Elina was left alone in the quiet stone corridor, the arrogant boy's words still echoing in her ears. She tilted her head, a confused frown on her face.
"Why would he tell me his power...?" she whispered to herself.
Her attention snapped back to the present as a loud roar erupted from the arena. She peeked through the crack in the door again. The fight on the stage had become much more intense.
Lia's opponent, Viktor, had created a swirling vortex of fire in the center of the arena, forcing Lia to constantly move, her defensive barrier flickering and cracking under the immense heat.
On the balcony, the four of them watched as Lia's defensive barrier finally shattered under the relentless assault of Viktor's magic.
Hayato watched the efficient, non-lethal conclusion of the match, then turned to the others, his voice flat. "Has a student ever died in one of these competitions?"
Kerina and Riko both looked at him, slightly taken aback by the morbid question. "No, of course not,"
Kerina said. "Not in living memory, anyway. It's a school tournament, not a death match."
It was Lenna who answered, her gaze distant as she looked down at the arena, seeing not just the present, but its long and bloody history. "It used to be brutal," she said, her voice quiet. "A hundred years ago, this tournament wasn't a showcase of talent. It was a gladiator's pit, a way for nobles to settle disputes using their best students as champions."
She looked at Hayato. "But the rules were changed after a particularly bloody final. The 'no death' rule was the first of many reforms."
The fight below reached its sudden, brutal conclusion. Viktor unleashed a final, overwhelming torrent of fire. The crimson blast smashed into Lia's weakening barrier, shattering it into a million pieces. The explosive force of the spell wasn't contained; it threw Lia backwards, sending her tumbling across the stone stage until she landed in a crumpled heap at the far edge.
A stunned silence fell over the arena, which was then broken by a wave of triumphant cheers for Viktor.
On the balcony, Hayato closed his eyes the moment the barrier broke, wincing as if he himself had felt the impact. He only opened them again when he heard the thud of her body hitting the ground.
"That's unfortunate," Kerina said, her voice a flat, professional assessment of the loss.
Hayato looked at her, then at the others. It was just a normal part of the competition to them. Lila, however, jolted in her seat, a soft, horrified murmur escaping her lips.
"Is... is she okay...?"
***
Backstage, Elina saw it all. She watched as two academy healers rushed onto the stage, levitating her friend's unconscious form onto a stretcher. They carried Lia past the entrance where Elina was hiding.
Elina rushed to Lia's side. "Lia! Are you okay?"
Lia's eyes fluttered open, her face pale and bruised. "I'm okay..." she whispered, her voice weak. "He was just too strong... he just pushed me outside the ring..."
The healers carried Lia away on the levitating stretcher. Elina stood frozen in the hallway, her friend's parting words echoing in her mind.
"You should win, because you can."
She watched until the stretcher disappeared around a corner. Lia's belief in her was a heavy, warm stone in her chest. She took a deep breath, the air tasting of dust and magic. She held her own hands, squeezing them tightly as if to hold onto that feeling.
The roar of the crowd from the arena was a distant, muffled thunder. She knew they were cleaning the stage now, preparing it for the next contestant. Preparing it for her.
She turned and walked, not towards the stands, but towards the quiet solitude of the preparation room.
The roar of the crowd for Viktor's victory finally died down as the healers carried Lia off the stage. After a brief pause for the arena staff to clean the stage, the announcer's voice boomed once more.
"And now, for our final preliminary match of the day! Representing the Royal Academy... Elina Solcrest!"
The name "Solcrest" sent a fresh wave of murmurs through the arena. On the surrounding balconies, Hayato could see nobles and wealthy merchants turning their heads, their gazes rising from the stage to their own private viewing box, looking directly at Kerina, the famous A-Rank adventurer of the same powerful family.
"And her opponent," the announcer continued, "representing the Crimson Tower Institute... Klaus von Eisen!"
A smattering of polite applause followed. From opposite sides of the massive arena, the two competitors emerged.
Elina, in her simple academy uniform, walked in.
Klaus, in his ornate, strode onto the stage with an arrogant swagger, a confident sneer already on his face. They walked to the center of the stage, facing each other under the watchful eyes of thousands.
As Klaus strode onto the stage, a look of pure, unadulterated disgust crossed Lila's face.
"Ugh, I know that brat," she muttered, loud enough for the others to hear. "He's always flexing his money."
Hayato looked over at her, his gaze shifting from the arena to this new source of information.
Riko, leaned in. "What do you mean?"
Lila rolled her eyes. "That kid… He never shuts up about how rich his father is or how he's some kind of 'motivator' who made a thousand gold coins by the time he was ten. He's insufferable."
Hayato listened to Lila's description of the arrogant boy, his expression unchanging. "A thousand gold by age ten… That doesn't sound like a 'motivator.' That sounds like he comes from a family with significant established wealth and a powerful influence in the merchant guilds."
Down on the arena stage, the announcer's voice declared the start of the final preliminary match.
Elina, ignoring Klaus's condescending smirk, took her stance, she drew her weapon. An elegant rapier.
Klaus, seeing her elegant rapier, let out a condescending laugh. "A toothpick? Are you planning on poking me to death?"
He didn't even bother to take a stance. He simply held out his open palm, and with a low, grinding sound, a long, thick, and brutally simple iron sword began to grow from it, forming out of thin air.
He gripped the newly created weapon, its weight clearly substantial, and pointed it at Elina.
"Let's see how your little needle holds up against real steel," he said.
The chime sounded, and Klaus lunged. He didn't attack with skill or finesse, but with pure, overwhelming force, bringing the heavy iron sword down in a powerful overhead cleave meant to shatter Elina's guard in a single blow.
Elina didn't meet the attack head-on. She sidestepped, the heavy blade crashing into the stone stage and sending sparks flying. At the same time, a sunrise-colored flame erupted along the length of her own rapier.
She lunged forward, not at Klaus, but at the iron sword he was struggling to lift from the ground. The moment her flaming blade touched the iron, it glowed a bright, angry red.
"Keugh!?" Klaus yelped and dropped the weapon as the heat traveled instantly up the blade to the hilt, his hand now scorched.
Elina looked at the discarded, glowing-hot sword on the ground and then at Klaus, who was shaking his scorched hand. "What's the matter? I thought metal could hold a fire for longer than that."
Klaus just smiled, a cruel glint in his eyes. He raised his finger, and the heavy iron sword on the ground suddenly flew into the air, its tip now aimed directly at her.
The sight of the floating weapon made Elina's expression harden. She dodged as the sword shot past her head, then dodged again as it came back around.
"tsk…" With a frustrated cry, she lunged forward, ignoring the flying weapon and aiming her rapier in a direct thrust at Klaus himself.
But then...
Clank!
Four thick layers of iron instantly materialized in the air in front of him, forming a crude, layered shield. Elina's rapier, still glowing with her fire magic, punched through the first layer, but its momentum was stopped cold as it embedded itself deep in the second.
She was stuck.
Klaus, seeing her trapped, pointed a finger and yelled, "Stab her!" The layers of iron in front of her began to warp, their flat surfaces sharpening into brutal, piercing points, all aimed directly at Elina.
As the metal spikes lunged forward, a single, calm piece of advice echoed in Elina's mind.
"If your sword is gone, what do you use?"
Klaus heard nothing but the roar of the crowd, which had suddenly gone completely silent. He frowned.
Aren't they supposed to be shocked that she's hurt?
Then, a sharp, explosive pain erupted from his jaw. Elina was no longer in front of the shield. She was at his side, her rapier abandoned, and had just landed a perfect, vicious uppercut.
The entire arena stared in stunned silence.
On the balcony, Riko's eyes went wide. She looked over at Kerina, who was just smiling. "I thought your sister was scared of close-range fights," Riko said.
Kerina just chuckled. "That was before Hayato's influence. She wanted to learn some boxing."
Riko turned to look at Hayato. He just stared at her for a moment, then his gaze returned to the fight.
Down on the stage, Klaus staggered back, his concentration shattered. The four layers of iron in front of him wavered, then melted into a puddle of molten slag, releasing Elina's rapier, which clattered to the floor.
He lost focus, Elina thought, a new, fierce understanding dawning on her. The metal disappeared.
With that realization, she slid over to her fallen rapier, scooped it from the ground, and fell back into a ready stance.
To be Continued.