The last thing Emery experienced before he returned was an unbearable pain that scorched him from within. It was the consequence for forcing the activation of his spell as well as the severe drawback originating from Orion's divine spell.
Afterwards, everything went dark and he was lost in that abyss until a notification came into his mind.
[Congratulation – Undead Dragon has been successfully defeated]
[First game has concluded]
[Congratulation for reaching highest contribution points]
The arrival of the notification certainly gave a sense of relief to Emery, who of course was nervous and worried whether he succeeded or not at the last moment. His heart was actually still racing with exhilaration that came from the adrenaline rush in the last moment of the fight.
Then suddenly, he was startled awake, as he heard someone screaming close to him.
"YEAH!! We won! We did it!! I got my arm back too!! This is amazing!!"
Opening his eyes, Emery realized that he had returned to reality. At the moment, he was currently standing in the podium at the center of the Grand Assembly Hall.
He turned his head to the side and was welcomed by the sight of the excited Gerri, who was weirdly hugging his own hand.
Casting his gaze around, Emery suddenly realized there were actually ten podiums visible in the area, each with 10 people on top of it.
While he was trying to think about what this could possibly be all about, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a familiar loud voice. It was the host of the game, Magus Serena who spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen, here are the top contributors of the bonus level from each of the ten groups! Let's give them all the long applause they deserve!!"
As if they were on cue, fireworks were shot to the air and exploded splendidly in the vast blue expanse. At the same time, boisterous cheers and applause rang out throughout the crowd congratulating the acolytes, who were standing on the podiums now.
Emery realized familiar faces on the one standing on the same podium at him, as for the others, he could see most of them were wearing the white uniforms that signified the privilege class.
The one who wore a black uniform like him could be counted with two hands.
The round of applause gradually subsided, until it eventually died off. People thought that it was finally over, when Magus Serene suddenly called on another announcement.
"Today, we have the chance to witness such an amazing fight, such an extraordinary display of will! And now, let us see it once again!"
To Emery's surprise, the images displayed on the screens floating throughout the Grand Assembly Hall were showing the final minutes of the Group 7's fight.
It was the highlight of the fight from the moment the bone dragon turned into an undead dragon.
The magnificent spells and skills, the narrow failure and the difficult victory they finally accomplished. Everything that happened in the virtual arena was being replayed on the screen.
After the replay finished airing, Magus Serene immediately opened her mouth again.
"You all have seen it all! This year, we have a total of 6.554 third year acolytes which were then separated into 712 teams. There were 132 of them who made it to level 5, while 86 teams managed to successfully clear said level and reached the bonus level!"
Magus Serene then came into a slight stop, as if the next thing she was about to say was something monumental. "Amazingly, out of 192 acolytes reaching bonus level, only six people from group 7 managed to complete the bonus level! How surprising! How amazing!"
"And therefore, let us all give them one more special round of applause! To group 7!!"
This announcement shocked Emery and the people around him. As they were trying to process what they had just heard, the podium they were standing on suddenly shook and rose to the air until it was located higher than the other podiums. Without many more words, they naturally became the center of attention of everyone in the Grand Assembly Hall.
Apparently, even the renowned prodigy of Dragon Bloodline, Zach, was unable to beat the Bone Dragon, as he was alone.
Emery turned his gaze to the people around him and immediately caught Roran looking at him. He then watched, as the Harlight protege put his hand on his chest and gave him a slight bow of gratitude.
The people around him were all excited, as they finally comprehend the fact they were the only one who managed to beat the Undead Dragon. One by one, Emery saw them looking in his direction and giving him some sort of acknowledgement for the last attack that he led, such as a slight bow, a smile, a nod and so on.
Gerri, Sigurd, Annara, Yunxiao, Orycon, Roran, Reyne, the two Nephilim, who were Armand's teammates, and himself; they were the 10 top contributors of the challenge.
Unfortunately, Chumo was not in the list, while Armand could be seen fuming more than ever.
The fact that Emery's group managed to defeat the Undead Dragon eclipsed such achievement and made Group 7 the most recognized among the ten groups.
Thousands of pairs of eyes focused their attention on Emery, which he of course felt in one way or another. They were all impressed that a young rank 8 acolyte hailing from the lower world was able to take part and create such an extraordinary feat.
"Hoho!! You all just realize now how special my friend Emery is!" said Gerri cheerfully, who had unknowingly stood next to Emery.
"Now acolytes, receive your rewards!!"
The next second, Emery watched dumbfoundedly, as multiple notifications came into his mind.
[Emery Ambrose]
[You are part of Team 88 of group 7]
[Personal points: 18.200]
[Team points: 22.230 ]
[Receiving 185.000 points for successfully completing 5 levels]
[Receiving 50.000 points for successfully defeating bone dragon]
[Receiving 50.000 points for successfully defeating undead dragon]
[Receiving 25.000 points for ranking in top 10]
[Receiving 25.000 points highest contribution at bonus level]
[Congratulation to successfully finish all challenges – bonus team points 25.000]
[Calculating total points… ]
[Converting points into contribution points…]
[You received 400.430 contribution points]
Emery was both speechless and gobsmacked, as he saw the final amount of contribution points he received. Winning the third game of last year's Magus Game gave him a huge 70.000 points, but now he had received almost six times that number.
Coupled with the contribution points he previously had, the total contribution he now had was…
[493. 550 contribution points]
This was definitely a huge amount of contribution points, mind-boggling even. Emery felt like screaming loudly, because of the happiness he was feeling right now, but managed to calm himself down at the last moment.
He took a deep breath and lifted his head, to notice that Headmaster Delbrand was glancing in his direction from the VIP podium, before he gave his end of first game speech.
"First of all, congratulations to all of you acolytes. We all have seen some amazing and unexpected surprises today. Despite all the arduous challenges that lay ahead, even with limited capability at hand, we can still defeat and go through all of those as long as we stay together."
Headmaster Delbrand paused for a moment, as he looked at the podium, where Group 7's acolytes were.
"I gave a special tribute to Group 7, who had shown us that it was possible and presented us with hope! Let's once again put our fate in our friends as well as others who are currently at the frontline!!"
Once again, the crowds got into their feet and delivered another round of enthusiastic applause and cheers.. Following its end was the sign that the first Magus Game had finally ended.