Chapter 14

By the way, in the previous matches, due to the rule specified by the principal which had no rules at all, it caused many chaotic situations, making the table tennis matches completely devoid of the essence of table tennis. Many matches didn't know how to evaluate the outcome of victory and could only judge based on who hit the ball more times, which received criticism from all sides.

For example, the maintenance magicians insisted that the principal take responsibility for the damage to the sports field and ensure that such complete destruction incidents are minimized in the future. If they occur, compensation for lost work time and overtime pay must be provided.

In any case, under the strong demands of the student council president, other members of the student council, and numerous ordinary spectators, Lord Damia reluctantly introduced some new restrictions.

For instance, excessive destruction of tables and the competition area is not allowed.

...........

Do you really have to consider the power and speed of the table tennis ball being so great that it spontaneously combusts or exceeds the speed of light and travels through space and time?

I initially thought that such reasonable rules shouldn't be explicitly stated in the regulations, but they're actually necessary since the recently renovated sports field is still there.

And range-based magic must be limited within the player's side of the table.

This restriction actually makes sense and aligns with the style of fantasy matches in my mind.

There are also some specific details that I don't quite understand, so I won't go into them further.

Student Council President: "The match time has arrived! Get ready..."

Damia: "Alright! We can already see that the match has started off in a heated state."

Student Council President: "Lord Damia, I understand your excitement as this is your first time hosting a match, but I haven't even served the ball yet..."

Damia: "Now, let me read a draft from Aldi MoMoTi, a second-year specializing in healing magic."

Ah, magical warriors, your figures on the table tennis field are like majestic earth golems, and the ball in your hands is like a released arrow of wind. You are the dawn of a new era, listening to the distant call of the ancient elven woods."

Student Council President: "??"

Damia: "I seem to have seen this draft before in a previous match. Although it's slightly modified, I won't award any bonus points to this student. Let the match begin now..."

Student Council President: "I just announced it!"

As soon as the starting sound settled, Samir immediately held the racket and slid down to the front edge of the branch in the same form as before.

"Flying Blossom and Leaf!"

The layers of Chet's leaves were woven into a dense protective net around the ball, essentially a gigantic table tennis racket, comparable in size to a standard swimming pool.

"Snowfall!"

The leaves on the tree slammed against the back of the racket, bringing great impact to the table tennis ball. Some of them stayed within the opponent's side of the table, quietly floating in the air like loyal guardians.

With a swipe of her hand on the racket, Wakaka raised elegant and stylish black flames.

"Are you afraid of me calling out my moves? The wanton and exuberant... Scatter of Vigor..."

"Smack!"

The ball hit the edge of the table and dropped to the ground.

That's why I told you, Wakaka, your move names are too long...

"Tsk," she gritted her teeth, "I got it, I know how to counter you now."

Save lines like those that seem to see through the boss's tricks for the end! It's only the first point, saying that now will make it a jinx!

Wakaka picked up the ball, infused her black flames into it, and then stylishly swatted it over.

But it was immediately struck back with immense force by the reinforced table tennis racket...

I barely managed to strengthen my shot by 0.1 level with brute force. "Wakaka, your move is useless!?"

"No, look at her racket."

As Wakaka spoke, I looked at Samir's racket.

It too was burning with black flames.

"Ah! It's you, with this..."

"Doesn't it make her racket look cooler!?"

"So what!?"

However, the seemingly harmless flames made Samir and Chet furrow their brows. Chet removed the leaves surrounding the racket, creating a new racket."Hoo... hoo..."

Both Wakaka and I were almost out of energy.

The combination of Samir and Chet had a strong impact, and each time they caught the ball, it took a lot of energy. In just a short period of time, the score was already 0:10--

Could it be... that we're really going to lose?

During this time, Wakaka used various fancy black flame techniques, but apart from a pile of leaves falling, there didn't seem to be any actual damage on the other side. Chet still had about one-fifth of the leaves left, which was just enough to condense into a racket again.

"Buzz--"

"Hmm?" Samir seemed to have heard something and slid from the edge branches of Chet to the trunk, holding the trunk with both hands. "What's wrong, Chet?"

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the opponent was speaking, the despicable Wakaka hit the ball through the copper walls and iron walls of the leaves and directly scored on the opponent's table, earning the first point of the game.

The shy Grass used its branches to cover its main stem, and then its gaze, no, its eyes, no, its eye--

In any case, I could feel that the tree glanced shyly at me and Wakaka, then began talking to Samir.

"Mmhm, I see..." Samir's expression became grave and hesitant. "Then, let's have less of that?"

Chet divided the few leaves it had left in half and condensed them into another racket, and we were too exhausted to hit the ball anymore.

In a decisive move, Samir--

...

Wakaka and I stared at the 2:10 score on the scoreboard for a long time.

Putting aside that first point, that point was entirely Wakaka's own action, nothing to do with me. I am still an upright and innocent young girl.

"?????"

Even the audience below looked baffled by what was happening.

The Astrologer of Stars blinked, smiled with a tilted head, and rested their chin on their wrist.

"Oh... I missed it," Samir awkwardly laughed, flipping their beautiful hair with an elegant curve behind their head. "Let's try again."

"Hey!"

"Again!"

...

Looking at the 10:10 score on the scoreboard, our confusion grew even stronger.

Top eight, among several thousand participants, and we can't even hit the ball?

Chet once again threw a portion of its remaining leaves onto the racket, which had already become the size of a door.

In one final effort, Samir swung the racket--

Barely touched the edge of the ping pong ball, then scraped the net without crossing the line.

"????????????"

11:10

Even so, in the first match of the top eight, we still achieved victory amidst the confusion of the participants and the audience.

Afterwards, I went to find Samir and Chet.

"Um... were you intentionally going easy on us?"

Samir stroked Chet's trunk, shook their head, and apologized, "I'm sorry, my aim was just too poor. I couldn't hit such a small ball with that sized racket..."

"But from what I remember, Chet's leaves seemed to be enough."

Seeing my continued confusion, she added, "Although we participated in the competition to prevent Chet from losing too many leaves, it feels like we've misplaced our priorities by using up all the remaining leaves just to win."

...Losing leaves?

"And, once there are none left, it feels like I'm missing something valuable."

...???

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