The Festival of Deos Cogitus.

The Festival of Deos Cogitus was dedicated to the one and only Ruler of Knowledge. It was an event that gathered magical researchers from all over Audera Kingdom so that they could present their findings to the public. Whether it was new spells, discoveries about Spiritspeak, magic inventions, theories about magical flora and fauna—all topics were accepted, as long as magic played a role in it.

The festival was held under the name of the Auderan Royal Family, specifically the current King Mage—Animon Rey Audera. It lasted a week, and the judge committee consisted of the king himself, as well as several high-ranking nobles that were respected for their magical knowledge.

On the first day of the festival, Berions had received a notice that a showcase match was going to be held between two young users of the roaring flash. It would occur on the last day of the festival, scheduled as a part of the special celebrations that concluded the event.

A week had already passed since Ayumu's loss to Viktor. Ayumu didn't attend the festival and instead spent the whole time preparing for his presentation and the duel. In the process, he had asked Lucy and Kyle's help in training his combat skills in order to hold up against Viktor. Additionally, he had gone through a diary that belonged to a certain genius boy.

 The time to present his research was rapidly approaching.

***

"Are you ready?"

Julian's question resounded in one of the classrooms of the Royal Academy. The presentations for the festival were held on the academy's grounds. The researchers were assigned different rooms in the campus's buildings to prepare for the upcoming exhibition. This was the room that Berions were assigned to.

"...No, not really," Ayumu replied, somewhat lacking in confidence.

"Ha," his father laughed, "that's not surprising. If you weren't nervous to speak before the King for the first time in your life, then I would question your sanity. Maybe things will be different after you become as experienced as me."

Ayumu smiled.

"So, you are ready, then?"

Julian stopped in thought for a second before replying.

"...No, not really."

Then they both laughed. For some reason, Ayumu found Julian's answer strangely comforting.

***

The presentations for the festival were held in the Royal Academy's Theater.

Arts and culture were a major part of the institution's education. You were obliged to choose at least one subject connected to an artistic discipline. Some of those included literary arts, acting, music, design, etc.

The primary goal of the theater was to serve as a stage for performances by the students who pursued acting as their discipline, but it was also a place for holding special events, mainly outside of the school year. The presentations for the Festival of Deos Cogitus were an example of such events.

It was on the main stage, before the committee, that Ayumu would have to hold his ground.

***

"And the next research topic is Magia Nobili: A Gift for the Chosen or a Misunderstanding of the Masses? presented to you by Fabian Aes Berion and Julian Aes Berion!"

As the announcer's voice resounded through the theater, Ayumu gulped as he prepared for his entrance. He glanced at his father, who nodded at him. The boy nodded back, took a deep breath, and began walking to the center of the stage.

As he left the backstage, the theater's lights entered his sight and blinded him. Slowly, his eyes got accustomed to the lighting. Once they did, he took a look at the audience. The seats were filled to the brim. Hundreds of observers were watching his every move. But what stood out to him the most was the group of four people in front of the crowd. They were the the judging committee for the festival.

The King Mage, Animon Rey Audera, himself; Dion Au Darius, the wielder of the roaring flash; the most influential noble in the kingdom, Duke Delleron Au Gladius; and finally Cornelius Aes Liberion, the kingdom's most distinguished magical researcher. Those four served as the judges this year.

There was no doubt in Ayumu's mind that Count Darius had pulled some strings to be involved in the judging process. He would clearly not judge him fairly. Therefore, the best thing he could hope for was to sound convincing to the other three and pray for success.

And so he began his speech.

"...Ahem. Let me present to you the topic of our research. As you heard from the title, it relates to Magia Nobili and brings into question its hereditary nature..."

***

The only thing Ayumu needed to do was to follow his script. Or that's what he thought.

That wasn't a totally inaccurate assumption, but as he continued to present his research, he faced many more difficulties along the way than he expected. 

He struggled to strike the right balance between maintaining the pace and keeping the flow of his presentation natural and engaging. Not only did he have to do that, he also had to ensure he was following the prepared bullet points accurately.

Thankfully, Julian was there to help him. Whenever the boy stumbled, his father would pick up where he left off, and whenever Ayumu took long pauses, Julian filled the space with his own words. Despite that, he didn't completely take over for Ayumu even once. He would always pass the baton back to his son, not letting himself ever take the spotlight.

Throughout the presentation, the committee and the audience carefully listened to Ayumu's words. The short rundown of history of Magia Nobili, the running theories on what made them so limited in access, the rumors and stories about supposed users outside of major lineages...

Theories in particular were difficult to present. Ayumu and Julian lacked conclusive proof of any of them so they could only put them forward as hypotheses. One of them was that imagination served as the limiting factor for Magia Nobili. Roaring flash, for example, was something that most people rarely saw in their daily lives. Only during particularly bad weather could they witness the occasional lightning strike. In contrast, someone like Viktor had been exposed to roaring flash since his early childhood. That made the difference in familiarity significant.

But that was only one of the many theories, and it possessed many holes. One of the most obvious ones was the fact that Fabian could use roaring flash. What made the boy different from everyone else? Ayumu and Julian lacked a satisfying answer to that question.

And so that part of their research was mostly speculative. But if they didn't present any theories at all, then it would be hard to put the hereditary nature of magic into doubt. Thankfully, the focus of their research wasn't why that was the case, but rather disapproving Magia Nobili's hereditary nature in general. And Ayumu served as a great proof of that claim.

"...And to finish our presentation, allow me to show you a roaring flash in action!" Ayumu exclaimed and raised his right hand in the air with its palm facing up.

"Ab manō fulmar ferrit. Elle fulmare cun manō modeo."

As his incantation finished, a ball of lightning appeared above his palm. The boy began to slowly move his hand while rotating it ever so slightly. The spell followed Ayumu's every motion and flew above the stage.

For the first time since the beginning of the presentation, the audience broke its silence.

             "It's the roaring flash!"                          "He can actually use it!"
"Unbelievable!"                                          "Dariuses are no big deal after all..."
                           "It's a new era!"
       "This must be a fake!                       "What will the count say!?"

...And so on.

Ayumu smiled at the crowd's reaction and concluded his speech.

"That's it for us. If you have any questions, please, feel free to ask them."

The truth was that Ayumu didn't want to answer any questions if he could help it. But the etiquette demanded that he had to. Besides, even if he remained silent, the committee would undoubtedly still question him. That's what they were there for.

Perhaps Ayumu should have expected it, but the first one to speak was Count Darius.

"I see that you have presented your theory with quite a convincing piece of evidence," he started, alluding to Ayumu's showcase of the spell at the end of the presentation, "but have you actually compared your spells to the original? Magic is varied and it wouldn't surprise me if you could create an accurate replica of the roaring flash."

Ayumu felt intimidated by the count, but he managed to keep his wits about him and quickly answered.

"That could only be the case if I also used a different incantation. But my cast was no different from the ones your family employs, Lord Darius."

The count's calm exterior didn't budge in the slightest as he confidently replied to Ayumu.

"That is true. The incantation seems right and it looks like a roaring flash. But does it actually have the same power? If it doesn't possess a respectable level of strength, then it could hardly be called a roaring flash."

The count was putting Ayumu into quite a spot. It was then that the King Mage spoke for the first time.

The King had a grin on his face. His handsome features were colored with a sense of mischief as he spoke to the count.

"Well, then, Dion. How would you expect the young man to prove that? To show that his roaring flash can rival your family's?"

The monarch's voice was relaxed, downright jovial. His question even carried a hint of irony. It was obvious to Ayumu that he was poking fun at the count.

Wow. The King is totally chill about it. Is he not worried about the tense air in the room...? I guess he is the boss here... Ayumu thought as he watched the committee.

Dion was clearly not happy about the King's behavior, but he couldn't point it out. Instead, he calmly continued with his original intentions.

"Well, Your Majesty, we could check that quite easily. We just need to pit my son against young Fabian in a duel."

"Wooow! What a great idea you just came up with," King Mage replied with a clearly fake sense of amazement, "so let's do that. Today, at six in the evening we will hold a showcase match between Fabian Aes Berion and Viktor Au Darius! It will take place in the coliseum."

His words were mostly directed at the audience members. Some of them were genuinely surprised by the event and excited to see two young wielders of roaring flash in action. Many, however, were not shocked at all. They clearly knew about the duel in advance or at least had a good guess that something similar was going to happen.

Then, King Mage faced Ayumu and spoke quietly enough that only he and the committee members could hear.

"I'm looking forward to what you can show me, Fabian. Your antics are always pretty entertaining. Don't disappoint me."

He then smiled at the boy. His smile was somehow both casual and sharp. Ayumu was internally panicking from having to speak with the King, but he replied normally.

"Yes, Your Majesty. I won't."

The monarch laughed slightly in response and concluded Ayumu's presentation. There were still quite a few researchers left waiting to showcase their findings.

The boy left the stage, his mind still bothered by the King's behavior. Animon seemed inscrutable to him. On one hand, he went along with the count's plan and decided to hold the duel. On the other hand, he made it obvious for everyone watching just how perfunctory the entire conversation was. It was almost as if he was trying to set Dariuses up for failure.

Regardless of King's intent, the only thing that Ayumu actually needed to think about was the upcoming duel. The validity and the value of their research in the eyes of the public would hinge on how well he would perform in the fight.

Ayumu was in the final stretch.

***

A bright full moon shone in the skies.

"And right now, two wielders of roaring flash will test out their mettle against each other in front of our very eyes!"

The caster's voice pierced the arena, heating up the crowd before the main event.

The match wasn't held in the same academy's training grounds where the previous duel took place. Instead, it was in the Coliseum of Audera. A grand round arena that could house thousands of spectators simultaneously.

When Ayumu entered the stage, the bright artificial lights nearly blinded him. Despite it being so late, the coliseum was incredibly well-lit.

"On one side we have Fabian Aes Berion, a young magical prodigy!"

The commentator pointed at Ayumu, who stood in one corner of the arena.

"And on the other side, we have the heir of Dariuses, Viktor Au Darius!"

Then, everyone's attentions shifted to the other corner, where Viktor stood with his eyes closed.

Both of the contestants were in the same academy's battle attire that they were wearing during the previous duel. But Ayumu's equipment was slightly different. Now, he also had a belt that was outfitted with multiple weapons—several throwing knifes and a sword. Viktor, however, had the exact same equipment as the week prior.

"Can the young prodigy prove his mastery of roaring flash and be recognized as its rightful owner!? Or will he fall before the might of the historic Darius lineage?! Leeeeeet's fiiiiiind ooooout!"

As the caster hyped up the crowd, the audience cheered in tandem.

Why the hell is he acting like some kind of excited sports caster? Is that just the inevitable regardless of the world...? He's kind of annoying...

Ayumu wasn't exactly happy about it. But at the same time, the silliness helped him release his tension ever so slightly.

Before the fight could finally begin, he walked to the center of the arena to shake hands with Viktor. The other boy did the same.

As the opponents closed in, Viktor spoke.

"So you decided to show up? As I said before, there will be no mercy. This time it's going to be a public humiliation."

Ayumu laughed slightly in response.

"Thanks for the warning. You're so nice, aren't you? But you don't need to be so nervous. It's only a showcase match after all."

Viktor remained silent for just a second. Then, he left his final warning before walking away.

"...Don't tell me that I didn't warn you."

As the contestants returned to the furthest edges of the arena, the commentator exclaimed.

"Aaaaaand finally, the thing you've been waiting for—"

Ayumu took a deep breath.

Viktor narrowed his eyes.

"—the battle begggiiiiins!"

In the next second, a blue magical field covered the entire stage. With it, magical barriers appeared over the two contestants.

That marked the start of their rematch.