Annan hadn't intended to cast any spells himself.
The Lower Hive Contest lasted only one day. Even counting recovery and Meditation, Annan could cast at most eight spells. Every use was one less he had left.
But without him, Solz Magic Studies Academy stood no chance against academies with several Elite Contestants each.
Annan couldn't help despising the despairing Contestants from Gwen Academy. These academies had no shame. A whole group of Elites who could have been core members of a Mercenary Company still had the nerve to call themselves students.
There was another option: bring the elementals along. All 159 academies together couldn't defeat nearly three hundred Large Elementals. The Ceremonial Affairs Department would probably beg to grant Annan a Fief, but the marriages, banquets, and politics that followed would make him want to flee.
So after subduing Gwen Academy's eight students, Annan closed the Portal and left only two Greater Earth Elementals to protect his group. It wouldn't look too conspicuous, but they wouldn't be easy to mess with either.
"Search them."
Six men and two women. He had Alice search the women.
The Gwen Academy contestants didn't try to resist. Annan was watching them, and their Staffs were piled at his feet.
Purses jingled as they came out of Mage Robe pockets. Annan spotted them and told Theophilus, who had been about to return them, to hand them over.
Eight Contestants, seven Purses, six Elites.
Each Elite Mage's Purse held at least twenty Gold Coins. As expected of Elites, even the Coins Annan gained by defeating them were more than he'd get from ordinary Mages.
Annan counted a haul of 180 Gold Coins, while Theophilus and the others found Golden Invitation Letters. They actually had two.
"Where did you get these?"
Gwen Academy's captain, the young man