It's the day of the Eishou match.
My tension has been through the roof since the morning.
"Let's have some fun today!"
I declared loudly at the breakfast table.
One of the pieces of advice given to me by the servants was the plan to play a more active role in order to provoke and in turn invite the strong people from all over the world to the summer title matches. And today is the day when I carry out that plan.
"Fun? What the heck are you going to do? I get nothing but bad feelings about this!"
Since dawn, Silvia seemed to be completely back to her normal self. She's truly strong, this girl.
"I only plan to go for flashy plays, and to try and educate them during the match, disregarding whether those plays are efficient or not."
"...I'm getting a headache."
Yukari muttered while her hands rubbed her temples. Did she drink that much yesterday?
"It's all in order to breathe new life into the title matches. So they think something like 'Did you see that? If this season was this exciting, I can't wait to see how the summer season will be!'."
"I don't think it will be that easy..."
"I get the feeling you'll go to the extremes."
"To the extremes!"
"Yeah!!"
I high-fived Eko, then finished breakfast while in high spirits.
Since yesterday and the day before were quite brutal, let's move things more relaxed today.
"Ah, Second...Issenza. Good morning."
"Ohh, Sherry-chan. It's been a while."
Upon arriving at the arena, a short, kokeshi-styled black-haired woman greeted me. She was the Royal Court Magician Sherry-chan and was seated in the spectator seats reserved for the contestants.
So only the contestants and their friends and family can enter and exit this place. In other words.
"Are you cheering for someone?"
"A-ah, yes, something like that. My great-aunt is participating."
Ohh, her Great-aunt is...
...Wait a minute. There's something weird. Didn't she use to have a poisonous tongue? Was it because of THAT? I bet it's because of that time I hit her and made her cry.
"I'm sorry about that time."
"Ehh? ...Ahh, no. That's not something the Issenza should be worrying about."
Sherry-chan responded with an expression that said "Now that you say it, that did happen, huh?". Apparently, it's something else. Then, why is she acting this awkwardly?
Or rather, did she just call me Issenza? That feels so weird. What did she use to call me?..."You", right? She never even called me by my name. Ahh, so that's what it is.
"You don't have to feel nervous just because I'm a titleholder."
"No, that's not the case..."
Not this either, huh? Then, what is it? I don't even know anymore...
"――She's just self-conscious, this child."
"G-Great-aunt!"
As I tilted my head, an overly energetic and fashionable old woman appeared from the aisle, wearing a large robe and a triangular pointed hat.
Woah, so stylish. Totally looks like a witch. So, this person is Sherry-chan's Great-aunt?
"Nice to meet you, I'm Second. You look quite cool."
"Oh my, thank you, how kind of you. I'm Cesta. So, you're the man?"
"He's the Issenza. And I'm not self-conscious. Definitely not self-conscious. Let's get that straight!"
Alongside the greeting, Sherry-chan desperately denied it, her face red as a tomato. She even repeated it, like confirming to herself her answer. Seeing her worked up like this, and getting angry at the teasing as she normally did, gave me some peace of mind.
"Second-dono. Cesta-sama is the former commander of the Royal Court Magician Division. Please don't be rude to her."
Silvia secretly whispered to me. I'm grateful for that information. So, in terms of ranking in the Court Mages, if I'm the equivalent to Assistant Section Manager, then Zephyr, the captain of the First Royal Court Magician Division would be the Section Manager, and Cesta the General Manager.
"Were you the leader of the Royal Court Magicians? I was a temporary lecturer, but I never heard of that position."
"Right now, there are none there. But there was a time when these old bones served as their leader."
"Since my Great-aunt quit, there have been no people with the ability to serve as the leader for the Royal Court Magicians."
Ohh. Then, that means Cesta here is pretty strong.
...No, let's not think like that. Didn't I decide yesterday to stop expecting much about this?
"I heard that you took great care of my Sherry. I have to think of something to thank you for it."
"Not at all, I just did as I had to while working as a temporary lecturer."
"Ohhh, I see you're a capable man then. Sherry, you have good taste."
"Please, stop with that already!"
It appears that Sherry-chan spoke to Cesta about me in advance. And from the way she said it, it was probably in a praising manner. So that's why she's self-conscious and shy. I see. She's sort of cute, acting like this.
"However, I wonder how's your ability? Lady-killer."
"I can't say much about his personality, but his ability is the real deal."
"You're indeed correct...Ouch."
Silvia secretly hit me with her elbow before I could continue speaking.
"Is that so. I'll have to see for myself how good you are with magic."
"I'll be in your care for the first match, then."
"Me too, new Issenza."
Seems like I can expect something, but I don't really want to. After all, I already decided to have some fun today.
Even if the other party is Sherry-chan's Great-aunt, I have no intention of changing my plans.
Alrighty then, let's make the first match a flashy one...!
＊ ＊ ＊
The Eishou Titleholder, Muratti Tricolori. He was looking forward to today, dying for this day to come.
He couldn't help but to expect the chance to peer into the abyss of [Magic].
And two days ago――That expectation turned into conviction.
Second Firstest, an unusual man who signed up to participate in three Title Matches. He had already won in the Issenza one. Moreover, he did so in an overwhelming manner, showing off his absurd skill.
He will very certainly show me something I haven't seen yet!
Muratti was very excited while thinking so. He didn't want to have to wait for the Eishou match, he wanted to hear from him straight away. However, since he was terrible at interpersonal communication, he failed to try.
The next day, after watching the exhibition match, Muratti found himself even more excited about it. He was sure he could hear something really interesting from him. But even if he knew that, his uselessly plump body didn't move. He would feel creeped out, he thought. And I'll be seeing him tomorrow anyway. Every time he tried to do something; endless excuses came to his mind.
He was a lazy fat man who refused to go out. Ever since his childhood, for more than 30 years he had holed up in his room, doing nothing but studying his beloved [Magic]. But this was bound to happen. After all, the only person he could properly speak to was his cousin, Sarotte. He was his childhood friend and a fellow magic geek.
He was very active when it came to [Magic]. Often going out alone, earning experience points, trying to learn new[Magic], and researching about monster-specific[Magic]. However, it became a different story when other people joined in, he was extremely afraid of others.
He refused to meet with everyone, he never tried to talk to anyone. This caused him to become known by a certain nickname: "The lonely (friendless) Eishou"――A ridiculing alias.
And that very person was gathering his courage, for the first time in years.
Desperately trying to keep the flame of his courage alive, he tried to move his huge body forward.
"Fight on, fight on, Mura-sama! You can do it, you can do it, Mura-sama!"
With the cheers of his friend behind, he walked towards the Eishou match――
Nil Weissroy, a contestant of the Eishou title match was sitting in the spectator seats wearing a composed expression.
He was 128 years old this year. His calmness something that came with age, or not.
Although there were individual differences, the people from the elf race were somewhat of late bloomers. They had a lifespan of about five times that of humans, and also grew slower than humans.
That is, his 128 years would be the equivalent of 25 years for a human. But in the case of Nil, it could be said that his mental age was even lower than that of a 20 years old human.
That's why he was optimistic.
The semifinals of the Eishou title match to decide the challenger was Nil Weissroy versus Alpha Promenade. If he wins that match, Nil will be able to make Alpha his own. This was a promise made between the 『Weissroy Household』, masters of the magic arts in the elven world, and the 『Promenade Household』, a relatively new and emerging magic family among the elves. A decision that couldn't be overturned.
Nil was so blinded by his lust for those boobs, that he wasn't even thinking about the possibility of losing against Alpha. He was the son of the great Weissroy family, and she only the daughter of the upstart Promenade house. This was the first time she would be participating in the Eishou tournament and was even 28 years younger than him, so it was only natural for him to think there was no way he could lose. In fact, there was enough difference in their abilities to make him believe so.()
"Hmph, that man is also getting carried away."
In the center of the arena two people stood facing each other; Second Firstest, the rude man that interrupted Nil the other day, and Cesta, the former leader of the Royal Court Magicians.
Nil observed Second's face from a distance, all the while muttering hateful words towards him as if he had forgotten his usual polite tone, probably because there was nobody close enough to hear him. However, sooner rather than later, his expression quickly returned to his previous relaxed one.
"I wonder if he'll lose the first match, after all that bark from the other day? Hahaha, this will be fun to watch."
He will surely lose――This was something in the mind of not only Nil. Everyone who knew of [Magic] had the same thought.
It was revealed yesterday that aside from [Swordsmanship], he had also raised his [Archery] skill. With that being the case, it was crazy to think he had the leeway to even master [Magic] on top of that.
In addition, his opponent for this match was THAT Cesta. The so-called 『Witch of the Flame』, famous as the strongest among the Court Mages of the Castall Kingdom.
Everyone thought that a specialist surely would be stronger than someone who not only raised [Magic]but also [Archery] and [Swordsmanship]all the same.
"Ohh, please struggle to keep up, Second Firstest."
And so, he looked down at him from afar.
The man he hated will lose, the woman he lusted for will be obtained, and hopefully, so will the title of Eishou.
Nil was ecstatic, imagining his future and everything moving according to plan.
"――Begin!"
The referee's signal came.
Finally, the first match of the Eishou tournament had begun.
Well then, what will you show me?...he thought. But the moment he saw Second, Nil's eyes grew wide.
The spell Second was constructing was a Fifth Form one, the magic circle being created at his feet.
"HA, hahahaha! How idiotic!"
Nil scoffed.
But he was not alone in this, everyone thought "There's no way the spell can be completed in time".
Fifth Form spells were both the strongest and the weakest. Their power was by far the highest among all spells, but due to the length of their preparation time, they had little use in interpersonal battles.
"He's hopeless, that man."
Nil's sneer turned into ridicule. In his eyes, Second was nothing more than a small fry. "What the hell is he doing" he thought to himself in disgust.
Cesta must've thought the same. Because the instant she spotted the magic circle deployed at Second's feet and realized it was a Fifth Form spell, she quickly closed their distance.
And then, without missing a beat, she chanted a "Fire Attribute・Third Form" spell. The preparation time was short, but the power was nothing to scoff at, making it the perfect choice of [Magic] to use against him.
"With this, it's decided. I guess it'll be over now."
Nil predicted that Second would be knocked down by the Third Form spell, and then helplessly beaten down by a barrage of First Form spells. The reason why Cesta approached him was probably in anticipation of that First Form barrage.
In addition, if Second canceled the Fifth Form spell midway and switched to a First Form one in order counter in the remaining time, he would still receive the attack. This was still advantageous for Cesta. The reduced distance made it difficult for the spell to be offset.
"To be able to judge that much in a single moment, she sure earned the alias of "Witch of the Flame". I wonder how difficult the finals will be?"
Soon, Nil was thinking about his fight against Cesta after her win against Alpha.
...However, immediately afterward, that expectation was overturned in a surprising way.
"――!? Ehh, What the–!?"
Cesta's "Fire Attribute・Third Form" spell activated and hit Second in the abdomen.
Sure enough, it was a direct hit.
However.
"Why didn't you go 'down'!?"
Everyone was astonished.
Second didn't go down.
Even his opponent, Cesta, couldn't hide her surprise.
――About this situation, there was a fact that only Second, and Eishou Muratti were aware of.
And that was, the relationship between the damage to HP ratio, and the down effect.
The down effect of the Third Form [Magic] only occurred in the instance where 'the damage reduced the HP by 10% or more'.
This was a fact only known to those who were born and raised in the world of [Magic], where it was analyzed as in detail as in the game, or to those who studied the minute details of [Magic] as a hobby.
In other words, according to the common sense of the audience, "It's strange to eat a Third Form spell head-on and not go down". And even according to Muratti's common sense "It's weird to receive a Third Form spell and not have at least 10% of your HP shaved off".
...And then.
The preparation of the Fifth Form spell was completed.
"You got to be kidding me..."
Nil was aghast.
This was the first time in over a hundred years that a Fifth Form spell was cast, in the long history of the Eishou matches. This was no wonder. Even when trying to invoke it, the participants had always been taken down while chanting. There was no way such a rare occurrence where the cast could be completed happened.
"O-Oh, that's right! Yeah, get closer!"
Nil unintentionally raised his voice.
Cesta pushed herself to the limit, to close the gap between her and Second.
Fifth Form spells are very powerful wide-range attacks. If I get closer to him, since the range is too wide, Second will have to cancel it or else he too will be at the receiving end of his own spell. Cesta thought so.
...However.
Her opponent was, a bit crazy to say the least.
And this morning, he had been especially crazier.
No matter what others said, he only answered with "I'll have fun".
Then.
With a huge smile plastered across his face, Second shot "Fifth Form・Lightning Attribute"――・・・・towards his own location.
"!?!?!?"
In an instant, the whole of the arena was filled with feelings of astonishment and confusion.
There were only two thoughts on everyone's mind.
"Did he just self-destruct!?" and "What the hell was that magic just now!?"
Along with a dazzling flash of light, a thunderous roar echoed all throughout the arena.
And right in the center of it, electric shocks rained down like dragons. Everyone in the audience could feel the chilling, deadly power behind those streaks of light.
It was neither fire, nor water, nor wind or earth. A never seen before [Magic], an impossible [Magic]. A special attribute that even Eishou Muratti was seeing for the first time. Power only the Great Spirit King Angolmois and his master were allowed to possess――Lightning Attribute Magic.
"Uh...Guuuh..."
A man emerged from the depths of the lightning that gradually calmed down.
The man was full of wounds. Blood pouring out from everywhere. Some parts of his beautiful skin were brutally burned down.
...In contrast. The old woman lying beside him, fainted, was almost unharmed.
This meant that the first few shots of the electric rain were considered "fatal wounds". And all subsequent lightning strikes were nullified by the duel system.
Pure magicians had a small HP pool.
On the other hand, swordsmen could easily increase their HP because they were close-range combatants. In addition to that, he was also an archer and a summoner, but above all else, the reason why Second's HP was raised to such a high level, dozens of times higher than Cesta, was because he had raised his [Shield Arts] to an almost top level in order to train with Eko.
This was the reason why Second was able to withstand the "Lightning Attribute・Fifth Form" spell, in exchange for a strong and lasting pain.
...That is to say, he prioritized the performance. Rather than caring about the severe pain caused by the electric shock that burned down his whole body, he focused on showing a performance worthy of the Eishou match, to enliven it and lure out strong people for the summer tournament.
He was able to manage this outcome in the name of "having fun". After all, for him the only really painful thing was defeat.
"W...Winner, Second Firstest!"
Still feeling astonished, the referee declared so. A win was a win.
Thus. The first match for the Eishou title ended.
The result was an outstanding victory for Second, by means of a suicide attack.