"The winds blow, the waves crash, the land moves slowly, and the flame burns"
*Iah*
"Are you nervous?" Nyima asked once we arrived at the stadium.
"Not at all," I said, grinning. "I actually can't wait to start."
"We will be fighting one another this time," Arima said, smiling at me.
I nodded.
"Hello there," Boukyaku said. Following him was Lucette. "Follow us, all the tournament representatives have to line up downstairs."
"So brother lost?" Vermeil said.
"Yeah," Lucette said. "Normally Vita and he are the representatives but this year they were out of their game. I think that your brother wanted to hurry and find you and your friends. Same goes for Vita."
Vermeil looked around. "Where are they?"
"Up here," Vita yelled. She was sitting next to Haroun in the seats on top of us.
Haroun leaned back on his seat. "I'll be representative next year, you'll see. Don't lose you two."
"We won't," Lucette said. She jumped down into the arena. Boukyaku, Arima, and I followed her.
"So you're this year's freshmen representatives," a guy with eyes like Kohaku's said. "Is it true that one of you defeated Shiori?"
"More like I finished him off," I said.
The boy chuckled. "Interesting, I never expected him to lose to a child, you're the youngest representative yet."
"How old are you?" Arima asked, side eying me.
"Thirteen," I said. "I will be fourteen in two months and twenty-one days."
"You skipped a grade or something?"
"Yup." I nodded and grinned. "I'm a genius after all."
"A genius, eh?" a young woman with messy brown hair said. "Then you better give us a good show, boy."
She glanced over at Arima. "Hey, aren't you a Sefan? I don't believe we've had a Sefan be a representative since a guy from the Opus clan."
Arima glanced over at Alto. "So it was his brother."
"That guy is his younger brother? I heard that his grandfather also participated as a representative and won. Too bad we can't face off against junior there."
Alto frowned as they looked at him.
We never did have our sparring match, did we?
The senior rep grinned. "Now I'm looking forward to this even more. Show us what you got, Arima."
"I look forward to it too," Ning said as she walked toward us.
"I guess I'm the last one," a familiar voice called out. I turned around and saw Orichalcum.
"Arima, aren't these seniors stronger than Shiori and Kohaku?" I asked.
Arima's eyes bulged. "Probably."
"Shiori likes to brag about his strength but he is lacking in prana control," the male senior rep said. "Oh right, I'm Hitoshi, the second senior representatives."
"My name is Ning," An's childhood friend said.
"I'm Etsuko Inu," the other senior rep said. "I'm also the school president."
"I'm Lucette," Lucette said.
"You all know me," Boukyaku said with a grin. I guess he didn't feel the need for an introduction.
Koukyuu made her way to the center with a microphone at hand. She glanced at the filled stadium.
Lifting the microphone to her lips, "Welcome Kyuu-Hanabiran High students and guests to this year's class representative tournament. This year's participants are Iah no Mikoto from Mina..." A large section of the audience began booing.
"Tough crowd," I said.
"The second freshman representative is Arima Roho from Sefa."
There was slightly less booing for Arima.
"The sophomore representatives are Ning Wang and Orichalcum Wudi." The booing intensified again once she said, 'Wudi'.
"Representing the upperclassmen are Boukyaku Zettai." The crowd was whipped into a frenzy. "Lucette, Etsuko, and Hitoshi, all four from Kyuu Seishin." The crowd cheered even more.
"Home advantage is really annoying when it's not on your side," Ning said, crossing her arms.
"It's worse when you're a Wudi," Orichalcum muttered.
"Don't worry we'll show them that we can put on as good a show as the Kyuu Seishinians," I said.
"The first match will be that of the sophomores," Koukyuu said. "The rest of you can sit down and watch."
The upperclassmen, Arima, and I walked over to a bench guarded by its own barrier separate from that of the arena's.
Ning and Orichalcum stepped forward as they did, cloaks manifested around their shoulders.
Ning's had multiple lines of various colors running through it while Orichalcum's was that of a white tiger against a black background.
The field turned into a savannah similar to how the 'Mystic Room' in the hotel and the 'Tournament room' in the boat did.
"Begin!" Koukyuu yelled from inside the protection of the bench's barrier.
"Metal Wall!" Orichalcum chanted. A metal wall rose from the ground and covered her. "Fulgur Draco." She electrifies the wall with a lightning dragon. Sparks fly out of the top of the wall casting an eerie white aura.
Ning wasn't fazed by this as she runs toward the wall. "No. 3- Blazing Projectiles." Tiny bee-sized objects manifested around her.
Red laser shot out of the bee-sized objects, melting the metal wall with ease.
"This kind of magic, it's different from An's own style," Arima stated as she watched Ning's laser continue to melt the metal. "What element is this anyways?"
"This kind of magic is what one can truly call Magi-tech," Lucette said. "Ning's prana can take the form of objects which in turn can execute her spells for her. So even if Ning were to leave, her spells will continue their programmed objective."
"So, her magic is to create machines?" I asked.
"Kind of. In reality, she can create a larger variety of objects but it appears that she prefers guns and lasers. The elements of this kind of magic are light, lightning, fire, metal, and elemental-less."
"What in the world?" Arima said. "How can elemental-less prana exist alongside elemental prana like this?"
"Easy," Mr. Suzuran said as he and Ms. Key walked in uninvited. "It's just like the separation of prana types during potion making."
"Correct," Ms. Key said. "Except one's own body does it for you. If Ning had more dedication she could be as good a potion maker as Mr. Suzuran."
Koukyuu chuckled. "Like you should be one to talk."
Ms. Key glared at her. "Ah, I forgot that you were here. I think that I might go sit with my students."
"I don't get why you're bitter," Koukyuu, crossing her arms. "You..." I couldn't hear the last part.
Ms. Key sighed as she took a seat next to Arima. "I'll stay here but it's to support my students from up-close."
"Like I would care."
What in the world happened between Ms. Kasai no Ki and Ms. Key?
"No. 7- Drill Rampart!" Ning yelled, interrupting me from my speculation.
The wall around Orichalcum collapsed into a liquid goo as a drill sent hot metal flying in multiple directions. If it weren't for Ning having materialized a protective suit then she would've gotten burned by the metal.
A white tiger leaped over the hot metal and darted toward her with lightning speed.
Ning's lasers fired off like some sort of security system.
"You won't defeat me again, white tigress," Ning said, materializing a gun. Prana from her surroundings quickly swirled around the muzzle.
"You're great at making dazzling light shows," Orichalcum yelled as she reflected the laser with mirrors. "But it'll backfire again!"
Ning chuckled. "Maximum output increase to one-hundred percent!" The lasers turned from red to violet. The mirrors shattered instantaneously.
Orichalcum roared as she sent out a pulse of lightning to disorient the mirrors.
Something about the display reminded me of the legends of my clan's founder and how he once used electrical pulses to push an enemy back. However...
Ning smiled as Orichalcum stayed stuck in place. "Checkmate!" The gun fired off its prana sphere which shattered the ground as it flew around in the air.
"Is she trying to kill her?" I said, standing up.
"Sit down, she'll be fine," Ms. Key said.
Orichalcum crashed into the opposite side of the barrier around the field as smoke filled that side of the arena.
Electrical sparks flew out of the black smoke cloud. A white and azure blur was getting closer to Ning.
Oh, she's fine...
"How did these two become incapable of fighting Mayu?" I asked.
"It was the threat of my daughter and her friends that made them this strong," Mr. Suzuran said, his eyes filled with remorse.
I bit my lip.
Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned Mayu at the moment.
"I underestimated her," Ning said as she leaped into the air to avoid Orichalcum "I guess I got no choice. No. 6- Melody of Shion!"
Silver petals danced slowly around Ning.
Orichalcum let out an electrical pulse to break through the petals but doing so backfires. Lightning flew toward the ceiling of the barrier and came back down with a vengeance.
Orichalcum tried to take back control of it but it was too late. Electricity paralyzed her body similar to how Ren's spell had done to Alto and Lei.
Ning sighed with relief as she walked over to Orichalcum. Dusting a powder of some kind over her, she smiled. "That was a close one. If No. 6 had failed then I would have to result to using No. 9."
Orichalcum laughed. "You sure got strong over this past year."
Ning puffed her chest out. "Thanks." She glanced over at An. "I hope he noticed."
Orichalcum chuckled. "I see. You did it for him?"
Ning's face turned pink. "Maybe..."
Koukyuu stood up. "The winner is Ning from Aief! Next up are Lucette versus Boukyaku."
"Why are they skipping us?" Arima asked.
"Saving the best for last?" I suggested.
"Perhaps it's because they know that everyone is curious about you," Etsuko said, grinning. "The prince of Mina against the first Sefan since Zydeco Opus."
Koukyuu looked down upon hearing that name.
Woah, wait a moment. These two know Alto's brother?
"Hey, were you once one of the freshmen representatives?" I asked.
Koukyuu nodded as she sat back down. "That's right. I fought against Alto's brother." Her face turned bright red. "He was an odd boy. In some ways, Lei kind of reminds me of him."
"Ahh, is that why you took a sudden interest in that boy?" Ms. Key questioned, a teasing grin on her face.
Koukyuu grumbled. "I... I just want to see how much he can grow. Perhaps he'll be able to surpass him."
Lei...what's so great about him? He lost to me in the end. I'm the winner here. Yet all people seem to care about is that guy...
"I think that Alto has a good chance of surpassing his brother," Ms. Key responded as if they were trying to one up each other.
"Neither Lei nor Alto is participating in this," Arima voiced my thoughts. "If anyone will surpass Zydeco then it'll be Iah or me, not some guy who lost to us in the semi-finals."
I patted Arima in the back. "Nice job defending our pride."
Arima smiled back. "No problem. Though I'll crush yours very soon."
**Solar Question: What's your opinion on the battle?**