"And the duel is already over! Simon Windblade yet again claims victory!"
The crowd cheered with excitement with the sudden, but expected victory from Simon's victory over Isaac Terrastone. In just one singular spell, Simon managed to wipe the floor with Isaac.
And they are supposedly only a rank apart, Thomas thought to himself. And yet… the gap in their strength is immense.
After only a few days passed since the Semi-Final announcement, the actual Semi-Final rounds have finally begun. The duel between Simon Windblade and Isaac Terrastone was first, and had already concluded in just moments.
Isaac is Thomas' cousin, and he is the son to Giles Terrastone, the current earth leader within the Triumvirate. Isaac is the first born, and currently a third year student.
Despite being his cousin, Thomas didn't really know Isaac that well enough. In fact, he didn't really know or get along with his cousins altogether for that matter.
That's just how it is for the highly influential families, Thomas thought to himself. All children are expected to perform well; and when they don't, they're ignored.
Regardless, Thomas was still surprised to see his cousin stand absolutely no chance to Simon Windblade. He was practically helpless to him, only being another stepping stone for Simon to continue on to become one of the strongest mages ever seen.
"Word is, he's going to surpass his father one day" one student said behind Thomas.
"Seriously? I almost don't doubt it, after watching another one of his duels!," said another student.
"No one stands a chance against Simon Windblade!"
As students around Thomas' seat whispered among themselves, he tried to ignore them. The only thing that mattered to Thomas right now, was waiting for Allen and Stephen's duel.
Thomas sat with his friends Cecily and Alice in the stands together. August wasn't present due to him being out for now, and Rose hasn't showed up yet. Rose had already promised them she would sit with them before Allen and Stephen's duel began, but they've yet to see her.
"With the first duel out of the way, we will begin the next duel shortly!," the twin announcers Misa and Lisa declared. The audience went loud with excitement, in anticipation for the next duel.
"I don't think Rose will get here in time," Thomas brought up, as he looked around for any sign of her.
"She'll get here in time," Cecily commented, without looking away from her book.
"I'm starting to doubt that," Thomas responded, as he continued to look around. "I don't see her anywhere"
"I'm right here idiot," a familiar voice came from the left of Thomas.
"Rose?!?," Thomas blurted out, almost jumping out of his seat.
"Shh, you dolt," she demanded. "Or we'll get too much attention on us"
"Oh, right. Right…," Thomas quickly nodded, as Rose took a seat to the left of him.
Rose took a moment to greet Cecily and Alice, who sat on the other side of Thomas, with Cecily directly next to Thomas. Thomas wanted to start a conversion, but was just out of time.
"Alright everyone! The second duel for the semi-finals is just about to begin!," the twin announcers raised their voice, gaining the attention of everyone in the crowd. "Everyone get ready!"
"Their duel is about to begin!," Thomas looked at his friends, as he pointed down towards the bottom of the arena.
"Shhh!," Cecily advised him, as they put their attention down below.
"To our left," Misa started. "Is the rank 1D mage everyone is talking about! The Weakest Mage, Allen Fleming!"
The crowd cheered as Allen entered in, a serious look on his face as he walked towards the center of the arena. Thomas grinned as he saw his friend walk in, prepared for the duel after several days of training hard.
"And to our right," Lisa began. "Is the rank 1A we all know and love! The A Ranked Genius, Stephen Windblade!"
The crowd got louder as Stephen walked in, a confident grin on his face. He waved at the crowd, smirking and posing towards any hot students he saw. The girls began to fawn over him a bit, as Stephen kept their attention.
Figures his good looks would get him all that attention, Thomas thought, as he wished he got the attention Stephen did. I want women to look at me like they do at him.
But before Thomas could daydream more about it, he felt a cold glare from Cecily right next to him. He immediately turned his attention back down to the arena, where Allen and Stephen met in the center.
As Misa and Lisa continued to hype up the crowd in anticipation for the duel, Allen's main focus was both his rival and friend standing right in front of him, with a big grin on his face.
"So Allen," Stephen started to say, his arms crossed. "Our duel has finally come. I hope you're prepared"
"Of course I'm prepared," Allen replied back. "But are you?"
"I'm more than prepared," Stephen let out a small chuckle. "Now it's a matter if you can defeat me"
"I can, and I will defeat you," Allen declared, a confident grin forming on his face.
"Oh really?," Stephen asked, intrigued. "I may have lost against you before, but this is a different time. This time, I am ready. This time, I'll show you everything I can do"
"And I bet you will," Allen said back to him. "Let's fight each other fair and square, and give it all we've got!"
"Wouldn't have it any other way," Stephen replied back, smiling. The two of them fist bumped each other, before taking their spots, standing opposite of each other.
That's right, Allen thought, reminding himself. This is a duel, in better circumstances. Our friendship comes first, but that doesn't mean we can't form a rivalry. There will be no underhanded tricks, no foul play. We will both give this all we've got. May the better mage win!
"If both of you are ready, we may begin," the duel referee noted, as they took their position in the middle.
"I'm ready," Allen stated, as he unsheathed his sword.
"I've been ready," Stephen added, as he began to prepare his magic.
"Very well. We will begin shortly," the duel referee noted.
"And the duel is about to begin everyone!," Lisa announced to the crowd.
"That's right dear sister! And hopefully we will get a duel that will last a bit longer, so we can all enjoy it!," Misa added.
As the duel referee repeated the same rules he heard before every single tournament duel, Allen took a deep breath as he concentrated on his mana slowly flowing throughout his body. He needs to focus on what his first move will be, if he wants to gain the upper hand against Stephen early on.
Stephen won't be an easy opponent, Allen reminded himself. Subtracting the fact that he's an A rank, I've already seen what he can do, both from our last duel as well as during our training sessions.
Allen knows Stephen has improved quite a lot during their training throughout the year. With their Student Council President and good friend Rose Marion helping them with magic, it's no wonder everyone has gotten where they are today.
I could reckon a lot of us could put some third years on their toes, if given the opportunity, Allen thought to himself, as he contemplated the thought. But, that's not important right now. What's important is giving this everything I've got, and trying to win.
"The duel will begin in three"
Allen immediately readied his stance, ready for his first move.
"Two"
Stephen prepared his elemental circle, no doubt ready for his first spell.
"One"
Right as the duel began, Allen immediately locked in his focus on Stephen, who was seconds away from casting his first set of spells. Allen chose to head straight for Stephen, to hopefully gain the early advantage.
"I won't let you!," Stephen yelled, as he cast his first set of spells.
Expected, Allen thought, as he slowed down his pace to cut through each spell that he could. But this is exactly what I wanted.
"Don't get distracted, Allen!," Stephen shouted, already sending the next wave of spells.
"That fast?!," Allen yelled out loud, as he was caught off guard by the speed of the next set.
Allen gritted his teeth as he tried to cut through the ones he could, and dodged the ones he couldn't. Allen definitely needed Stephen to cast more spells in order to power up his sword, but it would be difficult if Allen is stuck on his toes the entire time.
I need to clear the distance between the two of us, Allen reminded himself, as he concentrated on Stephen's current position. He'll be expecting that, so I'll need to get there as close as I can.
Before Stephen could continue his assault of spells, Allen concentrated on his mana usage, focusing it solely on his legs, to allow for faster movement. It was a common tactic he used, but very reliable. In a duel between mages, normally the strongest spells wins (unless you had elemental advantage). But if Allen can reach the position of the mage and stop them altogether, the magical power doesn't matter anymore.
Allen cut through the last few spells that reached his position, before immediately heading straight for Stephen once again. With his sword aimed straight for Stephen, Allen's plan was to cut through any last second spells before hitting him with the flat of his blade, hopefully ending the duel instantly.
While I would love for this duel to continue longer, my primary goal is to stand out and win, Allen reminded himself. If I can just make it to the finals, then at least we will have a higher chance of getting William back.
But right before Allen could land a hit, Stephen immediately sidestepped at the perfect time, rather than casting a spell. Allen quickly regained his footing, before turning to look at him.
"That trick isn't going to work as easily against me," Stephen confidently said, as he gave Allen a small smirk. "I'll still fight to keep up with you"
"And so it seems," Allen replied, catching his breath. "Guess I'll have to go after you faster"
"I'd like to see you try," Stephen taunted him.
"And the duel has already started, and both of them are already on the offensive!," Misa shouted, as the crowd went wild with excitement. "Allen and Stephen are determined to win, but who will it be?"
"The Weakest Mage versus the A Ranked Genius, what a stunning duel so far!," Lisa added. "Both of them are showing promise!"
Both Stephen and Allen took a moment to take a breather. They both understood that this duel could go on for a while, and they needed to be prepared before going on the offensive again.
Both of us have really polished our skills, Allen noted. I've been able to move around faster, while Stephen's becoming more accurate with his spells.
The problem Allen noticed is that Stephen knows about his magical release ability, but yet keeps sending spells his way. This only benefits Allen, provided he cuts through them and powers up his sword.
Knowing Stephen, he wasn't going to cast spells at a fast rate unless he had a plan. But what could that plan be?
Regardless, I shall use that to my advantage, and prepare my magical release ability, Allen thought. And then I can use it at the right time, rendering Stephen out of the fight.
"Everyone calls me the A Ranked Genius, simply because of my intelligence and my rank," Stephen spoke, as he stretched. "A title that caught me off guard, but not unwanted"
"And knowing you, you must be eating up that attention," Allen goaded.
"Ehh, I could care less about attention, to be honest," Stephen admitted. "What matters to me is what's important to me, which includes my goals and my friends"
"How nice you are, but it won't change my plans on a victory," Allen chuckled.
"Of course," Stephen smirked. "But, I wouldn't mind some attention from some female students"
"Seriously?," Allen asked, as he sighed. "You're saying that in the middle of our duel?"
"Why not?," Stephen asked, putting his arms up to exaggerate. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind some attention from Rose… or even Sarah"
"Shut it," Allen declared, but his face went red regardless.
"Hah, knew it," Stephen grinned, getting a kick out of Allen's expression. "But let's continue our duel, shall we?"
"Right," Allen responded, after shaking his head and clearing his thoughts.
The two of them began to duel once again, with Stephen sending spells Allen's way, and Allen doing his best to close the gap in their distance while cutting through as many spells as he could.
However Stephen began to change it up, as he began to aim for Allen's feet, in an attempt to throw him off balance. Luckily Allen managed to keep up and dodge his attacks when needed, by providing a steady flow of mana towards his legs.
After the four sided star on his sword started to glow a clear grey color, Allen knew it was time for him to prepare for his magical release ability. The issue was Stephen would no doubt be anticipating his release at one point or another, so Allen needed to find a way to catch him off guard.
The logical conclusion would be that Allen releases it from a fair distance, considering Stephen has managed to keep a fair distance from him the entire time. This would allow Allen to almost make sure the release hit, while not being too far from Stephen if he needed to follow up on the release.
However, this seemed to be the very basic way to do it, and would likely be the plan Stephen would expect the most. Allen needed to really catch him off guard if he wanted his plans to succeed.
Which means, I'll need to cast it as close as I possibly can, Allen thought, as he started to plan the whole thing out. Best case scenario, I can cast it right behind him.
With Stephen already preparing his next set of spells, Allen only had so much time before he could continue his tempo. If he wanted to do it, he needed to do it now rather than later. Stephen knew about the ability, but not when he could use it.
Let's do this, Allen thought, as he began to prepare his mana.
Allen mustered as much air mana as his body would let him, without messing around with his fire mana which flowed alongside his air mana. He would need to move as quickly as possible, to ensure the best possible outcome.
As Stephen began to cast the next set of spells, Allen immediately went into full concentration on Stephen's position, ignoring the spells altogether. He dodged through all of them, without stopping to cut through any of them.
"What the-," Stephen started to say, as he realized Allen was quickly approaching his position.
"Take this, Stephen," Allen said out loud, as he was within only a few meters of Stephen.
"Wait-," he started to say, as he realized what was about to happen.
"Magical release!," Allen yelled, as he swiped his sword down, releasing all of the stored magic within his sword at Stephen.
As the magic closed in on Stephen within seconds, the worry on his face began to grow as he realized the position he was in. This was it, the last attack Allen needed to throw him off balance and end the duel.
At least, that's what Allen thought would happen, until the expression on Stephen's face changed completely.
"You thought," he smirked, as he quickly swerved to the right without warning, the magical release ability missing him entirely and hitting the walls of the arena.
"Impossible," Allen started to say, as he took in the scene in front of him. "How did you dodge-"
"-the spell so fast?," Stephen said, finishing his sentence. "Tell me Allen, just how do you move quickly?"
"Using my mana," Allen answered, the obvious answer. But then a curious but unexpected thought filled his head. "Wait, you didn't-"
"I'm no master at it like my father, nor am I a prodigy at it like you," Stephen admitted, throwing up his arms to exaggerate. "But like I said earlier, they do call me a genius. And a genius can arguably pick up on things overtime, right?"
"Wait, you're able to use mana?," Allen asked, finally putting the pieces together.
As Stephen's face started to form a large grin, Allen realized their duel was just getting started.