“Guys, leave me out of the next round. I’m not that good in a fight and my powers are more suited to healing and restoring your stamina after.” Kyrion insisted.

Damian looks at his friend and then the rest of the group. “I see. Anyone else need to sit out this round?”

Kiara looked to their leader. “Yeah, I need some time to regain my mana, those shots took a bit out of me.”

Nico also stepped in. “I used a lot of power last round as well. In a single burst. Still a bit woozy, not sure I’d be mush help in a fight right now.” He bit his tongue.

“Well. That settles that. Kyrion, do you mind topping us off before we go in?”

“Not at all.” Kyrion begins restoring stamina and mana to his teammates. It didn’t use up much of his mana.

“Thanks.” Damian said. “Ok everyone. This round we will be defending Everest?”

“M-me? Why. I’m squishy.” Everest stammered.

“You’re one of the fastest in the group, and you’re capable of sneaking out and hiding if necessary. Noah is a defender, I’m an attacker, Wura isn’t as evasive and Asela is even more squishy without the evasiveness.”

“Hey! I can fight too!” Asela protested.

“What? Oh yes, you’re our burst specialist. We can’t have you being the target for attacks!” Damian rephrased.

Everest squinted his eyes. “Fine. I guess you need your ace to be an ace this round two.”

“Yes. Please.” Damian begged with his words, but his eyes were in his usual deadpan expression.

The group devised plans for the next round and made their way to the second round site. Unfortunately, Kyrion, Kiara, and Nico were left out, unable to see the fight.

“Well. I guess they don’t want us seeing the other participants fight.” Nico began muttering to himself.

“Ah I see.” Kyrion brought a finger to his chin. As though he was thinking deeply.

Kiara looked at him. “Do you?”

“Who knows.” Kyrion shrugged and made his way to where some of the other students were sitting out.

Kyrion spotted a familiar-looking kid with green hair. He was sitting next to two others who had bows.

“Hey. I thought Brion’s team only had five people.” Kiara said aloud.

“The requirements for this trial was to have teams of eight though. So I’m curious about who those others might be.” Nico answered.

“Yeah...Those two are really nothing special. Nico could probably take them with a broomstick.”

“That weak?” Nico pushed up his glasses.

“They skipped almost all of the training sessions, it seems to be that they were let in for political reasons. Still makes me wonder why they were put in this round.”

“Probably for the same reason. They probably demanded to be let in. To think they left my cousins out for them however.”

“Cousins… Oh the archers?” Nico asked.

“Yeah those two. Though archery is just a cornerstone of our techniques.”

“All I see you use is a bow...I guess you have your secrets.” Kyrion shrugged.

“I told you what I could do...Its just I’m a bit fragile at the moment.”

“Fair enough. Wanna go talk to your cousins?”

“Sure.” Kiara led the way.

“Hey Ken and Ven, why are you two sitting out.” Kiara asked her cousins.

“Because the two other nobles on our team demanded it.” Started Ken

“Since Brion’s family is in an alliance with theirs, it was more a requirement than a choice.” Ven finished.”

“So they risk the team’s victory for that.” Kiara reapplied.

“Our leader is confident in himself to the point he thinks he could do the work of five on his own.” Ken pinched the bridge of his nose.

“We’re probably gonna lose.” Ven sighed

The spear user was leaning back on a seat, visibly irritated. Kyrion, like a true genius, decided to speak with him.

“So...are you ok?” Kyrion asked him.

“What? No.” The green-haired boy answered.

“Then whats your name?”

“Are you messing with me?”

“No, I’m Kyrion.” He said with a grin.

The gears seemed to click in his head. “Very funny. My name is Ander Fulwind. I heard a little about you from my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“Lingar, he’s fine by the way. Full recovery.”

“Are you mad that you can’t fight?” Kyrion asked.

“No? I’m mad that I can’t see the fight.” Ander stated.

“So your fine with the nobles taking your spot.”

“I volunteered. I thought I could watch the fights play out, get some information on our oh so glorious leader. If he wins great, if he loses then that’s fine too. So long as I get to see him go all out.”

“You know. Your brother is a lot nicer than you.” Krion stated.

“Probably. You seem too happy to have been kicked out. Did you volunteer as well?”

“Yes. I’m not much good in a direct flight.” Kyrion stated.

“I see. Is it fine telling me this?” Ander seemed a little less frustrated.

“I’m pragmatic sometimes. The teachers didn’t say we couldn’t watch. I’m sure we can find a seat.

“Just because they didn’t say we couldn’t doesn’t mean we should.” Ander quoted.

Kyrion looked around for Nico to see if he could help. But for some reason, they were missing. “Odd.”

The two sat in awkward silence for quite a few minutes as Kiara spoke with her cousins. Finally, when she was done, he stood up. “Nice to meet you Ander.”

“Likewise.” Ander replied.

The two groupmates left in search of Nico.

“When did he leave?” Kyrion asked.

“I’m not sure he followed.” Kiara replied.

“Huh.” The two made it back to a meditating Nico. “I guess he really was exhausted.”

“We should get ready as well.” So the two began to rest.

Nico went for a walk after his teammates went to mingle, far away from where the others were watching. He brought out one of his journals and tore out an empty page, folding it into a paper bird and releasing it into the wind. It fluttered to life and over the battleground. Below he could see Damian’s team and their opponents in the first round. Albeit a bit late, he made sure to keep tabs on the fight.

Everest was nowhere to be seen. Which meant everything was going well. Traps were littered about, and Noah stood strong, blocking attacks aimed at Asela.

Damian darted in and out of engagements, not striking to hit but gauge their capabilities.

Their leader seemed to have been some sort of support-type spirit master. Tendrils from under his feet propelled his allies forward, and they pulled. Them back, lessening the blows that they sustained.

Damian tried to attack him a few times, but on each attempt, one of his allies would suddenly be in the way of an oncoming attack.

Damian jumped back after his fourth attempt failed and began to circle around to his opponent’s side. Releasing a trickle of yellow energy enough to coat his sword in light. He flourished it and attacked, aiming to blind whoever appeared with a flash of light.

It succeeded, and both the leader and his shield were blinded. A wave of fire crashed into the two, knocking them prone.

The other three rushed to defend their allies, but the fight was already over. Everest stood over their leader’s wooden blade at their neck.

“I concede.” He said quickly, underneath the pressure.

“Great,” Everest replied.

Their proctor for this round was an elderly man with a cane. He seemed to look up at the paper bird, and the thing appeared in his hands. Nico lost sight of the area.

“What was that?” Nico huffed, feeling the reverb from the destruction of the item.

Nico made his way back to the group with a blank expression on his face. He took a seat next to his allies and entered a meditative state.

Damian and the others returned with a triumphant look on their faces. Most had scratches, at most, save for Noah, who got pretty banged up. Minor bruises formed where attacks had hit his armor hard.

Kyrion spent a bit of his mana healing Noah and restoring Damian’s stamina. Asela traded positions with Nico, took a seat, and began to refill her mana pool. Kiara swapped with Wura and began to rest as well.

After topping everyone off, the team watched the spectacle of Brion, who had become slightly injured in the last fight. Over his shoulders were two familiar-looking kids. Kyrion couldn’t remember their names for the life of him. The other two behind him seemed relatively uninjured and unspent.

“They must have gone through the ringer.” Kyrion muttered.

“Looks like Brion had to literally carry them through.” Nico observed.

“That probably won’t show well to those watching.” Damian said bluntly.

“Can I go heal him? He is on the other end of the bracket?” Kyrion asked.

“To be honest I kinda wanted to fight him anyway. But are you sure you want to reveal your cards to people we may have to fight later?” Damian observed his ally. “Just don’t overdo it. We may need you in the next round.”

“Ok.” Kyrion wandered his way over to Brion’s group.

“Looks like you got hit pretty hard. Let’s make a deal. I heal you now and sometime later you owe me two favors. Just you by the way, I don’t have the mana to spare.”

“Why would I make a deal? What do you mean by healing?” He grunted.

“I do something for you now, and later on you do something for me.” Kyrion answered.

“I’m not going to give up if we face each other in the finals!” He bellowed.

“I’m not asking you too. Heck it won’t even need to be soon. I’m a farmer, long term is the game.” Kyrion replied. “Now do you want the healing or not?”

“I’ll take it then.” Brion grunted as Kyrion placed his hands on the taller boy’s shoulder.

Brion winced as a wave of cool mana flowed into them as the wounds he suffered were cleared and lost blood was replaced. Dirt and residue were removed as well. Clean skin grew over open wounds leaving no marks behind.

Ander looked dumbfounded at first, and then understanding took hold. As he realized, the final piece of a puzzle had just appeared. “So you’re the one.” He muttered to no one in particular.

Kyrion removed his hands and observed his patient care. As though eye him for any blemishes. The healing took a lot more out of him than it did for Noah and Damian, which meant that there was a lot of damage done. This guy could take some hits and keep on standing quite impressive in and of itself. At first, Kyrion had no intention of actually cashing in the favor, but that favor could prove very useful in a world like this one.

Brion flexed his fingers and stretched a bit, popping quite a few bones as he felt around. “I can see why Damain didn’t want to join my team. Healing is a powerful ability, thanks.”

“Yeah, just don’t be as reckless next time. That used up a bit of my mana.” Kyrion looked at Brion’s unconscious baggage and felt that he really should know who they were. They must not have been important.” See you in the finals.” Kyrion stated as he returned to his group.

Brion looked to his allies and then to Kyrion, who was now leaving. “I see that I may have needed a bit more support. These two held me back quite a bit. Next time I get the chance I’ll be sure to recruit a healing type spirit master.”

“That one is rare in and of itself. He’s the one that was saved by brother, and pushed him into the expert tier.” Ander looked on in surprise.

“Really? He’s only Fledgling rank like us right?” Said the quarterstaff wielder.

“Yes, Tyler. In all fairness his ability only slowed down the damage being done to his body. He had his own healing ability, they stacked together and were enough to slow it down until he could get proper help. The leftover mana from the poison joined his own mana core and since he already had the necessary cores he just broke through after he woke up. The ability to fight off poison and disease as a healer is a rare one among healers. Leaving no sign of damage behind is ever rarer. When you cast your net there will be things you need to look for is all I’m saying.” Ander rattled off.

Tyler wrote a few things down in his notebook. “Good to know.”

The greataxe wielder looked around and scratched his head.” So if we fight his team, be sure to take him out of the fight first?”

“Drake you’re as blunt as ever but yes. No offence to him, but definitely. Try to be gentle though. I am grateful for this second chance we may have lost if I had to continue in this condition.” Brion commanded.

“Right!” They all said at once.

The third round started and ended as Kyrion sat on the sidelines. Oddly enough, they had an easy time with their opponents, and Kyrion didn’t have to do much healing. Their opponents seemed to have still been tired from their last fight. The semi-finals for them seemed to go quite well.

Damian waited expectantly for Brion’s team to return, but oddly enough, it was a different team that made it back.

Edwin’s team returned without so much as a scratch on them, refreshed and ready to fight. Ander, who had stayed back another round, looked on in surprise.

Kyrions face was a mixture of shock and confusion, as he didn’t know how strong his roommate was, but he definitely wasn’t this strong. At least he didn’t seem strong from Kyrion’s own “observations.”

“Looks like we have to go with the explosive thorns strategy. Kyrion, are you ready? We don’t know what to expect from them but if they beat Brion’s team they will be dangerous!” Damian commanded

Kyrion switched out with Everest, and Asela switched out with Kiara. Noah was replaced by Wura.

“Edwin? Really? He couldn’t be this strong.” However, Kyrion did feel a chill on his neck when they spoke.