Parallel Memory

As they entered the city, they were greeted by a grand entrance, with ornate arches and beautiful gardens on either side. The streets were lined with vendors selling food, trinkets, and other souvenirs. The students were in awe of the vibrant city, and many of them couldn’t wait to start exploring, well that was after the competition had ended.

The bus finally reached its destination, a grand hotel in the heart of Luminia City. Right next to it was the big stadium where the tournament would be held. They could also see many students from different schools.

They seemed to have already arrived.

As with other people, the students also began to discuss as they saw Ace Academy. Ace Academy was the target of many schools as they also wanted to win the tournament.

They were also jealous of Ace Academy who enjoyed the resources given to them.

“Look, they have finally arrived. Humph! I can’t wait to see them lose.”

“Haha… I heard the professors talking about how Ace Academy had lost most of its talent. This year, we are finally going to see a different champion.”

“We are going to win no matter what!” …

The students carried many opinions. Even those in favor of Ace Academy felt that the odds were against Ace Academy with all the incidents happening.

The Devil’s Invasion not only killed the students from Ace Academy, but many also quit after the Devil’s Invasion. Now Ace Academy, which was once the leading school in the nation, has decreased its student number by almost 30 percent.

However, that didn’t mean that they were underestimating Ace Academy. They had seen the prowess of Ace Academy and knew how strong Hiro and others were.

Nonetheless, they knew that losing students like Ren Dreyar would have impacted Ace Academy. Even if Hiro was powerful or the strongest, Tournament Of Academies was not a solo event.

If that competition were similar to last year, then other schools would gang up against Hiro. Even if Hiro was strong, they don’t believe that he could defeat hundreds of them alone.

The bus came to a stop as they reached their destination.

Some professors and students from Ace Academy were no less than idols.

“It’s Hiro Ernest!”

“WOW! He really is handsome.”

“He is also powerful. He is ranked the strongest in this tournament.”

‘Damn! He is both handsome and strong. I cursed him to lose in the first round.” …

Quite a commotion was caused when Hiro disembarked. Most people knew who he was and how he looked. Their professors had also warned them about him and they had also seen him fight in a previous tournament.

Though some students came to greet and talk to Ace Academy students including Hiro. They were some students that they had made friends with in previous tournaments.

However, most refrained from approaching Ace Academy students. Ace Academy was ostracized by other schools and they didn’t let it happen to them.

Another reason was that there were participants who were previously from Ace Academy. They had abandoned Ace Academy to participate in the Tournament of Academies. They were quite ashamed to face them.

As Ace Academy students were usually more talented than other schools, they were able to participate in competitions.

“Look, isn’t it senior Ren Dreyar?”

One of the Ace Academy participants said as he pointed toward him.

“Oh, it is really him!”

“How dare he show his face in front of us? Doesn’t he feel ashamed of jumping ship?”

“Look, he is even walking towards us.”

At that moment, Ren Dreyar was on his way to Hiro. He didn’t care what others said about him. He only had one goal in this tournament and it was to defeat Hiro and show everybody who is more talented than the two.

“Hey, Ren, why did you leave Ace Academy?”

It was not Hiro but Maximus who asked when Ren approached Hiro.

“Oh, it’s just little Maximus. The one who couldn’t even keep up with me at Ace Academy.”

Ren said. When Ren Dreyar was in Ace Academy, he would always win against Maximus and was the strongest for the past two years.

“Huh? What did you say?”

Maximus was angered by Ren’s words. He was prepared to brawl with Ren Dreyar. They were classmates once but they were not in a good relationship even then. Seeing him act high and mighty even now got on his nerves.

“I see that you haven’t changed, Ren. Still trying to prove yourself to others.”

Keiran stepped in and stopped Maximus from moving. He could not let Maximus go on a rampage and damage Ace Academy’s image. Moreover, Maximus was weaker than Ren.

“Prove myself? No, I’m here to show everyone that I’m the better one. You are just a coward who just gave up.”

Saying so, he moved towards Hiro. He had no interest in people that he had defeated countless times. Keiran also didn’t say more. He already had an idea why he had come here.

“Hiro, you were always the one who was praised by everyone and hailed as the number one genius. But now, it’s time to show who the real genius is. The one who truly deserves the title of being called a genius is me. Let’s see if you’re still called the number one genius when I defeat you.“

Hiro remained calm and collected despite Ren’s provocations. It was not a new thing for others to come and challenge him.

“Traitor!”

“Coward!”

“Go back to your own school and hide there!” …

However, other students were provoked by Ren. Not only did Ren betray Ace Academy, but now he came to challenge their Ace. It was not sitting well with many of them.

( You transferred to another school. We will not say anything about that but now you come here and provoke us, acting high and mighty! You are just a coward who was scared of Hiro and ran. )

Many Ace Academy students had such thoughts.

Ignoring the bystanders’ yelling, Ren Dreyar stared hard at Hiro.

“We will see that in the Tournament.”

Hiro replied. His reply was neither humble nor arrogant.

Ren Dreyar turned around and went back to the hotel. Students nearby watched all this happen with excitement. It was no new thing for students to challenge each other, just that this time it was a former Ace Academy student vs the ace of Ace Academy which was interesting.

Not long after Ren Dreyar left, another wave of noise was heard.

“Wow!”

“I can’t believe it!”

“Seeing it in real life is a hundred times better than seeing it on TV!”

“Truly deserving of her title” …

A bigger commotion than Hiro’s entry happened when Professor Mia came out. Beauty will always be the talk of the town and Professor Mia was exactly that. As long as she appeared, people couldn’t stop talking about her.

Many were instantly enchanted by her face. Others who were bad-mouthing Ace Academy also stopped and paid attention to her.

Along with Professor Mia, there were other female participants from Ace Academy who were all beautiful. Seeing such things, male students can’t help but be jealous of Ace Academy which harbors so many beautiful girls.

One thing that everyone had to admit was that in terms of beauty, Ace Academy was really number 1!