Lined in Silver and Gold

Chapter 9

 The instructor led us to a larger field in between the male and female training field. It looked like a giant arena with multiple stands on opposite sides.

That's strange.

The number of stands seemed like overkill when you consider the number of instructors and specialists in the Academy. Aesthetics maybe? Too curious, I turned back towards the instructor and gestured toward the stands.

"What's up with those stands, do we have an audience or something?"

The instructor turned to look towards the objects in question. "Ah." He smacked his head in an exaggerated display of regret and then grinned. "I forgot to mention that this tournament is open to the public as long as they pay the entrance fee."

At this Cadius piped up, clearly excited by the prospect of having a larger audience.

"You mean the city will be watching the competition?"

"Yeah, it's gonna be a whole weekly event filled with foods and drinks all around. The money gained from these tournaments will go into a grand prize pool for the top students. The winners won't pocket the prize directly, but the school will allow you to buy almost any artifact or study material with it," he explained.

Dang, he really got my hopes up. The city nearby was wealthier than most due to their closeness to the quarry and mines, but they lacked entertainment. It's essentially guaranteed that these weekly tournaments will generate a large and consistent stream of revenue for the Academy. I sort of hoped that they would be more lenient with the prize pool since the freedom of spending that amount of money would be more enticing. Still a good prize nonetheless.

We waited in the fields until the other instructors arrived with their batch of students. Dozens upon dozens of groups came, filling the field. This was really looking like a tournament since all students of all ages were here. I thought for a moment about how this tournament may be unfair for the underclassmen, but rationalized that it would be a good experience for them.

The final group that came were archers. They were always considered to be the lamest of all the combat classes in the school. The girls and boys of the archer class were mixed together, and they didn't really practice any fighting besides shooting at the school range. They wouldn't be participating in the tournament fighting due to obvious reasons. Instead, they would be having an archery competition off the side of the field. There was a clear lack of stands near the archery field.

With those exceptions aside, all other students would be allowed to participate.

The instructors got out a large tub filled with numbered tokens and lined up the students to be given a turn to choose a token randomly. The token would be used to determine our opponents in the first round. I got number 24.

Token in hand, I looked around surveying the students as the other students to finish drawing their numbers. I didn't really concern myself with any underclassmen, but the 7th and 8th years would be tough. A whole year or two of additional training was quite the advantage.

As I scrutinized the potential opponents sprawling about the field, a flash of silver drew my attention. Clad in leather armor and thick boots, ,the girl had selected her token and was heading back to her group. I stared and gazed at each of her steps before I grew conscious of my overt actions. I quickly glanced around me to ensure that no one noticed it.

Come to think of it, I never got her name. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. That isn't important right now, focus on the tournament.

I looked around, watching my group idly chatting with each other. It was mostly trivial matters to ease their nerves, but nothing else. I ignored them and continued to study the surrounding area. The flier said that the event would last for about four hours: from seven to eleven. We still had an hour till the tournament but given the time it takes to organize such a large event, I knew all the time was necessary. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if we get behind schedule. Still, despite the rushing instructors, the entire process was boring, especially since my group was allowed to draw the tokens early. We would stand here for the entire duration, doing nothing but watch the line of students slowly get smaller. There were also a few stands being set up but they were too far for me to make out its contents.