Chapter 63: Quarter-Finals (II)

  When the tempest settled, Claire, who was crouched right behind her opponent, became visible. Though she had set up an unavoidable prison with her wind walls, she had been prepared to continue with the fight had her opponent managed to escape without expending all her barriers. However, it appeared as though there was no need. She stood up from her position and leisurely walked over to the Academy group while clicking her tongue.

  “Whoa!”

  “That was so cool!”

  “Let’s go, Claire!”

  “That’s right! Show the Towers who’s boss!”

  “Get out of here, you nameless second seed!”

  After Tidus declared Claire the first participant to move on to the semi-finals, the crowd broke out into an uproarious cheer. Claire was, after all, the top contender for victory in the entire Crucible Convergence and the jewel of the Assembly.

  “What a perfect start to the quarter-finals! Our first victor is Claire! She defeated her opponent without even breaking a sweat! Her last attack was so deadly and precise that Senior Tidus had to intervene before even the protective bracers activated. Now, THAT is what I call a stomping victory!”

  Wesley laughed in delight as he cheered with the rest of the audience. Alan did not comment on the match and instead stared down at Damon, a new wooden slip clenched tightly in his grasp.

  Claire walked down the steps and smiled at her four waiting friends. “How did I do? I tried my best to destroy her barriers all at once, but maybe I did too well? That stupid old man interrupted and ended the match before I could sneak in my final attack.”

  “Hahaha! Don’t worry, I’ll show you how it’s done during my match with Nox!” Lilith guffawed uninhibitedly.

  Nolan gave her a small nod, and Thomas patted her on the shoulder. Claire looked up at Damon and asked, “Are you disappointed?”

  Shaking his head, Damon replied with a smile. “Nope. You’re getting better at planning your battles. Your strategy was flawless. Though I said we should get back at them, I also said not to overdo it. It’s not your fault that Senior Tidus is too strong.”

  Claire’s face brightened into a grin. “Mm! But next time, I’m going to try even harder to kill my opponent!”

  “You do realize that your next opponent is going to be either Thomas or me, right?” Damon asked back with a chuckle.

  The grin on Claire’s face disappeared as she blocked her mouth with both hands. Immediately after, she pretended to spit at the ground. “Ptoo. Ptoo. Ptoo. There, my previous statement is now gone from my mouth!”

  As Claire’s grin came back, Damon turned to face the stage with a serious face. While doing so, he met eyes with Thomas, who stood slightly ahead of him.

  “You ready, Damon?” Thomas held out his hand.

  “Yeah, let’s do this.”

  The two of them grinned at each other and clasped hands before they walked up onto the platform shoulder to shoulder.

  “And here they are, walking up now! Let’s welcome the next two contestants, Damon and Thomas!” Wesley shouted out loud and then began clapping. Unfortunately for him, clapping required both hands, and he could not commentate at the same time.

  “Go Damon!”

  “Thomas, don’t hold back against him!”

  “You’ve got this, Damon, let’s go all the way!”

  “I’ve bet my entire life savings on you, so you’d better win!”

  “Damon, marry me!”

  “Hooray for the Assembly!”

  The audience cheered louder than ever, excited for another match. They were all in high spirits thanks to Claire’s dominating victory in the first match. Now, they were able to relax and watch an entertaining match between two friendly rivals of the Academy, knowing there wouldn’t be any extreme outcomes like the week before.

  “That’s right! The first contestant is someone who needs no introduction! From the bottom of the ladder, he climbed up to the top by defeating a first seed and taking his place among the best of the best! Damon is back to show us his spectacular explosion spell!”

  “Yeah!”

  “Woo!”

  “Go Damon!”

  The cheering grew chaotic as Wesley gave a long introduction of Damon. Then he moved on to Thomas.

  “And his opponent is the third seed from the Academy, Thomas! Though he may only be seeded third, he is no weaker than Claire or Lilith! Hailing from the most powerful family in the Assembly, he definitely has what it takes to contend against Damon!”

  The frenzied crowd died down as Thomas was introduced. The thunderous roar for Damon had been replaced by a polite, dutiful applause for Thomas. Even though there was some occasional yelling and whistling, the difference between earlier and now was like heaven and earth.

  Thomas’s face scrunched up from his frown as he glared at the audience while turning slowly. He knew Damon had won the hearts of the cityfolk as he was a dark horse, but he didn’t expect them to be this biased. Even the commentator spoke like Damon had the win in the bag, and Thomas only barely had the potential to keep up with him for a period of time. What hurt the most was that deep in his heart, he agreed.

  Before parting ways to opposite ends of the platform, Thomas faced Damon with an aggrieved expression.

  “You hear that? Everyone thinks you’re going to win for sure.”

  Damon turned to Thomas and shrugged, displaying an awkward smile. “I don’t know what to tell you. Besides, you’re not the type to allow such a thing to affect your confidence, right? And I’m not the type to become complacent just because some random people are cheering for me. Victory and defeat mean nothing between friends. Let’s just have a fun fight. ”

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  The frown on Thomas’s face vanished as he beamed. That’s true. Why did he allow the audience to get into his head? With his mind cleared, he said, “When did you become so wise? Well, it’s true that I’m afraid of your new Shardburst technique, though. Go easy on me, okay?”

  “Don’t worry. Because you asked nicely, I’ll make sure it’s not fatal.” After saying that, Damon laughed as he turned around and walked away.

  Thomas looked on with a blank face as Damon’s last words echoed in his mind. Make sure it’s not fatal? So if I didn’t ask, you weren’t going to do that?

  Hovering above them, Tidus smiled genially as he watched the two boys chat merrily, even though they were just about to have a duel.

  Damon arrived at the western side of the platform. He felt countless gazes burning into him from every direction. Although he had been slightly uncomfortable at first, he had grown used to it over the past couple of weeks. However, he still tensed up when he felt a strange pressure descend upon him from above.

  Though he was unable to ascertain who was observing him, he felt a sense of dread whenever he stood atop the stage. The only people who could make him feel this way were the Adepts watching from the private room attached to the stands.

  Well, I’m safe as long as I’m within the Assembly. This feeling is probably caused by whoever escorted the participants from Argent Flame here. I did kick out their first seed before the quarter-finals, after all…

  His thoughts were interrupted by Tidus clearing his throat. “Okay, settle down, everyone. The second match of the quarter-finals is about to begin.”

  Damon forgot about everything else and only focused on the upcoming duel. Thomas was no easy opponent. However, he had strategized for the battle and was confident he could win as long as Thomas did not reveal some incredible new secret weapon.

  He withdrew his trusty kite shield artifact and threw it into the air in front of him, where it hovered in place, completely motionless.

  “Oh, what’s this? Another new artifact from Damon? He uses a different artifact for every battle! Is he secretly the child of a wealthy household? Tell me, Alan, should I start cozying up to Damon?” Wesley joked.

  “Honestly, I’m as surprised as you are. As his combat teacher, I’ve only ever seen him use his spellcraft. I don’t know where he keeps pulling out these powerful artifacts. Though it remains to be seen if this shield is as useful as those rings he used in his last match against Alexander.” Alan rubbed his mustache as he closely inspected the kite shield.

  Excited that Alan was speaking more, Wesley shouted with increased enthusiasm. “That’s right! His rings were very useful! Although it seemed to be a part of his grand plan, you could even say that his battle against Alexander might have ended differently without those! Why do you think he chose a shield instead of using those rings again?”

  Alan shook his head. “Well, those rings are probably going to be useless against Thomas.”

  “Oh? Why is that?” Wesley asked with exaggerated curiosity. It was unclear whether he truly did not know or was just putting on an act for the audience.

  “Those rings, though quite rare and powerful, are most likely a set of Steelbind Rings. They have the power to lock down and destroy metallic artifacts in a small area.” Alan lectured Wesley in a condescending tone.

  Wesley glared at Alan before turning back to the screen. “Oh, Senior Tidus raised his hand! And there’s the signal! Duel… Start!”

  Damon immediately began casting a barrier while tracking Thomas with his eyes. Thomas pointed both palms at Damon, and golden-green spores poured out before vanishing into the air.

  A tense silence fell on the arena as everyone waited for powerful spells to begin flying around and explode with spectacular might. Unfortunately, what they desired did not come to pass. For several seconds, Damon focused on completing a full barrier spell, and Thomas spread his spores throughout the stage.

  However, this did not break the tension in the air. Instead, the suspense grew as the time passed. The building pressure was finally broken by the abrupt emergence of vines around Damon. They lashed out, attempting to interrupt his casting and destroy the barriers of his bracers. However, the motionless kite shield blurred into action as it perfectly and efficiently blocked each strike.

  A moment later, Damon finished casting his barrier. As soon as a sphere of shimmering blue light manifested around him, he raised his left hand and began chanting in a low voice. His right hand blurred as he formed rune after rune. Ice shards gathered around him, circling him in a defensive formation.

  Meanwhile, Thomas stood still in the same spot, continuing to release wave after wave of spores. A small smile graced his face as he watched Damon build up his attack, not even a single hint of trepidation in his eyes.

  The chanting stopped, and Damon yelled, “Go!”

  The orbiting ice shards abruptly turned toward Thomas and shot out in an overwhelming onslaught. Even faced with the incoming attack, Thomas made no move to defend himself and stood stock still. When the barrage of ice was halfway across the platform, Damon’s eyes twinkled, and his lips curved into a sly smile. He swung his extended arm to the left, upon which the shards rotated sharply and soared toward the new direction so suddenly that audible cries of shock and confused yelps resounded from the nearby stands.

  “What is this? Damon’s ice shards have suddenly twisted mid-flight and are heading toward an empty section of the platform! Is it an accident? Did he mess up?” Even Wesley’s surprised voice entered his ears. However, it was no mistake. He had been monitoring Thomas from the start, just not with his eyes.

  In the path of the shards, a figure covered in golden-green spores appeared. The flickering spores had hidden him from view, yet became visible due to being used as a catalyst to cast his spells. A shell of dark green vines rapidly formed around him, covered in glimmering golden runes. The stationary Thomas on the platform fell apart and dispersed into the atmosphere as spores.

  Had I been careless, and you hadn’t exposed your concealment technique during your previous match, perhaps you could have snuck up on me. Damon smirked as he made a seal with his right hand.

  The sharp icicles split in two directions just before colliding with the verdant dome and revolved around it in both directions. The setup for Shardburst had been completed. As though aware of the imminent danger, even more wriggling vines burst out from spores near the shell Thomas was barricaded in, twisting and turning as they formed two towering structures.

  Damon did not allow the process to finish. He clenched his left hand into a fist and whispered, “Shardburst.”

  The spiraling storm of ice began glowing red as the intricate runes within each shard heated up. After a moment, they detonated one by one, chaining together so quickly that it looked like one enormous explosion.

  Roaring flames burst out and crashed into the colorful barrier protecting the audience stands. This time, the other participants from the Academies and Towers had retreated to the edge of the arena and were relatively unaffected by the searing heat or powerful shockwaves. Damon, as the caster, remained more or less unscathed in the aftermath of his own spell. He did so by concentrating more shards behind the target than in front.

  As the billowing smoke flowed out from the Colosseum, visibility returned to the stage. Unlike the battle with Alexander, nobody had interfered with the duel this time. Instead, two colossal humanoid monsters made from vines kneeled with their arms surrounding the verdant cocoon in the center.

  The plant giants glowed a vibrant red, as though they were coated in lava. Pieces of their body fell off as they melted. They had managed to do their jobs, as the dome between them had only been charred black instead of falling apart as well.

  The shell split in half, and Thomas stepped out with a pale face and drenched in sweat. Though he had survived with all his five barriers intact, he looked worse for wear. The scorching heat within his cocoon had been almost unbearable, turning into something similar to a forge and almost suffocating him.

  Smokey, yet refreshing, air entered his lungs and cooled the liquid glistening on his skin. The dust hadn’t even finished settling, and the steam from the blackened vines still whistled in the air. A subtle, but distinct sound rang out from above. It was the crackling of ice as it crystallized. Thomas looked up, his lungs still burning, only to see the sky filled with blue light once more.

  Still standing in his original location, several dozen shards of ice swirled around Damon. With a smile, he uttered only one word. However, that word resounded in Thomas’s mind like a death knell.

  “Go.”