Manaless Mage-Chapter 178: Not Like Before

Among them included, him, Susan, Trent, Nathan and another combat mage called Stanley Bennet.

Nathan’s group’s fight had also ended in a jiffy, with the combat mage easily knocking out all the other participants.

Out of all the last year’s top twenty-five students, only 11 managed to qualify for the final stage of this year’s ranking event.

Five for eliminated during the first stage of the event, while the remaining nine were eliminated during the free-for-all fight.

Unsurprisingly, all the top ten students in the academy managed to qualify to the final stage, along with two combat mages and other Elementalists.

This was the first time a combat mage would be entering the elite rankings of Vane academy in ten years. Usually, the second stage was where they got eliminated.

The final stage of the ranking even would be taking place in a week from now. It would be done in a series of knockout fights, in which the students would face each other one to one, and the final winner of the ranking event would be determined by whoever managed to win the final fight.

The others would then be ranked based on their performances, and that was how the elite students got their rankings.

Harry let out a soft yawn, as he slowly stood up from his seat, making his way out of the stage.

Since the second stage had already come to an end, the students were free to leave the event hall if they wanted.

Nevertheless, many chose to linger for a few minutes, engaging in discussions about the various battles that unfolded during the event.

Harry had no fondness for such conversations, finding them to be futile and a waste of time.

Besides, he still had to get home and continue in his comprehension of the fire element.

He had already made a lot of progress, and couldn’t afford to waste time, especially since there was a deadline attacked to the quest.

***

A few hours later,

Harry panted heavily as he stared at the burning fireplace in front of him. He was seated bare-cheated in a lotus position and sweat kept dripping down his back.

He had expended every ounce of his energy for the day, leaving his body utterly drained and fatigued.

However, despite his fatigue, he still had a wide smile on his face as he stared at the set of tabs in front of him.

======

[New Quest Alert!]

[Unlocking Affinities ]

—Comprehend An Affinity

[Quest Progress: Fire Affinity {76%}]

—Time Limit: Six months {Time remaining: Three months}

>>Rewards For completion: 5000EXP, Class Evolution

>>Punishment For Quest Failure: 50% Reduction in all stats.

======

Due to [Energy Control] finally leveling up to level 6, he was able to comprehend the element even faster, and managed to break through the bottleneck he was struggling against before.

And the quest progress had finally crossed 75%—though it was only with one more percentage point, which meant he only had less than twenty five percent more to go, and he would completely comprehend the element.

Previously, he had believed that it would require at least a month to completely grasp the fire element. However, with how fast he had been progressing, he should be able to fully comprehend it in just a little over a week, or at most, two weeks.

Harry slowly stood up, before turning off the fireplace.

While he had completed used up his energy, and felt drained, the fatigue couldn’t compare to the first time he channeled his energy.

It wasn’t that it got easier, he was simply more used to it.

Besides, his energy was already regenerating at rapid speed, and his stamina was quickly coming back to him.

’I still need to go to the restaurant today.’ Harry thought. Due to the ranking event, the academy closed a few hours earlier, meaning he had enough time to fully replenish his energy and go to the restaurant also.

*

Thirty minutes later,

Harry stood in front of a beautiful white building, on top which was boldly written "Jade Restaurant".

All around the building were neatly polished windows that displayed an exquisite view of the interior.

A weird expression flashed through his eyes, and his brows furrowed into a slight frown.

’I don’t know why... but I don’t really feel at ease.’ Harry thought. He didn’t know whether it was [Danger Sense] in effect or he was just being paranoid.

As a precaution, he concentrated intently on his surroundings, to see if he would pick up something strange with his mana sense.

But even after doing so for a few seconds, he still couldn’t find anything strange or out of place.

He went a step further, activating [Mana sense] and combining it with his heightened perception to thoroughly scan the air around him. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

However, the mana in the air was stable and flowing normally, with no single thing abnormal.

’Yeah... I’m just the one being paranoid.’ Harry mumbled Inwardly, heaving a low sigh of relief.

A slight smile appeared on his face, and he gently opened the door, before walking into the restaurant.

"Harry!" A soft, yet loud voice suddenly drifted into ears the moment he entered the restaurant.

Harry’s head turned to the direction the voice came from, his eyes meeting with that of a beautiful girl with long auburn hair, standing behind one of the counters.

’Ohh, Laura.’ Harry said inwardly, a warm smile gracing his lips as he waved back at her.

Laura was also a part-time worker in the restaurant, who joined a few months before Harry.

She was a year older than Harry, and Harry didn’t know much about her, since they had never exchanged more than a few greetings here and there.

She had also been kind to him ever since he started working at the restaurant, and not once had she ever been rude to him.

As for the girl, her cheeks suddenly turned pink and her heart beat sped up a little when she saw the smile on Harry’s face.

’He’s so... handsome. It feels like he has gotten even more handsome.’ She thought to herself, blushing as she turned her head away.

Harry walked towards her, ignoring most of the gazes directed at him from the customers in the restaurant.

"Hmm... so why were you zoning out before?" The girl asked him, with a weird glint in her eyes.

"Ohh, that... don’t worry. I was just thinking about something." Harry replied.

"Ohh, okay." Laura muttered, the sides of her face still burning with a bright pink colour.

Harry then turned around, heading for the kitchen in order to start his work as a waiter.

However, his steps suddenly halted midway, and sweat pooled around his forehead in nervousness.

’This! The mana in the air... it suddenly became erratic!’ Harry exclaimed inwardly.

Just a few seconds ago, the mana around them was flowing stably and normally, but all of a sudden, it became wild and erratic.

[Harry! It’s a rift! A rift’s about to open!]

’What?! A rift?! Why now?!’ Harry thought, his eyes slowly widening in shock.

"Harry! Are you sure you’re okay?!" Laura’s voice reached his ears, but it was muddled by the different thoughts going through his head.

Harry sharply turned his head around, as he felt the mana in the area ahead of the restaurant twist and turn around wildly.

Crack!

Suddenly, a substantial, dark yellow crack appeared in the air just a few meters in front of the restaurant, exuding a significant and ominous surge of mana.

Harry’s eyes widened at the sight of this, and thick beads of sweat rolled down his face in fear.

Laura, noticing the perplexed look on Harry’s face as he fixed his gaze on the restaurant’s entrance, instinctively shifted her own gaze in that direction.

Her eyes immediately widened in shock, seeing the large dark yellow crack in the air.

"Ahh!!!" She screamed in shock, stumbling backwards by a few steps, as she shakily pointed her fingers towards the large fissure in the distance.

Her scream drew the attention of numerous restaurant patrons, and they followed her pointing finger with curious, questioning looks, trying to discern the cause of her sudden outcry.

The moment they set their eyes on the large crack in front of the building, they all screamed in fear, and the whole restaurant was thrown into chaos.

—"It’s a rift! We need to run!"

—Ahhh!! A mana beast attack!"

—"We need to run! Fast!"

Screams of fear and shock reverberated all over the restaurant, as the people immediately stood up from their seats, running towards the door, in hopes of leaving the restaurant before any mana beast emerged from the rift.

—"Somebody!!! Quickly call the AMO!!"

A man shouted, however, no one was willing to stop and contact the AMO, right now, all that mattered to them was their lives!

Some unfortunate individuals stumbled and fell in their haste, and regrettably, those behind them did not pause but continued to rush past, inadvertently trampling over those who had fallen.

"Harry! We need to run! now!" Laura shouted, pulling the arms of Harry who was still standing frozen as he stared at the large yellow crack.

The shout from the girl jolted him out of his daze, and he suddenly grabbed her shoulders.

"Laura! You to contact the AMO! Do it fast!" He shouted, shaking her shoulders slightly while staring straight into her eyes.

"B-but... what about you?!"

"Don’t worry about me! Just do what I tell you and find a way to escape this place!"

Laura wanted to argue... ask him why he would want to remain here, rather than run. However, remembering the fact that there was still a large rift in front of the restaurant, and that mana beasts could jump out of it at anytime, she didn’t say anything.

She simply nodded her head, before turning around, running straight for the telephone hung at the far end of the wall.

’What a bad day to not be with your phone!’ She thought, as her arms trembled in fear.

Harry’s eyes turned back to the rift pulsing ominously with a large amount of mana, and a deep frown appeared on his face.

’I’m not like before, I won’t run anymore.’ He thought, his eyes squinting in determination.