Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress' Knights Tournament

Chapter 14

The sun had barely risen when Caspian woke up on Saturday. He didn't do his normal routine, which would have involved shadow sparring until he was covered in sweat, and instead stuck with stretches and basic warm up exercises. The preliminaries were today, and while he was confident that he would win, there was no point in going into a fight exhausted.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, Caspian met up with Christo and Elincia, who were amiably chatting when he arrived.

That boy...

While he didn't say anything because he didn't wish to upset his friend, it bothered him that Christo was so friendly with Elincia. Since he was a noble, Christo must have had some hidden agenda for her. All nobles had their own agendas. Caspian would be damned if he let some grubby noble use Elincia for their own purposes.

"Oh, there he is!" A grinning Christo waved him over. "Hey! What took you so long?"

Deep breaths, Caspian. He hasn't done anything yet. You can't do anything to him without having evidence. Be patient. He'll reveal his true intentions eventually, and once he does...

Once he did, Caspian would make sure he regret trying to use his friend.

Calming himself, Caspian walked up to the pair. He returned Elincia's smile as she grabbed his hand, and then directed a frown at Christo. "I was taking a shower, same as I do every morning. You're the one who's off schedule. You never wake up this early."

"Hahahaha, true!" Christo laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "I woke up this morning with the jitters and couldn't go back to sleep. I guess I have a case of post battle anxiety or something."

"Whatever." Caspian dismissed Christo's words. "Do you remember where we were supposed to meet?"

"It was the main hall," Elincia supplied.

"Right. Off we go, then."

The main hall was dubbed such because it was situated by the entrance. As Caspian entered, he looked at the massive hallway, which easily spanned several dozen meters in width and even more in length. The stone gray tiles were complemented by marble columns that rose to the ceiling—a vaulted ceiling decorated by many ribs. Several buttresses jutted from the walls, and between the gaps they created, statues of sorceresses past and present sat proudly on display.

There were already a lot of people gathered. Counting them off in his head, Caspian realized that there were 54 people milling about.

Arcadia's Knight Academy had, at most, 150 students. Of those 150 students, only about 24 of them were in the advanced class, the seniors who'd been there for four years or more, and the ones who were allowed to participate in the Sorceress's Knight Tournament.

These people must be here to watch the preliminaries, he thought to himself. Though I can't imagine the preliminaries happening here.

He observed the other students, picking out several that he recognized. Julius stood beside his two gorillas, boasting about something or other. On the opposite side of the room, leaning against a column, was the student that Caspian knew by name but had never spoken with.

He wore a large fedora and a crimson shoulder cape. The rest of his uniform was standard, as was the plain-looking sword sheathed at his side. Caspian could not see his face, which was covered by the fedora, but he could almost feel the other boy's eyes on him.

Darin Shivals Merikh...

The currently top ranked student in the academy. No one knew anything about him, as he never spoke to anyone. In class, he was quiet. On the dueling matt, he was fierce. Caspian had heard numerous tales of the other teen's prowess with a blade, but he'd never seen it for himself.