CHAPTER 322: THE CHALLENGE BEFORE THE TOURNAMENT

The crowd around them couldn’t help but gasp, and Matthew’s eyes flew open in shock. Blinking rapidly, he saw a figure standing before him—golden hair gleaming so brilliantly under the sunlight that it seemed to glow.

Before them, a translucent wall of golden light shimmered, blocking Thora’s attack.

Thora’s fist slammed against the barrier, creating a small shockwave, sparks bursting from the point of impact. His eyes widened, his face—already fierce—twisted into an even more savage expression. Yet even so, he couldn’t avoid the outcome: the force of his own blow rebounded against him, sending him flying backwards and crashing to the ground in an undignified heap.

Around them, some onlookers covered their mouths, others tried to hold back laughter, while those of higher status than Thora didn’t bother restraining themselves—bursting out laughing openly, their eyes filled with curiosity as they turned toward the newcomer.

The young man had flamboyant golden hair and striking emerald-green eyes. His clothes were simple and so worn that patches were visible, yet he seemed unconcerned. He stood straight-backed, his expression confident but not arrogant.

"It’s obvious you’re the one who can’t see, yet you go around accusing others. What, did you train so hard your muscles squeezed your brain out, and now you can’t think anymore?"

Silvanus crossed his arms and mocked Thora with a smirk.

By now, Thora had already stood up. Hearing those words, a vein pulsed angrily on his forehead as he growled, "You bastard!"

"Who the hell are you?!"

Thora assumed Silvanus had to be from some wealthy family, despite his shabby clothes—after all, ordinary people didn’t know how to use Light Magic, nor did they have access to the books needed to learn it.

"I’m Silvanus. And you? What’s your name?"

Silvanus asked casually, as if they hadn’t just been at each other’s throats a moment ago.

Thora froze briefly before shouting angrily, "You don’t know who I am?! I’m Thora, the one who will be ranked number one in this year’s selection!"

At that, the corner of Silvanus’s eye twitched slightly.

He raised his index finger, wiggled it a little, then curled his hand into a fist and pointed his thumb toward himself. "Number one? That’s obviously me. Stop deluding yourself."

Everyone else: "..." They honestly didn’t know which was more delusional.

Thora was so furious that it looked like smoke might burst from his nostrils, his expression burning with hatred as if he wanted to strangle Silvanus immediately.

Silvanus only smiled back, seemingly unfazed—but his eyes remained firm and unwavering.

At that moment, someone tugged gently at the hem of Silvanus’s robe. Matthew’s soft voice followed, "Silvanus, I’m fine... don’t start trouble with these people."

Thora suddenly let out a laugh. "A bunch of cowardly sewer rats! I hope you make it past the preliminaries—because tomorrow, at the real selection grounds, I’ll show you what true pain feels like!"

In the selection grounds, life and death were everyday occurrences.

After spitting out those venomous words, Thora turned away—it was his turn to step onto the platform to test his Light Magic affinity.

In the Land of Light, no matter how powerful one’s other abilities might be, without even a trace of Light affinity, they could never join The Lumina Magic Academy. That was why, despite Thora already being recognised as a powerhouse, he still had to go through this selection.

Silvanus watched Thora’s departing figure, then turned back, tugging his sleeve out of Matthew’s grasp with a huff. "Why’d you have to interrupt like that? You totally killed my momentum!"

Matthew scratched his cheek awkwardly. His curly brown hair framed a freckled face, and his drooping eyelids and crooked glasses gave him a timid, somewhat goofy appearance.

And indeed, he was timid—hopelessly so. Silvanus didn’t really think Matthew was stupid, but cowardice? That part was undeniable.

Matthew gave a sheepish smile and apologised. "Sorry, Silvanus... but we shouldn’t provoke people like that. They’ve got power and connections..."

Silvanus waved a hand dismissively beside his ear. "Yeah, yeah, enough already. You’ve been nagging about that the whole way here!"

He and Matthew had grown up together in the same orphanage. For countless reasons, none of the other kids liked playing with Silvanus—and coincidentally, no one enjoyed playing with Matthew either. So the two ended up sticking together. They were total opposites, but time had a way of binding them nonetheless.

Especially when the orphanage was suddenly disbanded at the age of eight, and the children were left to fend for themselves. From then on, they could only rely on each other. Silvanus got by through fighting—and occasionally stealing—while Matthew, slow and utterly useless in a brawl, stayed behind in their hideout. Silvanus made him do all the chores in exchange for a share of food. Perfectly fair!

Silvanus glanced at Matthew’s nervous expression, snorted, and turned away without another word.

Just then, a clear female voice suddenly spoke up beside him. "Hey, you—did you just use Light Magic back there? That was amazing!"

Silvanus turned his head slightly. The speaker was a cute girl with black hair tied in two high tails. Her cloak was expensive, and she held a small sceptre in her hand—something ordinary people could never afford. Her blue eyes sparkled with admiration as she gazed at Silvanus.

Silvanus replied flatly, "That little thing impressed you? Please. I can do way better than that."

Ariana replied, "Which family do you belong to?"

Perhaps he came from some fallen house, she thought.

Silvanus narrowed his eyes at Ariana. Whenever others saw him do something, they instinctively assumed he must have been trained somewhere. But that wasn’t true — Silvanus wanted to do something, then did it. It was that simple. Saying so only earned him dislike, so at times like this, he stayed silent.

Ariana smiled awkwardly; dimples appeared, making her even more adorable. "I’m Ariana. May I know your name?"

Silvanus nodded. "Silvanus."

Ariana smiled again. "If we meet tomorrow, can we team up? My abilities lean toward healing — I’ll definitely be useful!"

She rushed the offer out; after all, she felt Silvanus was no ordinary kid. And since she was a healer, she naturally wanted teammates for safety.

Silvanus, barely paying it any mind, nodded. "Fine."

Ariana smiled and waved goodbye to Silvanus before heading up to the platform.

Someone nearby couldn’t help but sneer with envy: "What’s so special about that ragged kid that he’s getting greeted like that?!"

"Hope Thora really thrashes him tomorrow!"

"Probably thinks he’s already the champion, haha."

They didn’t even lower their voices.

Before Matthew could stop him, Silvanus spoke up: "One, two, three — whatever happens tomorrow, if I see any of you, I’ll be the first to teach you a lesson. Be ready."

The group froze, apparently not expecting Silvanus to say that outright; their faces showed anger and fear. But then they reminded themselves they outnumbered him — what was there to be afraid of?

"Is that so? Let’s see what you can actually do."

Matthew grabbed Silvanus and kept pulling him back, as if scared Silvanus might rush forward and start a fight — even though Matthew’s strength couldn’t move Silvanus an inch.