Chapter 166: Chapter 166

Damien was broken from his thoughts as Henry gave him a small mental flick. “You’ve got some eyes on you.”

He glanced up, trying not to be too apparent as he scanned the area. There were a few other people milling about, either by the walls or moving between the buildings across from them.

Henry nudged Damien’s head to the left slightly, aiming it at a group of girls wearing attire that he didn’t recognize. They sat on a bench near the side of the road. They weren’t even facing the arena.

His newly enhanced sight picked up on the faint strands of Ether around them. It was ever so slightly twisted. Damien cast his mental net out, revealing them so he could get a better look.

At first, there was nothing. However, with his full attention focused on the group, faint runes started to form in the air. Damien focused his powers and pushed past them. A golden eye was scanning the other teams.

“Shall we introduce ourselves?” Henry asked.

That might be fun. There’s no reason why I should hide my powers here, right?

Henry gave him the equivalent of a shrug. With a small grin on his lips, Damien reached out with a tendril of mental energy and sent towards into the runes obscuring the eye. He drove a spike of power into them, shattering the spell’s protection.

The eye snapped into focus, revealed to the naked eye. It spun, looking straight at Damien before blinking out. One of the girls also raised a hand to her head and grimaced.

“What did you do?” Sylph whispered.

“They were watching us,” Damien replied in the same low tone. “I just said hello.”

“You should have done it harder,” Sylph muttered. “They’re coming over.”

Sure enough, the three had gotten to their feet and were walking towards the Blackmist group. The two at the back both had blonde hair. One was nearly a foot taller than Damien, while the other was just about his height. The girl at the lead, a short girl with black hair and a light brown skin tone that had been powering the eye, crossed her arms as they came to a stop before Damien.

“It was you, right?”

“Sorry. I was a bit clumsy and just wanted to see what you were doing.” Damien gave them a grin.

Nolan glanced between the two groups, then pursed his lips. “Pleasure to meet you. The red and gold robes – Goldsilk, right?”

“Right,” the same girl said, giving them a cocky smirk. “I can’t help but notice you aren’t wearing any robes at all. Blackmist, then? They never cared much for decorum.”

“Guilty,” Nolan admitted, rising to his feet with a charming smile. “What brings you here today? Just scoping out the competition?”

“Your mage armor wearing friend.” She poked a finger at Damien’s chest and he had to stop himself from grabbing her arm. “You’re more observant than I’d expected. Are you the first ranked student at your school?”

“That would be me,” Sylph said. “Do your friends also speak? Or do you talk for them?”

The other girl snorted and squatted down so she was at Damien’s eye level. “Only when someone’s worth their time. I’m Elania Vesh, the third ranked Year Two at Goldmist. What’s your name?”

“Damien,” he replied. “The shielding runes you used for your spying spell aren’t very efficient. You were leaking energy, so it wasn’t hard to find a weak spot in the circle and unravel it.”

“Oh? You a rune expert or something?”

“Just a hobby.” Damien gave her a one-shouldered shrug. “And I don’t think they’re your main focus either.”

“They aren’t,” Elania agreed. “Not a lot of combat mages are interested in runes. My work is normally more than enough for other Year Twos. I’m interested to see what you can do. Try not to lose before the quarterfinals and maybe one of us will show you how strong Goldsilk mages are.”

Mark let out a bark of laughter. “I can’t feel any significant magical energy coming out of any of you. Unless you’ve mastered controlling it or this competition is pitiful, none of you will be worth a second glance.”

“Mark, please,” Nolan groaned, massaging his forehead. “Let’s not antagonize everyone for no reason.”

“Your mouth is flapping a lot for someone who couldn’t even notice my spell,” Elania growled, narrowing her eyes and stalking over to him. Mark didn’t even bother looking up at her. He just let out an exaggerated yawn.

“Your spell wasn’t worth noticing. I don’t care if someone can see me.”

Nolan let out a weary sigh as the expressions of the girls behind Elania darkened.

“Well, this is fun,” Henry said with a laugh. “Our little Demon vessel got even more angsty since the last time we talked with him. Do you think this little girl is going to stomp his face in?”

I don’t think she can, and I doubt the tournament organizers would look kindly on anyone fighting before it started.

A wisp of Ether drew Damien’s attention and he glanced over as a large boy walked out from one of the other groups. He had a jagged scar running down one side of his face and carried a warhammer at his side.

“What’s going on over here?” he asked, his voice relaxed and easygoing. “Goldsilk got all prissy before the tournament started, did they?”

“It’s actually our fault,” Nolan said, trying to defuse the situation. “Mark over here is a little brash. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

“Yes I do,” Mark said. “I want to see how strong they are, Nolan. Stop playing politics.”

The large boy let out a deep laugh. Damien couldn’t help but notice that the three Goldsilk students had backed up several paces and were watching him with far more fury than they’d granted Mark.

“What do you want, Bartholomew?” the tall girl asked. Her voice was surprisingly melodious, almost like she was singing instead of talking. “We have nothing to say to a disgusting, bloodthirsty ape.”

“Your words wound me, Viv.” Bartholomew gave them a wide grin. The man’s teeth were so white that they sparkled in the light. He was the picture of charisma, but a glint in the boy’s eye put Damien on edge. “I’m just saying hello to some beautiful women. You’d be much better if you kept your mouth shut, you know. You might even land a man.”

Ether started to gather around Elania. Viv gritted her teeth and put a hand on the shorter girl’s shoulder to hold her back.

“Oh, I forgot,” Bartholomew said, his grin widening. “You had one, didn’t you? I don’t remember much about him other than how he felt under my hammer during the last tournament. Went squish, like a little rabbit. I heard he gave up on being a combat mage. That’s pathetic, even for him.”

Elania’s features twisted and a spark of lightning formed in her hands. She thrust it at Bartholomew before her fellow students could stop her. At the same time, the large boy whipped his hammer out and its base at Elania.

Damien Warp Stepped to his feet between them, splitting his mental energy to cast Devour and harden his mage armor. He caught Bartholomew’s strike on his arm and a dark circle appeared to absorb the lightning bolt before snapping shut.

“I can’t help but feel slightly responsible for this,” Damien said with a sheepish smile. “But can we keep our fight for the arena, please? I really don’t want to get booted out of here because someone got blown up without any healers around.”

Bartholomew cocked his head to the side, then lowered his weapon. “You’re fast. Are you really from Blackmist?”

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“Is that such a surprise?”

“Yes,” Elania and Bartholomew said at the same time, then glared at each other.

“Well, you can find out just how fast I am during a fight in the actual arena,” Damien said. “Or at the bare minimum, go kill each other somewhere far from me so I don’t get blamed for it.”

Bartholomew’s eyes narrowed. The boy flipped the hammer and slung it over his shoulder, giving him a shrug. “Fair enough. What’s your name?”

“Damien.”

“Damien,” Bartholomew said, turning the word over in his mouth. “I’ll remember that, I think. Looking forward to it.”

He turned and strode away. Once he was gone, Damien let out a sigh and shook his head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a thin blade recede back from Sylph’s palm. She gave him a small nod.

“He seems like he could be fun,” Mark said.

“You are a menace,” Nolan informed Mark, but his words had no bite to them. The noble just shook his head and let out another sigh.

“Thank you for the help.” Viv inclined her head to Damien. “That would not have gone well for us if a fight broke out.”

“Is he that strong?” Damien asked.

“He’s strong,” Viv said, her eyes narrowing. “Bartholomew is the second ranked student at Mountain Hall. He placed second in a competition between our schools last year. He’s also an asshole.”

“Evidently,” Sylph said. She pulled a strip of jerky out and tore a bite out of it.

“We should take our leave now,” Viv said. “We wanted to check out our opponents, but that clearly didn’t work out very well. Good luck, all of you. I hope we meet in the intramurals… but not too early.”

“Except for you,” Elania said, pointing at Mark. “I’m going to smash your face in.”

Mark snorted. Viv grabbed her friend and gave them another nod before steering the group away. Once they’d gone, Damien let out a slow breath.

“Oops. I didn’t think that would go south so fast.”

“It wasn’t a bad idea until Mark started poking the bee’s nest and Bartholomew showed up,” Nolan said. “You can’t keep forgetting your manners, man.”

“We’re all about to fight,” Mark pointed out. “Why does it matter if I’m polite?”

“The way you act in the ring and outside of it don’t have to be the same,” Nolan insisted. “Don’t you want to make friends? We’ll graduate eventually, you know. And if you don’t want to travel alone forever, that means you’ll join an adventuring party or the frontlines. You know who else is in those places? The people you’re insulting.”

“So? Why should I care about them?”

“Look at Damien and Sylph,” Nolan said, nodding in their direction. “They smashed you during the ranking battles because they worked together. If they hadn’t, you would have taken first place. Did you already forget?”

Mark opened his mouth, then closed it. A small frown crossed his face and he gave them a thoughtful look. “I see.”

“You better stop before you break him,” Damien said. They all chuckled at that.

An hour passed without excitement. More and more students started showing up, especially towards the end of it. Nervous energy filled the air and the distant sound of a crowd within the arena stands reached their ears.

In perfect synchronization, the doors scattered along the base of the circular building started to rumble open. Damien and the others scrambled to their feet and brushed themselves off as a tall man in Kingsfront colors finished opening the door and gave them a nod.

“Please follow me to the competitor viewing rooms,” he said, leading them inside. As dimly lit as the corridors were, Kingsfront hadn’t spared any expense on them. The pathways were still trimmed with gold and there were a good number of tapestries that hung from the wall – all almost completely impossible to see, of course.

They soon reached a large, open air room with a dozen soft chairs. The arena was only a short distance below them, granting perfect view of the fights to come. Despite all the hype the first Kingsfront representative had built up, the ground was the same plain sand that made up the Blackmist arena.

“Make yourselves at home while you wait for your fight,” the man said. He gestured to a large cabinet at the back of the room. “There are refreshments and food within that. If you need more, please pull the small rope within it and someone will come to assist you.”

“There are a lot of chairs for just us,” Damien observed.

“Another school will be joining you,” the man said. “The Goldsilk representatives are also meant to use this room.”

“Ah,” Damien said. At least it wasn’t Mountain Hall. “Good to know. How will we know when it’s our turn to fight?”

The man gestured to the front of the room. The railing before the arena had several clear crystals on it, each with a small nameplate below them. “If your crystal lights up after a match, it is your turn. There are enchantments on the arena, so you can just jump out of the room and you will float to the ground safely.”

“Neat,” Mark said, walking over to the cabinet and opening it. He found a glass of water and walked over to a chair, taking a drink before flopping into it. “Anything else we need to know?”

“That’s it,” the man replied. “I wish you the best of luck. The Goldsilk students will arrive momentarily. Please ensure no combat arises within the rooms, or you will be removed from the tournament.”

“Noted,” Nolan said. The man turned on his heel and left.

“They didn’t spare any expenses,” Sylph said, peering into the cabinet. Damien poked his head over her shoulder. It was chock full of everything from salads to chicken drumsticks. There was even a bowl of what appeared to be colored ice. Runes along the shelves kept some warm and others freezing.

“This is fancy rune work,” Damien said with an appreciative whistle. Sylph picked a long kebab of meat. He claimed a chicken drumstick for himself and he and Sylph sat down beside each other.

“I wonder how they decide who goes first,” Nolan said. “I’d hate for that to be me. Imagine getting knocked out of the tournament on the first round.”

“There’s probably a loser’s bracket, no?” Sylph asked. “I doubt it’ll be as disjointed as how Blackmist did it.”

“True,” Nolan admitted. “But for now, I guess all we can really do is sit around and wait.”

“And eat,” Mark said. “I much prefer it when they bring the food to me, so I don’t have to sit around in some dumb restaurant and wait. They should have just brought us here from the start.”

Damien couldn’t argue with that. He took a bite out of his chicken and was pleasantly surprised to find that it tasted quite good. Then he sat back, his eyes on the crystal with his name, and waited.

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