Carrie, Logan, and Sam arrive at the campus testing grounds.
There are over a dozen courts and open fields hosting various types of games and competitions. The main road has several stalls stationed where students sell food and drinks, trinkets, and art. The entire scene is lively, with students and teachers there to participate. The air is filled with excitement and joy booming all around. It is a dazzling sight for Sam who begins to fall behind Carrie and Logan from being distracted by everything he sees.
"Sam!" Carrie calls out.
"You're going to make us late," Logan adds.
With a smile on his face, Sam catches up to them. "Why didn't you say we were coming to a place like this? What's going on here?" he asks in an excited tone.
"Its the first quarter exams," Carrie replies casually. "It turns into a big event."
"Ah," Sam nods. "So, where are we going?"
"There," Logan points down the end of main road.
Sam looks up to see a large dome towering in the distance. Roan Academy's Event Arena, the site where the main competitions are held, and some 12,000 spectators can attend. It gets louder the closer they get, with announcements, music, and cheers blasting from the intercoms outside.
"We should hurry, it's about to begin," Carrie urges them.
As they make their way inside and on to the bleachers, Sam thinks back to the earlier disagreement he had with Logan, wondering if perhaps there is some merit to Logan's point. The mere sight of this arena that belongs to the academy alone just screams money. An insane amount money. The kind of money that tries to drive the point that students should accept the power structure that exists.
Sam let's out sigh, "how annoying," he grumbles under his breath.
Brushing away his thoughts and turning his attention to the empty stage in the center below, Sam leans toward Carrie who is cheering along with the rest of the loud spectators, "so, who are we here to see?!" he shouts to drown out the noise.
"What?!" a distracted Carrie responds.
"Who. Are. We. Here. To. See?!" He repeats his question slowly.
"Oh! Uh, our teammate!" she yells back, "she's going to battle someone in the next set! I can't wait! Whoo!!"
Carrie immediately returns to her excited cheers, fully embracing the mood of the place. Sam's interest is peaked from hearing that a battle is about to take place. He pans over to see Logan also getting into the groove, bobbing his head slightly to the music playing in the background.
The arena soon dims and spotlights flash toward the tunnel entryway. An announcement is made, introducing the participants of the battle, and two students make their way to the center ring. One is a knight in ashen armor, a ragged black cape, and a bird-shaped helmet. The other, to Sam's surprise, a near expressionless and awkward familiar face...
"Let's Go Teresa! Whoo!!" Carrie roars.
************
In the ring, the two opponents stand facing each other. The knight takes a gentleman's bow, "what an honor it is to face an Aegis. I am Crow Knight, a pleasure," he says.
Teresa responds with an apathetic nod and what one would think is a lack of courtesy from refusing to introduce herself. However, Crow Knight does not appear ruffled by her personality.
"Can you hear these cheers, Aegis? Let us reward these jubilant fans with a memorable battle," he says confidently.
Teresa peers across the crowd behind her opponent. They are exactly as Crow Knight describes them, but her expression hardly changes, as if she is slow to acknowledge that there is a crowd in the first place.
"... Okay," she finally agrees, returning her attention to her opponent.
Crow Knight swiftly draws a hilt that has no blade attached, "prepare yourself, Aegis, I will not hold back."
Teresa draws her two daggers and takes a battle stance. The arena goes silent, with spectators anxious for the start of the fight, and then-
[[Beep!]]
[[Beep!!]]
[[BEEEEEP!!]]
With the signal off, Crow Knight strikes a flashy pose. His hilt transforms and manifests a rapier as he recites a call,
"sink into what stands before you ... Nordoria."
Teresa prepares herself, gripping her daggers firmly, and watching her opponent closely. Crow Knight makes the first attack, thrusting his sword forward. The jab is quick. Quicker than Teresa expected of an opponent weighed down by heavy armor. She barely manages to lean away from the strike, but it is immediately followed by another quick jab. Teresa parries the second attack, blocks a third, evades a fourth, and before most in the crowd realize it, Teresa is suddenly being pushed back by a flurry of quick attacks from Crow Knight.
"He's good," Carrie compliments Teresa's opponent.
She is watching the battle calmly, no longer in her rave of excitement from earlier.
"Yeah," Logan coolly agrees.
They both pan over to Sam watching the fight with a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face. Neither of their words register in Sam's ears.
A clash of metal rings across the arena as Teresa and Crow Knight lock blades.
"Oh?" Crow Knight reacts.
He did not anticipate Teresa to bring the fight to a bind, matching his strength to nullify his attack.
"A wise move to play to Nordoria's disadvantage," Crow Knight compliments her.
In this situation, a longer blade, especially one that is both straight and narrow, tends to be at a disadvantage against shorter ones. Teresa can easily shorten the distance between them, and as duel wielder, use her other weapon to attack a defenseless Crow Knight,
but...
"how unfortunate that it has taken both your daggers to stop a single swing of my blade," he taunts her, "and do you honestly believe a mere rogue can best a warrior in test of strength?"
Teresa channels her energy to push back against Crow Knight's blade, but her action is not a fitting response to his criticism. Crow Knight does not budge. Instead, he grapples his weapon firmly and applies even more force to overwhelm his opponent.
"You have grit, Aegis," Crow Knight says of the struggling Teresa, "but you are weaker!" he roars and breaks through her guard.
His rapier snips only a sliver of fabric as Teresa barely manages to sidestep his attack. Crow Knight quickly follows with an upward swing, but Teresa spins away, and comes to with a bow in hand and an arrow drawn against him.
"Eh-?"
This catches Crow Knight by surprise as he is about to connect a third strike. He has only an instant to process what he is now seeing. Before his blade can swing down on Teresa, before even the question can be asked, Crow Knight finds himself staring down a charging arrow destined to pierce his eye. It takes everything in him to stop his swing and pivot his head a slight margin.
The arrow ricochet off the side of Crow Knight's helmet, leaving sparks behind as it barrels toward the wall of the ring in the distant. He immediately jumps back to distance himself from Teresa, who wastes the opportunity to take the upper hand. She waits for Crow Knight to regain his composure, even breaking her bow in half to manifest her daggers again.
Teresa takes her battle stance to the annoyance of Crow Knight,
"Are you mocking me, Aegis?" he asks.
"...Why?" Teresa responds.
"Using a blades in a battle where you have better odds from a distance. It is the first time that you managed to be on the offensive ... and dare I say that your bow skills are quite exceptional."
"It makes no difference," Teresa says placidly.
Crow Knight scoff, "now that I am aware of what to expect, you will not get another chance," he says, holding up his sword in front of him. With his free hand, Crow Knight unsheathes another bladeless hilt,
"Sink into what stands before you. Carve a path through which that prevails. Nordoria."
He recites his earlier chant, but with an added line. The bladeless hilt transforms into a dagger, and Crow Knight stands facing Teresa with a weapon in each hand.
"Prepare yourself, Aegis!" he shouts and dashes for Teresa.
He is moving much faster, arriving within striking distance in only a few steps. He thrusts his sword with greater power, aiming for Teresa's neck. And just as he is about to take his victory, Teresa's words whisper into his ears-
"The frigid burn at the peak of all..."
and a sudden chill runs down Crow Knights spine.
