A couple of days passed from when Henry arrived at the Vilhelm estate.
They shoved Henry, Cale, Belle, Lucas, and me in a car and drove us to Novius Academy.
A huge almost city-like campus that had buildings, shops, and state-of-the-art technology.
We first had to take our written exams, which me being me it was an absolute breeze.
Lucien studied advanced things for years and I only solidified it when I transmigrated into his body.
The mana department had a mana aptitude test, which had basic mana control training and measurements.
Then we had to all wait a day before we got all our matchups.
They decided the matchups based on the scores we got in the previous test.
S, A, B, C, and D tiers were how they split us up. The top A section students could get into S class and the lowest S section could be in A or even B class.
The matchups for the S section were as follows:
1. Cale Feliehn vs Henry Vilhelm
2. Arianna Dawnbreaker vs Lily Feliehn
3. Lucas Shadowstorm vs Christina Vaskerville
4. Maria Helunt vs Lucien Polstrey
The first few matches were relatively boring as the S section didn't start till a while later.
Actually, we got to skip the entire first day of the tournament to just focus on ourselves.
The second day was for the second half of the B section, the A section, and the S section.
The academy of course only allowed an audience and streamed on this day to show their finest talent.
I fell half asleep as me, Cale, and Lucas sat together watching the fights.
I heard all the interesting stuff happened the first day like someone chopped off a guy's family jewels.
Or a guy burned his clothes off with fire magic.
The fights we saw were intense and flowed like real battles but were utterly boring to anybody experienced.
However, the time finally came.
Cale Feliehn vs Henry Vilhelm.
A battle of scorching radiant flames vs inky black darkness.
They stood across from each other holding silver swords, Cale had a smirk across his face ready to face the protagonist.
However, Henry blankly stood there raising his blade against Cale.
The referee helped put on protective magic bracelets and initiated the battle.
Boom,
Scorching tendrils of crackling fire ran across Cale's sword swinging leaving a wide circle of flames.
[Sunsworn Swordsmanship: Flame Wheel]
Henry didn't falter nor even flinch as shadows appeared under him which he dived straight into.
[Horizon of The Abyss Art: Dive]
Cale stood on guard flames flickering around him ready to strike down anything that appeared before him.
[Shadowcarver's Hidden Blade: Network]
Multiple deep black clones appeared from spots of the inky dark.
They lunged at Cale with shadowlike blades in hand.
Henry mixed in making him an obvious target,
and yet Cale didn't attack him.
He knew of his skills, and weary, he defended with his purifying flames as
he slammed his sword into the ground unleashing a pillar of radiant flames dispelling the darkness of the clones.
[Fire Magic: Flame Pillar]
Henry took a step back and immediately went in for another attack not giving Cale even a moment to recover.
Inky black splashed from his blade as if it was a paintbrush.
A liquid obsidian splashed across leaving an arc of malevolent energy as he swung his blade.
[Shadowcarver's Hidden Blade: Abyssal Black]
As deep black slashed across the stadium, Cale met his abyss with light.
[Sunsworn Swordsmanship: Summer Sky Dance]
A sacred blaze danced and lashed outward from Cale's sword meeting the dark head-on.
[Shadowcarver's Hidden Blade: Shadow Weaver's Canvas]
Wheels and arcs of surging flickering flames coiled like ribbon with Cale in the center.
An abyssal heavy black met each and every strike swirling like a devouring void.
Each and every audience member sat enveloped by this clash between the two.
As the onslaught of attacks roared, sparked, and splashed,
the two fighters knew they couldn't overcome their opponent and backed up observing the other.
On opposite sides of the stadium, they met each other's gaze.
"What is your name?"
"Cale Feliehn, remember it or I'll etch it in your memory myself."
A radiant beacon of golden brilliance erupted from Cale's blade as he stood in a basic stance.
Henry readied himself too clutching his hand together until an ominous inky black dripped from his hand.
"Abyss."
Those droplets of the abyss grew ominously as if they were hungry to feast on flames.
Shapes twisted and turned as if souls were trapped in the puddle of void that slowly grew creeping against nearby walls.
Tendrils of shadows coiling like snakes rose from the abyss.
Henry's voice deep and mellow resounded through our eyes dripping with mana.
[Horizon of The Abyss Art: Advent of True Abyss]
[Dark Magic: Darkness Manipulation]
Tentacles shot from a heavy abyss shrouded in darkness, they lunged at Cale mercilessly.
[Light Magic: Purifying Radiance]
A ball showering with warmth glistened and glowed above Cale's head repelling the darkness to some degree.
Flames flickered and danced around Cale's body twirling and encircling him.
"Radiant Sun, please give me your blessing."
An incantation soft mellowed with mana barely audible by the crowd began spewing from Cale's mouth.
"Bask in the light!"
[Sunsworn Swordsmanship: Radiant Sun's Beneficiary Beacon]
Pillars of light ran up and down the battlefield shimmering in a pure radiance that dispelled the abyss before it.
Darkness seethed and fled from its brilliance as Henry's shadows soaked into the ground.
"Hah... Hhaghh..."
Cale's breath, heavy and slow, and yet he stood with his blade raised high.
However, it wasn't enough.
Henry erupted from the shadows behind him narrowly avoiding Cale's attack.
And he raised his blade to Cale's neck ending the battle completely.
[Unique Skill: The Final Stand]
Gold glistened from Cale's blade as he unleashed a desperate onslaught of fading flickering light on Henry.
[Dark Magic: Portal]
Henry fell into the dark abyss and appeared behind Cale once more.
Dropping his hand low deep pitch-black swords surrounded Cale.
[Dark Magic: Shadow Sword]
Swords rushed into Cale's body, but before they could reach him.
"Henry Vilhelm has won."
A robotic voice resounded from the stadium and the crowd was eerily quiet as we processed the match.
Author's Note - Info dump for those curious:
You might be wondering how the heck does incantations work?
Sometimes they're short and concise and sometimes they're like full sentences.
Well, it depends if the incantation targets and enhances mana or a skill itself it has to short.
If the incantation targets you or strengthens your abilities or skills like when Cale says his swordsmanship, he's targeting his own ability with that swordsmanship.
If it does that then it can be longer.
Incantations that target skills and mana are much louder and laced with more mana while others are much mellower and laced with less mana.