Preliminaries

Some days had gone by, and they were nowhere to be found.

Lord Dreward employed a search party to scour the lands, unaware of the fate that had befallen them.

Every technique within the realm of capabilities was used to try and track them down.

Mages employed tracking techniques that involved searching for the mana of a person through personal belongings. But what always appeared to them in their visions was sheer darkness.

They had no clues as to their whereabouts.

The Wymarc Household believed the target was Hermoine, immediately regretting their reason for letting her roam free.

Being the daughter of such a powerful house, it isn't unnatural for her to be a victim of kidnapping and extortion.

To them, Gallus and Nyx were just unlucky to be caught up in the scenario.

Lady Lerna was more concerned about their well-being, but Dreward was infuriated.

Angry in the sense that even with a capable Knight like Gallus they were still unsafe. Mentally frustrating.

When Nyxʼs mother heard of the news she broke down.

Her emotions were uncapped and her cries went on for nights. Equally, his father was just as worried fearful of what had become of their son.

Unaware that death claimed him long before his worries.

The academy was not informed, there was still the possibility that the captors would request a ransom.

Both families; Wymarc and Besimios were still with the belief that their children had been taken hostage.

If the public heard of this it could cause trouble.

Especially when the House Wymarc was involved, not only would it be a sign of weakness. It'd make finding Nyx and Hermoine much more difficult.

As for Gallus, they thought he was dead.

Common sense told them the captors wouldn't hold a Knight hostage.

Unless they had sufficient power to effectively circumvent any advances he made.

...

In Endlave,

• Rivendell City

• Excelsior Academy

Today marked the beginning of the Excelsior Rookie Preliminaries. It was designed to select the two rookies that would advance to the main tournament; Sword Mage Tournament.

They were given the mid-term break to prepare for today.

Though some spent time relaxing and recovering, others put the time to work and develop their abilities so they could be "invincible" against their opponents.

The coliseum raged with people, parents and random townsfolk who came to support these excellent students.

It wasn't the main event, merely prelims and it attracted this much of a crowd. Interesting.

Students were also in the spectator's stand watching and giving their support to the individuals that would be participating.

...

One of the rounds had already reached its climax, and it was two girls going up against each other.

Their swords were worn out from constantly colliding their blades. They gasped heavily but neither wanted to give up. True feminine resolve was on display.

To finish things off, one of the two girls extended her hand and cast [Electric Flash] and this results in her discharging a beam of light that traveled for her target.

Said target erected a shield via [Wind Barrier] but it was futile.

She was sent the ground by the impact of the blast.

A loud banging sound was generated after the beam clashed with the barrier. Breaking through it with ease.

The attack spell was of a higher Tier, namely B while the defensive spell was merely a D+ spell.

Still and all, the attacker had better aptitude in magic than her target. So when swords were out of the equation, she'd comfortably win.

"What a shock! She seems to be blasting through the competition!"

The commentator; Jendi Fahzi remarked. He was visibly excited. This was the only time his job ever made him feel alive.

"What do our three guest commentators have to say about these recent developments...?" Jendi posed the question to them.

The guest commentators were—

Aleksander Kazamir; the teacher of the practical weapon control class.

Elena White; Nyxʼs class homeroom teacher.

Sir Kylian Bradley; the heroic baron and also Belithaʼs father.

"Well her offensive magic was brilliantly executed, I believe this will carry her far... however, her opponent showed quite some promise herself, in the future she could develop.." Sir Kylian stated.

He was a man with pale skin, blue eyes and long, white, silky hair. He dressed in an attire befitting a noble and wore a kind face.

He was by appearance, a mild-mannered man.

"Cool! And what do our teachers at the academy have to say?!" he referred to Aleksander and Elena.

So far, Aleksander watched the battle uninterestedly, he barely took the time to observe what the combatants did.

Rather, he held his head on one palm and occasionally smoked his cigarette.

"Not to be rude or anything, but I'm bored.."

The remark did surprpise Jendi, but he expected a blunt response from someone like him. It begged the question of who assigned him to be a guest commentator. He didn't even look like he was interested in spectating let alone making comments.

"Wake me up if any better fights come up.."

He closed his eyes and resumed his snoozing.

Meanwhile, Elena White spent her time monitoring the new uniforms of the female students.

"These new uniforms are so sexy... look at that cleavage and the way the skirt hugs their little hips. I have to make something like that!"

Another disappointment. Elena wasn't focusing on the battle but on the school's new attire.

All Jendi did was the awkwardly laugh with his eyes closed.

'They're literally the worst..' Jendi said in his thoughts.

...

At the bleachers, Lady Ophelia sat amongst the students and next to her was Alaric Stronghold. "Impressive, we certainly have some talented students here don't we?" it was her way of striking up a conversation.

"Yeah, I'd say so.." Alaric was quick to respond.

"In fact, I believe Sir William Drogo would accept some as his students.."

Lady Ophelia mentioned one of her fellow Grand Sorcerers who went by the name "William Drogo." He was the strongest of all seven known Grand Sorcerers.

Lady Ophelia would rank somewhere around sixth or fifth.

"Who knows, I've never had the honor of meeting the man so there isn't anyway I could say for certain he would.."

Alaric replied without looking at his teacher. He didn't feel uncomfortable discussing with her, he was just interested in watching the proceedings of the tournament.

"Of course. Silly me.." she paused, "It is unfortunate that Nyx isn't here to participate, he's good with a sword.." in actuality, she just wanted to see more of his abilities.

He always piqued her interest one way or another.

...

Belitha stood in front of the mirror in a room within the coliseum, anxiously examining herself. She was waiting for her match to start, but her confidence was lacking.

Nyx's absence had been weighing heavily on her mind. She couldn't help but feel like she had done something to offend him. Despite sending a letter, she had received no response.

It had now been four days since the start of the semester and he still hadn't shown up. The situation only seemed to be getting worse.

During the tournament, a staff member approached her to inform her her match would be starting soon.

"Miss Belitha... you're up."

...

As she walked down the hallway, the lively sounds of the spectators made her scared.

She couldn't help but imagine how many people had come to watch the tournament.

The thought of losing her fight disturbed her.

She walked up the stone steps and stepped into the ring. Her opponent was readily awaiting her arrival.

The buzzer erupts signaling the start the battle.

Belitha's opponent created a yellow magic seal and formed a large yellow orb. Belitha dodged the resulting ball of fire, but fell and scraped her knee due to lack of focus.

Belitha was on the ground during the battle, but knew she had to get up and focus. She saw Nyx in the bleachers and thought he was watching her fight, but it turned out to be a figment of her imagination. Her longing to see him again preoccupied her from performing well.

As she stood up, Belitha put on her game face.

However, she was quick on her feet and managed to dodge the point-blank range fire ball that was hurled at her by simply stepping to the side.

"Keep up the good work, Belitha!" Her father cheered her on.

Belitha pointed her index finger and performed [Type Magic].

She traced her finger through the air, magicube particles were generated as a result.

Five magic seals surrounded her opponent and discharged strong electrical energy, electrocuting them.

For the spectators it was a light show that left them amazed. "Woah!" They uttered in unison.

The opponent became incapacitated and passed out.

The referee checked for consciousness, but unfortunately, she did not regain it. As a result, she lost the fight.

"I'm calling it! Our winner is... Miss Belitha!"

The crowd roared with excitement.

Everyone cheered her on.

She was guaranteed entry to the next round.

The next matches would be tough, but a strong mindset should keep her going.

...

Belitha and Rosemarie crossed paths in the hallway. Rosemarie congratulated Belitha on her victory in her fight, saying "Congratulations, not too shabby."

"Thanks, when we square off, let's hope it's at the finals.." Belitha accepted Rose's comments, "You better last that long.." Rose replied.

"You can bet on it.."

Belitha assured her.