The day of the tournament came, and I was up early at 5 A.M.. It was probably because I was waking up that early for the past three months. I was still tired when I woke up this early, though.
Man this sucks, I thought to myself walking through the silent, empty halls. I made my way to the front of the school where a teleportation gate was set up. It would take us right to the tournament venue.
Arya was already here. She was up early as usual. She must be nervous to fight Maxwel again. I wonder if she slept. She helped me so much these past three months, and I had no idea how to make it up to her. She spent her precious time training me, when that time could've been used as training for her. I guess fighting her in the finals was the only way to repay her properly, since that was the whole reason she trained me.
She must've sensed me behind her because she turned around and smirked.
"You ready to get your ass beat?" She asked crudely.
I rolled my eyes, "Such a crude way of speaking, especially for our renowned student council president."
She smiled and punched me in my arm, "Hey, I think we've gotten close enough not to be so formal." She paused, her eyes gleaming, "Besides, I would rather be your friend than some, "renowned student council president."
I smiled, "I guess you're right." I paused, my words got caught in my throat, I wasn't sure if I should be asking a question like this at this time. "How should I repay you for all you've done for me in these past three months?"
She turned around before speaking, as if not to let me see her face, "It's simple, make it to the finals, and fight me."
Just then, Lyla showed up.
"Caelum," she paused as if just noticing Arya, "And Arya."
There was an awkward silence between the three of us before I spoke up.
"You're participating, Lyla?" I asked.
"Sure am," she flexed, "And I'm going to beat you both."
"You're going to have to get through Caelum, that is no easy task, Lyla." She then finally turned around to face us again, "That's because I trained him myself." She said proudly. "You guys are in the same bracket." She pointed at us, one after the other.
"No fair," Lyla huffed.
The teleportation gate finally turned on with a loud whoosh sound, and someone stepped out. He was a tall, muscular man, with short black hair and a scruffy beard.
"Is this everyone from Seprad Academy?" He asked, his voice boomed. I covered my ears. Lyla did the same thing.
"Yes, it is, Arya, Caelum, and Lyla." Arya held firm against the man's voice.
"Good, you may go through." This time the man's voice wasn't loud, but commanding.
Arya looked back at us, "Are you guys ready?"
Lyla and I both nodded, and we stepped through the teleportation gate.
When I stepped through the teleportation gate, everything went black, completely dark, as if I'd just been thrown into the deepest depths of space, for a single second. During that second, however, was the worst sickness I had ever felt. But once that second was over, I went back to feeling like I was 100 percent. Like it had never happened.
When we got to the other side of the gate, it was deathly silent, I almost thought I'd gone deaf. I guess it was still really early in the morning.
We stepped up into the arena to get a feel for where the tournament was going to happen, and where we would be fighting.
It was massive. There were 4 layers of seats. Above the top layer were golden statues of what I assumed were the previous winners of the tournament. In the middle, on the top layer were six seats. They had names on them but I couldn't see them from this distance.
Arya noticed me looking at the seats, and she told me whose they were.
"Those seats are for the five student council presidents, and the sixth one is for the king of the continent."
"King?" I asked.
"Carell Kain, he's supposedly a descendant of the strongest human in the world," she paused before continuing, as if just saying his name is a crime, "Kael Kain."
"The strongest… in the world." I murmured.
Arya and I made our way to the middle of the arena.
We started training until more people started coming through the portal. We decided to stop, to make sure we weren't showing the other competitors our abilities.
We made our way to the waiting room. We sat in the waiting room for an hour before an announcement boomed throughout the entire arena. The voice was the same as the guy who stepped through the portal at the academy.
"Would all competitors come to the arena at once. We will introduce you, then you will go into the stands and watch the other competitors until your name is called."
Arya and I looked at each other, then we trekked up to the arena.
We stepped up into the arena and Lyla was already there. I looked around at the other competitors. There were only three competitors from each school.
Arya was staring intently at a particular student. I guess that's Maxwell. I studied Arya's face, she had an unreadable expression on her face. Giving up, I studied Maxwell.
He turned around, feeling Arya's gaze on him and smirked. He was a big, muscular guy with short brown hair that didn't even come down to his eyebrows. His eyes were sharp and battle hardened, from all the dives he went on.
I felt an oppressive aura. I knew exactly who it was from.
I looked up to the six seats. There was one out in front and the person sitting on it was the one releasing the aura.
It was the king. The words Arya spoke flashed into my mind, descendent of the strongest human.
The first names were called to fight. Lyla and I went to seats. We found Sophie and sat next to her. Arya and the other representatives went to their seats. Maxwell sat to the left of the king, and Arya on the right.
The two who were fighting weren't that strong, they were equal in strength, so the fight lasted a while.
Next was Lyla, she was fighting a girl named Helen. The fight didn't last long. Lyla won pretty easily.
I was next, and I also won pretty easily. Arya fought next and she won pretty easily.
A couple more fights happened, Maxwell won pretty easily, and a boy named Leon won pretty easily.
Leon was strong, he was one the student council presidents. Not all of the student council presidents fought though. The other 2 weren't in the bracket. They must've just been there to watch.
"We will now take a 30 minute break." The speaker's voice boomed throughout the arena again.
Everyone got up. Arya, Lyla, and I went to the waiting room. There was a bracket hanging on the wall.
Lyla had to fight that Leon guy next. Arya and I had to fight some people we didn't know. If Arya won, she would have to fight Maxwell in the semifinals if he won. I'd have to fight Leon if Lyla lost.
We decided to get food from a little food stand. Then we made our way back to our seats with a couple of minutes left to spare before the quarterfinals.
"We will not begin the quarterfinals of the 5 School Tournament."