(AMELIA)

I awoke to the sound of a knock at my door and slowly pried my eyes open. Looking around, I half considered pretending that I hadn’t heard it, but another knock pushed that fantasy away. Resisting the warm embrace of my bed luring me back inside, I forced myself to sit up.

I yawned and stretched, almost enjoying the moment before there was another knock at the door. Scowling, I begrudgingly made my way towards the door, half expecting them to knock again.

‘Jeez, why are people so impatient?’

As I opened the door, I saw a bubbly young woman, probably in her mid twenties, with curly brown hair, wearing an elegant yet somehow modest knee length silver dress and seemed to be holding something behind her back.

“Ah, good morning, Ms. Saveer! I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

‘What’s that supposed to mean? You just banged on my door twice this early in the morning’ I thought before answering. “It’s fine, may I ask what this unexpected visit is about Ms..?

“Oh my apologies, allow me to introduce myself. I am Alexandria Vuse, I work here during the selections.” She answered with an irritating smile.

“Oh, I see. It’s nice to meet you Ms. Vuse, but I’m still curious as to what brings you to my room at this hour.”

“Oh, right! I’m here to deliver your pin for making it past round one. Here it is.” She bowed with the box delicately perched on her palms.

I looked down as she made a show of revealing what she had been hiding behind her back. A beautiful mahogany wood box, with a golden hummingbird engraved on the top.

Curious, I took the box and opened it. What was inside was a beautiful emerald colored cloth, with a bronze medallion crested with a hummingbird.

“It’s beautiful, but what are these for?” I asked, cocking a brow.

“Every round you pass successfully, you’re given a pin like this to show how far you made it.”

‘So basically a badge of honor. This really didn’t have to be delivered so early’

“Thank you so much for delivering this, I hope to get more alongside this one.”

“Well if your performance in the first round is indicative of anything, I have high hopes for you. Keep that between us of course.” She winked.

“Thank you for that as well.” I couldn’t stop the smile from blooming on my face.

“Well, I’ve got a few more of these to deliver, I best be going.”

“Before you go, may I ask if you have already delivered one to Eve?”

“Yes I have.” She said before turning the corner and walking off.

‘Welp, she will wake me up in a few minutes anyways, better get going.’ I yawned as I began to walk off.

After a dozen strides and a handful of turns, I reached a door with the name “Solaris” on the side of it.

Just as I was about to knock however, she suddenly opened the door.

“Oh! Hey, Mayla, I was just about to come to your room.”

“Hey, Eve, good morning.”

“Good morning to you as well, Mayla.“

“Ms. Vuse, the lady handing out the medallions, told me you already got yours, what does yours look like?”

“Oh, right! Here, take a look.”

As I watched her unlock the ornate box and lift the lid, I suddenly grew nervous. It was a silly thing, but I’d feel like I lost somehow if hers was better than mine.

“It’s the same as mine!”

“Ah, it’s the same? I guess I should have figured they’d give everyone the same badges and not custom ones, but I mean they’re pretty cool. What do you think?”

“They’re a little too flashy for me.”

“Ah no way?! Here I thought it wouldn’t be fancy enough for the royal princess?” She teased, whispering the end..

I glared at her but my smile gave away my true feelings.

I opened my mouth to rebuke her but my stomach spoke for me.

Eve’s expression widened and I blushed.

“You hungry, princess?” She chuckled.

I nodded but kept my eyes down. She laughed again and patted my shoulder.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Then let’s go before more contestants wake up, I hear they make it to order this early!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Attention to all tournament participants who passed round one, round two will be beginning soon, please make your way to the staging area.”

Eve and I made eye contact over our third serving of the morning.

“Perfect timing,” I said.

“”

“It’s a good thing we woke up so early.”

“I wonder if Ms. Vuse did it on purpose” I pondered aloud.

“Who?”

“Whatever, let’s get going.” I sighed.

Much like the first round, we were gathered in lines, though obviously the group was much smaller this time.

“I welcome all of you to the second round of this tournament. As many of us have seen before, the competition always ramps up with every round. Who will be sent home today? Will those chosen by the first paladin make it through another round? There’s only one way to find out.”

‘I get that being chosen by Kalan is a big deal and all, but does he really need to paint a target on us every round?’

“Contestants, please take your seats and prepare for round two!”

At the announcers command, we all went and took our seats, waiting for the order of matches to be posted

It seemed, both Eve and I were prepared to be called first, but it wasn’t meant to be. A sudden suspicion that the order was not exactly random ran through me as I noted the ecstatic crowd..

We watched round after round, waiting to be called until the numbers slowly dwindled down to only four being left.

‘So I was right, saving the most hyped up matches for the end.’

“And now ladies and gentlemen, with only four contestants left. We are ready to get to the matches you’ve truly all been waiting patiently for.”

“First up will be, Mayla Saveer Vs Oliver Hykou.”

At the mention of my name, it was as if the crowd had been saving all of their excitement for this moment, as the roars were so loud I couldn’t even hear what Eve had said when I walked out.

I focused my attention onwards towards my opponent whose cropped reddish brown hair was being tousled by his exorbitant stretching.

I wasn’t sure what magic this man used, but he wielded a hammer not too large for his rather average body, but not small enough to not be able to cause serious damage if it made contact.

‘I’ll definitely have the speed advantage in this one.’ I mindlessly noted as I got down in my stance. My skin prickled with anticipation as I twirled my kunai on my right.

“Begin!”

Despite the announcement, he didn’t move a muscle.

‘If that’s what you want, then I’d be happy to oblige.’

I started to run forward, dashing side to side. Increasing my speed and arc of my kunai with every step, every dash.

As I was almost right on top of him, he attempted a sidewards swing aimed at my head.Predicting this, I slid between his legs., I twisted my body, wrapping my rope around his knees. As I slid, I pulled, dragging my kunai across the back of his knees.

He yelled and his legs buckled, but he stayed upright. He quickly spun towards me, hammer already coming down. I dug my heels into the ground to stop my slide and kicked off as hard as I could.

Dashing forward, I pulled my rope around my shoulders and felt it tug against me as the kunai made contact with his torso.

I came to a stop a few paces away and looked back at him. He was glaring at me as he nursed the sickly looking gash on his side, blood still pooling beneath his feet.

‘You’re quite resilient aren’t you?’

As I started to rush back in following the same movement pattern, I suddenly felt a surge of mana come from him as thick mud appeared where I was dashing to.

‘He predicted where I’d go?!’

I couldn’t stop myself and, before I could react,, I landed in the mud and it immediately swarmed up my legs and hardened, trapping me in place.

‘Oh shit. Not good.’

I tried to break out, but I heard a battle cry come from him as he leaped into the air, aiming to bring his hammer down on my skull.

‘He’s got me. Or at least so he thinks.’

I released my mana and spun a cyclone of water around my body until finally impacting with his hammer. Before his hammer cut through it all, I froze the water, stopping his descent.

The ice didn’t stop there, however. It began to climb down the hammer’s handle towards his hands.

He let go, but it was too late.

While the water was traveling up my body towards him, it had loosened up the mud enough for me to break free.

“But how?!” Were the last words he could say before my leg came swinging onto the back of his head, knocking him down.

“Remember, Oliver, you’re not the only one with magic.”

“The winner is Mayla! What an incredible fight!”

The roars of the crowd that had appeared when my name was first called, immediately roared back to life as I walked back.

‘This is definitely something else.’

“Impressive as always, Mayla, that was so cool!”

“Thanks, Eve. I hope your fight doesn’t let the crowd down after that.” I teased

“Just you watch.” She said, confidence glinting in her eye.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, the final fight of round two, Eve Solaris vs Amber Azthium.”

The roars which had yet to subside fully, came back equally as loud as they had been for me.

I thought of shouting something to Eve but decided against it. I knew the words would be lost in this noise.

Eve and Amber squared off against each other in the arena, both ready to pounce. Amber was a beautiful, young woman, standing several inches over Eve with well developed muscles, but not too big; a perfect build for someone using a rapier.

‘Eve seems to be able to hold her own in close combat, but she might still be at a disadvantage against that weapon.’

As I waited for the announcers words, I could have sworn Eve was smiling.

‘What has she planned, I wonder?’

“Begin!”

As the announcer's voice rang out, Eve immediately drew her bow, firing arrow after arrow as her opponent rushed forward.

Amber dodged the arrows by a hair’s breadth, closing the distance until she was on top of Eve, forcing her to retreat.

Eve managed to sidestep every thrust Amber tried to make, every thrust becoming more and more sloppy as Eve dodged them.

This kept going for a few breaths, until Eve smiled and did something with her bow that I couldn’t quite understand..

It suddenly transformed, with the blades on the bow protruding out farther as she proceeded to parry one of the strikes.

Before the opponent could recover, Eve did a leg sweep and turned her other hand back towards Amber and sent out a blast of wind.

Amber was sent flying backwards, and Eve followed, firing arrows from the bow that seemed to have gone back to its regular state.

Amber quickly summoned up a stone wall in front of her and then dropped it as the arrows were deflected.

She went for another thrust, but this time Eve parried upwards with her bow, as she charged her fist with wind magic.

Amber quickly reacted, not caught off guard by a parry anymore and put up a stone barrier in front of her face and body trying to avoid the fist.

However, it seemed this was what Eve wanted. Her attack was just a feint as she quickly moved the mana from her fist to her legs, helping to spin around Amber. She reared back and kicked at Amber’s exposed knee. A sickening crunch resounded followed by a yelp of pain as she fell on her now broken knee.

Eve immediately put her foot on the hand Amber had been holding her weapon with and placed the now bladed bow against her neck.

“I surrender!”

“Eve Solaris has won the match, in brutal fashion! What a show for this second round.”

I watched as Eve walked back, adorning a satisfied smile on her face until she stood in front of me.

“I’d say we both put on quite a show today, don’t you?” She asked with a wink.

“Yes we did, though I think you went a little overboard there to show off.”

She slowly looked back to where Amber was still laying, the happiness drained from her face.

“Yeah, maybe a little.”

I felt a pang in my chest at her crestfallen expression and felt bad about what I had intended to be teasing.

“Well, it can't be changed now. We both won and that’s what matters. Everyone knows the risks.” I wrapped my arm around her and leaned into her.

“You’re right, two rounds down, five more to go.” She forced a smile.

The walk back to our rooms was rather quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. I could tell that Eve was lost in her thoughts and even though I wanted to ask, I knew that she would tell me when she was ready.

By the time we reached Eve’s room, I was also lost in my thoughts. After planning to meet again for lunch, I decided to walk around the halls for a while.

Replaying my match in my mind, I knew I had been overconfident. I was stupid to try the same technique twice, especially when it left me so open in its set up. I had a long way to go but I was still proud of how I’d done.

‘Next round should be when the real challenge begins, but I’m confident we’ve got this. ’