The room became bathed in silence. That mysterious book which had expended most of its reserved power recently in order to drive away invaders both old and young, faintly trembled. At last, it found its way back home, to its master!

In a few minutes time, the sleeping Non - Combatant student, with her arms wrapped tightly around an especially old - seeming tomb, gradually opened her eyelids.

…

*KACHAK!*

Rise: “...What happened to you? Your filthy and… you reek of another fight.

Noel: “…”

{What does a ‘fight’ even smell like?}

Noel: “Haah. Nothing, I just ran into a creepy person without a face who wanted to steal a worn out book that spits out fire and electricity in a forest with massive, mutated trees. I had to fight against a twenty meter tall Gargoyle monster thing as well that kept regenerating and moved almost as fast as me. Well, not really. It was just SO big that its inferior speed covered just about the same distance as my own. And it always seemed able to track my movements…”

Rise: “…?

(The fuck is he talking about? This weirdo…)”

Noel: “HAAAHH! *Plops on bed* And this time, all I wanted to do was go out for a stroll – a walk around campus! Can’t I even have a moment of peace at this little grand school for heroes?”

Rise: “So...you got into a fight. Again.”

Noel: “…Let – Let’s see what else is on tv right now.”

*Click*

Rise: “The only thing we can watch is the broadcasting from the stadium Dome. Meaning if you turn that o---

…

*Click*

...too late.”

Roaring and cheers echoed out, while an announcer tried appeasing the audience, to no avail. It was getting very hyped and hectic in the stadium dome… and the drones couldn’t help casting the on – lookers in a judgmental light – as if capturing the dutiful and devout sports team fans within an important away game where their cheers were highly appreciated.

Only three figures could be seen inside of a smoky portion of the nearly five mile long platform. Right in the center, stood Dome – the referee of today’s set of arena matches. On one side, stood Luxor Al Amin, the young prodigious painter from Egypt. He was clutching his mouth while blood quite obviously seeped through the closed fivers as if his hand was a poorly- made dam. And on the other side… a young boy donned in a loose sweatshirt and sporting shoulder-length, brown hair with sunset red and orange tips stood there, practically unharmed! His name is… Tetra Terror – Mind manipulator extraordinaire!

Aleatha Eseria: “Hmm. Two wins… very good. It seems some fans are beginning to take notice… Do your job ‘Host’ and put them under once again.”

?: “Mmmm. Yyyes ma’am!

Ahem.

Everybody~ Everyone, please calm down~” I realize this situation is a STRANGE one! Who could have ever thought that Luxor Al Amin, this magnificent King known for following his own rhythm, would lose not once, but TWICE to a Mind master like Tetra, when mental resilience has always been his forte! What is going on here?! Well, to answer, I have with me a certain ‘note’ written by Nilia herself! It reads, ‘Tetra Terror has grown much stronger than before because he has been training with me under my family’s secret strengthening methods. Naturally, one ‘Luxor’ isn’t enough to pose a challenge.’

WOW! Secret training methods??! Sign me up…! If the Goddess of our freshman, THE unbeatable queen herself who trounced The Former Prince of Shades, says as much… then I feel like… I feel like I HAVE to believe her words! There seems to be a change in the ladder that ranks the Kings, everyone!”

-

Elijah: “...(I just can’t get used to it. ‘Former’ If there was a way I…

No. I dare not say such an abhorrent thing…! I’m, I’m different now. I’m changed.)”

Brennan: “Ignore it. It’s not worth it. Definitely not. They’re just trying to stir up trouble.”

Li Shun: “Yeah, I don’t know where this fool came from, but I want Eric back! He was impartial! This guy has been rooting for all the ones with shitty personalities!”

Elijah: “Ahaha! Thanks, but I don’t mind it, really…! You can’t change the…

...The past.”

Mr. Abrams: “This energy gathering among the crowd… That announcer… just who is he? How far has this criminal extended its roots into this school? At the least, I need to put a stop to this now!”

…

After Noel left, and the wild – child himself, Rise, turned off his room’s television in favor of rest, many interesting spectacles took place.

Primarily being Rhys Abrams actually showing up to fight!

Normally, he would just skip it, and receive the corresponding punishment later. That’s how his personality works, and his fans already know this. Which is why they were caught completely off guard after he… he walked through one of the arena entrances! He was ACTUALLY planning on participating inside the 30 student King’s gauntlet match!

...But, things once more, took a sharp twist that nobody expected.

His first opponent was a super strength and invulnerability empowered student… and his name was also Harvey!

In the match, people laughed at the strange coincidence and held their expectations slightly higher due to the uncanny coincidence. How well could this King Harvey knock-off fair against the Prince of Dreams, the Elemental King himself and undefeated freshman of this year – Rhys Abrams?!

...The answer… was not so long.

In fact; he didn’t even last three seconds before being blasted by a horizontal hurricane – like wind blast , and directly flew five miles away!

The arena walls glowed and thanks to the magicians stationed nearby, Harvey number two didn’t become a bloody stain. Of course, that didn’t mean he wasn’t still in critical danger.

The whole entire stadium grew silent at this moment. But Rhys’ds changed temperament didn’t stop there.

His next opponent was a petite female wielding gravity powers… and her name happened to be Savannah!

...Was this a coincidence? Or were these opponents deliberate?

Like the opponent before her, three seconds hadn’t managed to pass yet, when she was struck by an inferno of fire from a steaming red and boiling hot cloud overhead. A magic ward encapsulated her body, but the metal platform beneath her was melted away. Thanks to those mages protecting her, yet another student was spared from a surprisingly gruesome and quick demise.

Sweat began to drip down the backs of the countless Rhys fans present. Was this… was this angry faced beauty really their beloved Rhys?

Yet, again…

Once more, there was a final surprise for everyone! His third opponent turned out to be, in fact, a child named Milia! Although her appearance did not resemble Nilia at all, things now became clear to everybody watching – from students and teachers, to staff members, the substitute announcer and that new Balanced Lands leader herself.

This was clear provocation! He actually wanted to challenge - no!

He was sending a message! The first undefeated King was sending out a message to those with shaky rumors surrounding them! But then… But then, why didn’t ‘Momo’ get one, a body double, after Harvey?

Either way… The 3 substitutes were all beaten in less than three seconds, Milia was downed the very moment Dome shouted for the match to begin! Nobody saw what caused her to fall.

After these three matches finished, Rhys’s fierce eyes became listless as usual, and he immediately walked out of the arena – not caring one bit about being disqualified for refusing to fight.

In order to appease the bewildered fans and try at clearing up that awkward atmosphere – The first ‘King vs King’ match was held right away. It was a match between Momo and Harvey.

The first match found Harvey trying to shatter the floor arena again – except right away. Momo got a hundred good hits in, but eventually the floor was directly shattered. Still, unlike Harvey’s last opponent, Momo didn’t lose his balance OR cool over it. He used the larger rubble as springboards to maneuver around the place! After a long exchange, Momo ended up being defeated in the first fight, but after that, he directly won the next two. It was a battle of wits, brawn and most importantly, of tactics. He conserved his energy at the beginning, mainly playing a game of tag and employing hit and run tactics. While Harvey took to the stage with everything he had, Momo managed to save his strength for the later matches.

And it wasn’t like Harvey didn’t plan to conserve his strength either… it’s just a lot more difficult for him to land a strike against Momo than the reverse. Even if he can tank most of Momo’s hits, their stings will still stack after a long period of time. Within this collision, Speed triumphed over power.

And what came following suit, was an incredibly confusing one – sided victory for Tetra against Luxor – but the strangest part of this match was, like Rhys… it didn’t seem as if Tetra even DID anything when Luxor collapsed to the arena platform in his own blood!

---