Chapter 330
Gale's tendrils spread out towards the waiting area. All 6 contestants waited with their eyes, extremely focused on their upcoming match and scowling at each other. The only one who wasn't scowling was a blond boy. Gale thinks that must be Loid.
"Six contestants is logically not an even number. Why haven't the two been paired together for a duel of their own?" Erin asked.
"Uneven numbers mean bribes or politics. The usual." Amber laughed as Rachel grumbled.
"So. We betting or what?" Kyle asked.
"50 on the Mackenzie dude," Clyde said.
"Who?" Lily asked.
"The Kenji dude. Kenji Harima."
Lily sighed. "That's a weird name."
"So you in or what?"
"Put me at 50 for Loid."
"What? Just because he's a blond little shit?"
"No, because he has a sword and shield. It's the most balanced."
"Pfft, whatever. Rachel?"
"I'll bet it for Mikael," Rachel said, clenching her fist. "This one's definitely mine!"
"I'll go for the Raymond cutie. He's small and cute, just like Ollie," Amber said, giggling.
"I shall place my wager on Cynthia. Her weapon resembles that of a former warrior I have fought with," Erin said.
"Gale, you're up," Clyde said.
"I'll bet it on Mikael," Gale said. From the way his tendrils poked at the other contestants, none of them were as strong as Mikael. He also fought Mikael firsthand, and none of these other contestants had the same ferocity as him.
"Seriously? You two are betting on the same person?" Kyle asked.
"Why not?" Rachel asked.
"Booooring," Clyde said.
Lily ate a full hotdog before speaking. "Mikael is actually a really strong contender to win this though."
"That's boring. Always pick the underdogs," Kyle said.
"Why didn't he go to the next round immediately?" Gale asked.
"Random draw, nothing else," Lily said.
"Ladies and gentlemen. I present to you the first match, Mikael Lebedev versus Xiurong Huang," Witch Ashen looked at both contestants. "Are you ready?!"
Both candidates nodded, raising their weapons.
"Fight!"
The first match started.
Mikael's signature ice gauntlets and spear came out immediately while Xiurong held her jian as pink petals flowed around her. Both contestants clashed at the centre.
The fight was even for the first few minutes. Mikael's spear gave him range advantage, but Xiurong's petals kept intercepting his thrusts and creating openings for her to counter. For a couple of turns, they exchanged blows. Whenever Mikael would stab at her, a petal would block his strike while Xiurong constantly went on the offensive.
Apparently, Lily said it was the style of Mt. Hua to continuously attack rather than defend, using their petals efficiently to block any oncoming strikes without having to actually defend.
Then Mikael went all in. Frost exploded in the arena as he shot at Xiurong. Multiple petals tried to block his spear, all being ripped apart until his spear met her throat, but not before the pendant activated and teleported her back to safety.
"The winner is Mikael Lebedev!" Witch Ashen announced.
The second match was Raymond Brown versus Loid Smith.
Raymond was Sterling's other representative. On the screen, it showed his current weapon was that of a pistol with a 9mm. Loid was from Ordo Trainguli Aurei, having a sword and shield set up, both glowing with golden runes that reinforced them.
"Contestants, are you ready?" Witch Ashen asked.
Both contestants nodded.
"Fight!"
Raymond opened by firing, hitting the golden shield while backpedalling. He was fast, not being weighed down by heavy equipment. Looking at Loid, he was struggling to keep up while bullets arced from multiple directions. Every time they arced, he'd have to either swat them away with his sword or block them with his shield.
However, he was slowly gaining distance. When he was close enough, Raymond shot straight up into the air.
Loid ignored it. He used all of his mana to charge through to reach the last bit of distance between him and Raymond. A single slash to the chest sent Raymond back to the challenger lobby.
"The winner is Loid Smith!" Witch Ashen shouted.
The semifinals bracket appeared on the screen. Mikael Lebedev versus Cynthia De La Cruz. Hari Kenji versus Loid Smith.
Mikael and Cynthia entered the arena after being announced by Witch Ashen.
Cynthia held a giant hammer that made her look comically small compared to it. Swinging it around a couple of times, it looked like she was swinging a toy hammer, except it wasn't. It produced gusts that made the crowd go wild. On her hammer were glowing yellow runes that seemed to be either strengthening her or making the hammer lighter for her.
"Contestants, ready or not?!" Witch Ashen shouted.
Both Mikael and Cynthia clutched their weapons.
"FIGHT!"
The fight started with Cynthia on the offensive. She swung that hammer in wide arcs, each swing carrying enough force to crater the arena floor when it missed. Mikael stayed on the defense, using his spear to redirect his own body to prevent the hammer from hitting any part of him, especially the ice spear and gauntlets.
This went on for a while. Cynthia kept swinging. Mikael kept dodging and deflecting. The hammer cratered the floor again and again, sending chunks of stone flying.
It was obvious what Mikael was trying to do. Cynthia had slowed down tremendously compared to her vigour from the beginning.
Mikael then started to go on the offensive. Multiple thrusts of his spear sent her backpedalling and blocking with her large hammer.
Once she was completely gasping for air, Mikael went in for a lunge to meet her face to face. One swing of his gauntlets, and she was gone back to the lobby.
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"The winner is Mikael Lebedev!"
All of the fights came seemingly with no break in between. The next match's contestants immediately took to the arena. Hari Kenji and Loid Smith.
Kenji was from the Martial Alliance, representing one of the Japanese sects. He carried a katana, that would mean he would move like lightning yet also fluid and not rigid. At least thats what the on screen explanation said according to what Gale saw.
"Contestants?" Witch Ashen asked.
Both nodded.
"FIGHT!"
Kenji struck first, hitting Loid's shield square at the centre. However, Loid didn't budge. Another strike from Kenji, and Loid parried it to the side, allowing him to make a quick strike at Kenji, who backed off immediately.
Loid chased. Charged forward, putting up his shield to ram him. This time, Kenji rolled to the side, causing Loid's momentum to propel him too far forward.
Kenji sheathed his blade. One lightning fast unsheathing of his sword sent a sharp wave of Qi towards Loid's shield, causing him to lose his guard. Loid stagged and Kenji didn't miss this chance to lunge forward into Loid. Kenji struck Loid's chin with the hilt of his word knocking him over.
Loid flew up, and another slash came out of Kenji. The pendant glowed and sent the blond back to the lobby. It was over as fast as it started.
"The winner is Hari Kenji!"
And then the finals came. Mikael Lebedev versus Kenji Harima. It was now Sterling versus Martial Alliance. Both challengers entered the arena, meeting Witch Ashen's eyes.
"Ready?" Witch Ashen asked.
Both nodded.
"FIGHT!"
Kenji and Mikael matched each other's speed. It was spear against katana, and age old rivalry. The ice spear gave Mikael a reach advantage, which forced Kenji to use more of his footwork to get inside. Every time Kenji tried to close the distance, Mikael's gauntlets were there to box him out with quick 1-2s, jabs, and hooks that he had to defend with his katana or backpedal away.
Kenji couldn't get his katana into effective range. The spear kept him at bay. The gauntlets punished any attempt to slip past the spear's reach. From the looks of it, Mikael's gauntlet-spear combination was his worst enemy.
Gale was kind of impressed, not even thinking about why Mikael used gauntlets along with the ice spear. Now it made way more sense. The spear had a disadvantage whenever enemies came too close. His gauntlets completely negated that weakness.
Kenji jumped back, creating distance between him and Mikael, sheathing his sword.
This time, Mikael didn't let him do his Qi wave by lunging forward to follow along the distance that was created. As Kenji was about to prepare his slash, he stopped mid movement. Kenji panicked, which created a clear moment of hesitiation. He unsheathed his blade once again and struck at the oncoming Mikael.
Mikael caught the blade with his ice gauntlet.
Kenji tried to pull it free, but with a single twist of Mikael's arm, he was disarmed as the ice spear struck at his neck.
The match was over. The arena roared into a sudden boom of cheering. Men and women stood cheering. Some even hugged each other.
"The winner of the Tri-School Tournament is Mikael Lebedev, representing Sterling Institute!" Witch Ashen roared over the cheers of the crowd. "This marks Sterling's first tournament victory in over a decade! Congratulations!"
"We won! WOOO!" Rachel pumped her fist in the air. "Pay up! That's 50 each. 125 to me and Gale!"
Gale finished the last bite of his second turkey leg and extended his greasy hand toward Kyle and Clyde. "Pay up."
Kyle groaned. "Like who would even bet on Mikael? Gauntlet and spear was completely a dumb combo, bro."
"True that. Makes sense for a combat junkie, though," Clyde muttered.
"Who's side are you on?"
"The side that doesn't wanna let go of my $50 bill."
"Fair and square, assholes. Pay up. This is payback for disturbing my TV drama!" Rachel shouted.
Clyde groaned and pulled out his phone, tapping at the screen. "Fine. Sore winners, both of you."
"Sore winner means we're going to win again next time," Gale said.
"What does that even mean?!" Kyle shouted.
"Picking the obvious is no fun..." Clyde said.
"Still won," Rachel grinned. "Pay up, pay up."
Kyle fished out his wallet and slammed it against Rachel's hand. "Next time, I'm betting to win. Watch your back, fire nation lady. I'm watching you."
Rachel let out a smug smirk.
"I'm watching you too! Loud one!" Gale shouted.
Clyde slapped his bill onto Rachel's hand as well. "That was Twinkie money. Use it wisely, fiery butt face."
Lily pulled out her phone and sent her payment without a bat of an eye. "Sent. Did you get it?"
Pulling up her phone, Rachel saw the notification light up as a transfer from Lily was received. "Got it! Thanks!"
"One of these days, I'm going to win one."
"In your dreams, quiet one," Kyle said.
Erin floated down from her horizontal position, finally settling into something resembling a normal sitting posture on the sofa. "I shall send the monetary compensation at a later time. I must first understand how this primitive 'banking' system functions. The process of transferring numerical value through these devices is unnecessarily convoluted."
"You can just give us cash," Gale said.
"I do not possess physical currency. It is inefficient to carry."
"Want me to help you later?"
"That is a given."
Erin reached over and started eating from Gale's third plate. The mountain of food he had piled on it was slowly diminishing as she picked through it, selecting items that seemed to interest her, specifically the red ones that came from the Korean section while ignoring others completely.
Gale didn't mind. Rachel was the one that put those in anyway. Better her than him suffering, and it looked like she didn't seem to be suffering from the spicy.
Rachel looked around the room suddenly. "Wait. Where's Amber?"
Gale pointed at the large TV screen.
"Shit! She got away! That bitch!" Rachel shouted.
On the arena floor, Witch Ember was floating toward the centre of the field. Three other figures accompanied her, all radiating similar signatures of Arcanes.
"It is now time for the closing ceremony," Amber said as her voice boomed across the speakers of the coliseum. "Before we conclude this year's summit, I would like to introduce our distinguished guests again who will demonstrate their abilities for the assembled audience."
She gestured to her right.
"First, Archmage Merilda, leading the United Knights' Wizard Division."
The old woman in the blue robes and ridiculously large wizard hat stepped forward, raising her staff. The crowd applauded politely.
"Grandmaster Zhou of the Jiuling, leader of the Mt. Hua Sect."
The white-bearded Arcane moved forward. The Jiuling section of the crowd erupted in cheers.
"And lastly, Zayn Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of the Path."
A man in a sharp suit, shades, and a long sniper rifle on his back stepped forward. His greying hair and slight wrinkles around his eyes told everyone that this man was always stressed.
"Each of them will now demonstrate their abilities for the closing ceremony as the last spectacle of the evening!"
The door to the private viewing area they ate and watched in swung open.
Witch Ashen walked in, hair dishevelled, dark circles under her eyes darker than before, suit slightly crooked, and the first few buttons of her blouse were unbuttoned.
"You okay?" Rachel asked carefully.
"Don't ask."
Lily tried to suppress a laugh. "How was Zhang Bai?"
"Don't. Ask."
"That bad?"
"Ugh! I hate the Jiuling. Seriously," Witch Ashen quickly moved forward to the sushi section of the buffet. She filled a whole plate with salmon, tuna, and multiple rolls of varying kinds.
A dinging sound caught his attention. It had been going on for a while now, actually. A persistent notification tone coming from somewhere nearby.
"Erin," Gale said. "Your phone is beeping."
Erin paused her eating. She reached into her lab coat-like dress and pulled out the device, staring at it.
"It seems the sound's purpose was meant for notification of incoming messages," she said. "I believed the primitive device had been malfunctioning."
"It's notifications."
Erin held the phone out to Gale.
Grabbing the phone from her hand, he swiped up, and surprisingly, it had no lock screen. Of course there wasn't. Erin probably wouldn't understand the purpose of the lock screen anyways. Tapping the messenger app, he clicked on the latest message which was from Sarah Chen.
[Sarah: The synthesis of material that can withstand heat of upward 6000C has been successful.]
[Sarah: However, it uses exotic materials from rifts...]
[Sarah: The material is found in most rifts, but it's hard to carry back to Earth because of its weight.]
[Sarah: It's called Yinidium alloy. Forms naturally in specific desert world rifts.]
[Sarah: It also needs to be artificed and charged with constant ether supply to resist the heat.]
[Sarah: Please respond when you can. We need direction on next steps.]
[Sarah: Erin?]
[Sarah: Are you there?]
[Sarah: I'm going to assume you're busy with the summit.]
[Sarah: ERIN PLEASE. WHERE ARE YOU.]
[Sarah: HELLO?]
[Sarah: OLLIE SAID YOU DONT KNOW HOWW TO USE PHONE]
[Missed Call from: Sarah Chen]
[Missed Call from: Sarah Chen]
[Missed Call from: Sarah Chen]
[Missed Call from: Sarah Chen]
[Sarah: erin... plz]
[Sarah: you told me to message you asap when we got progress T_T]
Gale handed the phone back to Erin. "Sarah Chen. Something about synthesis and a material called Yinidium."
Erin looked at the messages Gale showed her for a second. "We must return to Lab 7 at the earliest possible time."
"Oooo, another rift?" Gale asked.
"That is the plan." Erin pocketed her phone. "However, I must first check in on the synthesis project's progress. I must write them the instructions for the etching patterns as they have not done so yet."
"Can we come?" Kyle and Clyde asked at the same time.
"Your bodies do not serve a purpose for this excursion," Erin said. "However, as Children of the Stars, I permit your accompaniment."
"I'm coming too," Rachel said, nostrils flaring.
"Woman of fire, you already incurred enough debt. Should you desire to come along on the excursion, I shall take another jar of your fire."
"FINE!" Rachel shouted.
"What about me?" Lily asked.
"Your scouting capabilities and utility focused spells provide extreme flexibility. You may come if you wish."
"Great! I guess we're all going! What about Ollie?" Gale asked.
"We can ask him when we get back to Lab 7," Rachel said.
Author's Notes:
There was a lot more that happened during the Summit that the MC did not see. However, I didn't want to delay the 2nd rift for this arc. Looking to get the story to pick up pace.
More chapters of the Summit will be published, most likely after the arc finishes.