"And we're back!" a young man's voice enthusiastically shouted across the academy competition stadium, heard clearly as amplified by his magic. "My name is Alexander, joined by my partner Theresa, and I hope you all enjoyed your seats, because with the veterans from last year coming up, you're only going to need the edge."
The stadium's center, modeled after a clear plain and located next to the Mage's College, was just freshly restored from the last match. Two students, one male, one female, were hyping up the start of the year with the school's tradition of testing the new with the old. The teachers didn't organize it. They were just there to watch.
"Next up, he hails from the outer ring, but he's proven his power is nothing if not high class! And now, Dominik Ryan is back for his second year to prove himself again!"
In response, a ring of fire erupted from one end of the stadium, and out of it stepped the mage in question to the applause of the spectators. Dominik stood six foot two and 170 lbs, and his slicked back brown hair reeked of conceit being a star of the last year. His fire magic was strong, and popular for its brute force.
"And the newbie challenging him? From the village of endless storms, please give a warm welcome to Kanon Suzuki!"
In a more humble approach than her opponent, Kanon only leapt down from the edge of the stands, a cushion of air softening her descent. Nearly a foot shorter and fifty pounds lighter, the knight sized up her opponent through pale silver eyes, tying back her hip-length blonde hair before the match began. She wasn't yet wearing the uniform like returning students, either, instead donning a dress that left her back exposed, and an oversized cloak that reached over her stockings.
"Alright," the male caster continued, "remember the rules. Quick casting only. You get a point for successfully damaging or forcing your opponent to move. First with two points is the winner."
From here his partner and color caster Theresa took over. "If Dominik wins, he moves on to face his own upperclassmen, but should the first year be the victor, she gets major bragging rights, and makes a name for herself. Wishing the best of luck to the both of ya."
"Don't worry," Dominik assured. "This'll be over in no time."
"I apologize," Kanon replied, "but I do not intend to lose."
"Begin!"
Dominik called forth a basic fireball. He expected Kanon to block it with her magic, but she simply dispelled it with a swipe of her cloak.
"And off the bat, the newbie doesn't even need magic to break down such an obvious spell. Is the upperclassman trying to be courteous? Or just cocky?"
Groaning to himself, Dominik strengthened his offense, throwing a more powerful flame than the first and shoving Kanon back a few feet.
"That's a big one," Jamil whistled at the sight of Dominik's fire spell. His first day at Belgrave he had been touring the city and, as flyers and a nearly physical manifestation of hype had it, he had been lured towards the festival in the arena. It was a kind of sport he had never seen before. Not even bar brawls were within an inch of recognition of what played out on the round battlefield below him. The impact of the fire spell had spread embers all throughout the air, Jamil let out a slight mist breath to suffocate the wandering flames before they could land on him and his neighbour. "I can see him as the champ." He tugged on the arm of another spectator, with a cheeky smile.
"You new here, are you?" His fellow student asked Jamil. He grinned widely, waving around a small piece of paper with both a three-digit number and the fire mage's name on it. "That right there is Dominik Ryan, strongest fire mage in his year. This'll be a walk in the park, I'll bet."
"Point, Ryan! It was a good defense from the freshman, but I don't think she'll get any further without using her magic now." The commenter's voice rang through the stadium, but as the embers died down... Besides having been pushed back, Kanon was without a scratch. Only her cloak showed the embers of Dominik's magic, and she shook them away.
"That would've singed a better man's skin off." Jamil gasped with eyes spurred wide open. Yet the girl stood there, albeit a few feet back, as if nothing had happened. If the sparks from Dominik's last spell that jumped into the crowd were anything to go by, there was enough firepower to do it.
His fellow spectator looked at Jamil with a raised eyebrow. "You don't say, mate."
「移動、」 Kanon whispered.
Dominik readied for his victory and commanded, "Rise!" A thin ring circled Kanon's feet, and a pillar of fire burst out from below, but when the short-lived blaze faded the freshman was nowhere in sight. Sparks of electricity hid behind the falling flames. Setting one foot forward to check on Kanon's position, Dominik was interrupted by the sound of the commentators.
"Point, Suzuki!" the male caster shouted, just as Dominik felt a light shove from behind, barely nudging him off balance. He turned to face Kanon and pulled away, his senses unable to follow what just happened.
"This isn't right." Jamil muttered, resting his forehead on the tips of his fingers. He narrowed his eyes to try and see if he missed something, "No way a girl that small can push a guy that big."
"You're telling me, mate." His neighbour grumbled. "I've got money riding on this."
"And how did she get behind him?" Jamil asked perplexed. The questions were jarring. Those fire spells were some of the more impressive ones he'd seen, but it was as if Kanon just brushed them aside.
"That's not so strange in a place like this." The other student replied. "Could be anything, from illusion to eh, I don't know. Teleportation. Just. Look, commentator's got a better grip on that than me. I barely made it to my second year."
"Her incantations probably sound foreign to most of you," Theresa noted, her amplified voice resonating through the stadium. "She comes from Nakano, a village off the southwest edge of the country. Our language is only secondary to the region."
Back on the field, Dominik clutched his chest and declared, "Let's see you get out of this one. Radial Burst!" Befitting its name, the upperclassman's spell was an outburst in every direction; a wave of fire that distorted the air. Despite it being quick cast, it still last for a few seconds, and even the audience had to cover themselves from the heat.
"Wow!" Jamil shouted, as he quickcast his mist breath again to counter the flames. This time, though, the aftermath of Dominik's spell was so intense, the embers did not die in Jamil's spell. "Ouch, hot, hot, hot!" He cringed, as it singed the skin on his arm. His vest too, wasn't spared as tiny flames began dancing on his shoulder. Quickly, his neighbour unsheathed a dagger he'd been carrying from his thigh, cut off his own sleeve and pulled it around Jamil's shoulder; suffocating the flames.
"Phew, I owe you one." Jamil thanked the student. Though he couldn't help but casting a few more cooling mist breaths on his arm and shoulder.
"You owe me a shirt, is all." He sheathed his dagger, with a surly look on his face and his eyes on the match. "Name's Tim. Tim Redshirt, but friends call me Timmy."
"I'll buy you a red one." Jamil grinned.
"Like I never heard that one before, mate." Timmy rolled his eyes.
The fires dissipated and the temperature dropped back to normal, but the grass in the stadium was scorched, except for where Kanon stood. Wrapped around her torso from beneath her cloak was a pair of wings, feathered and gray. Everything within two feet of Kanon was completely unscathed, and she didn't budge.
"Even for his own classmates, standing through one of Dominik's Radial Bursts unfazed is a feat. What kind of power do ya think she's hiding, Alex?"
"I'm not sure, Theresa, and I don't know if I want to find out."
"Well I do, bugger all is going to cost me a fortune." Timmy complained. Jamil too felt unsettled. He could see his new friend silently fuming like one of Dominik's fire spells was being cast inside of his chest. "That's not a first year. Game's rigged."
"You think he's paid off?" Jamil asked, looking at Dominik. If he was playing the part, the fire mage was at least as good an actor as he was powerful.
"Must've been." Timmy growled. "That's a parlour trick if I've ever seen one. Besides, little girl can't push a guy like that around."
Jamil couldn't question that logic. Even if he was caught offguard, Kanon hadn't exactly put her body into it when she shoved Dominik from behind. "I don't think the commentators are noticing."
"You met Alexander and Theresa?" Timmy grinned grimly, ticking his index finder against his forehead. "They dun notice a lot."
"Not friends of yours?" Jamil asked carefully, not knowing the history his neighbour had with the commentators. Timmy merely shook his head and pointed down at the arena.
「移動、」 Kanon repeated, and she disappeared again. She was on the offensive, and intended to close out the match.
"I'm not falling for this again!" Dominik yelled. A fire launched him into the sky, and he held his hand to his chest for another Burst. This time he could see the sparks that followed her, but that scared him.
「降下。」 Kanon hovered above him, wings spread wide, and Dominik fell like a rock before he could cast his spell again, a heavy wind dragging him to the ground.
"Kanon Suzuki takes the win!" Theresa and Alex cheered. Kanon descended gently, and offered Dominik her hand. Graceful in defeat, he took it, and thanked Kanon for an exciting match.
"Any other first years watching," Alexander added, "Keep your eyes on this one." And with that, the crowd clapped in recognition of Kanon's victory. Although, more than a few faces were astonished. The outcome had taken a lot of spectators by surprise.
After the applause died down, the crowd left their seats, as they announced there'd be another short break. Timmy wasn't clapping, however. "Guess he did fall for it," Jamil grinned stupidly, almost instantly regretting his choice of words once he saw the look on Timmy's face.
"They just gone and done did it." Timmy threw the slice of paper he'd flashed earlier and stomped on it with his boot. "There goes my new cooking set. I was saving for that." Only then Jamil got a good look at it and realised what was going on. Tim wasn't a man of small risk. He had bet enough to feed Jamil's family for a month.
"I'll buy you a drink and a shirt if you show me around." Jamil put a hand on Timmy's shoulder. "Your next wager will work out, I bet. Come, let's see what the old capital has to offer." And Jamil marched forward, following other students to the exit.
"What? You want to go drinking?" Timmy shouted, a little too loud. "On schoolgrounds? Do you think that's normal?"
"Long story," Jamil smirked and shrugged. "Now are you coming or not?"
"O-one sec," Tim muttered after a short silence, seeing something in the stands and chasing after it. Before Jamil could see what was going on, Tim had already ran off. Jamil could only bury his face in his palm when he heard his new friend shout, "Hey! I have a bone to pick with you!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about." Kanon was the target of Tim's malice, startled but not unsettled by his anger.
"Alright, out with it. How much did Ryan get paid to throw that match?" Timmy spat out, his eyes spitting fire at Kanon. His hands were shaking and the hairs on his neck stood right up.
"Could you elaborate? 'Throw'?" Kanon tilted her head to one side, clearly unaware of what the word was supposed to mean. At least she had some level of fluency in Belgrave's language, but slang was still lost on her.
"Hey, hey now!" Jamil struggled his way between the two. "Come on, Tim, we got places to be. Time's wasting and I'm buying." Jamil smiled uneasily, before turning his head and miming the word 'run' with his lips in Kanon's direction.
"No, no," Tim continued, this time directing his ire at Jamil. "There's no way a girl this scrawny could have pushed that hulk so easily, and I want an explanation."
"You're not the only one wondering." Jamil nodded, putting his hand on Tim's chest to keep him at a distance from Kanon. "These things happen all the time. I've got stories about dice that cost captains their boats. Nobody ever admits to cheating; you're wasting your time. They're not changing the score just 'cause we said so. Let's just forget about all of this. Come, I'll buy you two rounds." And again, Jamil quickly shot a glance at Kanon. If expressions could speak, Jamil's would be saying, 'Get out while you can!'
In answer, Kanon briefly bowed her head, then made eye contact with Tim and held it. "I'm very sorry if you believe I cheated, but I would do no such thing. The rule was to make the opponent move. He moved out of position, and I took advantage. If you would like me to prove myself in sheer force, as well, I accept, but it may be smart to wait for the event to end."
Her words were nothing but a provocation to Tim, as he turned as red as his surname suggested. "Why you little, I should-" he fumed, as Jamil could feel him pushing forward. With every step Timmy tried to make, fragments of the arena floor rocked from their foundation and hovered around his ankles. However, intimidating as it may have looked and sounded, Jamil was more than strong enough to keep Tim in check.
"Forget it... Forget it..." Jamil murmured as he tried to look Tim in the eye, but Tim's gaze was focused on Kanon, and Jamil's pleas fell onto deaf ears.
"Let me go, I'll give her a piece of my mind." Tim went on, staring daggers into Kanon's unwavering eyes. "She's lying. She rigged me out of more than a month's savings. Lemme go."
Kanon turned to Jamil, and thanked him for preventing a fight that didn't need to be, expressing the hope to see him again. After, she returned to Redshirt. "As I understand the problem, you must have lost a bet, correct? I assure you both, I do not lie. I cannot compensate for your lost savings, but if you do continue to make bets in the future, please consider betting for me." An innocent smile played across her face as she turned away, and in a blink she was gone, a trail of sparks fading in her place.
"The gall!" Timmy cursed, but Jamil sighed in relief that, other than a little sass, no fight had broken out. "Where did she go! When I get my hands on that bitch..." Timmy searched the arena frantically, but Jamil decided this was a good time to call it quits.
"Hey, what are you doing! Jamil, put me down!" Timmy shouted, as Jamil lifted the young mage and threw him over his shoulder.
When posed with Tim's protests, he simply smirked and said, "We're going to drink and forget."
And with that, the freshman carried his senior halfway through Belgrave.
