A/N: The picture above is a reference of the appearance of the colloseum this tournament will take place in.
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"Let me repeat the rules again..." Aramintha spoke into a speakerphone.
"You are not allowed to step off the battlefield, or you are disqualified. You can use any sorts of magic to eliminate other teams, but any rough housing and we teachers will automatically silence you, and your entire team will be disqualified."
"Darn it!" It seems Cermia was planning to go all-out with her attacks.
"Once a member of your team reaches below 20% Health or is disqualified, the entire team will be eliminated. The final team standing will be the winners of the tournament!"
The students who didn't particiate watched from the spectating field. Among some of them was an unamused Ludwig.
"Is everyone ready?"
...
"Then let us begin!"
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"Challenge accepted!" And with that, Cermia drew out her sword with confidence. In the distance near her was Purrgis, asking for a duel.
"I'll blow you away!"
The two began fighting with each other. Strikes was exchanged from both sides. Everyone was watching.
"Well this is the first time I've seen two teammates battle it out against each other," Aramintha pointed out as she sipped her tea.
Above the battlefield was a protected room where the teachers stayed, spectating their students through the transparent windows.
"You know, ma'am, you didn't have to set all of this up. We could have just initiated class tests instead, said Corvus, polishing his shield.
"But there's no reward coming from that, so some of the students wouldn't have give it their all. It's better to introduce something that will motivate the students to develop strategies and unlock their potential," interrupted Charles.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," giggled Aramintha, "And besides, it wouldn't be very fun doing that, would it?"
"They're supposed to be the defenders of the world," sighed Kise.
"And they will be, but right now, they're still children," replied Aramintha.
Although the atmosphere seemed really tense, it was obvious that they were having lots of fun.
"So let them play the part," she added, "Besides, they won't be having this role forever."
The teachers continued to watch.
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5 minutes had passed and half of the teams were already eliminated! Here are the highlights:
-> Charlotte and Paradoxia pull of a great combo to knock Montmorancy out of the battlefield.
-> Krau tried to get on his Siegfried, only to fall backwards and twist his ankle, forcing his team to quit.
-> It seems like plot armour doesn't exist in this universe because somehow, Tenebria's team managed to defeat Ras and his comrades! Unfortunately, due to someone summoning a thick fog, we were unable to tell how it happened.
-> Although Dominiel had frozen Sez, Bellona had managed to evade her attack and countered with her fan magic.
-> It was a close call, but Cermia had defeated Purrgis! Regardless, it still resulted in a disqualification since she eliminated a member of her own team (Cartuja was disappointed).
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"I heard Bellona did some Martial Artist Training, so we shouldn't try to engage in close combat," noted Lots.
Charlotte, Aither, Lots and Paradoxia stood off against Lidica, Sez and Bellona.
Lidica swung her whip in the air like she was bored, "Let's get this over with."
"Sez may be on the other side frozen, but that's not gonna stop us from winning this tourament," said Bellona with a smug. Bellona hid her smile behind her fan.
A wind gush to the left, a wind gush to the right. Bellona begun stricking.
"Be careful! Dodge her attacks!" commanded Charlotte.
The team scattered.
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Meanwhile on the other side...
"Kayron please! Just one more magic spell from you and we can win this tournament!" pleaded Tenebria, who clung onto Kayron's legs."
Kayron's eyebrows drew closer and his eye twitched a little. He's almost had enough.
"Just cast your void slash again, but this time at the whole battlefield. Tenebria's disco ball will make sure we won't get affected," explained Aki.
...
"Yuna, look, I think now's our chance to strike. The team is in a pickle with each other," Hazel pointed out.
Yuna nodded, before proceeding to throw Tuna to the air.
"Let's go, Tuna!"
And with that, Tuna splurted out an immense amount of laser beams to hit the whole team.
"Kayron's team is eliminated," said the speakers that surrounded the whole colloseum.
In the debris was Nilgal laying on the ground, whilst Tenebria still wrapped herself around Kayron. Unfortunately, Aki had slipped into the water.
"If you had just co-operated, none of this would have happened!" said Nilgal furiously.
"Oh, that's it," Kayron answered sharply.
"Uh oh, we better go away," said Hazel. And with that, she dragged Yuna away towards the area where Charlotte's team was battling Bellona and Lidica.
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT TEAMWORK IS."
Kayron slaughtered the ground with one throw of a sword, shattering half of the battlefield platform. Not long after did Tenebria, Nilgal, Aki and Sez's ice fell with it.
Thankfully, that was enough to break Sez free.
-----
On one end of the half-cut, circular battlefield was a tired Charlotte, with Lots and Aither consuming all their mana to heal her. Towards the middle was a relaxed Bellona, bored Lidica and a recently-back Sez. Whilst at the other end was an observing Hazel and a fascinated Yuna.
"This is no good, I'm almost out of recovery magic," puffed Lots.
"Then this will have to be our last try, and we'll have to make it count," Paradoxia pointed out.
"Alright..." mumbled Aither.
"Get better!"
"Alright, I feel pumped up!" said Charlotte, her health was fully recovered.
Bellona took a strong stance to imply that she was ready for the upcoming chaos. Lidica did the same. Sez didn't change his expressions.
All of a sudden, Paradoxia and Charlotte took off.
The distance between the two teams shortened, but Bellona's team remained standing.
"Vortex!"
With the help of Paradoxia's hands, Charlotte leaped into the air, before striking downwards.
"Now!" shouted Bellona.
An explosion of dust scattered across the battlefield.
...
It was impossible to look, the dust was too thick to tell what happened...
"What happened? Did Charlotte and Paradoxia overdo it?" asked Lots.
Eventually, the dust settled, only to revealed a dizzy Paradoxia on the ground, and an angry Charlotte swimming in the water.
"Charlotte's team has been eliminated!"
"What...?" Aither didn't see that coming.
"Oh no..." mumbled Lots, before running towards the centre to check if Paradoxia was okay."
Bellona giggled.
"Now only one team le-"
"AND THE WINNER IS BELLONA'S TEAM, CONSISTING OF BELLONA, LIDICA AND SEZ."
The teachers clapped from above and the eliminated students cheered on.
Lidica was slightly confused, "But how come Yuna and...?
"Didn't you hear the announcement earlier? Yuna and Hazel surrendered" said Sez with a monotonous tone.
"But why?" Bellona questioned.
"Well done," Aither offered a handshake, Bellona shook it in return.
"I know I'm not as strong as you guys, but someday, I'll face you on my own!
A small tear escaped from Aither's eyes, but that was hard to notice through the smile that he pulled. He was upset, but he was genuinely happy to experience the fight.
"I don't know how you guys did it, but well done!" congratulated Lots.
"Yeah... nice...." murmured Paradoxia, clearly, she was still feeling hazy from the impact.
"Just to give you guys a tip, try to plan a more co-operated combo, since we were able to deduce a weakness from that attack of yours," suggested Bellona.
"What do you mean?" asked Aither.
"We used Lidica's whip to constrict Charlotte, then once she was immobilized, Sez pushed her to the water with his magical fist,"
"Don't call them magical..." said Sez quietly enough only for himself to hear.
"Once the two swords smashed into the ground it gave me an opportunity to throw my fan at Paradoxia."
"And the breeze consequently caused the dust fog" Lots added.
"Nice deduction," said Bellona.
"Then that means we'll have to train much harder to beat you guys!" Aither spoke with an uplifting voice.
Bellona giggled once more, "We'll look forward for the day where we can spar together seriously."
"You mean, you weren't even serious during this fight?!" Lots thought.
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Question: "How are the teachers able to monitor students' current health percentage?"
Answer: Because I created a tablet that allowed them to view what their current Health is.
Question: "How come you're involved in this?"
Answer: I am a friend of Orbis.