The Golem Mage

Fighting for the Blade side were Kaelus Blade, the captain; Aeron Blade, the vice-captain; Selara Blade; Darius Blade; and Neriah Blade.

On the School of Silent Night side stood Ryunosuke Takeda, their captain; Shin Jae-Hyun, the vice-captain; Liang Xuefeng; Ayame Ren; and Kenta Mori.

As the names of participants who would fight for both teams were announced, the crowd erupted, supporters roared for their favourites, while fans like many from the Northern Kingdom who had no team to support in this round stayed neutral, watching with sharp interest.

The Blade Clan team stepped onto the stage first, wrapped in sky-blue robes which were trimmed with white, as they moved with a silent grace, disciplined and composed, as if the battle ring itself was sacred ground.

The Central Kingdom fans cheered loudly, most of them rarely got to see the young masters and mistresses of the Blade Clan, as it was a famously strict clan, one that drove its younger generation hard and kept them away from public eyes.

Yet here, in the tournament, the audience not only got a glimpse of them, they would be able to witness every technique they revealed. Within half a minute, the Blade Clan team had taken their position on the left side of the ring.

Then the School of Silent Night entered the battle stage, they came clad in black ninja attire, what they boldly claimed was their academy uniform.

If the Blade Clan were rarely seen, then the Silent Night were almost myth, until now, they had never made a public appearance, they were even more secretive than the Blades, and it showed, as every member of the team still wore a mask.

Four of them had shortened masks that stopped at the nose, leaving their hair visible and their faces just traceable beneath the cloth, but their captain was different.

Ryunosuke Takeda still kept a full-face mask on, with the hood and all, concealing even the shape of his head, the Eastern Kingdom fans finally found their voice, shouting until the stands trembled.

The Silent Night team didn’t just walk onto the stage, it felt like sound avoided them, their steps made no noise, they glided into place on the opposite side of the ring, and then waited in complete stillness, like shadows that had decided to take form.

“Begin!”

And finally, like some divine intervention the judge decided to call for the start of the battle and save the fans the building suspension they were feeling, but unlike the heated clash the crowd had been waiting for, it didn’t begin that way.

Shin Jae-Hyun the vice captain of the School Of Silent Night was the first to make a move by openly walking forward to the middle of the battle stage with his hands spread, between his fingers were small, transparent spheres, each one sealed with swirling smoke inside, like fog trapped in glass.

The Blade Clan team immediately fanned out, drawing their weapons one after another except from their captain and vice captain, they weren’t taking chances, especially not against the School of Silent Night which also had a great reputation like them.

But as they waited for Jae-Hyun to make his move, something unexpected happened.

Darius surged forward without a word from Kaelus, leaving the line, and dragging his claymore across the ground in his right hand as sparks skipped along the arena floor, seeing the reckless charge, Jae-Hyun abandoned whatever calm setup he’d been preparing.

As he snapped his left hand out, sending the four smoke bombs there to four different spots close to him.

“Ahhh!”

Darius tightened his grip on his sword, as his left hand moved to support his right as he heaved the broad claymore up and lunged straight at Jae-Hyun, intent on cutting him down in two, only for the smoke bombs to hit home.

In an instant, thick smoke swallowed the space between them, rolling outward and spreading fast.

Clang!

The sound of steel striking steel rang out from within the smoke, sharp and heavy, echoing across the arena. Aeron took a step forward, ready to enter, but Kaelus lifted a hand and stopped him with a slow shake of his head.

Among the younger generation, Kaelus was widely accepted as the strongest and this is because the Blade Clan’s training didn’t raise them to fight as a unit or cover one another, they were forged as powerful individual combatants.

Only Aeron was different, no matter how the Blade Clan tried to shape him, he’d always learned to fight with others, always instinctively thinking in teamwork, even when the clan’s philosophy demanded otherwise in individual brilliance.

But the clan still valued strength above all else, and that is why Aeron was acknowledged because of it and was able to become the vice captain.

The moment Darius charged in without a command, Kaelus took offence, even at his age, he was the kind of mage who demanded respect as if it were his birthright.

Darius, however, was one of the eccentric ones, though he does listen to orders most of the time but every now and then he tends to stray off on his own, and such a situation is what happened earlier, he’d simply gotten too excited.

Aeron glanced at Kaelus, a silent question in his eyes.

“He went in alone, so he should handle it alone,” Kaelus said with a frown.

But as he spoke, four more spheres shot out of the smoke, and one just happened to land close to where they stood, and the moment it struck, the smoke exploded outward, spilling over them as well.

For a brief second when the first set of smoke bombs landed, they could still make out the rest of the School of Silent Night team lingering at the edge of the battlefield, waiting just like them when the haze thickened, as if trying to swallow the rest of the battle ring.

However; the instant that second wave of smoke bombs spread...they realized that the Silent Night mages had vanished from their positions, and this caused the Blade Clan team’s expressions to shift at once, as it was deadly dangerous to lose the location of a ninja in a smoky environment, Aeron moved first, by swatting Kaelus’ hand aside.

“I don’t care what you say, Kaelus, if one of us is in danger, it’s my job to step in,” Aeron said as he strode into the smoke, drawing the twin short swords strapped at his waist.

Immediately Selara and Neriah froze, torn between both their captain and vice captain.

Normally, if asked who they followed, they would say Kaelus without hesitation, but deep down, they all knew that they respected Aeron more and until now they’d never been forced to choose between both mages.

As this was the first time Aeron openly defied Kaelus at all and he did it in front of everyone, and it left them stranded at a crossroads, a heartbeat later, they made their decision, as they followed Aeron into the smoke, leaving Kaelus standing alone at the edge.

“Idiots!”