"Do you have my money?" The first question to leave my mouth seemed to have frozen Charles in place as he stared at me in confusion.
"Money?" Charles' eyes suddenly went wide, but he quickly shook his head as he replied: "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Oh? So the great Hero of Gravos can't even remember his debts. You do not remember the ten million gold you owe me!?" I know I overshot the actual amount he owed, but he lied just now, so we can say it is just punishment.
"What ten million!? It was only like a thousand something before!" Charles blurted out before covering his mouth. My lips couldn't help but twitch. It seems the idiot in him was still there.
A sly grin appeared on my face as I said: "Did you think the amount you owed would not come without its interest? It was one hundred percent interest, plus more." Humph! Trying to get out of owing me money. I do not think so!
"I…. I will give you the money I get when I win this tournament." Charles lowered his head. I guess he was coming to terms with owing me money, but his words irked me. I mean, he was basically saying he was going to win against me….
"I guess some idiots just do not learn…." I mumbled as I shook my head.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Charles looked at me, causing me to shake my head once more. And that was when I heard the golden words of the day….. "Begin!"
My eyes lit up magic circles as I smiled brightly at Charles and waved: "Goodbye! Catapult!" The entire stage, except for where I was standing suddenly shot up into the sky, leaning towards the right, sending them off to the other side of the stadium. Their screams filled the air as they flew through the air. As for the Hero? No idea. He was the one I made sure got sent flying the furthest. "Uh…. Stage forty five finished!"
An uproar filled the crowd that was watching. Well, I mean, I guess I went kind of overboard. I just turned the entire stage into a catapult and sent the entire group of one thousand some odd contestants, into the sky. I even think some landed on other stages. I scratched my head and walked off the stage. I am not sure what happens when contestants land on other stages, but I do know that I will now get to watch the other stages and scope out the competition.
I made my way to the stands, where I found Sophie and the others waiting for me. "Faith, that was amazing!" Sophie jumped up and hugged me, her tail wagging and her ears twitching.
"Hahahaha! Lass, you did not disappoint! I think that was the fastest anyone had ever won the preliminary matches ever since this tournament first started." Thurul gave me a big smile and a thumbs up.
I did plan to do a pitfall, but I did not wish to ruin the stage. At least with a catapult, it will toss the contestants away from the stage while reverting back to its original state without needing to kill anyone. However, I might still use a pitfall on Gesel during our match together if we do face off. I just want to see her reaction when she loses the ground under her feet. I can make her think she has me only to cast pitfall around me, leaving her standing on air. Just thinking about her reaction made me giggle on the inside. But this magic does seem pretty effective. If used in a surprise attack, it will work out well, I think.
I sat down next to Sophie and looked out over the battle stages. I was looking for that old man. He was the one I was mostly concerned about. It was as if Thurul could read my mind because he leaned over and whispered: "If you are looking for the old man, he is on the far right."
I turned to where Thurul was pointing to see the old man laughing away as he walked around punching people off the stage. "It looks like he is concealing his true strength."
"That he is. He hasn't used a single move at all. I have been keeping a good eye on him. Sophie is watching that Sei girl for you as well." Thurul explained.
I nodded. Knowing your opponents always helps in the upcoming battles. Sophie was nice enough to point to Sei's stage, and surprisingly she was doing a similar thing as the old man. I guess two people who worked together would have a bit of the same strategy. Luckily I only used a single spell to end the entire free for all match. The only thing I regret is not seeing the look on that idiot's face after he crashed into the ground and realized his declaration of winning was nothing more than that, a declaration from an idiot.
I scanned the stages and saw quite a few people that stuck out. One girl had a huge fan and was blowing people off stage using wind magic. Another girl with rabbit ears was swinging a large sledge hammer around like a top. Each spin caused more people to fly out in the opposite direction. There was even this one girl who kept making ice spikes and stabbing people in the butt with them. Just the sight of it made me clench my butt cheeks.
I continued to scan the crowd for quite some time. I did find Gesel. She seemed to be having more fun fighting than actually reaching the goal of winning. However, I did find one person who seemed to be a big obstacle. They were wielding magic like it was nothing, casting spell after spell. They wore a black cloak and seemed to be quite powerful. "I wonder how far they will make it."
I could not see if they were a man or woman, but I did know I wanted to try fighting someone who was good with magic. To think I went from being a bookworm in my past life to someone who would say, I want to try fighting someone. I mean, I never cared for fighting in my past life at all, but I guess the difference in worlds and growing up all over again will change a person's personality a bit.
The sun began to set, and the battles were still going on. I leaned back in my seat and continued to watch as things unfolded. Sophie was curled up on the seat next to me, using my lap as a pillow, sound asleep, while Annie sat on the other side in the middle of two seats, her lap also occupied by the other two girls who sat on each side of her. I was not sure if she was asleep or not herself because she was leaning back with her eyes closed.
A few of the battle stages had ended already, but none of them were with people I knew. The hooded figure had won their stage just a few hours ago. Most people would not use magic during this stage, I realized. I guess it is because mana was limited for most people. So the fights were not going too well on some stages. They were all stuck in long, drawn out battles.
Yawning, I looked at the people I knew, and they were still horsing around with smiles on their faces. I guess they do not get to have this kind of fun all the time. "Lass, you seem to have company…."
"Huh?" I was a bit confused by Thurul's words until I looked down the aisle to see the hooded figure from the battle stages walking over to me. They walked right up and stood in front of me, and removed their hood.
Pointy ears, blonde hair, and blue eyes. "My name is Runa. Your name is Faith Cyrilia, correct?"
I tilted my head and looked at Runa, a bit confused. "That is what I am called, Miss Runa. But may I know how you know my name or, in fact, how you know who I am altogether?"
"Your name is not only known by us elves but by many. Two successive grand fall scale magic spells along with a strange magic that continually casts fireballs. I came to the capital in hopes of meeting you. So I was happy to see that you had joined the tournament." Runa explained, but her words made me frown. How did the elves know so much about me? It kind of made me wary of the girl in front of me. She looked no more than fifteen at most but knowing the elves' lifespan, she was probably in her fifties or hundreds. But even if she was my age, this did not mean I would let my guard down.
"It is kind of rude to be checking up on people without their consent, is it not?" I asked. I couldn't help but sound a little angry. I do not know about others, but I hate when people poke into my privacy.
"I do apologize if it seems like that, but for those who wish to know, they can easily find out. After all, information about you is not hard to find out. Rumors will spread after all."
