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

Chapter 26 - The Fast and the Sturdy

"Where could those two be?" James complained as he sit on the arena's audience area beside Mark, waiting for Lyra and May.

It is Thursday, a new day at the military school, the second day for the tournament.

This day, it would be decided who will battle Team One in the final match.

The arena is now filled with a couple of spectators. The Senators who will be grading the students, the President to observe, and a couple of students and soldiers.

"Hello there Marky boy and hello too James!" Stephen, who just arrived at the arena, greeted the two from behind.

"Ah Mr. Cabal. Hello." Mark turned around to greet Stephen back.

"Haha Mark how many times do I have to tell you to call me Stephen. So how're you doing? I wish I could hope you to win but we're rivals this time so I guess let's just do our best would do." Stephen gave Mark a full smile with a tap on the shoulder.

"We will surely defeat those students of yours. We will not give them a chance to win!" James spoke folding his arms together.

"Well let's just see. Anyway I have to go guys, the tournament will start any minute now so I'll be meeting my students." Stephen smiled at James then waved his farewell at the two then walked away.

"Hello there guys! What's up?" Simen approached, followed by Sean and Alfredo. "Oh and why aren't you at the waiting area yet?"

"Hey Simen. Well I was here very early so the entrance to the waiting area is still closed. And since you've mentioned it I think we should head there now. Let's go James!" Mark smiled at Simen then stood up to walk towards the arena's waiting area. James followed him silently, still with his pissed off mood.

"Go win this match guys! We believe in you!" Simen tapped Mark on his shoulder as he wished him luck for the match. Mark simply smiled, hiding the nervousness he has been feeling since the morning and then walked past them.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, today is Thursday and as all of us know, this day is the match between Team Two and Team Four! Well the match will start a few minutes from now but before that, I am glad to announce that there are changes on today's setup!" The announcement caused indistinct murmurings among the crowds. Even Mark and James had to stop and listen to the announcer's news.

"To make the match more exciting, we would break away from the traditional one on one match but instead, we would shift to a rather tweaked one. On this match, we will enforce a team survival battle!" Confused, louder conversations can be heard from among groups of people.

"Ok now now, I know I got you guys confused so let me explain. We would still start with a traditional one on one match with the first contenders. Two random students would be selected to fight the first round but, after the first student wins, he or she would stay on the arena to battle with the next contender." The audience area was filled with silence, as they all listen to the battle announcer.

"Same rule applies to decide each match victory however, we would now give the victory to the team with at least one remaining member left standing." Indistinct murmurings can again be heard as the the countdown of the match can be seen on the screen to be starting within five minutes.

James and Mark hurried to the waiting area and realized that Lyra and May hasn't arrived yet.

"Darn those two aren't here as well and the match is about to start!" James punched a wall in the waiting area, growing impatient with the absence of his sister and Lyra.

"Let's just wait a little..." Before Mark can finish his sentence, he was stuttered with the sudden speech from the announcer.

"There we go ladies and gentlemen, we will now start the match between Team Two and Team Four! May we now call both teams to show themselves to the arena!" Mark froze as if bitten by a Scarab's paralyzing sting while James simply walked out with his head bowed and his fists clenched. Mark followed upon seeing James going in the arena but nervous of their situation.