Edited by: 1Jayds

Down by the entrance to the Academy stood a little blue haired girl, anxiously jumping up and down as she kept looking at everyone that passed by. The little girl had just enrolled into the Academy and was about to witness her first Royal Finals, a major fight that was sure to put one at the edge of their seat, but that mattered little to the girl, unless…

“Come on, dad, hurry uuup!” she said to herself. “Ragnar’s fight is about to start you know!”

But alas, her father’s distinct blue hair wasn’t visible among all the people on the streets and the cheers from the stadium were growing louder. Yes, the crowd could be heard from miles away.

“What wrong, little girl,” said a soft gentle voice from behind. When she turned around she found a tall black haired man standing behind her. His face was smoothly shaven and his eyes were so gentle one would almost trust the man instantly. Almost…

“Oh, I’m just waiting for my daddy,” answered Mia. “He should be here any minute now. If he doesn’t hurry up he’ll be too late.”

“That’d be dreadful, do you want me to help you look for him?” suggested the stranger.

“Pfft, how would you do that?”

“I’m fairly adept with magic, you know.”

“No thank you sir, I think Uncle Max will kick daddy’s ass if they were to come late. He wouldn’t want to miss Ymil’s fight either.”

The man raised an eyebrow in thought. “Ymil…. Now where have I heard that name….”

“He’s fighting in the Royal Finals today! Off course you’ve heard of him! He and my brother are going to beat them all!”

The man smiled again. Sure sure, little girl.” He put his hand on Mia’s head and ruffled her hair a bit.

“Hands off the girl,” said a familiar voice from behind them and they both turned around to look at the source. Uncle Max was standing right behind them with Olaf quickly running down the street.

“Ah, so it’s THAT Ymil,” said the stranger, “good afternoon, Shadow.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” said Max. “Hands off.”

The man withdrew his hand. “Don’t worry, Max, I wasn’t going to hurt her.”

Max sneered. “Your definition of ‘hurting’ is vastly different from mine, Kolimpri.”

“Geez, you have no sense of humor, do you Max? You shouldn’t worry, I’ve already set my eyes on someone else, and I couldn’t possibly cheat on her, you know what I mean?”

Max spat on the floor. “You’ve got one hell of a twisted sense of loyalty.”

At this point Olaf reached them but was completely out of breath. He stood next to Uncle Max and bent down to catch his breath.

“I take it this is her father?” said the man named Kolimpri as he looked at big muscular man.

“Yes.” Max just glared at Kolimpri.

Kolimpri sighed. “I guess I can take a hint. I’ll get going now.”

And with those words the gentle looking man turned around and walked into the direction of the cheers, towards the stadium.

“What…” wheezed Olaf between breaths, “was that about?”

“That man used to be my colleague,” answered Max without looking away from Kolimpri. “We used to call him Thousand Feathers.”

“Why do you hate that man so much, Uncle Max? He looked nice.” Mia didn’t understanding Max’s hate.

“Should I be worried?” asked Olaf as he pulled his daughter closer. He understood what kind of man Kolimpri actually was.

“No, from what I’ve heard he’s only got eyes for one of his escaped slaves.” Max turned back to the blue haired duo once he confirmed Kolimpri had gone inside. “Whatever you do, don’t trust that man.”

Mia didn’t understand but she knew that Uncle Max knew more about the world than anyone else, so she nodded slowly. “Okay!”

Max looked at Olaf and then nodded. “Shall we get going?”

“Let’s gooooo!” shouted Mia and she ran straight towards the stadium.

Olaf sighed. “That girl’s got far too much energy…”

“Enjoy it,” said Max as he started to walk towards the arena. “Soon she’ll become a rebellious teenager.”

“Brrrrr, don’t remind me….” That sent a chill down Olaf’s spine. “If she’s going to be anything like her mother….”

“Nobody can match that, I’m afraid.”

“True that.” And the two men walked silently after the little girl.

But before they could walk very far someone else decided to talk to them.

“Well well, if it isn’t Mr. Bluebeard,” said an unfamiliar voice from behind them. Olaf and Max turned around and saw a plainly dressed man standing behind them. He had a dashingly handsome face though, one that would melt any woman’s heart but that didn’t matter too much. His posture and red hair revealed it all, this man was a Noble.

Max fell to his knees instantly and offered his salute. “Greeting, Lord Kafsi. It is an honor.”

Olaf, on the other hand, had no idea that this man was Noble so he just casually gave the man a hand. “Hi there, how are you doing?”

Lord kafsi looked at the extended hand and smiled. “Greetings, Lord Forgeron.” He then took the hand and shook it.

“Oho, you can drop the ‘lord’… ouch! What did you do that for?!” Max just punched him in the shin.

He thinks you’re a Nobleman, it might be in your best interest to pretend to be one, said Max with his internal voice.

Oh really? And why is that? Olaf had no intention of pretending to be something he’s not.

Because your hair color makes you and Ragnar targets.

A target of what?

“I’m sorry, what was that?” asked Lord Kafsi as the two suddenly fell silent.

“I mean, just Olaf will do fine,” said Olaf in the end.

“Haha, quite the commoner, aren’t you Olaf? You may call me Leo.”

“Well Leo, nice to meet you but I think I should get going, my son is fighting today and….”

“Ah, but so is my daughter. Amalia is in the same team as your son. Off course, she’s not nearly as skilled as him but I think she’s a good addition to their team.”

“Wait, you think Ragnar is good?” That self-taught boy who wield such a clumsy sword, good? Olaf had to see it to believe it. But then again, he did make it to the Royal Finals.

“Yeah, he even beat my daughter at the beginning of the year. That’s quite impressive, considering she can beat opponents twice her age. Off course, she handed his ass back to him when they had a rematch the next semester.” This made lord Kafsi smile a bit and Olaf laughed nervously.

Was it really such a big deal? Ragnar had written about it in letters but it had all seemed like child’s play to him. I mean, they’re just two kids fighting.

“But why don’t you join me on the Private Balcony? I’m sure you prefer to do things as a commoner but trust me, the view on there is spectacular.”

Olaf hesitated. The trip had really worn him out and he just wanted to watch his son’s fight and….

“We’ll gladly accept your offer,” said Max in Olaf’s stead. He turned to Olaf and nudged his head.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Call Mia and let’s go.

Olaf nodded. “Mia! Come here!”

When Mia heard her father calling she quickly ran back. She wasn’t alone though, she was pulling a blond boy along with her. It was obvious that the boy had no idea what was going on.

“Look daddy! Look what I found hiding in the bushes!” She was skipping happily as the boy solemnly followed. Her grip on his arm was just that strong.

Olaf sighed. “Oh god, I can’t let you out of my sight, now can I?!”

“Can I keep him, pleeeeaaaaase?!”

“I-I’m n-not someone’s p-property!” stuttered the boy. “Can y-you please let me g-go?”

“I think you should let the boy go, he’s not some kind of lost animal….” Max sighed. What was to become of this girl? Olaf was trying really hard not to laugh though and Lord Kafsi looked fairly amused as well.

Mia let go, but she wasn’t done with him yet. “Hey, why don’t you come watch the fight with us? I bet it’ll be more fun if there are many of us!”

“I-I don’t t-think that is s-such a good idea….”

“Aw come on! It’s gonna be fun, I just know it!”

“B-but but…” The boy was completely at a loss of words. Where did this girl get her energy from?

“So it’s decided then! Daddy, he’s coming with us!”

“Haha, that all depends on the benevolent Leo here. Think we can bring this guy along?”

The Noble smiled. “Off course, the more the merrier. But we really need to get going or we’re going to miss the fight.”

“Righty!” Mia grabbed the boy by the hand again. Let’s go.... You know, I never got your name… My name’s Mia by the way.”

The boy had completely given up at this point and so he just walked together with the girl. “I’m L-Lance.”

“Well Lance, has anyone ever told you that you look very pretty? You could almost pass as a girl!”

“T-thank you, I-I think?”

And with those words the kids rushed towards the stadium again, followed closely by the three grown-ups that were quietly laughing at the girl’s hyper activity.

But who was to blame her, she was about to see Ragnar and Ymil again for the first time in months.

****************************

“Listen up, children. Come closer.”

Our heroes had gathered in a remote waiting room where they were supposed to prepare for the battle they were about to fight. Teacher Jack was standing in the middle of the room and motioned all six of them to move in closer, which they did.

“As we all know, today is going to be a matter of life and death,” began Jack. “But with the amount of training you kids have gone through this should be a piece of cake.”

“Ha,” shouted Theo, “would you like your cake frozen or burnt to a crisp, Teacher?! We can serve both!”

Everyone laughed. In the face of such an important fight they really wanted to latch onto anything. Even Techer Jack revealed a smile on his face.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” said Ariel. “We’re facing Chrysos, remember?”

“Burnt eel it is!”

Everyone laughed again but this time their attentions went back to Jack. They knew that this discussion might be routine but it could very well save their lives.

“Let’s discuss our opponent’s again,” said Jack.

The people they were facing was a group of Noble and, as you might have guessed it, Alex Chrysos was their leader. The gang really didn’t like this arrogant twat and so they were really motivated to kick his ass.

“First we have Alex,” said Ymil as he recalled his combat style. “We fights using a halberd and, just like the rest of his family, tends to prefer electrical energy as main medium.”

“Tssk, you’d think he learned from his brother’s mistakes,” said Amalia. “Can we use the same tactics the Xylos brothers used back then? That water pool thing?”

“Doubtful,” answered Ymil. “I bet Alex won’t fall for that since he’s already seen it. All we can do is try to use these metal wires to conduct the electricity from our weapons to the ground. We can’t protect the rest of our bodies though.”

“Why not wear full metal armor then,” asked Rena as that seemed to be a logical thing to do.

“No can do, I’m afraid, “said Ariel and sighed. “We tested that but those things were more cumbersome than protective.”

“Secondly there are there is Kyra, the Star of the Northern Fist. She was hailed as martial arts prodigy back in her hometown and we don’t really know what her weakness is, other than pride.”

“Oh sure you do,” said Theo and he jabbed Ymil in the shoulder. “I’m pretty sure she has a weak spot for you.”

“Yeah dude, have you seen the way she looks at you?” Ariel loved these kinds of topics.

“Out of the question, she hates my guts. I mean, isn’t that obvious? She challenges me to a fight almost every month!”

Ariel smiled. “Ah, but are you sure she doesn’t want to ‘hit you’, but ‘hit on you’?”

“Children, we’re getting of topic,” interjected Jack. “Continue with the other members, Ymil.”

“Off course, sir. We then have the Antalagi twins. We know that they share their Souls and have the tendency to stick together in a fight. They are the mage and archer on the team but we can’t really say which is which.”

“Lisa is the one with the bow, Mona is the one with the Staff,” said Ariel as he looked to the side, bored. “Not that it matters….”

“How would you….” Rena wanted to ask how he would know such a thing but Ymil continued on.

“And last but not least there is Anne Podi. She is the Shield of their team and uses a tower shield to cover herself and her teammates. She’s quite adept at making force fields and her ability to wield a sword is quite admirable.”

“Meh, as if her shield could match my claymore,” said Ragnar nonchalantly.

“Hey Mr. Oh-So-Powerful. If I’m able to beat that puny little knife of yours, so can others.” Amalia was referring to their second fight. At the start of the second semester she challenged him to another duel where the same rules applied as before. He accepted off course but lost in the end. She too had only one demand: That if he wanted her as his girlfriend, he’d have to woo her over.

“Yeah yeah,” said Ragnar. He didn’t mind the loss all that much actually. The novelty had gone pretty quickly and he quickly grew bored of trying to chase her. That was all the relationship truly was, a relationship by name only. “But I think I can handle Chrysos, will you deal with Kyra Theo?”

“No problem! Leave the girl to me!”

“Now that you mention it, they’re all girls. He does take after his brother, doesn’t he….” Amalia found this to be another of Alex’s annoying traits, he was always surrounded by girls.

Ragnar sneered. “That’ll make it that much sweeter when I finally get to stick my blade in his neck.”

“No need to be morbid, Ragnar. Remember that you’ll be fighting with only four people.”

“Hey, I still think I count towards the fight!” exclaimed Ymil.

“Oh yes you do, you’re central to it all, but you can’t say you’ll be fighting much, now can you?” said Jack. The gang had devised a plan that was slightly unorthodox. Instead of using the standard setup used in most 5v5 fights, they had opted to make only four of them fight head on while the last, Ymil in this case, would supervise. They had tested and practiced the techniques quite extensively and Teacher Jack said that they should use it in this upcoming battle.

“Don’t worry Ymil, we trust in you,” said Rena.

Theo slapped Ymil on the shoulder. “We’re literally putting our lives in your hands, dude!”

“Maybe, but I still feel uncomfortable with the responsibilities…”

Teacher Jack looked at the boy and couldn’t help but praise him inwardly. This boy was acting all humble and shy but he knew better. The Night Courses have made this boy one of the most reliable warriors of their age. If only the others knew….

“Well, that’s enough dilly-dallying for now. You kids’d better get out there or they might disqualify you.” Jack urged them to go on.

“Good luck, guys!” Ariel waved the others goodbye walked towards the Arena. “I’ll be watching from the sidelines.”

“It really sucks that it isn’t a 6v6…” said Theo.

Ariel laughed. “Even then I couldn’t compete. Pink gems being kind of a taboo in this part of the world, remember?”

Anthropofagos, the man eaters of the South. Everybody knew that Ariel was a descendent from these barbarians but nobody actually knew the full story. Why was he even allowed to attend the Academy in the first place?

“I guess so,” said Theo and they walked further. He then turned to Ragnar and started to use his Inner Voice so only he could hear it.

Hey Ragnar, remember our deal, okay? If we win this I'm allowed to ask her.

Ragnar looked at his friend and revealed a hint of dislike. Heck, his entire face went sour. He really didn't want to admit it but he really didn't like what Theo was planning. He simply nodded back.

Ariel must have noticed Ragnar's face because he suddenly yelled out to him.“Ragnar! Make sure to bring me Alex’s head!”

Ragnar's frown suddenly transformed into a wide grin. He turned around and gave him the thumbs up. “No problem!” He'd worry about Theo's plans later, he had an opponent to face.

And then he faced the Arena again, the field where he was about to fight with fellow students. The Royal Finals were about to begin.

Author's Note: