Chapter 233: Preliminaries Part 2

 

  The crowd of 3rd-years winced in sympathy as the drow collapsed unceremoniously, his complexion paler than usual. Every student knew how a grey mage’s drain spells worked, but it was something else entirely to see the lifeforce of a fellow classmate be drained right in front of them. Only a single student clapped from among the crowd, an orc with glasses and a wide smile.

  “Wooh! You go, Sylvie!” Poppy yelled cheerfully.

  Sylvie grinned bashfully from atop the arena stage. She glanced over at the duel’s proctors; Vayu and Loh stood on a small platform to the side of the stage.

  Vayu cleared his throat and raised his arm high, “Sylvie wins her first match and will advance to the next bracket.”

  The crowd finally broke out into cheers, although many still seemed sick from the ghastly defeat of their classmate.

  “Talk about a one-sided beating,” Loh muttered.

  “That’s our academy’s ace for you,” Vayu shrugged.

  Sylvie jogged over to Callum and Poppy. “How’d I do?”

  Callum said wryly, “Um, you literally strangled him like a ragdoll while you drained his lifeforce sooo… Good, I guess?”

  “You were AMAZING!” Poppy jumped up and down and hugged Sylvie.

  “Thanks! I tried,” Sylvie laughed happily.

  “Darwin and Poppy Skeller to the arena, please,” Vayu called out.

  “Oh, I’m up,” Poppy wrung her hands. “Gods, I’m nervous. I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “It’s just the first match, nothing to worry about,” Callum said.

  “You’re gonna be great,” Sylvie patted her back and pushed her forward. “You’re a badass, remember that.”

  Poppy nodded to herself, “Y-yeah, you’re right.” She puffed up her chest, “I can do this! I’m Poppy fucking Skeller, dammit!” She walked up onto the stage and held her hands at her side, ready to spell-cast. 

  Darwin, a lanky human boy with shaggy blonde hair stumbled onto the other side of the stage. He fidgeted and looked around nervously.

  “On the count of three the match will start,” Vayu said. “One, two- …huh?”

  “What kind of proctor are you?” Loh whispered and shook her head. 

  “What are you talking about?” Vayu frowned.

  “Read the bloody names,” Loh smacked his arm and pointed at the stack of papers he held in his hand. 

  Vayu narrowed his eyes and brought the papers close. “Oh!” he chuckled, “Sorry, everyone, I misread a contestant’s name. Darwin, your match isn’t until after this one. You may rejoin your classmates.”

  Darwin sighed in relief and hurried down the stage. His friends patted his shoulder and welcomed him back.

  Vayu nodded and cleared his throat, “Ahem, Stryg of Ebon Hollow to the arena please.”

  The crowd’s voice suddenly died. Stryg emerged from among them and leaped up onto the stage with a single step. The crowd’s gaze slowly shifted from him to Poppy and back.

  Stryg spread his legs apart and crouched low, his grey claws clear under the sunny sky. He bared his teeth and hissed.

  Poppy stood still and just stared at Stryg. “...Yeah, I’m out,” she turned around and walked down the stage.

  “What?” Stryg cocked his head to the side.

  “Miss Skeller, if you concede now, you’ll fail the exam. Are you certain?” Vayu asked. 

  “Don’t hold back on my account,” Poppy shook her head.

  “What are you doing!?” Sylvie yelled from the crowd. “The fight hasn’t even started yet, don’t give up now!”

  “Nah, fuck this,” Poppy threw her hands up. “I’d like to live till I’m old and grey, not die young and quadriplegic.”

  Several students nodded and murmured in agreement. 

  Sylvie crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks in frustration.

  Stryg sighed and hopped off the stage. 

  A quiet voice echoed in his ears, “You won without having to lift a finger, I’m impressed.”

  Stryg looked up, “Nora…?” He spotted her in the distance, sitting on a bench at the edge of the grassy field.

  “Wow, your ears really are sensitive,” she whispered with a smile.

  Stryg ran across the field and sat down next to her. He grinned, “I’m glad you came! Wait… What about Kamilo!?”

  “Relax,” Nora chuckled. “Kamilo is fine. He is with my mom and his nursemaids. And they all love doting on him. If I’m not careful he’ll be a spoiled brat someday.”

  “Oh, that sounds nice,” Stryg smiled.

  “How is being a spoiled brat a good thing?”

  “Not that. The ‘they all love doting on him’ part. To have people that love you even though you haven’t done anything to earn it?” He shrugged, “It’s nice.”

  “Stryg…” Nora sighed, “Sometimes all I see when I look at you is this intimidating mage and I forget how difficult growing up must have been for you.”

  “What? I’m fine,” he frowned.

  “Yeah, I know,” she nudged his shoulder. “Now you’ve got friends who care about you.”

  “Darwin and Nora Azol to the arena, please!” Callum shouted.

  Darwin shivered at the name of his opponent. His friends patted him on the back and gave their condolences.

  Nora stood up from the bench and winked, “Looks like I’m up. Wish me luck.”

  Stryg grinned, “You won’t need it.”

~~~

  The cold sunny afternoon passed by quickly. 3rd-year students sparred against one other round after round. Most rounds lasted a dozen or so minutes, each mage flinging whatever spells they could muster until their mana reserves ran out or their bodies overheated from excessive spell-casting.

  There were several talented mages among the 3rd-years Loh hadn’t noticed before. For their age, they were fairly skilled and capable of casting advanced spells. Had they been a part of last year’s class or the upcoming class, Loh guessed they probably would have been the top students in their entire year. Unfortunately, they were overshadowed by a few extraordinary individuals.

  The yellow mage Kithina had awed her classmates with her dual multicasting, an almost impossible feat for any adept, let alone a novice. Match after match she casted wind and durability spells simultaneously and defeated her opponents with ease.

  The brown mage Kegrog had fared just as well. What he lacked in magical talent, he made up for in sheer brute strength. The orc might not have been as tall or as strong as a dire, but he fought with just as much might. His vigor spells strengthened his already bulging muscles to an astonishing degree. Several of his opponents had already been tossed off the stage.

  While not unexpected, the scions of Hollow Shade’s Ruling Families, Freya Goldelm and Callum Veres, continued to impress. Both were dual-manifolds and both held larger mana reserves than the average mage. While the sparring matches had slowly eaten away at the mana reserves of almost every student, Freya and Callum were still fresh after half a dozen fights.

  The only mage who was less spent was Stryg. To Loh’s amusement and Vayu’s surprise, every opponent Stryg had faced conceded before the match had even begun. It was almost as if Poppy’s resignation had caused a cascade effect among the morale of Stryg’s competitors. That or everyone really was terrified of the blue pretty boy who sulked at the edge of the grassy field because no one wanted to fight him.

  Then, of course, there were the two magi who everyone expected to do well and were still surprised. Nora of House Azol and the dire hybrid Sylvie. Both women had destroyed their competition relentlessly. Nora had thrown powerful torrents of water at her opponents until they collapsed; she had even swept one of her opponents off the stage with a miniature tidal wave. 

  Sylvie had been much more merciless, bordering on cruel. She had drained her opponents, broken their bones, cursed them, and had even almost drowned a girl in a giant sphere of water.

  Honestly, why people surrendered against Stryg and not the crazed dire hybrid, Loh had no idea.

  Vayu glanced at the setting sun and yawned, “Only four more matches to go.”

  “More like three,” Loh said dryly.

  Sylvie stood on the stage, her hand raised high, fingers curled in a grip. Giant green vines protruded from the arena’s slate tiles and wrapped tightly around her opponent, a young drow.

  “Do you concede?” Sylvie asked sternly.

  The drow squealed and tried to move to no avail.

  Sylvie clenched her hand closed, the vines tightened around the drow. He cried and squealed at an even higher pitch.

  “I think the boy is panicking too much to even talk,” Vayu winced.

  “Yes, after Sylvie blocked all his flame bolts I think it was pretty much a done deal,” Loh said.

  “Shall we then?” Vayu asked.

  “Go for it,” Loh nodded.

  Vayu cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, “The match is over! Cease all attacks! I declare Sylvie the winner!”

  “Yes!” Sylvie fist-pumped the air and released the green flora spell. The giant vines withered and crumbled apart. The drow fell on the floor and curled into a fetal position. He shivered and cried quietly.

  Vayu looked at the young drow with sympathy before he turned his attention to Sylvie. “Come here, please.”

  Sylvie nodded and jogged over, “Yes, Professor Glaz?”

  Even standing on a small platform, Vayu was still shorter than Sylvie. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Loh if her smirk was anything to go off of.

  Vayu blatantly ignored his co-worker, and handed Sylvie a written slip of paper with Lord Noir’s seal, “Congratulations, Sylvie! As one of our last standing mages, you have earned yourself a spot among our academy’s four chosen contestants for the tourney.”

  “Hehe!” Sylvie smiled wide, her scarlet eyes brightened with delight. She grabbed her slip of paper and ran off to her friends.

  “That’s one hell of an ace,” Vayu whistled. “She’ll destroy the competition in Undergrowth.”

  “Mm,” Loh nodded. She glanced at the line-up for the final three matches; the winners would represent Hollow Shade in the Great Cities Tourney.

 

Nora Azol vs. Callum Veres

Stryg of Ebon Hollow vs. Kegrog

Kithina vs. Freya Goldelm

 

  “Shall we continue?” Loh muttered.

~~~

  Callum walked onto the now-familiar stage and looked around. The majority of the slate tiles had been cracked or outright shattered. The new dwarf professor, Cornelius Rotrusk, had stopped by and casted a stone spell to fill in the giant holes that Sylvie’s vines had made.

  “Sylvie really is incredible,” Callum smiled to himself.

  As if on cue, Sylvie’s voice broke out from among the crowd’s cheers, “You can do it! Show her the strength of hybrids!”

  Nora glanced at Sylvie from across the stage. “So, that’s the dire hybrid Kegrog has been telling me about. Pity we didn’t get a chance to fight.”

  Callum wrinkled his brow, “It’s been a while, Nora. You seem… different.”

  “Yes, that usually happens when your fiancé dies,” Nora said frostily. “Not that you would know. You’ve had a fiancé since the day you were born, yet here you are happily dating this obsessively-cheerful girl.”

  Callum stiffened.

  Nora narrowed her eyes, “Oh? You haven’t told her, have you? Wow, you must really like this girl. I’m impressed that Stryg or Kitty never said anything. I mean, Stryg I understand, the importance of things like that usually go right over his head. But Kitty? You really lucked out with her. She must have really cared about you to not let the little bit of info slip out, huh? Maybe I should tell Sylvie myself, hm?”

  Callum frowned, “I’m sorry about your loss, I really am. But how does any of this help either one of us?”

  “...Clypeus never liked you, I never understood why.” Nora straightened her back, “But after Kegrog told me what happened at the Winter Ball, I think I have a pretty good idea.”

  Callum sighed, “...You used to be so timid around me, you would never have threatened a Veres.”

  Nora stretched her arms and took a battle stance, “Lucky for me, I’m not a Gale.”