Eternal Awakening

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

The Journeyman's Challenge

The second day of the tournament dawned, and Richard pulled himself from his large, comfortable, and very warm bed. His muscles were sore and his body a little weak from how much magic he had used the previous day, but the warm heat from the roaring fireplace quickly healed some of that fatigue. At least until he put on his cold clothes and sat down at his private table and stared down at the platter of food that had been brought up to his room.

The sky outside the large white tower was grey, with heavy and slightly dark clouds hanging low over the school grounds. It looked like a blizzard was coming, and the sound of the howling wind rattled against the windows on the top floor of the dorm tower. Yesterday had been great weather for duelling, but overnight it had changed, and now Richard grumbled at the thought of having to be outside in it for most of the day.

However, it wasn't entirely the weather that had him in such a mood. The nervousness, that hadn't really been with him all that much the previous day, was now attacking him full on and he found it hard to swallow his food and keep it down. His stomach was in knots, his mind kept racing over a million different thoughts, and even though he was mostly warm, he couldn't help but shiver. All the training he had done over the last couple of weeks had been in preparation for one single point in the tournament, and now that he had accomplished what he had set out to do he found it hard to get psyched up all over again.

He had to though. Aura had been right when she had told him that everyone would be able to tell if he took a dive after the display he had put on the day before. If he was to just stand there and lose on purpose it would be as plain as day to everyone, and he really didn't want to bring shame to Aura's name. He may just be her fake child, but he really appreciated everything she had done for him.

There was also the fact that he was determined to see and talk to Daiya, and the best way to do that was to meet her in the tournament. Sadly that probably meant getting to the finals, which wasn't something he was keen on doing all that much. But, if it was the only way he would get a few moments to talk to her and try to clear everything up, then he was willing to try it.

That was if he survived the second day. A day where he would be thrown into the main tournament bracket and face more powerful and more skilled opponents than he had so far.

By the time he managed to finish off his hearty breakfast, Lythia had been to his room and told him that they were expected back at the arena before noon. Because a large majority of the original field had been knocked out on the first day, the students who remained during the second day were treated to a little extra time to sleep, rest, and get ready. Which was really nice, because it gave Richard the time he needed to get his mind back into the game, and get ready for the long haul.

He left the tower shortly before midday, and slogged his way through the freshly fallen snow towards the massive arena that had become the focal point of the entire winter festival. The grounds were as lively as they had been the entire week, if not more, and students and visitors alike enjoyed all the fun activities that were going on at the school now. But as he got closer and closer to the arena, Richard saw that the crowds grew thicker and more rowdy as the second day was about to begin.