Rain is sitting in the Academy's amphitheater, in a section of seating dedicated for contestants of today's round of the Champions' Tournament. The stage below is a large, circular arena, specifically designed for these combat matches.
There are 32 matches planned today, each with a 15-minute time limit, and the rules are pretty simple. Each active combatant is granted a standard set of Academy armor, one of the devices that monitor Talent use, and a training weapon of their choice. They then engage in combat, where victory is decided one of four ways.
One, an opponent may concede. Two, an opponent is forced from the ring. Three, the judges deem that one opponent was dealt a blow of lethal equivalence. Or four, the fifteen minute time limit expires, in which case the judges award a technical victory.
The contestants have already been assigned positions in the bracketed lineup of the tournament, so the number of contestants will be sequentially halved over six rounds...one round each day. From what Rain can see, he's on the opposite set of brackets from Tess and Ronin – the only way he'll face them is if it's in the final round. However, if Ronin and Tess win their first and second rounds, they'll square off against each other in the third round.
Nik is on the same half of the brackets as Rain, and the two of them are destined to face off in round four if they win their first three matches. As for today, Rain only has basic information on his opponent from his ally network. His opponent is a burly guy, his weapon of choice is a battle axe, he has a Titan Bloodline, and he's a non-Legacy. Everything else, Rain will have to get a feel for in the match.
Rain settles into his seat, preparing himself for the long day of studying prospective opponents' fighting styles.
*****
Three hours later, Rain is walking onto the stage, ready to face his round one opponent. The guy across from him has long, black hair, piercing blue eyes, a massive frame, and a large battle axe resting on his shoulder. He's wearing a smirk as he studies Rain, his eyes filled with disappointment.
As Rain takes up his position, his opponent chuckles haughtily, his voice booming over the stage.
"Damn, how'd a pipsqueak like you make the cut?"
Rain lets out an amused smile.
'Gods I love being underestimated.'
Seeing Rain's smile, and noting that his question was ignored, Rain's opponent narrows his eyes in annoyance.
"What the hell are smiling for?"
Rain's grin only grows wider, but this time he decides it's worth poking the guy a little. He does his best to speak casually, trying to mimic Tess's flirtatious tone.
"Why wouldn't I? All your flirting is really boosting my self-confidence, big boy."
The guy's face twists in bewilderment, and at the same time, Rain hears a sharp bark of laughter from nearby. Glancing towards the sound, and forgetting about his opponent, Rain notices Tess watching him from a ringside seat. She has a hand covering her mouth, obviously trying to suppress her laughter.
Rain feels a pang of disappointment that he couldn't sit with her before this. The seating has been assigned by the Academy to make pulling students for their matches less hectic, and he's surrounded by strangers at his own seat. But while he didn't get to speak with her during the others' matches, he appreciates getting to share this little joke with her from afar.
He grins at her approvingly before turning back to his opponent.
The big guy has clearly witnessed Tess's amusement, and he's now wearing a furious expression as he glares at Rain. He makes no attempts to chat further. Instead, he just wraps both hands around his battle axe, his grip deathly tight, and his eyes turn murderous. Rain lets out an exasperated sigh.
'Worth it...'
He tightens his grip on his own sword, and prepares himself for the fight. A few short moments later, he hears the judges' whistle, signaling the start of the match.
Without hesitation, the big guy charges at Rain with surprising speed for his size, swinging his battle axe threateningly. For the first minute, Rain has his hands full just avoiding the strikes, startled by the strength, speed, and ferocity of his opponent. However, after that, his fear dissipates quickly as he realizes the truth of his opponent's fighting style – it's plain.
As far as Rain can tell, the guy relies heavily on his physical prowess, his technique leaving much to be desired. The burly guy's strikes come almost endlessly, one after the other, with surprising power and speed each time. But, they're always an overhead strike or side slash, with no chaining or nuance to speak of.
Truthfully, Rain now feels pretty confident that, with his excessive base strength, he could just step inside the guy's reach between strikes, immobilize the axe by grabbing its shaft, then throw it and the guy out of the ring. However, as tempting as it is to shame the big guy like that, it would flaunt Rain's strength in a very bad way. So, he settles on a different, debatably more ruthless strategy.
He continues sidestepping and deflecting the onslaught of attacks, watching the big guy grow angrier, until his opponent lines up for another side slash with his axe...aiming high on Rain's chest. At that point, Rain waits until the guy has almost finished the arc of his slash, then he ducks his head and steps under the shaft of the axe. In that brief window as the axe sails past him, his opponent trying to redirect the attack, Rain brings his sword down in an overhead strike with all the speed and strength he has, right onto the big guy's hands.
The result is the loud cracking of bone, followed by a pained scream from Rain's opponent. Rain watches as the big guy stares at his strangely bent fingers, still yelling out in agony, and the axe slips and clatters on the ground. Rain calmly points the end of his sword towards his now defenseless opponent, and a moment later, he hears a sharp whistle signaling the end of the match.
He has officially passed the first round of the Champions' Tournament.
*****
Shortly after his match, Rain is breaking for lunch in the cafeteria. Since classes are cancelled for the first few days of the tournament, the only thing he's missing are some of the tournament matches. Fortunately, Tess's and Nik's matches were before his, which they both won pretty easily, and Ronin's isn't until the end of the day.
He's currently sitting alone at an empty table, stuffing his face with food, but his solitude is short-lived...not that he minds.
He feels someone hug him warmly from behind as the scent of lavender assaults his senses, then Tess sits down in the seat next to him. She leans to the side against the table, chin in hand and elbow on tabletop, her eyes studying him affectionately. Her tone is amused when she finally speaks.
"I see that shattering that guy's hands hasn't stifled your appetite."
Rain smirks back at her as he swallows his food, then shrugs and responds in a nonchalant tone.
"Why would it? The Academy keeps a healing Talent on staff for serious injuries like that...he'll be fine in a day or two."
Tess chuckles darkly, her emerald eyes holding no evidence that she disagrees.
"How merciless...and after he went and flirted with you right beforehand."
He's just taken another bite of food as her comment registers, causing him to nearly choke on it in laughter. As he coughs erratically, looking over at Tess, she wears a patient but amused smile. When his airway is finally about to clear, however, they're interrupted by another person joining the table.
Rain widens his eyes in shock, and Tess is no less surprised.
A beautiful, stone-faced blonde girl walks over and takes a seat directly across from Rain at the table. Ronin nods at him politely as she does so, eliciting a wary glare from Tess. Rain, meanwhile, addresses Ronin in a bewildered voice.
"Ronin? It's not like you to socialize in public."
Tess is quick to follow up on his comment, her tone...mildly annoyed.
"Yes...how unexpected..."
Ronin seems indifferent to the responses, addressing Rain with a matter-of-fact tone. Much like Nik, she is ignoring Tess.
"Yes, but we talk every day as it is, and our relationship is already public. So, I see no issue."
He directs a conciliatory expression at her and shrugs, but Tess interjects before he can speak.
"What relationship is that again?"
For the first time, Ronin's steely gaze moves from Rain to Tess, seeming to examine the beautiful girl thoroughly. After a moment, Ronin's eyes widen, as though she's just noticed something surprising. Her voice carries a curious undertone as she responds, her eyes continuing to study Tess.
"We are...friends. And who might you be? I have seen you with Rain before, but this is our first time meeting."
Tess returns a polite smile to the expectant Ronin, but Rain uncomfortably notes that her eyes lack any actual warmth.
Rain is unsure how much Ronin really knows about Tess. He's of course mentioned "Tess" to Ronin before, namely her Talent and that she's a friend, but he hasn't mentioned that she's now his girlfriend. On the other hand, Rain is all too aware of the rumors surrounding him and Tess since she started joining him publicly for breakfast, and especially since someone noticed Tess staying in his room the duration of the night.
However, he doesn't know if Ronin has heard those rumors, much less bought into them. In addition, Ronin may still have no idea what "Tess" looks like, and therefore no way to connect the person next to him to what little information she does have about "Tess".
After a moment in silence, Tess responds to Ronin in a calm voice, a satisfied smile on her face.
"My name is Tess...Rain's girlfriend. It's nice to finally meet you Ronin. I've heard a lot about you."
Ronin's face becomes uncharacteristically expressive, her eyes widening in shock, and she glances at Rain in bewilderment. The expression is quickly replaced by her stoic default, but her voice is still slightly flustered when she responds.
"I see...it's nice to meet you, Tess."
Without waiting for a response, Ronin quickly moves her gaze to Rain, her eyes full of confusion, her tone remaining somewhat flustered.
"Rain, what has your...uhm, girlfriend...heard about me, exactly?"
He stares back at her evenly, making sure to keep his voice earnest as he responds.
"Well, she knows that we formed an alliance, and what I got out of it. However, I haven't shared any personal details about you, or revealed what your conditions for our alliance are, beyond having tea together. Oh, also, Tess knows about your...score."
Relief becomes evident on Ronin's face, mixed with traces of surprise, and she turns back to Tess with a curious expression. Tess, meanwhile, has pursed her lips in disapproval at Rain's statement, and her voice comes out annoyed when Ronin meets her gaze again.
"Yes...I confess that I was apprehensive about Rain visiting you every night, and keeping secrets about you from me. Frankly, I don't trust any of you Legacies...not one bit. But Rain's been open and direct about your relationship, and I trust him, so I've accepted this situation...mostly. Still, I'd like to hear why you've allied with him, if I may?"
Ronin stares at Tess in silence for several moments before responding, seeming to consider her statement carefully.
"I think your distrust towards Legacies is warranted, though you should know that I don't have any ill intentions towards Rain. Truthfully, he's the last person here I want to make an enemy of. As for why we're allied...it's because I need help, and he's the most qualified to give it. As I'm sure you can tell, due to your Nature, my answers have been truthful."
Now it's Tess's turn to look shocked. She glances at Rain, then her eyes narrow suspiciously at Ronin.
"How do you know about that effect of my Nature? Unlike my Talent, it's not common knowledge."
Ronin answers flatly, no trace of emotion on her face.
"Rain didn't tell me, if that's what you're worried about. He made it clear that his other allies' personal information is off-limits."
Tess frowns, obviously dissatisfied with the evasive answer. The two of them proceed to stare at one another in silence for an uncomfortably long time, at which point Rain decides that he can't take it any more. He clears his throat nervously, then tries to make his voice lighthearted.
"Ehem...so...anyone want dessert?"