"So we'll be having the preliminaries of Tri-Fall until noon, hm?"
Ayato sat down in the stands, watching the holographic projection displaying the Tri-Fall battle on the platform.
He was sitting by Isamu. Rika wasn't with them since she was on the Tri-Fall team. As for Yukina, she was in the afternoon events, so she was planning with everyone else.
"Yeah."
"What about you, Isamu-senpai? What are you in?"
"I'm better at search and detection. I'll be in Target Lock tomorrow. It's a solo event."
"Target Lock... I hope you win, Senpai."
Ayato cheered him on. Isamu winced, thinking about his competition. His opponents involved Kaede Asanagi from Lotus, who had to have her Blue Eyes banned.
Unlike other members of the Asanagi Family, Kaede, who was of the main branch, could use her Blue Eyes to max capacity, something that not even Ayato could do.
"So do I..."
Isamu breathed.
"Oh, Ayato. I was wondering where you were."
"Huh?! Retsuya, you were coming?!"
Retsuya was on the stairs when he spotted Ayato from the back. He waved. Ayato smiled when he saw Retsuya. From behind, Miyako, Saya and Emika appeared.
"Fuck..."
Ayato muttered under his breath. As much as he wanted to repair relations with Miyako, that would be impossible with how stubborn she was.
In the first place, neither of them believed that they said anything wrong to each other.
Retsuya sat down next to Ayato and the girls sat on the row behind them, behind Retsuya.
"So, you aren't participating?"
Miyako asked with her eyes on the holographic display.
"No one wanted me to, so I didn't."
Ayato answered plainly. He didn't want any more trouble with her.
"What type of half-assed answer is that? You're a World Magician, for crying out loud, fucking participate."
"I'm a freshman. To them, I'm just some cocky brat."
"You are, though..."
Miyako muttered, under her breath. Ayato glared at her.
"What?"
Emika asked Ayato, emitting an aura of hostility.
"Nah, it's nothing for you to worry about."
He turned back to watch the match. By the time Ayato paid attention to the match, it was already over.
"What?"
[With an overwhelming victory, Hortensia A win in 3 and a half minutes! Amazing!]
All of Hortensia's members waved at the cameras. They destroyed Orchid without losing a single member.
For the preliminary rounds, each school team would have three matches. This meant that Hortensia A was winning.
After the preliminary rounds, the highest four teams would pass onto the final stage, which would be on the fifth day.
If any teams had the same amount of points, they would fight for their place in the next stage.
After a 10-minute break for damage repair and reset, the next two teams arrived.
[This time, it's Auralia against Iris! On the Auralia side, we have Riku Sasaki, Masaki Kyouya and Rika Kasai! The heir of the Sasaki Family and the vice president of Auralia! We also have a new first year! We'll see what she's got!]
"Oh, that seems like a sturdy lineup. Do you know the specialities of Masaki and Riku-senpai?"
Ayato asked Isamu. The junior thought about it as he stared at the holographic screen.
"Masaki is good at accurate attacks while Riku-senpai is good at enduring attacks."
"Rika said that she was good at spell casting. But she can't use attack spells here, so what's their plan?"
Ayato mumbled.
"That's true. I wonder..."
Retsuya chimed in. The girls behind were watching intently too.
[As for the Iris side, we have Donda Jinnou, Lily Kirishima and Hiruma Kin. The youngest daughter of the Kirishima Family, the first year, is the one to look out for!]
In this Tri-Fall, only Masaki and Hiruma had weapons. Strangely enough, Masaki had a katana even though the uniforms nullified sharp weapons.
Masaki Kyouya possessed his own katana. Weapons brought in by magicians would have to be checked by staff. If they were accepted, then the students would be able to use them in battle.
[Now, the countdown to disaster!]
["5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Are you ready?! Start!"]
The Tri-Fall match started.
Masaki advanced first, and Riku followed from behind. Rika raised her hand.
"Icicle Rain."
Above the Iris team, a multitude of icicles rained down on them. They rushed forward toward the other two.
"Doesn't that count as a direct attack spell?"
Saya asked.
"No,"
Ayato replied.
"Direct attack spells are magic spells that are cast with the sole intent of injuring the other person. For example, if I were to fire a Zephyr at the opponent, then that would count as a direct attack spell. However, if I were to use it on the ground, it wouldn't count as one. The way Rika used it made it seem like she was trying to make them advance rather than attack them."
He explained. Retsuya nodded his head in acknowledgment.
"So, if as long as it doesn't hit the person, it doesn't count as a direct attack spell?"
"Yes, although, there are some spells which are classified as direct attack spells regardless like Fire Bomb since even if it hits the ground, it causes an explosion."
"Oh..."
Back to the Tri-Fall, the Iris team avoided the Icicle Rain. Hiruma brandished his bat and clashed with Masaki.
"A katana? That's the dumbest thing ever."
"Not with my Magic Seal."
The black-haired boy smiled as the Iris student furrowed his brow. Suddenly, Masaki was pushing with more power than before. He was being pushed back.
Meanwhile, Donda and Lily faced Riku. It was 2v1, Riku was clearly at a disadvantage. Despite this, he still forged ahead.
He stuck at Lily, who evaded swiftly. Donda cast Reinforcement Magic on himself, coating his fist in a mana gauntlet. He punched Riku.
The punch felt like a brick had been thrown at him. However, Riku was able to block it just fine.
"...!"
Riku blocked it with his own hereditary Magic Seal, Seismic Armour. It was a powerful Magic Seal that could block a wrecking ball and break the ground if used as a weapon.
Lily was ready to strike him but backed away when she saw his Magic Seal activate.
"Why don't you guys use your World Magician? Are you looking down on us?"
Lily asked, looking for an opening while keeping an eye on the magician behind Riku.
"No, you're the one who is looking down on us, thinking that we'll need Ayato to win this."
·———·
Asami took 2-AB to a warehouse in Yokohama. It was near Yokohama Port. Mysteriously, the warehouse was abandoned and wasn't in use.
"What's here, Asami?"
The woman smiled.
"This is where we'll get some comrades and hatch a plan to get your beloved Ayato Kyouya."
She confidently declared to the Mage Killer.