Combined with that smile, it was almost as if the boy felt relieved, like a man freed of chains after years of captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2019Maybe he resented the Grand Magus too,\u2019 Raze thought. \u2019Maybe he hated being used as a pawn in their schemes. Another child caught up in a war between giants.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a moment, Raze almost pitied him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was one silver lining to the ordeal: through his extraction, Raze had absorbed fragments of mana and gained several affinities the students once wielded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mana itself meant little. His reservoir as a Seven Star mage was far beyond theirs; their contribution was a drop of water tossed into a lake. But the affinities, that was different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the Central mages specialized in fire, an element Raze lacked. Now he carried it within him, a tool to refine later. But the most valuable prize had come from George: the gravitational affinity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlocking it opened a new frontier. Gravitational magic was rare and devastating, but unlike other affinities it grew in proportion to the strength of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raze\u2019s lips twitched at the thought. His Pagna-forged body, honed through brutal training and fueled by Qi, could turn that affinity into one of the strongest forces in existence. Sha Mo\u2019s legendary feats, crushing fields of enemies with a gesture, pulling armies into the dirt, suddenly seemed attainable. Perhaps even surpassable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Time magic, gravitational magic, dark magic. His arsenal grew with every battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not everything could be taken, though. Kayzel\u2019s super speed wasn\u2019t an affinity, but a unique trait of his bloodline. Traits like that, like Enaxx\u2019s ability to clone himself, couldn\u2019t be extracted. Not that it mattered. Raze was already faster than Kayzel, and against the foes waiting ahead, speed alone would never be enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“What do we do now?” Moze asked, glancing around the swirling dome of dust and wind. “Do you want us to keep up the spell? If we clear the air, people will see what happened. Won\u2019t we get in trouble?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Hey, I think we\u2019re forgetting someone,” Yolden added. He pointed toward Kelly, standing awkwardly off to the side. “Isn\u2019t she still part of the Central Academy team?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All eyes turned. Kelly immediately raised her hands in mock surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Don\u2019t worry about her,” Raze answered flatly. “She\u2019s with us.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Right… but that still leaves us with a problem, doesn\u2019t it?” Piba frowned. “Technically, the match won\u2019t end until she\u2019s unconscious.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kelly rolled her eyes and groaned. “Oh, for crying out loud. Don\u2019t even think about attacking me. Look, I\u2019ll make it easy.” She dramatically flopped onto the ground, closed her eyes, and went limp. “See? Knocked out. Totally defeated. You can all relax.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wilton students exchanged confused glances but said nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“So should we stop the magic?” Chiba asked. Sweat beaded her forehead as she struggled to maintain the massive spell. “It\u2019s not that hard to sustain, but talking and casting at the same time is rough.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raze considered the situation carefully. The dome of dust and wind had concealed everything from the outside, but that wasn\u2019t its only purpose. It was also a test. If the teachers, or Ibarin himself, had truly cared about the students\u2019 safety, they would have intervened by now. Yet none of them had stepped inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That told him all he needed to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2019Ibarin expected them to win,\u2019 Raze thought darkly. \u2019He doesn\u2019t care if the Wilton students are injured. To him, they\u2019re disposable. And Wilton… he would have spoken up. He would have said something. But he\u2019s gone. I don\u2019t know how Ibarin will react when the truth reaches him.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raze walked over to Kelly. She peeked one eye open as he knelt beside her and pressed a small object into her palm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a communicator once used by Alter to keep in contact, normally linked through the markings of Idore. But Raze had altered its design. Now, it connected only to his own network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If the students are ever in danger, contact me immediately,” Raze said, his voice low but firm. Then, turning back to the others, he gave the final order. “Drop the spell.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wilton students exchanged glances, nervous but obedient. Slowly, the swirling dust began to thin, drifting away into the air until the stadium once again came into view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
****<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chapter 1483: Shattered Legacy<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Finally, the spell was beginning to fade. The swirling wind slowed, the wall of dust that had hidden everything inside settled grain by grain, and the crowd leaned forward in their seats, holding their breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was the moment they had all been waiting for, the reveal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even Ibarin, seated high above in the honored box, looked up from where his chin had rested lazily against his hand. His lips curled into a confident smirk. In his mind, the outcome was already decided. After setback after setback, after being forced to grit his teeth through Wilton\u2019s repeated victories, the Central Academy\u2019s pride was about to be restored. Victory was within his grasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Finally,”<\/em> Ibarin thought. “The Central Academy will prove once again that it is unrivaled. And if there are side effects from those pills… we\u2019ll dismiss them as temporary. An unfortunate consequence of training too hard. Nothing more. Nothing that cannot be explained away.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The last veil of dust drifted to the ground. Gasps echoed across the colosseum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The crowd froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every single Central Academy student lay sprawled on the battlefield, unconscious. Their glowing forms had dimmed to nothing, their bodies motionless, drained of every ounce of power. And opposite them, standing tall, battered but unbroken, was the full team from Wilton Academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For one heartbeat, silence blanketed the arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then the dam broke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The stands erupted in thunderous cheers, the noise so deafening it shook the very wards protecting the colosseum. People leapt to their feet, shouting and clapping until their palms were raw. Hats were tossed in the air. Students from other academies screamed in disbelief. For a brief moment, even the announcer was struck dumb, his mouth hanging open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “A complete… wipeout?” someone cried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They\u2019re all standing! All of them!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Look at the Central students, they\u2019re not even conscious! And Wilton… barely a scratch on them!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It can\u2019t be real! Has something like this ever happened before?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The disbelief spread like wildfire. Not only had Wilton defeated the Central Academy, the reigning giants of the magical world, but they had done so flawlessly. No casualties. No obvious injuries. For the first time in the history of the exchange, the so-called underdogs had humiliated the champions on every front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I don\u2019t think even the Central Academy has ever managed this,” another spectator muttered. “A complete team victory, without a single fighter falling.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Then… this is history. We\u2019ve just witnessed history.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n And beneath the awe was a rising undercurrent of suspicion. People were beginning to connect the dots. The tornado of dust, the concealment. The fact that no one had seen how Wilton pulled it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “They hid it,” someone whispered. “That dust storm… it wasn\u2019t just a tactic. It was to keep us from seeing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “From seeing what<\/em>?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nobody had the answer. And that mystery only fed the fire of curiosity, making Wilton\u2019s victory seem all the more legendary, all the more untouchable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The principals of the other academies sat stiffly in their private viewing deck. None offered congratulations. None moved to speak. Instead, each cast wary glances at one another, their gazes inevitably drifting toward the Grand Magus himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Ibarin, so often a man whose mana leaked out uncontrollably with his emotions, was still. His smirk had vanished. His face was unreadable, his aura contained. He sat like a statue, as though carved from stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The announcer, recovering from his shock, finally found his voice. “L-Ladies and gentlemen! The results are in! Wilton Academy are the winners of the group battle! Let\u2019s hear it for them!” His voice cracked with excitement as the crowd erupted once more. “And don\u2019t forget, tomorrow night, we will have the special teachers\u2019 event, followed by the closing ceremony of the magical exchange!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The cheers redoubled, the colosseum shaking with the sound. Students and guests began rising to their feet, flowing out in noisy, chaotic streams as they carried the news with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raze and the others did the same, walking quietly off the stage. Light mages hurried past them, rushing to tend to the unconscious Central Academy students. Their glowing hands hovered over bodies that were drained and broken in ways they could not understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Raze\u2019s mind was elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What will happen to them now?<\/em> he wondered. I saved their lives, but their futures are ruined. And what of Ibarin? He never came down, never confronted me like I thought he would. Which means… I\u2019ll have to move to my final plan. I can\u2019t wait any longer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, even the other principals could no longer endure the tense silence. Without a word to the Grand Magus, they rose from their seats and filed out, their expressions grim, their thoughts their own. None dared speak to him. None dared acknowledge what had just taken place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Ibarin remained seated long after the colosseum had emptied, long after the night sky had rolled in and the distant hum of festival celebrations drifted on the breeze. He sat alone, hands folded, staring at the battlefield below with a hollow look in his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What did I do wrong?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His fingers dug into the armrests of his chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did I not train them hard enough? Am I not fit, even as a Grand Magus, to lead the greatest academy in the world?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His thoughts twisted darker with every passing moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No. It wasn\u2019t me. It couldn\u2019t have been me. It must have been the pills. Yes, the pills weren\u2019t strong enough. That has to be it. Or perhaps… perhaps it was something else. That white-haired boy…<\/em> His teeth clenched. For Wilton\u2019s students to emerge without even a scratch, when mine were enhanced beyond their limits, there\u2019s no explanation. Unless… one of them has already reached the Eight Star level.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea chilled him. It was unthinkable. For a youth to climb that high, that fast, it shattered the very foundations of what he believed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Why?” he whispered aloud. “Why would anyone push so far? Unless…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paranoia twisted around him like a serpent. The students had come from nowhere, their power hidden, their origins unclear. They weren\u2019t normal Wilton students, that much was obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Were they raised in secret? Brought here deliberately? Is this a scheme to remove me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His fists clenched until his knuckles turned white.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is this Idore\u2019s work? Is he the one behind this? Did he set this entire event up to disgrace me? To strip me of my throne?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At last, Ibarin rose to his feet, his face shadowed and grim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Regardless,” he muttered, his voice low and venomous, “it appears I need to have a talk with my very best students… about their failure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n ***<\/p>\n\n\n\n ****<\/p>\n\n\n\n For updates for MWS and future works, please follow me on my social media below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram: Jksmanga<\/p>\n\n\n\n Patreon*: jksmanga<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the brutal events of the day, the Central Academy students did not scatter to celebrate like the rest of the participants and guests. Normally, after an event, they would return to their dorms, or slip away to one of the academy\u2019s private training facilities\u2014places that only they had the privilege of accessing. While other academies feasted, mingled, or enjoyed the nightly festival, Central\u2019s students would push themselves harder. They would spar, study, and train until exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Enjoyment was for the lesser. At least, that was the belief they had been taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now… things were different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group moved together as one, drifting through the lively festival streets. Lanterns glowed warmly above, laughter and chatter rippled through the air, and vendors called out, advertising skewers, dumplings, sweet pastries, and fried meats. The air smelled of roasted spice and sugar. Yet for the Central students, the sounds and smells seemed distant, muffled by the dull ringing of defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t just the loss. Losing was bitter enough, but they all sensed something far worse\u2014a hollowness inside them, an emptiness that went beyond disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the first time, the invisible hierarchy that had always hovered over them, with Kayzel at the top, had crumbled. They had all lost. All of them. No one was spared. And in that shared failure, they clung together, as though afraid of being left alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As they walked, guests and strangers greeted them kindly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Well fought!” one man said cheerfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Central was incredible, but Wilton… Wilton was just better this year. Any other year, and you would have taken the crown!” another reassured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The words were meant to comfort. Instead, they felt like salt in an open wound. The polite congratulations, the sympathy disguised as praise, made their chests tighten. They forced thin smiles, but the heaviness in their eyes told the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eventually, they found themselves at a long stretch of food stalls. The festival lights gleamed on colorful banners, and families bustled about with trays of grilled meat, steaming bowls of noodles, and sweet candied fruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Central group sat together on an empty bench, a line of weary faces side by side. Vendors brought plates of food, setting them down with polite bows. Yet not a single hand reached out. Bowls steamed untouched, meat cooled, and sweet buns went stale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silence weighed over them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kayzel raised his hand slightly. He muttered, his lips moving to cast a silence spell. But nothing happened. His eyes narrowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kelly noticed. With a flick of her wrist, she cast the spell for him. The shimmer of magic sealed them off from the outside world, allowing their words to remain private.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kayzel\u2019s shoulders sank. “I wanted to ask you all something,” he said quietly, staring at the untouched plate before him. “The healers mended our wounds. My body feels fine. But… do any of you feel it? Mana. Can you feel it in your cores at all?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The others looked up, startled. His words settled into their stomachs like stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I\u2019ve been drained before,” Kayzel continued. His eyes were shadowed. “I\u2019ve emptied myself completely of mana in battle. But this… this feels different. I\u2019ve never felt so empty. So… disconnected. I had to ask if it was the same for you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nannan\u2019s face paled. She closed her eyes, searching inward, but the silence in her body was absolute. “I can\u2019t feel anything,” she admitted. “Not even a spark. I can\u2019t use my trait anymore either. That\u2019s never happened before.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their unique traits required mana to manifest. Until one awakened a core, most never even realized if they possessed an affinity. For her trait to vanish\u2014it was as if something fundamental inside her had been stolen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Do you think…” Bones leaned forward, his voice low. “Do you think it was the Wilton students? That white-haired one, Raze?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kayzel shook his head slowly. “No. This… this feels different. It wasn\u2019t them.” He lifted his gaze, meeting theirs for the first time that evening. “It was the pills. It has to be. And if you want proof…” He tilted his chin toward Kelly. “She never took one. And she\u2019s the only one here who still has her magic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silence followed. Heavy. Unforgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They remembered the surge of energy when they had swallowed those small, glowing pills. The violent rush of mana that had flooded their bodies. It had been intoxicating, overwhelming. Power unlike anything they\u2019d ever known. Of course such strength came at a cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Shouldn\u2019t we… talk to the Grand Magus about it?” George asked cautiously. His voice trembled. “He was the one who gave them to us. If anyone knows what\u2019s happening to us, it\u2019s him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “No.” Kelly\u2019s reply came sharp, immediate. She sat forward, her eyes flashing with urgency. “That\u2019s the worst thing you could do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The others blinked at her. “What do you mean?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Can\u2019t you tell?” Kelly said, her voice dropping lower. “From the way he looked at us, the way he spoke? The Grand Magus is obsessed with winning. That\u2019s all he cares about. We lost. Do you really think he\u2019ll care what those pills did to you? He knew. He knew, and he gave them to you anyway. Your lives, your futures, your mana\u2014it didn\u2019t matter to him. All that mattered was victory.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her words were a blade cutting through the last threads of denial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nannan rose to her feet, fists clenched. “And what about you?” she snapped. “You didn\u2019t even use the pill. If you had, maybe\u2014just maybe\u2014we wouldn\u2019t have\u2014”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We would have lost,” Kayzel interrupted firmly, his voice like iron. The table fell silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He met each of their gazes in turn. “No matter what we did, no matter how hard we fought, that white-haired boy would have defeated us. And I agree with Kelly. The Grand Magus knew all along what those pills would do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n His words stripped away the last of their excuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The silence pressed heavier than before, filled with the weight of realization. They had been used. Tools, nothing more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Footsteps interrupted their thoughts. Staff members approached\u2014three of them, moving with stiff precision. Kelly dropped the silence spell at once, not wanting to give away that they had been speaking privately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the staff stepped forward. His expression was neutral, unreadable. “I hope you have enjoyed your evening,” he said, his tone flat. “But unfortunately, the principal wishes to see you all. Now.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The students\u2019 hearts sank in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ****<\/p>\n\n\n\n *****<\/p>\n\n\n\n For updates for MWS and future works, please follow me on my social media below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram: Jksmanga<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Patreon: jksmanga<\/p>\n\n\n\n When news of MVS, MWS, or any other series comes out, you will be able to see it there first, and you can reach out to me. If I\u2019m not too busy, I tend to reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chapter 1479: The Weight of Pure Mana Originally, Kelly had planned to play along with the others, pretending she had taken the pill just as they had. Her goal was never to fight the Wilton students seriously, her real enemy had always been elsewhere. She had no intention of swallowing the mysterious substance, especially after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tak-berkategori"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3449,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3448\/revisions\/3449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/novel.mdtaal-aminii.my.id\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Chapter 1484: The Weight of Silence<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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