Reborn: Apocalypse Ready. War Goddess by My Side novel Chapter 548

Chapter 548 The Prizes

Finishea

“The event runs four hours, and scores get tallied to rank the academies. Rankings determine the rewards each academy takes home.

“Everything else follows standard rules, and I imagine you’re all familiar with those by now.

“After that, the top 20 scorers move into an elimination bracket for the top ten combat rankings.

“One on one arena matches, head to head, until we’ve settled the final top ten.

“Places ten through six take home 20 million low-level divine crystals, plus one full set of A-rank weapons and battle armor each!”

The announcement sent a wave of noise crashing through the stadium.

Twenty million divine crystals, plus A-rank battle armor and weapons. That was no small prize.

For ordinary students, there was no telling how many years it would take to earn that much on their own.

And here, all it took was landing in the top ten.

Of course, cracking the top ten was nowhere near as easy as it sounded.

Everyone gathered here for the tournament ranked among the very best their cities had to offer.

Standing out from a crowd like this was brutally, agonizingly difficult.

“Places five and four earn 50 million low-level divine crystals, plus one S-rank weapon!”

The crowd’s breathing hitched all at once.

Fifty million.

Even someone with an SSS-rank Divine Sigil, breaking through from Three-Sigil to Four-Sigil, only needed about four hundred thousand crystals to make that leap.

And this was 50 million. A staggering sum.

Fifty million divine crystals, spent without restraint, could carry an SS-rank Awakened all the way from their first Awakening clear through to a Five-Sigil.

For most ordinary people standing in that crowd, it was wealth beyond anything they could picture.

And an S-rank weapon on top of it.

All it took to claim that prize was landing fourth or fifth place in this tournament, and that alone was enough to send the competitors from humbler backgrounds into a frenzy.

Land that ranking, and they’d never have to worry about resources again for a very, very long time.

Only the ones born into the great houses managed to keep their composure.

10:55 Thu, Aug 6 Tê •

Chapter 548 The Prizes

Robby smiled and pressed on, his voice carrying clean across the arena.

Third place takes home one level 7 combat art, plus one S-rank set of battle armor and a weapon!”

That announcement sent the crowd’s energy surging to a whole new peak.

A level 7 combat art. S-rank battle armor and weapons.

They were things most people could only dream of owning in their lifetime.

Finished

Even among the great houses, level 7 combat arts counted as treasured heirlooms locked away for only the most deserving. Some houses didn’t even possess one.

This was exactly the kind of prize the great houses had been hungry for all along.

Robby kept building the momentum.

‘Second place walks away with two level 7 combat arts, plus one S-rank set of battle armor and a weapon!’

The stadium erupted.

Cheers crashed over the crowd like an avalanche, wave after wave.

The excitement bordered on madness. Half the spectators looked ready to leap over the railing and throw themselves into the competition.

Too bad this tournament belonged strictly to Awakened Academy students, and even that came with its own brutal filter. Not just anyone got a seat at this table.

Every single slot had been carved out through merciless selection.

Steven watched the thunderous excitement rolling through the crowd, the corner of his mouth curling upward.

Orroux Academy had clearly gone all in on this one. Though the final bracket format differed slightly from what he’d expected, taking the top 20 scorers and narrowing them down to the final ten.

That made sense, actually. It cut down on pure luck deciding the outcome, since even the strongest competitors could draw a rough first round and miss out on facing enough monsters to rack up points.

Bianca turned to Steven with a playful smile. “Steven, are you in the market for a level 7 combat art right about now?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind grabbing one.”

Bianca smiled sweetly. “Then you take first place, and I’ll fake second, how does that sound? First place probably comes with a level 7 combat art too!”

Steven smiled and nodded. “Deal. Let’s take it.”

Bianca nodded obediently. If Steven wanted it.

Then it was as good as done.

10:55 Thu, Aug 6 J

Chapter 548 The Prizes

Nothing less than total victory would do.

A moment later, Robby cleared his throat.

The whole stadium seemed to hold its breath, waiting for what came next.

Robby smiled.

“First place takes home three level 7 combat arts and… one SS-rank imitation divine weapon!”

The stadium detonated.

The energy in the crowd rocketed straight past its previous peak.

An actual imitation divine weapon.

Finished

”

The atmosphere in the stadium reached its absolute limit.

Nobody had truly believed Orroux Academy would actually put up an imitation divine weapon as a prize, and yet here it was, confirmed.

An SS-rank imitation divine weapon ranked among the rarest treasures in existence, the kind even the great houses couldn’t always claim to own.

The materials required to forge one were simply too scarce to come by.

Robby watched the crowd’s fever pitch with quiet amusement.

His gaze drifted, almost without meaning to, toward the spot where Steven sat.

That imitation divine weapon had originally been set aside for the academy’s own promising descendants, or for some rising star from one of the great houses, meant to lure out hidden talent from across the great houses and beyond.

He never expected the bait would land a catch as big as Steven.

Now that the prize had landed in Steven’s hands, it felt fitting somehow. Put to its proper use.

Robby was confident that with Steven fighting for Orroux, they stood a real shot at a strong showing in the Tier-3 Awakened Tournament. Steven had promised a championship, though honestly, a top three finish would already exceed every reasonable expectation.

After all, the Tier-3 Awakened Tournament was brutal beyond words. Nearly impossible to conquer outright.