Cadmus watched as the chanting and cheering from the crowd died quickly after Elise and Ardea were taken through a doorway underneath the stands. It presumably leading to a medical facility, because Ardea and Elise had both been too injured to go anywhere else.

The display orbs switched views, and suddenly showed the King, who looked proud and worried in equal measure. He fidgeted in his chair, as though barely resisting the urge to go and see how his daughter was doing, and he would have probably easily given into his urge if it wasn’t for his brother clamping his hand down on his shoulder from behind him.

Despite the fact that Candice’s father was the one stopping the King from rushing away to his daughter, he himself looked as though he wanted to march up to Ardea as well—though clearly for vastly different reasons, as evidenced by the furious look on his face. The display orbs kept their focus on them for a few more seconds, but someone must have realized that they would receive no new reactions from the King, because they once again switched back to the empty arena below.

The crowd devolved into chattering amongst each other, and it was plain to see that Ardea and Elise’s battle had inspired an energy of anticipation within them. As they waited excitedly, the announcer spoke,

“And now we move on to the second battle!” The display orbs all transformed into randomizers again in response, “Let us see which pair will be called up next!”

Once again, names flashed through the display orbs before finally landing on a result. Cadmus stared at it for a second, a little surprised despite himself.

“Oliver,” he finally said, “You told me that the organizers pit strong mages against weak ones in the early stages of the tournament to build up anticipation, correct?”

Oliver, who was also staring at the display orb, nodded slowly.

“Well, it seems your theory might be wrong,” Cadmus said, gesturing at the names above.

Cadmus Guiles VS. Zane Brycen

“Because Zane Brycen is a weak mage, but even so, I was barely able to escape him in the second round.”

Oliver shrugged, “There’s no proof for that theory, so yeah, I may very well be wrong. But…” a considering smile pulled at his lips, “It may also be that the organizers think that you still haven’t shown all you’ve got.”

“…Perhaps.”

With a nod to punctuate their conversation, Cadmus handed him Alice before leaving the contestant’s box and descending the stairs to make his way to the stone battlefield at the center of the arena. Zane Brycen was already waiting for him, a sneer spread across his face.

“I’m rather lucky, aren’t I?” He said as Cadmus took his place on the opposite end of the battlefield, “I get to take my revenge so soon after the way you embarrassed me in the second qualifier round.”

“I feel rather lucky as well,” Cadmus said sincerely, “Me being paired up with you now means that I have an opportunity to observe the more dangerous contestants in action at least once until the next round starts.”

Zane’s face twisted into an ugly snarl, “You dare—!”

“And here they are, the combatants of the second battle!” The announcer interrupted, “On one side, we have Zane Brycen, the heir of the Brycen family, known widely for advising the Carmenian court in matters of magic! It is unlikely that he hasn’t been trained in the art of magical combat since a young age!”

As the crowd clapped, Cadmus wondered idly whether the Brycen family possessed any exclusive magical knowledge, as he knew from his reading that some magical families did, and he wondered whether the spell that allowed Zane to manipulate vines was a part of it.

“And on the other side, we have Cadmus Guiles, the younger brother of the famed Ember Guiles—”

Just the mention of Ember’s name was enough to set the crowd off, and their loud cheering endured for a while. Once the noise slowly began to die down, the announcer continued.

“Yes,” he said, “We all remember Ember Guiles as the mage who won all four Twin Peaks tournaments of her time with overwhelming skill, power, and knowledge! Is it any wonder that her brother managed to transform the face of magic itself?”

The crowd cheered again, but it was obvious that they did not hold the same fervour for him or Zane Brycen as they did for Ember. Cadmus didn’t mind: the knowledge that his sister was still so widely loved warmed his heart, and his lips automatically spread into a grateful smile. The fact that Ember’s name could provoke such an enthusiastic reaction made Cadmus feel as though the world hadn’t simply moved on, leaving her behind—it made him feel as though she still had a place in this world, a place to return to.

The referee walked up to them, “You both remember the rules I stated, correct?”

Cadmus and Zane both nodded.

“Good, then I have nothing more to say.”

The referee retreated back to the edge of the stands and raised his arm after activating the sound-enhancing magic circle built beneath their feet with a burst of mana.

“READY YOURSELVES!”

Zane lowered his centre of gravity while Cadmus extended his index and middle fingers in a position ready to draw.

“AND—BEGIN!”

Zane Brycen knew he was the superior combat mage. Sure, Cadmus Guiles had managed to create a homunculus or whatever, but their confrontation in the forest had proven that Cadmus didn’t stand a chance against him in direct battle.

That was why, even though Tanya wasn’t here to help, he was sure he could defeat Cadmus with relative ease.

As soon as the referee gave them the signal, Zane and Cadmus both sprung into action, their hands blurring as they drew their first magic circles before them. Unfortunately, Cadmus finished first, and the circle he had created was one Zane had become intimately familiar with in the second qualifier round.

“The spell to create mist again, eh?” Zane chuckled darkly, “Go ahead, then. Let’s see how this works out for you.”

Cadmus cluelessly activated his circle and quickly doused the entire area in a veil of heavy white mist. Zane looked up to see if the display orbs could see through it, but even they only showed a blurry white battlefield before the mist thickened to the point that he couldn’t spot them anymore.

Zane tried peering through the mist, but as always, it remained the perfect cover.

A laugh bubbled within Zane’s chest, and he let it loose with glee.

“And what next, Cadmus Guiles?” He yelled into the mist, knowing that Cadmus would hear him, “Will you try to run away once again? Unfortunately for you, there is no longer any place for you to run anymore!”

He finally finished his circle and powered it, materializing a tangle of vines right in front of him.

“You didn’t think I could create my vines outside of the forest, did you?” He taunted, “But that’s not how it works! It takes less mana to control and strengthen vines that are already there, but I can create them wherever I want!”

Cadmus did not answer.

Zane commanded his vines to surround him in a defensive structure as the seconds dragged on.

“You haven’t forgotten what the referee said in the previous match, have you, Guiles?” He asked, his voice coming out more as an impatient growl, “We aren’t allowed to simply run away the whole battle! Besides, defeating you just because you ran out of the mana required to constantly maintain this mist would be a disgrace!”

“I apologize,” Cadmus’ voice finally rang out, “I will face you now.”

His attack was sudden. He burst from the obscuring mist in front of him with a frightful intensity, his blade—the very same one that had sat at his waist for the entire second qualifier round, and yet had only been used once—poised to strike now.

However, this was not surprising to Zane at all, he had been expecting it in fact. Cadmus’ clumsy movements in Ipsum forest had clearly shown that he was not one to practice skills such as swordplay, so an ambush using the mist was probably his best option.

That was why, even though the timing of the attack had been a surprise, Zane was able to dodge away from the clean slash of Cadmus’ blade. Scrambling back, Zane commanded his vines to attack and laughed,

“And now you lose, Guiles! You should have admitted defeat back when we first battled in Ipsum forest; at least you wouldn’t have had to embarrass yourself in front of the world there!”

The vines shot forward to impale through Cadmus’ body, and—

Several quick slashes from Cadmus’ blade cut straight through them, robbing them of their momentum and precise aim.

It was as though Zane had been doused in a bucket of cold water: Cadmus, who had once clearly possessed zero physical ability just a week ago was now moving with great fluidity and grace, as though he had been trained to fight with a sword for years.

The only thing more shocking was the expression on his face: his eyes were fixed on Zane and his vines, but he looked lost in thought, as though he was wondering about things that had nothing to do with this match.

“NO!” Zane yelled, unsure what exactly he was rejecting.

He cut the flow of mana to his circle for a split second to rid himself of his now defunct vines, and created new ones. This time, he had his vines spread out and attack Cadmus from all sides. They zoomed towards him, not sharp and yet still deadly due to their tremendous speed.

But once again, Cadmus flitted speedily around the vines and cut through them one by one. With skill he should not have possessed, he advanced steadily towards Zane.

“NOT AGAIN!,” Zane shrieked, having his vines assault Cadmus once again with increased intensity, “YOU WILL NOT HUMILIATE ME AGAIN!”

Cadmus looked confused as he easily fended off the attacks on his person, “Is it really so humiliating to lose to someone stronger than you?”

“Stronger?” Zane scoffed, “Do you really think that you’re stronger than me? Our battles should have already proven—”

“Please surrender now,” Cadmus interrupted, close to reaching within striking distance of Zane, “I may accidentally end up killing you if you don’t.”

Zane’s blood boiled as he sent out a fresh wave of vines, “You are the last person I would lose to! Just because you’ve learned a little swordplay—!”

But there was no denying reality. Cadmus had already reached him, and his sword leapt viciously for his throat, and Zane, through some wild instinct that he didn’t even know he possessed, barely managed to divert the attack by taking a deep gash to the arm. Bright red blood spurted out, and it was immediately followed by a sharp, eye-watering pain.

Cadmus did not stop, and Zane barely managed to stumble back to avoid his next strike. He had managed to keep his circle safe as well, so he shot another wave of vines, hoping that launching the attack from nearly point-blank range would be the deciding factor to allow at least one of the vines to connect with Cadmus’ person.

“I strongly urge you to surrender,” Cadmus said, retreating a mere step to easily deal with the tangle of vines shot at him, “I do not wish to kill you.”

Zane’s already towering rage flared further. It was not only Cadmus’ words that incited his temper, but it was also the way he said them: with veiled annoyance and impatience, as though he couldn’t wait to be done with a boring formality of some kind. This was only corroborated with the faraway look in his eyes: as though Zane was the least of his worries, and he was already looking forward to seeing the ones he considered the true threats in action.

An incoherent noise of pure fury spilled out of Zane’s mouth, and he pumped more mana into his circle. If the vines were just a little bit faster, if the vines were just a little bit more flexible, if the vines were just a little bit more stronger—

No attack left his circle.

Zane’s mind went blank, unable to comprehend what had just happened—or rather, what had not happened. Cadmus, who was in the middle of raising his sword for a swing, suddenly stopped. He seemed to almost deflate, as if something had sucked away all the grace and discipline from his body, and he clumsily pointed his blade at the shellshocked Zane’s throat.

Some portion of Zane’s mind noticed that the circle in Cadmus’ hand had shattered sometime a few moments ago, and was rapidly disappearing now, a phenomenon that occurred when more mana was poured into a circle than it could handle. Zane didn’t know if Cadmus had broken his circle intentionally or not, but he did know the same was happening with his own circle.

In his rage, Zane had poured too much mana into his magic circle and had accidentally broken it as well.

“Well, that’s it then.” Cadmus said, sounding neither relieved nor satisfied.

“Victor: Cadmus Guiles!” The referee announced.

Zane looked to the source of the voice (the sound-enhancing magic circle only began transmitting the enhanced sounds when they reached a certain distance away from the circle, elsewise the people making the sounds would have their eardrums ruptured), and saw that he could spot the referee clearly enough through the mist, which meant the referee could easily spot them as well.

While Zane had been focused on battling Cadmus, the mist around them had quickly cleared away to the point where the entire surrounding area was visible now. And, with noticing that, Zane suddenly realized: the magic circle that Cadmus had kept activated the entire while he had fought him had not been the magic circle to create mist. It had been an unknown magic circle, one that Zane had never seen before.

“I… I don’t understand…” Zane muttered, feeling painfully hollow as Cadmus inexpertly sheathed his blade amidst the smattering of polite yet unenthusiastic applause from the crowd, “How… how can I have lost…? In the forest…”

“In the forest the circumstances were different, and so I could not defeat you then,” Cadmus said idly as he made to leave.

Zane wished desperately to know more about these circumstances, but then, suddenly, he was surrounded by medical staff tending to his bloodied arm, and the referee had robbed Cadmus of his attention.

“Congratulations on your victory,” the referee said, “But I will ask that you not use your mist to shroud your entire battle in your next match. There is no meaning to hosting a public tournament if you keep the whole battle hidden from the crowd.”

Cadmus frowned but nodded all the same, “Understood.”

“Good, I will keep you no longer then. Let the medical staff check to see if you have any injuries.”

After her battle with Elise, Ardea had spent some time speaking with her only friend in the medical room. It had by no means been the comprehensive talk that they still needed to repair the bond that had frayed between them, but they had at least managed to clear up the misunderstandings that had piled up between them.

Of course, both of them would have preferred to talk out everything immediately, but the Twin Peaks Magical Tournament was still going, so they both knew they would have to make do with this for now.

By the time Ardea had exited the medical room and had made her way up to the contestant’s booth, the match below was still ongoing. The battlefield had been covered in mist at the time, so she had to ask Arthur Pendragon to find out that it was Cadmus Guiles and a Carmenian mage named Zane Brycen fighting down there. Luckily, according to Arthur, the entire match had been covered in mist this whole time, so she hadn’t missed anything important.

It was only a short while later that the mist cleared away enough for Cadmus and Brycen to come into view: Cadmus had his sword raised, clearly ready to strike down Brycen, and then he suddenly stopped, his magic circle shattering right after Brycen’s. He pointed his sword at Brycen’s throat, and the match was called.

“A change occurred…” Ardea murmured.

Despite the applause from the crowd—no matter how vigourless it was—Arthur heard her.

“So you noticed it as well?”

Ardea did not answer, unwilling to admit that she wasn’t fully sure as to what that change actually was. It was simply that she had been watching Cadmus carefully, and some unconscious portion of her mind had caught a significant shift in him of some kind.

It was Oliver who ended up asking, “Noticed what? What change?”

He kept his eyes fixed on Arthur, nervously keeping his gaze averted from Ardea, and she remembered that it was not just Elise who she had wronged.

Arthur smiled indulgently, “Cadmus Guiles’ posture, his breathing, his balance… it all changed right before he defeated Zane Brycen. It was as though he was a trained swordsman in one moment, and a person who had never even held a sword in the next.”

“…I-it doesn’t make sense…” The words were spoken hesitantly, and had come from an unexpected source: Candice. “Cadmus once told me that there were very few people who hate death as much as him. I-if so, why did he so casually threaten to kill Brycen?”

“Perhaps he was bluffing?” Arthur suggested, “Guiles is fond of those, isn’t he?”

“A weak and vague bluff like that?” Ardea scoffed, “Guiles is not one to issue those. His bluffs are always precise weapons that take both his and his enemy’s perspectives into account to deal the maximum amount of damage that he can.”

Arthur blinked, “…You seem to be quite wary of him.”

“And you seem to be taking him rather lightly.”

“Should I not?” Arthur asked curiously, “I will admit, Guiles is both clever and driven—in terms of magical knowledge, I will never be able to defeat him.” He gestured towards Alice, who was sitting in Oliver’s breast pocket at the moment, “But he does not have much experience in combat. Considering his current level of power and skill, I believe either of us would easily be able to defeat him in direct battle. Clever tricks can only get you so far.”

Ardea nodded, “Your words are not incorrect.”

“Then—”

“But, those were the same thoughts that the people who battled Guiles previously all undoubtedly held,” Ardea reminded him, “And yet, they were all defeated. I wonder, will you be the next person to join that list?”

Lancelot, who had been listening silently from beside Arthur, stepped forward, his heavily armoured person granting him a rather menacing presence.

“How dare you—?”

Ardea’s eyes narrowed into what she knew was a powerful glare, and Lancelot’s hand flew to the handle of his blade out of sheer caution.

“I welcome the chance to battle you, Du Lac, but have some decorum: This is not a battlefield,” Ardea said, “Win, and you may have the chance to face me in this tournament. Otherwise, accept my offer for a duel so that we may finally see who the better warrior is.”

Lancelot’s eyes narrowed, but Arthur put a calming hand on his shoulder and smiled, “Unfortunately, we’ll still be declining that request for now. Instead, why don’t we all just calm down and enjoy this tournament? There’s no need for us to come to blows.”

Ardea had expected Arthur’s refusal: ever since the school year had started, she had asked Arthur and his knights for a duel multiple times, ready to wager all of her points for nothing in return, but each time, they had denied her request. For some reason, Arthur seemed reluctant to allow any who belonged to his faction to fight her.

But that was not a matter worth thinking about right now. Their conversation about Cadmus seemed to have reached an end, so she turned to Oliver.

There was a misstep she had to correct.