Training

"Attention all Magic Duelists, please make your way to the training facility." A woman's voice awoke both Tom and Kamari from their slumber, prompting both to lean up out of their beds in unison.

Kamari, with the eyes of a boy who'd barely gotten any sleep, descended from the top bunk as Tom greeted him. "Mornin' mate." Tom said, only receiving an unenthusiastic "Hey." in response from Kamari.

Kamari was exhausted, having barely gotten any sleep due to his constant thoughts about the situation he found himself in. For the first time in years, he had two people who were trying their best to intrude on his self-proclaimed mental confinement.

He wanted to be alone, it would be best if things turned out that way. However, he wanted to see Seon again. He also didn't mind sharing his metallic prison with Tom either.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Kamari walked out of the room and Tom followed.

As usual, the two walked together as Tom went on and on about his home and the competition, only receiving a "Nice." or an "I see." in response from Kamari, which was more than he'd usually get.

While walking toward the so-called training facility, Tom and Kamari both spotted a new face that they failed to notice before, glaring at the two of them as they walked into the entrance of the training area. Their skin was vibrant, almost glowing, as they looked at Tom and Kamari with their deep blue eyes that were partly covered by their middle-parted blonde hair.

Tom was astonished at their captivating appearance. He couldn't even find a word to quite describe how stunning they were in his mind. They were handsome, yet pretty at the same time to him. Tom's pale skin soon began to transform into a slight pink hue, entertaining Kamari slightly.

"You fancy them, mate?" Kamari mocked, repeating what Tom had said to him the day before when Kamari first spotted Seon.

Unlike Kamari, however, Tom had no shame in admitting it. "Well yes, I do quite fancy them. You got a problem?"

Kamari exhaled playfully. "Nope."

Kamari and Tom continued walking inside the training facility. "Woah..." Tom muttered as he spun around to look at the room in its entirety. It was massive, like a stadium, and had multiple lanes lined up with what looked like a practice dummy at the end of each lane.

Each lane was numbered, one through two hundred and fifty, matching the numbers that each person was given. As Kamari walked by the number one hundred and eleven, he saw Seon standing there flipping through her Chronicle. "Aye, Kamari, there's that girl." Tom said loudly, loud enough for Seon to hear and turn around.

She smiled almost immediately smiled upon seeing Kamari standing there, waving to him cheerfully. Kamari felt a jolt in his chest, hesitating before waving back at her. He got his wish, he got to see her again, but he wasn't sure if he should stop or talk right then and there. Awkwardly, he then continued walking, though Tom noticed their little interaction and started teasing him.

"You two seem a bit more than strangers. Is that where you disappeared off to last night?" Tom asked, smiling devilishly as he looked up at Kamari. "No. We just ran into each other. We talked a bit. She seems nice." Kamari ignored Tom's glare as they continued walking forward, keeping his hands in his tracksuit's pockets.

"Where's she from?" Tom asked.

"Wonkolia." Kamari answered as the two of them approached their numbered aisles. Once standing in front of their aisles, the two boys were able to get a closer look at the setup. Each aisle had a wall on each side, similar to a shooting range, though these walls were seemingly made of glass or something similar in appearance.

Right above their heads, there was a holographic screen projecting data to them. It had their name, HP, MP, and Nature on the left side, along with a picture of their face. On the right side, there was the same information but for the dummy that was about fifty yards away from them on the opposite side of the aisle.

"Wonkolia, huh? Figured." Tom said before the display started to fill in their data.

[Kamari Yelekal

Nature: Dark

HP: 12000

MP: 500]

[Thomas Bale

Nature: Wind

HP: 7000

MP: 2000]

Tom looked over at Kamari's screen with wide eyes, seeing the stats of a Dark-Natured individual for the first time. "Woah..." he muttered. "Get a look at those Health Points. Twelve K."

As Tom said this, many others looked around to see Kamari's stats as well. It seemed that Dark Nature had the most health points out of any other Nature, even beating out Ice who typically had ten thousand.

Before anyone could gawk at his stats for too long, a voice came from the displays of each contestant. It was a female voice, that of the Game Mistress. "Welcome to the training facilty. As you can see in the display in front of you, your Health Points and Magic Points are all visible. If you open up your Chronicles, you should see a few spells as each Magic Lane acts as a Summoning Circle.

Everyone who hadn't checked already, including Tom and Kamari, started looking through their Chronicles. "As you can see..." the Game Mistress continued. "You each likely only have a single spell. In order to obtain more spells, one must hone their skills. Think of your Chronicle as a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger it will become."

Kamari opened his Chronicle to see that he only had a single spell. This spell was called 'Dark Fireball'. It cost one hundred HP to cast and did one hundred damage. 'No MP cost?' he thought to himself, looking around at the amount of MP on other people's displays. 'I guess that explains why my MP is so low.'

"Now, to cast a spell, simply hold out your hand toward your target, say your spell's name, and will it." the Game Mistress informed them before everyone did just that. All around Kamari, he could hear the sounds of elements blasting by him.

The whizzing of wind.

The crackling of electricity.

The explosions of fire.

The beaming of light.

The shattering of ice.

Hearing the sounds continuing around him, Kamari extended his hand forward, pointing it directly at the dummy in front of him, one that took the appearance of a human but with no facial features. With determination on his face, Kamari spoke.

"Dark Fireball." as those words left his lips, a small black flame began to form at the palm of his hand. This orb of fire began to grow, covering his entire hand before spreading up his arm, stopping at his shoulder. He could feel the flame's warmth as it wrapped around his arm, its intense crackling being heard by those nearby.

The cry of his flames reverberated off of the walls as they blasted from his arm, taking the form of a sphere as it flew in the air before hitting the target, causing a massive black explosion.

This explosion was so powerful, many looked in his direction. Though those who were not new to Magic Dueling due to the simulations in their home nations didn't even bat an eye.

Kamari looked at his hand with wide eyes, shocked that such a powerful attack came from inside him. The Dark Chronicle was still a mystery, and though he didn't plan on winning originally, he wanted to learn more.