Chapter 23: The Rank V

After their lunch, the top fifteen were escorted to the square colosseum outside the Monastery's territory. The large structure is as old as the Monastery's Academy itself, and it's situated about ten miles up north.

It's not that far on a broom, and Xiao enjoyed the scenery. Instead of the group being covered in dense oak forest like the south, the north is dotted with pine trees. Among those pine trees, a mega structure stood a little taller than those trees. Workers are seen polishing the exterior of the colosseum, the thick stone walls were made from the same material as the Monastery towers.

Since it's only stage 2, the victors are allowed to fly over the walls instead of using the main entrance. Professors and students are allowed to spectate the match, too. Thus, almost half of the ten thousand seats are filled, and chattering can be heard from all angles.

As soon as the victors landed inside the middle of the arena, workers and professors alike rushed out of the shade towards the students.

Xiao's eyes brightened when she recognized Professor Ivanovna among those people. The young witch eagerly handed over her broom and messenger bag.

Professor Ivanovna gave her a smile, and Xiao almost forgot to take out her weapon.

"Good luck, little Devinsky." The blonde woman smiled at Xiao, so the young witch mumbled back a small "thank you".

"You're wishing her good luck and not me?" An amused female voice came from behind Xiao, and the young witch turned to face a blonde student.

The young witch immediately recognized her, but she never talked to her much. Platinum blonde hair is tied neatly in a ponytail, and a genuine giggle made its way out of the girl. She's at least a head taller Xiao, and the young witch always admired this senior student from afar. Rosemary Ophell, one of the too five last season and several seasons before that. About that... She kind of looks like Professor Ivanovna. Maybe they're blood related? It's not uncommon for the older family members to work as a professor or a staff, and the younger family members attend the academy. Uncle David is a good example of this, though according to normal social circumstances, he should have retired years ago and marry a decent woman.

"Why would I wish you good luck?" Professor Ivanovna chuckled back. "She's a second year, you're a fourth year."

"Awe, you're not gonna wish your niece good luck?" Rosemary said back, and the two women laughed.

Xiao only smiled faintly and made herself disappear into the background. Well, she took two steps back and bump into Raxith, who only acknowledged her with a nod.

Her eyes then moved to the balcony which was made for important guests. It's empty now, except for Uncle David and Abbot Everson standing in front of their seat and discussing something.

However, when tomorrow comes, Xiao wishes that she won't see her father there. Her mother and younger brother are welcomed, but she doesn't want her entire extended family there. Honestly, it's more likely to happen when the twins and Yin passed into the top ten. Still, she hopes that her father would be too busy with court matters to attend personally.

"Nervous?" Alexander's voice spooked her a little.

Ah, the prince. If one of the princes is here, then royalty is guaranteed to be here. Ever season, there's at least a squad of Mistichestors sitting on that balcony, usually extended families and not the main ruling family. Now she hopes that the king has more matters to attend to than watching one of his seven sons fight some mages. If the king comes, her father is sure to come.

"Yeah, I'm nervous, too." The prince continued the one sided conversation; the young witch cranked her head to look for Raxith and found her cousin talking to two professors who's holding his items, so that's why Alexander is bothering her. "What's this stage is about? I've never made it this far before."

Right, last season, he wasn't even in the top fifteen.

Xiao sighed. "Twenty minutes. The round takes twenty minutes."

"That's a long battle." The prince nodded as if he understands. "But it's just one battle, right? Pitching all fifteen of us against each other?"

The young witch stook her head. "Survive."

"What? Fight for survival?"

Xiao shook her head again at the prince's words. "Just survive whatever catastrophy send our way for the next twenty minutes."

Alexander's chuckle sounded a lot faker than he intended. Well, one just have to experience the stage to know what it is. It's also Xiao's favorite stage for a reason she can't name yet.

In that moment, display boards on all four directions of the colosseum lit up, and many of the students in the audience cheered in awe.

______

Top 15 ranking:

Name, Year-Section, Weapon, Time

1. Xiao Lan Devinsky, 2-1, Sword, 5 seconds

2. Harvey Cassius, 5-1, Sword, 22 seconds

3. Jin Qiu Devinsky, 5-5, Sword, 33 seconds

4. Raxithak Silvester, 3-3, Sword, 34 seconds

5. Yin Hong Devinsky, 3-5, Sword, 41 seconds

6. Rosemary Ophell, 4-2, Sword, 47 seconds

7. Nicolas Smithsonian, 1-6, Sword, 50 seconds

8. Gillian Cassius, 2-3, Sword, 54 seconds

9. Jacob Devinsky, 5-3, Sword, 1 minute

10. Zech Nahum, 1-3, Sword, 1 minute 2 seconds

11. Danny Vanderburg, 4-3, Sword, 1 minute 25 seconds

12. Wenera Jiang, 1-1, Sword, 1 minute 30 seconds

13. Blake Quinton, 2-6, Sword, 1 minute 36 seconds

14. Luke Asher, 4-5, Sword, 1 minute 47 seconds

15. Alexander Mistichestor, 3-1, Sword, 2 minutes 3 seconds

______

"Greetings, professor and students!" Abbot Everson's voice silenced the entire audience. He cocked his head towards the victors in the middle of the arena, and he gave them a smile. "And welcome to the arena, top fifteen victors."

On another balcony opposite from the Abbot, a band started playing the usual ceremonial music. Most of the audience members sang along, and so did Xiao.

Once the music stopped, the professors ushered the victors to stand in a circle, spread evenly across the arena. The square arena is a hundred feet on all sides, and Xiao was directed to the point right across from Uncle David's seat.

On her right stood Gillian, who's picking at the handle of his sheathed sword. Xiao left her shealth inside her messenger bag, so she's just carrying around her short sword.

On her left, a first year looked at Xiao with her deep brown eyes. The younger girl smiled at the young witch, and Xiao felt a little bad for her. This stage was designed specifically to make sure that first years won't make it into the top ten.

"Senior Xiao Lan!" The girl is about ten feet away from her, and it's enough for her to hear.

What's her name again? Xiao took a quick peek at the display board above Uncle David. This girl is the only female from year one, and... Wenera Jiang.

Now that she knows her name, Xiao felt more comfortable nodding back at the girl in acknowledgment.

The black haired girl raised her sword at the young witch, the blade reflects the sunlight, and the handle is made of a metallic shade of blue, contrasting finely to the girl's natural tanned skin.

"I want to challenge you!" Wenera's voice held so much confidence, enough to share between Xiao and Raxithak, honestly.

"First time?" The young witch asked back.

"First time challenging you, yes!" The energetic voice came back as sharp as the sword she's holding.

"I meant..." Xiao averted her eyes around the arena and back to the younger witch. "First time in the Monastery's Colosseum?"

"Yes!" Wenera grinned, her sword not lowering. "I will make you fall!"

"I only want to survive." Xiao nodded once at the girl, her face not showing any other emotions. "Good luck, Wenera."

The grin melted off the younger witch's face, and in a second, it's replaced with a frown.

"Are you mocking me?" Her tone became accusatory, and the young witch only shook her head.

Then, the bell rang, which is an indication that the match has started. Xiao began counting down the seconds in her head.

Ten seconds had passed, and nothing happened yet. This made the young witch more anxious. Her beady black eyes darted from person to person until she made eye contact with Raxithak and Yin who's across the arena. Raxithak already unsheathed his sword, and he looked as nervous as Xiao. Yin shrugged at her cousin, and if she's nervous, she didn't show it.

Alexander, who's standing next to Raxith, didn't look as clueless as Xiao thought. He looked like he's thinking, and that thoughtful face lasted for a solid three seconds before he began whispering at Raxith. The distance made it a little hard to hear, but her male cousin obviously heard what the prince said and he responded with his usual reaction to any of Alexander's antics, by cringing and looking offended.

By now, thirty seconds had passed.

Xiao's fingers anxiously tapped on the golden handle of her short sword. The longer the trail takes to prepare, the harder it is. The trails can be anything, ranging from bizarre beasts to a tsunami which the Abbot summoned by himself.

Last time, it started with the tsunami and ended with three orcs being released into the arena. The tsunami absolutely destroyed the Devinsky twins and the three first years in the first ten seconds since they're operated off the worst luck known to humankind that day. The remaining ten students only had to kill the orcs to move on to the next stage.

Fourty five seconds. Fifty seconds now.

The Abbot is sitting on his seat, his eyes scanning the arena. The audiences began to talk, and the professors were trying to calm the crowd.

One minute. One minute is gone, nineteen to go.

"What's the trail?" A brunette senior standing next to Alexander shouted. He's one of the fourth years, and if Xiao remembered correctly, his name is Luke Asher, and she saw him last season, too, though they didn't face each other nor talk.

"This is taking much longer than usual." Harvey sighed, but he didn't make any move.

"Yeah..." Jacob nodded, and he turned to look at the closest professor, who's standing on a balcony, high up and safe behind the transparent barrier which separates the arena from the audience. "Where is the first trail coming?"

The professor only shrugged. "I apologize, young one. I have no idea, it's not my department."

"Oh, come on." It's Jin Qiu's turn to whine. "It's been what? Two minutes now?"

More complaints were thrown in the conversation, mostly from the fifth and fourth years, plus Yin and Gillian. The first years had taken to sit on the ground and play with their swords.

Xiao was also tempted to sit, but the ground was made of solid marble with veins of black and white running through the pale yellow surface, in contrast to the gray and white which decorated the entire colosseum.

Three minutes and thirty seconds had passed when Alexander decided to join the conversation, his voice was loud enough to drown out everyone.

"It's getting hot in here or is it just me?" The prince's face is frowning in either concern or suspicion, unlike his usual cheerful self.

"Probably just you, man." Luke replied with a shrug. "It's still technically summer, not autumn yet. Standing underneath the sun tends to get hot."

Logical explanation, but Xiao couldn't help but bend down to touch the marble floor. It's hotter than the room temperature? The floor is hotter than the current air temperature?

Reaching the four minute mark, and the floor got hot enough for Xiao to take her hand away. It would hurt her finger if she touched it too long, but it's not noticable if she's wearing her boots. The first years seemed to notice the heat, too, and all three of them stood up.

Wenera's deep brown eyes were wide, and she glanced at Xiao. The young witch only shrugged as the others kept talking.

"What if we just duke it out? Fight each other the old fashioned way?" Danny, a fourth year with dirty blond hair, suggested. "I don't see a trail coming anytime soon, and it's what? Five minutes now?"

Four minutes and thirty five seconds.

"That'd be chaos, man." Jacob immediately objected, and a few others gave their agreements with the twin.

"I say we fight." Harvey pointed his sword at Danny, even though they're not very far from each other.

"Oh, game on!" The fourth year drew out his sword from its scabbard.