Lia's eyes opened slowly. 'Urgh...my head is killing me, and my body feels so tired. I...I think I jumped on Lacey. There's heat behind me.' The events of the previous night were blurry, almost like she had drunk too much.
She groaned, her whole body aching as she rolled over. Lacey was cuddled up to her, wrapping her in a firm embrace. Her headache began to fade away, and her face softened into a smile.
Lacey stirred, pulling Lia closer to her. Lia had no way of knowing the time, but they would be woken up by an announcement or possibly Silvana when the time came. For now, she was content to watch Lacey sleep. Lacey's soft features, the delicate flutter of her closed eyelids, and her oh-so-soft lips that twitched with a small sleepy smile had told Lia that the girl next to her was having a good dream.
She smiled, inching further into Lacey's arms, and closed her eyes. 'This is so relaxing...I will savor this moment.' It didn't take long for Lia to fall back asleep. Her body was extremely tired, and Lacey's body heat coaxed her into a gentle slumber.
It was roughly an hour after that when Lacey woke up. The first thing she saw was Lia's peaceful sleeping face. She instinctively smiled and gently shook her awake, untangling their bodies in the process. Lia was firmly wrapped in her body.
Lia woke up slowly, her fatigue had mysteriously vanished. "mmm..do you know the next event?" As soon as she asked that, there was a soft *Ding*.
*Ding* "Host has been rejuvenated by 'Succubus' Love'. Fatigue and bodily aches have been cleared."
She ignored it, for now, chalking it up to Lacey's Succubus lineage. She was thankful, otherwise, the next event would become a bit more difficult.
Lacey spoke, answering her question. "Silvana had mentioned it was going to be some kind of dueling tournament. The goal isn't to eliminate people, supposedly, It's to set overall class ranks."
Lia nodded as she stretched and sat up. She was still naked, her clothes scattered on the floor. "Mm, I think I was affected by some kind of aphrodisiac last night, and that's why I jumped on you." Her voice was even, without a hint of embarrassment or accusation.
Lacey seemed to enter deep thought. Eventually, she spoke apologetically. "Ah..er, I've heard about this. Something about a succubus' saliva acting as an aphrodisiac. I will attempt to restrain it and make sure this doesn't happen again. Sorry."
Lia shook her head as she began to dress herself. "It's alright, no worries, I just wanted to let you know. My memories of it are blurry, but they go dark after I pinned you down."
She coughed in response, responding awkwardly. "I...I uh, shocked you into unconsciousness so things didn't go further."
Lia chuckled a bit. "You could have just had sex with me, I think it would have been fine."
Lacey's face reddened a bit. "I wanted to, but it felt...wrong. Your state of mind was altered, so I decided against it."
Lia nodded as she turned around. "That's fine."
It didn't take Lacey that long to get changed and dressed. The two of them head out toward the lobby together, intending to wait for Silvana to appear.
The three dolls were happily enjoying some tea and making conversation about which animal was the cutest and deserved to be their "Miss' Greatest Pet." Silvana wasn't paying much attention to them. She seemed to be in some kind of heated conversation with an older gentleman.
"What do you mean she's gone? She was supposed to stay in the infirmary, what are your guards doing?!"
The guy looked awkward. He was getting scolded. "I, I'm not sure, but we've scoured the city and have yet to find her. I'm worried about what her family will do if they find out she disappeared."
Silvana's expression darkened. "This is a...difficult situation."
Lia spoke out, assuming their conversation was about her. "Uh. Are you guys looking for me by chance?"
Silvana whirled around, a bit startled by Lia's voice. After seeing her perfect state of health, she turned to the guy she was previously scolding. "You didn't think to check the Girl's room?! Are you morons?!"
The guy bowed. "I'm sorry, I will call off the search right away."
With that, the guy hurriedly ran away, and Silvana turned to Lia. "You shouldn't just run away. We have been searching the city looking for our most impressive future student."
Lia took on an expression of confusion. "I left a letter for them? The guards seemed fine with it when I spoke to them before leaving.."
Silvana's face twisted into an annoyed expression. "Oh, those buffoons are going to lose their jobs over this! Argh so annoying." She sighed, turning to Lia. "Well, regardless, the next tournament announcement will be released soon. It's going to be a series of duels to determine class rank. You're the projected winner, and betting has already begun."
Lia smirked mischievously. "So you're telling me I should fake a loss?"
Silvana facepalmed. "No, just...no. Please don't do that, everyone will be upset and demand refunds. Just give it your all, but don't kill anyone."
Lia nodded as the rest of the high-rankers showed up. The group left the hotel, with Silvana and three dolls in tow. The dolls seemed excited, to say the least. They were enthusiastically questioning their "Miss".
Lia felt Hysteria shake in her hilt and slowly drew the sword. Hysteria firmly began to transform and walked next to Lia. After a few moments, she approached the group of dolls, and they eagerly became fast friends.
Lia smiled as the dolls watched Hysteria with wonder and amazement. They were curiously asking what it was like to be a sword, and what her duty was. The dolls and Hysteria exchanged pointers on how to best serve their "Miss".
.....
The arena was packed, but not with contestants. It was packed with spectators. According to Silvana, the entire event would be watched on a national level. Some of the other kingdoms might even watch.
Lia and Lacey smiled as they were led to a waiting room. Like before, they would be teleported to their arena.
**Attention All Contestants.** "This event will follow a simple elimination-style tournament. Win the round and you will advance. There will be one hour between each of your matches."
"Five matches will occur at once, all in separate arenas. Losing a match will place one in a separate bracket, deemed the "Losing Bracket. This bracket will function in the same way. Win your round to advance, however, if you lose after entering the second bracket, you will no longer participate in the tournament.
The Contestant with the Highest Win to Lose Ratio will be crowned the Strongest New Student. Good Luck, and Congratulations on your enrollment at Kedia, Institute for the Arcane." **