---------------------------------- 2 weeks later
(Day of Tournament)
The crowd was lively. The tournament was due to start that day, and I felt more ready than I ever had been for a competition.
The past 2 weeks were filled with constant training of mana reserves, new skills, and the likes. I'd gone and registered with the 'Hunters League', a guild of mages who went out and did jobs for the public. So far, I'd done a few subjugation squad missions. They had gone better than most squad jobs did, especially since I knew how to command very well from my days in the RMMT. At first, the other Hunters had been quite sceptical of me, probably thought I was an arrogant boy who thought he knew the world, which, of course, I did.
A few of the Hunters had picked a fight with me inside the hall where jobs were designated and handed out. The healing mages had been called over immediately to heal 4 hunters who had burns, bruises, and a few cracked bones.
After that incident, the members were more willing to let me take charge, and they even told me that I would make a good general. As if I wasn't already one in my past.
The reason I had joined subjugation squads to eliminate monsters and bandits and rogue mages was simply because those 3 jobs in particular offered the highest chances of gaining artefacts.
And gain artefacts I had done.
I entered my dorm room with about 30 minutes to spare before the first bout of fights began. Opening my wardrobe, I checked over my stock, and a wide grin formed on my face
In the wardrobe sat 4 artefacts. The first was a one-handed axe with a special effect that gave me permanent silent footsteps. It had a skill called {Stalker}, and the rogue mage who wielded it had been quite the brute. He'd stood at seven feet tall and towered over the entire party. Thankfully, my fire fists had been enough to deal with him. I quickly grabbed the axe and let a powerful current of lightning course through it, which shattered it, granting me at least 1 point.
Next was a bow that a group of dark elves, those banished from the Kapanyth Dynasty, and the leader of this mob was the one who had possessed this bow. It was a long, curved bow made of charred wood and had golden metal wiring that served as scaffolding and as a melee weapon. I was pleased with this artefact, especially since it was a pain to get from that dark elf.
The 2 other artefacts that followed in my train of sacrifice were a staff made of Knine metal and a thin longsword. The knine metal was extracted from a rare creature named a Vamntiorn, a beast of giamt magnitude. It was a beast with metal coated fur and teeth to fit the part. It was a sturdy metal and was quite the spectacle. The longsword was made of basic steel. However, it had a magic Rune applied to it in order to make it extra durable and enhance it with ice magic.
I sacrificed all the artefacts and opened the 'Archive'.
As the colours inverted, I checked my options and new skills:
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New skills:
○ Skill: {Icicle}, [Ice Element unlocked]
○ Passive: {Stalker}
○ Skill: {Miracle Eye}
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Path: Destruction
Artificial Points: 6
○ Skill: {Destructive Aura II}
○ Skill: {Elemental Body}
○ Skill: {Blood Ice}
○ Skill: {Blue Lightning}
○ Skill: {Yellow Flames}
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I analysed each skill and glanced at the 6 blue orbs now floating around my head. I guided one to the white star named {Destructive Aura II}, and it turned a bright orange colour.
It then revealed: {Elemental Field}, which I unlocked immediately, and {Destructive Aura III}, which I left alone for now, leaving me with 4 points left.
Next, I lit up the star that granted the skill {Elemental Body} and sat back for a minute as I processed what skills to unlock next. As I thought about it, I noticed that the skill: {Elemental Vortex} was revealed to me now, and I activated that straight away. I was then left with 2 points and a still long, and now updated list.
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Path: Destruction
Artificial Points: 2
○ Skill: {Destructive Aura III}
○ Skill: {Blood Ice}
○ Skill: {Blue Lightning}
○ Skill: {Yellow Flames}
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I finally decided my last 2 skills, and my eyes shot open in surprise. I'd claimed {Destructive Aura III} and {Blue Lightning}, but then, to my absolute surprise, there was a skill that I would have claimed if I hadn't run out of points. The list now had a skill I was never expecting:
○ Master Skill: {Lightning Storm}
I was joyous beyond imagination. To be able to unlock a master spell was incredible. Orebrul had briefly explained a few days ago, that each route of a path has a Master skill at the end of the route that was several tens of times more powerful than the other spells and skills offered during the route.
In the {Destruction} path, there were supposedly 3 master spells, one for each of the 3 elemental paths. A fire spell, an ice spell, and a lightning spell. Unfortunately, it seemed that I had to get to the end of the route. Which meant claiming all the coloured Flames before getting whatever the master spell was.
My list of collected skills had gotten much larger. My new ones were displayed:
New Skills:
○ Skill: {Destructive Aura III}
○ Skill: {Destructive Aura II}
○ Skill: {Elemental Field}
○ Skill: {Elemental Body}
○ Skill: {Elemental Vortex}
○ Skill: {Blue Lightning}
I was satisfied with my progress. In total, I'd sacrificed 5 artefacts. The 4 just now plus Samani's artefact. In total, I'd gained 8 points off of 5 artefacts, which was a good trade.
But I didn't have time to think about all that. Right now, I had a match to compete in, and I was in one of the first matches.
I hurried towards the stadium that stood out within the city. It was common that the arena meant for shows and recreation was to be leant to Aurora University for the Constellations Tournament.
I ran past the board that showed the brackets, not looking to see who my opponent was, and ushered myself into the waiting room, anticipating the tournament's start.
The sound above me was muffled, and the headmaster's voice was inaudible. I heard cheers and claps, followed by some more inaudible chattering and more clapping before the door before me slid open to the open arena floor. I grinned as I stepped through the door and into the view of everyone.
My eyes had to adjust to the change in light intensity, and I was baffled. The stadium was huge and towered over me like a giant. There were thousands and thousands of people in the stands, each cheering for someone or some people, or talking and even making bets. It was such a lively atmosphere that it began to overwhelm me. But I liked that. It gave me a sense of grandeur and magnificence.
There were 4 fights at a time, since there was a lot of people, the brackets were split into quarters and the winners of each, the top 4, would face each other in a battle royale, free for all, type showdown. I wanted to be one of those. I needed to be one of those 4 people. If I couldn't beat mages now, then I had no hope against gods.
It suddenly occurred to me that during the 2 weeks since seeing Adia, that not a single other Pillar had come to see me or attack me. I broke it down to Adia, protecting me as best she could, but I wasn't entirely positive about that.
"In bout one, match one we have Lough Freed, versus, Leo Francis!" The headmaster shouted over the speaker, "Let your hearts guide you and fight with honour."
I scoffed quietly. "As if anyone here will fight with true honour..." I muttered quietly to myself as I prepared to fight my first match.
The boy opposite me, Leo, had a confident look on his face, and he tapped on a bracelet on his left wrist, which I assumed was his artefact.
It flickered to life, and his hands glowed with dark purple energy. Runes spread across his body, and I could sense the mana spreading throughout him and fortifying certain things.
Even though Orebrul had warned me not to show too much off to the public... I was determined to crush anyone and everyone in this competition using only my fire spells and any other forces that I could get away with. That included a specific skill.
My hands rested inside my pockets, and I took a few steps forward. On the fifth step, I cast {Destructive Aura III}, the ring glowed and hummed, the insight of the skill flowing into my mind. The earth beneath me shattered and cracked, and I could see everyone in the entire stadium struggling with the new force of gravity I was applying. My eyes glowed with a soft white light as I walked towards Leo, who was now on his knees, unable to get up.
"Yield." I said in a flat and icy tone.
Leo nodded, and I released the spell, letting him raise his hand and cast the forfeit scroll that we needed to activate in order to officially resign from the battle. I offered him a hand up and he took it shakily. My pleasure only increased further as I copied one of his skills: {Runic Author}.
The entire stadium was silent, so much so that you could easily tell who it was that was coughing. You could have pointed them out among the thousands of people because of how silent it was. I simply ignored the crowd and walked away from Leo, who was backing up in fear, and I entered the waiting room and sat down on the sofa that was in there.
"Quite the display you put on out there." I heard a sweet and familiar voice. It was Jessica. "Oh, hey Jess, can I call you that?" She turned red and nodded.
"So you liked my display then? I thought I'd make it known who was gonna win the tournament." I said in a lax tone. She laughed and sat next to me before speaking, "You know, I think everyone's afraid of you now."
I raised a brow and replied, "Is that so? Are you scared of me?" I asked.
She shook her head and responded calmly and quietly, "Why should I? I know you're a nice person, so I have no need to be afraid." She pushed back a lock of her silky blond hair behind her ear. As she looked at me, I could feel her getting closer to me, and strangely enough, I could feel me doing the same.
It was true that there was something there. In the month and a half that had passed since the first day of this semester, me and Jessica had gotten closer each and every single day. I couldn't quite imagine a lesson of history without her there, nor could I imagine any breaks without her there.
She had opened up to me about her family, herself, and what she thought about my story. She'd told me that her family was harsh and had high expectations. How she didn't really want to kill people because she'd been told to. That I could agree with, and I told her more about my time in the RMMT and how I felt about war. That being, it was pointless and just broke people's minds, bodies, and souls apart. She didn't hate her family, but there was a tension that spoke volumes about her beliefs in being forced to do the assassinations when she didn't want to lose herself. I'd comforted her as best I could in that moment, sharing the same sentiment with her as we could relate to one another.
There were key moments we'd shared together: the race for Samani's artefact, the interrogation, our little misunderstanding. Not to mention the times she'd been to my dorm room and the number of times we'd snook out in the middle of the night to look at the stars and constellations together. All in all... I'd realised after some time that I did have feelings for her... I was just scared...
After Adia had spoken to me, I'd found Jessica, who was pale, having just regained consciousness, and she had told me about a powerful presence that had appeared. I told her about Adia and the relationship she had to the ring. But I left out the part where Gods were coming to kill me if I kept the ring, which I would obviously do. I was scared they'd use her against me... or even worse... if she was killed in the middle of the war between me and the gods, I'd never forgive myself.
However, despite all the danger and the worries, I couldn't deny that I did feel something for her.
"Are you ok?" She asked me suddenly, which snapped me back to the moment.
"Yeah... just lost... in your eyes." I said in a calm and smooth tone, trying not to let my true thoughts out and make her worry about me. She turned red at my comment, and then she frowned. "Smooth, but is that supposed to be for yourself? We have, like, the same eyes, basically." She retorted.
I leant in a little closer and whispered, "Can't you just take the compliment? Or would you rather I said something else? There's a lot to compliment after all."
I could see her cheeks flush red as we were about 7 or 8 inches away from each other. She then opened her mouth but then closed it. I raised a brow, and she finally spoke, "Are you just gonna keep staring then?"
I laughed and spoke back to her, "Only if you want me to do something."
"You asshole." She said with a smile before closing the distance between us and pressing her lips to my own.
I accepted the kiss and reciprocated it. Her lips were soft on my own, and there was a sweet taste of something that had been applied as lip balm or something akin to that. Either she needed it, or this was her plan all along.
After a brief second, we broke away and stared for a bit before she reached over my head and began to mess with something. I hadn't noticed, but my hair had fallen out of its knot, most likely due to me using {Destructive Aura III}, and I was quite moved when she decided to tie it back up for me. Of course, using her own band for my hair, which had been the thing that I'd been using for at least 3 or 4 weeks now.
I watched her face as she continued to tie my hair for me, and I felt myself getting hotter as I looked at her. Her skin was still as smooth as it was when I first saw her. The azure eyes that were focused on my hair shined with happiness and kindness as she looked at me. Waist-length blond hair cascaded over her shoulders, which were bare as she was wearing a dress with simple shoulder straps. Her scent drifted to my nose, and my body began to relax even more than it already had at the sweet and aromatic smell that invaded my nostrils and infected me. I realised I was really hot now. My face had heated up as though I had a fever, and my core felt like it was on fire. My heart was thumping louder than I'd expected, and I could no longer hear the muffled chatter of the stadium.
All this collected into one final realisation:
I was in love. And I was actually happy about it... for the first time in over 6 years.
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