On Day two of the Rankings Tournament...
On the first day of the tournament Academy Fige was holding, both Leopold and Cinder had been victorious in their respective matches. Now, the two were continuing to compete in the tournament as they hoped for more victories. At least, one of them was excited about the idea...
Princess Cinder was over the moon about the idea, ready to keep up her win streak. She was practically beaming as she thought about the idea of defeating more and more of her opponents.
However, Leopold was...
Rolling around in his bed, the boy complained about his upcoming bay. "Im so freaking tired!" Leopold looked over at his friend as he complained . "Why do we even have to do this again?!" Sure, it was pretty amazing that Leopold had been able to pass through the first round of the tournament to begin with, but he was tired and this was taking forever!
"I just want to get this over with!" he thought to himself, looking up at the ceiling above him. Why did they separate the first day from the second and third anyway?!"
Zion sighed, shaking his head. "Relax, Leopold!" He patiently tried to calm down his friend. "You should just be happy that you and I each got through the first round at all!" The boy shook his head in disbelief at Leopold's constant complaints.
And they weren't the only people from Class 1-D who had been able to pass. Along with Leopold and his roommate, Nix and some others from the group had also passed the first round, advancing onwards. Leopold was certainly surprised by the fact considering he hadn't been able to see Zion's match, but the boy didn't really think too long about it.
"Not really what's important here."
Leopold looked over at his friend and frowned. "Remind me... who all again made it through the first round from our class?" The boy didn't actually remember all of the names.
Zion listed off the results of their classes winners. "Class 1-D... Leopold Stratus, Carla Claw, Nix Claw, Zion White, Leon... and Sparrow Draiigon."
Leopold's eyes widened, curious as he heard the last girl's name. "Draiigon... Where have I heard that last name before?" As Leopold scanned over all of the names from Class 1-D who had passed, he smiled. "It's nice to see that Nix passed along with the two of us... Good for her!" Leopold still hadn't made up with either of the two girls, Nix and Breeze, so he had hoped that this tournament could help him do so in the near future.
"So..." the boy breathed, shifting the subject away from their classmates. "just who are you going up against next round?"
Zion crossed his arms. "Hmm..." The black haired male thought to himself as he looked at the tournament polls. "I fight some girl by the name of Rachel Winslow." His eye twitched, looking at all the names. "And unfortunately, assuming that I win, Id be up against one of the different royals from Kushida. Her name's Amy Kushida. Unlucky me..." He drooped his head and sighed.
Leopold frowned, echoing the name in his head. "Did he say Amy Ksuhida? Why do I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before..." He shrugged and decided not to worry about it. "Probably just the fact that she's famous or whatever."
After finishing wirh that, Leopold looked down at his own bracket. "Apparently, I'm going up against Colson Spencership, a student from class 1-B." He sat up and scratched the top of his head. Hope I can win... Could be more dangerous than my first fight was."
Zion laughed, hearing what his friend had said. "Trust me, Leo... you won't have any problem winning that one. After all, you're one of the gifted ones..." He didn't elaborate on the term.
"Gifted ones?"
================
Sometime later, Leopold and Zion both made it back out into the arena for the second day of fighting between the students at Academy Five. Still tired from his previous match some days before, Leopold yawned as he waited for things to start.
"Here we go again..."
"Alright, folks, it would seem that we've finally made it to the second day of the rankings tournament!" the formerly mentioned announcer called out to the crowds surrounding him. The second day had officially come for the students, although not to Leopold's liking being as he would much rather be taking a nap right about now.
"Still, I have to be here... Guess I should just try and make the best of this." The boy sighed once more, crossing his arms as he continued to wait patiently.
The announcer continued. "Thus far, at least one person from every class has made it to the second round." He made a board appear in the air using magic. Everyone looked at the results listed. "Here are the statistics if you're curious."
Hero 3-A: 4 students remaining
Hero 3-B: 3 students remaining
Hero 3-C: 1 student remaining
Hero 3-D: 2 students remaining
Hero 2-A: 11 students remaining
Hero 2-B: 5 students remaining
Hero 2-C: 4 students remaining
Hero 2-D: 1 student remaining
Hero 1-A: 12 students remaining
Hero 1-B: 10 remaining
Hero 1-C: 7 students remaining
Hero 1-D: 6 students remaining
Backup 3-A: 5 students remaining
Backup 3-B: 2 students remaining
Backup 3-C: 8 students remaining
Backup 3-D: 1 student remaining
Backup 2-A: 5 students remaining
Backup 2-B: 18 students remaining
Backup 2-C: 11 students remaining
Backup 2-D: 2 students remaining
Backup 1-A: 4 students remaining
Backup 1-B: 14 students remaining
Backup 1-C: 1 student remaining
Backup 1-D: 3 students remaining
Support 3-A: 20 students remaining
Support 3-B: 20 students remaining
Support 3-C: 20 students remaining
Support 3-D: 18 students remaining
Support 2-A: 20 students remaining
Support 2-B: 19 students remaining
Support 2-C: 20 students remaining
Support 2-D: 20 students remaining
Support 1-A: 16 students remaining
Support 1-B: 17 students remaining
Support 1-C: 15 students remaining
Support 1-D: 15 students remaining
Leopold listened to the results of the first round, reading them off in his mind. Two hundred twenty students from the support classes had made it, which was almost as many as everyone else! Just how had they managed something like that?
He frowned."That is strange..." Even the crowd was shocked by these results for a moment, but again erupted in cheers moments later as if that little detail wasn't of much concern.
"Now with that, we proceed to round 2's first battle! Jack Overshine vs William Sickle!"
After that, different matches continued to proceed just as they had on the first day of the tournament. Higher ranking students mostly won against lower ones, however every once in a while there would miraculously be a lower ranked student who would be able to pull off an upset.
After what seemed like an eternity, battle number one hundred eight finally arrived! At last, it was time to once again see Leopold back in action out in that fighting area!
The announcer looked at everyone gathered, smiling. "And now, our final match of the second round will take center stage!" He signaled to the oncoming fighters. "Colson Spencership vs Leopold Stratus!"
Leopold was, as mentioned before, going to be taking on a student from class 1-B. This class had been able to have all of their remaining students pass round two with ease. Leopold's opponent in particular was a tall male with a long sword on his back and a smug smile on his face.
His voice was also really annoying. "Y-Youuuu araareee ddddeeeeaaadddd!" The man looked at Leopold, his tongue dangling out of his mouth in a very disgusting manner.
"What is he?! A snake?!" Stratus wondered, taking a step backwards.
And then, the announcer began the match. "Commence the fight!" He stopped backwards, letting the two students have a clear look at one another before they could make any moves to attack or defend.
As the last match of round two finally started, the boy from Class 1-B wasted no time and ran over to one of the walls that surrounded the area.. Leopold watched him in confusion, hand on his blade as he prepared for some sort of strange move.
The boy narrowed his eyes, waiting for the boy to attack."Just why is he running up to the wall? Is he using earth magic and planning to take the rock from the wall as some weapon?" The snake-like male got to the wall and...
He freaking jumped!
In an instant he was on the wall and running along the side of it! Leopold felt as his jaw almost dropped while he watched. "Just how is he even running up a wall?! Magnet magic or something?!" He flexed his muscles, making sure that he remained as calm as possible while he continued to wait.
And then, the boy then jumped back off the wall! He flew right above Leopold who just watched in awe. "Yyyyyyooooouuurrreee dddeeeaaadddd!" He fell from the sky with his long sword now unsheathed and on top of Leopold.
"Most impressive..." Leopold observed, smiling. "Most impressive indeed! I will say that I certainly wasn't expecting something like this!" He narrowed his eyes. "However, I've got a surprise for him too!"
Leopold crouched just slightly, getting into a better position. Just barely, the boy ran his hand across the massive sword while making sure not to cut himself..
"Spirit Arts: Plasma Nebula!"
A ball of plasma energy appeared and covered the sword in the 1-B student's hands. The power melted the weapon from the massive amount of rising heat and in an instant... the sword was gone! Leopold watched with a massive grin on his face, his opponent own grin disappearing in an instant.
"Wwwwhhhaaattt!" Colson jumped away from Leopold and back into his starting position. "Hhhhhoooooowwwww!" He looked at his now completely destroyed weapon and gritted his teeth. "Nnnnnoooo..."
Leopold shrugged, not really surprised by his work. "I don't know... Perhaps practice did the trick?" He had been working on his Plasma Arts for quite some time now.
Colson growled and placed his hands to the ground. He looked at Leopold, clearly more determined to make something happen and end this little happy session that Leopold has going on.
"Toxin!"
Leopold watched as the boys teeth started to secrete some sort of bubbling liquid onto his teeth. As if the bastard wasn't already disgusting enough as is...
Leopold watched, trying not to gag."Some sort of poison? So, he isn't an earth magic user then?" Leopold was certainly surprised now. "I've got to see this! I've never met someone like this in Stashin!" Leopold bored attitude had instantly become filled with excitement as he waited for the 1-B student to attack.
"Come at me!" he exclaimed, wanting to see it in person.
Colson jumped from his spot, yards away from Leopold, and bared his teeth at his foe. "Dddddiiiieeee!" His tongue stuck out as the venom dripped from his mouth like that of saliva.
Leopold watched has he flew through the air at incredible speeds and held a position that made it to where Leopold had no chance of running at him for a close up attack. "Truly remarkable! I guess I should show the same level of talent as well!" He laughed, raising both of his hands up into the air. Leopold smiled.
"Plasma Explosion!"
A large explosion formed on the spot Leopold was standing and in just a few moments the grounds were filled with smoke and fire! Yep. He had once again gone way more overboard than was necessary....
The announcer was left speechless as he looked at the arena. He couldn't see a thing, the smoke caused by the blast looming over the arena grounds. "W-We have no clear view of the grounds..." He held his hands out. "And so, results will not be told until we get the fight to come back into view."
"Wait!" someone yelled from the stands. "There's someone down there!" The smoke cleared from the ground and who was it that was standing there? It was none other than... Colon Spencership?!
"Did he take down the other guy?" someone asked.
"I don't know. Where even is the other guy?"
"I don't- Wait! The 1-B student! He's falling!"
After that, Colson's body started to fall quickly to the ground. He handed with a loud sound, faded eyed and bubbles coming out of his mouth. The boy did not make a single movement, unconscious and down for the count.
And then soon after that, his opponent could be seen walking out of the smoke to stand over his defeated foe, unscathed and smiling. He put his hands behind his head, looking out at the crowds who had been watching him fight the snake boy just a couple of moments before this.
"Looks like I won!"
=================
"And there was the explosion and boom! You won out of knowhere!" Zion exclaimed recalling Leopold's battle. After the battle, gossip had been going around about Leopold and his power, even reaching Zion. As it was obvious to see, Leopold's friend was ecstatic to hear of the blond boy's insane fight.
Stratus shrugged. "It was really just a simple explosion." Leopold looked at Zion, embarrassed by his friend's comments. "Anyway... since both of us passed the round once again, when will they starting round three?"
"I think about now..." Zion observed. "Let's go!"
"Sorry... What?"
=================
"And we're back for round three of the rankings tournament!" Everyone regathered in the arena for the next round and once again the place was a walking eardrum-breaker. "After the second round's conclusion, here are the results!"
Hero 3-A: 4 students remaining
Hero 3-B : 3 students remaining
Hero 3-C: 1 student remaining
Hero 3-D: 1 student remaining
Hero 2-A: 10 students remaining
Hero 2-B: 4 students remaining
Hero 2-C: 4 students remaining
Hero 2-D: 1 student remaining
Hero 1-A: 9 students remaining
Hero 1-B: 9 students remaining
Hero 1-C: 7 students remaining
Hero 1-D: 6 students remaining
Backup 3-A: 3 students remaining
Backup 3-B: 2 students remaining
Backup 3-C: 6 students remaining
Backup 3-D: 1 student remaining
Backup 2-A: 5 students remaining
Backup 2-B: 9 students remaining
Backup 2-C: 7 students remaining
Backup 2-D: 0 students remaining
Backup 1-A: 1 student remaining
Backup 1-B: 3 students remaining
Backup 1-C: 1 student remaining
Backup 1-D: 3 students remaining
Support 3-A: 10 students remaining
Support 3-B: 7 students remaining
Support 3-C: 9 students remaining
Support 3-D: 4 students remaining
Support 2-A: 8 students remaining
Support 2-B: 3 students remaining
Support 2-C: 4 students remaining
Support 2-D: 9 students remaining
Support 1-A: 11 students remaining
Support 1-B: 8 students remaining
Support 1-C: 10 students remaining
Support 1-D: 7 students remaining
As the previous round's final results were announced to the public, Leopold had suspicions put to rest... "I guess last round with the support course was just a fluke. And apparently everyone who was left in 1-D survived. Good to know!" Leopold's eyes widened.
"Zion, do you see who your going up against..."
Zion nodded, looking at his bracket with an annoyed look on his face. "Yes, and I'm not exactly happy about it since this gives me no chance." He shook his head as if the whole world were somehow responsible for this.
However, Leopold couldn't really deny it was unfortunate. Leopold looked at his friend and sighed. "Back luck indeed..." He put his hand on Zion's shoulder in condolence.
"Now let's begin round three!" the announcer shouted. He looked out at the crowds and then signaled for the fighters to renter the arena for the third round of the tournament. "Class 1-A's Amy Kushida vs Class 1-D's Zion White! Ready... Begin!"
That was correct. As mentioned before, Zion would be going up against one of the royals of Kushida, Amy Kushida... She was said to be an expert at water magic and pretty cute as well. She was known for being fairly sweet as well and when it came to her fighting ability... she was of course one of the best from the incoming first year students!
"Impressive stats and amazing popularity ratings. Is it really possible for Zion to win this?" Leopold put his hands on his chin and frowned. "So... yeah. He's completely done for now."
As the two fighters stepped onto the battlefield, Leopold looked out at Zion who was practically shaking in his shoes. How was he supposed to even land a hit at someone of Amy's power?
"It'll be tough." Leopold breathed, aloud. "Still, I don't want to help Zion in this situation and ruin his reputation... Hopefully he can find some way to defeat her by his own strength!" Unfortunately though, Leopold wasn't super confident of that being the case in this specific scenario.
Zion, taking a few deep breaths, readied himself for the fight. He looked determined, yet nervous at the same time. Even if this was going to be his end, he would go now as a man!
And at last there was Amy. As Zion got ready, she was... standing there. Standing as still as a statue? She was just stuck in place there, doing nothing besides staring at Zion with some sort of awestruck look on her face.
"Wait... Oh no."
The black haired boy tilted his head and looked at her, as confused as everyone else who saw her. "Um... are you alright, Princess Amy?" Zion asked her. "Pardon my rudeness, but you seem... off?
Amy blinked, blushing as she heard him speak to her. "Um... Y-Yeah! I-I'm fine! Let's get going!" She prepared her dagger, finally beginning to ready herself for the fight! Still, the way she was acting... There was something that Leopold seriously did not like about the way that she had been presenting herself out there.
"Alright... Here I come!" Zion charged at Amy with a quick dash, sword bared directly at her. He imbued the blade with his light magic while he ran.
"Light Magic: Starry Sensation!"
His sword started to shine more brightly and came up to the neck of Amy. Yet, she did nothing and instead just watched as it was about to get to her. Zion saw this, although he did not stop in the moment.
"Just what is she doing?!" Leopold narrowed his eyes, looking closely.
The sword stopped just inches away from Amy's neck, pointed directly at the flesh and within what had only been three seconds of a battle, it was already over. The announcer, seeing Amy helpless, immediately called the whole battle off just as soon as it had seemed to start for the two of them.
"It's over! Zion White wins!"
The blond haired boy blinked as he watched."I'm so confused. This Amy Kushida is the same one who held a reputation for being one of the best fighters here, right?! AndYet... that was the fastest battle I've ever seen!"
Zion sheathed his sword and then looked back at the girl. "Are you okay, Princess Amy? You seem shaken..." Zion frowned, probably thinking the same thing Leopold was. He seemed generally concerned for the young girl.
Amy again just looked at him for a moment. She seemed at first to mumble something to herself, and then she spoke clearly once more. "Y-Yeah! I'm just fine... T-Those were some impressive sword skills, Sir Zion!" She laughed, scratching the back of her head as if she had been stunned by what Leopold had thought to be mostly simple moves.
Zion laughed, nervously as well. "Never thought I'd hear myself called impressive by royalty. Your compliment is much obliged, Miss Amy." He held his hand out to her, trying to shake the girl's hand.
Amy blushed, not actually taking the boy's hand like he had insisted. "H-He called me by my name!" Then, she turned around and ran the other direction. "I-I have got to go! See you later!"
Zion blinked. "Weird." He looked over at Leopold who had been watching him and tiled his head in utter confusion. "Did I say something weird to her?"
"Dunno, man..."
Many more battles occurred during the present round. Most of the match's winners were coming out to be about how Leopold had expected them too. The boy was able to win the rest of his battles with no challenge as well, thankfully. Once that round and a few others were completely soon after, the students were finally able to go back to their dorms with the conclusion of the second day!