The final day of the Pupil Tournament arrived. Pentarium’s waiting room was full as everyone checked the official participant ranking on their wall. It contained all one hundred and fifty participants as well as the tokens they possessed. The participants at the bottom had a single token, and weren’t in the waiting room. Fortunately, no one was interested in them.
“Hey, look at that…!”
“What? Oh, the number one rank? Of course, it’s… Huh?”
“… Surely it’s wrong?”
“It was installed today, so it shouldn’t be wrong?”
“If it’s true, how many times has she fought?”
The audience discussed in hushed whispers as they scrutinized the leaderboards. It was the last day, so it was clear who would take the top few spots in the rankings. Those who were satisfied with their rankings had decided to call it quits, since they didn’t want to risk losing.
In previous Pupil Tournaments, the winners usually had around thirty to forty tokens to their name, and only barely edged out their competitors in second and third. However, the top of the leaderboard looked very different this year.
[1st Place: No. 13 Sylvia – 95 tokens
2nd Place: No. 7 Pogani Wolgast – 21 tokens
3rd Place: No. 31 Robert Diane – 18 tokens]
To the utter shock of the spectators, the record for most tokens had been broken twice over.
“Ni…ninety-five tokens…?!”
“2nd place only has twenty-one tokens… Did no one else have time to collect tokens?”
“As expected of the Blue Tower Master’s disciple.”
As the disciple of the famous Blue Tower Master Blundell, Sylvia had been considered the favorite to win the competition. However, no one had imagined that she would show such dominance. If it wasn’t the mountain of muscle sitting next to her, the silver-haired girl in the corner of the waiting room would have been mobbed by the excited crowd.
Blundell sighed heavily. “Ah, young people these days have no spirit!”
He was lamenting the fact that Sylvia hadn’t been able to receive any challenges in the past few days. Blundell had tried to attract a few to give her a good experience, but the other participants had nearly turned tail and run as soon as they’d seen her prowess. Blundell was disappointed in these magicians who seemed so afraid of defeat. He couldn’t understand why they would give up a chance to compete safely with a superior magician.
The magicians in the area twitched every time Blundell’s magic power stirred restlessly. Their anxiety spiked when he reached for the staff on his back.
However, before his temper could explode, someone walked up to him.
“Good morning, Tower Master.”
“Hmm…?” Blundell’s expression turned into a puzzled frown when he saw who had spoken. “Vince’s disciple… your name was Theodore, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Theo replied calmly.
He had experienced the presence of the Blue Tower Master once already, so he was a little more comfortable with it now. In any case, Theo hadn’t come to confront the Blue Tower Master. Theo maintained his respectful attitude as he turned to glance at Sylvia. She was just as beautiful as ever, but Theo’s intuition felt a difference.
… It feels like I have a chance to win. Should I give it a shot?
Theo’s intuition wasn’t blaring in the same way it had when the hobgoblin chief had shown up. It was only a calm prickling at his neck. She would not be an easy opponent, but it didn’t feel impossible.
Blundell followed his gaze before regarding Theo thoughtfully. “Hoh, have you reached the 4th Circle? Congratulations.”
Theo replied politely, “Thank you.”
Blundell’s eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t have looked for me just to hear these words… Perhaps…?”
Vince had told Theo that Blundell was perceptive, and he lived up to that assessment. Blundell laughed as he stood up. Theo took a step forward to stand in front of Sylvia. Her eyes were fathomless, like she had already forgotten who he was. But that didn’t matter.
“Number 13, Sylvia. I challenge you to a fight in the Pupil Tournament,” Theo’s voice echoed in the hushed silence.
Some people laughed at his reckless challenge, while others were pleased at the promise of a comedy.
Sylvia just stared at him blankly. “… Me?”
In response, Theo held out the five tokens in front of him. They seemed shabby compared to Sylvia’s ninety-five tokens as they rattled against each other. However, the tournament’s first ranked participant couldn’t refuse a challenge. It was a rule to give everyone a chance to ascend to the top, making it a perfect opportunity for Theo.
Sylvia rose from her seat. “… Okay, I also wanted to reach a hundred tokens.”
She accepted Theo’s challenge. 𝐞𝗼𝐯𝐞𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Kukukung…
When the two contestants agreed on their match, the main hall of Pentarium was opened. The tournament was scheduled to end in two hours, so the match with Sylvia would be the final one.
“Oh? The main hall is open!”
“Does this mean the final is starting?”
“That reminds me, the Blue Tower Master’s disciple is participating this year…”
“It was worth coming here today.”
People gradually began to gather at the main hall to see the final match. They came to see the disciple of the Blue Tower Master. As the spectators filled the stands, the two competitors entered the main hall.
***
… Why are there so many people?
Theo stared at the crowd behind the transparent barrier in mild consternation. No one had attended his match with Philip, but this was the final match of the tournament against the favorite. There were more than a thousand people in the stands. Theo’s stomach started to twinge.
Fortunately, the transparent barrier also blocked out the crowd’s chatter.
“Theodore Miller? Have you ever heard of him?”
“No, I don’t know him.”
“I heard that he came with a magician called Vince…”
“Vince Haidel? Fire Killer Vince?!”
“He was only at the 3rd Circle a few days ago. This might be more boring than I thought.”
There were many doubts. A few remembered Vince, but no one seriously entertained the idea that Theodore could win. They could already tell that Sylvia’s abilities had already surpassed that of an Average. They doubted that another genius would show up in this tournament.
However, Vince, sitting next to Blundell, thought differently as he looked down at his disciple.
He murmured, “… Win the fight that can’t be won. Isn’t that the motto of the magic towers?”
Blundell smiled. “You remembered.”
Vince snorted. “The Red Tower Master always said those words.”
Blundell cocked his head. “You think he’s on the same level as Sylvia. That child Theodore, will he be able to win?”
“Well, it isn’t a story that should be told with my mouth,” Vince replied.
Peng~
As a ball of light rose between the two people, Theo drew on his magic power at full speed. He had watched Sylvia’s fights several times and noticed that she could cast unusually quickly. It only took her a single word to invoke 3rd Circle magic, and five to ten seconds to activate 4th Circle magic.
It’ll be hard to retake the initiative if I give her the opportunity. It may be unreasonable, but I have to act first!
Even if they started their spells at the same time, Theo would be half a beat slower than Sylvia. However, Theo had a means of storing magic in advance.
Memorize. Two Slots Open. Double Blaze Shell.
Theo called out, “Blow forward, strong winds!”
Two fireballs appeared above him as a gust of wind rustled behind them. Fire ranked first among the four attributes in terms of damage, while wind covered its only weakness, speed. The wind’s propulsion sent the Blaze Shells rocketing toward Sylvia.
Theo finished his incantation, “Gale Force!”
If this was a true battle, Theo would’ve used all his slots for the first attack. However, he had to hit his opponent thrice in a tournament match, so he couldn’t use all his cards on his opening blow.
The combination of Blaze Shell and Gale Force wasn’t something that could be stopped by ordinary defense magic.
Hit!
As a burning heat filled the air, Sylvia’s silver hair fluttered in the wind. She stepped forward as blue magic power exploded outward. Theo didn’t recognize the defensive spell, but he didn’t think it could block his twin Blaze Shells.
The Blaze Shells collided with the blue magic power with a thunderous explosion.
Kwaaaaang!
It was a bombardment that immediately silenced any audience member who doubted Theodore’s skill.