BXBX NOVEL Chapter 159: The Knot In Wendy’s Heart
Unknowingly, his classy act once again bolstered his reputation as a "cool and kind" guy, prompting the crowd to cheer wildly while applauding him for his good deed.
More people started to cheer for Colzen as Ian\'s fans grew in number.
Meanwhile, two groups of people were not thrilled with the developments of the Colzen vs Amarantha match.
Naturally, the first group of people were those from Amarantha Academy.
Be it the deans, the instructors, the other representatives, or the companion students, all of them were slightly panicking.
As a regular top 16 finisher, the current 0-2 match record against Colzen Academy already made them look bad.
If they lose 3-0, then they might become the butt of jokes.
As for the second group of people, they were naturally from the betting station, ELMBets.
They were even more panicked compared to Amarantha because their bankruptcy was at stake.
The owner, Elmer, was sincerely praying for Amarantha\'s victory because if Colzen won, then it would mean that they had a chance to enter the top 8.
If they did so, then his betting station was finished.
Seeing Amarantha on the verge of losing felt like a nightmare to him.
Unfortunately, one must pay a price for their mistakes, and for ELMBets, the price of carelessness was bankruptcy.
Still, Elmer wouldn\'t let his betting station fall so easily. If Amarantha Academy loses here, then he would execute their plan even at the expense of a sizable sum of money.
Naturally, after a 0-2 deficit, Amarantha Academy had no choice but to send out their strongest representative, Carlos Andrade.
A rare battle mage who seemed to have no weakness on paper.
\'Damn, this guy looks more like a warrior than I do!\'
Shye inwardly thought as he observed Carlos, a towering young man with bulky but refined muscles,medium-length curly hazelnut hair, a square face, a cross-shaped scar on his right cheek, and dark-brown hawk eyes, looking extremely mighty as he walked up the stage.
He was accompanied by another young man who, in contrast, had a slim but toned body, a heart-shaped face, long black hair tied up in a bun, soft-angled low-arch eyebrows, and eyes that resembled an eagle\'s, making girls\' hearts flutter as he walked side by side with Carlos.
The entrance of the two was naturally followed by loud cheering from the Amarantha companion students.
Were their cheers still due to their belief in the strength of their representatives or was it just because they were desperate for at least one victory?
Nobody knew.
Still, Amarantha had to fight for the reputation of their school.
If they lose here, then their hundred-year streak of being in the top 16 would end, disappointing the former leaders who brought glory to the school.
Thus, with unwavering resolve, Carlos clashed his knuckles together, prompting flames to ignite on the sides of his mid-grade flame-enchanted sorcery gauntlets.
At the same time, Ho-bin drew his crossbow out.
Although it was only enchanted with low-grade enchantment jades for a slight speed boost, the crossbow itself is rare, consuming his mana to automatically reload itself with magic arrows which gave him a massive mobility boost since he doesn\'t need to carry a quiver around.
The Amarantha representatives looked ready.
On the other hand, Colzen Academy looked like they had a hard time choosing their representatives for the third match.
It was understandable though since this was Colzen\'s first time being this close to the championship stages.
Their highest achievements had always been top 64 finishes and not once, ever, did they manage to enter the championship stages.
On one side, David, Ian, Kiin, Harry, and Siegfried, wanted Kiin to be Shye\'s partner in the third round.
On the other, Shye was pushing for Wendy to be his partner.
Although part of his decision was to fix his friendship with Wendy, another part of it is that he actually thinks that Wendy would be the perfect partner for him in this two-on-two.
Fortunately for him, although five of his teammates were against his decision, their respect for him as the strongest representative made them simply decide to trust him even though they didn\'t think that it was a smart move to let Wendy fight in the two-on-two.
Thus, after an intense logical argument, Shye and Wendy walked up the stage from Colzen Academy\'s ringside.
This combination of representatives confused the crowd, they couldn\'t determine if Colzen decided to throw this two-on-two match since they also sent out their strongest representative.
Even the companion students were befuddled by the decision.
Everyone could only wait for the start of the match to see what would happen.
"Hey, Wendy, stop thinking about the past, that wasn\'t your fault at all. If anything, I was the one who stepped on that stupid trap door. Look at me, aren\'t I alive and well?"
Shye whispered consolingly as the two of them walked up the stage.
What Shye didn\'t know was, that after continuous consoling words from the deans, the archpriest, and the other representatives, Wendy already accepted deep inside her heart that Shye falling down the trapdoor wasn\'t her fault.
However, the reason for Wendy\'s struggles was the fact that she wasn\'t able to do anything to help him during the entire one-and-a-half years that he had been trapped.
Uncertain whether Shye harbored any resentment due to the said situation, and being somewhat socially awkward, she found it challenging to broach the topic with Shye.
Seeing that Wendy still wasn\'t speaking, Shye sighed.
Their time was running out so he could only put the matter aside for now.
He just hoped that he could help resolve the knot in Wendy\'s heart before they parted ways after graduation so that she could focus wholeheartedly on her career as an adventurer.
Thus, with a slightly heavy heart, both representatives from Colzen drew their weapons.
Shye took out one of his swords, the Nightbringer while Wendy took out her life staff, assuming the standard position of a warrior in front and the priestess at the back.