Holy crap. It didn't really strike me before, but we're in the finals. Like, we could actually win this! Well, I mean, I really care about it too much... hey, what's the reward again? Something... oh, who cares? It has to be something super cool! Yeah! Definitely!
Doesn't really matter either way.
The thing is... these guys we're going to fight seem super strong! Like, scarily so! I'm not sure whether we can beat them! Okay, scratch that, we, uh, totally can! There's no way we'd lose... haha. Alright, that aside, we do have the advantage when it comes to numbers, so... there's that? But, it's a five on three, so one of us will have to fight an even battle...
I wonder who's gonna have to do that? Hopefully not me, I guess. Honestly, if I'm going to be fighting a two on one, I'd want my teammate to be either Theca or Ai since they're the two most level-headed... and also maybe strongest, but that's aside from the point.
Hm? looks like Ashin has something to say... makes sense, I guess. He's like, the leader here or something, right?
"Hey! Guys! I've got something to say! Or, well, a plan! Yeah!" He pretty much yelled out, maybe alerting some of the other people in here... damn, the attention is all on us!
Well, we all ended up walking over to him, so his shout worked.
"Okay! So, I'm like, really surprised we were able to get this far into the tournament! Really! I mean, this year is our first time entering, yet we managed to get the finals! We might even be able to win! Yeah!" Alright, but, like, what's the plan though? Please? Ashin? Tell us?
"Yes... it is quite surprising we were able to get this far... however, some of the contestants have been quite disappointing... either way, what exactly is your plan?" Theca's battle seemed to be pretty easy, it was like they were toying with them a bit, huh?
"Right! My plan! Well, it involves separating them, I guess. You know, so that the fights are easier and stuff for us!" He went silent for a moment before speaking again, "these guys are obviously stronger than us, they're on a whole different level, I can admit that. This is exactly why I want us to win! Alright, anyway, I want Ai and Quen to fight that mage-looking girl!"
"Huh...? Wait, really? Look, Ashin, I don't really, um, doubt your planning or anything, but why? I mean, I'm not sure we'll really-- well, work well together." Quenilla looked back and forth between Ashin and Ai, seemingly nervous. Ai, on the other hand, seemed unphased.
"Heh! Well, I actually thought about this quite a lot! You see, the mage seems quite adept at keeping people away from her using her wind magic and stuff! Ai can both keep up some physical attacks while also blocking the wind with the earth! And you can heal her while also maybe attacking with some electricity which can't be knocked away with the wind as easily as other attributes! I'm sure you two can work really well with each other!" Oh, he actually did think about this quite a lot! That's actually a pretty good idea, honestly. Her wind magic seemed to be super strong, so having a way to block and dodge it is necessary.
"Ah... I see." Quenilla didn't have anything else to say, staying silent after that.
"Okay! And, for the super physically strong guy, I want you and me to fight him!" Ashin pointed to Theca... wait, wait! Doesn't that mean I'm all alone?
"Hm? Oh, sure thing. Any particular reason you want me to fight with you against that guy?" Damn it! And Theca is all for fighting with him! Come on! This is exactly what I didn't want!
"My reason? Well, you see! Using your threads, fire magic, and bow, you can fight him from far away while I attack at close range keeping him at bay! Plus, you can even fight in close quarters pretty well, so, I kinda just really wanted to fight with you."
"Oh. Okay... then, Shiro will be fighting all alone? Why is that? Is that all right?" Thank you Theca, you truly are my saviour...
"Uh... well, Shiro just kinda seemed like an all-rounder like the one that they're gonna be fighting. So... good luck!" He gave me a thumbs up... no! Please, come on! How is this fair? I'm not totally against it or anything, but still...
Huh? Who's that behind Ashin...? Wait, isn't that the guy?
"Hey," the one behind Ashin spoke in an almost emotionless voice, empty, sorta deep. He had some medium-length jet black hair, which seemed to be kept in pretty well shape considering the world we're in. To add to all of that, he had some especially intimidating piercing dark green eyes. His armour was some sort of white metal of which clashed with his darker hair, pretty light while mixed with some chainmail for extra protection. "I just wanted to say, we're going to win."
After saying that, he just... left. Walking away from the rest of us. Eh? Come again? Like, what? What was even the point of that? Just some declaration of war or something? Weird...
"Huh? That was that guy from Team Ohre, right? Well, isn't that something?" Ashin shrugged, maybe as confused as I am, "alright! The fight will start soon, so let's all be prepared!"
[Chapter 42, end.]