Character : Lilyanna Valkaria, Hidden War
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The match between Jonah and Reggie was won by Jonah.
It is not even a close one. Even with Reggie activating his limit break, Jonah was still fighting calmly. He is taking Reggie seriously, and he did not let a single mistake through at all.
And when he is fighting seriously, Jonah can be very scary. I must take notes because he will be my opponent next.
After Jonah's match, Nyssa's match comes next. She will be facing the best student from class B, who had lightning origin. Unfortunately for that guy, wind origin easily removes lightning origin's source of power, which should mean that guy won't be able to use his origin at all.
To top it all off, he is facing Nyssa, the strongest wind origin in the academy.
"Winnyssa wins with a single strike, just like how she's been winning her battles!!" The announcer said through the speaker after the battle was over, and everyone cheered wildly.
"Well, that was extraordinarily ordinary. It's a pity Jaret's opponent was Nyssa. Not only is she a wind origin, she is also arguably the best wind origin in the whole world. Totally unbiased!" Nathan commented as the co-host, and it seems like he has fully indulged himself in the co-host role nicely.
"Just like you predicted, huh? Prince Nathan?"
"Exactly. This next battle, though… not so easy!" Nathan said as both Nyssa and her opponent left the arena, and Rejulus next to me stood up.
"I agree! The person going up the arena right now shall be Rejulus Fiordall! The Crown Prince of Fiordall!" The female announcer said loudly, and Rejulus steps forward to the arena.
The class A boys cheered his name as Rejulus began heading out. We already know the result of this battle, but it's always important to cheer for your friend whenever they are going to battle.
"Against him shall be Liam, a water origin from class B!" The announcer continued, and the guy called Liam stood up from his seat not too far away from us, and he began following Rejulus to the arena.
"Now, this is a little more exciting. Prince Rejulus may have been a class A student, and he was hailed to be quite talented. However, his opponent is still a water origin, the complete counter to Prince Rejulus's fire origin.
Tell me, Prince Nathan. As someone who grew up alongside Prince Rejulus, how do you think this battle will turn out?"
"Reju is… not that talented. People may seem to think that he is talented because of how strong he is today, but that wasn't always the case." Nathan suddenly said in regards to his own brother, which made the crowd turn shocked.
"He's dissing me in front of the people…?" Rejulus mumbled after hearing his own brother talk, but Nathan wasn't finished.
"Of course, that doesn't mean he is actually untalented. He does have a talent! And that talent is… perseverance.
The Reju I know always break through any hardships. He will always come out on top once he adapted, and I don't doubt that he'll be able to win this despite the odds being against him!"
Wow… what a romantic brother. I honestly half expected he would've roasted Rejulus some more.
"But! After seeing all the matches up until this point, it's quite clear to me that the gap of strength between the students from class A with other classes is not actually that big with other classes! With his origin having an advantage, I'd say Liam's chance of winning is still massive!"
"Now, that's one way to say that this match shall be interesting! With the two fighters already at the arena, let's start with the match!" The announcer continued after seeing both Rejulus and the class B student were ready, and I turned my eyes to the VIP room above.
Nathan is genuinely up there. He is talking to everyone using the speaking device.
If it's up to me… I'd have gone there right now.
… I mean, can I?
"FIGHT!!!"
The match between Rejulus and the class B student began. From the first attack alone, it's already clear to me who is winning.
I turned to the referee on my right, and she seemed to be keeping an eye on the battle happening quite intensely. Seeing that she is quite occupied, I turned to Nyssa.
"I'll be in the bathroom for a bit. My stomach hurts…" I told Nyssa a lie, and she understood. After that, I sneaked behind and went into the hallway that is below the spectator's area.
I went up the stairs and arrived at the spectator's area. It is unsurprisingly loud up here because everyone is shouting and cheering for the crown prince of Fiordall, which makes it perfect for me to sneak out.
Now… where do I go from here…?
"Going somewhere?"
Instantly, my body froze. I turned around to find a very punchable but also very handsome face smiling at me from the stairs behind me, as if he came from below.
"H-How did you--"
"I saw you left, so I left as well. In case you didn't know, the announcer's room is right there." Nathan pointed his finger to a room that is slightly above the staircase behind us, and a bright yellow room was found.
A window large enough to make it possible to view the battle happening at the arena. A position tall enough to make it easy to see. Sure enough, that room must've been the room where the announcers do their things.
Who told me that they were in the VIP room…? Bad information.
"O-Oh. You were nearby the whole time."
"I thought of visiting you guys to give you some encouragement, but I thought my 'gift' at the end should be encouraging enough. Then, I saw you walk out the stairs, so I excused myself for a bit as well."
"Because you just wanted to see me?"
"Because I know you had something to say to me." Nathan said rather firmly, which was in a different tone than the one he used previously.
I became silent and let the sound of the crowd take over, and Nathan's grin became the only thing I can focus on. The battle happening at the arena seemed to be quite intense because it takes a while, and a lot of explosions can be heard coming from there. Rejulus is definitely having a tough time facing an opponent with an origin that counters his.
"Let's go somewhere quiet." Nathan suggested, probably because he felt that the arena was very rowdy.
We both repositioned to a hallway below the spectator's seat. This was the path I took just now, and sure enough this place muffled the sound of the crowd successfully. We can still hear the people up there, just not as annoying as before.
"Now, then. Do you have anything you'd like to ask me about?" Nathan said as he leaned his back on the wall of the hallway, and I looked around to see if there's anyone who might hear us. Unsurprisingly, no one is around, and I guess they are all too focused on the arena.
"Why did you set up that 'Gift' as the stake of the tournament? What is your goal?" I asked Nathan bluntly, and he let out a sigh.