The Hidden World

Yuna was sitting in the stands as she watch the tournament. She wanted to participate initially but came to the conclusion that it would be wiser to watch from a place where she would be able to observe more people. She didn’t know where the attacker would come from but at least she would be able to see them.

‘Yuki’s second battle is next,’ she remembered. ‘I wonder who he’s against.’

Tapping on her watch, she brought up the bracket for the tournament. Then she scanned through it until she found Yuki’s name. His opponent was a person named William Bied, a first year and an elf.

‘Yuki should be able to win,’ she thought. ‘He was able to defeat a second year. That guy was also an elf.’

Yuna was shocked when she saw the battle between Yuki and his opponent in the first round, George Parsh. She had expected Yuki to put up a fight but she didn’t expect him to actually win. Though it looked close, he had managed to pull it off and move to the second round.

‘I underestimated him. Maybe humans aren’t so weak after all.’

The audience around Yuna fell quiet, drawing her out of her thoughts. She looked at the arena and saw two people walking toward each other. One of them was Yuki and the other was a male elf. When she saw how well-built the elf was, she began to worry. Yuki was quite slender and feminine for a male and seemed fragile compared to his competitor. Yuna knew now that he was actually quite tough despite his looks but that didn’t mean that he could survive a battle between a person much stronger than him.

‘I hope he’s smart enough to withdraw when things go bad,’ she thought.

The Academy tournament had the same rules as any other tournament in the world from what Yuna knew. Those rules were that combatants would battle each other until one of them became incapacitated. Of course, a person could surrender and withdraw before or during the fight, but no one ever did that. Pride stopped anyone from admitting defeat.

“Welcome to the third round of the annual Academy Tournament!” the male caster shouted, his voice being blasted throughout the stadium. “This is the second battle of the round and it’s going to be a good one. We have two first year students who have survived the grueling first round! On one side we have William Bied, a first year elf and from the prominent Bied family. He’s thought to be one of the most promising talents in this year’s class.”

A magic spotlight shined upon William as he stood there with a confident smirk on his face. He waved at the crowd and they roared back at him with approval.

‘He’s a cocky guy.’

“Next we have someone that no one saw coming! The one and only human in possibly the entire country, Yuki Mayumi! They survived the first round but can they do it again? Who knows!”

Puffs of smoke appeared before the two competitors and they grabbed whatever was there. From what Yuna saw from the previous fights, those “whatevers” were dice that each person would roll to determine what it was they will be fighting with.

William rolled first and a with a small explosion the blazing symbol of a staff appeared in the sky. When it faded away, a metal rod almost the height of William himself replaced it.

‘A staff. That’s what my rescuer used to beat up the Shikaku person.’

Yuki rolled next and he got a staff as well. Yuna thought she saw a satisfied expression appear on his face but she was too far away to tell. He started to spin the metal rod in one hand as he walked to his circle. William did the same, going to the opposite side.

“I was going to tell the combatants to go to their respective circles but it seems that isn’t needed!” the mc announced cheerfully. The small joke drew some chuckles from the crowd. “Now that both fighters are set, let us begin!”

Yuna’s eyes flickered back and forth between the two as she watched them ready themselves for their battle. William seemed relaxed as he swung his staff. Yuki also seemed unworried, much to Yuna’s surprise, as he continued to twirl his own metal rod.

“READY! SET! FIIIIGHT!”

Like in Yuki’s first fight, his enemy attacked first. William sped toward him at a much faster pace than George did, at least to Yuna’s eyes. Yuki didn’t seem to react and nonchalantly walked out of his circle.

When William reached him, he swung his staff with enough power that the dust on the ground swirl up and the end of the metal rod blur. Then a loud clanking sound erupted from the middle of the arena and Yuna saw that Yuki had miraculously blocked the attack.

He twirled his staff backwards and countered with the backside of the rod. William parried it and gave his own counter which Yuki again blocked. And like this, they went back and forth, exchanging blows.

"Oh this fight is getting intense!" the mc said. 

‘How is Yuki holding on?’ Yuna wondered.

William’s smirk had long disappeared and a fierce glare had replaced it. He sprang back and stared at Yuki through narrowed eyes. Yuki looked back, his eyes unchanging. William tensed his legs then rushed forward and Yuki went to meet him, another loud clang being created. Then they disengaged at did it again. And again.

Yuna watched in amazement as Yuki started to do what looked like a dance around William. He elegantly spun his staff, parrying all attacks that came his way while smoothly transitioning into counters. William, for his part, fought with rough yet powerful movements. And the two seemed to be at a standstill.

"Fantastic movements done by the human!" the caster yelled, his voice getting quieter and quieter.

‘Wait, those movements.’

Yuki switched his grip and suddenly gave his own attack, one that seemed to snake around William’s guard and strike him in the stomach. Before that attack, Yuki never went on the offense. He only blocked and countered.

‘I remember those moves.’

The blow must have been powerful as William began to stagger and back away. But this time, Yuki didn’t allow him space to do so. He rushed toward the retreating elf and started to land blow after blow in a series of attacks that Yuna had seen before. It was the same combo that her rescuer executed in that cramped office in the Headmaster’s Castle.

‘What. Then, does that mean Yuki…?’

With one last swing, William fell to the ground, taking a blow to the head as he did so. Yuki pulled back his staff and spun it before slamming the bottom to the ground, his chest heaving as he seemed to be catching his breath. But when Yuna looked closer, she saw that on his face, the sheen of sweat couldn’t be found and the look in his eyes did not change.

‘He’s not tired at all,’ she thought, shocked. ‘And he... Is he?’

“YUKI WINS!” the male mc roared over the speakers. “AMAZING! Who would have predicted this.”

Yuna saw the edges of Yuki’s mouth creep up as he tilted his head to the side, looking as if he was listening to something. Then he turned and walked back to the waiting room that was located underneath the stands.

‘Is he the one that saved me?’ Yuna thought in wonder. ‘And if he is, why? How?’

Questions filled her mind as she realized what all of this meant.

‘I need to know if he really was the one that helped me.’