Vol. 5 Ch. 2

While he was airborne, Oltrin aims his magic circle toward him.

“Right… there.”

He then activates his spell, “Guide me, spirits of the air, and let me blow away my troubles, GREAT WIND!”

A strong gust of wind comes out of his magic circle and approaches the airborne child.

The wind hits him causing his trajectory to go off. The unanticipated event makes him panic.

“WHAT HAPPENED?!”

He focuses on the ground.

“I’M SO CLOSE TO THE GROUND! I NEED TO LAND SAFELY!” he thought.

“WATE-”

Yal and Horka lock their gaze at Phize and magic circles form from their right hands.

“Why are they looking at me?”

Yal chanted, “Reject!” while Horka chanted, “REPEL!” both punching Phize with their fists resulting in the young child being blown away.

“GYAH!”

While being blown back, Hazel was running towards the goal until she suddenly noticed him flying at an oddly fast rate.

“PHIZE!”

She points her hand where he would land. But then suddenly, a bunch of feathers catches him.

“Where did these come from?” he wondered.

“WAIT! I HAVE NO TIME FOR THAT! I LOST MY LEAD!”

He gazes between the students running beyond him. He spots a large structure and then came to a conclusion as to what it was.

“It’s a stadium!” he perceived.

He peers over at the running students.

“At this rate, I’ll be left behind,” he comprehended.

He stands up.

“I can’t catch up to them on time,” he thought.

Looking at the ground, he was conceptualizing and devising a plan.

“I’m not sure if this will work but from what I recall in science class back in my world, fire expands and becomes lighter,” he ascertained.

“That will make me go faster. If I use wind, then I still have a shot. I haven’t tried casting two spells at once but it’s worth trying.”

“FIRE! WIND!”

Two magic circles form, fire comes out from the left hand and wind comes out from his right hand.

Aiming 45° prior to the ground, he launches himself off the ground.

“WOAH! I’M GOING FASTER! But I can feel my mana draining faster and I feel…”

After rising at an exponential rate, he loses control of his two spells, losing height in midair.

“WOAH!”

“UNSTABLE!” he panicked.

His left hand was ahead of his right hand.

“I need to place them properly,” he theorized.

He positions his left hand inward and his right hand outward.

Going faster and faster, the tress in the surroundings have all but gotten out of the scenery, he is approaching a great stadium patterned with white and red.

“I need to land soon,” he thought.

Waiting at the entrance of the stadium lay their principal.

Trif was not too far away from the entrance. Once he was near enough, Eauvis spoke, “Go in.”

With that, he went inside the stadium.

Then a loud voice screamed from the sides of the stadium, “FIRST PARTICIPANT OF THE FIRST EVENT, TRIF GUISE!”

Phize heard the broadcast, though he was pissed by this news.

“That jerk got first place? I need to get there.”

The voice announced to the people, “SECOND PARTICIPANT, GALT WIS! THIRD PARTICIPANT, OLTRIN UITA!”

He aims both of his arms to his side.

“I’m gonna make use of my skills. They aren’t only used for canceling after all.”

He hypothesized, “If I lower the amount of mana used, then my spells would get weaker.”

Concentrating on this idea, he closes his eyes, and as he expected his two spells get weaker. Of course, this causes him to suddenly fall.

“AAAH! IT WAS TOO SUDDEN! I NEED TO BALANCE MYSELF!” he was alarmed.

He then snaps back to his senses, “MY ARMS!”

He directs them to the ground making his falling force weaker and ultimately making him stable.

The voice shouted once more, “FIFTY-SEVENTH PARTICIPANT, HAZEL PAUFIA!…”

“Hazel! I can’t take too long, I have to catch up to them. I need to speed up.”

He deactivates his two active spells and then continues falling at high speed.

“It’s a risk but I’ll do it anyway,” he thought.

Closely approaching the ground, he waits for the perfect moment.

“NOW!” he thought.

“FLOOD!”

A magic circle forms; great amounts of water come out from it and his falling speed was reduced.

The students who were heading in his direction slip and fall down because of the water that Phize produced.

A boy anxiously shouted, “AHH! DANG IT!”

A girl in the crows pushes the others, “MOVE OUT THE WAY!”

Another boy complains, “Now I’m soaking wet.”

Broadcasted from the stadium, “SIXTY-SIXTH PARTICIPANT, TAYA VISE.”

“I used up too much mana in this run, but I have to hurry up, now.”

He runs towards the entrance to the stadium.

Eauvis greets him, “Not too shabby, Sir Drestil.”

“Thank you, sir!”

Finally, he enters the stadium.

He views the interior of the stadium, it was filled with seats, many students are sitting on them, and a big round platform is found not too high right in the middle.

“Woah.”

The voice announces his name to the crowd, “SEVENTY-FIRST PARTICIPANT, PHIZE GRATHAM DRESTIL!”

“I-I made it.”

He was overjoyed that he dropped on the ground on his knees.

“Thank” he pants, “God.”

Afterward, a man wearing a black suit and beige pants approaches him.

In the background, another one passes through, “SEVENTY-FIFTH PARTICIPANT, QI LASQA!”

The man taps Phize’s shoulder and leads him to a room under the seats of the stadium.

Unconsciously, he found himself following the man.

Approaching the room, the man opens the door. Inside it, was filled with competitors sitting on blue-coated chairs.

Most of them are drinking water from bottles while some chose to sleep.

“You can sit over there,” the man instructed him while pointing to an empty seat.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You may get some water bottles from over there,” he says while pointing to a corner.

“Make sure to replenish your mana for the next event.”

He sits down then the man left the room.

“This… is a pretty wide room,” he thought upon further analysis of the place.

“OUR FINAL PARTICIPANT, LILI AUNDRABEAU!” the voice announced.

Many students are gathered at the entrance but Eauvis prevents them from entering.

“I’m sorry, but the rest of you may not go in as participants any longer, but as fellow spectators. Feel free to leave or go inside, if you please.”

A boy was in dismay, “DAMMIT!”

Another one was disappointed, “I was looking forward to showing off my skills too.”

…

..

.

The room has been filled with students.

“Wha- so many.”

The last participant enters, they have blonde hair and have two cat ears on top of their head with a tail sticking out.

“Wait, is that a… catgirl? First time I’ve ever seen one in my life,” he thought.

The man who led him earlier goes inside the room one more time.

“Please rest easy, the next event will begin in 1 hour. It is called Owner of the Sword. Good luck to all of you.”

Again, he left.

“Owner of the Sword? What is that?”

Trif was laughing, “PFT! AHAHHAHA! WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT? OWNER OF THE SWORD? They should’ve at least come up with a better title.”

Standing out from the room, the students unreluctantly put their gaze at him.

“What a show-off,” Phize thought.

He felt someone tap his shoulder from behind.

He investigates by looking behind him only to see Hazel smiling brightly.

“What’s that smile for?”

“Congrats! NOW I CAN FIGHT YOU FOR REAL, MUAHAHAHA”!

What kind of laugh is that, it’s horrible.

“Can’t you wait until the next event?”

“Nope, I wanna see if you’re someone I should fear or not. But I know you won’t let me down.”

“That’s kinda expecting too much, isn’t it?”

“Let’s see.”

“That’s a weird way of saying congrats,” he thought.

He looks at the door.

“Owner of the Sword, I wonder what type of weird game is coming next time?”

END OF EPISODE 26