"You have 15 seconds before the start of the match!"
Valentine instantly got into a practised battle pose at the sound of those words. Magnus took a second slower, as he first began floating into the air.
"Oho?! Could it be, Fighter 262 can fly? How wondrous! That is definitely plus points from the judges! The crowd is loving the start of the fight already!" The announcer said as indeed, the audience began letting their voices out.
Flying abilities were rare, and most of them usually took a large amount of Spirit Energy to utilize. Magnus had a 5-line Curse for a 2-line Blessing. A perfect match to stay afloat for eternity in modified gravity.
"This isn't actually flying folks," The shout caster continued after the announcer, "It's actually Gravity Manipulation! A Blessing type that we haven't seen in years! Could Fighter 262 be the person the Interstellar Trinity is looking for? Let's find out!"
"The countdown will end in 3... 2... 1..."
"Let the eighth battle of the day... BEGIN!"
Valentine was the first to strike, and he did so with a flower-shaped fireball.
"Take this!" He yelled out as he lobbed his attack with a rapid spin.
Magnus struck a hand out, pointing at the fire flower rushing towards him. He gently floated backwards as he invoked,
"I am the cause of creation,
The maker of stars."
A black point of gravity appeared in the air, between Magnus and the fire flower.
"Oh, I will take it alright," He smiled, pouring an entire line's worth of Spirit Energy into his action.
Elegance was Magnus' tune for the battle as he moved like a fairy. It was a gentler form of battle when compared to Valentine's fiery radiance with his exaggerated, yet beautiful moves. Valentine looked like he was dancing.
Yes, dancing, as he lobbed more and more flaming flowers in Magnus' direction, creating a bouquet of fire in the air. The audience oohed and ahhed, their irises reflected the flames that danced before them.
But Magnus defended from every single fiery flower. He sent a point to each of them, and soon, the entire bouquet was circling around him like stars.
'Fire born from Spirit Energy is drawn in by gravity born from the same source. Even if normal physics disagrees, such is the nature of Spirit Energy.' Magnus thought with a wind grin on his face.
Silence pervaded the arena as the audience watched the fiery flowers miss Magnus by an inch every time, yet constantly turning back towards him. They were sitting at the edge of their seats.
It looked like a miniature solar system, with Magnus as the sun as he danced around the field and the flaming flowers as planets or comets, shooting straight for him and always narrowly missing.
Valentine saw this and decided to use a different move.
"Breath of the Dragon!" The shout caster called out the move he had seen Valentine use a few times before, "Let us see how it fairs against the sun that is Fighter 262!"
"Hooooo!" Valentine breathed out a stream of flames that gradually sculpted itself into the shape of a dragon that flew across the arena.
It didn't head straight for Magnus but circled around as if it was a living and breathing being. The sight could draw one's breath away. Whether it was in awe of beauty or in awe of ability. For only Valentine knew how much control such a sculpting feat required.
With shimmering scales and eyes that looked real, the dragon rose to the highest point of the arena and began its rapid descent: Its target was none other than Magnus who still orbited around his opponent.
"Beautiful indeed," Magnus couldn't help but comment as a large amount of Spirit Energy flowed out of him.
A ball of gravity, looking akin to a black hole appeared in his hand. Magnus elegantly blew, like blowing on a dandelion, as he continued drifting about like an ethereal fairy of battle.
The black hole flew out from his palm, enlargening as it went until it was larger than Magnus' head.
"Have a taste of my Event Horizon," Magnus crossed his legs in midair as he smiled and gestured outward.
Vwhooooom!
The point of gravity exerted a powerful pull on all the flames all around the arena. It dragged streams of fire from the little 'planets' around Magnus towards it, creating rings that danced and spun in orbit.
Magnus then tilted his hand, and the point of gravity began spinning. It also pulled at the rapidly descending dragon and made it a part of its display.
Fwoooosh!
Soon enough, gleaming flames could be seen blazing around the point of gravity like a true event horizon.
"And then," Magnus clenched his fist as he sent the point of gravity straight towards Valentine, "Have a taste of your own medicine!"
The black hole flew forwards rapidly, like the end of all things. It was akin to a giant eye, staring back at anyone who looked back at like some coldhearted god.
"I surrender!" Valentine hurriedly shouted, seeing the huge flaming rings nearly singe his face.
"Smart move," Magnus smiled, as he commanded the point of gravity to move high up into the air. And, with a flick of his fingers, he commanded it to burst.
Splash!
Thus, Magnus mimicked a fireworks show with his powers and Valentine's contributions.
It was an astounding sight.
"Beautiful! Beautiful! Fighter 262, although it is his first time here, knows what beauty in battle is all about! He used his opponent's force against themselves all while creating a sight for us to behold! Valentine's surrender was honourable, as expected of the young man with a bright future! Let us give them both a round of applause!"
Like this, Magnus' first tournament battle in Thare was brought to a close.
.
.
.
After the battle, Magnus did not have much to do, so he decided to go eavesdropping again. He disappeared from the arena and changed places with Javelin in cat form. It left many of those who wanted to interview him, baffled at his sudden, mysterious disappearance.
They already knew what their caption for Magnus would be: "Fighter 262, the one hiding from all our eyes!"
Meanwhile, walking down the streets of Quarteridge.
"That boy, Fighter 262—real name Magnus Avary—is a good candidate, don't you think?" A voice caught Magnus' attention as he walked on precarious ledges.
Magnus jumped and softly landed on another ledge below him. He inched closer to those who had mentioned his name.
"He is... It's just that his origins are a puzzle. But see, Hal, I have a feeling he might be an Earthling. The timing for the third tutorial Trial also lines up." Another voice said.
Magnus caught sight of the owners of the two voices. One was a girl—a lady, around her twenties, with dirty-blonde hair and a well-crafted face. It was Hal.
The second, whose name is—
"Bonny, my good friend, if he's an Earthling, isn't that a good thing? We'll get a bonus for roping them in! We should totally try our luck and see if he's unaffiliated. If he is, there is a high likelihood that he is an Earthling, and we'll know!" Hal said.
Bonny sighed. His long, light brown hair cascaded over his slumped shoulders, "Very well. We can try it out. But from the report earlier, I heard that he disappeared. New Otherworlders don't have the ability to just disappear from the senses of our scouts, you know?"
"You're contradicting yourself, you know that?" Hal pouted, "First you suspected that he was an Earthling, and now, you say that it is likely he is not."
"That's also what I'm trying to say," Bonny rubbed his goatee, "He's suspicious."
"I know that already—" Hal tried to say something, but Bonny cut her off.
"He is likely working with someone. A group. Specialized in stealth. I don't know what they're doing risking attention by joining the Starry-Eyed Bout where many eyes are watching, but his sudden appearance, 1-star level abilities at that age, and his sudden disappearance right after, all point to something we don't want to dabble our hands in—"
Those words made Hal groan as she repeated words that she had likely heard a hundred times before,
"—Remember what happened to the Injustifiers. Always exercise caution."
And there, the conversation stopped. They began talking about something else.
Magnus had to stop eavesdropping as well, as the pair reached a point on the road where his presence would likely be recognized. If he followed any further, Klaris' experiences told him that they were going to notice for sure.
At least, before he left, he heard the words, spoken out casually from their lips:
"Interstellar Trinity,"
He committed the pair to his memory thanks to that.
'So people from their heights have already set their eyes on me? Already?' Magnus inwardly smiled a wry smile, 'I'm going be catching so many eyes then.'
The plan to create his own 'faction' would have to be pushed forward. He had to continue showing those suspicious behaviours that made it seem like he had a special backer.
He needed a way to ward off those recruiters and potential hostiles.
"I'm glad that the culture in this world is not to act first and ask questions later." Magnus meowed to himself, "Instead, it's more prudent and disciplined. They gather information before striking. Very much unlike the societies present in some novels that I've read..."
If not, then Magnus might have been approached already.
.
.
.
Funny you say (meow) that, Magnus.
Valentine took this defeat worse than you think.
"He didn't even do anything!" Valentine raged, throwing down the battle report he had received, "His black orbs were ugly spheres that did nothing but use gravity! How is that beautiful!? He won because of my flames more than his efforts. This is all bullshit!"
"What do you suppose we do, Sir?" One of Valentine's guards spoke.
"Nothing." Valentine spat. He said the word as if it had a vile taste in his mouth, "Nothing yet. But keep tabs on him. When the time is right, we will act. A little roughing up would do, no?"
"A little roughing up will do, Sir." The guard replied.
"Wise words, young master." Valentine's secretary appeared by his side, "Conflict now will ruin your chances for the championship. The master will most likely reward you for this decision."
"Of course, he will."
Valentine puffed up his chest as he growled,
"I'm his son. Victory is guaranteed this year."