William woke up to sunlight streaming through his window and the sound of students already moving through the hallways. Today was the tournament. He got dressed in his training clothes and grabbed his practice sword before heading out.
The arena complex was already packed with students from all years when he arrived, and the stands were filled with spectators who were eager to watch the first-year fight. The energy in the air was different from regular training sessions, it was more intense and competitive.
He checked the bracket board and confirmed his first match was at noon against Marcus Valen from House Arcturus. That gave him about an hour to warm up and settle his nerves.
The waiting area for participants was crowded with nervous first-years doing last-minute practice swings or sitting quietly to center themselves. William found a quiet corner and ran through his sword forms slowly, feeling out his essence control and making sure everything was working properly.
"William Cross and Marcus Valen, report to Arena Three," an official's voice echoed through the waiting area.
William grabbed his practice sword and made his way to the designated arena. Marcus was already there, a tall guy with broad shoulders and the confident posture that came from years of proper training. They nodded at each other and took their positions.
The referee stepped between them, an older student with a red armband that marked him as an official. "Standard tournament rules apply. The match ends when someone yields, gets knocked out of the arena boundaries, or is unable to continue. Lethal techniques are forbidden and excessive force will result in immediate disqualification. Essence enhancement is allowed but controlled bursts only, no sustained maximum output that could cause permanent injury. Do both fighters understand?"
William and Marcus both nodded their heads. The referee stepped back and raised his hand.
"Fighters ready."
William settled into his stance and channeled essence through his body, feeling the familiar rush of enhanced strength and speed flow through his limbs. He wanted to test how long he could maintain this during an actual fight, to see if all the training with Seraphina had actually improved his endurance.
"Begin!"
Marcus came forward immediately with a straightforward overhead strike, putting his full weight and essence-enhanced strength behind the blow. William sidestepped and let the blade pass close enough to feel the air pressure, then countered with a slash toward Marcus's exposed side.
Marcus twisted and brought his sword back to block, and their practice blades met with a sharp crack that echoed across the arena. They broke apart and William immediately pressed forward with a combination he'd drilled countless times with Seraphina over the past two weeks.
The fight settled into a rhythm after the first exchange. Marcus relied on powerful strikes and solid defense. His technique was clean and his essence usage was efficient, but he fought in a straightforward way that made his intentions readable if you knew what to look for.
William focused on movement and finding openings, testing different approaches while maintaining his essence enhancement at a steady level. He could feel his control holding stable, much better than the two minutes he'd managed during his first week at the academy.
Marcus launched another heavy strike and William deflected it at an angle instead of blocking directly, using the momentum to spin into a counterattack that forced Marcus to step back. They traded strikes for another minute and William noticed Marcus's breathing was getting heavier, his movements coming just slightly slower as fatigue started to set in.
Five minutes had passed and William's essence control was still holding steady. His body was tired but not close to collapse, and he felt a surge of satisfaction knowing that all the brutal training was actually paying off.
Marcus came forward with a thrust that had good speed but overextended slightly, and William saw the opening. He deflected the blade to the side and stepped inside Marcus's guard, bringing his practice sword up in a strike that connected solidly with Marcus's chest.
Marcus stumbled back and William didn't give him time to recover. He followed up with two quick strikes that forced Marcus to raise his hands in yield before he could get his defense back up.
"Winner, William Cross!"
The crowd's reaction was mixed. Some applause, some surprised murmurs from people who'd probably expected him to lose. William lowered his sword and offered Marcus a hand up, which the other boy took with a rueful smile.
"Good match," Marcus said while catching his breath. "You're way better than what I heard."
William walked off the arena floor and found Seraphina watching from the stands. She had a small satisfied smile on her face and gave him a slight nod before turning her attention to another match that was starting.
He grabbed water and found a seat to watch the other fights while his body recovered. The tournament format had multiple arenas running simultaneously, but everyone was paying the most attention to Arena One where Liam Hemsworth was fighting.
The protagonist moved with a level of skill that was honestly impressive to watch. His opponent was a House Luminara student who specialized in fire magic, but the guy couldn't land a single hit. Liam closed distance with ease and his essence control was so refined that he could enhance different parts of his body independently mid-combat, something William still couldn't do consistently.
The match ended in under three minutes with Liam's opponent yielding after being completely overwhelmed by a combination of speed and precision that left no openings to exploit.
William observed the protagonist's technique. Liam was definitely better than him in pure skill and experience, that was obvious just from watching. But looking at the way Liam used his essence and managed his stamina, William couldn't help thinking that if he went all out with his full capacity, the gap wasn't as impossible as it looked. It would be a close fight at least, maybe even winnable if he caught the protagonist off guard.
"Not bad for your first match."
William looked up to find Mira sitting down beside him with a bag of snacks that she was already munching on.
"You actually won without getting destroyed. I'm impressed."
"Thanks," William said while taking some water. "Who do you fight?"
"Some House Equilibrium girl next round. It should be manageable." Mira offered him some dried fruit from her bag. "Your next match is probably going to be harder though. You're in the same bracket section as Lyanna Stormweaver."
William groaned internally but kept his expression neutral. Of course he was.
The tournament continued through the afternoon with matches running constantly across all the arenas. William's second match wasn't scheduled until tomorrow, so he stayed to watch more fights and get a sense of what the competition level was actually like.
Lyanna's match was brutal to watch. Her opponent tried to close distance and use close-combat techniques, but Lyanna controlled the entire arena with wind and lightning magic that kept him at range the whole time. The match ended with her opponent getting blasted out of the arena boundaries by a wind blast that had enough force to send him flying.
Seraphina's fight was even more one-sided. Her opponent was a decent swordsman from House Valoris, but Seraphina moved on a completely different level. The match lasted about thirty seconds before her opponent yielded when it became clear that continuing would just mean getting hurt for no reason.
As the day's matches concluded and officials announced that tomorrow's schedule would be posted by evening, William made his way back to the dormitory. His body was tired but in a good way, and he felt satisfied with how the day had gone.
Kai was actually awake and sitting at the common room table instead of lying on the couch, which was unusual enough that William noticed.
"You won," his roommate said without looking up from the book he was reading. "Didn't expect that."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"I'm serious. Marcus Valen isn't weak. You beating him means you've actually improved, not just gotten lucky with an easy opponent."
William grabbed food from his supplies and sat down across from Kai. "The next match is tomorrow. No idea who I'm fighting yet."
"Probably someone tougher. The first round weeds out the obviously weak students, the second round is where it gets real."
That evening William was doing light practice in the training courtyard, running through his forms at half speed to keep his muscles loose without overworking them. He'd been at it for maybe twenty minutes when Claire showed up at the courtyard entrance.
She watched him for a few minutes without saying anything, just observing his movements with that peculiar gaze he was getting used to.
"You fought well today," she finally said while walking closer. "Better than I expected from someone who started so far behind everyone else."
William finished his current form before responding. "Thanks. I still have a long way to go though."
"That confidence is new," Claire observed while circling around to his side. "You're different from when we first met. Less respectful and more direct."
"Yeah, that's thanks to you and Seraphina for tormenting my life everyday."
Claire laughed at that and continued circling around him slowly. "I like it. This is much more interesting."
She stopped in front of him and met his eyes. "Your next match is against Elena Marsh, the wind mage you fought during regular training a few weeks ago. She's improved since then."
"How do you know my bracket matchup already? They haven't posted tomorrow's schedule yet."
"I make it my business to know things that interest me." She said with a smile that made William not want to bother with her source of information. "And you interest me, William Cross."
William met her gaze without the anxiety he would have felt when they first met. "I'm still not interested in whatever game you're playing."
"Who said it's a game?" Claire's smile widened slightly. "Maybe I'm being completely sincere about my interest."
"That would somehow be more concerning than if you were just messing with me."
She laughed again and started walking toward the courtyard exit. "Good luck tomorrow. Try not to lose too quickly. I want to see how far you can actually go in this tournament."
'What a crazy bitch' William thought as he turned back to his training.
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