, Rohan," Sabrina said with a shy blush. "But… I want you now."
She lifted his hand and gently pressed it against her chest.
"You like it, don't you?" she whispered, her voice a soft moan dripping with seduction.
Blood trickled comically from his nose.
Then Sabrina's expression turned ice-cold.
"Ignite."
Purple flames erupted across his body. His skin blistered, flesh burning away instantly.
His charred corpse collapsed.
Sabrina stretched out her hand.
"Necromonia."
A swirling purple portal opened beneath the corpse, dragging it into her pocket dimension.
"That's another undead to add to my army," she giggled.
Moving silently beneath an invisibility cloak, she slipped through the still-building stadium.
Workers passed by her unknowingly, their footsteps echoing across the unfinished arena.
Reaching the center field, she pulled out a black misty orb.
She pushed it into the ground where it phased through the earth, disappearing completely—leaving not a trace.
Satisfied, she slipped away unnoticed.
"I could have used this cloak earlier… but experimenting with new ways to kill people never gets old," she whispered, laughing softly to herself.
In the Avarice Secret Service headquarters—ASS (a name they were desperately trying to change)—six figures sat around a long polished table in the meeting hall.
It was the evening before the tournament. Sarah, Luke, the King, and the heads of Security, Entertainment, and Organization gathered to discuss potential threats.
"We're having this meeting to ensure full security coverage," the King began. "It would be a disaster to have intruders or unforeseen incidents. And regarding the Sabrina Page situation—I decided to call for your assistance. Luke, you'll be present, won't you?"
"Of course. What father would miss seeing his son win the tournament?" Luke said proudly.
The King chuckled. The Reginalds truly were something else. Cocky, but they backed up their cockiness with results.
"Is Sabrina Page truly such a threat?" he asked. "Sarah, you're the only one who has recently fought her."
Sarah's expression hardened. "She uses necromancy, undead soldiers, and illusion magic. We still have no idea what her true motive is or what else she's capable of. We must proceed with extreme caution."
"In that case, Karlian," the King said, turning to the head of security, "keep as many guards on standby as possible."
They discussed possible scenarios, prepared countermeasures, and eventually adjourned—hoping with quiet urgency for a safe and successful tournament.