The next week passed by far too quickly for Cadmus’ tastes. Almost every waking hour of every day of his was filled with attempts at recreating Connor Holland’s lightning spell, and yet, no matter what angle he approached the problem from, he ended up with nothing but failure.

He thought he would manage to maybe come up with something if he just visited Connor Holland’s room and asked him for the formula directly, but, as expected…

“Did you really think I’d say yes?” Connor asked after hearing our Cadmus’ request, “It’s bad enough that you saw me use the [raijuu’s strike] in the first place, but now you also want me to reveal the formula?”

“I figured it was worth asking for,” Cadmus said.

Connor narrowed his eyes at him, “You—”

“What’s going on here?” The interruption had come from Connor’s brother, Gale, who was walking towards them with Elis in tow. Seeing all three Holland siblings side by side again, Cadmus was once again reminded of just how different they all looked. If they hadn’t all claimed to be siblings, Cadmus would have guessed that all three of them were just friends.

“The Necromancer?” Gale noticed, “Do you have some business with my brother?”

“I wished to see the formula for the [raijuu’s strike], and I thought perhaps asking directly might work,” Cadmus explained.

“Oh? Are you perhaps interested in lightning magic?” Gale said, perking up slightly.

“…Yes,” Cadmus lied. It seemed to him that agreeing with Gale was the quickest way to get a look at the formula he wanted to see.

Gale grinned, “I knew it. That shine in your eyes is the same as mine.” Then his grin dulled slightly, “However, I’m sorry but we can’t show you the [raijuu’s strike]’s formula. It’s not that I’m worried that you’ll manage to recreate it or that you’ll develop a counter for it—it’s just that we promised our teacher who gave us this spell that we would never share it with anyone else.

“Besides, even if lightning is the most powerful of all magic, you don’t have nearly enough time left to learn how to use something like the [raijuu’s strike]. It’s best if you simply focus on bettering what you already have. It would be a shame if you were defeated by Mark without even putting up a fight.”

Cadmus could see from a glance that Gale’s words had rubbed Alice the wrong way, but he had no intention of starting an argument here, so he spoke before Alice could say anything.

“And what if I face you before Mark?” Cadmus asked, “None of us have been told who we will be facing, so it’s very well possible that I may have to fight you first. Wouldn’t it be better if I at least understand how your spell works somewhat? Do you not wish for a worthy battle against me as well? You seem to want to fight powerful opponents after all, judging by what you said when you challenged Ardea.”

Gale blinked. Then, a slight chuckle escaped from his lips. Connor seemed to be similarly amused.

“Even if I showed you the [raijuu’s strike]’s formula, I doubt you would be able to offer me a worthy fight,” Gale said, “I don’t say this to be rude—it’s simply a fact. It’s best if you just focus on preparing against Mark; fighting me would yield a foregone conclusion.”

“…I see.”

To be honest, Cadmus had already known that Connor Holland would most likely refuse his request: most mages tended to keep their knowledge to themselves, it was why the collective advancement of magic for humanity was so slow in the first place.

But, he had still tried anyway, because he had felt that it was worth a shot, and even though he had not gotten to see the formula he wanted to see, he had still managed to acquire an unexpected reward out of his attempt.

The [raijuu’s strike].

That is what the Holland siblings had called their lightning spell. Though it was just a name, and thus wouldn’t be able to reveal everything about the spell itself, it was still an immensely helpful hint in understanding how the spell actually functioned.

Cadmus still hadn’t received enough information to actually succeed in recreating the [raijuu’s strike]’s formula, but by the time the day of the third round arrived, Cadmus was at least able to come up with a pretty good guess as to what the initial portion of the spell’s formula could look like.

It wasn’t nearly enough, but it would have to do.

As the sun dawned on the day of the third round, its radiant light illuminated the finely built, well-polished marble buildings of the Laurucian Academy of Magic, and a portion of its bright rays spilled through Cadmus’ window, stirring him from his restful sleep.

He lay there for a few minutes, images of the vast plethora of difficult enemies he might have to face today passing through his slowly-waking mind. He’d done all he could to prepare, but he had to admit, there were some people that he had to absolutely make sure to remain wary of. The points offered in this tournament weren’t something he could afford to lose.

Once his brain was finally fully free from the fog of sleep, Cadmus hopped out of bed (noticing that his body’s soreness had completely disappeared by now), and, after waking Alice as well, freshened up before heading down to the canteen to get some breakfast. He needed all the energy he could get today.

As he ate, Oliver joined him at his table as well. It was only that Cadmus saw him now did he realize that he hadn’t seen Oliver ever since their separation before the start of the second round.

“Hey,” Oliver said, grinning. “You look ready to go.”

Cadmus supposed he was. He was well-rested and he’d made his preparations. All that was left was for the round to start.

“I am. Are you?”

Oliver chuckled, but it was very forced, “I guess…? I’ve done all I can: making sure to research all my enemies and preparing strategies to fight all of them. But… I don’t know, I’ve got this weird feeling in my stomach—like everything in there is just closing in on itself—and it just won’t go away.”

He pushed away his tray of food right after to accentuate his point.

“Have you come up with something to fight Cadmus as well?” Alice asked from her position beside Cadmus’ tray of food. The Academy had graciously provided her with custom miniature plates and utensils after learning of her existence. Despite possessing a normal-sized person’s sleep cycle, Alice only needed food befitting her own size.

Actually, to be honest, she strictly didn’t even need food. But she still got hungry, so she ate anyway.

“Of course,” Oliver said, smirking weakly—though not on account of Cadmus or Alice it seemed, “Don’t expect me to go easy on you just because we’re friends, Cadmus.”

Cadmus nodded, “Understood.”

“Oh yeah! How was teaming up with Ardea Regis?” Alice asked, “She seemed really angry after Elise asked to team up with Cadmus.”

Oliver gave a sort of frightened shudder, “It was terrible. Her anger carried through into the second task, and I—uh, I may have accidentally antagonized her when we found the beacon orb…”

Alice gaped, “No! How?”

“I… kind of ended up getting pissed off and saying some harsh things to her,” Oliver explained, “I thought she’d end up attacking me after that, but no, she just told me that we’d finish the task and never speak again. And that’s exactly what happened. I got lucky, all things considered.”

“Did you face any significant enemies?” Cadmus asked, “And did Ardea show you any new magic or skills of hers?”

Oliver gave it a moment of thought, “We faced four people that I know are skilled, but Ardea demolished them so quickly that I didn’t get to see them fight at all. As for Ardea… well, she fought as she always does, using the same fire magic that she did against Rex.” Then, he seemed to realize something. “But even if she did show me anything new, I wouldn’t tell you! You’re my opponent right now!”

Cadmus raised an eyebrow, “You would rather fight me than Ardea? That’s rather flattering.”

It was unwise of Oliver, but to think he had such a high opinion of Cadmus’ ability—

“No, no, wait…” Oliver said, “I take it back. You’re right, telling you Ardea’s skills would only better my own chances.” He shrugged, “Like I said though, she really didn’t do anything we haven’t seen before—at least not combat-wise.”

Well, that certainly made more sense.

“I see.”

Cadmus was almost done with his food when two members of the Academy staff, as signified by their midnight-blue robes, approached them. The two staff members waited for Cadmus and Alice to finish eating (Oliver ended up simply picking at his food, then throwing it away) before asking them to follow them to the Main Hall.

What awaited them in the Main Hall were Headmasters Conan Capitis and James Veterai—they were conversing behind the elegant wooden podium at the end of the hall—along with various students that Cadmus figured were the people who had passed the second round of the Twin Peaks Magical Tournament.

Cadmus did a quick headcount and noted that, including Oliver and himself, twenty-two out of the maximum twenty-four students were here—

Just as the thought crossed his mind, two more students were shepherded in by more of the Academy staff, bringing the number up to the full twenty-four. It seemed that every single beacon orb had been found, just as Professor Mackenzie had predicted.

Cadmus grimaced. Though he had known that this outcome was the most likely of all, he had still hoped otherwise.

Oh well, there was no point in wallowing in misery. It was time to get to work.

“Oliver, you said that, in the forest, you and Ardea defeated four people who you knew to be skilled; are they here now?”

As Cadmus asked his question, he looked towards Ardea. She was standing all by her lonesome, her powerful gaze fixed on the pair of headmasters, and the same heavy pressure from when he’d last seen her draped around her like a thick cloak.

Elise was standing a ways away from her, occasionally glancing at her with a nervous yet determined look on her face.

Oliver nodded, “Yeah, I did some digging right after the second round ended, and they were definitely on the list.” He searched the room, then pointed at four people who were huddled together and speaking in hushed tones as physically far away from Ardea as possible. “Ardea defeated them pretty badly, but I guess neither of us remembered to shoot a fireball into the sky to have the Academy staff come and pick them up. They must have recovered enough in the following days to find beacon orbs of their own.”

Cadmus hummed in thought, “You said you knew their abilities, didn’t you?”

Oliver nodded, “Yeah. Anthony Kayden and Hewie Dacre both—” He paused, seeming to realize something, “…Actually, no—it’s best if I keep my mouth shut on this. Cadmus, you defeating Ardea would be to my benefit, but it’s the other way around for those four. In my opinion, you’re a greater threat than them, so helping you defeat them would be a silly decision.”

“…Understood.”

Seeing that Oliver would provide no more information, Cadmus let his gaze wander across the room again to note down any surprising participants. The first two people to catch his eyes were Zane Brycen and Tanya Louise, with their similar brown eyes and eye-catching bowl cut and pixie cut.

So, despite everything, those two had passed as well…

They caught his gaze, and Cadmus could see their hate for him bubble within them from even here. But they were no longer a concern for Cadmus, so he moved on.

Next, he spotted Gelida Olvo. When he had heard from Arthur that Gawain’s team had managed to pass, he had understood that his prediction had probably been correct, that Gwen had probably healed Gelida up in Ipsum forest alongside Gawain. And, since Gelida was rather capable, Cadmus had expected her to pass as well, so he wasn’t too surprised to see her here.

And, of course, since Gelida had passed…

Cadmus didn’t have to look for long to find Candice Regis, her partner in the second round, nearby—

“It seems that everyone is here,” Headmaster Capitis said lightly, his voice echoing throughout the hall due to the voice-enhancing magic circle he was currently using, “Greetings, everyone. I hope you all remember me. But, if you don’t, my name is Conan Capitis.”

He paused, as though expecting some sort of reaction. However, the best he got was Headmaster Veterai’s mocking guffaws (though he did pretend to try to stifle them).

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Headmaster Capitis moved on, “R-right, anyway, every single one of you gathered here have braved great trials, and you all have earned the right to stand before the world with your heads held high. No matter how the Twin Peaks Magical Tournament ends, be proud that you all managed to make it this far.

“Now, we will all be heading for the coliseum—your final battleground. On the way, we will pass through crowds of admirers wishing to catch a glimpse of you all before you step into the arena. Please make sure to present yourself with the utmost dignity, for remember, you are not only representing yourselves but your respective schools out there as well. Are you all ready?”

A few people nodded, and even fewer verbally responded with a short “yes.” But, apparently, that was enough for Headmaster Capitis, because he said right after, with the jolliest of looks on his face,

“Alright then! Follow me!”

He trotted out the door, with Headmaster Veterai following closely behind, shaking his head exasperatedly. The twenty-four students in the hall filed out after them and made sure to stick to their tails.

The Coliseum was only a short walk away from the Academy, but, as Headmaster Capitis had said, crowds of people had gathered to gawk and point at them. The streets seemed to be clogged with giant swathes of people, and if it wasn’t for the Academy guards keeping them at bay and opening up a corridor for the participants to walk through, Cadmus would have feared that the crowds would close in and make it so that they wouldn’t even be able to move forward.

Their procession made it to the coliseum without incident, and even Cadmus, who didn’t care about things like architecture and beauty, found himself awed by the sight in front of him.

In a word, the coliseum was gargantuan. Cadmus had thought the same for the Laurucian Academy of Magic, but the coliseum was even larger than that—by far, in fact. The vibrant outer walls, which were supposed to form an oval, felt as though they were flat to Cadmus due to its sheer size. And, looking up, Cadmus was sure that the coliseum was just as tall—or even taller—than the Academy’s library tower.

Cadmus could hear the carrying cheers from inside, and they were so loud that he wouldn’t be surprised if Orange from all the way in Ipsum forest could hear them too.

Cadmus and his fellow participants followed the pair of headmasters through the entrance into the coliseum, and suddenly, the volume of the crowd hit a whole new level. They were all sitting on the rising stands all around them, looking like ants due to the sheer distance between them and Cadmus.

Cadmus couldn’t help but think that the coliseum was too big. There was enough space inside the arena to have large races with enough chariots to reach the double digits—in fact, the dirt tracks on the outer edge of the arena, along with the white chalk lines, suggested that races were indeed something they used this place for. In comparison, the rectangular, flat stone battlefield that stood in the very middle looked almost minuscule. Cadmus had been a child when he’d last come here, so he couldn’t remember how the audience would be able to enjoy the upcoming battles when they wouldn’t even be able to see them properly.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Twin Peaks Magical Tournament!” An unfamiliar voice boomed across the coliseum, prompting a loud round of excited cheers from the audience. Cadmus and the other participants were led onto the battlefield and were made to form a straight line as the noise from the crowd slowly died down. “It’s such a pleasure to see you all here, to have you all witness this year’s best and brightest of the two greatest magic schools in the world compete through direct combat!”

This prompted another round of loud cheers from the crowd. The announcer waited for them to quiet down again before continuing, “Now, it is my pleasure to introduce these brilliant young mages in the making to you all!”

His words seemed to be some sort of signal, because suddenly, giant, translucent bubbles appeared out of thin air above them. They hung there, suspended in mid-air at different heights, and then, the same image appeared on each bubble.

It was Cadmus and the rest of the participants, and Cadmus remembered with a jolt that the bubbles weren’t displaying an image, they were displaying a live recording of them—and with complete accuracy at that. What was even more amazing was that, even though Cadmus was looking at the bubbles from underneath them, they still seemed as though they were displaying their recordings directly to him at the perfect angle. It was the same for the audience, Cadmus remembered, the recordings on the bubbles were somehow following every individual’s eyes.

The crowd “oohed” and “aahed”, and Cadmus could definitely sympathize. Now that his rusty memory had been polished off somewhat, he could remember being impressed to the point of speechlessness when he had first seen this magic. Even now, after having studied magic extensively for the past few years, he still couldn’t help but feel just as impressed as before.

“Woah…!” Alice breathed along with the crowd, her entire face contorted in awe. Cadmus could already see the question in her eyes.

“I’m pretty sure that they’re called ‘display orbs’—or something along those lines,” he told her, recalling that Ember had been the one to tell him that. “They’re relics left behind by the ancient elves. I suppose they’re similar to beacon orbs or the magic spheres that allow airships to fly in that sense.”

At the same time, the announcer continued, “Starting from the very left, we have Gelida Olvo, from the Laurucian Academy of Magic!”

Gelida raised a sprightly arm and waved at the crowd, and the recording on every single bubble zoomed in on her profile, displaying her cheerful grin to all. Seeing that Alice had no more questions, Cadmus remained silent, and watched as the announcer continued down the line and introduced each participant one by one.

Each participant followed Gelida’s example to some extent when they were called up and waved to the crowd, though there were a few exceptions (Candice Regis stood stock still, locked in place by sheer nervousness at the call of her name, and remained that way until the announcer moved on).

Soon after, it was Cadmus’ turn.

“Next, we have Cadmus Guiles, from the Laurucian Academy of Magic!”

Cadmus, as he too followed Gelida’s example and gave the crowd a slight wave (Ember had also waved in her time, though she had been significantly more enthusiastic), couldn’t help but wish for all this to end quickly. He was bored beyond reason just standing here, waiting for all the introductions to finish, and wanted to get started with the event that would earn him his points already.

Alice, on the other hand, had gotten over her awe of the display orbs by now, and she currently seemed to be finding all these eyes upon them nerve-wracking. Luckily for her, the announcer moved on quickly enough.

A few more mind-numbingly slow introductions and the announcer finally reached the end of the line.

“And lastly, we have Arthur Pendragon, from the Laurucian Academy of Magic!”

Arthur gave a polite smile and wave, looking almost at home as he did so.

“Please, give these fine young men and women another round of applause.” The audience did so, and the announcer said, “And now, I would like to ask the participants to clear the field.”

The headmasters took this as their cue to lead Cadmus and his fellow participants to their place in the stands: a large booth separate from the crowd, one where they were closest to the action, and could see everything without obstruction. There were chairs here, but, for now, most of them chose to stand and lean against the railing as the headmasters exited the booth.

“And now, I am honoured to announce the arrival of His Majesty!” The announcer said, “May he continue to guide this great nation down its glorious path!”

The crowd fell reverently silent, and a procession of people dressed in formal, regal clothing entered the coliseum, and at its head was a man draped in robes of rich velvety red and gold. He looked rather similar to Ardea, with his well-groomed short red hair, vivid crimson eyes, and fair skin that seemed to contain absolutely no marks or blemishes. Trailing just behind him, but in front of the rest of the procession was another man that looked similar to the king and Ardea, though this man kept his hair longer than the king and let it curtain his face.

The king stood in the middle of the field, waving gaily at the crowd as his procession rushed forward to secure the steps that led up the stands and into the most luxurious looking area at the top. As this was happening, one of the men accompanying the king respectfully placed a voice-enhancing magic circle in front of him and then slipped back to his position behind him again.

“Thank you, thank you! It’s such a pleasure to see you all here!” The king said lightheartedly, “I’m rather excited for this year’s tournament, mainly because my daughter will be taking part this time! I hope you all enjoy yourselves as much as I probably will!”

Cadmus glanced at Ardea, and idly noticed that he wasn’t the only one. However, Ardea remained unaffected, staring stonily down at the field below.

The king passed through the magic circle, erasing it with his body, and climbed up the stairs. However, instead of going to the area at the top that was clearly reserved for him, he took a detour and entered the contestants’ booth instead. The similar-looking man followed him in, but the rest of his procession remained outside.

“Ardea…” the king smiled warmly as he walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug. Ardea’s reciprocation of his hug was rather stiff, but he didn’t seem to mind, “Don’t push yourself too hard out there, okay? And it’s alright to give up if things get too tough. No one will hold it against you.”

Cadmus noticed that most of the other participants had awkward expressions on their faces, and they were looking away, as though doing so would grant the two some semblance of privacy. On the other hand, Candice had a wistful look on her face as she watched them, and her eyes kept flicking towards the other man who had followed the king in.

“Understood,” Ardea said, her face still carved from stone.

The king bestowed her with a kiss on the cheek and then, after cheerfully wishing everyone well, trotted out.

Cadmus frowned as he watched him leave. So… that was what Ardea’s father was like, what the king of Laurucium was like. That was the person that Everett Praesse had stated to be a portion of Laurucium’s ‘problem’, that was the person that Ardea had stated to be the reason for the uprisings in the countryside.

Cadmus felt… underwhelmed.

Firstly, Cadmus had always imagined royals to have some sort of… regal dignity. However, the king had seemed to possess absolutely none of that regal feeling at all—his daughter was leagues ahead of him in that regard.

Secondly, the king didn’t seem to have a single sinister bone in his body. Everett Praesse and Ardea had both mentioned him to be the source of such problems, but the king didn’t seem to be capable of any significant evil at all. In fact, the person who had entered with him looked far more sinister, with his sunken features, and the cold, hard look in his crimson eyes.

The man waited for the king to leave before he gestured for Ardea to approach him. She did so, and they relocated away from the rest of the participants. Though they were standing a ways away, Cadmus could still hear the man’s stern, grave voice.

“Your father left you with some pretty words, but don’t forget—”

“I know, uncle,” Ardea said, “I will win.”

Ardea made to leave, but her uncle stopped her, “That is not all. I have heard troubling rumours—about the academy. Rumours that claim that there are several students who surpass you in one skill or another.”

Ardea’s voice grew strained, “You heard wrong.”

“But it is true that you have already lost a duel, is it not?” Ardea’s uncle said harshly, “Not only that, but there is also a guild led by a student in the same year as you that has already surpassed you in terms of points, no? And, to make matters worse, there is talk of this… Necromancer boy, who they say was the first student in your year to break through the thousand-point barrier.”

Cadmus could almost hear Ardea’s grimace, “Those instances…”

“Do not forget, Ardea. You must be absolute, in power and in reputation,” Ardea’s uncle said, “Failure will not be tolerated. Prove your absolute superiority here. Do not fail me.”

“…Understood.”

Ardea’s uncle exited the booth without another word, and Cadmus noticed how Candice’s eyes shined with unshed tears as she watched him go.

“A-are you okay, Candice?” Alice asked.

Candice’s voice was rough when she spoke, “I’m… fine. I suppose I’ll have to do more than get past the qualifier rounds if I want my father to notice how much I’ve improved…”

“O-oh right,” Alice realized, “Ardea’s uncle is your father.”

“Lady Regis…” Elise said sympathetically from Cadmus’ right.

Cadmus almost started, not having noticed that she was there. But he supposed her sympathy made sense: Elise too had decided to participate in this tournament in order to get Ardea to acknowledge her. Their goals were rather similar.

“At last, we may finally begin!” The announcer said, “Organizers, please begin the selection process for our first battle!”

The display orbs in the air all flashed, and suddenly, what had once been a live feed of the king transformed into large, glowing white text imposed on top of a black background.

_____ VS. _____

Names popped up on top of the blank spaces, and soon the orb was cycling through them at a rapid pace, too fast to follow, but slow enough to tell that it really was going through each name one by one.

The crowd held its breath, and the names finally came to a stop.

Cadmus stared, a little surprised despite himself. Then, he turned to Elise, who seemed similarly shocked.

“Well, it looks like today is your lucky day.”

Elise Auxil VS. Ardea Regis