Combat Duo Tournament

Emperium Capital, Personal Communication Room of the King.

'Luther, Did you find anything?' The King asked.

'My lord, I could not find any clues about the numbers, They seem to be more careful about their actions.'

The Numbers... Which bastard organized this and how did he obtain such capable individuals.

As the King smacked his fist in the table.

'Is that so? Just keep on investigating. Scatter your men all over Emperium and Locate the Numbers whereabouts. We need to deal with them quickly before it gets bad.'

'Yes my lord, I have another matter to report to you.'

'What is it?'

'It seems the Warp Portal will be finally finished soon. And there's been strange movements in the western part of Erendale outside the borders. I sent some of my men there and they found something.'

'The Portal huh? Okay inform the King of Aldien about it. And What is that they found at the West?'

*Cough*

'They found that Goblins are being organized there, They don't know who's the source for all of this. But they've been building a base near our borders. It seems the prophecy is about to come.'

'Building a base? This is starting to get troublesome. We still have something to deal with, First locate the numbers. I'm sure they are conspiring with the Monsters outside of Emperium.'

'Yes my lord.'

After their conversation ended, The Thought Communicator also deactivated.

The King was on a bad mood after hearing Duke Luther's words.

...

Two days later...

At Freedom Academy, Students were gathered around at the field. The Principal along with the Teachers of the Academy were assembled at the Stage.

'Students... I hereby announce that there will be an upcoming event in seven days! You shall choose your desired partner for this event, It'll be a Combat Duo Tournament.' As the Principal raised his hands.

'Every students will be obliged to participate, denial for participation is prohibited. You will be given the rights to choose your partner within a different section.'

The students then looked at each other...

'The requirements are one student from Mana and Combat Section, That's how you'll be paired. And you'll be given the access of the Field grounds for your personal training. And all students will be given a vacant time at the afternoon to train. Improve your combination tactics for the upcoming event! That is all!'

The students then all clapped after the Principal finished his speech.

After the principal, Instructor Michael from Class one of Combat Class went at the middle and started talking. He preferred being called as an Instructor rather than a teacher.

He had black hair with sharp small eyes, that looked more like an asian. He was tall and ripped and had a professional appearance.

'Listen up students, You'll be given seven days to train for the Event. Make sure to find a decent partner and Train well, Your performance at this tournament will be added to your grades.'

Then the Instructor left, along with the other teachers that were gathered.

The students then started talking to each other, Trying to find a partner.

Leon and Kiba were being surrounded by students from the Mana class that wanted to be paired with them.

Ryan on the other hand was the opposite and went to where the Mana class students were gathered.

Annie was also surrounded by some weird guys from the mana class.

Most likely they just wanted to be paired for their own personal feelings rather than pairing with determination about training.

Seeing them flirt with Annie was abit awkward....

Speaking of flirting, some of the girls from mana class went to me also, wanting to be paired with me.

But I've already decided on my partner.

So I rejected them nicely, And I went to look for hailey who was supposedly to be my partner.

Since she was the one that offered the Idea.

I saw hailey being surrounded by combat class students, I guess she was pretty famous. Since her looks also stand out among the rest of the Girls at the Academy.

But before I could go near her, Maris suddenly approached me out of nowhere.

'Hey luna, Did you perhaps find any partner yet?'

'Oh, I was just about to. Why?'

'If it were okay to you, Do you wanna be paired with me?' As she fixed her hair at her ear.

'Oh sorry.' The first word I've said made Maris flinch.

'Oh sorry, Me and Hailey already decided that we'd be paired. But anyway thanks for the offer.' As I waved at her and ran towards where Hailey was.

'Okay then, See you!' As Maris waved back with a forced smile expression.

As I ran towards Hailey, I bumped into someone.

'I'm sorry---' As I stopped after seeing the guy I bumped into.

He was completely glaring at me, He was one of the Geniuses from C-1. Red Armsworth, The one that got acknowledged by Instructor Michael for having potential talent at swordsmanship.

He was a human, had red hair as his name indicated, had white bright skin and had a very serious look on his face. He was rumored as an Albino or some kind. He had an arrogant attitude towards other Students, but he was very nice towards a dwarf from his class. They seemed pretty close.

'Where are your eyes at?' As Red spoke in a angry manner.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you.' As I replied.

After I apologized, Red immediately pushed me as I stumbled unto the ground.

'Piss off loser, Don't stand in my way.' As he walked away and headed towards Hailey's direction.

Students got their attention on us, So I stood up and pretended I was not bothered by his actions.

Hailey saw me and waved at me to come towards her, But before she could call out my name, Red immediately appeared infront of her.

'Hey hailey, what's up.' As he spoke within a cool tone.

'Oh, Hi red. What brings you here?' As Hailey replied in an awkward manner.

'Oh I was just looking for you, I wanted to get to know you better and thought of pairing with you. How about it? Wanna pair with me?' As Red smiled as he extended his hand.

The students were focused on their conversation and kept gossiping.

'Hey, Is red really gonna be paired with her?'

'That's not fair. They'll be unbeatable if they pair up.'

'I know right, A genius within the Combat and Mana class being paired is unfair.'

As the students continued on talking about how unfair it was if Red and Hailey were to get paired.

Hailey was known as a good caster at the Mana Class section.

Since her mana manipulation improved alot and was recognized by the teachers for her tremendous efforts. Even she was at the Beginner stage, Her mana manipulation control was commendable.

'I'm sorry red but I've already picked my Partner.'

An Instant rejection! Sucks for you Red bastard! Haha!

'Oh, who might that be? your partner?' Red asked.

'It's that guy, Luna Yeager.' As hailey pointed at me and smiled.

'Oh...' Red was speechless...

Hailey then ran towards me, then we continued to talk about the upcoming event.

We walked back towards the School Building and continued to discuss about our training method, Since It'll be a Duo tournament. Strategy and Cooperation techniques will be the core for this tournament.

We discussed on how our attack pattern would be, as we went inside the building.

After reaching inside, we then told each other that we'll continue our conversation after classes.

So we headed to our classrooms since classes were about to start.

Classes started and Teacher Angeline started her lecture....

I asked Millis what would be the best course when a mana user and a combatant like me team up.

"Answer, It'll be best to focus more on Strategy."

'Huh? That's it!?'

"Yes."

'Can't you tell me what strategies would suit us better?'

"Question, Will Hailey be your partner for this matter?"

'Yeah, we're gonna be partners for this tournament that'll happen at seven days.'

"Notice, Hailey Devon is a Wind element specialist. So any strategies would be suitable."

'What the heck? Just say that you don't have any strategies to suggest!'

"Answer, Yes."

'Ugh! Nevermind! Just try to think of something for the time being and tell me afterwards.'

"...."

'Millis!!!'

"Yes, I'll think of something."

'Okay thanks!'

"..."

Then after that, Teacher Angeline lectured as about How cooperation is all about, It was most likely a lesson about the upcoming event.

Since It'll be hard for other students who weren't aware of being in a team fight before.

'Listen up! There are three things you need to learn before forming a team! First! Is how to utilize each other's specialties. Second! Is the will of pushing forward to any means, Do not be a burden to your team! If push comes to shove, Exceed your limits! And third! Is to trust your teammates! Do not doubt or judge their actions! Make sure to support each other's back! And never ever forget that you have teammates to protect when they are in a pinch! You Got It!?'

'Yes ma'am!' As the students answered.

'Good, now then. Let us continue our lesson about how movement prediction works.' As Ma'am Angeline walked around the classroom.

After a long lesson, Classes finally finished.

We ended up early due to the Tournament, We were given more free time at the afternoon to train with our partners.

So then I met up with Hailey and discussed on how we'll combine our specialties.

Since she has good Wind manipulation, It'll be easy for us to pressure them. She'll act as my support while I'll be the vanguard.

I was already confident on my swordsmanship after getting trained under Teacher Angeline, I've also reached Master Stage for my Sword Arts.

I've improved alot after entering Freedom Academy.

It was a good choice to come here, I've learned alot and improved alot.

But ofcourse, there were always someone better than me.

Red, That arrogant brat wasn't just all talk.

Seeing him train with his partner at the fields gathered alot of attention.

Being called a genius wasn't just for show, He basically is really talented in swordsmanship.

But his attitude is really annoying, Seeing him belittle other students just cause he's much better at swordsmanship is kinda annoying.

They did a 2v2 spar against other students at the field, He never lost a single battle that afternoon.

He was most likely the top candidate to win the Combat Duo Tournament.

Seeing him swing his sword gave me chills, I don't know If I'd be able to beat him with just swordsmanship. But I've also improved alot, I'll just have to confirm it when the tournament begins.

Hailey and I continued training, And we finally found the best coordination plan that fit us.

But it was Millis's suggestion.

Hailey would just act as Support while I'll be the Striker.

She'll use her Wind element to emphasize my movements while I attack from the front.

And she'll also use some Wind spells for offensive attacks that'll distract our opponents so that they would let their guards down and give me an opportunity to strike them down.

That was our plan, but ofcourse when push comes to shove, I'll have to use my Elemental skills.

But It'll be troublesome since Mana users can detect awakened ones. If I used Elemental spells then I'll be investigated since I am not an awakened, myself.

After a few days passed, there was only two days left before the Tournament begins.

The Teachers all announced to their students that they'll be given the rights at the armory to get their preferred weaponry.

Since all this time while practicing and training all we've used was Wooden swords.

So the students went to the Armory to get their weapons, Most of the students picked swords while the mana users grabbed spear like staffs that could amplify their mana prowess.

I asked the teacher if I could use the weapon I already had, She nodded and pointed at Leon.

Since Leon had his own personal weapon already, It was a longsword with gold features.

A befitting sword for a son of a high status person.

Then I'll be using Excalibur at the tournament.

But hailey needed a weapon too since she didn't bring any, So we went to the armory to look for her weapon.

She looked around and took alot of time deciding, After that she picked the Bow that had Elven design.

I guess Archery was what she was interested in.

So that's when we practiced with our official weapons. I still used a wooden stick since I can always change Excalibur's form and size.

Hailey didn't use any arrows, rather she used her elemental skills to improvise as an arrow.

Fire arrows, Wind arrows, Water arrows and Earth arrows. All of those arrows had their specific attribute that formed as an arrow.

The fire arrow had destructive power when it hits it's target, While the Wind arrow looked invisible.

The water arrow was abit too bland since it'll just splash around the target.

The Earth arrow was also good, It had hard features but was too hard for Hailey to handle.

So she preferred using fire and wind arrows.

...

After training for two days, The day of the tournament finally came.

A huge battle stage arena was made in the middle of the fields, While being surrounded by Mana absorber objects.

It was most likely a barrier to prevent the Caster's spells from reaching the audience.

Chairs were gathered around the field, The stage was also filled with chairs.

Then the Principal and the Teachers called the Students from the Academy to line up infront of Stage.

The Principal then Greeted them and congratulated them for having the determination to participate in this event.

Then after that, The Principal showed how they arranged the Duo's that'll be assigned to four different sectors.

And that he confidently told the students that the grand prize will be extravagant.

The Students then cheered as the Principal finished his speech.

"Now Let the Combat Duo Tournament Begin!"

Chapter END: