Roa's explanation left Freya momentarily speechless, and then she said helplessly, "That's true, but this year's Spirit Blade Dance Festival is a five-person team competition. If you take a day longer to gather your team, you'll lose a day of developing team awareness and synergy, which is not beneficial for you."
"Moreover, while the academy's competition doesn't require a complete five-person team to participate, basically no one would fight without having enough members. Do you see the team in front of you? They are the best example."
Roa followed her gaze to where Rinslet was pointing. There were five girls, but compared to others, these girls always wore intriguing smiles.
And these girls instinctively directed their gazes at Claire, their eyes flashing with ambiguous expressions.
These looks carried obvious malice.
Roa frowned but said nothing.
The frequency of conversation between Claire and Rinslet decreased significantly due to these obvious stares. Eventually, they lost interest in talking, and Rinslet closely followed Claire, both of their expressions not looking too good.
It seemed Rinslet wanted to break the somewhat heavy atmosphere. After hearing Freya's conversation with Roa, a confident smile appeared on her face. She pretended to elegantly tuck a strand of her golden hair behind her ear.
With a confident expression, she boldly said to Freya, "Ah, teacher, who do you think you're talking to? Even if we don't have a complete five-person team, as long as I, the Ice Mage Rinslet, am here, we won't lose."
Ice Mage was Rinslet's nickname, and Claire also had a nickname; she was called the Fire Cat by the academy.
Perhaps it was because her contract spirit was a fire cat, but Roa believed Claire was called that because of her fiery temper, which resembled a cat's personality.
Freya, hearing Rinslet's words, turned her gaze to the confidently smiling Rinslet and shrugged, casually saying, "I've said what I needed to say. Anyway, I'm just reminding you on the way. Your strengths are all quite strong, not to mention you have a spirit user like Roa. You can easily win in the academy's team advancement competition, but the Blade Dance Festival is a feast for all spirit users, not just limited to the academy."
After subtly reminding them, Freya fell silent.
The Spirit Forest was vast, and under Freya's guidance, they walked for almost an hour before finally reaching their destination.
Freya stopped and said to the people around her, "We're here."
The group immediately stopped and looked ahead.
In front of them was a vast square.
The square was large and resembled an arena used for advancement, similar to those in ancient Rome.
In the center of the square was a circular formation made of large stones.
This was a magic circle, also the teleportation array leading to the Astral Zero.
The teleportation array emitted a faint glow, and the soft light indicated that the magic circle was functioning normally.
"Is that the door to the Astral Zero?" Roa asked curiously.
Astral Zero.
A world inhabited by various spirits, completely different from the human world.
At the same time, it was also the venue for the students of the academy to hold team competitions.
Because in the Astral Zero, spirit users can use their contract spirits as pure divine energy.
In such a situation, the body imbued with divine energy is equivalent to the spirit itself and is almost immune to physical damage. It only causes a corresponding mental impact.
The battles of spirit users are difficult to control, especially when two teams are fighting; the intensity of the battle can be imagined.
The benefit of this is that even if they lose, there won't be situations where an arm is blown off or a leg is broken. At most, they will feel mentally drained for a while and can continue to jump around after a few days of rest.
Therefore, to avoid any irreparable damage to students during the competition, any battle that could cause physical harm will take place in the Astral Zero.
"Come over here." At Freya's urging, Roa and the others approached the circular magic array.
This giant stone circle was the teleportation array that opened the door to the Astral Zero.
"Are you all ready?" Freya looked around at everyone and nodded.
"Then let's set off."
As she finished speaking, Freya closed her eyes and began to chant a spell in the spirit language.
The chanting didn't take long; it was completed in just a minute.
The magic circle's light became increasingly brilliant, eventually enveloping everyone in a radiant glow. Roa felt a strong white light obscuring his vision, accompanied by a strange sensation as if he were floating in water.
Compared to the system's teleportation, this teleportation array was simply wonderful.
When Roa opened his eyes again, he saw a completely different scene.
Although the scene has changed significantly, the surrounding environment is still a forest structured by trees.
However, compared to the Spirit Forest, the trees here are much larger.
Glowing spirits drift through the air, and there are many more of these spirits than in the Spirit Forest.
The moment Roa appears, these spirits swarm towards him as if they have discovered some rare treasure.
Fireflies surround Roa, their faint glow swaying with his movements.
Spirit tamers, to some extent, attract the attention of these spirits, but Roa's exaggerated behavior inevitably draws the gaze of others.
Roa raises an eyebrow slightly; such attention is not what he wants to see.
He conveys his thoughts to these low-level spirits, trying to drive them away.
The effect is not very good; the low-level spirits do not have clear thoughts; they simply act on their feelings.
They feel safe around Roa, so they want to stay a little longer, and that's all there is to it.
Roa frowns, his scorching divine might emanating, driving these little creatures away.
The spirits look back at Roa reluctantly, glancing back three times before finally no longer clinging to him.
Roa's actions naturally attract the attention of Claire and Rinslet. They say nothing, as Claire has seen such scenes before and is not particularly surprised.
Rinslet is curious, but now is not the time for idle chatter.
She forcibly suppresses her doubts, and with a flash of white light, Freya appears, standing between the two teams to announce the rules.
"The match will start in half an hour. Before that, all members of your two teams will move in the opposite direction for ten minutes. After that, you can move freely until the half hour is up, and then the match can begin. Do you understand?"
The team competition does not merely refer to a chaotic battle between the two sides.
No one knows what form the team competition will take, as the official content of the Spirit Blade Dance Festival has not yet been announced.
Therefore, the academy will hold all possible forms of events.
And now, they are mimicking a team competition that requires long-term confrontation after being randomly teleported to different locations.
As Freya's words fall, the two teams walk towards the depths of the forest.
After waiting for ten minutes, the battle begins.
Three minutes later, Roa finds his target, stealthily crouching on the treetops, watching the girls passing below with a smile on his face.
The two beside him shiver involuntarily at Roa's radiant smile.
Looking down at the five girls who are highly alert.
The girls are very vigilant; one girl with a spear stands in front, the remaining three are in the center, and the last one is on guard against movements behind them.
The map is large, and at this time, they should not be able to find them. If it were an ordinary team, their vigilance should be at its weakest right now.
After all, no one would expect that within less than five minutes, someone would be lying in ambush ahead of them.
However, even so, they still maintain a certain level of vigilance, and their basic formation is well-kept, indicating that the quality of the opposing team is quite good.
But unfortunately, they have encountered Roa.
"I've caught you."
Roa leaps down from the treetop, grabbing the girl at the back without giving her a chance to react, and swiftly knocks her to the ground.
The girl at the back cries out in pain, unable to resist the force that comes upon her, and is almost instantly subdued.
Everything happens in the blink of an eye, and no one has time to react.
The teammates beside her realize and want to provide support.
But at this moment, a terrifying divine might begins to emanate from Roa, the scorching divine might erupting violently from him, sending a scorching wave sweeping indiscriminately around.
The pure divine might explosion does not directly inflict visible injuries on these girls; however, they all lose their composure due to this sudden eruption.
If there were status effects, these girls would definitely have a debuff called [Intimidation] hovering over their heads.
Without any hesitation, Roa throws a punch.
In less than five seconds, all five girls are sprawled on the ground, groaning in confusion and pain.
The battle is very easy, which is also within Roa's expectations.
After all, in the entire academy, there are very few who can match Roa, aside from that old immortal.
Let alone opponents, even Claire and Rinslet have not fully reacted yet.
Looking at Roa, who is retracting his divine might, Claire and Rinslet exchange glances, their eyes filled with shock.
"He's so strong, he's really strong…" Claire can't help but murmur.
"Is this guy a monster?" Rinslet whispers.
Although these five are not very strong, they certainly cannot be considered weak.
All five are capable of using spirit magic armor, and not everyone can use spirit magic armor. In the entire Areishia Spirit Academy, those who can use spirit magic armor might not even make up half.
Yet even so, when facing Roa, they couldn't even deploy their spirit magic armor before being instantly defeated.
What's more critical is that Roa did not summon the legendary Demon Slayer Sword at all.
This means that Roa completely crushed the five with his own strength.
After the shock, Rinslet excitedly pats Claire on the shoulder and says, "Could it be that we have joined a team with someone extraordinary?"
Claire, recovering from her shock, clears her throat, crossing her arms proudly, and says to Rinslet, "What else is there to say? Don't forget who invited you to this team; make sure to thank me properly."
Roa rolls his eyes at Claire, feeling somewhat speechless.
It's not like you're that amazing; why are you acting so proud?
Claire doesn't notice Roa's small gesture and continues talking with Rinslet.
"If that's the case, we should be able to win the Blade Dance Festival, right?" Rinslet, unusually ignoring Claire's words, turns her questioning gaze to Claire.
Claire recalls the dazzling Blade Dance of the young man, her eyes flickering uncertainly.
Claire speaks, "Roa's Blade Dance might be comparable to Ren Ashbell's; I believe even winning the Blade Dance will be quite easy."
After saying this, Claire and Rinslet's breathing becomes rapid.
Claire is a bit slow-witted, and only now does she realize what this represents.
Whether it's Claire or Rinslet, they both have absolute reasons to win at the Spirit Blade Dance Festival.
And with Roa around, the so-called victory is no longer so unattainable, which excites both of them.
At the same time, Freya, dressed in a white coat, walks out from the depths of the forest, glancing at the students lying on the ground, then raises her head to look at Roa.
Freya somewhat emotionally says to Roa, "Your strength seems to be much greater than I imagined."
To easily take down five spirit tamers capable of using spirit magic armor, if he were to use the Demon Slayer Sword, Roa's strength could rise even further.
Claire and Rinslet nod in agreement.
Claire says, "I feel like I didn't do anything, and the battle is over."
And in fact, it is indeed so.
Freya glances at the three of them, her tone turning cold: "Although you won, you did not achieve the true purpose of this exercise."
Claire and Rinslet are taken aback by her words, and Freya continues, "A battle where Roa single-handedly crushes the opponents like this cannot cultivate team awareness and teamwork."
Claire and Rinslet fall into silence.
Roa wants to say that relying solely on him is also not a problem.
Seemingly knowing what Roa wants to say, Freya glares at him, directly cutting off what he wants to say: "I know your strength is great, but the Spirit Blade Dance Festival is not as simple as the academy's team competition. All the spirit tamers who can step onto that stage are the best from various countries. Even if you can continue to crush one or two teams, or even crush two or three teams, or even crush a dozen teams, can you crush all the teams?"