Chapter 13. Tournament Part 2

"Ken! Raise and shine! Time to head to the stadium!" Genesis shouted happily while knocking on Ken's dorm room.

A few minutes later, Ken walked out of the room to be greeted by a tight hug from Genesis.

"I wish it's tournament week everyday so I can have you to myself." Genesis said wishfully while holding Ken closely.

For breakfast, instead of heading for the dining hall, the two decided to head to the stadium ground and grab some food there instead.

When they arrived at the stadium, it was already as crowded as ever, and the pair walked around eagerly looking for new foods to try.

After trying some new dishes that tasted great as always, Ken got some more of that popcorn stuff Genesis got the day before as the two headed inside to watch the second day of the tournament.

While day 1 was fun, it was more just a showcase and to get people back into the tournament mood and for the nobles and royals to have a bit of bragging rights. From day 2 onward is when the real excitement begins as actual combat works way differently than performing some spells on stationary objects.

Not only is it more exciting for someone like Ken who is interested in getting stronger and not just here at the academy to make connections. The gambling halls all over the world are definitely keeping a watchful eye on all of the matchups while gamblers bet away their entire lifesaving hoping to strike it rich.

According to Genesis, a lot of the underground bosses that own the gambling establishments have connections with staff members at the school and matchup orders and even the fights are often fixed.

Of course, even the students themselves are fixing matches. It's not uncommon for some commoner students to sign up just so they could get beat to make a noble look good. Amongst the high-class, nobles and royals, the hierarchy comes into play again where it's very likely for those on the lower end to lose on purpose, so they don't become a target for bullying and to have their connections stay in good order.

With thousands of students all signed up for the tournament, to get through all the matches in only two days seemed like a daunting task but with two thousand years of experiences from trial and failures, the academy had mastered the art of holding a large tournament while making sure everything goes according to plan.

Similar to day one where groups of people got introduced and competed before the next group stepped onto the stage, today is no exception. As Lucia got the show started promptly at 9am, the first group of students walked on to the arena.

Unlike during day 1 where the arena is filled with enchanted slabs for the students to blast, it's empty today except for a big white square drawn on the ground that has been divided into equal sized rectangles.

After Lucia introduced the contestants, the group paired off into their individual matchups and each pair stepped into one of the rectangles.

Once all of the contestants got in place, a divine level protection spell was cast along the grid on the ground and each of the pair got enclosed into their separate protected arena where none of their attacks or spells could get through so the arena could be fully utilized and many matches could happen simultaneously.

Each of the contestants also wore an academy provided bracelet artifact that's enchanted with a protection spell where no damage could harm them until the protection magic gets destroyed. The younger students were provided with a bracelet enchanted with a master level protection spell while the older ones had a divine level protection.

Of course, out of fairness for the competitors, those competing against each other will always be wearing spell cast by the same person so that the level of protection will be equal.

Genesis also explained to Ken that students who can cast master and divine level protection spells get paid handsomely during the tournaments since there are a lot of protection spells that needs to be cast during the event and the protection of those noble and royal students are the top priority as no one wants to see a prince or princess accidentally get injured during the celebratory event.

For the rules of the match, it's rather simple and basic. The match will officially be over the moment someone's protection spell gets destroyed or the 10-minute timer is up to ensure the event moves along smoothly and no delay happens.

Each match is also closely watched over by a judge to prevent any combat after the protection is destroyed and also to announce the winner in case no protection shield gets fully destroyed within the 10 minutes, and winner will be declared based on who's protection gets damaged less.

With Lucia hyping up the participants and the crowd cheering loudly, the matches officially started with a bang. Just like day one, Lucia clearly got her favorites in each group and more attention and time is paid to some fights while others barely get any attention.

Ken always believed that those watching at home only get to see one fight at a time just like he did as a kid. However, he learned today that those that are willing to pay would get special artifacts provided by the school to see every single fight from many different angles and of course, all of the major gambling halls around the world have many mirrors all over showing every fight so their customers can lose all of their hard-earned gold.

After the matches concluded for the first group, Lucia congratulated the winners and wished the losers better luck in the next tournament and giant scoreboards appeared once again with each year getting its own and the winners of the match are shown on the next round while the losers' names got crossed out.

A few groups later, Alice was called up, and this time, she happened to be in a different group from Clare and faced again a boy Ken never noticed before. Due to her natural born strength as a vampire and her top 5 overall ability, she easily danced around the boy like a professional against an amateur and won without taking a single hit and for her group, her fight was the most lobsided and she got some extra attention and praise from Lucia for finishing so flawlessly.

Lovetta got called up soon after and with her amazing physical scores from day one, Lucia gives her the proper amount of attention for her fight. While her elemental magic is elementary at best, her physical ability is out of this world for a first-year student.

The noble girl she faced from Darrumburgh is well trained in her elemental magic and was able to produce some powerful fireballs and ice spears but Lovetta with her combination of speed, strength and power dodged those spells like they were moving in slow motion and ended the battle extremely fast in a few swift blows that led to loud cheers from the beastman section of the stadium.

When Clare finally entered the arena, loud cheers came pouring down from the elf section of the stadium, and she took no time at all to overpower a poor lizardman noble from Sraederham who stood no chance as Clare bombard him with powerful fireballs from afar without having to take a single one step.

A few more groups went before the three girls walked up the stands to where Ken and Genesis sat signaling that the morning session is coming to an end soon.

"Great job on winning everyone! How many more matches will you have?" Ken asked the three girls.

"Should be 2 more today and if we can keep on winning, I think it takes 8 or 9 total to win depending on if you got the first round off or not. With the bracket, Lovetta will run into Clare if they both win 3 more and thankfully, I don't have to face either until top 4. More rounds for me to show off and make my dad happy." Alice said happily.

"I am also interested to see Clare against Lovetta." Ken commented while wondering how the fight would turn out.

The five chatted for a bit more as they watched the last few matches before Lucia informed everyone of the intermission and to be back at 3pm for the show to continue in the afternoon.

During the brief time together, Alice got her daily meal in while Clare complained about Genesis been too touchy before the two left quicky to join their families.

Lovetta stayed with Ken and Genesis as the three went to grab some lunch once again. With her new find wealth, Lovetta was more than happy to pick up the tab as the three hung out and enjoyed some delicious food before heading back for the afternoon matches.

The afternoon matches went as expected for the three. Alice, Clare and Lovetta all easily won their two matches easily and moved on to the next day.

On a personal level, Ken does not like Xandrian or Dimitri at all and wishes they would stop harassing him and just leave him alone. But seeing them on the tournament field, he could at least appreciate that both of them are indeed extremely strong. If it's not for Clare's status, Ken was certain he would not be in the position he is in now or would he be able to enjoy school life as he does today.

The rest of the evening passed by quickly and Lucia concluded the second day of action around 8pm. Alice and Clare joined Ken briefly afterwards and after they left, the three remaining went and grabbed dinner outside of the stadium again thanks to the generosity of Lovetta.

After a fulfilling dinner, the group played some games at the stalls, and headed back to the academy in the pitch-dark night. When they reached the common room and got upstairs to the dorms, Ken wished the girls a good night, and went to sleep so they would be ready for the next day of action.