The Plan Begins

The first day of the tournament came to an end spectacularly, Makayla and Isabella's performance had impressed and excited everyone. Many of the nobles wanted to bet on them, but, Hugh didn't want everyone to choose the same person, as the wager wouldn't be fun this way, so he made up a new rule: Only two people can bet on the same participants.

Lilia, who now could finally bet as her father had brought her quite a few good potions, and the noble lady that showed interest in Makayla and Isabella were the first ones to place their best, and they chose Isabella.

Some of the nobles were bummed out about their lost chance, but, they didn't dwell on it much as there were plenty of talented participants in the tournament, and before long almost everyone one of them had made their bet.

Most of the items put on the wager were of the third level, and only one person put a second level one: a golden shield that nonetheless looked impressive, so no one had any complaints.

Henry found himself alone in the spectator's room as all the nobles had gone to their rooms to sleep. -" Sigh..." He looked at Makayla with a worried gaze, she was laying on the ground of a cave, her face completely pale.

Makayla and her friend had run straight to the center of the desert after finishing the monsters, such a big battle was sure to attack attention and what they needed now was to rest.

The two of them had chosen a small cave on the side of one of the plateaus that divided the Magyar Desert as their hiding place. This area was quite dangerous, so staying here was risky, but, they had no other place to stay.

-" What a day." Makayla lay on the ground and took out some pieces of beef jerky. " I feel like I can sleep for a week straight."

-" You tell me." Isabela wasn't fairing any better either, even with them constantly drinking mana potions, the two of them were still pretty exhausted. "I never expected that maintaining an elemental would so draining."

-" Fighting so many monsters didn't help either." Makayla lifted her hands and gazed at them, she almost didn't believe that she was so powerful. " I just hope that no one finds this place." She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, the aftereffects of the Rune of Arcane Enlightenment weren't anything new to her, so she knew very well that she wouldn't be able to do anything for the next twenty hours.

Henry was very tired too, watching the tournament was very hard for him, especially the times when Makayla was in danger, and he only now decided to go to his room as he was sure that Makayla was safe.

As he left the spectator's rooms, he meet one of the tournament staffers waiting by the door. Henry remembered that he was the one responsible for the security of the tournament, but, he wasn't sure of his name.

Henry didn't think much of the man's action, after all, he was one of the people responsible for the tournament, and continued on his way to his room;

Jonas waited by the door and sighed in relief as the man didn't notice anything. -" As if Hugh's presence wasn't enough, there is even another troublesome person here." He quickly entered the spectator's room to be sure that no one was present. -" Orlando! It's finally time!" Jonas took out a small stone that began to flicker with an orange hue as he put it in the middle of the room.

All the magic artifacts in the room suddenly switched off as the flickering stopped, and the stone was completely engrossed in the orange hue.

The shadow under Jonas began to wiggle as darkness took over the room. " Are you ready?" A raspy voice rang out, one could notice an anxious tone in it.

-" You can start now, but, beware! " Jonas checked the spectators' room once again and departed directly to the control room. " I need you to take the attention of the people in the control room." Jonas threw a small ring into his shadow before leaving the room. " With this, you will able to sense the location of every student, just don't lose it! And don't lose this ring! If anyone finds this they will surely know it's mine."

-" Hahahaha! I was already going crazy, I couldn't spend any more time stuck here!" Orlando took a deep breath and held the ring that emerged from his shadow. " So many preys..." He had a vicious glare as a small light projection emerged from the ring, showing the position of every student.

Orlando looked around the projection and finally decided on his first prey, a student that was running straight to him. He didn't even have to move towards the target, as the boy was oblivious to the danger he was walking in.

The boy was weary, he hadn't found any suitable places to spend the night, and had to sleep in the open air, as if this wasn't trouble enough, a pack of monsters found him.

He was almost crushing his bracelet, however, he noticed a person not so far away from him. " Help! Help!" The boy wasn't sure who the man was, but, he didn't look like one of the students as he seemed to be way older.

The boy frowned as the man didn't react, and continued to run in the man's direction. He was about to scream for help once again, yet, no words came out of his mouth.

The boy's eyes shivered from fear as he realized that his whole body was stiff, and he couldn't even turn his head around. He was completely dismayed, he couldn't believe or understand what happened to him.

-" Oh? Do you need help?" The boy was startled as a raspy voice echoed from nowhere. " You don't have to be afraid... I won't let the monster eat you." The boy grew comfortable as the mysterious person continued to speak.

-" Thank you for helping me." The boy sighed in relief as he thought that he had been saved. " Are you one of the tournament staffers?"

-" Tournament Staffers?" The raspy voice had now a tinge of irony in it. " No... but I know someone that is."

-" No?" The boy was confused, and for some reason, he felt as if he was staring at death's door. " Do you know what happened to me? Why can't I move my body?"

-" You don't have to worry, the monsters behind you can't move either." The raspy voice rang out again, this time it looked like the mysterious man was trying his best to hold his laughter.

-" Is this your spell?" The boy tried to move his head around, but, he found that no matter how much he tried, not even his eyes moved. " Can't you free me?"

-" I can't do this..." Orlando laughed, he never moved from the place he was, and only used one of his shadow demons to control the boy. " If I free you... Won't you run away?"

The boy's face grew pale as he realized that something was wrong. -" If you try something here... The Royal Academy won't sit still." The boy tried his best to reason with the man. " They may even be on their way already."

-" Oh? The people in the control room?" Orlando laughed as his body vanished in his shadow, and slowly emerged in front of the boy. " This is precisely what I want..." Orlando touched the boy's cheeks and smiled. " You should just sit still and wait until they arrive."

There were only a few tournament staffers in the control room, and they all panicked as Orlando suddenly appeared and held the boy hostage.

-" Who is that man?!"

-" Where did he come from?"

-" Jonas?!! What are we going to do?"

-" This is an emergency! Every one of you must go now!" Jonas had a serious face, but, deep down he was excited for his plan to finally begin. " I will stay here and keep the order, just remember that the boy's life is the priority."

-" Are you staying here alone? Don't you think that its better to have someone with you?"

-" Don't worry! I will call for backup straight away." Jonas quickly lied, as he just wanted to be alone in the control room.

Seeing how their leader had everything planned out, the group of tournament staffers quickly rushed out and sped through the desert. They knew that if a participant died in the tournament, especially at the hands of a mysterious man, they would all be punished.

Jonas had a venomous smirk as he watched Orlando and the boy, and with a flicker of his hand, he activated the transmitter on the boy's bracelet. -" Orlando, they are already on their way...."

The boy was startled as he heard the voice coming out of the bracelet. -" Orlando? What are you talking about?" The boy thought that the man had misspelled his name.

-" He isn't talking with you." Orlando laughed as he grabbed the boy's arm. " Didn't I tell you that I had a friend working there?"