Gwen Eviere VS. Candice Regis

Cadmus saw Gwen leave the contestant’s box immediately, an unreadable expression fixed upon her face, and he saw Candice blanch.

“G-good luck!” Alice cheered.

Candice tried smiling at her, but it came off more as a nervous grimace. Cadmus didn’t know why; in fact…

“From what I’ve seen, defeating Gwen is well within your capability,” he told her, “Simply fight as you did in the second qualifier round.”

Candice looked shocked, “R-really…?”

“I believe so, yes.”

Candice did not seem to believe his words, but a little colour did return to her face, and she nodded gratefully at him and Alice before stepping out of the contestant’s box as well. On her way out, she was also given a silent thumbs up and encouraging grin from Oliver, and she nodded gratefully at him as well.

As Cadmus watched her descend the staircase, he wondered why she seemed so much like she was walking into a dragon’s lair: determined, yet certain of her defeat. From what Cadmus had seen of Gwen, her great knowledge of magic was offset by her dismal combat abilities. In the labyrinth, and even in Ipsum Forest, Gwen had kept far away from the battle—which made sense since she was a healer—but it seemed that, as a result, she had not developed any skill for battle either.

In contrast, ever since the attack on Lorem Forest, Candice had accumulated a lot of experience in battling opponents by her lonesome. Winning this match was very much possible for her—it was likely even.

But of course, this was simply based on what Cadmus had seen. Gwen had no doubt known that this was a combat-based tournament, and she had still joined; Thus, it was possible that she was hiding—

“I forfeit,” Gwen’s voice rang throughout the coliseum as Candice took her place opposite of her, “I am a healing mage after all; combat is beyond me.”

The audience seemed stunned, and even Cadmus had to take a moment to realize what had just happened.

“Are you sure?” The referee asked.

Gwen nodded and gave a resigned smile, “Yes. I’m afraid that I simply wouldn’t make a very exciting opponent.”

The referee gave her a scrutinizing look before raising his arm and declaring, “VICTOR BY FORFEIT: CANDICE REGIS!”

A smattering of applause slowly greeted his words, but it died down quick; and Candice looked bewildered, like she still wasn’t sure what was happening, as she climbed up the stairs with Gwen again.

“I don’t understand,” Cadmus said to Arthur, his brow furrowing, “Why did Gwen even join this tournament if she wasn’t confident in her combat skills? Oliver said that this tournament is one of the most famous events in the world, so she must have known what joining it would entail.”

Arthur smiled indulgently, “Not everyone who joins this tournament joins it to win: just being able to stand on this stage is a great honour. The more Avalonians there are among the participants who made it past the qualifier rounds, the more prestige Avalon receives—even if some decide to simply forfeit their battles during the tournament proper.”

“I see,” Cadmus said, “So you ordered everyone within Camelot to join the Twin Peaks Tournament, even mages like Gwen with no combat ability; If she failed to pass the qualifier rounds, you wouldn’t mind, but, on the off-chance she managed to succeed, Avalon’s reputation would only grow.”

Arthur nodded, “Precisely.”

Gwen and Candice entered the contestant’s box, and the latter came to stand near Cadmus, a blank look still etched upon her face.

“I-I guess you were lucky!” Alice tried to comfort, “I’m sure you would have won against anyone else as well, but it’s better not to fight at all, no?”

“B-but this way… I’ve proved nothing at all…” Candice said softly, “I wished for my father to see how much I’ve changed, but I didn’t get to show him anything at all...”

“According to Arthur, simply making it this far is a huge achievement,” Cadmus said, “Surely that’s worth something to your father.”

Almost as though prompted by his words, the display orbs switched to show Candice’s father’s visage. In contrast to Cadmus’ words, Candice’s father looked as though he couldn’t care less about what was happening. The display orbs lingered on his profile for a bit, but when they saw that they would receive nothing from him, they switched to a roving view of the stands.

Alice looked round at Candice, her expression full of pity, but before she could say anything, Candice spoke, “Don’t worry, I already expected this. The only way I will get the acknowledgment of my father is by defeating someone powerful in plain view of him—simply making it here means nothing to him.”

In all honesty, Cadmus was only slightly paying attention: most of his mind was still swirling around in thoughts of Connor Holland’s Raijuu’s Strike (Lancelot’s Redirection had been shelved for now). But still, even he felt a stab of pity at Candice’s tone of voice.

He had no words of comfort to give, so he simply patted her shoulder in what he hoped was a show of support. Candice blinked, looking surprised, and then her lips stretched into a warm smile when Alice gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up.

By this time, the announcer had finally finished lamenting what a missed opportunity the battle between Gwen and Candice had been, and that they would at least get to see Candice fight in the next round.

“And now we will be taking a short, twenty-minute break,” he said, “Please make sure to return on time so as not to miss the exciting upcoming battles!”

People from the crowd began standing up and moving around as groups of advertisers entered the arena and presented their pitches one by one; The display orbs made sure to broadcast them all.

There was one for magic tablets that would help with farming (“Place these in strategic locations and watch as your crops water themselves at ideal times!”), one for combat lessons (“Swordplay, magecraft, unarmed grappling, and more!), one for beauty products (Venus: your one-stop shop to desirability…”), and on and on it went.

Finally, the break ended, and people returned to their seats. The advertisers were escorted away, and the announcer welcomed everyone back.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you’re all ready to see some more top-notch action, because we aren’t even halfway done yet!” He said, “Organizers, if you would please!”

The display orb flashed through the names of the remaining participants of this round.

Morgana Le Fay VS. Elis Holland

Cadmus tilted his head as the two exited the contestant’s box, “How unfortunate for Morgana…”

“Unfortunate? Why?” Alice asked.

“Because Elis Holland is one of the only people in this tournament to know of Morgana’s ability with illusions,” Cadmus explained, “He’s already suffered them once at her hands after all.”

“Oh yeah…” Alice remembered, “Even if he was exhausted and on his knees back in Ipsum forest, he must have seen Morgana’s illusions as well…”

Morgana and Elis quickly took their places on opposite ends of the battlefield, and as the arena-wide shield was being set up, the announcer introduced them.

“On one side we have Morgana Le Fay: a member of the Avalonian Royal family, known for its powerful knights—one needs to look no further than Arthur Pendragon or Gawain Le Fay to see this!”

Morgana’s confident smirk faltered a little at the mention of Arthur and her brother.

“And not only that,” the announcer continued, “But Miss Le Fay was also admitted into the Laurucian Academy of Magic with a scholarship due to her designing a completely new and unique magical formula of her own—an incredible accomplishment for one so young!”

The display orbs kept their focus on Morgana for a few more moments before switching to Elis.

“Her opponent today will be Elis Holland! Just the same as Connor Holland, he is the brother of Gale Holland, one of the most talented mages in the Carmenian Institute of Magic. Combine that with the amazing lightning spell that Connor showed us, who knows what Elis will present today?”

Elis took a few deep breaths, looking as though his nervousness was warring with his determination.

“READY YOURSELVES!” The referee declared.

Morgana and Elis both lowered their centre of gravity and raised their arms in preparation to draw.

“AND—BEGIN!”

The battle began simply: Morgana quickly created a circle for Fireball and Elis, in turn, created a circle for Lightning Knives (the same circle he had used to shoot his vaguely sharp-looking lightning projectiles in Ipsum Forest) equally as quickly. They exchanged attacks for a bit, but neither managed to land a hit.

Then, Morgana shook things up: with a deft hand, she drew a new circle, and from it, a torrent of flames spilled out. They bore down upon Elis, hungry and glowing orange with the promise of harm, and yet Elis simply stood there, his expression resolute. As soon as the flames reached him, they slipped past, leaving him unharmed.

“Y-you can’t trick me with your illusions anymore!” He declared.

Morgana raised a thin eyebrow and smirked, “Can’t I?”

And, suddenly, Elis recoiled, screaming in pain. He stumbled out of the sea of illusionary flames, allowing the world to see the scorched skin of his torso.

“Oh, clever,” Cadmus said.

“Wh-what happened?” Alice asked.

“Morgana used her illusionary flames to hide her real attack—her Fireball—within it,” Cadmus explained, “It helps that her illusion is incredibly realistic, and so the Fireball blends in with it well.”

Below, Elis had managed to shake off his shock and pain, and was now moving again. His mobility had clearly decreased a little due to the damage he had taken, but he was still well enough to easily dodge Morgana’s follow-up Fireballs.

Elis began drawing a new magic circle, and Morgana, seeing that she was just providing him with the opportunity to formulate a new attack, assaulted him with another fiery illusion. Elis did not stop moving however, and he dodged even the illusion, and right after, he finished his circle.

“I will not lose!” He yelled, aiming his circle at Morgana.

Morgana paused for a split second.

“I agree,” she said before Elis could properly activate his circle, “I forfeit.”

Elis gaped, “Wh-what?”

“Are your ears just for show?” Morgana asked amusedly, as though she was enjoying watching a pet’s antics, “I said I forfeit.”

The crowd began murmuring confusedly among themselves as the referee cautiously walked up to the two.

“Are you sure that you want to forfeit?” He asked, sounding more baffled than anything.

“Yes,” Morgana said, smoothly wiping away her circles, “This has gotten rather boring.”

“I-I see…” The referee said in a tone that indicated he didn’t see at all, “Very well then, victor by forfeit: Elis Holland!”

The crowd seemed taken completely by surprise by this sudden turn of events, and it took a few moments for the applause to begin. It was a polite and confused sort of applause, made only due to obligation rather than any appreciation.

“She just… gave up?” Alice asked.

“She would have most likely lost anyway,” Cadmus said, “The circle that Elis Holland just drew was one for Lightning Falcon: a spell similar to Ardea’s Flame Pheonix. With Morgana’s tricks revealed, he would have easily been able to dodge her illusions and attack her from multiple angles: Morgana seems to be a clever fighter, but I don’t think she has enough combat ability to deal with attacks of such magnitude.”

“Do you think she would have been able to win if Elis hadn’t known about her illusions beforehand?” Alice asked.

“She would have certainly had more options,” Cadmus said, “But there is something I don’t understand either: why would she give up so easily? As I said, she would have most likely lost anyway, but that wasn’t a guaranteed outcome. Had she continued trying and thinking, she may have been able to come up with a strategy to win. Giving up like this gains her nothing.”

“If you’re right, then the answer’s obvious, isn’t it?” Oliver said, “She wanted to quit while she was ahead. She landed an attack on Elis, and before he could land an attack back, she forfeited so that people will end up wondering whether Elis really is the better mage or not, despite him winning.”

“But that’s… that’s dirty…” Candice protested, a complicated expression on her face. Her eyes were fixed on the display orbs, which were showing Elis, who looked frustrated and unsatisfied.

Oliver shrugged, “That’s just how some people are.”

From the corner of his eye, Cadmus saw Arthur shake his head disappointedly.