Chapter 9: Finals (Second grade) 1

The end-of-year tournament had finally reached the last stage. I somehow managed to make it this far without killing anyone.

The semifinals were held in the first arena and I was able to watch all the matches, so I was able to predict who would come up from the other side of the stage. And it was her.

Her mana was particularly high, and as I already knew, she was the one who stood on the stage with me for the finals.

The door to the opponent’s side opened and a slightly taller girl walked out. She had sun-orange hair and bright green eyes. It was a familiar appearance, of course. We lived in the same room.

“I knew it would come to this, sister! I’m going to go all out!”

Her mana shone brightly and Cepharis stood before me. She was probably the most enthusiastic of all the participants.

That’s right, this was enthusiasm.

Cepharis and I were in different classes at school, but we had many sparring matches. And I always won. But Cepharis always gave me a tough battle.

“Sister, you ready to lose again?”

“Actually, sister, I always lose on purpose… But today, I’m serious! So, Tremina, come at me with everything!”

‘I absolutely can’t do that. Oh well, I’ll put on a little more than usual and show it off. Is that okay?’ I sent a glance at Jill-sensei standing beside me after I had finished my thought process.

The judge for the finals was Jill-sensei. This was also proof that she was the most skilled teacher, even though she is only twenty years old. She was respected by the other knights and I wondered what kind of person she really was. I was sure she was the princess’s favorite. Why would someone like this come to our school for my sake…? I wondered whether she would tell me if I asked her.

“Tremina, please concentrate on the match. You’ll end up getting hurt.”

“Do you mean me getting ‘hurt’ or me doing the hurting? But yes, I’ll be careful.”

“Very well.” Nodding her head, Jill-sensei raised her right hand.

“Then, we will now proceed with the final match. Both parties, are you ready?”

“Wait!” Cepharis blocked the way and faced me head-on.

“You said you were going to be serious! My sister, you know I can tell when you’re lying.” She started saying something annoying.

I had thought I was hiding my mana well, but maybe I underestimated her because we have lived together for so long. Onee-san had a good sense of animalistic intuition.

There were four main types of Mana manifestation:

“All” – Releasing mana at full power. The limit was about five to ten minutes.

“Fight” – Releasing mana for combat. The amount released can last for about an hour.

“Normal” – Releasing mana for everyday life. The amount released and recovered are equal.

“Hidden” – Suppressing mana and hiding one’s presence. The amount released is minimal or zero.

The rate of mana recovery is proportional to the total amount, so, anytime I was in “Normal” mode, I stood out in school. To prevent this, I usually keep myself between “Normal” and “Hidden”.

Recently, I have been more careful with it because my classmates have started to acquire experiential perception.

“Jill-sensei, can I fight in ‘Fight’ mode?”

“Of course not. That would be a disaster.”

Right, of course. But Cepharis was really a hassle when she was like this.

Cepharis dropped to the ground with a thud.

You see, Onee-san’s mental age was about half of her actual age (Six years old). It wasn’t something to be proud of, but she was really innocent and pure. She was too strong and hardly understood her strength, so she was often careless and reckless.

Jill-sensei brushed her silver hair and sighed. She turned her gaze towards the audience. In the distance, I could see Princess Lizteles nodding.

“Understood. Tremina, I will specially allow it this time.”

“Oh, is that okay?”

“You’ll see, Cepharis will also understand. Release it gradually.”

And, I did. I was actually a little happy. Basically, the only time I could release my mana fully was when it was just me and Jill-sensei. Otherwise, I do it secretly during runs in a less populated place at night or other things like that.

I spent most of the day suppressing my mana and it was quite annoying. To give an example; it’s like having one nostril blocked. That can be quite annoying even if subtle.

‘Well then, since permission was granted, I won’t hold back.’ 

I could see my classmates in the spectator seats, but they were quite far away, so it was okay. I planned to apologize to Cepharis later.

‘Okay, gradually…’

I increased the amount of mana surrounding my body.

‘Ahh, finally, I can breathe.’

The knights were startled. It looked like the seniors sensed it too.

On the other hand, Cepharis stood up with shaky legs.

“So, as expected of my sister. Well then, let’s have the match.”

“Wait. This is still Tremina’s ‘Normal’ mode.”

“… Eh? This is ‘Normal’?”

“Tremina has been fighting between ‘Normal’ and ‘Hidden’ mode all day. From now on, she will be on ‘Fight’ mode.”

Immediately, Cephalis’ mana suddenly became weak.

About Characters Appearances.

Tremina = Hair is a chestnut brown cut short. Eyes are black.

Lizteles = Hair is white (bleached) and long. Eyes also seem to have no pigment.

Jill = Hair is silver and tied up in the back. Eyes are blue. Wears glasses.

Cepharis = As mentioned above. Hair is semi-long, I believe.