Chapter 187.

PART 1.

Hatori reclines on the couch in the hall of the hotel suite, listening to the introductions of the various teams. He may have regained his eyesight, but he is still not interested in watching everything. why bother when the words are perfectly painting the picture? He will pay attention when the duels start.

He coughed to clear his throat clear. He is feeling better by the day, but just like the coach said, he is not in a competing condition for now. so the team has left him here, and he is watching their match on the television.

Hatori still does not know how the television works in the magical world. there are no wires, and Zeko has confirmed that there is no such thing as satellites either. Hatori suspects some clever bit of magic and a huge network of runes to control it, but he has not dug into this much. if he ever decides to do that, he will start by opening the television, and see how it works from inside.

PART 2.

“Ravina, you’re up,” said Avinash, looking at the ring.

The Kemet Academy has chosen a boy named Akila. He does not look that impressive, but Avinash knows that in the world of magic, appearances can be deceiving. He is sending Ravina deliberately to see how the team fights, to get an idea of how difficult they are going to be. Avinash suspects that the opposing captain is likely doing the same.

“The girl from the Subcontinent, versus the boy from the Kemet. The match starts, and so far, the spell exchanges are fairly normal.” Said Michael.

“Though it should be noted that the Kemet Academy is known for using the sunlight to a devastating effect, though Akila is not showing this specialty yet.” Noted Samudra.

Ravina blocked some spells and then moved to attack. but her vision is distorted. She felt as if she was trapped in the middle of a desert, and yet, the ring came in from time to time. this made her confused, and a whip of sand struck her across the face, drawing blood from her cheek. The pain broke the illusion for a moment, but soon it settled over her completely.

Now Ravina finds herself in the desert where the sun is shining at the peak, and a monster is coming after her. She tries to keep it away, but her spells do not have any effect, even if they strike the monster.

“Ravina is trapped under the illusion.” Said Samudra. “Her spells are missing Akila, though she could probably strike him if she adjusted her aim a little.”

“Those are always tricky to deal with. Ravina sends a wave of fire into the crowd, and the front row has to avoid it in haste. I love this crowd participation.” Said Michael.

“Yeah, because we are all safe up here,” said Samudra, feeling very smug.

“Indeed, we are, partner. Akila may have succeeded with his illusion, but he is not able to put Ravina away for a win. It has become a game of cat and mouse.” Said Michael.

Ravina does some experimentation. She has some rudimentary sensing training, so she can avoid Akila’s spells. but she is not able to hit him. so she tries to aim her spells a little bit off-center of this monster, and she has some success. the illusion flickered for a moment. Akila is shocked at the damage this girl has done with just one spell, but he ignores it as a fluke. But when more spells come at him, and he is not able to dodge them, he realizes that he gave her too much time to figure things out.

The desert disappears, and Akila is on the floor, a bloody heap, and his foci lying beside him. “Akila cannot continue, Ravina wins!” declares the referee.

“And there you go folks, Ravina has secured a victory, and the first win goes to Subcontinent.” Said Michael.

“It was a great display from both sides, and Akila did a wonderful job. If he were to be a little bit faster, he could have beaten Ravina.” Said Samudra.

“Today is a strange day indeed. Such neutrality from my partner is rare.” Mocked Michael.

After the excitement from the first match dies down, the time to choose the next duelist comes. “Tom, you’re up,” said Avinash. The other team has chosen Nakia, who does carry himself more confidently than Akila. Avinash suspects that he will be using a lot more brute force compared to Akila, and Tom is a perfect counter to this.

“We have seen Tom duel only once during this league. He did not fight in the last match, so there is very little data on him,” said Michael.

“I suspect this problem will be solved today. And there we go, the battle has begun with the elemental magic from the very start.” Said Samudra.

“Nakia is destroying the ring with a lot of earth magic, whereas Tom is trying to chase him around with fire magic,” said Michael.

A minute later, Nakia turns all the rubble he has created into sand. “That is a clever strategy. Tom is quite fast on his feet, but he won’t be able to keep up on the sand.” Said Michael.

“And here comes water to add to the trouble. Trust me, you don’t want the wet sand on your body. it is very unhealthy for the groin.” Said Samudra.

“True. And you need a filter.” Said Michael.

Tom cursed as he was hit by various spells. at this rate, he is going to be buried in the sand up to his waste. Already his movement is compromised, and his opponent is not giving him any chance to enchant his shoes. ‘But if you think you’ve won, you’re wrong.’ He thought, transmuting the sand into a bull, and jumping on the back of the animal.

“An impressive attempt by Tom to use the resources of Nakia against him,” said Michael.

Though the bull is also sinking in the sand, Nakia is distracted by its attacks. he fails to see the conjured blades of Tom coming, and by the time he feels the pain, he realizes how late it is. after Tom is declared a winner, Nakia has to get the blades removed by a healer, who is pinning his arms to the ground.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

Cairo is the next duelist from the Kemet, and Shin is sent to face him. “What kind of spectacle will these two present? And the answer is quite an amusing one,” said Michael.

Cairo is attacking with spells, and Shin is running around, playing his violin. When Shin completes a few notes, Cairo has to stop his attacks because he is assaulted by stormy winds. Shin takes advantage of this, and plays another piece on his violin, hypnotizing Cairo. By the time the spell fades, he finds himself standing outside of the ring. He shook his fist at Shin as he was declared the winner.

“Idiot.” Said Darius, the captain of the Kemet Academy. “I told him to be careful of that violin, but he didn’t listen.”

“Well, that was a humiliating loss, to say the least,” said Samudra. “Even I feel sorry for the boy. these musician mages should not be given any chances, or else you’ll realize too late that you’ve lost already.”

“Daphne, you’re next.” Said Avinash, looking at the next duelist from the Kemet Academy. his name is Ramses, and once more, Avinash feels that this guy could be a threat. Daphne is a strong mage, so she should be able to handle him.

PART 3.

In the hotel room, Hatori is dancing. “Ramses, the man in gauze, the man in gauze, the man in gauze!”

PART 4.

“The match starts, and already, Ramses is taking advantage of the sand from the earlier matches.” Said Samudra. “That sand should have been cleared; it is unfair.”

“I, for one think it is a fair and balanced thing to do.” Said Michael, though he privately agreed with Samudra.

Daphne is hit by a dense ball of sand in her midsection, followed by a whip on her face. She lost her footing, and she is slammed to the ground by the harsh winds. The sand gathered around her, and the wind carried her outside. by the time Daphne gets out of the cocoon, she finds herself outside of the ring.

When she reaches the bench, her head hung in shame, she sits in a small corner and makes herself as small as possible. The team wanted to say something to her. They saw the terrified look as she got cocooned in that sand, but Avinash was leaving for the ring, where Darius was waiting for him. he patted her on the back before he left. “You did fine. Don’t beat yourself up,” he said to her before he left.

Daphne shakes her head. today was a bad day for her in the ring, and she is unlikely to forget it any time soon. That sand cocoon is going to haunt her dreams for days to come.

“Now it is a captains’ duel. Avinash from Subcontinent, and Darius from Kemet.” Said Samudra. The match starts, and Avinash casts some simple spells to test Darius.

But the retaliation shocked him. The light coming from the sun condensed on the jewel of his staff, and a beam of light came Avinash’s way, which melted the ring and turned the sand into glass.

“And there it is folks, the feared sun magic of the Kemet.” Said Michael. “That one attack could have killed Avinash if it connected.”

Avinash is not scared, however. But realizing the gravity of his situation, he casts his fire elemental shape-shifting spell, and his fire tiger makes an appearance. “Woah! I’m still not able to do this, what’re they teaching these kids nowadays?” complained Samudra.

“I completely agree,” said Michael, ignoring his battle of wits with Samudra, as the tiger attacks Darius. More sun magic follows, but the flaming beast is not affected. “This is something which can only be seen on the upper dueling circuits, not in school tournaments.”

Darius fires more beams, but the tiger is not affected. “It seems my attacks cannot damage your elemental spell,” he said to Avinash, as the fire tiger stood behind him. “But that is not the only trick in my sleeve.”

He points his staff to the sky, and more sunlight is focused by the jewel in his staff. Then, the light beams start to rain down upon the ring, causing a stampede in the front row seats among the crowd, and giving Avinash no place to hide.

But Avinash defended himself by covering himself under his fire spell. “That kid has some insane fire resistance.” Praised Michael. “Anyone else would turn to ash by now.”

Avinash is counting on the clouds to disrupt the sunlight, as that is the weather of Londinium. He felt the sun's magic hammering against his tiger, who he used as a shield. But when the intensity started to wane, Avinash realized a cloud had come.

Taking advantage of this, his tiger suddenly pounced on Darius, and Avinash grabbed his foci in the chaos. By the time Avinash ends his spell, Darius is lying in the middle of the damaged ring badly burned, and Avinash holding his staff in his hands.

“Darius cannot continue, Avinash wins!” said the referee, and cheers broke out in the crowd and as well as on the Subcontinent bench.

PART 5.

Raven is doing the night duty in the castle. the duty mostly includes some patrols, and watching the dueling tournament live when on the breaks. “So, your friends with all of them?” asked one trainee.

“Yep.” Said Raven, feeling good about himself right now. he has gotten a lot of clout for being friends with the dueling team among the trainees.

“It must be something, to know the blind villain personally.” Remarked the other trainee.

“Yeah, lazier, less villain.” Said Raven. “Unless you push his buttons.”

“Attention!” said the sergeant, entering the room. “It is time for the other group to take your place.”

“Yesir!” they all salute, and file out of the room.