Round of 32

-----Luna's POV

Standing out in the open like this, with hundreds maybe even thousands of eyes staring at me fills my body with nerves as I clench my longsword. I could see that the nobles were seated at the front seats with some kind of wall splitting them from the back seats were the commoners are seated. It was there that I picked out my parent's heads as they waved out to me. I may not be able to hear them from this far away but I feel like whatever their words were had reached me nonetheless as my body begins to calm down.

Luna: "Watch me..."

With a new sense of determination, I focus my attention on my opponent. He isn't someone I've fought with however I did watch one of his matches, and if I recall, he used a more direct approach using his wind magic to close the gap fast and get in close with his sword along with a buckler for added protection. We both wore light leather armor that the school had given us so if I could break through his defense, it should be my win.

Lucien: "On my mark!"

I ready myself at Lucien's words, giving one final look to my parents before zeroing in on my opponent.

Lucien: "Begin!"

Just as I thought, he used his wind magic to cover so much ground in a matter of seconds, however I also charge forward, meeting him head on. As long as I can control him with the reach of my longsword I should be fine.

Our swords clash as he doesn't stop using his wind magic, constantly boosting his speed as I find myself being stuck on the defense. My footwork has gotten far better from my sessions with Ellen and with Kendal's teachings, allowing me to reposition myself and deflecting his blows. Even with all this speed, he isn't as fast as Ellen, which only makes me think how much effort Ellen must've put in to get this far. "I'll catch up to you soon."

I've decided that taking a swing would be too risky as I remain on the defense, dodging and deflecting his blows, trying to conserve my stamina like Ellen had told me. I don't know how much time has passed but I started to feel like his attacks were beginning to slow down just enough for me to give a counter-attack of my own, slicing diagonally down against him. I thought he would block, but surprisingly my attack got through as it cut into his chest piece, causing him to stagger back from the sudden attack. Not letting the opportunity slip by, I make another attack while he struggles to regain his footing. However my attack gets blocked by a barrier just before my blade was about to reach his body.

Lucien: "Luna's win!"

I immediately turn to where my parents were seated as I could see then standing up, rejoicing as they clap along with all the other spectators. Seeing them this excited for me fills my with a tremendous amount of joy as I head back to join up with the other participants.

-----Yui's POV

Yui: "You did great!"

Luna: "Thanks, the training sessions with you has really helped."

Collin: "He looked quite tough to me. I'm surprised you could read his attacks."

Luna: "Have you seen Ellen fight? You sort of get used to that speed haha. Not that I can keep up with Ellen though."

Collin: "Oh, yeah I guess you're right. I'm still shocked how you managed to disarm me back then. I couldn't even see it happen, it was like in an instant."

Mai: "Fufu~"

I could hear Mai who was standing beside Kaede, chuckling to herself while watching us talk amongst ourselves.

Violet: "So it's just you now, right brother?"

Collin: "Yeah, the 3 of you are in the higher seeds, but I'll be sure to catch up!"

Violet: "Yes, I'll be waiting."

I'm glad to see that their bond between siblings is a positive one. It makes me think what Fabian and I would be like if I had been born normally and not with this stupid hole in my heart, or vessel, whatever Mai was talking about. However seeing them smile together is quite contagious as I find myself smiling as well.

Moving my gaze back to Kaede, I move to her side. Her expression was a little worrisome so I find myself whispering in her ear.

Yui: "You need to find a place to-"

Kaede: "H-hey~ That tickles... But no, I'm fine for now. I can wait."

Yui: "You sure?"

Kaede: "Mmm, I promise... Now stop breathing in my ear~"

Feeling satisfied, I wrap my arm around hers as we stand there shoulder to shoulder, looking around to see the rest of the contestants.

?: "So you're this Kaede person I've been hearing about."

We both turn around to the sudden voice as we were met with a familiar face, but not that of a friend. He was giant compared to us, seeming to be 2 heads higher than the both of us.

Kaede: "I presume you're Marcus?"

Marcus: "I know you're a special case, but a commoner should still show respect to people of the noble class."

Kaede: "Sorry, I don't particularly care about that sort of-"

Yui: "Sorry sorry! She's originally not from the kingdom of Inasdale so she's not used to our formalities here."

Marcus: "Ah and of course Ellen von Leinhart, the infamous mana-less student. But to think you had wind magic all this time."

He must've heard the rumor Olivia and I had spread regarding what I did with my match with her. I'm glad it managed to succeed as I start to smile.

Yui: "Yes. It's unfortunate I had to reveal my cards that early in the tournament, but it wont hinder my chances of winning."

Marcus: "Well I just wanted to come over and say hi before you two have to join up with the other loser's in the spectator seats. Bye for now~"

As he begins to walk away I could feel Kaede's arm tighten around mine as I turn to look at her.

Kaede: "I hope I get to face him...

Yui: "You upset?"

Kaede: "Of course I am. The way he talked to you seemed as if he was looking down on you, so of course I'd like to show him a real fight."

I found it quite enjoyable seeing Kaede wanting to fight on my behalf, made my heart flutter a little as I look at her death staring at Marcus' back.

Yui: "If you do fight him, be sure to win for me then okay?"

Kaede: "Mhmm! Just watch me."

Mai: "I doubt he can stand a chance against you Kaede. I went ahead and took a look inside him, and there was nothing there that would cause concern."

Kaede: "Yeah, I didn't feel a strong presence of mana inside him either.

Yui: "Wait you two can sense mana like that?"

Mai: "Well for me yeah, but for Kaede it's probably because of her being a-"

Kaede: "Shhh!"

She quickly shut Mai's mouth with her hand in quite an aggressive manner as it looked like Kaede slapped her when doing so.

Kaede: "We're keeping that a secret remember?"

Mai: "But Yui knows already, so-"

Kaede: "Because OTHER people might over hear."

Mai: "But you making a scene like this will also cause people to be suspicious."

Kaede: "I don't care, just keep that a secret got it?"

Mai: "Yes~"

Eventually it came time for the higher seeds to fight in their matches. Leon and Collin ended up winning their matches so it'll only be a matter of time for them to fight each other. Kaede went before me as her match ended in mere moment, overpowering her opponent with pure speed and power, not even using light magic. She wanted to fight against Marcus, but neither him nor I have had our match yet as the nerves start building up at the thought of me going up against an opponent as scary as that. My nerves would dissipate as his name was finally called, his opponent came as a shock when Violet's name was called. Her face immediately became pale, I couldn't blame her.

Collin: "Hey, you'll be fine okay?"

Violet: "I-"

He put his hands on her shoulder, looking into her eyes.

Collin: "Just do what you normally do. He's a strong opponent so don't bring yourself down if you lose. I'll be here for you no matter what."

It was a sweet sight to witness as Violet's mood seemed to have improved somewhat as she makes her way to fight the behemoth that is Marcus. The love between siblings sure is a special sight, the way Collin immediately jumped in to calm her was very lovely.

I watched the fight alongside everyone as he continued to use his fists to fight, not giving Violet at a chance to summon or even fight back at all.

Fabian: "Barbaric..."

Leon: "I'm thankful I'm not in the higher seeds haha. I wouldn't want to go up against that."

Luna: "Yeah... It wasn't pleasant fighting against him. It was like my longsword was useless against him."

Leon: "You fought him Luna?"

Luna: "Mm- His fists felt harder than that golem we fought."

I take a mental note of what Luna just said. I tend to go for the arms of my opponents, looking for a way to disarm them or immobilize them like I did back when I fought Duane. But fighting against Marcus might prove to be a challenge. Then again, I could use my magic and dispel his magic once I gain control of it, but that will be far more risky than what I did back when I fought Olivia.

The matches continued as both Fabian and I won our matches. From the looks of it, Fabian had some trouble with his opponent, but he did an excellent job of knowing the right timing to counter attack with magic. Honestly looking at his match, I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a spellsword. And looking at our parent's reaction from the seats, they were thoroughly impressed. When it came to my match, it ended a lot quicker than Fabian's and was actually one of my easier fights, but it was most likely because of a horrible match up. My opponent was a heavy claymore user which made reading their moves far easier. My mother's reaction showed even more excitement than Fabian's however father still did not bat an eye at me, which only filled me with more determination to have him look my way.