The next day,
The Grand Arena was somehow even more packed than the day before. The preliminary rounds had left thirty-two students standing and today, they would draw lots.
Arthur stood with the others near the arena floor. Some looked nervous, others determined. Alaric smirked, like he'd already won, while Seraphina was calm, her ice-blue eyes showing nothing. Orion stood next to Arthur, bouncing slightly.
"Why are they making us draw lots? Isn't it fairer to seed us?" He grumbled.
But Arthur didn't say anything. His eyes were glued to the VIP area, where Maelon sat with the four academy headmasters right beside him. Next to him, a large wooden box, completely unadorned, sat menacingly.
"Students!" On the center stage, the announcer of the previous day shouted with excitement. "Today, you will all draw tokens that will number one through sixteen, two of each. Matching numbers face each other. Fights will be in order. Step forward when called."
Students were called one by one. Alaric went, drew, and showed his token. No change in his smug look. Seraphina followed, drew, her face calm.
Orion drew his lot. He grinned at the number. Then, Arthur's turn. He walked to the box, reached in, pulled out a wooden disc.
As he glanced at it, he shook his head with a light laugh.
"Of course it had to be me."
Number '1'.
He would fight first.
An official noted his number. His opponent was a boy from Blackstone, another Apprentice Knight named Kael.
Arthur quickly looked up at the giant board that showed the tokens and the students who picked which tokens.
The lot drawing finished. A large board lit up, showing the bracket. Arthur's fight was first. He scanned it. Alaric and Seraphina were on the other side. If he kept winning, he wouldn't face them until the semi-finals, at least. A small bit of good luck.
"First match of the main tournament!" the announcer's voice boomed. The crowd roared. "From Blackstone Academy, Kael Jule! And from Everglen Academy, Arthur Greymark!"
Arthur stepped onto the platform, sword at hand. Kael faced him, a heavy broadsword ready.
"Mid-grade Apprentice Knight. Should be easy." He thought to himself.
The gong sounded.
Kael roared and charged, his broadsword rose high, mana flaring around it. He swung down hard.
Arthur stood still. As the heavy sword came down, Arthur moved.
Not the after-image from yesterday. This was different. His body seemed to sway, then blur, like a leaf in wind. Phantom Step. He hadn't dodged left or right. He just… shifted.
Kael's sword hit only air. The force of his miss threw him off balance.
Before Kael could fix his stance, Arthur moved. His sword, a dull grey flash, swept up. Fast, precise. No visible mana, but it was quick.
The edge of Arthur's blade touched Kael's throat.
Silence.
Kael froze. His eyes were wide. He hadn't seen Arthur's counter.
"Yield," Arthur said. His voice was quiet, firm.
Kael swallowed. The cold steel was a clear message. He slowly lowered his broadsword. "I… yield."
The judge stepped forward. "Winner, Arthur Greymark!"
Two moves. The crowd gasped, then applauded, surprised.
Arthur sheathed his sword and walked off the platform. He felt Maelon Virestone's eyes on him from the VIP section.
Looking up at it, he could see the old man was staring at him, with a slight smile on his face, nodding at him.
Arthur took a deep breath, nodding back.
The next few matches started. Soon, Orion was called.
"From Everglen Academy, Orion Starr!" the announcer bellowed. "And his opponent, from Valemarch Academy, Lyra Meadowlight!"
Arthur watched intently as Orion stepped onto the platform, his usual grin replaced with a look of focused determination.
Lyra was a girl with intelligent eyes, her Bishop's mark of crossed keys glowing softly. She held a slender, silver-inlaid staff.
The gong sounded.
Lyra immediately began chanting, her staff glowing as mana gathered. "Binding Vines of Terra!"
Thick, thorny vines erupted from the packed earth around Orion's feet, attempting to ensnare him.
Orion, however, was ready. "Ironwood Stance!" he roared. His body seemed to root itself to the ground, his mana flaring, repelling the first grasping tendrils. He then stomped hard. "Quake Step!"
A tremor ran through the platform. The newly formed vines faltered, some even retracting.
Lyra frowned, her chant quickening. "Stone Shards Volley!"
Dozens of sharpened stone projectiles, each imbued with mana, shot from the ground around her, whistling through the air towards Orion.
Orion met the attack head-on. He didn't try to dodge them all. Instead, his sword became a blur, mana coating its edge. "Gale Rend Slash!" Each swing deflected or shattered multiple shards, but a few still got through, scoring glancing blows on his arms and legs, drawing small gasps from the crowd. He gritted his teeth, pushing forward.
"Orion's gotten much better with his mana control," Arthur observed. "That Gale Rend Slash is new. He must have gotten a good scroll."
Lyra, seeing Orion closing the distance despite her barrage, changed tactics. "Illusory Mist!"
A thick, disorienting fog suddenly billowed from her staff, quickly enveloping a large portion of the platform, obscuring Orion from view.
The crowd murmured, craning their necks.
From within the mist, there was a sharp clang of metal, then a grunt of effort from Orion.
"Spirit Ward Barrier!" Lyra's voice called out, followed by the shimmering outline of a protective dome briefly visible through the thinning mist.
Then, Orion burst from the fog, his sword glowing with a fierce light. "You can't hide forever! Lion's Roar Strike!"
He lunged, his sword aimed at where he anticipated Lyra would be. The tip of his blade connected with the shimmering Spirit Ward Barrier. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface. Lyra, visible now, staggered back, her face pale from the mana exertion.
Orion didn't give her a chance to catch a breath. He pressed forward with another powerful, mana-infused slash, and the barrier shattered.
Lyra, now defenseless and with Orion almost upon her, looked like she was about to concede. But then, a determined glint appeared in her eyes. She dropped her staff and her hands flew through a series of complex gestures.
"Final Requiem: Mana Burst!" she cried, a desperate, last-ditch attack.
A volatile ball of concentrated mana, crackling with unstable energy, formed between her palms and shot towards Orion at point-blank range.
Orion's eyes widened. He tried to bring his sword up to defend, but it was too close, too fast.
The Mana Burst exploded on his chest.
Orion was thrown back several feet, landing hard, a plume of dust rising.
The crowd gasped. Lyra swayed, clearly having exhausted almost all her mana.
It looked like the fight was over.
But then, Orion pushed himself up, coughing, his training gear singed, but he was standing. He was bruised, and his mana was clearly depleted, but a grin was on his face.
"Not… bad," he managed, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "But not… enough."
His sword suddenly flashed with an enormous light that blinded the entire arena.
"That's impossible! He managed to reach the second level of a High-grade Skill in just a month?" Shouts suddenly echoed within the audience.
These were the students who knew that Orion had gotten this skill just a month ago, as a reward for the survival training.
Before he could move forward, Lyra held her hands up in defeat. "I surrender!" She shrieked as Orion's sword died down.
"Winner, Orion from Everglen Academy!" the announcer declared, and the crowd roared, appreciating the close and skillful fight.
Arthur's eyes narrowed and all of a sudden, he burst forward towards the stage, appearing right next to Orion.
The next moment, Orion fell forward, landing in Arthur's hands.
"That was… stupid." Arthur sighed. But Orion couldn't hear him, as he had passed out from over exertion.
Arthur quickly took him away from the stage, and the fights continued.
Then, Alaric's turn. His opponent, an Apprentice Knight from Valemarch. The Knight looked determined. He even managed to unleash a named sword technique, a fast series of slashes that looked quite good.
Alaric drew his massive greatsword. He swung down once, his black mana flaring. The Knight's technique shattered and his sword broke. The Valemarch student flew off the platform.
One move.
Pure power.
The crowd loved it.
Seraphina's match was much the same. She faced a Blackstone Augmenter, a high-grade Apprentice Knight, known for speed. He darted around her, looking for a weak spot.
Seraphina waited and when he darted towards her, her hand moved.
A blur of icy grace. A single, light tap to his side.
The Blackstone Knight froze, with shock on his face. Frost spread from where she'd touched him and in just a moment, he was encased in a thin sheen of ice. He couldn't move.
One move once again.
Perfect control.
The stadium erupted again.