Due to being stunned, Lina was unable to do anything to defend herself. Tessa's kick landed, and Lina's body flew backward before landing on her back on the floor with a thud.
The cheers of the students rippled in the arena. The students of Greenfield Academy were literally going crazy in joy, together with a few other Academies that also wanted Tessa to win.
Meanwhile, the students of Blackstone Academy were unable to say anything. Tessa won fair and square, so there was nothing they could even say.
"Haha! I knew that girl named Tessa would win!"
"She's not even a student of your Academy, bro. You seem more happy than her own classmates."
"Shut up! I'm planning to ask her out after the tournament, hehe."
The announcer grinned as he glanced at Tessa from above before looking at the crowd.
"Haha! We have our winner for the first fight of this second stage of the tournament. A student who was overwhelmed by attacks, but still came out victorious... Tessa Silverhart!!"
The students cheered again.
"Now, without wasting time, let's move on to the next fight of the second stage!"
Tessa and Lina walked down from the platform, and they were greeted with a lady who held vials in her hands.
She gave one to Tessa and one to Lina, and immediately after they drank it, all their injuries were instantly healed.
'I did it,' Tessa thought as she sat down in the front row, joining the other students who would soon fight.
A small smile formed on her face. 'I'll get stronger than this, no matter what...'
In the room where the other participants were seated, they all watched as Tessa won the fight.
"YES! Take that!" Ron suddenly exclaimed, making the other participants in the room, especially the three remaining students from Blackstone Academy, look at him with annoyed gazes.
A smile instantly formed on Arin's face. "Nice..."
He knew Tessa was getting stronger each day. He could feel it... She was working hard to increase the power of her Spells.
"Now we've successfully passed the second stage of the tournament," he muttered to himself.
'Since a lot of things have changed from what originally happened in the novel, I don't know how many stages are left...'
He looked around as he squinted his eyes. 'And where's Alex? He still hasn't returned since that man came to get him.'
Arin had a feeling that something was going on, but it wasn't like he could just walk out of the room.
Ron suddenly tapped Arin's shoulder. "Hey, where do you think that man took Alex to?"
Before Arin could even say anything, Alex walked into the room and walked towards them under the gazes of the other students.
"Hey bro, I was just asking Arin about you," Ron said as Alex sat down.
Arin noticed that Alex had quite an annoyed expression on his face.
"Is something the issue?" Arin asked.
Alex looked at them with a wry smile on his face. "Uhm, it seems you all will have to win the tournament without me..."
"Finally! This marks the end of the second stage of this tournament!" the announcer exclaimed, making the students cheer in excitement.
In the second stage of the tournament, seven Mages and seven Warriors participated, each representing one of the seven Mage Academies and Warrior Academies.
The matchups were determined randomly, so some Mages ended up fighting fellow Mages. In the end, only three of the seven matches were Mage versus Warrior.
Out of the fourteen participants, four Mages and three Warriors emerged victorious.
The other three Mages and four Warriors lost, and they were sent to the same place where those who lost in the first stage were.
"So, great students of this Kingdom, there will be a one-hour break!" the announcer exclaimed.
He continued. "After that, the third and final stage of this tournament will be held! I know you all can't wait!"
With that, the announcer descended from the air, and the students began walking about, talking about the battles that took place and buying a few things from the sellers who were walking around.
Inside the room, the lady who brought the vials before entered inside before speaking. "You all can go out for the break, but failure to return back to this room five minutes before the third stage begins will lead to instant disqualification of the entire Academy."
Immediately after saying that, she left the room.
The students also began leaving, together with Alex, Arin and Ron.
Tessa and the others who participated in the second stage were already outside. They had already been told the same thing by the lady.
Alex, Arin and Ron exited the building and began walking towards where the chairs were located.
In a few minutes, they arrived at the front row where Tessa was seated.
"Ha! That was a good one, Tessa," Ron, as enthusiastic as ever, said, as he sat down on one of the chairs.
"I agree," Arin said with a smile.
Alex also sat down before saying, "I wasn't able to watch the battle because the King sent for me."
"Thank you, everyone," Tessa said with a smile.
Before any of them could continue talking, two individuals suddenly interrupted them.
It was Lina and Hector.
With a bright smile on her face, Lina gestured for them to follow her.
"You guys, come with me!"
They followed her, and after a few minutes, they arrived at a building inside the arena that looked like a canteen.
Immediately after they entered, the thought-provoking scent of roasted meat, beef, juices, and even stew filled their noses.
Well, apart from Arin, the look on the faces of the others screamed one thing.
Ron grinned as he dipped his hands into his pockets. "Bills on me..."
'Bro is too rich,' Arin thought.
In that instant, they all began ordering multitudes of food, and as the 'rich young master' that he was, Ron didn't bother to stop them.
Though, while this was going on, a sensitive conversation was happening in this same arena.
A conversation that was related to the fate of humans...