The Annual Magical Knights Tournament has finally arrived! Most, if not all of the students whether participating or not are all in the stands, alongside teachers, other faculty, and even non mage citizens have all come to watch the beginnings of the tournament.
The tournament itself is held in the large arena outside, in the same location all of the students take their entrance exams every year in the hopes of attending the prestigious academy.
Both Misa and Lisa, the official tournament announcers, were of course present for the beginning of the tournament. Their job as the tournament announcers is to obviously announce what's going on in the duel as it happens, while also doing their best to purposely make it enticing and interesting for the audience.
Stephen Windblade sat in the stands, with his friends Thomas, Cecily, Sarah, and August. He had been highly anticipating for the annual tournament, not just to participate, but to also watch it. After all, this first duel would be something he could not miss.
"Greetings all, mages and non mages alike! I am Misa!"
"And I am Lisa"
"And we're your twin announcers!"
And of course, I cannot miss those two either, Stephen thought to himself, a grin forming on his face, as the crowd hyped up with Lisa and Misa's introduction.
"But before we get in, it appears we have a special guest!," Misa announced. "Ellen Marion, our current head director herself!"
The audience turned to the part of the arena, where normally the head directors sit for the entrance exams. And as expected, everyone saw Ellen Marion sit down at one of the director's seats.
As Ellen sat down, she seemed to sigh in annoyance as she rested her head on her hand. She looked down at the arena, with almost no emotion on her face. It wasn't until when Walter Garet, the earth director, sat a few seats away from her that she finally showed emotion. She gave him a slight glare before looking back down at the arena.
Tsk, I just wish my father can get the trial over and return to his position, Stephen thought to himself.
For a while, Stephen will admit he was at odds with his father. He held a grudge against him, for not being there for him when he was younger.
As a child, Stephen wanted nothing more than to spend time with his father, mostly wanting him to teach him how to properly use his magic, which Stephen seemed to be so gifted in. But all of that was thrown away when his father seemed to be more invested in another young mage, over his own son.
Of course, all of that changed when he met Allen Fleming. After finding out Allen was the mage in question, Stephen understandably got really frustrated. He then acted out of emotions, and challenged Allen to a duel immediately. Allen accepted his challenge.
During their duel, Allen really opened up Stephen's eyes. It wasn't so much of his father or even Allen that he truly was angry with, but himself more.
His mother had died during childbirth, and so he only had his father for the majority of his life. Stephen had secretly blamed himself for the whole ordeal, and had started to take that out on his father as he grew older.
His father must have realized the gap that started to grow between the two of them, so he must've thought that keeping his distance would fix it. Instead, it did the opposite, and only made Stephen's feelings worse over time.
Luckily, with Allen opening his eyes, Stephen went out of his way to talk with his father, and they had a solid father to son conversation. It was something they definitely needed, and really helped to close the gap between the two of them.
Of course, I am still frustrated with my father choosing Allen over me, Stephen admitted to himself. But, regardless of the stupid reasons my father gave, I know deep down there must be a good reason, even if it frustrates me.
But that same individual, someone he calls both his good friend and rival, would be seen today. And they wouldn't have to wait long for him to show.
"And now we won't keep you waiting!," Lisa immediately caught the audience's attention. "The first duel for this tournament is going to begin!"
Here it is, Stephen thought to himself, a grin forming on his face. Just what we were all waiting for.
"To our left," Misa started, waving her finger to direct the audience's attention. "We have a rank 1F, air mage. Regarded as 'The Weakest Mage', Allen Fleming!"
The crowd had a mix of emotions, either cheering or booing, as Allen himself came from the side of the arena. He had a calm and collected look on his face, as he held a hand on his sword that was sheathed away, as he walked up to the middle of the arena.
"And to our right," Lisa chimed in. "We have a rank 2B, earth mage. While having no current title, it's obvious he has been working hard, Anthony Lowe!"
The crowd was a bit more quiet this time, but Stephen had heard no booing throughout the crowd. The mage in question came from the right, with a rather confident look on his face.
I haven't heard of Anthony before, but if he's a B rank and a second year, he might give Allen a good fight, Stephen thought to himself.
While Allen would technically have the elemental advantage in this situation, since air magic is strong against earth magic, it would not matter in the end. Since Allen cannot cast elemental magic, the elemental advantage is almost useless to Allen.
However, Allen had something almost no mages had, Stephen included. The ability to fight with a weapon, something that was allowed, but generally frowned upon.
Stephen always thought that was weird, considering several talented and strong mages have fought with weapons in the past. In fact, you could look no further to Rose Marion, their Student Council President, who fought with a rapier out of all things. All the students loved and respected her for her strengths.
However, mages like Allen at the "bottom" are frowned upon for using weapons. Maybe it was because in Rose's case, it was an add on, while in Allen's case, it was to compensate?
Poor Rose, Stephen thought to himself. Don't you worry Rosy, we'll get you back for sure.
"While this may only be the first duel of the tournament, things are already starting to heat up with the entrance of Allen Fleming as one of the first duel participants!," Misa announced, as she grabbed the attention of the crowd once more.
"And why is that, Misa?," Lisa asked, for a dramatic effect.
"Well of course, all of the students and teachers have been talking about the recent events!," Misa started to explain. "Allen had made a sudden interruption during none other than Ellen Marion's speech during our beginning of the tournament announcement! And not just Allen, but even our vice director, Walter Garet, and the Prince of England himself, August Lionheart appeared as well!"
"I remember that quite well!," Lisa nodded, while keeping her attention focused on both the audience and her sister. "It was still quite a shock for me. Could Ellen Marion herself be here to watch his duel?"
"Well, we may not have a straight answer, but we can all see her here ourselves!," Misa pointed in the direction where Ellen Marion was sitting, who didn't seem too pleased to be called out.
"And I am sure there's more hyping up this duel as well!," Lisa continued. "With Allen's restrictions of needing to win four consecutive duels in this very tournament to continue to his second year, placed upon him by none other than our previous head director William Windblade, I am sure Allen has prepared himself well for this very first duel!"
"You're absolutely right, my dear sister!," Misa agreed with her. "Just how will this duel go? Will Allen claim victory and move on? Or will Anthony best him, and he is immediately expelled? Only one way to find out!"
As Allen and Anthony awaited in the center of the arena for the duel referee, Stephen overheard Thomas talking.
"-and so, I am very certain Allen has a good chance of winning!"
"Very true, but we don't know what Anthony's capabilities are," Cecily pointed out. "We all know of Allen's, and of course we want him to win, but you never know"
"Yeah I suppose you're right," Thomas sounded defeated, as he slumped back into his chair. "What do you think, Steph?"
Stephen rolled his eyes before speaking. "Well, with all of that supreme training he's probably gotten in, I'm sure he'll do just fine. Although, I am sure that earth mage won't back down without a fight"
"Exactly!," Thomas agreed, perking back up. "I know Allen will win!"
"What do you think, oh mighty prince?," Stephen asked, as he leaned forward to get a good look at August.
August seemed to be immersed in what was going down below with Allen that he didn't look at Stephen right away. "He's got this"
August had a very confident look on his face, as though he already knew of what the duel's outcome would be, or better yet how the duel would actually go. Stephen decided to leave it be, and turn his attention back around to the duel that's about to take place down below.
Just before the duel referee was about to explain the terms of the duel, it had looked like the mage Allen was going to duel, Anthony, was trying to tell Allen something. He seemed to be very firm about what he was saying, perhaps something in relation to their duel about to begin. Allen had only simply nodded a few times as he spoke, and said nothing more. Anthony didn't seem to take rather kindly to Allen's deadpan expression, so he seemed to have stormed off silently as he took his position.
"The rules for the Annual Magical Knights Tournament are as follows," the duel referee began, in the center of the arena. "The duel will begin when the countdown is finished. Please avoid any serious harm to your opponent, but any spells, approved weapons, and approved magical artifacts are allowed. The duel will end once someone admits defeat, becomes unconscious, or steps outside of the duel boundaries. I have authority at any time to end the duel, should I determine someone's life is in danger. Am I clear?"
"Yes sir," Allen nodded.
"Yes," Anthony answered, an annoyed look on his face, most likely still annoyed about Allen's reaction earlier.
"Very well. Allen Fleming, rank 1F air mage, and Anthony Lowe, rank 2B earth mage, your duel begins in three-"
Just as the countdown began, Allen already began to unsheathe his sword, and gave it a few swings. He closed his eyes for a moment, almost concentrating.
"Two"
Anthony began to prepare himself as well. While he could not prepare any elemental circles yet, he could at least think of what he wanted to do.
"One"
Both Allen and Anthony looked at each other, as they were only a second away from their duel beginning. Allen stood in position, ready to move at a moment's notice.
"Begin!"
Right as the referee finished the countdown, Anthony began to immediately prepare a spell, with an elemental circle. It was almost too fast, even faster than what the talented Stephen Windblade could do.
Something's off, Stephen thought to himself, as he quickly noticed Anthony's spellcasting. Spellcasting should not be that fast for a B rank. Should it?
But before Anthony could realize it, Allen was already on the move, quickly moving towards his position. It was so fast, Stephen had almost missed it, as his attention was on Anthony.
Right as Anthony was about to cast his spell, Allen was already on his position, standing directly next to him. His sword was already at Anthony's throat, and was ready to move at a moment's notice if Anthony still decided to retaliate. This was checkmate.
Anthony had a stunned expression on his face, his eyes widened in surprise and fear, and for good reason. He gritted his teeth, as his body began to shake. Just how could Allen move so quickly, and with such precision?
It wasn't just Anthony that was beyond shock. Everyone in the audience was too, with complete shock moving throughout the room. No one said a word, not even the attention grabbing twins Lisa and Misa.
Something is strange about this whole thing, something is not adding up, Stephen thought to himself, as he began to contemplate how Allen could pull off such a move. His mana perhaps? Did he prepare it ahead of time, before the duel began? But that fast? I've never seen him do that before! He always takes a solid few seconds to do so!
"I knew he could do it," a voice came from the side of Stephen.
Stephen turned to find August the first to speak, and probably was the first out of everyone in the room.
"Just what do you mean? What happened?," Stephen desperately asked, guessing August had the answer.
"Yeah, explain please," Thomas also turned to look at him, as Cecily seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.
"As you are all aware, Allen has not been sitting around doing nothing," August began to explain. "I was training him really hard during that period that you all did not see him. While we focused a good portion on his magical capabilities, the biggest one was his physical capabilities"
"Wait," Stephen started to say. "You mean-"
"Correct," August nodded, giving them a small smile. "Allen didn't use mana. That was all him and his physical capabilities alone"
"I- admit defeat," Anthony announced, as he broke the silence from below.
The duel referee took note of his words, and nodded towards Lisa and Misa, who stood up in their area in the stands.
"And there you have it everyone!," they announced together. "With this, it makes The Weakest Mage's first win! Allen moves on to the second round!"
The audience was suddenly filled with a mix of emotions. Some of the audience cheered for his quick victory, while some others were not satisfied with what they thought was an underhanded victory. The rest of the audience, however, remained silent as they still processed what they just witnessed.
Stephen looked over to what appeared to be a very disappointed Ellen Marion, as she immediately stood up and made her way out of the arena. Stephen chuckled for a moment, relishing in Ellen's minor defeat for today.
"Did you see that!," Thomas yelled, pointing down to Allen. "He won! He really did it!"
"I'm very glad he did it," Cecily smiled, happy for her friend's victory.
"I knew he had it in him," Stephen shrugged, but still excited for his friend's victory. "Now I just need to wait for my turn!"
"And there you have it everyone, the conclusion of the first duel!," Misa announced.
"But don't worry, we have plenty more duels coming! Stick around!," Lisa finished the announcement, with both her and Misa doing a cute pose together.
With Allen's first duel already finished, he's already on his way to passing one of his conditions. Stephen doesn't know what may come ahead for his future duels, but he will be sure to cheer him on.
Now all that's left is finally meeting up with him, Stephen thought. It may have only been a few weeks, but it still feels like forever. Just wait Allen, your buddy Stephen's coming to see ya! But first, comes my upcoming duel!