The Misty Valley was among Eden Academy's most challenging training grounds.
Sunlight smothered away, endless fog enveloping the land, randomly scattered magical beasts—this was already horror-movie atmosphere. Never mind the naturally competitive nature of the event, making virtually everyone an enemy.
But that was just the perimeter. The heart of Misty Valley was an eerie old stronghold known as "Earl of Mist Castle." Although everything was supposedly random, the truly high-tier rewards—such as magical scrolls, permanent artifacts, or even the victory symbol itself, the Spring Cup—could only spawn inside the castle.
Thus, most students who'd luckily squeaked through easy preliminaries or felt their strength inadequate scattered hastily after entering the valley, scrambling to pick up some quick rewards before elimination.
"Impressive, Headmaster Sorgana's randomizing proposal really did energize the students."
"Yes. If I were still a student, I'd definitely feel motivated, too. Unlike previous years, even weaker students now have a chance to snag decent rewards."
In the spectator seats, teachers were busy blowing rainbow-colored flattery at Sorgana. The student audience shared similar envy for those who'd made it through.
Meanwhile, Sorgana herself, radiating boundless energy, simply sat in a chair slightly elevated above the other teachers, chin in hand, seeming to be eagerly anticipating something.
You fools—ignorant fools! None of you understand the true terror hidden behind the words 'completely random'!
Soon, the tone of the trials began turning distinctly strange.
"What the hell! After struggling through two mechanism trials and solving four riddles, why's the reward a swimsuit photo of the headmaster?!"
"You call that bad? Our team captain literally promised herself in marriage to team up with others and take down a Tier-3 magical beast—and the reward was another beast!"
"I got teleported right into a pack of demonic wolves. Thankfully, my teammate ran slower than I did. Anyone here more tragic?"
As the trials progressed, the four innocent-sounding words, 'completely random,' gradually bared their vicious fangs. Heavily guarded treasures turned out to be signed headmaster photos, while tripping over a random stone might yield a magic scroll. The real issue, however, was that the former vastly outnumbered the latter. Soon, the contestants were wailing miserably, their cries echoing across the grounds.
"Damn it! Why are all these safe zones full of unsafe beasts?"
"Screw this! I'm quitting—I want out!"
"Hehehehe… Did you really think freebies existed? Let me enlighten you now: the reason you received so many rewards during the Selection Trial is because all the items that should've been in the official test were given out early by your great Headmaster-sama. Now those little opportunists will learn there's no such thing as a free lunch!"
Sorgana proudly stood, hands on hips, laughing maniacally. Clearly, compared to cheerful harmony, this was what she'd wanted to see all along.
"So, Headmaster-sama, what did you put in the reward chests originally meant for prize items?" a teacher asked cautiously.
"Isn't that obvious?" Sorgana swung her small, pale, bare feet proudly. "Naturally, I replaced them all with signed headshots of your magnificent Headmaster-sama! Impressive, aren't they?"
You're probably the only one who finds that impressive!
The surrounding teachers fell silent immediately. Even the previously lively student spectators went eerily quiet.
Watching contestants suffer was amusing indeed, but the sudden realization hit them—had their luck during the selection trials been even slightly worse, they might've been the ones trapped in that "Forest of Screams"...
Of course, some remained unaffected. To the genuinely strong contenders, Sorgana's twisted antics were merely annoying. All she'd done was push high-level enemies, usually reserved for late stages, earlier. After figuring out the situation, many senior elite students quickly grouped up with classmates, forming temporary alliances as they carefully advanced toward Mist Castle.
"Relax," Sorgana assured the teachers. "See? These little tricks don't mean much to true elites. Besides, gathering you elite teachers and students here wasn't purely for spectating. Understand?"
Hearing her words, Gust and several other powerful Arcana Masters nodded solemnly.
The typical Spring Cup didn't warrant all these elite teachers assembling. Their true mission was identifying hidden enemies possibly infiltrating the event, and swiftly eliminating those arrogant fools daring to provoke Eden Academy—without interrupting the competition.
"Oh? Looks like we have a promising student?"
Sorgana suddenly raised an eyebrow.
The magical screen now focused on a young girl clad in a sky-blue battle skirt and silver armor. Her hands were empty, but when she swung them lightly, the magical beast in front of her was suddenly split clean in two by an invisible giant sword. Blood sprayed, beautifully complementing her braided golden hair.
"An elite student from Knight Court? Whose pupil is she?"
"No, she's not our student," Sorgana said, resting her cheek on one hand. "She's the girl sent from the imperial palace."
"It's Princess Noraviel! We initially thought this fourth princess only came to make an appearance, but she's actually a formidable knight!"
Several teachers nodded approvingly.
Idiots, that's not it at all!
Sorgana pouted. She clearly remembered this princess instantly defeating one of Golden Court's top-ten elites during the Selection Trial, causing Sorgana to lose face in front of Gust.
Though Noraviel dressed and behaved like a knight, the "Invisible Sword" she wielded was unmistakably a mana-powered artifact.
A dual-attribute Arcana barrier combining Wind and Light twisted perceptions, rendering the sword visually undetectable—but its sharpness remained horrifyingly real.
A melee-focused Arcana Mage?
Interesting.
But then again, from what Sorgana knew, the princess's real reason for joining the event was actually…
The screen switched again, and a strikingly handsome face appeared.
It was Linen!
"Ahhhhhhh! Linen-sama! Even on screen he's so handsome, I wanna lick him!"
"That's Linen Norton? Heard he already defeated the final trial boss ahead of time."
Linen's appearance finally stirred up excitement in the spectator seats, causing a minor uproar.
"You little brat, finally appeared, have you?"
Sorgana immediately jumped up, standing excitedly on her chair, instantly drawing stares from all around.
"Ahem, I mean—Student Linen is definitely a favorite to win. Keep the magical screen focused on him longer, won't you?"
She cleared her throat, speaking calmly.
The teacher responsible for the magical screens paled slightly. Linen had been impressive for a freshman, sure, but the headmaster herself personally naming him a favorite?
But since Headmaster-sama said so, perhaps there was a hidden logic behind it.
In reality, though, Sorgana's heart was already blossoming with joy.
Threaten your headmaster, huh? Love cheating with maps, huh?
Fine, take it! Have it all!
Then take that completely reversed map and embarrass yourself in front of everyone!
But strangely, Linen just stood quietly in the forest, eyes gently shut, unmoving. The magical screen had observed him for about thirty seconds now, and nothing had changed.
"Prince Linen looks so handsome even standing still… but could you move a bit?"
"Is he frozen? Audience, stop hogging the academy's Arcana network, you're making the contestant lag!"
"It's not lagging—look, the mist behind him is still moving."
Even the teachers and Sorgana herself were confused. If one looked carefully, Linen was standing very close to a starting location. In other words, since entering the forest, he basically hadn't moved at all.
Of everyone, it was Sorgana who most couldn't grasp Linen's intentions. Others didn't know, but she did—Linen had a map! So why wasn't he running around grabbing treasure boxes? Why was he just standing there daydreaming?
But at that very moment, Linen suddenly opened his eyes.
"Found it!"
Among all trial maps, Misty Valley was the most challenging. The danger wasn't magical beasts or other contestants—it was the forest itself.
Endless rows of ancient trees and swirling fog constantly confused one's sense of direction. Even if a participant briefly found their bearings, any sudden encounter could lead them astray again.
So most competitors usually had teammates adept at navigation, or prepared special scrolls and artifacts. Linen was no exception.
Originally, his plan was to pick out a directional artifact from Headmaster Sorgana's treasury, but that felt like too much of a waste.
Fortunately, thanks to the rejection points he'd recently received from Mother Empress, he had barely managed to unlock a basic skill from his Dragonification Skill Tree.
Linen's choice was "Dragon's Soul."
This wasn't a dragon-exclusive skill but rather a foundational universal ability. It dragonified not the body, but the mind and spirit, greatly enhancing mental perception and spiritual resistance during activation.
The only downside was Linen's current low level: occasionally, powerful spiritual magic could mistake his mental aura for that of a dragon, potentially causing unwanted trouble.
But in the Spring Cup, that shouldn't matter. After all, these were merely academy freshmen; nobody had access to high-level soul Arcana yet.
Now, thanks to "Dragon's Soul" and his innate Wind-Arcana perception, he'd faintly sensed the location of Mist Castle.
That's right—from the very beginning, Linen's goal was never those scattered treasures. This was exactly why he'd so generously given Sorgana's map to Hysteria and Elena.
From the start, his true target had always been Mist Castle.
"To put it plainly, the Spring Cup isn't about how many treasures you grab or enemies you defeat. There's only one real way to win—lifting the Spring Cup itself."
And the fastest way between two points was undeniably clear.
With that thought, Linen pulled two Arcana cards—one green, one red—from the deck he'd prepared in advance, swiftly fused them, and hurled them forward.
BOOM!!
Amid explosive roars and clouds of dust, the mist parted violently, blasting open a path. Towering trees and bushes blocking his way instantly crumbled to dust. A straight, clear road completely devoid of mist now stretched before him.
"Holy shit—he can do that?!"
Students watching from the audience seats were dumbstruck. Nobody had ever participated in the Spring Cup like this: ignoring every peripheral reward, aggressively blasting a direct path straight to the central fortress.
It seemed absurd at first glance, but on second thought—this guy was a damn genius!
No matter how valuable those hidden treasures on the map were, could they match the champion's prize?
Moreover, with Linen brute-forcing a straight path through magic, there was zero risk of getting lost. The Arcana-fueled explosions and aftershocks would also scare off other participants and beasts. Nobody was dumb enough to step forward and get blasted by this level of Fusion Arcana.
On the magical screen, symbols representing other participants and magical beasts hastily scattered away from Linen. Only a few stubborn beasts refused to budge.
Little did Linen realize, he'd just opened a brand-new door for future Spring Cup contestants.
But the one most stunned by far was Sorgana.
Is he insane?
Realizing Linen's intention was speed-running, Sorgana's face flushed dark red with frustration.
Fine, speed-run all you want—but why the hell did you ask me for a map?!
Worse than having her prank fail was being utterly ignored!
"He stopped!" someone suddenly shouted.
The audience abruptly noticed that from the moment Linen had started moving, he'd already covered a substantial distance. He'd unleashed Fusion Arcana multiple times—but a critical issue was now obvious: Linen's mana reserve was nearly depleted.
After all, he was only a Two-Ring Arcana Mage; continually casting powerful Fusion Arcana capable of altering terrain was unsustainable.
"Prince Linen, why did you stop? Hurry up, keep going!"
"He's probably out of mana. There should be some supply points within the trial grounds."
"Thank goodness," Sorgana let out a sigh of relief. "For a second, I thought that little bastard was going to rush straight into Mist Castle. Looks like he'll still need to complete some trials to resupply."
To prevent students from exhausting themselves prematurely, certain challenges rewarded participants with mana-restoring items like mana stones. Of course, Sorgana had clearly marked these supply points on her reversed map.
But undoubtedly, those supply points were deliberately placed in high-risk, low-reward areas!
"Go, hurry up! Right next to you is a Tier-3 Snow Leopard's den. With all your noisy explosions, it's already restless!"
Sorgana inwardly cheered Linen on. If that arrogant little dragon-spawn from House Norton managed to safely fight off a powerful beast in his weakened state, she'd eat this magical screen whole!
Yet under everyone's watchful eyes, Linen didn't change his set course. He didn't even shift his stance. Instead, he elegantly waved his hand, and a glowing emerald-green gem appeared in his palm. As the gem's glow faded, Linen's mana surged rapidly back to full.
"A—a mana stone?!"
Sorgana nearly fainted. Now that Linen had a mana stone to replenish his reserves, he certainly wouldn't need her carefully laid-out traps.
But where the hell had Linen obtained such a stockpile of mana stones? After some thought, realization hit Sorgana, making her stomp her little feet in fury.
That damn Tivira!
She actually backstabbed me?!
You old hag, didn't you promise you'd reject every one of that brat's requests?
You big liar! Secretly helping him behind my back!
I curse you to also be thoroughly humiliated by this brat someday!
Letting the magic screen stay focused on Linen would now just show him smugly flexing!
She hurriedly barked orders, "Quickly—switch the screen!"
The teacher controlling the magical screen obediently switched views, though puzzled by Sorgana's sudden outburst.
But as the next scene appeared, everyone watching collectively filled the air with question marks.
Meanwhile, inside Misty Valley, Linen replenished his mana once again, continuing to clear his path. He nodded with satisfaction.
"Good thing I made an alliance with Teacher Milian. Those Diamond guild succubi are seriously wealthy—these mana stones should definitely last me through the entire Spring Cup. This run is perfectly safe now."
But remembering another even more secure move he'd made, Linen's lips curled upward smugly.
"I wonder how Elena-san and Hysteria-hime are doing. They'd never suspect that I deliberately reversed the high-risk and high-reward areas on the map. They must hate me to death right now."
This particular backstab was undoubtedly rock-solid. Absolutely impregnable!
He, Linen Norton, guaranteed it.
At the very same moment, Hysteria casually stored yet another artifact into her spatial item.
"That's the thirteenth one. Elena-chan, we're filthy rich now!"
Elena's eyes sparkled with excitement. She'd never seen this many magical scrolls and artifacts in her entire life.
"Yes, it's all thanks to Linen-kun!"
Saying this, Elena couldn't help blushing sweetly.
Initially, she'd accepted Linen's map but still secretly harbored doubts about its accuracy.
But reality had thoroughly slapped her face!
Every single mark on this map was perfectly accurate—not only had they avoided every danger, they'd become the pair with the most rewards collected since entering the trial grounds, even surpassing everyone else combined!
Thank you so much, Linen-kun!