The wooden door was knocked on loudly, in a rhythmic 11-knock pattern.
B : "Come in!"
Opening the wooden door was Katachi, with a carving pick in his hand. With a tired expression on his face, he dragged his feet across the carpet and sat down on a comfortable orange couch before looking up at the senior with the chest size of Mount Gigraceldi.
Normally, the redirection magic present within the school would deflect students from approaching certain areas. For instance, the teacher's lounge and toilets, and the janitor's closet, to name a few, prevented students from approaching. Anyone who tries to enter would be forced to walk away. There were also places like the girls' bathroom and dormitory rooms where the males were unallowed to enter, and vice versa.
Bael's house was, however, situated within Cosmatral Neud upon her own request, a seperate dimension altogether which was thriving with life from both flora and fauna. To apply magic like that in a haven for animals was ridiculous, if it even were possible. It was as good as not having a wildlife reserve at all - So Bael's house and Principal Bertund's office were the only exceptions where anyone and everyone could enter.
K : "Bael?"
B : "... Katachi?"
B : "What- What brings you here? You're not the type to visit my room. Usually I'd go to yours."
K : "Oh, uhm, nothing much. I just wanted to uh... Ask you some things."
B : "Things?"
K : "Yeah... Uhm... Do you happen to have a map of the world?"
B : "A map of the world? What are you planning to do with one, cast a powerful Soltak's Smite over a village or something?"
K : "Oh, no, no! Just... Uh, It's just that, I've never had an actual map of the world to refer to when I was back at Mielfeud, and since you collect a lot of data and meaningful stuff, I... I was just thinking, you know... You'd have a map. Of the entire world."
B : "Well, I have a map, but it doesn't show the whole world, though. It's not complete in that the area at Western Anik was not mapped out. Or rather, I think they either died trying to map out Western Anik, or they have managed to map it only to reside there themselves and not share the map."
Since Western Anik was a massive jungle ridden with plague and dangerous swamps which only the toughest animals can survive, it made sense that the area would barely be mapped, if at all. The most they could actually do with Western Anik was map out the border between it, Findel, and Eastern Anik. No towns were marked nor mapped on the map, even if they did exist.
K : "Tha- That's good! That's good enough! Can I take it to my room to trace it?"
B : "Sure, as long as you don't wrinkle it."
K : "Thank you, Bael! That's great help to me!"
Katachi sauntered from his seat to the map on the messy table, and picked it up delicately, with a naiive, casual look on his face.
(... Heeheehee, he's so lively when he's happy, just like a little pet.)
Bael continued to fantasize about him being a little animal while Katachi excused himself out of the creepy house upon seeing Bael's disturbing twisted face at the fastest pace his legs could bring him.
*** ***
Laying the map down on the tiny study desk above his bed, Katachi quickly placed a piece of leather cloth next to the map and prepared to trace it.
Holding the chalk and charcoal in his hand firmly, Katachi prepared to sketch out the map. His focus concentrated on the tip of the chalk, he placed it onto the leather, but before he could continue, an itching sensation formed on the magic circle imbued onto the top of his left arm.
A telepathic message with an unknown, feminine voice was sent to his head.
"Contestant Katachi, your match begins in 30 minutes. Please assemble at the entrance to Cosmatral Tlod."
K : (... Whose voice is that?... No matter, that's not too important. I have 30 minutes to get there, huh... I better start walking then.)
It was vexing to be interrupted in the middle of something this important, but considering that the three free school-sponsored prizes the tournament offered was equally important and of a higher priority, Katachi didn't mind it too much. Putting down his chalk and charcoal, Katachi headed towards the door, with only 'Entrance to Cosmatral Tlod' in his mind.
His body walked towards the coliseum automatically.
*** ***
It was about one hour after noon.
The first round that concluded with 16 contestants left, 4 from each division, ended off at roughly noon. The students whom had returned early from a 1 hour lunch were waiting in anticipation for the next battle.
"... You there. With the black hair."
Katachi spun around to see a young, boisterous girl with brown wild hair, a slim figure, no shoes and her uniform tattered, worn off and torn in some places - It was roughly as dirty as his, but it was damaged and torn, not sandy and stained. Or perhaps she rolled only on her back instead of rolling towards the side, which caused her back to be dirtied. In which case, Katachi could not tell if she did or not because she was standing with her back against a wall.
Katachi didn't have the time to change out of his tattered uniform from when he fought Cillian - What he had originally planned for was to head towards Bael for a world map before heading to his room to change and sketch, but he had been interrupted by a few students who wanted his carving autograph for defeating Cillian. It ended up taking a majority of the free time that he had been granted with.
"Heh, you rolled a lot too, didn't you?"
K : "Uhh, yeah... My opponent was pretty tough. I had to wait for a good opening before I could go on the offense."
"That's cool. I just go on the offense from the start."
The girl brushed her wild hair hanging by her left collarbone to the back, and ruffled it up. She now looked like a wild, primitive cave woman, with unkempt hair frizzy like an afro.
K : "So... Your name would be...?"
N : "Chotil Nea. Everyone calls me Nea though. I was a semi-finalist."
K : "Oh, er... That's great."
N : "Thanks. I just managed to beat up Trug again, so the only ones stopping me now are Deku and that kid who beat Cillian... What was his name?"
K : (It makes sense for her not to recognize me...) "Uhh... I think he was called Katachi."
N : "Right, Katachi, that black-haired kid-"
"Your attention please, contestants for Round 2, please stand by. The first match will begin shortly."
The crowd cheered excitedly for the next match.
Katachi didn't actually remember the tournament sheet, nor did he take note of who the remaining contestants were. He had wanted to see the tournament bracket, but he was cropped up by the students who wanted his signature (which though ate a lot of time, rewarded him with a free carving pick)
Katachi made a mental note to view it sometime, probably right after the match with Nea.
N : "That's my call. I'll see you, kid."
K : "? Actually, that's my call too."
N : "... !? Wait... YOU'RE Katachi!?"
K : "... Yes?"
N : "... Aww... What a pity. I didn't want to fight you just yet. I wanted to save you as some kind of final boss, you know?... Oh well, we can't all have nice things. See you inside, Katachi."
Nea walked towards the obelisk with a sharp crystal at its top, touched the stone, and was sent towards Cosmatral Tlod.
K : "... Best of luck to you too."
(... That's what I wished for as well, but I ended up fighting Cillian for the first round.)
Katachi could only sigh.
What a crazy tournament.
It was as though the tournament was deliberately messing with fate itself. Seemingly maliciously, it had gone against Katachi's wishes of fighting weak opponents. It had also appeared to have gone against the wishes of other competitors as well - Mafer probably didn't want to fight that Vikard guy, Nea had to prematurely accelerate her plan and fight Katachi immediately, and Katachi already had his first two rounds sparring off with tough opponents like finalists and semifinalists.
Katachi wondered if the other contestants had problems like that too.
*** ***
In the sandy dunes of Cosmatral Tlod stood two students.
One was a semifinalist of last year's tournament - A monstrous brown-haired student whom evenly challenged many opponents, including Trug and the other semifinalist Zul, only to fall before Cillian in the semifinals. With a fiery passion to win, she stood proud and tall once again, prepared to face the adversaries before her.
The other was a new student whom had just entered the school for about two weeks, whom had defeated Cillian, be it a stroke of good luck or a true testament of skill it was unknown. But the students screamed and cheered in excitement, knowing Cillian's never-back-down-without-a-good-fight personality meant that he was not a type to play jokes in tournaments like these, unlike Deku.
Both were about to begin the first match of the second round for eliminating contestants.
At least, that's what the students roaring on the coliseum benches were waiting for.
N : "... Here I come, Katachi."
The girl, Nea, was an unknown enemy using a technique Katachi may probably have never encountered or met before. Had he spent time watching every match, he would have at least seen what she was capable of, but he had other plans, like copying a map of the world, and being preoccupied with a bunch of overly-excited students wanting his autograph.
N : "And so his hands grew, and his nails sharpened, into those of a beast's."
Her hands grew into paws with sharp claws. With a ferocious gaze, Nea stared into Katachi's eyes, to check if her opponent was prepared.
N : "... Are you ready... ?"
(... A transformation technique? But, which one? There's been multiples tales of people transforming into monsters, but which one is this?)
Katachi took his dagger out from his back, and readied his stance. Bending his legs down and holding his hands up, he protected his front.
Nea looked carefully at him and his posture, before determining the best route of attack.
N : "... And his legs burst forth, a new, unbound strength."
Her leg muscles rippled and grew, and her bare feet changed into paws.
N : "... Foolish little man. You can't beat a cougar."
With a celerity befitting her slim figure, she leapt towards Katachi, and-
K : (... A head-on charge?!)
- changed her direction right before hitting him, and got behind him before he could even spin around.
Nea proceeded to pounce on him from the back!
N : (... ? He won't go down?)
K : "... Heheheheheheh."
N : "!? What!?" (Why is he laughing? ... ! Did he figure out the spell I used?!)
Leaping away, Nea quickly reverted her limbs back to normal.
K : "Thanks for falling into my trap."
N : "... ?! What trap?!"
*** ***
Katachi had pulled a clutch move.
Using 恒定 - Constant status on himself, he had set his status of "standing up, unmoving" as constant. He had just managed to pull it off right before Nea pushed him.
K : (Her magic is derived from the tale of Qin Tsung Yao, an Anikan hunter who travelled into Western Anik and transformed into a cougar. Its obvious weakness would be how Qin Tsung Yao died - Impalement from a thrown spear by a hunter, so in that form she is especially weak to stab attacks.)
It was often dangerous for magi to engage each other in close-quarter combat. Placing one in a range where the other can kill you easily was something suicidal, especially if one did not know what forms of sorcery and magic the other knew. For example, there was a tale of an Auser pope that had been cursed by an avatar of an Ohde god, in that he had bone spurs growing on his entire spine, until finally the spurs grew so much they pierced out of his back like a fan. Using the tale as an attack spell, one could simulate the curse and create a fan of bone spears on their back, which would have spelled fatality for Nea.
Taking advantage of her confusion and paranoia, he cackled on purpose, as if he was triumphant, in order to force Nea to cancel the spell and revert back to her human form.
K : (固定! Fixate position - Nea!)
A 定 word was placed on her back, without her knowledge, and Nea was rendered completely immobile, just like Cillian's sword.
N : "What... What sorcery is this!?"
Katachi walked towards her, with dagger in his hand, and pressed it against her throat.
K : "... I'm sorry. I don't know what history you have, and I don't know why you need to win. But I need the champion's prize. Once I win, I won't need to stay in this academy any longer."
With an unexpected, abrupt ending, the first match of the second round concluded.
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