A few days later, we went to the academy to start the Phantasia elimination round. When we arrived at school, there were several students who looked at us with unpleasant gazes. Some looked at us with hatred, envy, and dislike. There were also some who looked at us with admiration. Maybe they didn't notice me, they seemed to be paying more attention to Lunette than me. I didn't mind, Lunette seemed very popular at the academy.
All the participants of the elimination round gathered in the academy field. We were explained about what we had to do and the rules we had to follow. In short, this was a team battle between two people against two other people. There were many participants, maybe around a hundred people who participated in this event. Participants would be measured based on their abilities, not participants who survived until the end. But still, if you survive until the end it means that your abilities are sufficient because you have managed to fight against strong people in the academy, whether from technique, magic, planning, or others.
After the explanation was finished, we were asked to immediately find a partner to start this elimination round. My eyes immediately fell on Lunette. I thought about asking Rena or Nio to be my partner, but I wasn't sure if they would be separated this time. I immediately went to Lunette.
I said to her, "Lunette-"
Before I could ask she looked at me with a rather hesitant smile, "Sorry, Luna. I'm already with him."
So Lunette already has a partner. Wait a minute. Then who will I pair up with? There's no one I know anymore. Slowly but surely, all the participants formed pairs. Yes, everyone except me. I went around looking for people who didn't have partners, but I couldn't find any. Maybe one of the reasons was because I was too afraid to ask.
I start searching in panic, my fingers are fidgeting randomly. My eyes keep searching around for any student I know. I raise my pace slowly as I'm wandering around without any goal. My head kept looking back and forth, right and left, almost all the students already had their partners, I was still looking. I was about to give up and accept my fate until I heard someone's voice from behind.
"Hey, are you alone?" A male voice was heard from behind.
I turned around with slightly teary eyes and nodded, "Yeah, I'm alone right now."
Of course, he was a bit surprised by my reaction. My eyes are kind of red like a kid that finished crying. Thank God, I think I found someone who doesn't have a partner yet. I thought I would be alone this time. Let's forget about Lunette, and let's be together with him.
He stretched his hand as if he wanted to invite me for a hand shake and smiled, "Good, now we're going to be an interesting pair, Luna."
How did he know my name? But now that I think about it, it's not strange. Lunette and I caused trouble when we first entered the academy. Technically, it was Lunette who dragged me into trouble, so it wasn't my fault! Though, that wasn't the point.
Someone said behind us with an annoying tone, "Isn't that Leo? He's caused a lot of trouble during his time at the academy."
Another person said to their friend, "Isn't that Luna? She also caused trouble during the new school year at the academy."
Someone else spoke again, "Two troublemakers teamed up huh?"
I don't think I caused that much trouble. Back then, it was all because of Lunette, but they made it look like I'm also a problem student. But that's true, I was a little curious about my partner. I think I should forget about being with him, there will be a better option in future, I swear. I never thought there will be a day when I become a talk of the academy, becoming a gossip.
"Fufufu… I guess we've become the talk of the academy," Leo said to me.
What had he done in the academy before I entered? I guess I formed a pair with a problematic person. I can't help but feel a bit nervous about what will happen next. My fingers fiddling randomly and sweaty. I tap my feet repeatedly, not knowing what to do. I think I made a mistake.
After a while, the elimination round began. The academy was divided into several arenas. Many had already started their fights. So did the two of us. Our opponent was my upperclassman, looking very strong. However, Leo was also technically my upperclassman.
I turned to him and asked, "What's our strategy? They look strong."
Leo just laughed and said, "They look strong at first glance, but honestly they're not as strong as they look."
Our opponent looked annoyed at his words. He looked like he was really underestimating his opponent, like pouring oil on the fire. I think I'm done for.
"Doubting me? I guess I should show you," Leo answered me as he took out two knives and held them in each hand.
He took a step and moved forward casually. Our opponent immediately took a ready stance when he saw him and readied his weapon. I blinked for a moment and when I looked back I was shocked. Leo? Since when was he in front of the enemy? Just like Big Sister Wave when she fought me yesterday.
Our opponent also looked surprised by Leo's movements which looked very smooth and light. When they attacked Leo, he had already dodged and was not in front of them anymore. My eyes couldn't follow his movements, he was already behind the opponent.
"See?" He said with a chuckle as if he's underestimating his enemy, in fact, he really is underestimating his enemies.
He quickly hit the back of their heads with the back of his knife. He makes everything look so easy. I'm a little curious why no one wants to pair up with him. I don't know anymore about this! Did I make a mistake or not?!
The next opponent did the same thing. The next one, and so on. He took care of everything by himself as if it was easy, or maybe it was easy for him. How did he do it? I saw him several times and was sure that the technique he used was the same as Big Sister Wave's.
After three fights he stepped back and said, "Now it's your turn, Luna, I want to see your abilities."
I answered him hesitantly, "My abilities? It's not that interesting actually, why do you want to see it?"
Leo chuckled and said, "Fufufu, it's okay, I want to see my teammates' abilities."
Our opponents immediately attacked us without further ado using their magic. It looked like a bullet. When I dodged to the side, the bullet followed me. I immediately froze it with my magic, but his other partner was already behind me to attack me. Here I was a little confused about what I should do. I activated my magic, instantly my eyes changed again. Then, I immediately covered my feet with ice and blocked his sword that was pointing at me with the soles of my feet.
"Oh," Leo said, a little impressed in his voice. It feels like he's testing my capability in a battle.
I did the same with my other leg and jumped to spin around and kicked his head from the side with my other leg. I twirl my body in the middle air and do a spin kick to his head. Our opponent who was behind looked surprised to see me attacking his partner in a way that could be considered quite extreme.
I looked at his partner innocently enough, or so I thought. His partner who was behind looked quite scared. His body starts sweating and a fear shows in his eyes. I can see his eyes are trembling as well as his legs. It feels like looking at a horse with their thin legs.
"Can you finish it, Luna," Leo asked in awe.
I looked at his partner innocently enough, or so I thought. His partner in the back position looked quite scared, taking a step back in fear as if seeing something scary. That's kind of rude of him. I ain't scary, am I?
"Can you finish it, Luna?" Leo asked in awe.
I made some shurikens out of ice in the air and threw it at my enemy. The fight ended fairly quickly, but not as fast as Leo. I kept my sword sheathed from the start without taking it out at all, basically I only attacked using my magic. The next fight was the same as before, continued by us taking turns. There were times when we fought Rena and Nio, but it seemed like Leo didn't want to give in at all.
"Oh, so they're your original partners," Leo said to me.
Rena said to us with an awkward smile, "Please don't go too far with us."
Nio also just smiled awkwardly in the back position. He waves his hand at me in an awkward way. Why are they acting like that? It's not like I've done anything bad. Though, those two are close as ever, probably because they are childhood friends.
Leo answered them with a sly smirk, "That depends on Luna."
Depends on me? What did he mean? When the fight started I just understood what he was talking about. This was my turn to move forward. Here I was given two choices, attack them like before or give in to them. If I had to choose I would choose the second option, but even if I died Leo would probably slaughter them all by himself. Either way, the result would be the same. Or I could give myself a third option, let them attack me as if they prove that they are strong. Right, I would just take that option.
I moved forward and ran a little, leaving myself an opening and waiting to be attacked. Nio attacked me using his magic in the form of… No effect? He attacked me, right? No, he created a barrier behind and beside me. He probably wanted to limit my movement. Then he shot a light towards Rena, but it didn't seem to hurt her.
Rena dashed towards me at a very fast speed and aimed her knife towards my chest. Luckily I was able to block it with my reflexes using my sword. It was the first time I drew my sword from its sheath in this elimination round. Not to be arrogant, but I think it would have been faster if Leo had attacked and slaughtered our opponents.
Leo speaks, "Ah, so he is an enchanter, huh?" He said like a detective who's trying to gather the information. He puts his hand on his chin, inspecting the situation with his calm head.
Enchanter is the person who buffs or enhances their teammates, whether their ability or status. Some of them could weaken their enemies' status or movements.
I was surprised by Rena's fast movements. Not as smooth and light as Big Sister Wave and Leo, but it was great. I tried to defend as best I could, this time I really had a hard time. People looked at me and were amazed at Rena's abilities. Why was it that when it was my turn no one was amazed?
"Luna, I'll take this win, okay?" Rena asked in a rather arrogant tone.
As far as I know, she is a naughty girl who likes to joke around, but I don't hate her. I nodded and stopped holding back by immediately using my magic to create a mist of ice. Rena looked surprised by my actions and she couldn't see anything now. Nio also looked confused and was on guard. They continued to be on guard as the mist of ice disappeared. They looked confused because I didn't do anything at the moment.
After the fog cleared, they started looking for me in all directions. However, only Leo was seen standing smiling while waving his hand, his eyes looked very annoying like the eyes of a fox in comics.
Rena muttered, "Where's Luna?"
Then I instantly ambushed them from behind by kicking their backs with my feet covered in ice, causing their backs to freeze a little, actually not a little. It looks so cold on their back and a small ice appears on their chest as a result. I completely freeze them at this point. Brr… The ground turns into white as well due to the effect of my magic. I admit that I took it too much, but I couldn't help it though. After that the fight ended with my and Leo's victory. I felt guilty for not letting them win this fight, but even if I lost, Leo would slaughter them like they were nothing.