Chapter 241: Chapter 168: The So-Called Competition
The so-called Seven Nations Competition, or more officially, the Continental Seven Nations Athletic Games. In the past, to maintain hard-earned peace, it was agreed among the seven nations that on the second weekend of every May, a sports competition would be held for students from the various Dragon Knight Academies. The term ’students’ applies to any students up to and including those in the sixth grade. Students in the seventh grade and above are considered to be active-duty military and therefore no longer count as students.
Despite its name being the Athletic Games, most people simply call it the Seven Nations Competition. There are even those who prefer to call it the Seven Nations War.
Among the seven nations, apart from the Blue Dragon Empire, which declared themselves permanently neutral many years ago, the remaining six nations all have a flurry of small and large disagreements amongst each other.
Among them, the most intense disagreements lie between the Black Dragon Empire and the White Dragon Empire.
That’s why, despite being called an Athletic Games, every Seven Nation Competition takes place amidst a tense atmosphere filled with the scent of gunpowder. Slight injuries are a dime a dozen, and serious injuries are not a rare sight. There have been several instances where casualties occurred, and the two nations involved would station troops on their borders, ready to go to war at the first sign of disagreement.
Yes, the nations involved here are the White Dragon Empire and the Black Dragon Empire, and in that instance, the White Dragon Empire played host and it was the Black Dragon Empire that ended up disadvantaged.
During practically every Seven Nations Competition, there’s always some kind of incident stirred up between these two empires. The exact reason isn’t a problem - it’s almost guaranteed that something will happen anyway.
"So, who’s the host nation this year?" Long Yi asked.
"Haha, this year, it’s the Black Dragon Empire!" Golden Hammer laughed.
"That’s so cool." Long Yi also laughed. If the White Dragon Empire is to compete on the Black Dragon Empire’s home ground, they’d be shocked if they’re not played around with.
"Yeah, so you should..." Golden Hammer made a ’you understand’ gesture.
"Yeah, so there’s no way I can miss out. How could I pass up such a fun event?"
Golden Hammer and Long Yi started laughing heartily together.
After leaving the Blacksmith shop, Long Yi first went back to the dormitory. His room was bustling. Regardless of the grade Long Yi was in, he always had a single dorm room to himself. However, there were quite a few people in the room - Ai Lin and Little Zi were discussing magic, with Mina occasionally adding in her input. The Golem didn’t talk much, but when it did, it was always enlightening.
"Brother Long!"
As soon as they saw Long Yi returned, the girls all stood up.
"Today, I heard about something fun!" Long Yi said excitedly.
"What is it?" Ai Lin asked curiously.
"The Seven Nations Competition." The Golem suddenly spoke.
"Huh? What the! How do you know about that!" Just as Long Yi was about to share, the Golem beat him to it.
"So it’s that time already." The Golem said as it stood up, walked outside, and looked up at the dazzling starry sky. Amid the early spring, the sky was almost cloudless, with countless brilliant stars. After looking up for a while, the Golem lowered its head and came back in.
"What are you doing?" Long Yi asked curiously.
"I just had to recalibrate my internal clock, but don’t worry about me. You continue, I’m just an ornament, you can ignore me." The Golem said as it sat down on the ground again, silent.
What exactly should I continue?
"Ah, so it’s the Seven Nations Competition! Counting up, it should be the Black Dragon Empire’s turn to host this year right!" Ai Lin said excitedly.
"That’s what I heard." Long Yi replied.
"Brother Long, let’s sign up!" Ai Lin jumped up, came over to Long Yi, her eyes full of anticipation.
"I really want to go, but I wonder if there are any requirements to sign up?" Long Yi asked.
Ai Lin paused for a moment, clearly not knowing the answer.
"At least fifth grade, and sixteen layers of Fighting Aura." The Golem spoke up again.
"Big sis, what don’t I know? Could you just tell me everything altogether?" Long Yi felt that this Golem was a bit odd because she knew so much. How could a Golem that had been sealed inside a stone for thousands of years know more than a student of the Academy?
"There are many things you don’t know, but your level of authorization is too low, so I cannot tell you." The Golem replied.
"Is it because of your creator again?" Long Yi was a bit unhappy.
"Yes, the creator." The Golem confirmed.
"Your creator is such a freak!" Long Yi bellowed.
"Yes, indeed, he is a freak." The Golem agreed, and at the same time, Long Yi thought he saw something resembling a smile at the corner of the Golem’s mouth.
The Golem really is annoying. She actually gets happy when I badmouth her creator?
It was impossible to extract any more information from the Golem, so Long Yi decided to consult with the instructor.
The next day, when Long Yi mentioned this to the instructor, they were somewhat surprised.
"Registration ended over a month ago." the instructor said.
That was when Long Yi was still in the Imperial City!
"So is there still a chance?" Long Yi asked hastily.
"Registration requires that you are in the fifth year and above, with a fighting aura of level sixteen. You meet the fighting aura requirement, but you’ve just been promoted to the fourth year; I’m afraid the dean won’t agree," the instructor said.
"Dean!"
Long Yi stormed into the dean’s office, and after explaining his intentions, the dean answered decisively.
"This year’s Seven Kingdoms Tournament is especially risky, as the host is our rival, the Black Dragon Empire. However, I do not oppose your participation, as our security is unprecedented. If you truly wish to participate, then advance to the fifth grade within two months, and I will give you special approval," the dean, who bore a striking resemblance to Gandalf, spoke unequivocally.
"Alright! Prepare to issue me the fourth skip-level permit!" Long Yi declared as he made an exit as fiery as his entrance.
Seated behind his desk piled high with documents, the dean’s eyes sparkled with joy.
"Good lad, you’re already at the nineteenth level of fighting aura? Despite being absent from the academy for years, you surprise me when you do show up!" The dean murmured, opening his registration book and jotting down the names of Long Yi and Ai Lin on the last page.
He had always thought Long Yi would sign up, so his absence had annoyed the dean a bit. The Long Yi in his memory was not the type to back down. However, the annoyance disappeared when Long Yi showed up today.
Meanwhile.
Long Yi began to work hard.
Advancing from fourth to fifth grade in two months was not as simple as adding one to four. In reality, every grade’s curriculum was more difficult and advanced than the previous one. The good news was, all the miscellaneous courses, such as math, geography, history, and some dialect studies, ended in the third grade. However, they were replaced with pragmatic war knowledge like battlefield map recognition and sketching, simple ballistic studies, and wind deviation correction.
For Long Yi, these were as simple as one plus one equals two!
On the other hand, Long Yi went to Wesley to inquire about the Seven Kingdoms Tournament. On hearing that Long Yi was participating in the Tournament, Wesley almost cried with envy. The cook and the brothers from Mosquito squadron looked worried.
"Brother Long, I advise you not to go this time. During the last Seven Kingdoms Tournament hosted by the White Dragon Empire, three Dragon Knights from the Black Dragon Empire died. We can’t say for sure if it was due to the White Dragon Empire, but the two empires nearly went to war over it. The Temple of Dragon Gods from various countries intervened to prevent a war, yet the Black Dragon Empire had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill. This time, as the Black Dragon Empire hosts the Tournament, our White Dragon Empire won’t back down and the emperor will certainly strengthen our defence. But once we’re on the battlefield, who can prevent so-called ’accidents’?"
The cook’s words made sense, and Long Yi understood.
However, if he were to be scared off by this, he wouldn’t be Long Yi.
"I know it’s dangerous, but, once we’re on the battlefield, if they can cause us ’accidents’, why can’t we cause them ’accidents’?" Long Yi said with a beaming smile.
Fear?
Who doesn’t understand fear besides fools and madmen?
Some people dodge it from afar when faced with fear.
Others, however, grind fear into a paste!
Long Yi was the latter!
During the three unbearable months in his private space, Long Yi faced fear, breakdowns, and despair numerous times.
But he never backed down!
Even the ever-glib Golem had to admit to Long Yi’s courage.
In Long Yi’s mind, a real warrior never backed down!
Since Long Yi had made his decision, Wesley, as Long Yi’s right-hand man, naturally went all out to support Long Yi’s endeavor.
However, to participate, one had to first understand, what exactly was the Seven Kingdoms Tournament?
First and foremost, it was a legitimate sports event, with numerous non-magical-charm field and track events packed with cash prizes. Each kingdom wanted to win gold, but they didn’t place too much importance on these gold medals.
Because after the contest, there would be a series of regular exhibition matches.
Nearly each nation had their eyes on those exhibition matches.
The so-called exhibition matches were competitions between Dragon Knight cadets from different nations.
Devoid of cash prizes, they were the fiercest battles.
Winning or losing this match could directly determine a nation’s confidence on the battlefield for the coming year, as all the participants were the cream of the crop from each country’s Dragon Knight academies—in essence, future warriors. Losing an allegedly friendly exhibition match was basically no different from a lost battlefield.
To lose the match was to lose the war.
All nations had the exact objective, the early matches meant little in terms of victory or defeat. Winning was undoubtedly better, not winning was fine too. After all, in this world where magical charms and fighting auras flew around, individual strength did not garner much attention. However, if the latter matches were lost, mockery was certain.(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)
