Character : Lilyanna Valkaria, My Secret Art
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The time for my battle eventually arrives.
My turn came at the very end of this round of sixteen. And sadly, my opponent is my long time water origin rival.
"Your highness. I must remind you that we all have things we're fighting for in this tournament." Clade said to me just after we both arrived on top of the arena, and I only closed my eyes as I focused.
Yes. I know.
That is why I cannot lose.
"BEGIN!!!!" The referee shouted, and Clade rushed at me with twin water blades on his hands.
His speed is incredible. The condensing ability he put into those blades are amazing as well. But, if he wishes to win this whole tournament, he will have to bring in more than that.
VWOOOSSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Within a blink of an eye, the tip of my long black hair turned bright blue. My mastery over the water origin increased tenfold, and I casted my most powerful technique faster than Clade can react.
'RHOOAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!'
A gigantic sea dragon appeared behind me with a body made of condensed water. It was the same technique that I used which stunned and shoved the demon headmaster and Zero away multiple times, and I activated it right off the bat against my own classmate.
"Wha--!?" Before Clade could react, the sea dragon grabbed a hold of his body. The sea dragon flew upwards all the way until the ceilings, and it dived down with Clade's body on the mouth.
BOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With the force of gravity, the sea dragon crashed to the ground with Clade being on the mouth. That smash down was definitely an overkill for a mere friendly spar, but I needed to make it clear to everyone that I am serious.
Thank goodness. I don't even have to use my secret art.
Once again, another member of class A has been defeated in a single strike. This competition is only getting fiercer from here.
After the round of sixteen was ended, we began right away the very next round. The best of eight.
For this round, I will be facing Jonah in the second match. Nyssa will be facing Rejulus, which was quite unfortunate for him. Eric is going to face Kenneth, who was also a talented earth origin in our class after Jonah and Reggie. Finally, the best light origin in our class will face the best darkness origin in our class as well as in the entire academy.
Luck is most certainly a powerful factor when determining these matchups. How far you go into the tournament is also determined by luck. However, it seems like luck is no longer playing a definite role, not when we're already at the top eight.
"Prince Reju!! If you lay your hand on Nyssa, I'll kill you!!"
From afar, Jonah shouted with his all, and everyone heard it despite the crowd being very loud. Rejulus only laughs it off, but seeing her boyfriend being so aggressive for her, Nyssa looks like she's about to collapse.
"Nice one, boyfriend. But, do you not feel ashamed of shouting things like that?" I said as Jonah sat back down on the ground, but the tall guy chuckled after realizing it.
"Honestly, that was very embarrassing. At least Nyssa is fired up because of it." Jonah pointed out, and I didn't even notice that Nyssa is already powering up.
"W-Woah… she is going serious…" I mumbled after seeing the wind force coming from the arena, and sure enough, the breezy wind had turned into a rather thin typhoon.
"W-Wait, wait! The battle hasn't even started yet!!" Rejulus yelled as he kept himself stable to not get pushed off by the wind, but Nyssa's hair has already turned completely white. She now looks like a wind goddess, and she looks very ready to stomp away any opponent in front of her.
"BEGIN!!!--"
VWOOOOSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
Without further ado, the referee started the battle. And without further ado… Nyssa completely blasted the crown prince of Fiordall across the stage.
"Wh-WHAT!?" The crown prince shouted angrily after he got up on the ground, outside the arena.
However, his expression quickly turned the moment he looked upwards. A gigantic typhoon is now forming at the center of the arena, with a single floating girl controlling all those wind forces. Her cold gray eyes stared at the crown prince, just like a predator mercilessly stared at its prey.
"Yield…" Nyssa muttered with her heavy voice, which completely froze Rejulus.
"I… I yield…" Reju immediately heeded.
Even though he was already out of bounds, he still yielded in the end. He knew that he cannot win against a typhoon, so there's no point in forcing himself.
Hearing that answer, Nyssa turned off her typhoon. The referee realizes that the battle is now over, and the announcer takes a while to realize what happened.
Instead…
"Woi, REJU!!! Why didn't you do anything!? PUSSY!!!" From the speaker, Nathan shouted so angrily, which snapped everyone out of their daze.
Reju turned his confused glare to the VIP room where he thought Nathan was at, but everyone already noticed the battle had ended.
"W-Well… it seems like the battle is over so quickly. So much for the hype for the best of eight matches…" The female announcer said quite disappointedly, and everyone cheered and laughed in the crowd.
As Rejulus returned back to the resting area for the fighters, he was welcomed by Kenneth who was close to him. The other guy with the darkness origin from our class also patted him on the shoulder, trying to cheer him up. However, it seems like Reju's pride has been too devastated.
"I think you went overkill, there…" Jonah commented after Nyssa returned in front of us as well, and the silent girl only kept her head down.
"S-Sorry…"
"It's all right! At least you went to the semifinals! Hopefully we'll be able to meet each other!"
"Enn." Nyssa turned quite excited about it, but those two did not realize that I am still around.
Because now… it will be our turn.
"And now, for… hopefully a very hype match!
It is the best water origin among the first years, the Princess of Valkaria, Lilyanna Valkaria! And facing her shall be the best earth origin among the first years, the son of the holy knight, Jonah Calfman!" The announcer said to the speaker, and both Nyssa and Jonah turned to me.
I still had my gaze locked to the yellow room above the spectators seat, right on top of where we are. I can faintly see a hand waving from the person sitting exactly behind the window, and I noticed that person is exactly who I think it is.
I was about to wave back, but a finger poked me on my shoulder. I turned around to find Nyssa looking quite saddened, and I realized the time had arrived.
"O-Oh. Right. You ready Jonah?" I asked Jonah who seemed to be waiting, and he gave me a thumbs up before heading out to the arena first.
"Whoever wins… just make sure you two don't force it." Nyssa said to me, and I chuckled at her.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna let a couple fight each other. I'll win it." I said firmly as I followed Jonah to the arena, and the announcer realized we are heading out already.
"And here we go, ladies and gentlemen! Both Lily and Jonah are famous for being present during the recent dispute with the Dark Republic! The two are highly experienced, very powerful, and very charming as well!
Prince Nathan, who do you think is the favorite to win here?"
"I… am honestly not quite sure. On one hand, Jonah has every talent in the world, and he has put in a lot of effort to make those talents put into good use. He is already so much better than the Holy Knight in my opinion.
On the other hand, Lily is a princess. She's beautiful, charming, and no one would've ever expected her to be on this stage."
W-Why is he just talking about my appearance!?
"Haha! Look at your damn guy. He's definitely messing with you!" Jonah joked as we climbed the arena together, and I let out a sigh.
"I will say that Lily… did not have the talent. At the beginning of the year, she was falling behind. Everyone in class A has reached a level that was far ahead of her, and she couldn't keep up at all."
"E-Eh!? Then, what did she do?" The announcer turned widely confused, quite possibly reflecting the emotions of the whole crowd.
I know the answer. I swear I will go up there and snap his neck if he says anything--
"She just tried harder. So much harder than anybody else! She put in ten times more effort in doing her best, and now she is here, standing at the same stage as everyone else who had the talent that she doesn't have.
And I always believe that hard work will always overcome any talent. As such, my favorite is Lily winning."
"Ohh!!!"
Nathan's words riled up the crowd even more. As always, everybody loves storylines like this, and they all wanted to see the underdogs win more than the favorites. But, if the underdog was actually the favorite, then that turns the situation around.
"Wow. Hoes before bros…?" Jonah commented, and I realized Nathan siding with me means that he has abandoned his own roommate.
"Jonah." I called Jonah after we both got into positions, and he turned his serious grin back to me.
"I know, Lily. Let's make this a fun show." Jonah lifted his hand up, and immediately I could feel the ground beneath us crack.
The arena below our feet began to get lifted up, and I quickly used my water origin to make a tentacle that grabs me out of the floating arena. My feet landed on the ground outside the arena again, and Jonah seemed to have jumped off the arena as well.
Then, he swung his hand to the side, and the floating arena followed.