"Let the games begin!"
With that, the preliminary round of the Grand Festival has begun.
"It's going to be a madhouse.", Arthur said as the live feed was cut, the last frame showing Violet Zelien yelling at the Headmaster.
He did some stretching and can already hear the sounds of battle in the distance. He calmly took out his knives from the bracelet and kept them on his person, leaving some in storage in case he needed more.
"Alright then. Let's see how much I have improved.", Arthur said and leaned back.
Just as a powerful wind attack passed by in front of him.
He looked in the direction of where the attack came from. Approaching from his left was a tall half-elf holding a rapier.
The guy had a gleeful grin on his handsome face, "Man, am I lucky! The round has just started and I am already guaranteed ten points."
His eyes glowed green and the winds swirled around him, "I must thank Slader for giving me such an easy prey!"
With a triumphant smile, he flew toward Arthur and thrust his rapier at the young man.
{Wind Code: Piercing Tornado}
Winds rapidly swirled around his rapier, forming something akin to a lance and he launched it straight at Arthur's face.
But the young man was unfazed. With just a tilt of his head, the attack flew past him without even grazing him.
In a flash, he pulled out Ghost and struck the rapier. He streamed magia into the blade and with a hiss, the purple-tinged blade sliced the rapier into two.
At the same time, he released his presence. This stunned his opponent and it was enough for him to attack.
Arthur used his left fist to deal an uppercut to his opponent's jaw. He held back his monstrous strength but it was still enough to launch the half-elf in the air along with what sounded like a broken jaw.
Dropping Ghost, he whipped out his knives and threw them at his opponent's legs.
They went deep into the shins but before the guy could scream out in pain, the young Night yanked at the magia strings attached to the knives and slammed him hard into the sandy ground.
Again, he held back his strength but there was still a sickening thud as the half-elf crashed into the ground on his back. A small shockwave spread from the impact and he heard the unmistakable sound of the air getting knocked out of a person.
Along with the cracking of a few bones.
He approached the half-elf, who was heaving and groaning, his face contorted in pain.
"How?", he croaked as Arthur's face appeared in his blurred vision, disbelief, pain, frustration, and hatred ruining his pretty face.
"You're a Special Class A trash without an attribute! I am supposed to be much stronger than you!", he shrieked, coughing out blood.
Arthur calmly tilted his head and looked down at the guy. His purple eyes widened as he recognized the guy lying down before him.
"I remember you. You're one of the assholes who attacked our dorm."
Before his opponent can open his mouth to either breathe or say something, he slammed his foot on the guy's face and released a magia pulse, knocking out the half-elf.
"Cracked facial bones, broken jaw, torn shins, cracked hip and vertebrae.", Arthur muttered as he examined his opponent.
With a satisfied nod, he got up, "He'll live."
He retrieved his knives and pulled Ghost out of the ground. His bracelet beeped as it collected the points of the half-elf.
He then sniffed the air, detecting a veritable bouquet of smells. The smell of the ocean, the smell of trees, the smell of burning, the smell of earth, and so on.
He tried to filter all the unnecessary smells and searched with his nose until he detected it. The sweet smell of roses with a hint of mint and an underlying grape.
"Bingo.", he smiled and tied back his hair. This particular scent was important. It was the perfume that everyone from Special Class A used right before the Festival began.
Why?
Arthur can use his now superior sense of smell to track down his friends and team up with them.
The plan was simple. Arthur would track them down and increase their numbers. They have a better chance of fighting as a team.
And with how the rules are for this round, he is sure that everyone from Special Class A has a chance to be part of the qualifiers.
There was another reason for them to team up. Since their class is considered the worst in the academy. There is no doubt that the other classes will go after them.
Arthur hopes that Class S and Class A will leave them alone. But considering the fact that Jason and Aaron Cadis see each other as rivals, there is a chance of confrontation.
'Thank the Founder I trained my senses.', he thought and leaned forward.
He exhaled, his leg muscles tensed, and broke into a run.
"Please don't hit a tree. Please don't hit a tree.", he muttered as he sprinted into the woods skillfully jumping and weaving around trees, rocks, and other obstacles in his path.
The sounds of battle rose the deeper he went into the woods, his nose guiding him. His ears picked up the crackle of ice from the direction of the scent along with other attributes.
Arthur narrowed his eyes, "Whoever it is, they are severely outnumbered."
It could either be Claire or Gray. They're the only ones who use the ice attribute among them.
'Please be safe.', he thought as he increased his speed.
Suddenly his ears picked up the rustle of leaves above him. He didn't react and kept on running.
Just as he felt a presence descending right above him, he slid to a stop, twisted around, and dealt a magia-enhanced punch right in the ambusher's face. Again, he held back his strength.
He heard the girl's nose break at the contact. She flew away and crashed against a tree, splintering it.
To his surprise, she got up and held her face.
With shoulder-length brown hair streaked with blue, green eyes and an hourglass figure, she is quite the beauty. Arthur almost felt bad when he saw the blood splattered on her fair face.
"Ugh, my nose.", she groaned and glared at him, "And I thought you wouldn't punch a girl."
"An interesting thought.", he replied nonchalantly and took out Ghost. "On the battlefield, it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman."
"Wise words.", she chuckled and took out her daggers. The blades were curved, serrated, and made of an azure metal. The handles were wrapped in black leather and he could see an intricate blue design on them.
"I'm starting to like you. Leah was right to not underestimate you. It was my mistake.", she said as mist poured out of her daggers and spread all around Arthur.
{Mist Code: Absolute Veil}
Soon he was surrounded by mist and unable to see more than a few feet ahead of him. Even the sounds of battle got muffled.
'The mist attribute. This will be annoying.', he clicked his tongue. A normal warlock would've lost all contact from the outside.
But he is no ordinary warlock. He is a dragon half-blood and has the sensory perception of a dragon. He can still hear sound but it seems far away.
"Leah Zelien? So you're from Class C?", Arthur asked aloud.
"Yes, I am.", her voice came from all directions.
"Didn't she promise that Class C won't interrupt Special Class A during the Festival?", he asked as he examined his surroundings.
More than one movement caught his eye but when he focused on that area he felt nothing.
"And we intend to keep it. She gave us orders not to specifically target anyone from Special Class A. But confronting you here is a coincidence. I only see you as an opponent to defeat. Nothing else.", the girl replied, her voice echoing all around him.
"I see.", Arthur closed his eyes, "I am glad to know that Leah Steilan didn't go back on her word."
"Of course, she wouldn't!", the girl suddenly appeared in front of him, her daggers raised like azure fangs ready to sink into him.
He heard a muffled crunch of soil to his right and swung Ghost in that direction.
With a surprised yelp, the girl was blown back by the strike. The one doppelganger with the raised daggers passed through Arthur like a ghost.
"Clever. Launching an illusion in front of me and attacking from my right. You almost got me.", he casually remarked with a calm look.
She grunted and quickly jumped back into the mist. She flitted to and fro in the swirling white, hoping to confuse Arthur.
"That's odd. My absolute veil is my strongest code. It renders a person's senses obsolete and hides my presence. Yet you found out where I am and reacted accordingly. How curious."
Her voice echoed all around him.
Suddenly two crescent-shaped blades of fast swirling mist came at him.
{Mist Code: Swirling Crescents}
He streamed magia into Ghost. With a hiss, the blade cut the swirling blades only for them to implode into vortices upon contact.
His sword path got disrupted as the vortices pulled the blade towards them. Soon multiple similar crescent blades came at him from multiple directions.
He quickly freed his sword from the vortices and jumped high up using magia. He may have used too much strength as he practically launched himself to the top of the misty dome surrounding him.
The crescent blades collided, creating a bigger and stronger vortex that yanked him toward the ground. Arthur twisted around and assumed a stance in midair.
'Night style Seventh form: Decimating Ripple'
He unleashed the attack on the vortex, destroying it and breaking his fall. He rolled to the ground and got up just in time to see the azure blades coming straight at his face.
"Crap!", he rolled backward, the blades missing him by an inch. The girl immediately plunged her daggers into the ground as soon as he rolled away.
Arthur hastily stood back up to see the mist thinning out and the girl about to jump back into it.
"Oh no you don't.", he growled and threw his knife at her leg.
The magia string attached to it quickly wrapped around her leg and the knife dug into her exposed ankle.
She screamed out in pain as Arthur yanked her towards him. Gritting her teeth, she streamed magia into her dagger and cut the string.
Arthur stumbled backward as the magia string was cut and before he could do anything, the girl retreated into the mist again.
"That hurt!", She said in a pained voice.
He is sure that she is on her last legs. Maintaining a code of this magnitude is really taxing on one's reserve and maintaining it for such a long time like this is impressive.
Add that to the injuries she received right now and at the beginning of the fight. He figured this would be her last attempt.
"I can't allow that.", he said and assumed a stance. He held Ghost in a reverse grip and streamed magia into it until the blade glowed bright blue and hissed like an angry basilisk.
He spun slowly in one spot, gathering the air around him with his magia. He then released a huge burst of magia into the sword and spun again, this time much faster than before.
Magia trailed off the blade and formed a swirling circle. He gave another burst of magia before releasing it.
'Night style Fifth form: Whirlwind.'
A powerful whirlwind of magia erupted around him and quickly expanded outwards, dissipating the mist and revealing the girl who was in utter shock at what just happened.
"What the?", she barely spoke when Arthur was right in front of her, his amethyst eyes glowing.
"Got you."
Surprised, she sliced upward with her dagger, not using any magia. The azure blade just sparked off against Arthur's face, not leaving even a scratch.
"HUH?", her eyes widened in shock before he drove a fist into her stomach.
She doubled over and fell to her knees, struggling to breathe.
"It's over.", Arthur said, looking done at her, his eyes still glowing.
"It appears so.", she said as she wheezed, "Leah was right. You are a dangerous foe. Looks like the hunter became the hunted."
She grinned, "But before that."
Quick as a flash, she sprang to her feet and before Arthur could react, used all of her remaining strength and usable magia to stab him in the shoulder with the knife she pulled out of her ankle.
Arthur grunted in pain as the small blade penetrated through his combat uniform, scales, and magia defense, before piercing his flesh.
"The combat uniform sure is durable, otherwise the entire knife would be in your shoulder.", the girl said, exhausted, and leaned against him.
"It was a good fight, Arthur Night."
"Yes, it was.", Arthur nodded, "What's your name?"
She chuckled, "Now you're asking?"
With a tired smile, she looked at his glowing eyes, her chest pressed against his, "Penelope Kayden."
"Nice to meet you, Penelope.", Arthur said and bonked her on the head with the handle of Ghost, knocking her out.
His bracelet beeped as her points transferred to him. He checked them.
40 points. Looks like Penelope defeated someone before confronting him. With a wince, he pulled out his knife and put it in storage after cleaning.
He concentrated on his shoulder and it healed in a matter of seconds.
Dragon regeneration sure is amazing.
He turned around and smelled the air. The scent of the perfume is still there. There is a new smell with it. The smell of blood. Lots of blood.
"I have a bad feeling about this."
Taking a deep breath, he sprinted towards the next battle.