Chapter 166: Chapter 165 – Interest

Yuki looked up at the screens that hovered above him. His eyes locked onto his own as his and Yuna’s times were displayed on it. He shifted his gaze and glanced over at Yuna beside him.

“Good job,” he said quietly. 

“Thank you,” she replied with a small smile. “It went smoother than I thought it would.”

“That’s because this course wasn’t built for us,” Yuki said. He sat down in the circle. Yuna followed his lead and sat as well. “You’re almost rank A, no? High rank B.”

“Yes,” she nodded. “I need rank B, fifth star.”

“And you know mine already. Just based on that, we already are stronger than most people at the Academy. And that was who this course was made for,” he explained. “It was meant to challenge those people.”

“Oh. I understand. What are we going to do now?”

“Just wait until the rest arrive. There’s nothing else we can do.”

“Do we win anything for being first?”

“No,” Yuki said, shaking his head. “Just bragging rights really.”

“I see. Okay, then.”

They sat side by side, silent. Yuki watched the screens above him intently, trying to glean what he could from his potential competition. Yuna had already told him what she saw during her scouting from the first round. The recordings of the first round told him even more. 

‘So there isn’t much else I need to keep an eye out for. Maybe their skills since they’re bound to have a few in the back of their hand.’

He watched as teams struggled to pass the wyvern. It seemed much more energetic since Yuki’s brief discussion with it. It currently was happily blowing people off their footing and poking those that tried to sneak around it.

‘It seems to be having fun. But the groups should be able to get through it with a bit of teamwork.’

He ignored the rest of the competition for the time being and locked onto one person that had caught his interest. It was a girl who seemed to be a solo team. She was hanging to the back, observing the other groups and their futile attempts to get passed the demon through narrowed eyes.

‘When are you going to make your move?’ 

She took a few steps to her right. Lifting her arm, she held a dagger in her grasp and angled it while shutting one eye. Then she shifted her arm towards another point.

‘What are you planning.’

Yuki stood, catching Yuna’s attention. He motioned to her to stay put and walked to the edge of the platform. He found her, still pointing with her dagger. Looking at the obstacles in her way, Yuki formed a path that he would have used to get up. 

‘Hmm. Come on. Show me what you got.’

He turned and stared intently at the screens. The cameras weren’t focused on the girl though that was who Yuki felt they really should be on. He could still see her in the background, a shadow watching everyone. 

‘Then I’ll watch for myself.’

He channeled mana to his eyes and focused his mind. With a bit of effort, he opened them and stared down at the course. 

‘Activating this should get easier the more I do it. Hopefully.’

He focused on one figure, letting her light blind everything around her until she was the only thing he could see. 

‘Wind attribute.’

She crouched, mana slowly pouring out from her, wrapping her in a shroud. Her dagger glowed as she channeled the mana. Then in a blink of an eye, she vanished into thin air. Or at least, that was what she seemed to be trying to do. Though her body was no longer observable, Yuki could still see the mana that she had wrapped around herself. 

‘Impressive.’

The girl was zooming upwards, blowing past everyone and everything that was in her path. Her exact movements, Yuki could not catch, but her path was almost exactly like the one he had planned out moments before. In a matter of minutes, she had covered almost half of the course before appearing again above the wyvern. The wyvern’s head went up and Yuki saw a small smile appear on its face before it went back to its regular rampage.

‘Even the wyvern’s impressed.’

He stepped back from the edge of the platform and went back to the circle Yuna was sitting in. A few moments later, the girl climbed onto the platform, her eyes immediately locking onto Yuki’s.

“The second team to qualify for the final round has just checked in!” the announcer said before his voice went silent again.

Yuki said nothing and sat back down with Yuna who was busy watching the screens for what was happening. Then he waited for the round to end. There was no one else that interested him.

---

 

The wyvern eventually toned down its attacks and flew around lazily, only knocking down those that were so easy to hit that it would have made it look bad if it didn’t. With that, the last seven teams reached the finish and marked the end of the round. Six teams had been eliminated.

‘Hmm. The final round might take a while with how large the entire battlefield will be.’

A few announcements from the man in the suit along with a few words to hype up the last day of the tournament and the second day ended. Yuki headed to the exits with Yuna beside him. As he walked, he could feel the pressure of a gaze from someone. Glancing back, he saw the girl staring at him intently.

‘Now that I think about it, she’s that girl who was staring at me when I was talking to Yuna that one time. Hmm.’

He turned and walked out. There was no need to worry about such things at this time. They’ll meet again soon enough. Once outside, Yuki led Yuna to Junction, taking her to a small restaurant where they had planned to meet up with Erica and Akira after the tournament. They sat down at a table for four and ordered at small snack as they waited.

“Yuna, do you know that girl?” Yuki asked, sipping a soda.

“Who do you mean?” she asked.

“The one who was second place in the race.”

“Oh. She’s Caitlyn. She used to be part of the normal class but was promoted to the advanced class,” Yuna said. “She’s pretty competitive.”

“I could tell,” Yuki nodded. “She has some talent.”

“She does,” Yuna agreed. “Why are you asking about her though?”

“Hmm? Oh, she’s competition. Did you catch how she got to the finish and passed the wyvern?”

“Not quite. It seemed like she was there and then disappeared before reappearing above the wyvern.”

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“It did look like that. But she has fantastic skills in manipulating her wind magic,” Yuki explained. “She created a shroud of wind magic that hid her from view and also seemed to give her amplified speed and strength. It was a stronger enchantment than the one I put on us.”

“I see. How did you see that?”

“My eyes. I could see the mana even though I couldn’t see the person.”

“Those things seem useful. You called them Demon Eyes, correct?”

“I didn’t call them that,” Yuki corrected. “The system automatically named them that. It seems to be a common skill at least.”

“But very useful.”

“Well, they’re hard to activate. I need to actively focus on them in order for them to actually turn on. With more practice, I’ll probably be able to do it much faster.”

The door to the restaurant opened and Yuki saw Akira and Erica approached them. They took the two last chairs at the table just as the food Yuki ordered arrived. 

“Oh. Is this for us?” Akira asked, looking at the two plates that had just arrived.

“We’re sharing,” Yuki replied. “How was the tournament?”

“It was wonderful,” she beamed. “I wish I could have been there for the first day. The crowd has great energy and the announcer is fun. His commentary during the entire round was entertaining.”

“That’s great,” Yuki nodded. He looked over at Erica who was sticking her fork into one of the plates.

“Oh, me? I liked it too,” she said. “Those students have quite a way to go, but they all seem pretty good. Made for a fun little tournament.”

“Mmm. Was it boring for you?”

“Not at all.”

“But it wasn’t the best that you’ve seen.”

“Yeah. I’ve been to a few though that most people would never be able to see in their lives, so I don’t think that’s real fair comparison, you know.”

“Well, there is another tournament coming up soon. Or rather, relatively soon.”

“What’s that?” Erica asked, tilting her head. “The Glory Cup?”

“Besides that. Remember, the king has retired,” Yuki said. “The selection for a new king is going to happen soon. And you know what’s the process?”

“Wait. Are you saying that we’re going to be going to the King’s Trial?” she said, her eyes growing large.

“Most likely.”

A wide smile spread on her face and began scarfing down food with enthusiasm.

“Hey,” Akira said indignantly. “Don’t eat it all.”

The two of them began to go to work on the two plates of food while Yuki watched them while sipping his drink. Yuna stared at them with an expression that conveyed both her confusion and amusement.

“If you’re hungry, I can get something else for you,” Yuki offered to her.

Yuna shook her head. “I’m fine,” she replied.

“Alright.” He glanced over at Akira. “Akira, did you find anything that stood out to you during the round?”

“Mmm?” she said, her head going up. She swallowed. “Not much. The students are strong for their age but aren’t terribly impressive. They might be saving that for the last round so hide whatever tricks they have.”

“So no one?”

“Well, there was that one girl that got second,” Akira said thoughtfully. “Her final burst was quite impressive for someone like her. A massive short term buff. It was dangerous to do.”

“Yes, it was,” Yuki nodded. “But the concealing factor helped to mitigate that danger.”

“Still. One solid hit from the wyvern and she would have been sent flying.”

“What do you mean?” Yuna asked.

“Elemental enhancements all come with downsides other than earth attribute enhancements. Those just have a lower overall effect. Wind attribute enhancements greatly increase speed and strength but decrease the target’s defense and that in turns makes them take a hit in their overall health. Less defense, the less they can take.”

“Oh. So by overloading herself with a wind attribute enhancement, she made herself a glass cannon.”

“Basically. It was only for a few moments though. So that either means she can’t hold it for long or she’s smart enough to know that it’s safer to drop it as soon as possible.”

Yuna nodded in understanding.

“But to be able to pull something like that off is rather impressive,” Yuki continued. “I’ll need to keep an eye out on her during the last round.”

“What for?” Akira asked.

“I want to see what else she’s capable of,” he said. “And she’s probably the strongest person on that field excluding me and Yuna.”

“Scared of her~?” Erica teased.

“No, just curious. Maybe I should stick close to where she is during the final round.”

“What are you planning to do? I’m sure watching isn’t all you’re going to be doing,” Akira said.

“Well, fight her of course. What else would I do?” Yuki replied. “I want to test her. And see if she’s worthy enough.”

 

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