Jacob didn't think Victor had tried to psych him out or throw him off, but if that had been part of his strategy, it had worked. He couldn't stop thinking about their conversation that evening, long into the sleepless night, and the anxious, wakeful hours the next morning.
It wasn't all bad, though. The idea of having a no-nonsense, streamlined fight excited him. What training he managed to get in that night he focused entirely on pushing the limits of his strength and perception casting.
At breakfast, Jacob told the rest of the gang about the conversation. It took him ages to tell the story, in between interruptions of well wishing and calls of 'good luck!' from students excited for the fights.
Camilla was noticeably absent from breakfast. Grace said that she'd disappeared early that morning to focus on her match, and had been radio silence ever since. Archie vouched that Victor would follow through on the deal, which eased Jacob's mind a little.
The Quarterfinal matches were twenty minutes instead of ten, and the window around each match was longer. Tanaka had the first match, against Kaidan Sharpe. Then it was Jacob and Victor. Then Camilla against Xavier Hudson. And finally, the 4th seed vs 5th seed, Sophia vs Diego Marquez.
The gang, minus Camilla, sat in their usual spot. Jacob looked around the arena, distraught that he wouldn't get to see her before his match. He'd barely seen her outside of class since entering the killer's pocket dimension on Wednesday. But maybe this was just how she prepped for her matches.
"The first Quarterfinal match will start in five minutes!" The announcer called out.
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People scurried to their seats. Talk intensified, then died down. Blake and Archie discussed the likelihood of Sharpe winning the match.
"Alright, everyone! Get ready for our first Quarterfinal matches! All the way from Tokyo, Japan. Can anybody slow him down? It's Yoshihiro Tanaka!"
Tanaka emerged from the tunnel into the arena. He raised one hand in acknowledgement, a gesture he hadn't done before. Jacob cheered, as did a surprising number of other people. Due to his enigmatic presence and his dominant performance in the tournament, Tanaka had gained somewhat of a cult fanbase in the past few weeks. People rarely bothered him in person, but they whispered about him, made up rumours about him, some of which Jacob would have believed had he not known Tanaka personally.
"From Louisville Kentucky, the remaining half of the Dynamic Duo, it's Kaidan Sharpe!"
Kaidan strode onto the arena to a rallying cheer. He looked locked in.
"Contestants, get ready!"
"Start!"
Jacob had been worried he'd miss the end of the match by getting called down to his Prep Room, but his worries were unfounded. For the first time in the tournament, Tanaka showed something other than Decomposition. Jacob had known from their training sessions that he was a strong Consumer, but he hadn't told anyone else, and clearly Kaidan hadn't been expecting it.
Kaidan opened by rushing Tanaka, no doubt looking to minimize Tanaka's overwhelming advantage at range.
Tanaka obliged by rushing directly at Kaidan. They met in a scramble in the centre of the arena. It became almost instantly clear that Tanaka was quicker and stronger, and within moments, Kaidan Sharpe sailed out of bounds.
"Sharpe is out of bounds, Tanaka wins!"
The audience clapped as the two contestants strolled out of the arena.
"Why didn't Sharpe cast something else?" Blake asked. "That looked like a first round match."
"Tanaka likely didn't give him a chance," Archie said. "That Professor Alhammadi was correct. Consumption can trump the other magics in the right scenario."
Jacob was going to go over and congratulate Tanaka, if he could find where the other boy was seated, but the tournament aide appeared before he got a chance.
"Mr Caibo?"
"Yes."
"It's time."