The following few battles passed quickly for Cadmus, and he found that he could barely focus on them, still fuming as he was.
The first battle had taken place between Gelida Olvo and Bethany Mckenna. Gelida had quickly assaulted Bethany with a few shots of Ice Shards, and though it seemed that Bethany had been trying to draw a complex magic circle to fight back, she was quickly struck down by Gelida before she could get anywhere.
The second battle had taken place between Charles Redford (the partner of Ito Shin in the second qualifier round, Cadmus had to be reminded) and Gale Holland. Cadmus had expected something amazing from Gale, seeing how he was touted as the most talented of the three brothers, but this match ended even quicker than the previous one, with Charles barely managing to draw a circle for Fireball before Gale closed in on him and defeated him with pure unarmed combat.
A great deal of time had passed since the start of the day, and the sun was in the process of setting when the next match-up was announced.
Arthur Pendragon VS. Tanya Louise
As with all the other matches, the two descended onto the stadium, Tanya with a new elegant wooden staff in hand, and the announcer spoke a few words for both to introduce them and hype them up to the crowd.
“Feast your eyes, ladies and gentlemen, for we have the heir to the Avalonian throne, Arthur Pendragon, in front of us right now! He was born as the crown prince, but earned the right to the throne by triumphing against the most promising young knights of his nation, thereby earning the title: the Golden Prince of Victory!”
The crowd roared in approval, and the announcer had to wait for a few moments for the noise to die down and move on to Tanya Louise.
“And battling him today is Tanya Louise, the youngest child of the prominent mage household of Louise, known throughout Carmenia for their expertise in the unique skill of creating ‘magical art’! Though, considering how many challenges Ms. Louise had to overcome to make it here, I doubt art is the only thing she’s good at using her magic for!”
The crowd applauded for her as well, though clearly with far less enthusiasm than Arthur. Once all that was done with and the barrier was set up, the referee raised his hand.
“READY YOURSELVES!”
Arthur descended into a picture-perfect stance of a swordsman ready to draw his blade, while Tanya awkwardly bent her knees and raised an arm in front of her.
“AND—BEGIN!”
Arthur smoothly unsheathed his heavy-looking broadsword from its fanciful scabbard, and, just like that, Cadmus’ focus snapped back into place.
“Is that… the sword that Merlin gave to Arthur?” He asked Lancelot beside him, “The sword that allowed him to win against multiple knights far older than him when he was only thirteen?”
The light of the setting sun glinted against the handsome gold blade, illuminating its radiance for the world to see and giving it an almost ethereal feeling. The royal blue hilt only served to enhance the majesty of the blade proper.
However, none of that interested Cadmus as much as the rows of magic circles composed of shining blue laurite embedded into both sides of the flat of the blade.
“You’ve certainly come to learn a lot about His Highness since orientation,” Lancelot said with a sideways glance.
And, as Tanya raised her new staff and fired a tiger made of flame, Cadmus nodded.
“Morgana told me.”
Lancelot’s features tightened, “Of course she did… and to answer your question: yes, that is the sword granted to His Highness by the great mage Merlin himself. He enchanted the blade to be the perfect weapon for any situation; with magic circles to defend against any element on one side, and magic circles to attack with any element on the other.”
As though to provide a demonstration for Lancelot’s words, Arthur held the flat of the blade in front of him, between him and Tanya’s Flame Tiger, and the magic circle closest to the hilt beamed. The Flame Tiger crashed against Arthur’s sword with great intensity, but then it immediately fizzled away into nothingness.
Then, Arthur flipped his sword, and pointed the other flat of the blade at Tanya. The circle second closest to the hilt shined, and a Rock Spike flew out, faster and larger than Cadmus had ever seen any Rock Spike before: it was but a brown blur, and larger than even Arthur’s torso.
Tanya squeaked and leapt to the side, but the Rock Spike still clipped her shoulder and sent her tumbling to the ground.
“But the magic circles engraved into the sword are so small… too small to cast a spell of that size,” Cadmus said, “Enchanting a single item with that many circles is already near-impossible, but then to put something as volatile as Enhancement modifiers on all of them? That’s beyond magic of any kind…”
“And yet, Merlin managed it,” Lancelot said, “Not only that, but the sword itself is also forged from Dragonfire gold, thereby increasing the power of the magic circles inscribed within it. What you have seen just now are His Highness’ spells at their weakest—he does not wish to harm Ms. Louise beyond what is necessary to win.”
Cadmus stared, “Dragonfire gold…? That impossible blade packed with magic circles is made with Dragonfire gold…?
And, as Arthur below urged Tanya to surrender, Alice looked up at Cadmus curiously.
“What’s Dragonfire gold?”
Cadmus took a moment to regain his wits, “It’s… a material, gold melted in the flames of a dragon. No one is quite sure why, but once that gold is hardened again, it becomes nigh indestructible. And not only that, but if a magic circle is inscribed within it before the hardening is complete, then that magic circle will be strengthened beyond any Enhancement modifier.
“But, it’s not so easy to take advantage of that benefit. Dragonfire gold is a volatile material; the magic circle being inscribed within it must be perfectly modified to accommodate it, or else, at best, it just won’t work. To inscribe it with multiple magic circles—and all of them containing the similarly volatile Enhancement modifiers as well? Merlin’s genius is far beyond what I had imagined…”
Lancelot nodded smugly, “Yes, that sword is a magical masterpiece beyond anything this world has ever seen. To call it Avalon’s most valuable treasure wouldn’t be an overstatement. A most fitting weapon for His Highness. And its name… is Caliburn!”
Below, Tanya went for a last-ditch rapid barrage of Flame Tigers, but once again, Arthur easily blocked them with one of the circles of his blade. Then, as Tanya stumbled back panting heavily, Arthur raised Caliburn high, and it sang as it cut a majestic arc through the air, slicing clean through Tanya’s staff.
Tanya gaped at her staff in two pieces, and Arthur pointed Caliburn at her throat.
“VICTOR: ARTHUR PENDRAGON!”
Instantly, the crowd went wild, and through their shrieks, Cadmus heard Arthur’s magically enhanced voice speak to Tanya.
“You did not surrender, even though you knew your defeat was certain. Your resolve to win is very admirable.”
He gave her a charming smile and held his hand out to her, and Tanya stared for a moment, wide-eyed. Then, quite suddenly, a heavy blush filled her face.
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“Th-thanks…”
She shyly averted her gaze as she took his hand with her non-injured arm and was gently helped to her feet. As the cheers finally started to die down, and the announcer began singing his praises of the match, the medical staff led Tanya away.
Arthur returned back to the contestant’s box, and the display orbs proudly displayed the final match up.
Gawain Le Fay VS. Shin Ito
“And, for our last match today, boy do we have a treat for you all!” The announcer said as Gawain and Shin descended onto the stage, “On one hand, we have Gawain Le Fay, a powerful warrior said to be the equal of Arthur Pendragon himself in terms of skill! And on the other hand, we have Ito Shin, a similarly powerful warrior from the Isle of Dawn, known throughout the Carmenian Institute of Sorcery for his ability to match the likes of Gale Holland!”
“Last match today?” Cadmus asked curiously. He expected Oliver to answer him and turned to look to beside him, but then, at the sight of Candice standing there instead, he remembered what had been done to Oliver, and his eyes narrowed.
“T-the tournament is usually spaced out between a few days…” Candice said nervously, perhaps misattributing the look on his face, “I-it’s to avoid tiring out the audience, I think…”
“…I see.”
Down below, Gawain and Shin stared at each other as the noise from the crowd filled the air around them, and then they dipped their heads respectfully towards each other as one. The barrier was quickly set up, and the referee raised his hand.
“READY YOURSELVES!”
Gawain and Shin both instantly descended into a combat-ready stance.
“AND—BEGIN!”
Two blades were smoothly unsheathed; a thick and powerful-looking broadsword for Gawain, and a thin and elegant katana for Shin. They simply stood there for a few moments, sizing each other up, before Shin took the initiative. A magic circle on the base of his blade shined and enveloped the sword in a strange distortion of wind; After which, Shin unleashed a structured slice at Gawain.
They were too far apart for the sword to connect, but, astonishingly, the wind leapt from the blade and flew at Gawain in the shape of the slice. Gawain reacted instinctively and easily blocked it, producing a soft clang and dispelling it from existence.
Shin did not look fazed, “Though my Kazekiri may not be able to match Caliburn, I hope you will treat it with the same amount of caution nonetheless.”
“You know of Caliburn?” Gawain asked.
“There are few swordsmen who don’t.”
“Makes sense," Gawain said, “In any case, don’t worry; I’m in no mood to play around right now. I was defeated quite shamefully in the second qualifier round. I won’t let it happen again.”
And, with those words, Cadmus noticed something: Gawain, who usually had an easy-going smile on his face, no matter the occasion, now had his expression set in hard lines.
“I see,” Shin said, “Then, here I come.”
His words were said calmly, but they were immediately followed by a burst of intense action. Shin shot forwards and struck at Gawain with Kazekiri, and Gawain skillfully parried the attack and struck back like a viper.
The attack was blocked, and the two smoothly entered into a duel of pure swordsmanship, with their blades flying and clashing against each other faster than Cadmus could keep up.
Though, as the duel went on, Cadmus began noticing some things: Gawain’s sword was heavier, so his swings were slower, but the tradeoff was that his attacks and defences had far more power behind them. On the other hand, Shin’s blade was thinner, so his attacks were far quicker and relentless, but he was forced to utilize far more skillful movements and techniques to keep up.
To make matters worse for both of them, they were both wearing heavy armour (sans helmets). Thus, in the rare instance that one of them managed to break through the other’s guard, they would still only find their blow glancing against metal or lamellar.
And then, Gawain shook things up by unleashing a particularly powerful strike at Shin, and sent him hurling a few steps back. Shin, however, took full advantage of the space he had been granted, and sent a blade of wind flying right back at Gawain.
Gawain was a split-second too slow to respond, and the blade of wind struck him in the armpit, through a gap in his armour. It was a small cut, with only minor bleeding to accompany it, and Cadmus realized that this amount of damage was probably the most Kazekiri’s magic could do.
Or rather, perhaps it was more accurate to say that it was normal for Kazekiri to only be this powerful; this was the norm for magic swords, after all—Caliburn was simply an extreme outlier.
And yet, Shin used that meagre power to its utmost. Right after achieving first blood, Shin rushed in to clash blades with Gawain again, only this time, he incorporated his magic into his attacks as well. As soon as Gawain’s slower, heavier movements gave Shin a chance, he used it to fire off Kazekiri’s magic at him.
Dogged by this relentless assault of skill and magic, Gawain instantly found himself on the back foot. And it wasn’t like Shin was firing wildly either, his wind blades were sometimes used as feints, and other times as straightforward attacks. Shifting unpredictably between the two, Shin wore down Gawain further and further.
Soon enough, in two clean strokes, Shin diverted Gawain’s attack to make him stumble and rested his blade on his throat. The movement was so smooth that it took the referee a second to realize what had just happened.
“VICTOR: SHIN ITO!”
The end had been swift, so it took the whole coliseum several moments to catch up. But, when they did, they went wild, far wilder than they had gone in the previous few matches; and they were chanting and screaming at the top of their lungs for the amazing final match they had been provided for today.
Over the noise, Shin’s magically enhanced voice carried across the coliseum as he helped Gawain up.
“You have accomplished your goal, Gawain Le Fay.”
Gawain looked confused.
“You may have been defeated, but it was by no means shameful. I have no qualms in stating that you were one of the most challenging opponents I have ever faced.”
Gawain stared. Then, as the announcer began heaping praises upon their match, his expression lightened.
It stood in perfect contrast to Arthur’s current expression. The young prince was as composed as ever, standing beside Lancelot and looking down at the field, but something in his face had hardened, as though Gawain’s intense seriousness had been passed on to him. Perhaps most noticeably, he was eyeing Shin cautiously, as though staring down a powerful wild animal.
Soon, the announcer declared today's matches over and began hyping up the continuation of the tournament tomorrow. And, even as people began to leave, Arthur’s expression did not shift.
----------------------------------------
Before heading back to his dorm, Cadmus decided to visit Oliver in the Coliseum’s medical room. Surprisingly, Candice chose to accompany him.
Entering through the doors under the stands, Cadmus found himself in a room rather similar to the infirmary in the Academy. This medical room was smaller and the beds weren’t housed with opaque curtains, but those beds were still arranged in rows, draped in white sheets, and surrounded by clean white walls, just like the infirmary.
Many of the participants who had fought today were here, including Elise, who had Ardea by her bedside right now. Giving her a nod in greeting, Cadmus walked a few beds down, where he spotted Oliver. It seemed from here that he was sleeping.
He was also surrounded by a gaggle of people with brown hair and plain features, and Cadmus figured they were his family. As he and Candice came to a stop beside them, they looked at them both curiously.
“Are you both… Oliver’s friends?” The oldest one of them—probably the father—asked.
The answer came surprisingly easy to Cadmus.
“Yes.”
The group of four turned to each other, with varying levels of awe on their faces.
“The Necromancer… is our brother’s friend…?” The oldest seeming son asked, “That’s... how in the world did that happen?”
Cadmus remembered Oliver and his first meeting during orientation, and he remembered thinking how he wanted to find friends that would heavily aid him in his research into life magic. Oliver was many things, but well equipped to aid in his research he was not.
And yet…
“I don’t know,” Cadmus said, tilting his head curiously, “I suppose it simply happened.”
“O-oh…”
“Why hasn’t he been discharged?” Cadmus asked, gesturing at Oliver, “The wound he suffered was relatively small. He should have been fully healed by now.”
The only woman of the group, probably the mother, nodded sadly.
“He was, but… it’s like he doesn’t have the energy to leave. All those cruel things that Tempor boy said to him… they seem to have sapped him of all his spirit.”
Cadmus felt his eyes narrow.
“Is that so…?”
His hands were clenched, he noticed belatedly. Was he angry? Still?
Why?
Cadmus knew he had been angry on behalf of Oliver ever since his defeat, he wasn’t an idiot, but he hadn’t understood the why of it. Why had he been angry? Why had he lashed out like that to Mark, when he had done nothing of the sort ever before?
Because Oliver had been defeated? That wasn’t really something to get angry about, was it? It was simply that Oliver’s opponent had been better than him: that was perfectly acceptable.
Because Mark had been cruel in victory? Perhaps, but was that really something that should cause this much rage? Maybe if it had been his sister down there, he would understand (Of course, if she had been down there, she wouldn’t have even come close to losing).
But Oliver?
Sure, they were friends, but for him to act like this… for him to feel like this…
But then, looking down at Oliver sleeping face, which still seemed just a tiny bit troubled, Cadmus felt a small slice of understanding slide into place.
This had been important to Oliver. Cadmus still didn’t quite understand how or why, but this entire tournament had been incredibly important to Oliver: deciding to participate had been an effort for him that Cadmus simply could not comprehend.
And Mark had crushed that with his cruel words. He had hurt Oliver in a way perhaps even more painful than any physical injury.
“I will defeat him.”
Once again, Cadmus found words slipping out of his mouth without volition.
The Vinari family all stared at him as one, looking confused.
“I will personally defeat Mark Tempor, as revenge for what he did to Oliver,” Cadmus continued, “I promise.”
There was no way to guarantee that promise. It could be that he and Mark wouldn’t even be matched up together.
And yet, his words felt right.
The Vinari family continued staring at him. Then, Oliver’s mother’s lips trembled, and she wiped at her watery eyes.
“Thank you.” She whispered gratefully.