It's finally the day of the festival.
We got out of the our dorm building to see the surrounding bustling with people around.
There's some wearing the uniform, and there's some who's not wearing uniform as well.
Of course the three of us decided to wear our uniform since we don't have any other suitable clothes for the occasion.
We then noticed that there are people from outside the academy as well around.
"Whoa, there's so many people..."
Adrian suddenly said, which I replied.
"That's true. There's a lot of decoration as well..."
We then walked toward the gate of the academy, where the princess and Cecilia is currently waiting for us.
The princess noticed us and waver her hand before saying,
"You guys are late!"
"We're not. You both are just early..."
"Let's go outside and look around!"
The princess then started to led the way, with us following behind.
We brought our money pouch today as it seems like we'll be spending money since its a festival.
Surely there'll be some food stand, right?
And it turns out that there is some food stand, indeed.
We tried out different bunch of street food, watch some attraction, and even played some games.
The princess seems especially excited today, so is Adrian.
While Kim Jaesuk is just looking after them.
"Hey, the princess is way too excited isn't she?"
I asked Cecilia while they're having fun.
She then replied to me,
"It's her first festival with friends after all..."
I asked her about the princess' situation few days ago, and my speculation turned out to be true.
The princess doesn't have any friends because of her royal status and because of how pretty she is.
There are students that probably wants to talk to her, but are reluctant to do so.
"I see..."
I nodded my head, then she looked at me.
"Thank you..."
"Hmm? for what?"
"It's been so long since I've seen the princess so happy... therefore, I'm thanking you."
I turned to look at her as well, and her expression makes me froze.
She's smiling so warmly that my heart started to beat faster.
I turned my head straight away.
"It's nothing... we're profiting since we're able to eat at the nobles' cafetaria anyway..."
"Pfft... sure."
Then we both joined the other and continued to have fun around the festival.
After roaming around for a while, we got tired and decided to sit around for a while.
"Anyway, will you guys be joining the festival battle?"
The princess asked us.
Adrian then replied,
"Kim Jaesuk and Alex will be joining, but I'll watch."
"Ohh!"
The princess exclaimed.
I then explained the reason why.
"Instructor Alex recommend us to join since it's a good way to earn credit if we're able to somehow get into around the top place..."
"He only asked you since you're dumb, but you dragged me into it."
"Hey, Jaesuk!"
He exposed me that easily. What kind of friend is that?
"Hahaha..."
The princess laughed at that, then she asked
"When's your match starting?"
"Kim Jaesuk will fight first at 5PM, and mine is shortly after him."
"Okay, we'll be there to watch..."
"Don't!"
"Why?"
"You'll get mesmerised by me..."
"Pfft... hahahaha."
The other started laughing.
"Shameless!"
Cecilia said while turning her head away.
After getting tired of roaming around, we decided to go watch the battle festival that's currently going on.
It might be fun because people outside the academy are able to sign up as well, but of course there's a limit of the power level allowed.
I then got reminded of something,
"Oh yeah, princess, is your family coming to watch the match?"
"... I don't think so."
"Ohh, I thought the royal family will be coming to watch."
"The Royal family doesn't have that good relationship with the Academy except for some people, therefore I don't think they'll come."
"I see..."
After that, we arrived at the academy arena which is filled with people.
It's build like a colosseum, and it costs us 1 silver coins each to watch.
"It's quite expensive, right?"
"It is. Otherwise the colosseum won't have space for everyone to sit and watch."
"That's true..."
We then look for seats around and found one where we can sit next to each other.
The match that's currently going on is between an academy student and an outsider who seems to be quite old.
The student is using a sword while the outsider is wielding a two-handed axe.
"Who do you think will win?"
Cecilia suddenly asked me.
"Hmm, the outsider for sure... he looks like he's old enough to have a lot of experience."
"You're wrong. Infuse mana into your eyes and look again."
I then did as she told me and finally noticed.
The outsider's mana is not being controlled properly as it's leaking here and there, while the student's mana is very refined that it looks similar to the princess' mana quality.
"Wait, his mana quality seems to be very high?"
"Yes, he's one of the top students of the fourth year's nobles class, Mark Medear. He's as strong as princess Reyna, or stronger."
"Medear?"
Hearing that name, I then reminded of something.
"Is it the Dukedom Medear?"
"Yes, he's the first son of Duke Medear."
"Ohh, I see..."
Just as we finished talking, the battle reaches its climax with Mark Medear ending the match with a clean hit on his opponent's chest, which throws him away and make him faint straight away.
"He seems to be taking it seriously, but he's not even trying right?"
I said after making my judgement.
Cecilia then answered me,
"You've got good observation. Yes, that's right... He seems like a serious type of person, but he's barely taking anything seriously and is still able to be that good... that's just how talented he is."
"..."
"What are you guys whispering about?"
Adrian suddenly asked, to which I answered.
"Ah, it's nothing..."
"Oh? What is this? I smell something brewing..."
"Hey, I told you it's not like that..."
"Just kidding man... now tell me what're you guys talking about."
I then continued to answer him:
"We were just talking about how strong that Mark Medear guy is."
"Well, now that you mention it, his surname is Medear..."
"Yeah, he's a Duke successor apparently."
"I see.."
Cecilia then shouted next to me,
"Hey, look at that!"
I turned my head away from Adrian and looked towards the arena,
It's Frankwell's turn.
"He seems to be very confident?"
"Of course he is, apparently he's been receiving a lot of training from instructor Joma... although the way he looks is disgustingly confident."
Cecilia said with contempt.
She seems to hate that Frankwell guy so much to the point that everything about him that came out of her mouth is trashtalk.
"Look at his opponent, it's people from outside the academy as well... is it matched so that the student will fight against people from outside the academy?"
"Not really, it's just a coincidence."
The one who answered was the princess, she then continued:
"The match is based on the power level each student displayed during their examination after the registration.
Of course it might not be accurate since its been almost a week since the examination, but there's no way someone will go through a big increase in power just because he or she trained very hard for a week don't you think?"
"That's true... I'm curious about my opponent and Kim Jaesuk's opponent though."
Smirking, the princess then said:
"We'll find out soon enough."
After that, we turned our attention to the match.
Frankwell is using a sword as usual, and his opponent is using the same.
When observing them, I can see that Frankwell is saying something to his opponent in a low voice.
Then his opponent shake his head before getting into position.
Frankwell started to walk towards his opponent slowly, when he suddenly increased his speed.
His opponent doesn't seem surprised, but rather went into defensive stance straight away.
They then clashed their sword a few times before Frankwell got pushed back instead.
Frankwell then started to channel his mana, but what I saw surprised not only me, but those around me as well.
"That's... that's body strengthening! How is he able to use it with that kind of mana control?!"
Cecilia shouted next to me.
"Hey, quiet down! everyone's looking..."
I whispered to calm her down.
She then realised that she raised her voice, then she calmed herself down before paying attention to the match once again.
Frankwell's opponent seems surprised at first, but he then started to use body strengthening as well.
"Eh? From what I've seen, body strengthening is not really that rare out there?"
I asked the princess.
"It's not that rare for people around that age, it's only the first step towards creating mana armour after all..."
"Mana armour? What's that?"
"You'll find out later..."
She said while smiling, which looks dazzling in my eyes.
'This girl's smile is so bright...'
(Boom!)
Then my attention turned again due to the sudden explosion that happen in the arena.
I asked what happened to Cecilia and apparently Frankwell's opponent used an assault skill, but Frankwell blocked it with his mana which caused an explosion.
It seems like his opponent exhausted his mana after that attack, Frankwell then use that to his advantage which make him the winner.
"There's no way..."
Cecilia next to me is still muttering in low voice.
"He had such low amount of mana, how did it become that high suddenly? Unless he-"
"Cecil!"
The princess startled her.
"Let's not assume things and even if you want to, don't say it here okay? This is the public after all..."
"O- okay... I'm sorry..."
The princess then smiled,
"It's fine."
After the match ended, I look at the time and it's almost 5PM.
"Hey Jaesuk, it's probably your turn next!"
I said to him, to which he answered with a smile:
"Yeah... wish me luck."
"Good luck."
He then stood up and walked to the preparation room.
After waiting for a while, he came out inside the arena and stood there to wait for his opponent.
Not long after, someone appeared from the opposite way where Kim Jaesuk came out from.
It's a tall and thin man, with a sharp look in his eyes. He has black hair and a particular feature which is new to me.
"Is he, an elf?"
He has pointy ears, but not so pointy which made me doubt whether he's an elf or not.
But the fact that I've Never seen an elf before in real life makes me doubt myself.
"Correct, to be exact, he's an half-elf."
The princess cleared my suspicion.