As the trainees began preparing for the upcoming spar, some brought out wooden chairs whilst the rest equipped their armors. Only those who wanted to.
"Thank you." Jack said as the trainees placed down a couple of chairs near us.
Though for a faint moment, I swear I could've saw some of them sneering at me.
Maybe it's just my imagination. Because as soon as I glanced at their faces, nothing sort of an expression can be seen.
There were 20 trainees in total, so that would be about ten battles.
I took a seat and made myself comfortable.
At the vicinity, only one instructor can be seen, and that was Gret. But before long, several other's came out of the hut's, overwhelmed by their curiosity, probably.
They were much older and burlier compared to Gret, they slowly inch their way towards our position, greeted Jack and sat at the remaining chairs.
Gret glanced at each of the trainee in the area, and once he was satisfied, he waved his hand from left to right, as if a gesture of some kind.
And once the trainees saw him, they immediately ran to the sides, shouting. "Get out of the way!"
"The instructor is using magic!"
"Stay away from the center!"
Their voices echoed, and without wasting another minute or two, the ground shook, and a part of the earth rised from the ground.
The previous grassy area earlier has suddenly sprouted a wide and large platform.
I felt my eyebrows furrowed. 'How did they know when Gret were going to use magic? Did they already saw him before and was already used to it so that they were quick to act? But from what I recall, this is the first time Gret came here, right?'
"Something your curious about?" Jack asked as he saw my uneasiness.
"H-How did they know that Gret- i mean, Mister Gret was going to use magic? Isn't it his first time here?" Glancing towards Jack, he smiled, his eyebrows raised.
His eyes widen. "Ohh....I forgot. Since you can't use mana, you must probably can't see it...."
"See what?" I replied as my face instinctively inched closer.
"Well, Mana Traces, my son."
"Mana...Traces? What are those?"
"We-Well, I don't know if I can explain it clearly but....you can think of it as an invisible wave that floats in the air. Only those who are proficient in controlling mana can see them, whilst those eho were still not can only feel it's presence."
"Ohhh...is that so?" A long sigh left my lips as I glanced back towards the platform.
"Don't worry, it's not that important."
'For you, that is. I wish could see what it look's like, just a little bit.'
Well, once the subject of mana traces became a bummer, Jack who was looking at me with a sweaty face was moving his hand back and forth.
Probably trying to comfort me.
"I'm okay. I don't need to see it..."
That was a lie, of course. But though it pains me to say it, I was incapable of doing anything. After all, a broken pot glued together is still a broken pot.
My eyes glanced towards Gret, who now walked forward.
"The rules are simple. Make your opponent surrender or throw them out of bounds. You can only use magic up to the second tier. Now!" Gret flicked his fingers and twenty sticks appeared on the palm of his hands. "....Pick one."
The Trainees began to surround Gret, and after taking one stick each, some showed a grim expression, some were shouting how unlucky they were, and some were grinning towards their opponent.
Gret returned back and was now seated at our side. "Everyone except the two who have the number 1, clear the area!"
With his shout, everyone descended the platform and only two remained. A boy who held the long sword, his hands trembled slightly as he gaze at his opponent.
It was Tristan Ceral versus some unknown kid.
Gret raised his hand.
The two prepared their weapons and then named themselves.
"Tristan Ceral."
"G-Grad Frets."
"Begin!" Gret dropped his hand and the spar began.
Grad ran forward, though he trembled at the sight of Tristan, he stepped forward and faced his fears. He pulled the sword out ofhis right hip and thrusted.
Tristan bends his shield as soon as the sword made contact. The long sword slides to the side, and Tristan retaliated with his own sword towards Grad's stomach.
Grad pulled his sword just in time to defend.
Clang!
The two swords hit each and made a loud sound.
Grad jumped back as he felt the force of Tristan's sword.
But seeing his sudden retreat, Tristan jumped forward and pulled his sword back. He was about to do the same thrust Grad did earlier.
Grad went on the defensive. "Earth wall rise!"
The ground rises with a thickness of Five meters, and a height of ten feet.
But seeing this defensive spell coming to light, Tristan showed no signs of backing away. He muttered a few words and his sword and shield were imbued with a red flowing aura like power.
He lowered his stance, but was still running forward.
Then the most unbelievable thing happened.
He bashed towards the wall with his shield. It crumbled the moment his shield made contact. Tristan jumped on the hole he made and striked.
Startled with widen eyes, Grad who panicked, swung his sword downwards.
But due to it, he failed to plan what to do next.
My eyes widen as the spar came to an end.
Tristan stopped his thrust and weaved his whole body to the right, dodging in a hair length. Then he swung his sword and stopped at Grad's neck.
"I...I lost." Grad admitted as he drop his arms.
Though they were just using wooden swords, a weapon near the opponents throat was already a sign of victory.
If Tristan didn't stop there, Grad's neck would've been broken by now.
This was how the first spar ended in just a few minutes.
'Are you kidding me?!' I shouted inside my head.
Their spars wasn't what I entirely expected, but instead, it was so overwhelming that I was left speechless.
"Good. That might be just a light spar, but still, both of you did good."
'LIGHT SPAR!!!! LIGHTTTT SPAAAAARRRRE?!'
That was only light, then what would've happened if they become serious.
I closed my mouth as soon as I realized it was hanging open.
Powerless. I felt the weight of my presence on this world once again.
Now I realize how different I was compared to the rest of the people of this world.
"NEXT!" Gret shouted, then the next of the trainees ascended the stairs.
Unlike the previous fight, the next one's that came was now someone I actually don't know.
Both wields the sword, so they must probably be aware of their techniques considering how they were grinning at each other.
"I'll be winning this time, Crait."
"You better not cry when I smacked that grin off your face."
The two said then began naming themselves as they raised their sword.
"Draup Crevice!"
"Crait Horntill!"
The same weapon, armor and stance. They almost look identical to each other except for their entirely different appearance.
Well, after Tristan's fight, I became restless as I waited for them to begin, then before long.
"Begin!" Gret instructed and the two pounced at each other without a moment to waste.
But, though I already have a faint realization on how the trainees fight, my eyes remained staring as the two entered a state of continuous sword-dance.
Clang! Ching! Swoosh! Strackk!!! Clang!
The sound reverberated throughout the
platform. Unlike earlier when the two previously-fought trainees which used magic, these two only imbued their body with it. And their only weapon was the one in the palm of their hands.
The spar went on for minutes, then after a serious stare on each other as they backed away, the two seems to look like they were about to end the spar on the next strike.
As if the battle was one inside an animation film, both of them closed their eyes and each chanted a few words.
"The Blessings of the earth, bore inside my blade."
"The surging waves of the water, bless my blade."
As soon as each opened their eyes, their weapons were enveloped with different elemental properties.
I felt cringe why they needed to voice out a chant, but, IT IS a magical world, so I let it go for now.
One had a brownish aura and small pebbles floated around his sword. Whilst the other was being encircled with water, like a whirlpool was being condensed around the sword.
"URAAGHHHH!!!"
"GRAAAAHHH!!!"
Both shouted, jumped forward and strikes.
Then as soon as the two swords made contact, the platform around them began emitting cracks, then as soon as it happened, the dust that was blown from the impact covered the entire field.
The outcome of the battle was decided.