Yeptian Nightmare

Soon enough, the seats of the coliseum began to fill up, and my group met up with us after their breakfast. Arlo was talking to everyone in sight. Lily happily sat next to me when she saw that I saved a spot for her. Everyone seemed preoccupied with the beginning of the tournament, so I took the time to read Irene's log.

"Smarus usually has this scowl on his face, yet he always goes out of his way to help people… most of the time. He never fails to speak his mind, even if it means people will avoid him for it. Bodil sometimes speaks highly of him despite usually yelling at him. He's a strange man, but he's fun to be around! I wonder how his and Bodil's relationship will develop…

Warning: Deciding Path"

Again with this deciding path! This was just one of many things that I didn't understand, and there was no way for me to learn about it. That and the question marks behind Bodil's name. What a pain. I hate unsolved mysteries more that this shitty RPG.

What if a person deciding a path was the equivalent of someone figuring out their feelings? Perhaps a path was influenced by a person's emotions as well as their opinions and thoughts about me. This was too much. My head was starting to hurt.

"Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the first match of the day!!" The announcer shouted. "We have two scholars coming up. One from the Land of Sand, Yeptian, please welcome Donkor!"

The crowd cheered as he stepped on stage. Donkor carried himself with confidence and honor. He was wearing a turban today. I looked down at two seats down to Sonia.

"Sonia, why was he wearing a turban today? He had never worn it before," I asked her.

She leaned forward and tried her best to speak over the sound of the roaring crowd. 

"He mentioned before that traditional clothing from his country draws more bad attention, but today he wanted to show his pride for his homeland," She was barely audible even though she was yelling.

"I see. Thanks, Sonia."

I leaned back in my seat. I was used to seeing Donkor's Bantu hairstyle and I never really thought about his place of origin. The arrogance of the people at the academy led them to be passive-aggressive against other cultures. It was ironic since this place welcomed everyone, but the majority still came from the neighboring countries. People from faraway lands were not welcomed with open arms. I sighed at the thought. It was truly sad.

"That would look cool on me! Smarus, you should get one too so we can match!" Arlo suggested.

And then there were people like Arlo that bluntly ignored social norms. It was two opposite ends of the spectrum, but it made things interesting.

"An interesting idea, but no. I'm not going shopping with another man," I shook my head.

"I think you think too much. It's not that big of a deal," He pouted.

It wasn't. I just didn't want to go shopping with him. The announcer began his second introduction.

"And his opponent is from our very own Kingdom of Magic, Glanddicia! Please welcome, Eric!"

The crowd cheered again. If these two were both scholars, then it was probably code for they both had scholarships. I doubted it was a coincidence that they were pinned against each other. The Board of Education probably wanted to fund fewer students.

Eric was nothing special. He seemed weak, and he walked like he was unsure of himself. However, when he grabbed the sword at his waist, his demeanor changed. He took a deep breath and his eyes focused. I wasn't sure who he was, but I did know one thing. This man was confident in his skill.

"Sorry I'm late guys," Aurora said as she took a seat next to her sister.

"Perfect timing!" I called to her. "Aurora, what are the odds of Donkor winning this tournament?"

Aurora looked puzzled at the question. She rubbed her chin as she thought about the answer.

"It's hard to say, but I'm fairly confident in his abilities. Why, Lord Smarus?" She tilted her head.

It was clear that she didn't fully understand my intentions behind the question. I was already confident that Donkor would win this tournament, but something was different about him. I smiled.

"Lady Aurora, please look a little closer. Donkor is focusing all of his mana around him. The highest concentration is near his sword and his feet," Luna spoke up.

"Now that you mention it… That would explain why he wanted me to teach him a spell this morning. Lord Smarus…" I raised my hand to stop her.

"You don't have to tell me the details. As it stands, he may be my opponent in the near future, so I don't want to ruin the fun."

"My question is, how could you tell Smarus?" Luna looked.

"Don't sweat the details. If I were you, I'd pay attention to the match," I crossed my arms while smiling. "You might just miss something."

Donkor drew his sword and held it lower than he normally would. He seemed completely focused on the task at hand, so I didn't doubt that he knew what he was doing. I was intrigued by this new fighting stance of his.

"It's an honor to meet you, Eric," Donkor gave a polite smile. "And I'm sorry."

"F-for what?" Eric's face showed his confusion.

"Aaannd… FIGHT!" The announcer initiated the battle.

In a split second, no, even less than that, the match was over. Donkor was already behind Eric, walking a few paces before sheathing his sword. He took a deep breath before the mana around him dispersed.

"I apologized for not giving you a chance to fight," Donkor clarified himself.

Eric fell to his knees as a cut slowly opened on his stomach. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was terrifying. He moved at such a high speed, and he still had deadly accurate precision. A wave of excitement shot through my body.

The crowd was silent as they processed this. Some people whispered to confirm what they just seen. Some people thought it was fake while others were too in awe to say anything. It was the announcer that broke the silence.

"In just a moment, Donkor wins the fight!!"

The audience erupted into cheers. Donkor bowed his head to show his respect to his opponent before exiting the stage. The paramedics rushed to the center stage to get Eric. I looked to my right and saw Arlo with a stupid grin on his face.

"I don't think even I would have escaped that unscathed," A bead of sweat ran down his forehead.

Vida and Gricelda looked at him with surprise as he confessed this. I looked back at everyone else and they were also surprised. Lily had her mouth wide open while Irene's eyes were wide.

"C-can Big Sis even stop that?" She mumbled to herself.

The shock of this match was slowly wearing off, but it left a permanent impression on us. I didn't know when or where Donkor developed this move, but I found myself hoping I wouldn't meet him in the semi-finals. My mind raced on how I would beat that move. It was such a small window to dodge that attack, much less deflect it.

"A-and it's time to introduce the next pair of fighters!" The announcer moved on.

Lily turned to me and pointed to the stage. She was still in shock.

"Smarus, can you beat that?" She asked me.

I could tell that this wasn't pure curiosity. She was generally concerned about me. Irene and Luna were both looking at me as well, and Aurora looked down.

"I'm sorry, Lord Smarus. I didn't think he would become this strong…" She apologized.

I crossed my arms and laughed, causing everyone to be confused.

"Don't apologize! I'll need strong people at my side if I want to rise to the top!" I rubbed my chin. "As for if I could beat him… Right now, I can't," I confessed. "But I'll find out how by the time we face each other!"

This was purely a bluff. An empty promise even. However, my words seemed to have an effect as their faces lit up with hope. Why did these girls look up to me so much? I felt an unbearable weight on my shoulders as the anticipation of disappointing them rose. Myra's laugh interrupted my train of thought.

"I knew Lord Smarus would be able to beat Donkor at some point! So why worry?" She shrugged.

Myra really needed to learn to shut up. She was only fueling their hope in me, and the weight grew heavier. Even Arlo looked at me in amazement when he overheard our conversation. His eyes lit up as he flexed his arm.

"I look forward to your match with Donkor! May the best man win!" He smiled.

I only smiled to keep the facade up.

"Yeah."