*BANG!*


    A loud noise echoed from the Kreborian table, drawing everyone''s attention to its source.


    It was Director Barley, his hands still trembling on the table.


    If not for the sturdy, special materials used to construct it, the table would have already copsed under the old director''s force.


    Naturally, everyone understood the reason behind Barley''s actions: he was furious that one of his youngsters had lost to a Valenzian.@@novelbin@@


    He could tolerate many things, but losing to Valenzia was not one of them.


    To make matters worse...


    "Barley, why are you hitting the table? You need to calm down; it''s just one loss!" Belford chided with a mocking tone, making Barley grit his teeth in rage.


    However, as a director, he knew he shouldn''te across as petty in front of the youngsters. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Oh? Did I startle everyone? I apologize. I thought I saw a bug on our table so I simply tried to squish it." Barley said as calmly as he could.


    It was a valid excuse.


    After all, Belford would be the petty one if he asked to see where the squished bug was.


    Nevertheless, the old Valenzian director wasn''t about to let him off that easily, delivering onest infuriating remark before moving on.


    "Ah, is that so? I understand, no worries, Director Barley. I thought you were upset about your youngster''s loss to mine. I apologize.


    Losing five hundred thousand gold coins, five unique-tier skill books, and three adamantite-tier essories is rather painful, so please forgive me for thinking that way." Belford replied with a seemingly apologetic tone, but it was as insincere as could be, further fueling Barley''s anger.


    The Kreborian Director knew there was no winning this exchange, though, so he chose to ept the loss for now, silently plotting his revenge when Valenzia eventually lost a match.


    "No worries, Director Belford."


    Seeing that Barley had no intention of continuing the verbal spar, Belford decided to let it go as well, inwardly chuckling and counting it as a victory for himself.


    "What a brief yet intense match! Congrattions to Sir Ian Izanagi of Valenzia for the win! Your region now earns a victory point!" Moderator Scarlet cheerfully announced Ian''s victory, skillfully managing to celebrate without offending the Kreborians despite her upbeat tone.


    "Moving on to the folks from the eighth-ranked Raumann Region, do you have anyone you wish to challenge?"


    …


    Following Ian''s victory, the elitists decided to temporarily avoid challenging Shye''s small crew, unwilling to risk the same humiliation that Kenji had endured.


    They believed it would be better to let other regions challenge them first and observe the extent of their capabilities.


    After all, while they wanted to humiliate the neers, it was more important for them to finish in the top three, especially for those from the top five regions.


    It would be a waste to lose benefits for such stupid reasons.


    Again, why settle for one when you can have both? The elitists nned to secure their spot in the top three first before challenging Shye''s crew.


    Hence, for a while, the Valenzians didn''t receive any challenges, and they had no choice but to watch the youngsters of other regions battle it out.


    Surprisingly, watching from the sidelines wasn''t as dull as they expected.


    Shirley and the others, especially Siegfried, were quite pleased to see that only Kenji Ashton and hisrades from Krebori were weak.


    The other youngsters from the eighth-ranked regions and above were clearly a notch above the Kreborians.


    This is why, despite their efforts to fit in with the elitists, the Kreborians were met with contempt and disdain.


    They were simply a delusional group, desperate to avoid beingbeled as one of the "weakest," despite their obvious ipetence.


    Two rounds of challenges flew by, and as expected, Yon Augenn remained at the top.


    The second-ranked Deltra, however, dropped to seventh ce, as no one challenged their youngsters, while the results of their two challenges were one win and one loss.


    This wasn''t an issue, though, as the rounds will continue indefinitely until all the youngsters who haven''t fought yet havepeted against each other or have indicated that they do not wish to participate in the remaining sparring matches.


    Only then would the results be final.


    Hence, the Deltra Region youths weren''t too worried; they were, in fact, rather calm, as they were already used to being in this position early on in the inter-regional sparring matches rankings.


    They had always been the ones who dared challenge the Yon Augennians, after all.


    Meanwhile, Shye and the others held the fifth rank, as no one had challenged them following their decisive victory over Krebori.


    The other teams preferred to secure a win or two for themselves first before taking on unfamiliar and potentially risky opponents like Shye''s crew.


    Unfortunately, not everyone had the patience to wait for challenges, particrly a certain battle maniac who had been eager to challenge a Yon Augennian warrior after witnessing their group''s impressive dueling capabilities.


    "Hey, Shye… can I go challenge someone? Y-You know me… I can''t just sit back and wait on the sidelines while all these strong opponents are right in front of me…" Siegfried asked with hopeful eyes.


    He knew that he was being selfish as fighting in the earlier rounds wasn''t ording to n.


    However, he couldn''t help but try his luck.


    Naturally, upon hearing Siegfried''s words, Shye chuckled.


    He had anticipated this moment and found it amusing to guess how long the guy could restrain his urge to challenge someone.


    Although his prediction was off—he thought Siegfried couldst at least three rounds—it ultimately didn''t matter, so Shye wasn''t bothered by it.


    "Hahahaha! I knew you''d speak up sooner orter. Go ahead and challenge whoever you want. If you want to make a wager, feel free, but don''t bet too much. After all, I''m sure you''ll end up challenging a Yon Augennian." Shyeughed, causing Siegfried to scratch his head awkwardly after his friend voiced everything on his mind.


    "Thanks, Shye. I won''t be cing any bets, though. Just enjoying my spar to the fullest is enough for me."


    "Heh, I thought so. Go wild, Sieg."