Helmut: The Forsaken Child - H.F.C Chapter 174 (Part 2):

The mention of project assignments stirred the crowd.

‘Are we going to do something outside the academy?’

Helmut was just as curious. Instructor Alan continued.

“Additionally, towards the end of the second semester, we will conduct a selection competition. The competition results will be reflected in the practical scores. Two students will be selected from each of the first, second, and third years, and two from the fourth, fifth, and sixth years, making a total of four.

The selection competition will be conducted separately for lower and upperclassmen. After the initial selection within each grade, a further selection competition will be held without regard to grade.”

Someone murmured.

“Helmut will surely be in the top two, right? Even if he faces a third-year senior.”

“Probably.”

“But what does the selection mean? What’s it for?”

“What happens after the second semester?”

The answer came from Instructor Alan.

“After the selection competition, a comprehensive swordsmanship tournament will be held in Baden. We, the instructors, have high expectations for Greta Academy’s performance.”

The students buzzed with excitement. Even the usually quiet ones couldn’t keep silent.

“A comprehensive swordsmanship tournament? Wasn’t it usually held without Baden’s academies?”

“Would the temple let that happen?”

“It must be okay if they’re going ahead with it.”

Baden was known as a city of academies, but not the only place with them. There were several prestigious academies in the empire and kingdoms.

Other academies had always interacted and held tournaments or exchanged students among themselves.

Baden’s academies were excluded due to one reason: the city was favorable to mages.

Above all, the magic academies in Baden were unmatched. A city as free in magic research as Baden was rare.

The temple was particularly hostile to magic. The temple of Lumen hadn’t even allowed its influence to spread to Baden.

Naturally, the three academies in Baden, known for nurturing troublesome mages, weren’t viewed favorably by the temple.

This led other academies to naturally avoid interacting with those in Baden.

However, even if bundled under the name of “prestigious,” it was undeniable that Baden’s academies were top-notch.

Despite the temple’s pressure on high-ranking officials in various countries not to send their students to Baden, few complied.

Many were concerned about falling behind educationally to other families if they didn’t send their children to Baden.

As a result, Baden hosted students from the leading noble and royal families of various countries. Even the temple couldn’t pressure them too much.

Recently, due to some incident, the temple’s movements had slowed, leading to the initiation of this new plan.

The exact number of participating academies was unknown, but at least three had agreed to take part.

The second-year students of the swordsmanship department were excitedly discussing the opportunity.

“Fighting against students from other academies sounds fun.”

“Greta needs to show we’re the best in swordsmanship, not just magic!”

“But first, we have to get through the selection. Do you really think you can make it?”

“What? You wanna start something?”

Amid the noise, Helmut was deep in thought.

‘A swordsmanship tournament.’

He had made it to the final of the Basor martial arts tournament.

If he had fought Luke Yeager, he believed he would have won, so even though the final was inconclusive, he considered himself the victor.

The Basor martial arts tournament was on a different level from an academy swordsmanship tournament.

The stakes were higher, and even a first-rank platinum medal holder might not be considered a favorite to win.

In contrast, a platinum badge holder would be among the top contenders in an academy swordsmanship tournament.

Having won in Basor, Helmut figured winning an academy tournament would be considerably easier.

Even if he were sick or indisposed, he would likely win. It seemed he had a knack for getting involved in tournaments.

‘The academies in Baden are wealthy, so the prize money should be substantial.’

With Darien’s inheritance and the martial arts tournament prize, Helmut had become wealthy. But there was no reason to pass up an opportunity to earn more.

“Alright, two from the first, second, and third years, that’s it.”

Asuka spoke confidently. It seemed he had no doubts about Helmut and himself being selected.

Given their achievements, Asuka was likely to perform well too.

“Honor and prize money await, so don’t think of this as someone else’s story. I hope everyone puts in their best effort. That’s all!”

Instructor Alan concluded. With the summer festival, project assignments, and swordsmanship tournament ahead, it was going to be a busy semester.

The closest event was the summer festival.

Like everything else, the festival was a novel and unfamiliar concept to Helmut.

He had read about it but had never experienced one.

“The festival sounds fun.”

Asuka, who now had friends to enjoy the festival with, smiled broadly.

Helmut nodded formally in response.

“Yeah.”

There was a hint of anticipation.

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