1985: Dawn of a New World (A Summoner Fanfic)

Chapter 21 - Ice Princess

Zero eight hundred hours. It's the first time, Mark woke up that late in the academy. Not that he planned that all along because anyway, they aren't needed that early, but perhaps his body is demanding him to give it more time to rest.

He wanted to see the opening of the tournament but it's too late now, so at least he aims to see the battle between Team One and Team Five.

He jumped off his bed, brushed his teeth, made a quick shower then put on his new uniform.

He ran to the elevator and rode it descending to Basement 40 where the tournament is being held.

The elevator door opened to an empty hallway. One wide path leads forward, then two inclined paths lead to the left then to the right. He went left where he and Simen's group agreed to meet.

He has almost reached the bleachers but odd enough, it's still quiet as if no one's there.

He finally reached the opening to the audience area and saw a crowd of people looking down in awe as if watching a spectacular event.

He looked around and saw Simen's team with two vacant seats beside Simen.

He walked towards them but all seems too focused at the arena that no one noticed him sitting.

He took the seat beside Simen and looked down the arena. He immediately saw Myrtle on the right side of the arena, walking towards the arena's entrance.

The arena floor is covered with soil, giving it a natural wasteland feel. It is as large as an official football field arena.

A large box with screens on each vertical face, hanging at the center of the arena shows Myrtle as the winner of the match.

Mark didn't even saw what happened to the match. At the center of the arena floor are two demons lying, seemingly dead.

One is a Kelpie, a demon resembling a pony with majestic white fur and a mane that is always dripping with water, then a Basilisk, a demon with the head of a rooster then body of an overgrown chameleon.

"Why did you have to kill my demons?" The voice of the boy at the left side of the arena reveals that he is Jerrell. He knelt on the ground with both his hands resting on the ground.

"If they're that weak, they'll eventually die in battle anyway. So why bother? Go catch some stronger demons and train them well." Myrtle spoke in a heartless tone extemely breaking the heart of Jerrell. Myrtle finally exited the arena.

Jerrell collapsed to the ground and lost consciousness. Chaz quickly ran to get Jerrell and brought him to the clinic.

There are no cheers, boos nor murmurings among the audience. Everyone seem quiet as an empty graveyard.

Two arena staff quickly ran to the center of the arena to collect the dead demons.

"Wew! That was a death defying match! Now on to our next match! Match select!" The announcer cut the silence by his jolly speech but it didn't seem to do any better in changing the mood of the audience.

Everybody looked at the box screen at the center of the arena. Candice's face appeared to the left portion of the screen with her full name, printed in white font inside a blue shaded box. A few seconds later, Yvette's face appeared on the right with the format, similar to Candice's.

"From Team Five, it's Ms. Candice Tagle! And from Team one, miss beauty and brains, it's Ms. Yvette Alcain!" The announcement shifted the mood a bit, with indistinct murmurings, filling the arena bit by bit.

"Oh Mark! When did you get here? Wew you should have seen the match! It was..." Simen greeted Mark upon seeing him sitting at his left but unable to finish his sentence, thinking of an adjective to say.