Chapter 5 - Tournament

— "I know there'll be nobles attending as well, that's why I'll be extra careful, using your magic to disguise myself. Honestly, I'm really scared to go to this tournament. But I feel like I need the money, almost as if something's coming, and I need to prepare myself."

— "Well, I understand your reasoning. But the real question now is how we're going to show compatibility and cohesion through your healing magic. Don't forget, the whole point of this tournament is to show how well you and your pet work together."

— "That's why I have to go to the library and learn more about my magic, how to actually use it. I'll go after lunch today."

Back at home, everyone was excited for the tournament, but the house was pure chaos.

My sister Mayna trained with her red fox in the garden, trying to create a water circle for him to leap through.

From afar, the scene might have looked harmonious, but her fox was actually complaining about her the whole time.

I watched them through the window.

After the fox jumped through her water circle and finished the routine, he said:

— "Pfft, that's twenty times we've done the same thing, and all you know is your water circle. You're really bad at this, idiot."

— "Hahahaha."

— "What's so funny, Amaria?" Yuuki asked.

— "Nothing. I just saw something funny through the window."

— "I'm going to go eat now, see you later, Yuuki."

When I went to the living room to sit down and eat, my parents and Aleya were already at the table, waiting for the food.

— "Aleya, do you know where your sister Mayna is?" my father asked.

— "I saw her in the garden, she's preparing for the tournament."

— "Right. The tournament is in three days. Are you ready, Aleya?"

— "Yes, Father, I've prepared a new magic demonstration. How about you, Amaria? Oops, I forgot you don't have magic."

As she said it, a mocking smile crossed her face.

Once lunch was over, I went back to my room to get ready for the library. I also needed to stop by Grandma's.

— "Yuuki, do you want to come with me? I would like to introduce you to someone dear to me."

— "Alright, I'll come with you."

Once I arrived at the library, I discreetly searched for magic books about healing.

I read through several, but none of them taught me anything I didn't already know.

Time passed, and I'd found nothing useful. As I walked past the shelves, a library employee approached me quietly and said:

— "Please follow me, I have a book for you."

Curious, I followed her. She led me to a part of the library I'd never been to before, and explained that the kind of book I was looking for wasn't kept in the general magic section, it was considered sacred, old magic.

That was why I hadn't been able to find it. She handed me a book and told me it was the most complete one they had.

I thanked her, and she slipped away as quietly as she'd appeared.

I opened the book and started reading. It was, indeed, far more complete and better explained. As I turned the pages, I found several fascinating spells.

I took my notebook and a pen from my bag to copy down their contents.

Once I'd finished with the book, I stopped by Grandma's shop and went inside.

— "Grandma, it's me. How are you doing today? I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Yuuki climbed onto my shoulder.

— "Oya, who's this cute little creature?"

— "He's my new friend, I told you about him before."

— "Ooh, I remember. What's his name?"

— "He's Yuuki."

— "I see. Nice to meet you, Yuuki. It's an honor."

Yuuki jumped from my shoulder onto the table near Grandma and rubbed his face against her arm, showibga sign of affection.

— "Looks like Yuuki likes you, Grandma."

— "Oya, I'm very pleased to meet you as well, Yuuki. Please take good care of Amaria, she's a wonderful girl, with a big and generous heart."

— "Thank you, Grandma. Oh, I almost forgot. Can you lend me some clothes? I need a new dress, but I don't have enough to buy one from a store. It would really help."

— "Let me check what I have, give me a moment. And this is for you, Yuuki, go ahead and eat it."

Grandma set down a bowl of treats for Yuuki and disappeared into her storage room.

She came back a few minutes later with some clothes in her hands, and showed me three beautiful dresses.

One was pink, with a long purple cape trailing from the back.

Another was brown, with a yellow top. And the last was an elegant black dress with a straight silhouette, trimmed in white at the top and sleeves.

My favorite was, without question, the last one, simple and elegant at once.

— "Grandma, can I take the last one?"

— "They're all yours, take all three. You'll have other events besides the tournament to wear them to."

My grandmother had guessed the dress was for the tournament, even though I hadn't told her.

She never questioned me about anything I didn't want to talk about. She was always patient and respectful that way.

I thanked her, took the three dresses, and left, I didn't have much time to spare.

I stopped in the forest, wanting to try a spell I'd found in the book.

— "Yuuki, I need you. Can you stay here? I want to try two spells."

— "Alright."

I pressed my hands together, tried to gather as much magic as I could between them, and pictured the spell in my mind.

A large golden light appeared and formed into a sphere, surrounding Yuuki. It was as if he were floating inside a giant golden ball. It was beautiful to watch.

Then I tried the second spell, the same way as the first. It looked like a shower of small crystals raining down over him.

I was ready for the tournament.

On the day of the tournament, my family left early in the morning. So I asked Yuuki to transform my hair and eye color, as planned.

Once I arrived at the tournament grounds, I sat in the stands, waiting for my turn to demonstrate my spells.

When I signed up for the tournament, I registered under the name Yuli.

The stands where I sat were packed, encircling the platform where each participant had to perform. We were called up one by one, by name.

It was so crowded I couldn't even spot my family. There were people from other cities too, it was a major event.

One by one, people were called. We saw beautiful spells of fire, water, wind, and more.

The more spells I saw, the more I doubted myself. And with so many people watching, I just wanted to leave and go home.

Yuuki sensed my stress and said to me:

— "It's okay. Don't worry, everything's going to be alright. Don't forget why you're doing this."

I hugged Yuuki, still in his cat form, and his coat briefly shifted to orange.

I showed Yuuki that I was reassured in appearance, but in my mind, I thought "and if Yuuki was disappointed of me as well."

The crowd was making me self-conscious.

Now it was my sisters' turn.

Aleya went first, showing off a beautiful wind spell with her eagle, it was amazing to watch. A small tornado spun around the stage while her eagle flew through it effortlessly, even as the wind roared.

After that, Mayna made a water circle with her red fox, the same spell she'd practiced in the garden at home.

Several more people showed off their spells, and a lot of them were incredible.

Then it was my turn. I removed my cape, and Yuuki transformed behind the stand into his original panther form.

I walked to the center of the stage with Yuuki and cast my first spell, wrapping him in a sphere of golden light.

The crowd gasped, clearly stunned, and watched closely.

I began my second spell, and a shower of light rained down over Yuuki as well. He darted around the stage, and the light followed him like a trail of falling crystals.

A young boy shouted to his mom:

— "Mom, mom! Look at that — it looks like gems coming from the sky, wooow!"

Everyone seemed thoroughly impressed by my spells.

Once all the participants had finished, we waited for the results. There were three prizes, for the three best spells.

They called third prize first — a man with an incredible fire spell. Then came second prize: my sister Aleya.

They called me for first prize. I could hardly believe it.

We went to collect it, then left quickly, hurrying to get home before my family did.

Once I reached the forest just before home, Yuuki changed my appearance back to normal. Two minutes later, I crossed paths with someone familiar...

***