“All right!” Earnest fired herself up, slapping herself in the face with both hands. “Let’s do this!”
The five fighters left the locker room, the Empress of the academy leading the way. Blade followed behind sluggishly.
Clay, Leonard, Sophie, Earnest, and Blade (in that order) had made the final cut. Clay had recently lost in a two-on-two duel against Yessica and Claire, but he had made some very impressive growth since then. He wasn’t about to go challenging girls to fights again, but if they ever had a rematch, that pair most likely wouldn’t be able to take him down. They had considered adding people like Ovie, Iona, and Cú to the team…but decided that would probably be a bad idea. Busting out spells that reminded the crowd of the Overlord…or beam cannons that resembled siege weapons…or any sort of dragon, no matter how young…just didn’t seem right. This was a friendly interschool competition, not an all-out monster battle. They weren’t out to change the world’s balance of power.
Just before they entered the Second Proving Ground’s main entrance, Earnest turned to face her team.
“Leonard! Clay! I’m counting on you two.”
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!”
Good response. The quintet marched into the arena, shoulders thrust forward as they walked into the wind.
“The winner is Allyde Lohengramm!”
Rotten mutts… Useless, every single one of them…
Earnest was biting her nails. Clay had said, “Leave it to me! With Dragon Smasher by my side, I’m a whole new fighter! Feast your eyes on Clay Mark II!”, only to get whooped in the first round. He didn’t even have a chance to bust out that Dragon Smasher move he was so proud of. Yeesh. Mark II needed to get sent back to the manufacturer. Talk about defective goods. Besides, anyone could learn Dragon Smasher, really. Okay, not anyone, but a decent handful of people.
Then Leonard strode out, mumbling, “I dedicate this victory to you, milady,” and other nonsense… He did win one match, but he had to use every single secret move, (alleged) finisher, and divine strike he knew to eke out that victory. In his second match, he went down like a sack of potatoes without even damaging his foe. After all that big talk, he’d fulfilled the bare minimum of defeating one opponent and promptly bowed out. What was all that “I dedicate this victory to you” crap? It had moved her just a tiny bit, and now she regretted it.
It was two to one, Chestnut in the lead. This was a knockout tournament. Each player had five members that fought in order, starting with the first member, then the second, followed by the third, the vice captain, and finally the captain. Whichever side had all its members defeated first was the loser, so it was possible for the first fighter of one team to beat all five opponents, ending the match before their remaining four teammates even got off the bench.
That was why Blade was assigned the captain’s spot. That way, Rosewood wouldn’t have to come out a total loser… But, Blade wondered, wouldn’t it be more efficient for me to fight first? He was such so awesome, most people watching probably wouldn’t even realize how good he really was. It wouldn’t be the same as sending out some monster like the Overlord or Iona or Cú—he didn’t have that kind of flashy, explosive awesomeness.
“We will now begin match number four! Fighting for Chestnut Academy, Allyde Lohengramm! Fighting for Rosewood Academy, Sophitia Femto!”
“Give it your A game, okay?” said Earnest.
“Mmm.” Sophie, the third member of their team, stood up and replied indifferently. Was she really gonna be all right?
“Would you be happy if I won?” she asked, turning toward Blade.
“Hmm? Oh, of course! I’d love to see you strut your stuff, Sophie.”
“Then I will try my best. Une and the others say they will, too.”
“Great.”
Sophie sounded really motivated today. That much was obvious from her expression. Earnest wasn’t sure she appreciated that very much…but whatever.
Sophie, much to her credit, took down two competitors. She was now engaged in battle with her third, Chestnut’s vice captain. Her foes were all so handsome, and so shredded, that Earnest wondered if their team was picked based on hunkiness instead of strength. Regardless, Sophie was knocking them down one by one.
She didn’t use her weird special move—that “artificial” something or other that she was always mumbling about during battle. Instead, she opted to use the five weapons she had planted across the field. There was a great sword, a divine spear, a large scythe, a golden club, and a pair of gauntlets, giving Sophie access to a variety of fancy, crowd-pleasing fighting styles. The Second Proving Ground had spectator seating, and in addition to VIPs from both countries, there was also general seating available by lottery, giving civilians in the capital a chance to check out the competition.
Earnest couldn’t help thinking that Sophie’s ability to swap in and out with her sisters was cheating…but, well, nobody would know about that if they didn’t spill the beans. All they’d see here was a girl with a really diverse skill set.
“Down…! The winner is Sophitia Femto!”
It wasn’t a hard call for the referee—Sophie’s opponent was encased in a solid block of ice. She was both a fighter and a caster, and ice magic was her forte.
The ice block was right in the middle of the arena, several yards long on all sides. Chestnut Academy’s vice captain was a formidable foe, but it looked like he’d underestimated Sophie’s abilities as a caster. Her blast of cold air, released with all her power, had far more freezing range than he had initially thought; he’d thought he’d managed to dodge, but the next moment, he was entombed in ice, helpless. A team of sorcerers trotted out to rescue this handsome, statuesque stud from the chunk of ice, carefully casting heat spells to slowly thaw him.