Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 60: A Princess Eager to Learn and an Esquire Eager to Prove Herself…

-----Alicia's POV-----

It had happened way too fast… So fast that I was barely able to see what had transpired just mere moments ago…

"Ugh…" One of the participants whose face looked like a monkey's groaned in pain nearby.

That participant had crashed against an invisible wall in front of me… That invisible wall not only was not only bringing protection to me but to the whole coliseum. It was a barrier of enormous proportions.

In just a matter of seconds after crashing against the invisible barrier, the student’s bracelet was completely shattered until not even dust remained. The participant in question quickly disappeared from view almost at the same time his bracelet was destroyed… He had been disqualified already.

"Wow… That looked painful… I have to say that I am quite impressed. As I thought, it wasn't a mistake to have Julius participate in this tournament." My aunt said while looking quite pleased.

"No way… Just how strong did he become in these last three years…? That kick to the head should have broken the neck of the heir of Dravia… If it wasn't for those bracelets, he would be meeting his ancestors and the Goddess Skell by now…" My older sister was looking down at the arena with an expression filled with awe.

Julius kicked him? I couldn't even see it…

Or rather, I wasn't able to see it at all… It all happened so fast that I only saw Julius become a blur in one instant and in the next the monkey-faced participant had already crashed against the barrier…

"If my estimations are correct, Julius should be more or less around your level of strength, Marina. I'd say that you're the stronger one out of the two of you, but until he actually bears his fangs and shows us what he can really do, I won't be sure." My aunt smiled while rubbing her chin as she analyzed my champion.

Huh…? Julius is just as strong as my older sister… Incredible… I can’t believe it…

"Amazing! It has not been a full minute since the tournament started and a participant has already been disqualified! And it was by the hand of Julius, our special participant!" The headmistress shouted with excitement as she announced the first disqualification of the tournament. “Also, it appears that I might have forgotten to mention this, but there’s an insanely strong barrier being used to protect the audience at the stands in all three of the coliseums, so please feel free to go crazy with your magic, dear students! Give your all and show everyone a spectacle they won’t forget in their lives!” Lady Ophelia explained cheerfully.

However, Lady Ophelia’s explanation fell on deaf ears as the entire coliseum, including those below in the arena, fell silent at the sight of the sudden elimination… Which arguably, was only natural as even I was at a loss for words about what happened…

On the other hand, Julius looked completely unbothered by the shocking event he had caused. He simply stood still for a few moments cracking his knuckles and his neck before taking an unarmed battle stance. However, instead of looking around with caution since he was right in the middle of all the participants, he had his eyes closed, almost as if he was declaring that he didn’t need to use his eyes to win…

What is my champion doing…? I still cannot understand him…

“Oh! That’s Tiria’s [Wind Demon’s Requiem]!” My aunt suddenly shouted with excitement. “He closed his eyes and intentionally left quite a few gaps on his guard… That’s just way too nasty… That’s really just like Tiria.” My aunt suddenly giggled. 

“Umm… What do you mean by that, dear aunt? Is he trying to do something? Why does he close his eyes all of a sudden when he is surrounded by the other participants? For the lack of a better word, isn’t that really really bad…?” I expressed my confusion to my aunt.

Unlike my aunt and my older sister, I really had little knowledge about fighting, so I was not sure of what was Julius trying to accomplish…

“Hmm… To put it simply, your dear champion seems like he doesn’t want to play around in this phase. He just set up a very cunning trap for those who are foolish enough to believe that the gaps on his guard are real. Although only an amateur would fall for something like it, I can’t deny that the way he’s executing his plan is truly something worthy of admiration. If I was in the shoes of anyone with a weapon down there, I would be inclined to believe that I would have the upper hand considering that Julius didn’t bring a weapon with him and decided to participate with martial arts alone…” My aunt explained to me with a caring expression.

“In other words, Julius decided to use the confusion he just caused to turn himself into an enticing reward for anyone around him to claim. He wants to use this moment of confusion to make the others think that he just used all of his strength on that supposedly lucky attack against the heir of Dravia. After all, the future Marquis of Dravia is known throughout the entire school as supposedly the one with the most physical strength. I doubt Julius was aware of that baseless rumor, but it is quite obvious that taking down such a seemingly strong opponent would lead anyone to believe that he used a considerable amount of power…” My older sister started talking to herself.

“Indeed. That is a good analysis of what Julius might be thinking about. You have grown quite a lot, eh Marina?” My aunt spoke to my sister with pride.

“Umm… I still don’t understand what he is trying to do… I mean, I think I do, but that still doesn’t explain why he has his eyes closed… Isn’t he vulnerable to an enemy’s attack now?” I asked for further clarification.

“Let’s see… Let us use this example instead… Alicia, do you remember those fly trap plants that the merchants at the port bring ever so frequently from the Western Continent?” My aunt asked with a playful expression.

“Yeah…. Wait… Oh! I think I get it!” I immediately realized what Julius’s plan was.

While appearing to be vulnerable, Julius wants to make the enemy try to attack him in that state, thus making his opponent lower their guard while they attack instead. So, if the enemy’s guard is down, they won’t be expecting a counterattack from Julius who seemingly used a lot of his energy to deal with a very strong opponent right away… 

That is devilishly clever… As expected of the one that I wanted to have as my knight! I mean, my first friend! That’s way better than a knight!

“But what about his eyes…? Wouldn’t it be better if he was seemingly watching out his surroundings for any potential threats?” I asked another question.

In response, both my aunt and my sister shook their heads to refute my idea…

“It is true that I just used those fly trap plants as an example, but I think it would have been more accurate if had used a spider instead.” My aunt said with an awkward look on her face.

“A spider?” I was perplexed.

“Have you tried looking at the mana at the arena, Alicia? From here on out, if you use your normal view, you won’t be able to understand what Julius is going to do or to follow the action, so I recommend you start channeling mana into your eyes before the battle actually begins.” My older sister suddenly patted my head as she looked down below at the confused participants around our shared champion.

The mana around the arena…? A spider…? Oh… Oh!? OH!!!

As I gathered mana into my eyes, I was welcomed by a truly unexpected sight… A sight that immediately made me fully understand the words of my sister and aunt. As far as I could see, minuscule threads made out of perfectly refined mana covered almost the entirety of the ground down at the arena, forming something that seemed just like a spider web… Julius stood in the middle of that web.

Ah… I understand now why he has his eyes closed… With these threads, he is completely aware of his surroundings… He is using these threads to nullify any potential surprise attacks…

Hmm… I’m learning a lot about fighting… I might be able to use this for a book sometime in the future… I should give my all to learn as much as I can for the sake of my books and to impress Julius with my newly acquired knowledge! Now we will have something new to talk about!

“Do you understand what he is trying to do now, Alicia?” My sister asked with a confident expression on her face.

“Yes. Thank you very much for your explanation, older sister.” I thanked her from the bottom of my heart. “With this, I believe that our champion’s victory is assured, is it not?” I said happily after finally understanding something about my champion.

“Alicia… Those who proclaim victory earlier than they should are destined to fail and bite the dust in the end. Never forget that, okay? The tournament has just begun after all.” My aunt suddenly scolded me…

“Ugh… I apologize… I got caught up in the excitement of learning something new…” I apologized with an awkward look on my face.

“It is fine, Alicia. It is fine as long as you understand that something like that brings bad luck. I understand how you feel since I obviously want to proclaim our victory as soon as possible, however, let’s not forget that there are quite a lot of strong individuals in the academy. People like Alberis Nebandia, Renard Caprasania, Neris Shtrel, and Zoe Smotia, are definitely opponents that should not be underestimated at all. Because of that, we should just limit ourselves to watching how things develop and not bring any sort of bad luck or bad omen to our champion, don’t you agree?” My sister smiled at me.

Hmm… My older sister has always been surprisingly superstitious despite her usually logical way of acting… I think that’s a really cute fact about my perfect older sister.

“I understand… I’ll definitely try not to do anything that would bring our champion bad luck” Despite being a little skeptical of her reasoning, I nodded and agreed with my sister. “By the way, dear aunt, what is the thing that you called [Wind Demon’s Requiem]?” I asked yet another question.

“Well…-” Before my aunt could even begin her explanation, she was interrupted by a loud crashing sound… 

Another one of the participants suddenly crashed against the barrier in front of us… 

“Uaaaa… D-D-Damn… H-H-How…? He had his eyes closed… How did he see me coming…? He shouldn’t have that kind of… Strength left…-” The participant in question struggled to even talk as he looked like he was about to lose consciousness. Soon after, just like the previous one, the bracelet of this participant was reduced to dust, allowing him to be teleported away, thus disqualifying him.

Since I was distracted by the talk with my aunt and sister, I was unable to witness what had transpired and the cause of the second elimination of the tournament… 

Though, I doubt I could’ve seen anything since I wasn’t able to do so the first time around…

“What a brutal punch to the gut! Even though it seemed like the other participant was about to catch the princesses' champion in a moment of vulnerability, he managed to turn the ambush against his attacker! That was an impressive display of strength and speed… As expected of the son of the Skull Crusher!” Ophelia shouted with an expression filled with even more excitement than before. “The battle will be getting more and more intense now! The participants are finally starting to move one after the other after recovering from the initial shock of seeing someone get eliminated so quickly! I hope that serves as a reminder that you cannot allow yourself to get paralyzed on a real battlefield! That could cost you your life in the future, so you better learn your lesson now that you can!” Ophelia seemed extremely pleased that the other participants were finally recovering from their initial shock.

Most of these participants who had recovered were all either watching Julius with caution or engaging in combat with other people and trying to get some distance between them and Julius to avoid him entirely… 

As a response to all that, Julius simply opened his eyes again and changed his stance, hiding his right arm behind his back and keeping the left one in front of him with his fist closed.

“Oh! So he also knows how to use Tiria’s [Devastating Fist of Harmonious Destruction] too! What a pleasant surprise!” My aunt was acting surprisingly giddy for some reason.

Umm… That is the name of a technique, right…? Isn’t it a bit embarrassing to say something like that out loud? It seems like the Demonic Wind has a bit of a peculiar naming sense, to say the least…

“You still haven’t answered my previous question… What’s Julius trying to do this time with this other technique?” I couldn’t help but ask many questions due to my ignorance and my increasing curiosity.

"Alright, I'll explain it to you. [Wind Demon's Requiem] is a form of martial arts created by Tiria Feru, who is also known as the Demonic Wind. This particular form of martial arts focuses on defeating the enemy as brutally as possible by using overwhelming speed and a powerful [Fighting Spirit] for that purpose. In short, this martial art's objective is to cause as much damage as possible within a short time period." My aunt finally answered one of my questions.

"I see… So because of his way of fighting he was able to eliminate the previous participants… Though, I'm a bit confused about something… Shouldn't there be a more intense aura around him if he's using [Fighting Spirit]?" I asked yet another question.

"That's a good question! You get a lot of points for noticing that! You see, the explanation for why there's a lack of aura around him is because, as you pointed out, he is not using his [Fighting Spirit] at this moment. The reason for this is that he's currently holding back a lot for the sole purpose of preserving his strength." My aunt praised me before giving me a quick explanation. "As for the question you asked before this one… You should just stay quiet and watch if you want to understand what he plans to do." My aunt said before focusing her gaze on the battlefield below.

The sounds of the clashing steel became much more intense each second that passed… Spells started to fly by and crash against the ground in quick succession, causing extremely powerful explosions all over the arena.

However, even though I could hear the sound of the clashing steel and watch as the spells flew by and crashed against the ground, no one was attacking Julius in any way.

Was it because the rest of the participants were afraid of him already? Was it because they were being cautious in order to deal with him later? I was still not knowledgeable enough to know why they were doing that…

However, Julius was not doing anything to them either… He was standing still in the same place, with the same stance as before. That only lasted for a moment though, as Julius suddenly disappeared from view instantly, making me doubt my ability to see for a moment…

“He’s gone!” I shouted instinctively.

“Not quite.” My aunt giggled in response. “If you look over there, you should be able to spot your dear champion.” She pointed at the other side of the arena with a look of amusement on her face.

Just as my aunt had said, my champion was now standing on the opposite side of the arena, very far away from us. It was a little difficult to see because of the distance, but I was able to notice that he was standing there without taking a stance, completely relaxed as if he was just another spectator. Despite his nonchalant attitude, the trail of destruction left behind him was obvious…

In just a few brief moments, a dozen students fell to the ground at the same time… There were an equal amount of wands, staves, and other magical tools for spellcasting laying beside them, some completely broken and some others reduced to nothing but dust.

“So he went after mages first… Truly… If what you said is true, we might be more or less equal when it comes to our strength, but that speed… It is just inhuman… I don’t know if I can’t match that…” My older sister seemed completely baffled after looking in Julius’s direction. She looked like she couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“That’s the apprentice of the Demonic Wind and the Skull Crusher for ya! Even I would have to struggle a bit to catch him if he gets serious...” My aunt nodded to herself. “But to think that he would compensate for the loss of destructive power that [Fighting Spirit] provides just by attacking their pressure points and sealing their mana away… I don’t know who’s nastier between Julius or Tiria now…” My aunt rubbed her chin while talking to herself.

Pressure points? What is that…?

“I’m going to point out the obvious, but I still don’t understand what happened…” I looked at my aunt and frowned… I was a little peeved that I was the only one who didn’t understand what happened.

“Alicia… You really need to study some martial arts… I guess it is time for you to receive an advanced combat class.” My aunt looked a little troubled. 

“I’m all ears, dear aunt.” I nodded in agreement…

It is really annoying that I am the only one who can’t fully understand what’s going on…

“Alright, what Julius just did was to attack the pressure points of all of those students, and in quite a spectacular and nasty way!” My aunt explained with a silly smile on her face. “I’m not too familiar with the technique, so I only know the basics about it, but pressure points are places within your body where mana is concentrated in very large quantities. You could say that since mana is transported all over the body through a series of roads or circuits as they are called by most mages, then pressure points should be considered…-” My aunt was about to finish her explanation but I unintentionally decided to cut her off.

“Checkpoints…” Those words escaped my lips as I recalled the contents of one of the countless books I had read in my short life. “With the right amount of mana put into an attack and hitting the right place, it would be possible to disturb the flow of mana within these checkpoints and even seal them completely, which would be a catastrophic situation for a mage, someone who heavily relies on those checkpoints and circuits to work perfectly in order to cast spells… Sealing just a few of those checkpoints would definitely make anyone lose consciousness for an hour or more…” As I recalled the contents of what I had read long ago, I finally understood the actions of my champion.

How in the world is Julius able to do that…? I read that it takes decades for a martial artist to dominate such a technique, and even then, there are not many of them who can actually use it…

“Clever girl… See, you don’t even need me to explain things to you. As expected of our little genius, Alicia.” My aunt suddenly started patting my head lovingly. “You really remind me of one of your aunts, you know?” My aunt smiled warmly.

“Is that so…?” I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed under her loving gaze.

“Definitely!” My aunt nodded. “Though as I said before, that was a nasty move on Julius’s part… I understand why he wants to save his strength, but was it really necessary to close almost every major mana checkpoint in the body of those students? I think it might take them a day or two to wake up… Maybe a week in the worst-case scenario… Tiria, Lilia, and Fred really created a monstrous fighter… I can’t wait to see him using all of his strength!” My aunt looked back at the arena with sparkling eyes.

I, on the other hand, was both baffled and amazed…

Is this really the black-haired boy who rejected being my knight but wanted to be my friend? Is this brutal fighter really the same kind and gentle person from that day? That boy with the charming smile…

With those questions in mind, I could only continue to watch Julius as he demolished the competition…

-----Neris’s POV----- 

I was left both baffled and amazed by the display of skill that I had just witnessed… As my heart continued to beat wildly, I could only look at the huge sphere in the sky that displayed a familiar back with a look of surprise on my face…

Strong… So strong… Is this really the same sweet boy that spent a whole afternoon making bouquets of flowers to gift to everyone in our order?

Those were the only thoughts that ran across my mind as I watched the rapidly increasing exploits of the boy that had stolen my heart… The tournament had just started and in the blink of an eye, he had already eliminated 14 participants…

“S-S-So fast…!” One of the boys from my class said as he looked at the sphere with an astonished look on his face.

“Oi… There’s no way that he could eliminate so many people in the blink of an eye… Right…?” An underclassman looked at the sphere with despair. “How are we supposed to compete with that…? I thought that I was blessed that I wasn’t in the same colosseum as Midnight Starlight, but now there is someone that seems to be as monstrous as him…? Even if I manage to classify, what can I do against them…?” He was on the verge of losing his will to fight.

“What are you even talking about!? You gained the right to participate in such an important tournament and you’re already pissing your pants!? You are bringing shame to your house and your ancestors!” A senior got seriously offended and pissed off thanks to the underclassmen’s pessimism. “Who cares if he’s the son of the Skull Crusher or if he is just as strong as Starlight!? I’ll face them regardless and fight until my body can no longer move!” The senior immediately drew out his blade, ready to be the spark that start the battle in this coliseum.

The reactions of the other participants were mixed. Those who came from prominent houses and those who came from houses who were dedicated to the military affairs of the Empire were completely fired up thanks to Julius’s display of strength. In contrast, those who had managed to barely get selected to participate as well as those who had entered just because and those who only chased the prizes for winning the tournament were all in for a rude awakening… They were all shaken with fear because of the sight of Julius quickly overwhelming the participants that were in the same arena as him. 

The former participants were those who clearly had no interest in the rewards of the tournament but who clearly were after the glory and the honor it would bring to their houses to show off their strength to the rest of the aristocracy and the common people… Those were the ones with the highest possibilities of qualifying to the main tournament.

It was clear from the start that those who were shaken with fear after such a display had little chance of surviving this phase… Those who only decided to participate out of obligation towards their houses, or those who only took their training halfheartedly and still expected to win against the ones who did… They never had a possibility against the other participants, to begin with.

I have to admit that until a few days ago, I was part of the second group… Although I always took my training with the sword as seriously as I could, I was only going to participate in the tournament out of obligation towards my family and its legacy, the Shtrel household, a prominent family of viscounts who had been involved in knighthood and in the military since the early days of the Empire. Even when such a legacy was in my hands to defend in this tournament, I didn’t feel like I truly wanted to participate… Especially when someone like my cousin, Alberis, the strongest in the academy was going to participate as well.

I can now see it clearly… How I was just running away because I instinctively thought that I had no chance of winning the tournament thanks to my cousin...

But now it is different…

“I can’t just let him have all the glory, can I?” I muttered under my breath as I unsheathed the blade my father had gifted me.

Now, I have several reasons to win. The cowardly mentality I had before was nothing but a mockery of the swordsmanship of my house and the meaning behind this tournament…

So even if cannot manage to win, I will still show everyone all the skills I honed during my time at the Blaise Academy, the strength that I gained under my father’s tutelage, the experience that I got with the Roses of Nebandia and my Aunt Ophelia, and the determination that Julius and the girls gifted me…

To honor the tradition of my family, the sacred purpose of this tournament, and my determination to show Julius my best… I will give everything I have to win, even if I have to punch the one I like in his cute little face!

<Ohh, Would you look at that? Things are getting heated up in the other arenas as well! The tournament has truly begun! Please do your best everyone!> I heard my aunt’s voice from afar as I was lost in thought.

“Even though I’m determined to win this, I AM really grateful that neither Alberis nor Julius are in the same arena with me… I will be able to show off to my heart’s content this way!” I smiled with determination as I analyzed the battlefield around me.

Unlike Julius who was at the very center of his arena and surrounded by the other participants when the battle started, I am currently near the edge of my own arena, meaning there are only a handful of students near me.

One… Two… Three… Four… Only four of them could be considered threats if we let them group up. I would be at a disadvantage if I let them join forces, so I shall take care of them swiftly! Fufufu! Just wait, Julius! You might just have taken down 14 participants, but I will catch up and surpass that in no time!

Those were my thoughts as I began moving toward my first opponent.

“My name is Neris Shtrel! Daughter of the Viscount of the Black Steel! Tell me your name and accept my challenge!” I shouted to get the attention of the senior from before.

“I answer your challenge with honor and excitement, Neris Shtrel! Now you’re facing Bran Aragren from Bavenholdia! Let’s cross blades and may the best of us win!” The senior quickly turned around and answered my challenge by raising his sword.

As soon as I got a positive reply from him, our duel began when both blades clashed.

“I was not expecting to face you out of all people first, but this will be exciting! Show me the might of the Shtrel household that has produced such fine knights in the past!” Bran said with an overjoyed expression as he pressed the attack and swung his blade at me once more.

“In the past!? You have one of those fine knights right in front of you!” I quickly used my blade to parry his attack and launched a counterattack by thrusting my blade toward his chest.

“Then show me what you got, Ms. Fine Knight!” Bran quickly dodged to the side and changed his guard before immediately swinging his blade downwards.

As soon as I notice where his attack would come from, I once again managed to block his attack and divert its direction before jumping to the side to safety. Just as I landed, I decided to launch an attack of my own. I grasped the hilt of my sword with both of my hands and swung horizontally… I was aiming for the side of his body…

“I won’t let you!” My opponent rapidly attempted to parry my attack just so the opportunity for a counterattack would open for him…

His sword was swung from below to meet my own, but as our swords clashed, he was too late to realize he had made a crucial mistake…

“That’s all you got? We are just starting this fight!” I shouted as I used my body to push our blades down before landing a kick on my opponent’s stomach. It was a clean hit…

“Tsk! You little…!” My opponent used the force of my kick to launch himself backward to get some distance from me. He was holding his stomach as he looked at me with an undisturbed expression.

“Have you had enough of a taste of the might of my household?” I smiled at him as I changed my guard to hide my sword behind me, in other words, an extended long tail guard.

Of course, I was not going to allow him to gather his breath. I quickly gave chase and swung my sword once more at Bran. Or at least that was the impression I wanted to give him… I really did swing my sword at him but my weapon was not going to reach him since I had gotten close enough to the point that I knew that Bran would be just a few centimeters away from my sword’s reach. In other words, it was a feint.

“Curses! You’re really persistent, aren’t you Shtrel!?” My opponent shouted at me as he sluggishly tried to block my attack, but he missed… He missed the tip of my blade by a hair’s breadth. “What!?” Bran seemed flabbergasted that he failed to block my incoming attack.

“Take this!” I shouted as I forcibly stopped my attack just so I could thrust my blade toward Bran once again. I had him against the ropes…

“Dammit!” Bran yelled loudly as my follow-up attack managed to hit him right where his heart is supposed to be. Soon, very visible cracks started to appear all over his bracelet… It was only a matter of time before said bracelet would shatter. “Sigh… I suppose this is my loss… Well played Shtrel. I guess I didn’t have a possibility against the [Angel of the Sword] from the beginning… I am deeply ashamed that I fell for such a simple feint, but I will definitely get you next time!” Bran admitted his defeat right before his bracelet fully broke and before he was teleported away, a clear sign that he was eliminated by me.

“I am grateful for this battle. You were a worthy opponent, Bran Aragren from Bavenholdia.” Even if our battle had only lasted a few moments, I didn’t forget to pay respects to my fallen opponent. “But [Angel of the Sword]…? Is that supposed to be me?” I looked with confusion at the place where my opponent used to be.

“Why of course, that is supposed to be you. Is this the first time you hear about it?” A familiar imperious voice spoke to me from behind.

Naturally, since this was now a battlefield, I turned around and took a stance, holding my sword in a middle guard… I was once again prepared for battle.

“As usual, you have good instincts when it comes to fighting. I wouldn’t expect any less from the [Angel of the Sword].” That imperious and slightly arrogant voice came from a girl I knew well… Far too well… “Or would you rather that I call you by your name, Neris, my dearest of friends? One of the few people that actually has my respect in this academy.” She spoke with an incredible sense of superiority… 

That voice belonged to a girl called Zoe, a daughter of the Smotia Household, a house of marquises. She had short blonde wavy that flowed a bit past her shoulders, she has violet-colored eyes, and facial features similar to those of the Royal Family, which would make sense as she is a distant cousin of Marina. She’s just a little shorter than me, standing at 1.56 meters tall. She’s 13 years old, just a year younger than me.

Just like me, she was wearing the uniform of the academy with a few tweaks to it. Instead of using heavy plate armor like me, she was wearing the bare minimum protection… Or that’s what it seemed as she was wearing a cloak enchanted to the brim with protective spells, but what stood out the most was her ridiculously big witch hat, which was serving its purpose well as I knew that she wanted to get the attention of everyone… She was also carrying a golden staff embedded with countless tiny precious gemstones and crystals that made it a little uncomfortable to look at…

Said girl is my childhood friend… My family and hers have been allies for centuries, so our friendship was something that was fated to happen since the day we were born. Don’t get me wrong, I love her since she’s my friend but her personality has always been a little…

“Zoe… Long time no see.” I said as I held the hilt of my sword tightly and I watched her every move. “It is such a pleasant surprise to see you here. Tell me, have you come here to fight with me?” I made sure to avoid blinking as I knew that getting distracted even for just an instant would mean defeat against Zoe.

“Fight?” Zoe tilted her head in a supposedly adorable manner. Her ridiculous hat was hiding the majority of her head and face. “I mean, sure we could fight and all, but even with my superior magical skills, I am not one hundred percent convinced that I could beat you while being within your attack range… I’m maybe seventy percent sure that I could win… That being said, I’m not here to fight you, on the contrary, I want us to join forces.” She explained in a mildly arrogant manner

“Join forces? Is that what you really want? I’m surprised that you want to team up with someone since you always said that you would wipe the floor with everyone with your magic.” I reminded Zoe of her exact words while still keeping my blade pointing at her. I was also a bit miffed that she was underestimating me.

“Yes, I’m aware of what I said, but I decided that it would be far better to team up and be done with this phase quickly and save my energy instead of wasting my mana trying to eliminate everyone. And besides, it would be way too boring if we had to fight each other and one of us was disqualified this early on. Even if it is far-fetched, I cannot stand the idea of bringing shame to our families, especially now that the special participant, the supposed son of the Skull Crusher, currently has the lead when it comes to this phase of the tournament. As heirs of our households, we cannot slack off!” Zoe explained her reasoning. “So what do you say Neris? Just like good old times, we’ll have each other’s backs and send everyone flying with our teamwork!” Zoe seemed extremely fired up by the thought of the two of us teaming up.

Zoe can be quite extravagant, flashy, arrogant, and slightly domineering at times, but she’s a good girl and a good friend. It takes a bit of time to get used to her personality, but despite her usually arrogant attitude, she doesn’t have a single bit of malice in her bones. She’s actually really considerate and warm, but she doesn’t like to admit it.

It really has been a while since we teamed up to play or train together… I suppose it is fine to cover each other’s back. If I want to win this tournament and show off my skills, I need to use every advantage at my disposal.

“Very well. Let’s team up, Zoe. Just like good old times.” I lowered my sword and smiled at my friend. “Of course, that is as long as you promise not to stab me in the back and blast me with your magic.” I spoke with a great deal of sarcasm.

“How rude! A proud member of House Smotia would never betray our ancestral ally! Our friendship and the relationship of our houses go far deeper than blood and our noble standing! We are practically sisters!” Zoe got offended by my little joke.

And there it is… It is quite easy to get her to show her cute side. I kinda wish she had grown up to be less arrogant…

“You have my word that I, Zoe Alluriana Marcela Emiliana Therese Sofia Marie Smotia, will always have your back, Neris of House Shtrel!” She declared with an expression filled with pride.

Hold on a minute… Did she give herself yet another middle name…? Oh, Zoe…

Yep, as I said, her personality is a bit… Intriguing…

“Now our alliance is settled, let us begin!” Zoe suddenly raised her golden staff to the air while she had a big confident smile on her face. “Everyone, tremble before our combined might! The Shtrel and Smotia household will forever remain unbeatable together! Now everyone shall surrender to our combined might! HOHOHOHO!” Zoe laughed like a cheap villainess from those books that are so popular nowadays.

Yeah… Her personality still is a bit… Sigh…

After letting out a deep sigh filled with both nostalgia and a bit of frustration, I walked up to Zoe’s side and prepared myself mentally for the battles to come.

Chapter 60: A Princess Eager to Learn and an Esquire Eager to Prove Herself…

END

GodlyKamui

Heya! New chapter! How are y'all doing? So ended up trending again this week, once in 6th place and once in 3rd place... I totally wasn't expecting to grow so much in just a few days because of that, but I am eternally grateful to all of my readers, both new and the ones who have been here following this novel since day one! Thank you so much!

So there's a lot we could talk about in this chapter like how Julius basically became Neji...

This is pretty much an accurate depiction of what Julius was doing to those poor unfortunate souls:

There's also Neris's friend who went all HOHOHOHO:

As usual, I do hope that you enjoyed the chapter, please don't forget to comment and leave some hearts since that motivates me to continue writing the story! Also, join the discord to talk about the story and see the new picrew character illustrations I'm working on! Here's the link: https://discord.gg/uH6APbzrFR

Buh-bye!

Also RIP Chadicus, you will be missed my bruh.