The Goldsilk students arrived to see everyone stuffing their faces with the free food. Damien, who was halfway through devouring a chicken leg, just pointed at the cabinet they’d gotten the food from.
“We have no need. We brought our own food,” Elania said, pulling out a small package and unwrapping it to reveal a rather plain looking sandwich. The other two Goldsilk students mirrored her.
Mark let out a snort. “That looks dry as shit.”
“Mark! Why must you do this?” Nolan asked, throwing his hands up. He paused, throwing a small pastry into his mouth and eating it before continuing, “we just went over this too. Make friends! Stop trying to alienate everyone.”
Mark scrunched his nose. “I agreed that making friends was important, but I’ll save that for people that are strong. I don’t need weak friends.”
“It’s fine. We’re no strangers to pre-fight talk,” Viv said, taking a small nibble from her sandwich. Damien bit back a laugh and nearly choked in the process. Mark had been right – it really did look dry.
“Any reason why you brought your own food and don’t want to eat the stuff Kingsfront provided?” Damien asked once he’d finished the chicken leg.
“We provide for ourselves. We need no help from anyone,” Elania said, crossing her arms.
“If you provide for yourself, you should probably learn to cook better,” Sylph said. “Your sandwich is just bread and jerky. I’m pretty sure that only meets the definition of sandwich by the barest degree.”
“You too, Sylph?” Nolan asked. He ran his hands through his hair and let out a groan. “Back me up please, Damien.”
“It’s fine, Nolan,” Damien said. “I’m sure they can speak for themselves, and they don’t need to say anything here. Their actions in the tournament will speak far louder, even if their food choice is slightly questionable.”
Henry howled with laughter. The third, still unnamed, Goldsilk girl polished her sandwich off and sat down in one of the chairs, crossing her hands. She snuck a glance at Mark’s heaping plate of food when it didn’t look like anyone was watching her.
Mark glanced up, meeting her gaze. The grin on his face widened and he took an exaggerated bite of a piece of steak. Her stomach rumbled. Elania glared at her.
“Eve, really?”
“I forgot to put the jerky in my sandwich,” Eve admitted.
“How do you forget that? Your sandwich only has two ingredients,” Mark said.
They all ignored him. Eve shuffled over to the cabinet in shame, claiming several dishes for herself. That broke any restraint that Viv might have had, as she followed suit right after. Elania threw her hands up and gave in as well. Soon, everyone in the room was eating.
Damien finished his own food quickly, sitting back and letting out a yawn.
What do you think, Henry? Anything particularly scary about their strength now that they aren’t paying attention?
“Nothing crazy,” Henry replied. “Viv is the strongest of the three. She could probably give Nolan a run for his money unless he’s been hiding some serious strength. You and Sylph should beat her without any difficulty.”
I honestly thought that would go without saying – but I’m not so sure after Bartholomew. He seemed reasonably strong.
“He’s got some strength,” Henry agreed. “You’ll probably have a little fun during this tournament. Try to hide as much of your strength as possible. Winning is fun, but we don’t want you to seem a league stronger than everyone else. It’ll raise too many eyebrows.”
Damien mentally sent his understanding, then relaxed as he waited for the tournament to begin.
A few hours later, the arena shimmered. Particles of golden light floated down over it and the sand started to morph. A large section rose up, turning to brilliant clear quartz. It rumbled to a stop at around their eye level.
“Seven Planes,” Elania breathed, leaning over the railing with her eyes wide. “That’s some incredible magic.”
“I think they’re going to change the arena every single fight to keep things interesting,” Viv said. “This one seems pretty plain, though. Maybe they’ll make them fancier as the tournament goes on?”
“I’m more interested to see who goes first,” Mark said. “I wonder if–”
One of the crystals blinked red. They all rushed forward to get a better look at it. It was Mark’s. The boy pumped his hand and let out an excited laugh.
“Perfect. I’ll be back in a minute,” Mark said. He hopped over the railing. Golden light enveloped him as soon as he started to fall. It lifted the boy through the air, setting him down on the raised quartz platform a short distance away.
“He’s awful confident,” Elania said. “I’m going to enjoy watching him lose. No offense.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” Damien said. “But I don’t think Mark is going to lose.”
“Everyone here is the best of their schools,” Viv pointed out. “I’m sure he was capable at Blackmist, but this is a whole different world. I can understand being confident in your abilities, but cockiness like that will just end up in defeat.”
“I suppose we’ll find out,” Nolan said. Another boy floated through the air and landed on the other side of the arena. He wore blue and green – the colors of a school that Damien didn’t recognize.
The air popped as the pressure shifted and a roar erupted from the crowd above them. Damien winced at the sudden noise. Kingsfront must have been using a spell to mute the crowd’s sound until now.
“Welcome all!” A powerful voice boomed from everywhere and nowhere at once, echoing through the arena and swallowing all other noise as it passed. “Kingsfront is beyond pleased to be the host of this year’s intramural tournament. We have eight brilliant schools in attendance this year, each with four contestants! Today will be our Year Two tournament, and we’ve got a lot of fresh talent to keep you all entertained!”
The sound suppression spell released again, allowing the crowd to voice its approval before reactivating.
“Now, the rules for this tournament are simple. It will be a series of one versus one fights that go until one combatant is either unable to fight or surrenders. The winner will progress, and the loser will enter the loser’s bracket. Two losses and you’re out! And, just to assuage any fears you might have, there is a very special guest this year.”
A golden firework exploded overhead. The particles traced through the air, shifting colors and forming themselves into an image of a middle aged woman with a kindly face. She held a huge staff that could have rivaled Dredd’s wore a golden circlet.
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“The SS ranked mage known as Vinna the Lifegiver will be presiding over the fights. No injury is too great for her to heal, so our students won’t have to worry about holding back in the slightest. Of course, we also have fifty other healers on standby in case anything goes wrong.”
The announcer paused, letting everyone process his words. This time, the sound suppression didn’t release.
“Now, our first fight will be between Mark from Blackmist and Adam from Greenvalley! Mark is on the red side of the field, while Adam is on the blue!”
As he spoke, streamers of color shot up through the quartz. It split the stage in half, turning the part beneath Mark red and the other blue.
“Now, I’m sure you all want me to shut up so the fight can get underway. I’m more than happy to oblige! Students, you may begin channeling your Ether. This fight begins in three… two… one… Go!”
Fire roared around Adam, wrapping his body like a cloak. He thrust his hands towards Mark and a beam of flame seared through the air.
Mark drew the sword on his back, turning the flat side towards the spell and bracing it against his shoulder. The flame slammed into it, curling around Mark harmlessly. Adam yanked his hands towards his chest and the flame followed, rearing back and looming over him like a serpent.
“That’s some impressive control,” Viv murmured.
“Not as strong as Eve’s, though,” Elania said, crossing her arms. “The heat is way lower. She never would have gotten her spell blocked by a normal sword.”
“Elania? Please don’t forget that there are still competitors in the room with us,” Eve said. Her voice was little more than a whisper and carried no anger within it, but Elania still flinched.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think–”
“Just watch the fight.” Viv interrupted them.
Mark had closed about half the distance between him and Adam. The ground was covered in a sea of roaring fire, but he didn’t seem particularly bothered by it. More surprisingly, Mark hadn’t brought out his sand armor.
“Does he need to be close to the sand to use his magic?” Nolan wondered.
“It shouldn’t be that weak.” Sylph shook her head. “He should have more than enough range to summon some of that sand up. Besides, it’s not like he’s got sand magic – it’s earth magic, so he should be able to use the quartz.”
Damien and Henry came to a conclusion at the same time. “He’s just messing around.”
“Doesn’t look like it. He’s not advancing anymore,” Elania said. “It just looks like he can’t use his magic.”
Mark flicked his blade, batting a ball of fire to the side. He twirled the sword and slammed it deep into the quartz stage. Adam pointed both hands at Mark and the fire around him surged forth in a huge pillar.
Red energy flared around Mark. He blurred forward, dodging the attack and appearing beside Adam. Mark let out a gleeful laugh and darted at his opponent. Adam backpedaled, sending bolts of fire raining down on him, but Mark dodged each one.
If anything, Mark seemed to grow stronger with every passing second. His skin turned color to match the energy surrounding him and spikes jutted out of his back and shoulders. Adam desperately brought all the fire under his control crashing down atop Mark, enveloping him in a ball of fire.
A red line flashed in a circle and the fire dissipated, leaving Mark untouched. His face split into a grin, revealing two rows of jagged teeth. Mark walked toward Adam, now completely ignoring fire raining down on him instead of attempting to dodge it.
Every time a spell got close, a flash of red light eliminated it. Adam backed up, but Mark matched his pace and then went just a little faster. It wasn’t long until Adam was pinned against the edge of the arena.
Mark flicked his hand. A red line carved across Adam and blood spurted from a gaping wound in his chest. He toppled back, plummeting over the edge of the arena.
Two men wearing Kingsfront robes appeared in the air with a flash of gold light. They caught Adam and lifted him back up to the stage. By the time they were on it once more, his wounds had been completely healed.
“What a fight!” the announcer boomed. “And right from the start, Mark has laid down a challenge to all the other competitors! He didn’t take a single hit throughout the entire match. Let’s hear it for Mark!”
The crowd thundered in approval. Gold light gathered beside the arena, condensing into tiles that led back over to Damien and the others. Mark’s skin returned to normal and he ripped his blade free of the ground, slinging it over his shoulder and heading back to join them.
Elania watched him, her eyes so wide that Damien thought they might pop out of her head. Viv flicked Elania in the shoulder, snapping the girl out of her reverie. Mark hopped over the railing.
“I hope the rest of the tournament has more to offer than that,” he said with a cocky grin, grabbing a charcuterie board from the cabinet and flopping into his chair.
“What was that?” Elania exclaimed. “How did you–”
“Elania,” Viv said, narrowing her eyes. “Control yourself, please.”
Elania’s mouth snapped shut and she turned away from Mark, much to his amusement. Damien caught Sylph’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. She thought for a moment, then waggled her hand.
That was actually pretty impressive. He’s gotten stronger. Looks like Sylph still thinks she’s got a good chance against him, though.
“So he has,” Henry murmured. “I wonder how you’d stack up against him without using my powers or direct casting.”
We might have a chance to find out soon enough.
Henry let out a noise of agreement. Damien relaxed, turning his attention back to the arena. This time, none of their crystals lit up. Two boys floated down to the quartz ring and the announcer started introducing them.
He watched the two as the fight started, trying to take in as much information about both as possible. So long as he advanced in the tournament, any of them could be his opponent. Any information would be valuable. When Damien met them in the ring, he was going to see just how much he’d really grown in the past two years.