Most of them were only spectators the following day, except for Christopher, who was getting ready to face off with the so-called flame empress, Kirara Stormbane.
"Time to kick some royal butt!" he announced to his friends before leaving to get ready at the backside of the arena. Arianna and the others went to find a seat in the audience.
The first battle was between Grant Granite and Gary Jellylegs, the dwarf and dracon earth mages. They put on a pretty good show and terraformed a significant portion of the arena with powerful spells, but in the end, the dwarf emerged victorious.
"All right," Arianna nodded. "Now I know who my next opponent is and what his moves are."
She was observing the entire duel intently and writing down which spells and how often each contestant cast them to gauge their skill level and find the best tactic to defeat them.
"You are quite diligent," Warina commented as she observed Arianna. "I sure don't want to be facing you anytime soon."
"Don't worry," Fern said. "The way the brackets are set up, you and Arianna can meet in the finals at the earliest. Me, however...if I beat my next opponent and Arianna does so as well, the semi-final battle will end up being between us. Definitely not looking forward to that."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Arianna said, putting down her notes. "Neither of us has won anything yet. If it gets to us being opponents, we will talk about it then."
"Brrr!" Fern shivered and crossed his arms. "You're so cold it's making me freeze!"
"Very funny," Arianna eyed him sternly. "Quit messing around; Christopher's battle is next."
The ambitious young man stepped into the arena, waving at the crowd and smiling brightly. On the other end, the dracon princess stood, clad in deep red clothing with golden lining and steel plates reinforcing it over her stomach, hips, and chest. Her cape with the phoenix drawing on the back fluttered in the gentle breeze, its fluffy collar hugging her neck. She stared blankly at her cheerful opponent, yawning and looking bored out of her mind. Glancing at the audience with a mixture of annoyance and disdain, she muttered: "Those two idiot teammates of mine got eliminated in the first round. How disgraceful. I guess it's all up to me now."
She spat to the side and walked forward when the announcer signaled the contestants to shake hands. The human stepped up, looking up at the much taller dracon.
"I will not go easy on you, princess," he smiled, holding out his right hand for her to shake.
"It's laughable to think you even stand a chance against me," she replied, gripping it tightly.
"I beg your pardon?" the boy cocked his eyebrow. "Are you mocking me?"
"No. I am simply stating the facts." With that, the confident girl turned around and walked back to her end of the arena. There, to everyone's surprise, she sat down cross-legged and waited.
"The same rules as always apply!" the announcer said, ignoring her strange behavior. "There are three ways one can win! Either by forcing the opponent out of bounds," he pointed at a white line drawn at the outer edges of the arena, "by making their opponent unable to continue, or by the other contestant's surrender! The battle lasts twenty minutes, at which point it will be called off and declared a draw! A rematch will be held the following day in that case. You may start when the bell rings! Good luck!"
Christopher took on a fighting stance, and not a few moments later, the bell rang.
"GO CHRIS!!" Velvet yelled from her seat, making Arianna and the rest a bit uncomfortable. They cheered for their friend too, of course, but not with such great fervor and volume that it turned the heads of practically everyone in the spectating stand toward them. The dracon still sat quietly on her side of the arena, which confused her opponent.
"What are you doing?!" Christopher yelled. "Get up and fight me!" There was no response. "If you're not going to move, I am just going to take you out!" he added, sprinting forward.
Kirara finally raised her hand. "Summon: Hades Hellhound."
A part of her soul escaped her open palm and the ground in front of her opened in a geyser of flames, making the human stop in his tracks. A three-headed dog of colossal size emerged from it, roaring loudly.
"That's one hell of a summon, all right," he muttered and sprang into action. "It won't be enough to stop me, though! Prison of Darkness!"
YOU ARE READING
Rumerra - The Journey Begins
FantasyCOMPLETED! Since she was a little girl, Velvet has been reading stories about great wizards and witches of Rumerra's past, wishing every night to wake up one day and be blessed with the affinity for magic herself. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked...
