120. The start of the Cup

After the successful fireworks in the evening, everyone went to bed before the Barracks Cup officially began. The next morning, the Athamanas appeared in the competition arena in the armor made by Marianne and Mathias.

Citar, true to his previous set from Marianne, now also received purple and green colors.

Wandi was in a blue and yellow almost sparkling outfit. Teveli was mostly in dark blue, with some pale green contours, as Marianne said, to emphasize his seriousness. Suk dressed in the yellow typical of the Zovárds, which really surprised the team after how much Marianne changed his outfit last time.

Achilleus received two-piece earth-colored clothes with according to him a very cool cape. Benkó appeared in a blue set inspired by Chájna's fassion. The blacksmith tailoress duo created an armor for Razvan that looked as if the boy himself had stepped out of fire. And last but not least Rahul received an improved version of his usual outfit, also designed by Marianne.

The tailoress even made sure to show the connection between the team members, which she achieved by hiding at least one butterfly on each of their outfits, which served as a symbol of the people living in Madüjawr in the West.

After all the spectators and competitors had taken their places, the famous Barracks Cup began. The first thing that was announced was which of the eight large groups the students from the ten schools would duel in first.

Those who won the first round would advance. In the next round, the eight groups fight on their own again and the winners advance again, until only one competitor from each of the eight groups remain, who are then put up against to each other to reach the winner through further duels.

After the group draws, it turned out that Citar and Wandi, as well as Achilleus and Benkó were in the same group, while Suk, Teveli, Razvan and Rahul were in separate groups, and none of them made it to the remaining four groups. After the announcement of the groups, the announcement of the duels followed, and after an hour's break, the first duel began. The Athamanas sat next to each other and watched the competitors from the stands.

"There's a couple who might be a challenge." Benkó grinned as he leaned forward and looked at the duelists.

"Well, at least we'll enjoy it a little, they might even beat us, unlike at home." Achilleus gets excited, just as the current duelists finish the match.

"You guys, I want to fight this one." The Bokló boy announces and points to the winner with a grin.

"You know that the draw doesn't work that way and you don't fight him in the first round." Rahul shook his head.

"I can hope, right?" Benkó chuckled.

"It's your turn Tev, good luck." Suk patted his friend on the shoulder, who chuckled a bit and then hurried down to the battlefield. "He'll beat the shit out of him." The Zovárd boy laughed to himself when he saw Teveli's opponent and as he predicted, the youngest member of the Tele family really knocked out his opponent in a matter of seconds, just by summoning Kele.

"I hope not everyone is like that, because it will be very boring." Rahul sighed, which the other Athamanas completely agreed with.

The first round duels continued for several days. Almost all the team members had already entered the arena and all successfully took the challenge, thanks to which they made it to the next round. Today, on the last day of the first round duels, the last two members of the Athamanas also entered the arena. And these were none other than the most anticipated fight of the first round duels by the teachers, the duel between Citar and Wandi.

The two young people entered the arena with completely serious faces, as the host announced their names through a funnel, which he used to amplify his voice, so that everyone knew who was fighting. As in all previous duels, the boys walked straight to the middle of the arena.

At such times, an adult guild leader usually gave the signal for the pair to fight. Wandi and Citar had already taken an attacking stance and was waiting for the signal, but when they got it, something happened that surprised everyone. Wandi simply took two steps back, raised his hand to the side of his head, and looked Citar straight in the eye and said.

"I give up." The entire arena started to roar in outrage, but Wandi just lowered his hand and left the arena without a word.

"Why did you give up?" Citar asked when they returned to the Athamanad. "We've dueled each other before. You know I could have held out for a while." Citar muttered, but he didn't look at the danovus.

"Really, Wandi, why? I wanted to see a danovus beat everyone into a pulp." Suk grumbled.

"I lost Rahul last time. The boss already punished me for it, but I couldn't forgive myself. Not participating in the competition seemed like a suitable penance." The danovus sighed, then turned to Citar and looked at him with a faint smile. "And I didn't want to fight you."

"But why?" Citar asked with almost tearful eyes.

"In the holy name of Athira, Bolacsuk! I can't beleive that you don't notice that he's after you like a bear after raspberries." Benkó rolled his eyes, whereupon he received a huge kick from Achilleus. "What's wrong now? Did I say the wrong thing? Everyone thought the same." The Bokló boy defended himself.

"You could have restrained yourself. You shouldn't have said it like that." Achilleus grimaced.

"Our private lives have nothing to do with whether you duel with me or not! Our friendship shouldn't have an effect on this!" Citar snorted and wiped his eyes, then folded his arms in front of him. "I could have held my own! Or do you think I'm that weak?" The Bolacsuk boy was sad again.

"I don't think you're weak at all." Wandi snorted and reached out towards the boy, who only looked at him seriously and took a step back.

"Then why?" Citar asked again.

"Okay, boys, should we send you on a reconciliation date too?" Rahul said, making everyone look at him with wide eyes. "Yes, idiots, we noticed." He rolled his eyes. "So, Wandi." The chüvigh boy looked at the danovus seriously. "You'd better say it out loud, because I'm sorry, but Citar won't figure it out on his own." The boy rolled his eyes.

"What won't I figure out?" Citar grimaced and scratched his head. Wandi took a deep breath and took a step in front of him, then held his hands.

"You are the reason I decided to stay at this age. At the ritual, the most important person for us is right next to us. For me, it is you. I love you Citar." The danovus said before pulling the boy to him to kiss him.

"Finally! We have been waiting for this for years!" Suk started clapping, and the couple scattered, blushing.

"Well, to celebrate it, let's go to that strange dining house for dinner." Achilleus exclaimed.

"It's called a restaurant." Rahul chuckled. "How about a celebration, boys?* He asked the new pair, who looked at each other, then at the team.

"We are in, let's celebrate." Citar replied and put his arm around Wandi's waist, who smiled faintly, but put his arm around the boy's shoulder.

"Yes, we are in." He repeated it, which made the team, without worrying about the rest of the day's duels, head to a restaurant on the streets of Floating Barracks to celebrate that Citar and Wandi had finally gotten together.