Chapter 21: Chapter 20

The Protagonist's MatchmakerWords: 8661

Nobles' arena :

Like the servants, they also had those bracelets. 5 hits and you're out.

Shin, Aria, and Alex stood next to each other to hear the match ups.

There were quite a lot of professors here to help judge the battles due to the large amount of battles on the first round. To save time, there would be 10 battles happening simultaneously.

"Everyone suit up and get ready!"

After Aria and Shin suited up, Alex came up to them

She was mostly wearing white with golden outlines here and there. There seemed to be enchantments as well. Her hair was tied into twin tails while her white bow was behind her back.

Alex, "who did you guys get paired up with?"

Shin, "just some our classmates"

Aria, "me too"

When they were chatting, Shin saw someone at the corner of his eye. It was Glen.

Ever since that incident happened, they haven't talked at all.

Aria didn't believe the rumors, so he tried his best not to let her meet with Glen.

The first and second elimination round were the longest. Although it didn't make them exert too much strength, it was tiring to wait.

On the third round, Aria was up against Hera. She, Shin, and Alex got acquainted with her because she was Sherry's master.

Hera also owned the bookstore Shin and Ren went to last time.

"Ho, a battle between mages, let's go take a look!"

Because it was the third round, only 4 battles were happening simultaneously.

Aria and Hera stepped forward

Hera, "thank you for always taking care of Sherry for me, she's always quite shy"

Aria, "oh, it's nothing. Good luck to us both"

They were friendly with each other, but they were still aiming to win

"Begin!"

Aria immediately started casting multiple mana arrows the headed towards Hera

But Hera easily deflected it and started attacking with beams of light

Aria quickly created a shield

She decided to start doing incantations and a screen of smoke filled their side of the arena

The professors could only hear the explosions and light coming from there

When the smoke finally went away, Hera admitted defeat while Aria felt a little dazed. The crowd cheered.

When Aria went to Shin's side again, she still looked a bit dazed

Shin, "congrats on the win"

Aria, "thanks"

Shin, "what's wrong?"

Aria, "...it felt like my attacks didn't hit her a lot, so I just wonder if that was just luck that I won. And that smoke... wasn't mine"

Shin decided to comfort her with a headpat

Aria laughed

"You've really started to like giving headpats"

'not as soft as Ren's. But at least she's feeling a bit better'

"that smoke must've been from another battle, don't worry"

Servants' arena :

It was Sherry's time to fight with Cielo

Her brown hair was braided and her outfit was mostly purple. She had a belt on her waist with some sort of bottles as well. She readied her arrows and crossbow on her hand.

Her opponent Cielo was wearing a simple black suit similar to their regular uniform. But it had some green accents and he seemed to be using two silver daggers.

"Begin!"

While Cielo was trying to close the distance, Sherry tried to widen it

She didn't seem too much of an athletic type

Cielo threw one of his daggers and Sherry got hit

1 hit.

He tried to close the distance again and threw another one of his daggers that hit her arm.

2 hits.

But she was still calm.

She reached out to grab the bottles

from her waist and threw it towards him

"Let them see nothing but smoke"

All Cielo could see was smoke. But he was still able to sense Sherry and dealt a hit on her.

3 hits.

'will she be alright?' Ren worried

In the eyes of everyone else, they could still see the battle clearly. It looks like only Cielo couldn't see well.

"A weak spell, but quite effective" a professor complimented

During the back and forth offense and defense between the two, Sherry started to counterattack.

I hit.

2 hits.

3 hits.

They were finally even.

But because Sherry wasn't as athletic, she started to lose stamina.

That's how Cielo managed to turn the tables.

When both of them had endured 4 hits, they both attacked at the same time.

"Who won???" Ren asked

Cielo lifted hid weapon to signal that he won.

Ren went to comfort Sherry.

"You were amazing out there!"

"Thanks, but I guess it wasn't enough"

"Are you kidding? Don't forget we're graded by ability, not by winning or losing"

*Sigh*

"You're right...I just wanted to make Miss Hera proud of me"

Ren comforted her a bit more and congratulated Cielo.

It was Ren's turn next. And it seems his opponent was a bit...

Roselita glared at him

'a bit too agressive'

Nobles' Arena :

This time Alex's opponent was Glen

Shin, "be careful of him"

Alex, "Do you know who you're talking to? I don't need any concern"

Aria, "who should I root for...? I don't want Glen or Alex to lose..."

Shin, "just relax for now. We have to fight each other later"

Aria, "uwahh go easy on mee"

Ever since they were kids, Aria couldn't defeat Shin in a battle

Shin laughed

"No can do"

Although he said that, he started to scrutinize every movement of Glen

"Begin!"

Glen just decided to stand and unsheathed his sword

Alex cast a spell and wind was forming below her feet quickening her movement.

She started to attack using multiple mana arrows and shot at different directions.

But Glen didn't plan to dodge

He let out his red aura, which seemed to have become stronger since that incident

Shin noticed this.

Glen waved his sword filled with aura and sent those mana arrows that headed towards him flying

Alex quickly realized

'this won't work'

Seeing that he still didn't move, Alex did something a bit risky and used a spell that used up a considerable amount of her mana.

"Birds of light obey my command, lock on my target and you shall be freed from these shackles"

Several golden birds appeared behind her

"Go!"

The birds quickly flew towards Glen

There were too many that kept attacking him simulate that he couldn't keep up

1 hit.

2 hits.

He finally decided to move away fron his spot and dodge, but the birds kept chasing him

He was their target

The professors complimented her spell.Alex put on a smug face seeing the result

Glen couldn't believe someone like her could land a hit on him. His aura surged up and became more violent, destroying the remaining birds. When Alex was about to attack again, Glen sprinted towards her, lunging with his sword filled with violent aura.

"I have to say Miss Alex, that was quite splendid move you did back there" he said while smiling.

But he didn't give her time to answer

"!"

Alex tried to create some distance and attack but it was futile. She used quite a hit of her mana during the last attack.

1 hit.

2 hits.

3 hits.

Now he had the upper hand.

'I can still do that spell again. Once is enough' Alex thought

Glen was still persistent in his attacks. Now he was on the offense.

When Alex managed to create some distance she quickly used a spell to blind the enemy with golden light. She used this chance do summon the birds again.

"Attack him!"

The birds quickly sorrounded Glen and attacked him.

3 hits.

-but before they could do more damage, Glen's aura wrapped around his body like a shield, giving him the chance to destroy then all.

He was pissed.

"You shouldn't have provoked me, Miss Alex. You should've just silently let me win." While he said that, he was still smiling

"This is a battle! Who do you think you are to say that to me?" Alex shouted

"Someone who can make you feel pain"

His eyes looked bloodshot. Shin knew something was wrong, but he couldn't do anything just yet.

Alex attacked him again, but she was almost out of mana. Her attacks became weaker, and to Glen, it was nothing more than child's play now.

He closed their distance once again and focused all his aura on his left fist and punched her stomach.

1 hit.

"-ack!" Alex cried out in pain, spitting out some saliva and her body was met with the dusty ground

'pain? Why can I feel pain???'

Even the professors were surprised at this development, but they didn't stop the match. What's a battle without some pain sometimes? The bracelet's were made only to nullify a certain amount of damage, but it still went through that defense. That means that attack dealed quite a lot of damage.

Glen still wasn't finished and wanted to make her feel more pain. But he couldn't go overboard, or Aria would hate him. So he decided to end it with a high kick.

5 hits.

"Ugh!" This time, Alex spit out a little blood

"Glen Erald wins!"

He wanted to immediately walk away. But Aria was still watching. He decided to 'help' Alex up, but she refused.

'...I lost' Alex thought

Seeing her expression, Glen sneered

"You shouldn't have provoked me"

Note: I just noticed that I use a ton of spacings XD

Writing fight scenes r killing mee