Fate/Academy: Episode 10
*Athenox stands before Mrs., wearing his mystic code armor for the first time. Scene 1.*
"Well Athenox, I am not sure if you will ever cease to amaze me." Mrs. says.
"Why? What is it? Is there something wrong with my mystic code?" I ask as I look down and attempt to inspect the armored cloak in its entirety to make sure.
"Well it is just… Most Saber mages tend to go for something like a full suit of armor because it offers more physical protection especially from something like another sword. In your case though, it just further goes to show that you are not a typical Saber mage in the least."
"I don't know. I kind of like it. It almost reminds me of the combat gear I used to wear in Undercity."
That is to say the gear I used to kill people with but that is beside the point.
"Oh it is nothing to worry about." She checks her watch.
"It is time. You need to hurry and check in at the tournament queuing room in the arena."
*Athenox walks to his seat in the tournament queuing room. It just so happens that he is sitting next to Luke and Devin. Micheal is sitting next to Luke and Mary is sitting next to Devin. Scene 2.*
"Hey, Athenox! Glad to see that you are okay. We were all a little worried after your smack down from Connor. It is not easy to believe that he would hit you that hard." Devin states.
"Yeah. Until recently they were still working to repair the arena that you guys were dueling on." Micheal explains.
Glad to see that I fared better than the field did. It only stands to reason since it probably took most of the damage.
"What is wrong with your mystic code?" Luke asks as he stares at me. It must be that bad if I am going to get a whole firing line of questions about it.
"What do you mean, Luke?"
"What he means to ask you is… Are you absolutely sure that you are a Saber mage?" Devin asks me as he reiterates what Luke said, which what they do not know is also a reiteration of what Mrs. had said.
"Say what you will but it won't hinder my mobility like a bulky suit of armor." I say in a desperate attempt to defend myself from their barrage of ridicule.
"And the fact that you are that concerned about mobility further proves that you are not a Saber mage." Luke says in a somewhat jokingly manner.
"Yeah Luke you may be right. He might be an Assassin mage. That does explain why he gets thrown around like a ragdoll whenever he tries to attack head on." Devin adds in.
"You know what? I am not going to take this from a guy in a leather skirt and sleeveless jacket." I say as I point at Devin's mystic code.
The amount of red on his clothing has never been more apparent.
"It is a cuirass, which was common leather combat gear that appeared in many pre-corruption records." Devin tries to defend his poor choice in equipment.
"And I am curious as to why you left your dorm room wearing it. If we are getting on to me for not wearing plate armor, then why aren't we getting on to him? " I retort back to Devin with clever wordplay.
"Because, my muscles make up for metal plates." He exclaims as he now feels obliged to flex them for demonstration.
Apparently this conversation isn't sitting right with Mary because she leans over from her seat and starts to state her feelings on the matter to me.
"Well Athenox, why are you wearing a cloak? What are you trying to hide? It is a tournament and everyone already knows your identity. So why would a cloak even be helpful in the first place?" Mary snaps at me.
Her direct aggression to against me. It is just like her sister was when we were in the infirmary, when Mary was recovering with her fight with von Einzbern. Why? What reason does she have for the hostility? If I was to give in to such an immature response, then I could bring up the fact that she hides her weapon using a cloaking enchant even though it is recorded in the school's database already. I don't actively want to but it may be the best course of action to try and get some answers.
"At least I am not scared enough to have to hide behind a full suit of armor, and I am not so ashamed of my phantasm weapon that I have to cloak it."
Well there it is.
I said it.
So now all I can do is stick behind what I said. Pushed by anger and curiosity.
"Hmm…" Mary bites her tongue and abruptly cuts herself off from saying anything else. She turns away in her chair. If only I had that level of resistance to just ignore what is irritating me, but unfortunately I lack that capability and must react and solve the problem.
"I swear Athenox. You are blessed with a gift. That would be the gift to be disrespectful towards anyone with a Holy Council magic crest." Luke nods his head in disbelief.
"Just when I had thought you weren't half bad." Luke sighs.
"Say um guys? Have you checked the rosters yet to see if they have put up the first round matches?" Devin says desperately trying to change the topic. He has a data tablet in his hands and is scrolling through the Saber category of the school's forums, which are like a series of message boards for the exchanging of information on a wide variety of topics that are going on in the school, and since Blademaster is a big event for Saber mages it would make since that it is under the Saber mage section.
"Here it is!" He exclaims as he pulls up the tournament bracket for the Blademaster competition.
"There are 8 divisions of 8 entrants. They pit two random entrants together and the winner moves on to face another random winner from within their division. This keeps going until each division has 1 entrant, and then they are ordered and paired off into matches based off of performance and technique. Then at the end of it all there is only one winner left. This tournament like all of the other tournaments on campus have a strict set of guidelines put in place depending on the specific tournament. For Blademaster, the focus is on sword skill, so any high level magecraft is banned. High level magecraft is defined as anything over a one line incantation, with the exception of your mystic code armor, which should remain consistently in its stage one activation."
"Sounds simple enough, except that none of us our going to win. This tournament allows for the participation of all enrolled students freshman through seniors and randomly pairs them up against each other. The seniors are incredibly tough and usually dominate the competition, given how hard and how much they have trained, with the occasional upset from the junior class." Micheal says
"With that said, Athenox, our goal isn't to see who would win because that would be impossible. It is to see who can advance the furthest." Luke says to me.
That is fair since I nearly died going up against a senior not three weeks ago.
"Who made this roster?" Devin outbursts.
"What is wrong with it?"
"This!" Devin points at each of the spots where our names are and who we are going up against.
"This is crazy! Why is Luke the only one not going up against a senior? Actually, why are well all going up against a senior?" He is right.
Next to each of our names with the exception of Luke, we are all fighting seniors. Devin has to fight Eric, Micheal has to fight Connor, and even Mary has to fight Clara. I wonder why the randomizer keeps putting us up against other team members in the first place.
"Oh god! Athenox is dead and that is all that there is to it."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well you and Luke are the only ones not fighting other team members, but Luke is fighting Justin. You on the other hand are fighting a senior student by the name of Jason Ainsworth. A self-trained golden child from the Holy Council who keeps switching his mage class every year and still passes. He just transferred to Saber class this year from Berserker and his physical strength is outrageous. It even makes Connor and Eric seem weak. He is in the running for his class's valedictorian seat, just to give you an idea of how well his performance is." Devin nervously explains.
"Well Athenox, if you want to forfeit the bet now… I would totally understand. It would be far less painful to declare me the winner now, then to have to declare me the winner when you're in the infirmary and on your death bed." Luke says with a partially joking and partially serious tone. Almost like he is actually concerned for my safety in the match.
"Oh please. Do you really think that you can take down Justin von Einzbern that easily? He very well might be the strongest in our freshman class. I wonder if I should be asking if you want to forfeit."
"Ok, if you are sure…" Luke's voice trails off with hesitation. How bad can he possibly be if they think that I am that ill-prepared to face him? It makes me very concerned for my own well being.
"Athenox. Luke. The division one matches are starting, so you guys are up first. Good luck and try not to get knocked out on the first swing." Devin says as we are called up to get taken to the arenas.
*For major tournaments at the academy, there is an announcer. In this tournament, the most popular and preferred announcer is commentating on the matches today. While Athenox is headed to his designated arena for the first round match. Scene 3.*
"Hello Avalon Academy!" The announcer says in a loud cheering voice that booms across the speaker system, and when I say loud cheering I mean loud cheering that sounds like an auto tuned air horn.
"This is your announcer and commentator, Mr. Junibru, or as a lot of you know me as the head Assassin teacher here at Avalon Academy. Who is ready for the great showdown of swordsman and swordswoman? Who is ready for some Blademaster?" He shouts as the cheer from the crowd escalates to match him.
As I step out onto the arena, I am surprised by how many people are here. It is just a normal school level competition but at least half of the arena is packed with a cheering crowd. The noise and the lights almost make it hard to focus, and I almost do not realize it when my opponent steps onto the arena.
"Alright! To start things off we have division one matches one and two. For match one we have Luke Matou, a freshman member of the Elite Combat Team and a wielder of the phantasm sword, Excalibur Galantine, and the phantasm shield, Divine Aegis. He hails from the Holy Council city of Justice Point as a member of the second family of the Holy Council. Give it up for Luke!" The crowd cheers for him loudly. He is a very popular perspective freshman after all. The majority are just taken away by the dazzling light he seems to just emit with him.
"And fighting against him is Justin von Einzbern, a member of the Elite Defense Forces and the wielder of his Ex-Ranked sword, Ea. Go Justin!" He cheers loudly.
It will definitely not be an easy fight for Luke. Wait, if he was announcing Luke's faction affiliation, then why didn't he announce Justin's? Does nobody care that he is from the second family of Undercity? That puts them both in equal access and opportunity growing up. The only difference being… Oh I get it now. The school is playing favorites with the crowd. They are hyping them up more for Luke because he is a Holy Council, and hyping Justin less because he is Undercity.
"And for match two, we have the one, the true, the all mighty senior, Jason Ainsworth!" The crowd loses their minds when he is called out.
"Wielder of the Divine Axe-Sword, and a skilled user of Berserker enhancements. He is able to merge those together to be able to withstand an incredible amount of damage before going down. Using his official records, we gauge that he will require at least twelve times the average amount of damage to render him incapacitated once he activates his Berserker enhancement."
Wait, did he just say that I am going to have to defeat him twelve times? I don't even know if that is fair or not. I know that I am a freshman and he is a senior, but if that is the case then this goes beyond four extra years of experience.
"And his opponent is Athenox Emiya. You have been hearing a lot about him lately. He is the irregular void mage that is also on the Elite Combat Team. A normal student turned perspective after an unregistered duel with Luke Matou who was the Elite Combat Teams number one perspective. He wields a unique phantasm sword, Dark Caliburn. His powers also seem to give him a knack for copying swords, along with some reminiscent counter magic, but will that be enough to match Jason Ainsworth?"
Is all of that really in the records? I will have to check after this. I don't recall that information being outside of Mrs.'s files that she shared with the upperclassmen on the team… who may have shared it with more people who asked about it. Well if they are good at one thing, then it is leaking information without the permission of the subject in question.
"Hey, are you that kid who has been in a coma for three weeks after a duel against Connor Kaminski?" Jason asks me.
"Yes, that would be me, and it was a sparring match." I sigh. Well at least they didn't think that I dropped out or died because that would be much worse.
"Hmm. I have seen Connor spar and sparred against him myself. I don't think that I have ever seen him go at it with enough force to break the limits of the arena, especially against a first year. He must have accidentally gone overboard. Let's hope I don't do the same." He says as he arcs his back and channels his enhancement.
His Mystic Code armor is a similar look and design to that of Devin's except that Jason's chest armor only consists of leather straps and his skirt is reinforced with metal studs, with bracers of the same material around his wrists. As he pulls out his weapon, I can notice that his skin seems to have been darkened and his magic circuits can be seen and have a misty red glow to match the beast-like aura, along with the fact that his muscles have increased in size to that of a tree trunk. His mana output has skyrocketed.
"Alright everyone, let's count down to the start of these two matches." The announcer, Mr. Junibru screams as the crowd roars in agreement.
"Three...!"
I look over at the nearest arena. Luke and Justin are in position. I hope that Luke knows what he is up against.
"Two..!"
I can't focus on their match, because I have my own problem to worry about. That problem would how I am supposed to land twelve knockouts on this guy.
"One! Start!"
As I look up at the overhead display board the image of his status bar with a times twelve next to it really drives the point home. By the time I look back at Jason, he is already a few meters away and closing in. He is fast and I don't have enough time to move out of the way. So I throw my sword under him as he reaches me and then I displace under him picking up the sword and catching a back swing from him. The amount of force he is applying is impossible to match, so I am pushed backwards. I empower my blade and leap off of his sword to give me clear distance from him and try to come up with a strategy. His blade, I need to know more about it. I won't be able to get anywhere without some understanding of it. Luckily, he is quick to close the distance and I am able to parry a few of his strikes before he slams his blade down and I have to evade it by moving to the left of it. I charge in on him in an attempt to land a strike but he releases the blade and grabs me with his hands. He then lifts me up and throws me back sending me sliding across the floor of the arena. I get back up and look at Jason. He hasn't yet started charging at me again. He is just standing there waiting. Maybe he already knows the outcome of this fight and he is trying to give me a chance to surrender without seriously getting myself hurt, no, without him seriously hurting me. It might be a safe or smart move to do so, but I don't want to. Even if I did want to, then it wouldn't be fair to Luke who is trying his hardest right now to defeat Justin in a match. This is a fight that has to be done. Whether we win or not is beside the point. Jason is fast and he can pretty much catch up to me even when I use displacement, so I won't be able to outrun him. Now that I have come into contact with more of his blade, then I can try and trace it. His stance is also of concern. He is physically strong enough to hold that giant weapon in one hand and attack with it. Close to how I wield and attack with Caliburn. Upon looking at his stance, the only differences are that Caliburn isn't a giant slab of crudely shaped stone and I don't have the physical body strength to be able to send people flying with it. However, there is something I am noticing. His sword's strikes are not placed very well at all, and they are very easy to predict once you notice them. It is like he is just aiming for my center mass and happens to get blocked by my sword. I haven't fought a great deal of berserker mages but I wouldn't expect such a major flaw in their attacks. My mom told me a little about Berserker mages growing up. She said that the majority of their power comes from the extremity of their emotions. While most people would just be more likely to attack when angry, Berserker mages receive a massive burst in power when they get angry in response to a spike in adrenaline. This makes them an unstoppable force in combat, and they are unable to unleash massive amounts of damage and destructive force while being able to withstand extreme amounts of damage to their bodies. She also told me a general rule for all berserker mages. That they all, no matter how skilled or how strong have one weakness. While they are enraged they are on a clock. The amount of mana that needs to be consumed to upkeep that level of enhancement is outrageous. Then there is also the fact that consuming that much mana will put a physical strain on the body and could start to cause deterioration. And finally there is also their minds, which can only handle the blackout rage for so long before shutting down for a while in the form of unconsciousness or sleep. It is essentially an overload of anger which makes their bodies burn out their mana supply in one big burst over the course of anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, or a full day in some extreme cases. My mom said that she was honestly glad when she found out that I was a Saber mage instead, because if I had turned out to be a Berserker mage like her then I would have to endure severe levels of mental torture in the form of post trauma, since you have almost no control of yourself while you are enraged and you only get the memories of what you have done in the form of subconscious flashes and dreams.
*While Athenox is trading hits with Jason in the arena, Mrs. is observing from the stands when she notices a large group of people in red hoods walk into the stands and take a section of seats. Scene 4.*
"Whatever this is, it is definitely a security threat." Mrs. thinks as she proceeds along the steps of the stands towards the large group of people in red hoods. She approaches the front row of hoods.
"I do not think that it is a good idea for you guys to be here." A hooded figure in the center of the front row stands up and summons a sword and slams it into the ground followed by a response.
"And why is that?" The figure says as she removes her hood.
"The Wrathful Mother!" Mrs. shouts as she pulls out Arondight and readies it for a strike.
"You didn't answer my question, Void Blade. Why can I not be here?" Athenox's mother, Mickey Bladedancer asks again. The two stare each other down.
I am trying to withstand a strike long enough to get information on it with my mana. As I am trying to push my entire body forwards and upwards to absorb the force of the sword, I get a sudden cold chill of fear. Like two titanic forces are about to tear each other apart. That feeling almost distracts me enough to lose focus and get slammed into the ground but I just barely manage to evade it.
"Because!" She hesitates as the stare down continues. Eventually Mickey loses her grip on the sword and it drops to the ground and shatters like it were made of glass. Mrs. sighs.
"Because a full war council from Enreagent is enough to turn a lot of heads." Mrs. says as she dismisses Arondight.
"But we all just care about Athenox so much, and we just had to see him compete and win in the Blademaster competition. Something we all would have liked to known sooner but couldn't because somebody got him put in a coma for three weeks" Athenox's mom pulls a folder full of files out and proceeds to throw them at Mrs., which causes papers to fly all around them.
"Did you think that I wouldn't be able to find out? I would have much preferred to find out from you directly." Mickey asks intently.
"Oh I had faith that you would start sticking your nose in his business and putting all of the puzzle pieces together, which is exactly why I didn't bother telling you." Mrs. Lanslac responds.
"So how is he doing so far in the tournament?"
"It is still his first match and he is going up against a senior Berserker mage who may be one of the strongest in the school. Given his enhancements ability to withstand twelve times the normal threshold of pain, so if Athenox wants to win then he is going to need to land twelve knockout hits before he goes down himself."
"A senior! Athenox is just a freshman. Why would that even be possible?" Mickey asks.
"Well, because this is an event that is not required by normal students, and it is entirely optional to enter for the extra credit to your grades and a potential boost to your class ranking. So they figured that it shouldn't be such a clear cut division of competition. However, the randomization system that we use for determining the match-ups seems to not be going easy on anyone today because Athenox isn't the only freshman getting pitted up against an upperclassmen. In fact, the rest of the Elite Combat Team's Saber mages who are competing are getting pitted against difficult opponents in the first round. It is so absurd that I almost wouldn't call it random anymore." Mrs. explains.
"That is strange. Would you like me to have someone look into it?" Athenox's mom replies.
"No, like I said before. Your presence would only ring alarms that do not need to be rung. Not to mention put a bigger spotlight over Athenox, and you of course do not want that, right Ms. Bladedancer?" Mrs. Lanslac says.
"I do suppose you are right."
"There is no need to worry. I will fix whatever problem there might be and keep your son safe, because he is a part of my team, and he is a student here in this place of protected learning. So just a word of advice for the next time that you decide to show up, please feel free to leave the rest of your council at home. If security is a concern of yours, then I can assign a senior team member to protect you." Mickey remains silent for a moment before speaking.
"Fine, I get it. For now I just want to see my son win this match. So if you could please stop blocking his view." Mrs. takes a seat among the section of red hoods, next to Ms. Bladedancer.
I think I have finally got a strategy to defeat him at least once, and if I can last any longer than I should be able to take him down a few more times. I figured out that he has very rigid sword movements that he is overcompensating for with his body's physical speed, but in order to do that he has shift his body mass into a swing which creates a delay in his attacks that is just big enough of an opening to land a clean strike. I think that I should be able to use that if I am careful and I time it right. It will just require me to time a fully empowered strike. I will have to disorient and confuse him enough for this to work. I catch his weapon on the guard of my blade and push back and slide under him and then throw my sword into the air. I then displace to it and look down within that moment and verify the floor space for my plan. I slam down behind and block his next swing. I throw Caliburn into the ground diagonally from me so that it lands right next to him. I block the strike as I displace and do it again, but this time I throw it to the left so I am back where I started. I keep repeating this pattern until Jason starts anticipating it and it becomes more difficult to block his strikes because he is changing the moment when he is swinging his body before his strike lands to instinctively adjust for it. Then without hesitation, I break the pattern and displace in the opposite direction of where I should have, and then displace again so that I am behind him, almost forming a box around him with the residual mana I used from displacing so much. I start to raise Caliburn for the strike, Jason drops his blade and kicks me back with his foot. Then he grabs his sword and manages to dive and catchup to me and slam me straight into the edge of the arena, and the force of that impact shatters the ground around me. I manage to prop myself up against the barrier wall. Jason prepares to launch a strike that will finish me off. I look over at the arena where Luke and Justin are fighting. Luke looks beat up and has blood stains over cracked sections of his armor, while Justin barely has a scratch. Luke just got disarmed and is being held up by Justin's chains. Well, at least he was able to last this long. To tell you the truth, I think Luke had a better shot of fighting him right now than I did. With me being so uncertain about my abilities I doubt I would have been able to develop an effective strategy against Justin. It sucks that we are both about to go down at the same time. It will bring us back to square one on our deal, and we will have to find an even more ridiculous way of solving it. Plus, to lose your first high school tournament so badly in the first round, some perspective student I turned out to be. If I am worth nothing than all of those that hate Mrs. for wasting her effort on me are right. If all of our members loose then it will make the team look bad and jeopardize the social standing of all of its members. That includes Miraldes, Adam, Alex, Devin, Macy, and all of the other freshman. They will spend the rest of their high school years being laughed off as weak mages who joined the wrong team and got punished as a result. The thought infuriates me. The thought of how unstable and fractured the upperclassmen have made the team for its new members infuriates me. I know I have only known them for a few months but I already feel so close to them. Like I would do anything for them, and yet in this moment as I am about to get knocked out by a raging Berserker mage, I feel helpless. My body starts heating up as I look at Jason and he starts to slam his sword down. I feel my magic circuits overload and I blackout before I feel the impact.
*In Athenox's bedroom, sometime after his fight with Jason Ainsworth. Scene 5.*
I start to open my eyes and sit up from my bed. I almost pass out again when I see all everyone in my room. They all turn to look at me. The looks on their faces range from mildly relieved to deeply concern.
"What? I lost, so there is no need to be concerned." I look at the clock on my nightstand to make sure it is the same day and I haven't been passed out for a month like last time.
"It has only been a few hours. That must be a new record or something." I say casually to try and disperse the tense looks off of people's faces.
"I can't believe that you were that reckless, Athenox?" Mrs. Lanslac says to me. What is she talking about?
"If he was going to charge at me like a mindless bull, then I figured I would spin him around and take him out from behind. It didn't even work sense he caught on, slammed me into the arena barrier and knocked my lights out." Their faces change from concern to shock when I tell them.
"I thought it was a clever strategy."
"Wait, you're telling me that you don't remember what happened?" Miraldes says. She is sitting in a chair on one of the sides of the bed.
"Does that mean it was a Berserk enhancement?" Jane says sitting in a chair next to her.
Now that I look, they must have pulled chairs in from the living room and the other bedrooms because I don't remember owning this many chairs. That isn't the point though. What does she mean Berserker enhancement?
"Could that even be possible since Berserker isn't his primary class?" Devin asks standing up next to Miraldes.
"I think we may need to clarify what happened to our frequently comatose patient over there." Sarah says.
"Hey that is a little rude don't you think? Just because it is one-hundred percent true doesn't mean we have to make fun of him for it." Devin says in a sarcastic tone.
"Thanks for the support Devin." I reply in a similar tone.
"No problem!" He states with a cheeky smile. Proud of his ability to poke fun at my expense.
"To cut to the chase." Mrs. urges the room to quiet down by clearing her throat loudly. She hands me a data tablet.
"The match didn't quite end when you think it did, and you didn't stop moving after that point either." Mrs. explains.
"How could that be? I was immobilized after he slammed me into the barrier and must have blacked out from exhaustion right when he was slamming his sword down for the final strike."
"That strike didn't connect though. You got up and evaded it last second." My mom says from the side of the bed sitting next to Mrs.
"Look at that tablet, it shows your mana quantities and output levels. There is a major discrepancy right around the time when you said that you blacked out. You started to put out more mana than you physically had." I stare at the chart for a second.
"My body would have started to break down from mana drain and I would be in far worse condition, so why aren't I?" I ask.
"Well a spike of this magnitude would indicate something to the effect of a Berserker enhancement, but that isn't the case. You didn't show any of the real signs of it and it would have shown itself much earlier in your high school career even if it was tied to you being a void mage. Your actions after that point don't reflect it either. You didn't become any less precise in your attacks or strategy. In fact it would appear quite the opposite. You got faster with your weapon summoning and more effective. Even performing moves I don't think that I have ever seen from you before. Your reaction time become near instant and you hardly ever hesitated in your attacks. The most impressive part is that you managed to land six of the twelve knockouts required to take Jason down, which is a feat that most of the seniors wouldn't have been able to do, let alone a freshman." Mrs. Lanslac explains the next weird irregularity that I am going to have to deal with.
"It was really freaky when you started glowing though." Alex says.
"Yes, specifically your magic circuits. Which that and the way that you said that you had blacked out lead me to a conclusion about what it might me." Mrs. says to me.
"So what is it?"
"Well among the many test I have ran on you, I scanned your body and traced the extremities in mana readings, which would be where your magic circuits are. It seems that the reason that you have as big of a mana pool as you do is because you have a set of magic circuits extending where most mages wouldn't because of how dangerous and inefficient it could be. In your nervous system. This also explains why you seem to pass out more whenever you use up all of your mana, because you have shocked your nerves. I think that you probably flooded your whole nervous system with mana, similar to how a mage can overload their weapon."
"But wouldn't that just make me a walking mana bomb, especially with void."
"Yeah, why did his combat performance suddenly increase like that?" Jane asks.
"I would expect that when he performed this, he blacked out as a result and his body was unable to receive instructions from his conscious brain. Athenox's body would have instead had to be taking instructions directly from the source of the mana, which is his soul. It would have had to take a serious amount of force to generate that kind of action because flooding your magic circuits is normally not a possible or easy task. It would require an emotional upset big enough to cause the necessary flow of mana to occur, similar to a Berserker enhancement. Which brings me to my only question. Athenox, what do you think caused you to Overload?" She, along with the rest of the room look at me.
I was about to be defeated and I looked over and saw Luke in a similar position. That constricting feeling of hopelessness represented by Justin's chains and Jason's towering presence. The same hopelessness that the upperclassmen carry around with them because of their conflicted feeling between them. The feeling that if they were my friends, then I would do anything I could to in order to save them. Even if that meant getting up from getting knocked across an arena to try and defeat Jason. If that feeling of seeing someone who is my teammate and maybe even my friend in danger causes my magic circuits to erupt, then I must care more than I thought. Which reminds me that Luke lost the match against Justin. If he is a light magic user like Mary then he is probably in pretty bad shape after that fight.
"Where is Luke?" I say as I get up from my bed.
"He is in the infirmary, but it I don't think it is good for you to be getting up so soon after what you did in your fight. We still do not know what all of the effects are." Mrs. proclaims.
"I am fine. I am more concerned about Luke. He fought against Justin today and lost, so he is probably in worse shape than I am. Jane…" I look at her.
"You know what he is capable of, especially against light magic users." Mary lowers her head in anger from her spot in the room.
"Mrs. Lanslac, Athenox is right. I do remember what he has done in the old days. You need to let him see Luke. If anyone knows how to deal with it the best, then it is my son, Athenox, the person who has fought him the most." Mom says to Mrs.
"Very well then. But Jane, if you could please walk with him and observe him to make sure that he doesn't have any after effects from his overloading. If I remember correctly, you had originally come her to ask Athenox more questions about his abilities. For the marketing team's report of course." Mrs. asks Jane with a partial smirk on her face. She must have been trying to ask me for a while, but I was too busy being in a coma to accept.
"M-m-me?" Jane asks as her face turns bright red. She must be embarrassed about the whole situation.
If what I they told me about the report is true, then it needed to be done earlier so that they have time to review and edit it in order to start the final draft, but without every team member's information they can't even get started on it. Sarah told me once that Aubrey likes to have the final draft started before the Castmaster tournament so that they can pace the progress to give them a break to prepare for the tournament, and that if they have to they will be called in a week early from winter break to get it to that point.
"Um. S-s-sure I can?" She stands up.
*Athenox and Jane are walking down the hallway leading up to the infirmary. Scene 6.*
"So Jane, you had wanted to ask me questions about my magic?" Her face is red. She is still nervous. I feel bad. I will answer anything she asks because I don't want to mess up her winter holiday break. She is silent for a second before she starts to talk.
"So you are a Void Saber mage right?"
Pretty obvious question to start with but I guess it is the most important thing to base the rest of my information on.
"Yes, at least that's what I have gathered."
"Your swordsmanship is amazing. Where or who did you learn it from?"
"My parents."
"And they are?"
"That is a much longer story that I am surprised you don't already know the basic answer for."
"What is the limit of your magic detection?"
"I don't know. I haven't tested it yet."
"Is it effected by those glasses that you made from that corrupted spirit that you fought on your first gathering mission?"
"I can't tell a difference."
"Then why did you still have them in your room?"
"I thought they looked kind of cool, but it is kind of irritating to see through purple-colored tint. That also seems like a really specific question to include in a report."
"Can you use your magic detection in part with your void magic to copy and counter opponent's phantasm weapons and spells?" Jane's barrage of questions continue.
"As far as I know, yes."
"So you are from Undercity right?"
"Yes."
"How many corrupted spirits did you kill there?"
"A lot. Mostly just oncoming swarms of wraiths that would try to attack the streets on occasion, but a few times I would go on a hunt for major corrupted spirits."
"And how many people?"
"That is a horrible thing to assume about me just because I am from Undercity. What is with you people? To answer your question though, I have lost count." I say with moderate irritation.
I don't really know if that belongs in a report for a upcoming tournament but I guess no one is going to be able to prosecute me for it because of the circumstances surrounding it and I guess it would be helpful to start being honest with my teammates. Given that we will have to work together to prepare for the Grail War next semester. And aside from Mrs. and the upperclassmen who know through my records, and Justin who knows because he lived in Undercity, she is the first person at this school that I have told. Her facial expression isn't as bad as I had imagined it to be. Usually a look of terror and disgust is what I get when I tell people that.
"Were you any good at it? Dispatching people, I mean?"
"To cut a long story short. I was a different person then, but yes, I had to be. I wouldn't have lasted as long otherwise." That is a slight exaggeration but in a few instances it really wasn't.
"Your body isn't the most muscular and you seem to get thrown around a lot in a fight."
"That wasn't really a question. More of a statement of fact."
"So how do you manage to contest against opponents who are physically stronger, like Luke?"
"It has always been a problem. Strategy is typically the best option, along with having more mana than most of my opponents. I could withstand Luke's empowered strike by having mana pumping into my hands and powering my gloves. It is part of my counter magic training."
"Counter magic? Does that mean you can dispel other mages?" Jane stops to turn and look at me as we stand right outside Luke's room in the infirmary. She has a gleam of excitement in her eye.
"It means I can figure out a way around an enemy's magecraft." I explain.
"S-so, Athenox! Y-you do know what Castmaster is right?" Her voice is back to being nervous again.
"The Castmaster tournament is coming up after winter break." Jane says.
Oh no. She is worried about the report for the marketing team. She is afraid that she will have to come in over winter break because of Aubrey's cruel, cold, and ruthless work routines and merciless deadlines.
"Yeah I know. I am sorry, and because I was in a coma I couldn't…."
"Can you be my servant partner for Castmaster?" Jane interrupts my sentence.
"Wait, what?" My racing thoughts of fear for Jane and the other freshman's free time come crashing to a stop.
"Well for a Caster mage to compete in Castmaster, they need to make an agreement with another mage for support. They form two person teams. I have been looking at other mages for a while, but after I heard that you managed to dispel a corrupted spirit, I was more certain that I needed to pick you. Your void and counter magic will make you a devastating weapon in this tournament. I also heard your name going around the Caster forums and dormitory for top potential servant partner picks among the freshman. I asked Mrs. Lanslac if I could get to you first so that no one else would have a chance to ask you. So, what do you say? Will you partner with me?"
That part where she said that she wanted to use me as a weapon seems a little degrading and impersonal but I am not unfamiliar with being used in such a way. My issue though is that in this competition just like the rest of the competitions will be dominated by the upperclassmen just like Blademaster was. It is going to be a bloodbath for the freshman class.
"Did I forget to mention that by competing in the tournament with me you also get extra credit and money? Plus, as long as we are working together I will help you sort out and plan your magecraft. I am kind of an expert at consistent spellcasting."
She really knows how to make a convincing argument and she is probably one of the most skilled Caster mages in the freshman class, if not then one of the top in the whole school. As is expected from the leading family of the Holy Council, the Tohsakas. If anyone could help me get my magic straight, then it would probably be her. I think I am one more weird irregularity away from completely losing track myself. Not to mention that the money I can make from entering can go towards paying my admission fees for the school so dad can stop working as hard.
"I'm in." I agree to help her.
"And I am glad to hear that. For now just keep up your normal training with your class work and we will start training together after the break." She smiles and we both walk into Luke's room together so that I can fix the damage he received from Justin von Einzbern.
*End of Episode 10.*
