159 Was It Really A Surprise?

Birds chirped cheerfully to signal the morning arriving. Ears twitching, both Snow and Lucius woke up first and lazily stretched and yawned. Theo also opened up his eyes, but he did not seem to want to believe that it was already morning. Feeling playful, Snow burrowed into Greyson's shirt and her head popped out at the collar. Snuggling up against him, she found a comfortable position to sleep. However, Greyson woke up from the sudden heat sticking to his chest. Blinking for a moment to come back to reality, he warmly smiled before rubbing Snow's head.

\"Alright, you lazy lumps, time to get up.\" Getting up out of bed, Greyson still hugged Snow so that she would not fall out before gently pulling her out. Heading into the bathroom, he did a quick wash-up to wake himself up with a cold splash of water. Throwing on a loose white linen shirt and brown pants, he did not try to dress up like some of the other contestants. Fighting was all about comfort anyways.

\"Any of you guys coming with?\"

Without answering, Lucius surprisingly jumped up onto Greyson's shoulder.

\"Is the sun rising from the west today? You actually want to come along?\"

\"I'll grow moldy at this rate just staying in. I might as well join the excitement for once.\"

\"Snow, too! Snow, too!\" The Moon Leopard bounced around eagerly.

\"Theo?\"

\"I'll join in, too.\" The small mouse climbed up and dove into Greyson's pants pocket.

With a bit of a spring in his step, Greyson quickly made his way towards the closest bakery. Buying a couple pieces of bread, he and the rest of the animals munched on the loaves for breakfast. Already a good-looking young man by himself, Greyson turned even more heads with the three little friends joining him today. When he made his way to the arena, he leisurely sat by himself. Seeing that he was early, he passed the time by playing around with Snow and Theo. Just like a normal house cat, Snow enjoyed chasing moving light. Using his pointer finger and light magic, Greyson had Snow hopping around happily. Although Theo was not so inclined, he still joined in on the fun. Lucius just rolled his eyes at their dumb antics. Little did he know that his games would catch the attention of all the young women in the audience. Many envious expressions turned towards the cute magic beasts with affection practically dripping from their eyes.

Standing out from the rest, an amused look in her eyes, Eris approached the oblivious party of four.

\"Hey, you're rather early today.\" She casually greeted.

Looking up, Greyson just smiled and nodded at her.

\"Are these all your contracted beasts?\"

\"No, they are my friends.\" Slightly furrowing his brow, Greyson was always a little displeased when other people treated his companions like his enslaved minions. True, he had a contract with Lucius, but no one ever asked with an equal contract in mind. They only asked believing there would be a master-servant contract.

\"None of them? And they still follow you?\"

\"I guess it's just my charm.\" Greyson responded by throwing out a rare joke.

Heh... yeah, charm, alright. Careful now, Grey, your true narcissistic colors are coming out. Lucius' sarcastic voice sounded in his head.

Able to see the eyeroll without even looking over, Greyson just shrugged the comment off.

\"Oh? If it's charm they are looking for, maybe they will prefer me.\" Taking the joke in stride, Eris crouched down and began petting Lucius' head. Pleased at the attention from a pretty girl, Lucius rubbed his head into her palm. Theo also wanted the attention so he hopped onto her lap. Chuckling, Eris did not deprive him.

\"It seems only Snow is loyal to me.\" Greyson grumbled while shooting a dirty look at the two traitors.

\"Snow is the best!\" She agreed nodding her head.

\"Yes, Snow is the best.\" With clear indulgence in his eyes, Greyson stroked her soft fur while echoing her words.

...

Time ticked by peacefully while the two were absorbed in their own world. Without Greyson realizing, the ten representatives already made their way onto the stage at some point. Except for Prince Braiden and the girl next to him, the other eight seemed anxious. All of them were trying and failing to subtly glance over at the three winners from yesterday. Feeling a particularly obvious gaze on him, Greyson peeked over and locked eyes with Rouven. As if it did not occur, both of them casually looked away towards other directions. For both their sakes, it would be better that no one knew of their talk from last night. As smooth as it felt to them, Eris was someone who trained her senses in the royal palace every day. She clearly caught onto something.

\"Are you challenging the one from the Zeennak family?\" She whispered over softly.

A moment of shock flashed on Greyson's face before returning to its original placid expression.

\"Did you catch it?\"

\"Please, you are too green to try and pull the wool over my eyes.\" Cupping her chin in her palm, she gave him a cheeky smirk.

\"Yes, I will be challenging him.\"

\"Hm... Could you do me a favor and choose someone else?\"

\"Huh?\"

\"You see, that Rouven is exactly the person I wanted to challenge.\"

A contemplative expression appeared on Greyson's face before finally shaking his head.

\"I don't think I can. I already promised Rouven I would challenge him and beat him. He does not wish to be a part of the team of representatives, but he cannot lose badly either.\"

\"Are you saying I can't beat him.\" Eris shot back.

\"N-no, that's... uh... not what I meant.\"

\"Hehehe, how cute~. I'm just joking around. But, really, I am confident that I have a real fighting chance against him.\"

\"Why?\"

\"Don't you know his element?\"

\"No. I didn't ask.\"

\"What if his element was something that countered you?\"

\"You should know that such an element does not really exist in my case.\" He replied flatly.

\"...\"

\"Comparisons are truly odious. Yes, yes, well you are amazing, okay. Us, mortals, have to keep those kinds of facts in mind when choosing opponents. This Rouven and most of the Zeennak family are all fire element magicians and tend towards straightforward, vicious attacks. He is probably the most ideal opponent for me. Plus, if he really does want to give up the spot, that's even better. Maybe I won't have to go all out to defeat him.\" Rolling her eyes, Eris still explained herself.

Greyson thought about it and really could not find any rational reason to reject her. Already aware of Eris' strength, he did not think that it would be an issue.

\"I guess it's all the same. You can challenge him, then. Who should I challenge though...\" Eyes drifting back towards the ten on stage, Greyson decided he would just let Snow choose.

\"Hey, Snow, of those people on stage, who should I challenge?\"

\"Challenge?\"

\"Who should I fight? Who do you want to see me fight?\"

New enthusiasm filling her, Snow sat up and scanned the ten people.

\"Daddy, fight that skinny looking one at the end. He looks weak. Daddy will be able to beat him without getting hurt.\" Gesturing her paw towards the last guy to the left, Snow gave her simple reasoning.

Lip twitching, he was not sure how to respond.

\"Snow, are you worried I'm not strong enough to beat the rest?\"

\"Hm... Daddy is smaller than the rest of them...\"

Taking a critical blow, Greyson truly felt her evaluation was unfair. He was only 15! He was still growing, okay!

\"Pffttt...\" Unsuccessful in holding her laughter in, Eris covered her mouth to prevent herself from bursting out.

Lips pulled back into a firm line, Greyson grit his teeth and just ignored her.

\"Why? Was Snow's suggestion no good?\" Ears folding down, Snow showed her disappointment.

\"No, it's fine. They're all the same anyways. I'll challenge that guy, then.\"

It was then that the Prince stepped forward while clearing his throat.

\"Ahem. Ahem.\" His cough echoed throughout the amphitheater. \"The last part of the selection can now start. Will the three winners from yesterday come up to the stage.\"

Knowing it was time, Greyson sighed and got up to walk down. Eris also followed after him. The other man from yesterday was even more excited and jumped down to get there first.

\"Alright, you three, it is time to pick your opponent. Do any of you prefer going first?\"

Before Eris and Greyson could even say a word, the other man stepped forward immediately. It seemed he had already made up his mind beforehand. Although Greyson was not planning to go first, he could not help but roll his eyes at the useless enthusiasm. From his understanding, even if the man picked a good opponent, he would most likely still lose. Since he was a wind element magician, Greyson could easily guess that he would go for an earth element magician, preferably one who focused on defense.

Completely in line with his guess, the man pointed to the largest man in the group on-stage.

\"I choose Lord Vervan.\"

From the little research he did, Greyson knew that the Vervan family was a Duke family whose descendants were normally earth element magicians. They specialized in defense and their family crest was even a blue and gold shield. Lord Vervan was the eldest son of Duke Vervan and was already 38 years old. Someone who is a wind element magician could potentially get the upper hand, but this advantage greatly depends upon the wind magician's power. They could continually hit the slower earth magicians, however, if they are weak then they will tire out before the earth magician's defense breaks. This young man was on the weaker side and only knew how to use the wind element to escape.

\"Alright.\" Not at all surprised, Lord Vervan acquiesced. The bored expression on his face spoke volumes of his confidence. Everyone could tell including the young man, whose expression grew ugly. Greyson could tell his fellow winner did not have a realistic idea of his power and underestimated his opponent.

Both men stepped onto the center of the stage while the rest of the people cleared out.

The prince announced the start of the fight. Vervan murmured a quick spell as the rock from the stage created an armor around his body. A large magic shield and spear appeared in his hand. The young man also managed to get a spell out during this time but the wind blades barely made a dent in the rock armor. Noticing the toughness of his opponent's armor, his face changed color. Lord Vervan took position with the large ovular shield in his left hand and the long spear in his right. There was a round semicircle where the spear rested. The fight ended surprising quickly with the wind magician taken out by the spear. He dodged around quickly, but his pattern of movement was predictable and Lord Vervan caught onto it. Plus, the man's wind attacks barely made a scratch. Greyson could tell that Lord Vervan was a highly trained soldier on top of his magic.

It seemed that most people expected such a result, so the cheering was minimal. Some people were not even paying attention to the match. The young man also felt everyone's disdain as he blushed fiercely and ran away with his tail between his legs. It seemed he was not thick-faced enough to stay.

...

\"Well, that was a surprise.\" Eris whispered over.

\"It was?\" Greyson looked over dumbfounded.

\"Hm... I guess... not? Hahaha, I just thought he would last a little longer. Pretty anticlimactic.\"

Greyson just shrugged in response, \"I knew he wouldn't win; I didn't think as far as how long he could go. Do you want to go next, or me?\"

\"Ladies first, don't you know?\" Eris winked.

Greyson just rolled his eyes and waved his hand for her to go ahead.

\"I will go next!\" She announced as she gracefully climbed onto the stage.

\"Who will you challenge?\" Prince Braiden inquired.

\"Master Zeennak.\"

Rouven looked up in shock after hearing his name.

\"Me?\" He double checked while pointing to himself.

Eris just nodded politely. Getting his confirmation, Rouven looked a little worried. But he quickly calmed down as he knew that Eris was also a strong opponent who could beat him.

Rouven climbed up onto the stage. They bowed to each other and Prince Braiden shouted the start of the match. Both people pulled out their weapons. Eris wielded the same silver spear from her match with Greyson while Rouven equipped himself with two gauntlets and a pair of boots. Punching his fists together, all his equipment burst into flames. Murmuring under her breath, Eris held out her palm and a spherical water shield formed around her body. Looking at the water, Rouven grimaced a little before regaining his balance. After all, he was still a representative and could not shame his upbringing. Attacking first, he punched into the shield which put out the fire. However, once inside the shield, the gauntlet reignited as he whispered a spell. Of course, Eris would not sit there waiting as she dodged the fire ball and struck out with her spear with lightning bursting from the tip. Using his left foot, Rouven kicked the staff of the spear and stomped it into the ground. The stage burst apart upon impact. Eris smirked a little as she whispered another spell. The right hand of Rouven still caught inside the shield was electrocuted. Face contorting in pain, Rouven swiftly pulled his arm out and did a back handspring to create space. Shaking his right hand, he tried to dispel the numbness. Thankfully, his gauntlet neutralized a major portion of the shock.

Once again taking their positions, they paced in a circle for a little bit. Rouven began chanting his spell. Longer than usual, the spell was gathering more fire element mana. He once again attacked first, but this time the impact of his fist blew apart the water shield and headed straight for Eris's body. Rapidly dodging and crouching low the ground, Eris swung her spear horizontally slamming the shaft into Rouven's gut. The left part of her body was still hit by the previous attack causing burns on her arm. Rouven's body shot some ten feet away before landing onto the ground. Some spit and blood vomited onto the ground from the earlier impact. Gasping in air to catch his breath, Rouven struggled up while holding his stomach. Eris also grimaced in pain while holding her left arm. Some sparkling blue water left her fingertips and covered her arm. Though not fully healed, the spell had a soothing effect.

This time, Eris did not stay on the defensive. She did not set up the water shield and instead did a front charge at Rouven. Only the loud clangs of metal could be heard in the arena. Fiercely kicking out his right leg towards her torso, Rouven chanted a fire spell that lit the foot on fire. Eris used the back end of her spear to block the attack while still taking some damage from the fire. Biting her lip, she did not pay attention to the pain. Instead, she shocked the rest when her right and left hands twisted the spear shaft in opposite direction. A small *click* sounded and the shaft split apart. In what seemed like a long second, Eris caught Rouven unprepared and stabbed the upper part of the spear through his right shoulder. She slammed his body into the ground before lightning burst out from the spear tip and Rouven shouted out in pain.

Heaving out a great sigh, Eris struggled up while holding her left arm. Unable to keep her grip on the lower part of her spear, it dropped to the ground. Rouven was unconscious with his clothes and skin badly burnt.

\"The winner is Princess Eris!\" After a short silence, Prince Braiden finally regained his bearings and announced the results. The audience broke out in applause after watching a satisfying match. Greyson joined in on the clapping feeling impressed by the fight. It seemed that he would have to find a teacher soon as his own weapon wielding skills were falling behind his peers.