Chapter 105: Battle of Conflictions
-----Yui's POV
I could feel her hand trembling in my own as we wait for our matches. I could tell why she was nervous, not wanting to fight me yet. But in all honesty, I don't think I mind. I've surpassed my brother in this tournament so I'm more than happy with the result. If my parents can't see it then I don't know what will.
Lucien: "Next could I have, Ellen von Leinhart and Kaede Ilaria in the arena."
Kaede: "No!"
Yeah, judging from her reaction and even letting go of my hand with her voice reaching all corners of the room, she really didn't want fight me yet it seems. But it's not like we can ask for them to change the matchup.
Yui: "Hey, it's okay. Just means we can do our little experiment now right?"
Kaede: "Huh? Yeah, but that's not the problem..."
I know how confident she is in winning, and I strongly believe that she'll win this tournament hands down, but this fight might be the toughest for her in a different way. That being said, I don't plan on going down that easily.
Yui: "Let's just have fun, okay?"
Kaede: "But your parents-"
Yui: "I'm sure they're happy with my results so far. If my father isn't pleased by this, then I don't think anything will change that."
Kaede: "...Kay."
We make our way to the center of the arena with the cheers from the crowd echoing in our ears. There seems to be a lot more people for these quarter final matches than the other matches, and again I could see my parents sitting in the same seats as the previous days.
Lucien: "Are you two ready?"
Yui/Kaede: "Yes."
So how is this going to go? Will she let me win? Will I even be able to control her light magic? Or will she overpower with me with strength alone. I remember how fast she moved, faster than any student or teacher I've seen with even wind magic. Her strength is also akin to Marcus augmenting his with earth magic. With light magic on top of all that? Truly a monster in human skin.
We take our positions as I unsheathe my sword. Just the act of pointing it towards her like this feels wrong. I battle my instinct to put my sword away as I wait for our match to start. Kaede chose to wield her dagger instead of the sword she got from Kendal, probably for my benefit to make it easier.
Lucien: "3...2...1..."
My heart begins to race, trying to pay attention for the slightest movement she makes.
Lucien: "Begin!"
Instead of going forward, the first thing I do is dash backwards, thinking that Kaede would close the distance. Sure enough, she did as the moment I plant my feet back down, she had already moved to where I was a mere moment ago. Now with her this close, I could see that she has a troubled look on her face, but I respond with a smile as her dagger collides with my sword, or it would have if she didn't slow her strike just when it was going to hit. She was using the same technique when she was in the knight's class.
I felt frustrated myself as she was clearly going easy on me. Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my ankle where I see in the corner of my eye, golden glowing chains coming out from a light portal to my side. "Is this her way of letting me try and control it?" She slowed down her attacks just enough for me to concentrate on her chains which were still there, restricting my movement no matter how hard I tried to steal it. "Is it light magic in general or specifically Kaede's magic?" I might have to experiment with Leon to see, but that would mean to expose my secret to even more people, a prince no less.
This match is essentially over as I can't move much any more. She can just retreat, and use ranged magic to win as I have no means of closing that distance. But surprisingly, she stayed within arms reach as we exchange more blows. She probably thinks that I might look better to my parents if she doesn't beat me quickly, but this feels a bit humiliating instead; as if I were a fly being toyed with in a spider's web. I raise my hands up in defeat with a smile on my face.
Yui: "You win."
Kaede: "..."
Lucien: "Kaede's win!"
Unlike me, she still looked troubled. But I remain positive, moving my gaze up at where my parents remained seated. I could barely make out that they were both clapping, though my father doing so with a little less enthusiasm. I shift my gaze back to Kaede, a smile still on my face as the chain around my ankle dissipates.
Yui: "Let's head back."
Kaede: "Okay-"
Upon entering the room with the other fighters, we were greeted by the others.
Leon: "Congrats on the win Kaede."
Kaede: "Mmm"
Violet: "Semi-finals! Exciting~"
Kaede: "Mmm"
They all must've seen seen her demeanor, trying to be positive about this, but none of it seemed to cheer her up. I decided to grab hold of her hand tight, turning my head towards her.
Yui: "Hey, don't worry so much about it. I saw back there that my parents were clapping for me. Plus, It's not like I'm out of the tournament yet, right? I'll just be in the loser's bracket."
Fabian: "That's right. Unlike me who's now out, Ellen's still in."
Kaede: "I guess you're right. I just want you to be free to do what you want, not to be forced into anything."
Yui: "Huh?"
Kaede: "We can talk about it later when we get back."
Yui: "Okay."
I'm curious to know what it is she wants to talk about, but I suppose it can wait till later. I bring our shoulder's together, still smiling until finally I could see the corners of her mouth rise, if only a little.
The matches continued as planned as we took our seats in the viewing area, with me taking my seat next to Kaede. Collin got lucky and faced off against someone other than Violet. Unfortunately, he lost to that same bow wielding girl who uses earth magic. Violet had a fortunate match up against a fire mage, so her water magic made for an excellent counter, although the humidity levels did increase after their match concluded with Violet's win.
Leon's match was already destined to win from the start as light magic is the only magic that can stop physical attacks, at least from what I learnt. From the stuff I learnt from Mai, it seems as though there are many things that we don't know about magic. But Leon won his match easily as he'll also join be joining me for tomorrow's loser's bracket.
Fabian and Collin will sadly have to take their place in the spectators seats tomorrow but for today they were allowed to stay in the room with us to view the remaining matches for today.
Getting back to the dorms, I enter the bedroom with Kaede as I think back on what she meant to talk to me about whilst sitting down on the bed.
Yui: "So? Back at the stadium, what did you want to talk about?"
Kaede: "About?~"
Yui: "How you were saying for me to be free or something."
Kaede: "Oh. Yeah that. I had a talk with Leon during our first matches. He said that nobles tend to have their life set in stone in some way. Like for him he WILL have to marry someone in order for the kingdom to have their next king and queen. But it can't be just anyone, it has to be someone that their parents have to approve."
Interesting that she's bringing this up, I have never heard of something like this but I guess political marriages would be quite common with nobility.
Yui: "And?"
Kaede: "Basically he said that he worries for your future, and when I questioned him about it, he talked about with you unable to use magic, you might not have a choice and be forced to marry someone you don't like. He said that this tournament might be the most important stage in your life."
The thought does seem quite scary, but is it all that bad?
Yui: "If that happens then I'll just run. But hey, I've done pretty well so far in this tournament so I'm sure I'll be fine."
Kaede: "That's why I was conflicted with what to do during our fight. I wanted your parents to see you as an amazing daughter of theirs."
Yui: "Well I'm glad you didn't let me win. Actually, on the topic of our match, I wasn't able to control your light magic."
Kaede: "Really?"
Mai: "Well duh. Light magic isn't something just anyone can control."
Suddenly, Mai joins in the conversation seemingly out of nowhere, startling the both of us. We didn't even hear her make any footsteps or anything.
Yui: "...Well then, what takes someone to wield light magic?"
Mai: "Light magic just takes a lot of mana and control of said mana, which most people don't possess. In your case since you don't have many of your own it will be quite difficult to harness the power of light."
Makes sense, but then how exactly does that work with when I control other people magic. The magic is there right?
Yui: "Then why can I control water magic that someone casted but not light?"
Mai: "That's just simply your control over magic. See light magic is more complex, or dense would be more accurate. There's a lot of information to process unlike the other elements. I heard your still in the experimental phase of your 'mana-less' situation so maybe when you get better at controlling weaker elements you could control higher levels of mana, like light."
Hearing Mai talk about the possibility of me using light magic filled me with excitement. I've only basically learnt about this ability of mine, so maybe when I get better at using it, over time I might be able to control light as well.
Kaede: "What about my other magic?"
Mai: "Your vampiric magic?"
Kaede: "Yes."
Mai: "I highly doubt Yui will be able to control it, since 'dark' magic doesn't manifest in one's vessel. It's unique to monsters, and the magic you are talking about has been pass down by your family. Or well, Selene's family."
Interesting, so dark magic is actually completely different than the rest, it's more part of their nature instead.
We finish our little talk for today as Mai slept in the spare bed, with Kaede and I on the other. I let her drink some of my blood before bed like last time before we fall asleep in each other's arms.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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