Chapter 563: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Best Loser’s Match Begins

"All these talents I mentioned embody the future of the predicted Golden Age of Alchemy."

Professor Kent stood from his chair and stretched his body slightly, rolling one shoulder before letting his arms fall back to his sides.

The room remained quiet for a moment as Maxwell continued listening to Kent’s words. His expression showed that he was taking the Professor’s words seriously, especially after hearing about the other young Alchemists who would continue growing alongside him.

Kent looked at Maxwell.

"Of course, we have you, then there is Sir Deveni Bergwyn, Sir Drax Drakes, and other Young Alchemists who have their own talents."

He began walking closer.

While Maxwell continued to listen attentively.

Kent’s footsteps weren’t loud, but the sound of each one could still be heard against the floor as he approached. Maxwell didn’t look away either. His golden eyes remained fixed on the Professor, waiting for whatever he intended to say next.

"Every one of them is growing, and they will continue to grow."

Kent stopped directly in front of him.

"So, if you want to prove why you weren’t wrong, then you should grow stronger and faster."

He reached out and placed a hand on Maxwell’s shoulder.

Maxwell felt the weight of it.

"You are the proud only disciple of Elder Andraver, the strongest Alchemist in the history of Britannia."

Kent’s fingers tightened slightly.

"I know I did say you should try and keep your Alchemy Path hidden, but screw that."

Maxwell’s eyes shifted slightly.

Kent’s expression had changed.

There was still some of his usual relaxed attitude in it, but beneath that was something much firmer.

"If any family or people come for you, then we of the Solar Branch will protect you."

His grip tightened again.

"And if we can’t, then protect yourself."

Kent looked directly into Maxwell’s golden eyes.

"You are strong, Maxwell, and you will keep getting stronger."

Maxwell remained silent.

The words settled inside him.

He had spent a long time thinking about whether he had been wrong about the other Alchemists.

Since he still didn’t believe that he was beneath them.

That part of his belief hadn’t changed.

But perhaps he had misunderstood what Andraver wanted him to learn by sending him to the Royal Academy.

Kent continued.

"So, let the whole Royal Academy and Britannia see your strength."

His voice became more energetic.

"You shouldn’t be thinking about facing someone worthy to fight now. You should be looking to express the beauty of the Sun that your Master showed to the whole of Britannia, making it the reason why it became the most sought-out Alchemy Path that it is."

A smirk appeared on Kent’s face.

The corners of his mouth lifted as though he had already imagined what Maxwell would look like once he stopped holding himself back.

"Plus, your Professor right here is quite strong."

Kent tapped his own chest with a thumb confidently.

"So, there wouldn’t be any Alchemist who would dare mess with you."

He paused for half a second.

"Also, Boss Alister."

He added with a little change to his expression, as if just thinking about the Head of the Solar Royal Alchemist Branch was draining the life out of him.

Maxwell’s golden eyes sparkled.

The words had reached him.

Not because Kent had told him that he was stronger than everyone else.

Rather, Kent had given him permission to stop worrying so much about proving himself in secret.

He had been told to grow.

To fight.

To show what Sun Alchemy could do.

For the first time since his conversation with Kent had begun, Maxwell felt the weight that had been sitting inside his chest loosen.

Kent removed his hand from Maxwell’s shoulder.

He turned toward the door.

"I look forward to your fight against the Young Lord of Burnwick and that crazy girl of Ashenlocke."

He waved once without turning fully around.

Then he walked out of Maxwell’s room.

The door closed behind him.

Maxwell remained where he was.

For several seconds, he continued looking at the closed door.

Then his shoulders slowly relaxed.

He felt completely lighter than he had when he was still frustrated earlier.

The feeling spread through him as his Cognis flowed.

It moved through his body with a steady rhythm, almost as though his own power had responded to the change in his thoughts.

Maxwell lowered his head slightly.

"Master wanted me to attend the Royal Academy to fight against other geniuses and learn from this."

A warm smile appeared on his face.

The memory of Andraver returned to him.

The old man’s voice.

His strange lessons.

His endless questions.

The way he had spoken about the world outside.

Maxwell finally understood part of it.

"I still believe I’m not wrong, but I went about it all wrong."

A smirk appeared on Maxwell’s face.

His eyes became brighter.

He began remembering everything he had seen during the First-Year Combat Festival.

Not just the so-called geniuses.

Even the other Alchemists of his year had shown skills worth remembering.

Their resilience.

Their control over Cognis.

The way they utilized their Alchemy Paths.

Especially their Alchemy strategies.

The way some of them adjusted themselves when their first plans failed.

Maxwell had seen all of it.

And the more he remembered, the more interested he became.

Everything he had witnessed only made him want to show them why he believed he was above them.

That was what he had failed to realize until now.

It wasn’t simply about testing whether he could defeat them without revealing his full power.

That had been part of it.

But it wasn’t the entire reason.

Standing above all these amazing people...

That was what truly excited him.

The thought of seeing how far he could rise above them made his blood feel warmer.

Maybe at one point he still felt different from them, because of their upbringing.

And wanted to show off that a Commoner could be better than Nobles and Non-Nobles born into Alchemy itself.

Maybe that was what made him act the way he did.

But now...

Maxwell exhaled.

"Ahhh."

He shook his head.

"I should call Cherry."

He said it calmly.

***

The next day passed.

Then the day of the Best Loser’s Match finally arrived.

The Royal Academy arena in the Mian Administrative center was already filled with people as usual.

The stands were packed.

Students of the Royal Academy leaned over the railings at their seating section according to their years.

Nobles and Non-Nobles sat in their designated sections.

Few of the High-ranking Alchemists discussed the upcoming fight among themselves while others checked their betting slips one last time.

The noise continued to rise until the entire arena seemed to be shaking from the voices alone.

"Wooooooaaaaahhhh!!!!"

"We are so back!!!"

"I felt so bored yesterday just waiting for today to come!"

"To be honest, it was worth it!"

"Sir Ravenor Burnwick!!!!!"

"We can all guess the Young Lord of Burnwick will win!!"

"Writing off that Maxwell guy already... Hehehe."

"I still have him in my betting slip... I’m screwed."

"But he did lose to Lady Diane Bergwyn."

The voices of the spectators overlapped throughout the arena.

Some people shouted.

Others laughed.

Some discussed the fighters.

Others still continued the previous arguments about the results of the previous rounds and whether their earlier bets had been mistakes.

The conversations had been going on since the end of the Ninth Round, and now that the next match was finally approaching, the excitement had returned in full.

"Hmmm... Let’s wait and see. That boy’s background and actual power might be something beyond our understanding."

The statement disappeared beneath the noise of the surrounding spectators.

At the First-Year seating section...

The first year students of Royal had already begun gathering in their usual places.

Some were looking toward the fight platform.

Others were speaking among themselves.

A few were already watching the large displays around the arena, waiting for the match to begin.

Then Ezra arrived.

"You are late, Ezra."

Cyrus immediately pointed at him.

Ezra stopped near the seating area, looking at him with his usual blank expression.

"And you still aren’t with Miss Maid."

Cyrus leaned slightly to the side and looked behind Ezra, almost as though he expected Lucy to suddenly appear from behind him.

Nothing.

He looked back at Ezra.

"Where is she?"

Ezra stared at him.

For a moment, he remembered that he had stopped by the section where Lenny and Rena Bremer were seated among the Elders and High-board members of the Duke Houses.

Lenny had continued disturbing him about Lucy’s whereabouts.

The thought of telling Lenny that he had fired Lucy had entered Ezra’s mind for some reason.

He had considered it.

Then he had decided not to say anything.

There was no need to tease Lenny.

He gave Cyrus the same answer he had given before.

"She’s still in her Meditation Advancement state."

Ezra replied plainly as he took his seat.

This time, he was sitting with Cyrus and...

"Yo, Inventor of Ashenlocke."

Sasha Burnwick raised her hand and waved at Ezra.

There was a simple smile on her face.

"Hello."

Ezra greeted her back.

He turned his head slightly to look behind him.

His black, plain eyes moved toward the other girls, who seemed to be the main display of the entire arena.

Diane Bergwyn was sitting with her head resting against Vera.

As usual, she was peacefully sleeping.

Her arms were folded while her eye covers remained over her face, hiding her eyes completely.

She looked as though the noise of the arena had nothing to do with her.

Selena Galehart sat on Sasha’s left side.

She took a glance at Ezra.

Then she turned her attention toward him properly.

"Good morning, Cyrus and Mr. Ezra."

She waved her hand toward the two boys while maintaining her usual elegance.

"Good morning, Selena."

Cyrus waved back.

This is the second time she’s greeting me.

Is something wrong with her?

He thought to himself.

"Good morning."

Ezra greeted her back.

Selena looked away gracefully.

Her movement was smooth enough that Cyrus immediately noticed it.

Vera’s eyes also moved.

Her dull eyes shifted toward Selena.

She quietly looked at her for a moment.

Then her gaze returned to Ezra.

A small pause followed.

"Good morning, Dancer."

Vera spoke lightly.

Ezra turned toward her.

"Good morning."

He greeted her back calmly, just as he had greeted everyone else.

There was no change in his expression.

His attention then moved toward the last Flower at the right of Vera.

"Good morning."

He greeted Willow Derlis.

Willow glanced at him.

She didn’t answer immediately.

For several seconds, she simply looked at Ezra.

Her expression became more serious.

Then...

"G-GO-Good morning."

She finally replied.

Ezra looked at her for a moment before turning his face back toward the fight platform.

Cyrus immediately leaned closer after noticing Willow’s sudden reaction to Ezra.

His voice dropped into a whisper.

"What did you do? Did you offend her?"

Ezra turned his head slightly.

"Does she look offended to you?"

He asked as though Willow’s expression should have made the answer obvious.

Cyrus glanced at Willow again.

Then back at Ezra.

Ezra continued.

"It’s because she’s only now realizing how absurd she sounded when she complained that I shou—"

"STOP TALKING."

Willow suddenly left her seat.

Before Ezra could finish the sentence, she moved behind him and placed her hand over his mouth.

Ezra froze.

Cyrus’s eyes widened.

Selena’s eyes widened instantly.

Sasha’s eyes sparkled immediately.

The sudden movement had caught everyone nearby off guard.

Willow held Ezra’s mouth firmly from behind, her face becoming more serious as though she had decided that allowing him to finish that sentence would be far worse than physically stopping him.

Ezra’s eyes shifted toward her hand.

He did not struggle.

He simply stared at them.

Cyrus looked between the two of them.

He clearly had several questions.

None of them seemed safe to ask.

Selena continued staring.

Her elegant expression almost cracked because of the surprise she felt.

Vera, meanwhile, looked at Willow holding Ezra’s mouth.

Her dull eyes became even duller.

For a moment, she simply stared.

Then a faint amused smile appeared on her face.

"Would you look at these two."

She said it lightly.

There was something almost entertained in her voice.

But that was far from the kind of entertainment a normal person would think she was feeling.

Her eyes moved from Willow to Ezra and then back again.

She didn’t rush to interfere.

Instead, she simply watched.

The arena continued roaring around them.

The crowd was still waiting for the Best Loser’s Match to begin.

Yet within the First-Year seating section, Ezra remained seated with Willow’s hand covering his mouth, Cyrus staring at them in confusion, Selena looking surprised, and Vera quietly watching the entire scene with a faint smile, Sasha looking more amused and Diane sleeping as usual.

For a brief moment, the upcoming battle seemed almost secondary.