A tense silence passed between us, no one said a word.
Then Thane moved away from us with the crowd of the students heading for the Glass stadium.
I let go of Maven's hand, urging her to go before me. She gave me one more look before following her brother.
A hand was placed on my shoulder and Valenia stepped forward, her eyebrows knotted in worry. Before she could start her pity party I flashed her a grin.
" Lets show Mr. Sorin what we are made of " I laughed out, seeing as she closed her mouth, seemingly relaxed that I wasn't crying or even sad about being kicked out of the team.
Banno came beside me and patted my shoulder,
" You know you won't win" he said pushing his glasses up his nose.
Not can't, won't.
I smiled at that, at least my friends are confident about my skills.
" I play to win Banno " I replied before we started moving with the crowd.
We reach the entry, and I stepped on the disc attached to a pole.
It started to spiral the pole, moving up with each second,it works just like a escalator but this is better.
I looked below me to see Banno, Valenia and many other following on their own discs.
We rose seven feet up until the stadium booths came into my view.
As the disc reached the end of the pole it automatically slide aside and I stepped out of it onto the stadium, Valenia and Banno following suit.
The Glass stadium is just a ring of concrete, with three level of seating boxes. The whole structure stands on two pillars and the center of the ring is made up of Mithril, a glass panel to an onlooker, this is where the tournaments takes place.
Another marvel of Clauferry Academy.
I have been here on countless of occasions, this is where I saw the first live AceCrest game.
I spotted Mr.Ozaki standing at the edge of the glass panel, the rest of the trainers were in the booths with Mr. Sorin but he was standing here. Arms folded and eyes narrowed.
I followed his line of sight and there sat Mr. Sorin.
Even in my thoughts I bit out his name.
Mr. Ozaki saw me approaching and his posture relaxed, he unfolded his arms , waiting for me to reach him.
He wanted to say something to me.
" I think you both should go find your seats" I asked them pointedly.
" No one is taking a seat Ariel, we are not here for entertainment" Valenia grumbled at me and sure enough everyone was just standing near the glass field. No one was sitting except the trainers.
" But we will go, you need to get ready" Banno said and dragged Valenia with him.
I turned back and approached Mr.Ozaki.
" Good colors sir"
" Good colors Ariel"
He patted my arm .
" Do your best, no matter the result" he mumbled only for my ears.
Now coming from someone else it might have not meant much but considering that this is Mr. Ozaki, his few words of encouragement mean an ocean of words.
He is a man of few words and I think this is the first time he have said something encouraging instead of reprimanding.
I gave him a grateful smile.
He handed me my Monitron.
The device felt cool in my hands, a three edged triangle device meant to generate a synthetic protective suit around our body below the neck.
Not even a bullet pierce through it ,but at the same time it produces a visual effect if a weapon touches it, creating blue concentric circles for a few seconds to mark one point.
I shed off my track-top, reveling a black polo tee underneath.
I pressed the small triangle on the center of my chest and a cool sheath started spreading from it covering my whole body from below the neck.
I stretched my arms checking the flexibility of the suit.
The rules are simple, whoever has the least points at the end of fifteen minutes wins.
Thane is standing across the glass field, his shoulders are tense, face pulled in a uneasy frown.
He stepped forward onto the panel.
I squared my shoulders, straightened my spine and pulled a smirk on my face.
I took a deep breath.
Exhale. Nerves out.
Inhale. Confidence in.
Putting my game face I stepped on the glass panel with only one thought on my mind.
If I am going to loose then I am going to loose like a champion.
Everyone shifted away from the panel and the defenders raised their shield in the audience, multiple colors of blocks danced in the crowd.
Nobody is going to sit so why not give them a show.
I touched my fingertips on the inside of my elbow of both the hands, lining my fore arms one above the other.
I slowly dragged it away, fingers fluttering on my skin as I felt the colors beneath my skin concentrate on my fingertips.
I slipped my hands through each other and as my fingers slid away I created an arc of wine red color above me.
Thane raised his arms, palm flat up and created a sphere of fiery orange in both the hands. Staring right back at me.
A bright light raced around the circumference of the panel signaling the start.
And so the game begins.