Realmshift: Triad Ascendancy.

Rune Wars I

[SILVER]

Three weeks had passed since we first stepped foot into Cyrus, and the progress we made in understanding magic had been nothing short of remarkable. I had reached the mid-orange stage, while both Grey and Arkane had climbed to the low-orange. Grey, in particular, had started relying more on his magic than his fists—a notable shift for someone so accustomed to close combat. His mastery over simple mana attacks, like blasts of pure energy, had grown. They weren't as devastating as his fists or as efficient as imbuing objects with mana, but they were a vital part of his training, pushing him to new limits. Though they drained him quickly, each blast brought him closer to honing his magical abilities. Arkane, on the other hand, had made a discovery that left us all in awe. 

Her Sharingan eye had revealed a new power—a form of illusion that could manipulate the senses directly. Unlike traditional illusion magic, which altered the area around the caster and required significant mana to maintain, Arkane's ability went deeper. It worked within the target's mind, bending their perception of reality by influencing the mana in their brain, affecting all five senses. It was a chillingly effective technique. She tried to explain it to me, but truth be told, I never watched Naruto. All I knew was that I was glad it wasn't my power. As for me, my teleportation had evolved in unexpected ways. I'd learned to leave an imprint of my mana on objects—and even on people. Once someone bore my imprint, I could teleport to them, no matter where they were. It was a costly maneuver, draining my mana reserves, but in a life-or-death situation, it was invaluable. Even more so, I had figured out how to teleport others to me, provided they carried my imprint. Arkane had taken to calling me Minato since I'd developed the technique. It's fucking weird.

Today's class on mana manipulation felt like another routine session. Unfortunately, not every teacher was as sharp or engaging as Professor Kenric, though the others were passable. Still, the lesson offered little that was of value to us, so we simply went through the motions, counting down the minutes until the break.Beatrice had been sitting with us, quietly observing, until she broke the silence with a question we hadn't anticipated. "You guys ready for Rune Wars?" she asked, her tone casual.I raised an eyebrow. "Rune Wars? What's that?""It's a tournament the school holds every year. Students train all year for it because the rewards are worth it," she explained. "The winners get to choose a rare runestone from the school's collection. Only forty students make it to the top."We exchanged glances, trying to gauge each other's reactions.

"Runestones?" Grey asked, looking completely lost. "What are those?"I hadn't heard of them either, though I figured if they were tied to something as big as this tournament, they were likely a well-kept secret among those in the know."Runestones are magical stones with special powers," Beatrice began. "They don't follow the usual rules of magic. No one knows how they work or how they were created, but they can only be found in S-rank dungeons—places so dangerous that only the strongest warriors can hope to survive. Eldoria's emperor sends the finest to retrieve them, and from there, they're given to top schools like Cyrus."We listened intently. The idea of magic that transcended the normal boundaries intrigued me, but there was a mystery to it that made me wary."There's no way to know if these runestones will actually be useful to us," Arkane mused, "but there's no harm in trying to get them.""When does the tournament begin?" I asked, curious now."In four days," Beatrice said, her gaze shifting between us.
After four days of intense preparation for the tournament, the atmosphere buzzed with excitement. Students were gathering in the courtyard, eager to form their teams for the upcoming Rune Wars. Each team would consist of three fighters and one supporter, a setup that allowed for strategic advantages during the matches. The supporter could provide various forms of assistance before each fight, which added another layer of complexity to the competition.If a fighter were to lose, they would be disqualified, but their teammates could continue fighting until all three had fallen—excluding the supporter, of course. This arrangement seemed almost too perfect for us; it felt as if some higher power had conspired to make us a team of four.Beatrice would be our supporter, and her skills as a healer would prove invaluable. While her healing abilities weren't the most powerful yet, they would still offer crucial support before each battle.