That day, participants from Ace Academy were to move to the location of the tournament.

Hiro and others came together and they could already see other participants waiting for the professors to arrive. Sylvia excitedly went forward and shouted.

"Yosh! Let's win this!"

Sylvia greeted the other participants with all her enthusiasm.

...

"Okay!"

One of the students replied. Contrary to the excited mood of Sylvia, the other participants were rather gloomy.

"What's up with the atmosphere?"

Sylvia asked confusedly. She thought that like her, everyone would be excited for the biggest event of the year for a student.

It was the time for them to depart for the Tournament Of Academies. Usually it was the time of the year where students of Ace Academy participants would be hyped.

It was not only an opportunity for Ace Academy students to showcase their skills but also a place where they would be revered by many. The fact that they finished first at the last Tournament Of Academies would garner a lot of support for them.

However, rather than the excited atmosphere that was expected, many seemed to be worried and unusually tense. In contrast to the atmosphere of the champion, this was a very different atmosphere.

"It must be the media attacks that have made them gloomy."

Lisa answered.

In recent days, many media outlets have been busy defaming Ace Academy and talking about how their privileges and resources should be revoked. There was also much news defaming the participants of Ace Academy, just like how some news reporters did to Zero.

Professors of Ace Academy already were aware of the dirty trick that their rival school was playing. They knew that others were doing everything that they could to put more pressure on Ace Academy.

However, despite their best effort, the number of news outlets defaming Ace Academy was only increasing. The rival school seemed to have poured in a lot of money to let the media defame them.

Nobody would like their name to appear in the media just to get cursed at by other people for absolutely no reason. This was the reason why participants were not at all happy even though it was time for the tournament.

They know what is waiting for them is curses and booing from the audience. They had already got lots of negative comments and messages on their TwitFlick account.

Moreover, it is the first time for many participants to participate in the Tournament Of Academies. Which made them unable to cope with the situation they were placed in.

It was only Hiro and his group who were already used to such a situation that were not affected by the news. They already know there will be lots of bugs buzzing around before the big tournament.

Last year also, many compared the strength of Omar Noel with Hiro and Lisanna. There were many talking about how Ace Academy was going to lose their position as the number one academy.

However, all of that would disappear instantly if you showed your strength in the tournament. All news channels kept their mouths shut after Zero and Ace Academy beat other Top-5 schools.

However, it does not look like the newbie understood that and was affected by what they heard.

"Hiro, everyone is feeling unrest. How about you say something to motivate them?"

Keiran appeared and asked Hiro. Along with him was Maximus, the strongest of the current third-year students. With Ren Dreyar gone, Maximus took the title of the strongest in third year while Keiran was crowned second.

Actually, it should be the work of third-year students to pacify such an atmosphere and motivate the juniors who are going through it for the first time. However, more than seniors, Keiran and Maximus thought that it would be more effective for the strongest to give a motivational speech.

Hiro is known not only as the strongest in Ace Academy but also considering all other schools. As with every year, the rankings were announced this year, and Hiro had been named the strongest student.

It was reasonable considering the result that he got last year. Hiro was just one rank short of becoming the winner of the tournament. There was no doubt that he was going to be named the strongest that year.

Hiro agreed with Keiran's suggestion and stepped forward.

"Everyone, listen up! I know the recent news has got us all worried, but we can't let that affect us. We're the best of the best from Ace Academy, and we're here to win this tournament. We're going to show everyone what we're made of, and show them that Ace Academy is still the top academy in the country."

Hiro is also tasked with leading the Ace Academy participants. As the strongest, he was given the role of leader.

Hiro continued, "And to all the new students participating for the first time, don't worry. This is a normal thing before any big tournament. They're trying to put us down, but we're going to prove them wrong with our skills. So let's show them what we're capable of and make Ace Academy proud."

The participants nodded, slowly gaining back their confidence.

"Yeah, let's show those bastards who we are!"

"Humph! They only know how to spread lies using the media. I am going to shut their mouth with my sword." ...

Lisa added, "And remember, we're all here for each other. If you're feeling nervous, just talk to us. We will be there for you all the time."

Looking at the opportunity that Lisa spoke of, participants' mood immediately brightened, especially boys. Lisa, who is the prettiest in the whole school and also known as the goddess, for them to get an opportunity to speak to her was a god given chance.

Some had already planned to act weak and take the chance to talk to Lisa. While others thought that acting weak would be embarrassing in front of the goddess.

After the speech, the participants were no longer that nervous. Knowing that they had Hiro and their group supporting them, and it was not any other students, it was Hiro and their group who ranked in the Top-10 of the Last Tournament Of Academies, which made them feel relieved.

As long as they had them, they didn't think that Ace Academy was going to lose. Last year, against all odds, Ace Academy ranked first. They thought that it would be no different this year.

Moreover, unlike last year, Hiro, Zion, Lisa and Sylvia were more powerful. They can't phantom anything that could stop them.

This year, most of the participants were from second year.

There were only 2 participants from Third-year who were Keiran and Maximus. From second-year, there were 15 participants and from first-year there were three participants.

First year participants were Yui, Elysia and Hannah. It is incredibly rare for a first year to participate in a Tournament of Academies.

Last year was a special case with more than 6 students participating from first-year. It was only because of how strong Zero and others were that they were selected. However, usually there would be none from the first-year. This shows how talented people who are selected as participants in their first-year were.

Yui Ernest had defeated many seniors from both second year and third year to get selected as a participant for the Tournament Of Academies. Same was the case for Elysia and Hannah.

Hannah's personality was worst but her power was high. Despite lacking fighting experience and techniques, she could overwhelm her opponent with her stats and mana. Well, she was also lucky that she didn't run into any strong enemies and got qualified.

Her already inflated ego got larger because of that. She started to brag about her participation any chance she came along. Though she would scorn at the fact that Yui and Elysia were also selected.

Hiro walked over to his sister and asked,

"Yui, are you feeling nervous about the tournament?"

His sister nodded.

"Yeah, a bit. I'm not used to performing in front of such a big audience."historical

Yui Ernest would always try to hide and avoid the spotlight. She hates nothing more than standing out.

Because people were jealous of her, standing out would only create more problems for her which made her avoid standing out.

As such, participating in an event where the whole world is watching was a little nerve wrecking for her. Her comfort was that her brother and friends were there with her.

Hiro put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, we're all here for you. And you'll do just fine. Trust me!"

Sylvia chimed in, "Yeah, and we're all in this together. If you need anything, just let us know."

Yui smiled, "Thanks guys, I feel a lot better now."

After talking with Yui, Hiro went around and helped anyone who seemed nervous. Soon the professors in charge of participants came and it was also the time to move to the place of the tournament.

"Alright, let's get on the bus and head to the tournament. We've got a competition to win!"