Vol. 5 Ch. 3

The man enters the room and all the attention was focused on him and him solely.

“Get ready students, it’s time for the second event. Stand up and follow me,” he reported.

The students leave their water bottles and follow the man outside into the wild field arena.

“Woah,” Phize thought.

The crowd from the stadium went wild and cheered as loud as they could. Amongst the voices, the man went to the center of the arena.

“Alright! Everyone gather up here!”

And as the man commanded, the children were now before him.

“Before we begin our next event, I welcome you all for attending this big event. Our next event is entitled ‘Owner of the Sword’, it is a celebration represented in a form of a game in big events to honor the swordsmen who fight for our country, Veril. In order to honor those swordsmen, namely the Ten Knights of Heaven.”

Two men arrive, coming from directions left and right behind the man were carrying two arrays of swords.

“Now I shall explain the rules of the game…”

“Finally… that was a long introduction,” Phize thought.

“Everyone will receive a wooden sword, each sword will have your name engraved on it. PASS THEM OUT!”

The two men drop their load and carry the swords from it, then pass them out to the students. The man from the right carried Phize’s wooden sword. Not long, Phize receives his sword.

“How did they…” he was in awe as he analyzed his wooden sword.

Just below that, the name ‘Drestil’ is engraved onto the sword’s blade.

…

..

.

The men finished giving out the swords.

“The wooden swords are made out of hardwood, they are sturdy, but we advise you to take care of them.”

Out of curiosity, Phize brushed his against the surface of the sword.

“SO SMOOTH!” he fancied its texture.

Hazel, as well, was staring at her sword in amazement. Their swords were so refined that they could even rival a polished iron sword.

“WOAAH! I never knew wooden swords could be this fancy!” she shouted in astonishment.

The man continued explaining, “The objective for all of you is… to give at least 2 swords to the collector.”

One word caught Phize’s attention, “Collector? What does he mean?”

Qi raised his hand.

The man looked at Qi and nodded, queuing that it was alright to ask his question.

“Sir, what do you mean by ‘collector’?”

“Good question, there will be 4 collectors around the stadium equally distanced from each other, placed specifically on the four quadrants. The collector is indeed, what they imply, they will be the ones receiving the swords you have collected.”

“Collect?” Phize wondered.

“That’s right. All of you will be fighting with swords, though magic is technically allowed, I think preserving your mana is best for the two upcoming events. All of you must grab a sword and keep your sword as well. If let’s say, an enemy gives your sword to the collector, then you are hereby disqualified from the tournament and you must drop the swords you carry at once.”

“D-DISQUALIFIED?” he was shocked at the sudden use of the word.

The rules that were announced caused a commotion among the students.

“The first 32 students who manage to give at least two swords including their own, will move on to the next event. I wish you all the best of luck.”

The man and those who delivered the swords leave and head inside the room they just left.

A loud voice is heard from all around the stadium, “The next event will begin in 20 seconds. 19 seconds. 18 seconds…”

Trif was eagerly waiting for the competition to start, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.”

“17 seconds…”

“Make sure you don’t lose, boys.”

“16 seconds…”

The three lackeys, Oltrin, Yal, and Horka answered back at full force, “Yes, sir!”

“15 seconds…”

On the other hand, Hazel was planning, “I’ll rush Phize instantly,” she said so as she let out a chuckle.

“13 seconds…”

“That’ll put him off.”

“11 seconds… 10 seconds…”

“Why isn’t anyone moving away? They’re fidgeting though,” Phize mulled.

“9 seconds…”

He stepped back from the crowd of people.

“8 seconds…”

“If I step back, then I won’t get caught up in any conflict instantly, of course, backing away won’t stop it, haha,” he laughed to himself.

“5 seconds.”

“4 seconds.”

“3 seconds.”

“2 seconds.”

“1 second…”

“LET THE SECOND EVENT… BEGIN!”

Trif immediately makes a move, “EXPLOSION!”

Phize caught on, “THAT JERK!”

Involuntarily, he thought of the word, “CANCEL!” and carried out his way of canceling the spell. Trif’s magic circle shattered into pieces.

“What?” Trif stared blankly at where his magic circle was a few moments ago.

“He was planning to eliminate almost all of the students in a single blow, what a maniac,” Phize deduced.

“PHIZE!” the voice of Hazel permeated.

“Huh?”

Hazel was running towards him, she was by no means, slow. Once he was within her range, she went with a downwards attack.

He dodged back missing him by only a centimeter.

“WOAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” he questioned her.

“KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!” she shouted aggressively.

She lifted her sword and changed the direction of her sword to an attack to the right.

Luckily, Phize was able to dodge back again.

“I KNOW YOU WERE GONNA AIM FOR ME, BUT SO EARLY IN THE EVENTS?”

“How brave of you to assume, you’ll be moving on to the next event.”

Hazel raised her hand and a rock wall formed behind Phize’s back. He viewed the wall from behind and was consterned.

“WHAT?”

She kicked Phize to the wall, “GYAH!” and slashed her sword to the right.

“OH CRA-”

He ducked under to miss her sword then released a counterattack with a gash to the left.

She quickly retracted her sword and clashed it with his sword.

“Not bad,” she commented.

“Can’t we like, fight in the next event instead?”

“We can’t be sure we might get paired up in that event. SO…”

She attacked with a riposte.

He ducked under her attack and chanted, “CREATE SAND!”

Sand fell from the magic circle formed slightly above his right hand and then sprayed it onto her.

She covered herself but some of the sand still get into her eyes.

“MY EYES!” she yelled out in pain.

He attacked Hazel with a pierce but since some of the sand was still out in the air, some of it get in his eyes.

“MY EYES!” he bawled just as much as she did.

“DANG IT! I SHOULD’VE PROTECTED MY OWN EYES,” he figured.

She drew back.

Both spent their time rubbing their eyes.

“My plan failed,” he perceived.

Not wasting a single second further, she stood up and rushed him, preparing to release another blow of attacks.

“IT’S MY TIME FOR THE OFFENSIVE!

He released a descending attack.

Hazel steered clear of his attack and went to the left.

His mind was anxious, “WHAT?! I HAVE TO-”

She went for a sinistral attack aiming at the neck.

He retreated and blocked her attack with his sword.

She punched him in his stomach with her left hand.

“GLACK!”

He fell to his knees and involuntarily dropped his sword.

“I… forgot I could make use of things other than my sword,” he fathomed.

He gazed at his sword.

“M-My sword… I can’t… my stomach hurts…”

“Dammit…”

Hazel grabbed his sword.

“Huh? W-Wait…”

“I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to do better than that to beat me.”

She turned around and approached a collector.

“See you next year at the tournament!”

“N-NO!”

“DAMMIT! STAND UP! I CAN’T LET MYSELF BE SO EASILY BEAT HERE!”

He chanted, “WIND!”

Hazel looked behind her.

She gets hit by the wind and trips.

“HIYAH!”

She dropped her sword and his.

“Ow…”

On the other hand, Phize slowly stood up.

“I know she’s going easy on me. But even so… that act almost seems like she’s mocking my skill. I don’t want that. I want to show… that I’m capable, that I’m strong… ONCE MORE!”

“Don’t… you dare… LOOK DOWN ON ME! COME ON… AND FACE ME SERIOUSLY!””

END OF EPISODE 27