The whole school went into frenzy after the announcement. 'I guess this tournament of sort is really important then'. Having no clue about the tournament I decided to find out information about it.
"Jasmine, what is this tournament about?" I ask her.
At first she looked at me like I've grown two heads then after minutes of confused glares and hesitation from her she explained to me.
"The Annual 'Battle for the Crown' is a tournament which takes place this time of the year. It contains series of test and duels to determine the best academy in whole of Fantasia. The winner takes all, the grand prize being crowned the elusive and all powerful title of King of all academies. So in every academy they always endeavor to do their best if they are representing their academy to avoid shame or disgrace" she explained wholeheartedly.
"So on another related question according to annual ranking of the tournaments what is the academy ranked at?" I asked her trying to know the truth about everything.
Last" she said with a fallen face. It took everything I've got not to laugh at her answer.
"So what about the tournament Qualifiers hosted by the academy?"
"It is a trial for the students who wish to participate in the tournament. The trial is about duels only the last fifteen gets a chance to participate in the 'Battle for the Crown' " she said.
After explaining everything to me we finished our lunch and headed to the next class.
The next day classes were canceled because of the tournament preparations. The first week of break I focused my training on improving my elemental abilities and skill.
Ever since my last encounter with that Ashley girl something sparked in me and I had this urge to improve my strength.
I even researched more about my powers and ways I could unlock them but found nothing.
"Azur"
"Yes"
"Why can't I unlock the rest of my powers yet?"
"I don't know"
I sighed in frustrated and later gave up on the research and went back to sleep because I've been keeping sleepless nights ever since the announcement.
For the rest of the week I practiced hand to hand combat and martial arts as well as the use of katana.
Finally, the Academy Trials came and everyone could feel the excitement of the event seeping into their bodies.
Everybody gathered in the hall where the dragon ceremony took place few months back and waited for the headmistress to give her annual speech on events like this.
The headmistress walked in to the hall and climbed the podium to give her speech. The aura the headmistress carried today was a bit different than before. It was like she was cloaking it. As she passed by some of the students you could some of them squirming at the presence of such aura.
"Good morning Everyone" she said cheerfully.
"Good morning head mistress" everyone replied.
"As you all know the "Battle for Crown" is coming and we need to pick our representatives for this year. This qualifier to do just that to avoid impartial judgement. But for most of you who have done this before, this year qualifier is a bit different than the rest."
As she said that gasps and murmurs echoed throughout the halls.
"How different?" One of the students asked.
"Well this year tournament consists of only duels." She said excitedly.
Excited cheers filled the hall once more.
"The tournament begins in a few hours, check the tournament board for your first match-up and don't forget only the last sixteen will be representing this year".
After the brief announcement, I decided to meet up with the twins before the tournament began.
I saw them at the board huddled together with their friends. As I got closer to them I heard chattering amongst them and they were quite loud.
Cutting the conversation short I cleared my throats their backs and they bowed their heads like a sign of respect.
'Huh'
"Um, hello Cousin" One of them said greeting me quickly. Before coming back to the academy after the royal ball, we all decided to avoid suspicion from the students or the teacher we decided that I would be the royal cousin.
"So, when are you to fight?" I asked them curious about this tournament as a whole.
"I don't know it's kind of random so you really can't be sure but what I am sure of is I'm fighting a guy named Tyrimm" Eliza said.
"What about you?" I asked Jane.
"I'm to go up against David." She said nervously.
After our quick conversation I checked the board to see who I'm going to fight later on.
Letting out a sigh, I walked to the arena where the trials were being held.
The arena was packed, and food like popcorn as already being scattered across the floor. With the population of the academy only 40% of the students chose to participate in the tournament mainly because some of them didn't want to take the risk of losing the rank.
According to few rumors I've heard the past week, elites from the kingdom are to be present for the trials.
'Elites for reference- warriors with highest ranking order in the Kingdom."
The commotion in the arena died down as the elites came in, each master walking down the stairs on the pedestal that overlooked the whole arena itself.
Shortly after the entrance of the elites I took my seat and the tournament began.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, spectators of all ages, Welcome to this year Academy Trials! In this tournament, sixteen winners take all; the grand prize being the slot to represent our academy in the Annual Battle for the Crown. The announcer rattled out.
Most of the Academy students had gathered in the arena along with a huge population from the city whom had eagerly anticipated to always be a most exciting experience.
Aurora, Jasmine and Jacob viewed the proceedings from their respective seats. Other familiar faces looked down from there including the top 10 ranked students and the most important figure, The Headmistress herself.
"The matchups have been drawn out and I assume every contestant knows who he/she is to go up against?" the announcer asked.
"Let me explain the rules to all our viewers and contestant," the announcer began speaking into a mic, "Everyone is given a special badge. These badges are made of strong resilient material and serve to represent the strength and weakness of our participants. Each person must strive to keep their own badge safe while simultaneously trying to destroy the badge of their opponent. The match ends when a badge is broken and the first person to have their badge broken in each match is the loser. She will be the Referee throughout the proceedings, he said pointing to a girl dressed in a provocative bunny outfit, "and I look forward to working with you all. Now, without further ado, please welcome our first two participants: Evelynn and Carl!"
There was unparalleled cheering and applause as the audience bubbled with excitement. Evelynn and Carl both shook hands and retreated to their own corners to begin."
"3….2….1…. begin" the referee shouted.