Chronicles of the Red Sovereign

So, the banquet was quite something. I guess only Aunt Zaira would actually dare do something like that considering who were present during the banquet, but it was quite interesting. I don’t think the others liked it but she was one of those who did not care.

And so, the second day of the Grand Academy Games had come, and the events would finally be formally starting!

For the morning schedule of the second day, there was Relay Race followed by Archery Quiz.

For Relay Race, which would be held in Anatoli Stadium, east of Azte City, our team’s participants were Senior Trent, Senior Daniel and Freya.

The race was a standard one, which basically tested one’s speed, but a baton would be passed from one runner to another at a certain point in the track. It was one of the oldest games in the world and was still played in the present.

I think it was the national game of some country in the Eastern Continent or something. I can’t really remember.

And since I wasn’t one of the participants of the event, I could only be a spectator.

Without doubt, Seniors Trent and Daniel, and Freya were the fastest among us. There was also Torii but she was more on the side of agility, flexibility and power than speed, so there was that.

I watched the event with my friends and I actually enjoyed it! I got a little on edge with all the shouting inside the stadium but hearing the cheers, supporting the players especially from our team, made me smile.

Bernard, Thomas and Peter even made a bet of who would win. Bernard chose the players from Sky Magic Academy from the Yamato Islands Union, Thomas chose Retoulis Royal Academy (he said they had really fast runners), while Peter chose to support our team. A very loyal man indeed.

In the beginning of the race, Senior Trent shot forward from the starting point with the baton at hand.

For the G.A. Games’ Relay Race, the runners are supposed to pass the baton they have at hand to the next runner, but the baton has its own surprises and they must never let go of the baton or they would have to return at the beginning.

I couldn’t tell or see what sort of surprises the baton had in the middle of the race but I could see aura gathering at Senior Trent’s hand, protecting his hand from whatever it was.

He reached the second point where Senior Daniel was waiting and he successfully took the baton from the lightning magus knight, continuing the race.

My eyes were glued to Senior Daniel as he dashed on the track. I noticed a few runners also catching up to them but Senior Daniel was persistent.

Finally, he reached the point where Freya was waiting and passed the baton to the wind mage.

The third runner had the longest route so Freya had to run longer. I couldn’t help but be agitated as I watched since the runner from Retoulis was catching up to her at an insane speed!

I saw the baton suddenly burst into fire and Freya almost lost her hold to it, but thankfully, she managed to catch it before it further fell to the ground. But that little mishap ended up to her behind the runner from Retoulis.

Once the Race Relay ended, Retoulis Royal Academy took the first place while Praiji Imperial Academy was second. The Pisma Academy of Magic took the third place.

When I met up with my teammates, I saw the three runners apologizing to the rest of us, for ending in second place. I could see Senior Trent being the guiltiest since he was our team leader.

“It’s fine.” said Senior Leo who was acting as our tournament manager. “It’s only the first games. Right now, Retouli might have twenty points and we have a total of thirteen points but I’m pretty sure we can catch up. There’s still Archery Quiz, Hunting and Firefly today. We just have to rake a lot of points for it.”

“Senior Leo is right.” added Senior Anastasia. “Don’t be guilty Trent. We’ll just get more points during those events.”

“It’s my turn for Archery Quiz.” Senior George inserted. “Wish me luck okay?”

***

Archery Quiz. It’s a combination of archery and a quiz, hence the name. A question would be read out loud by the speaker and choices would be flashed all throughout the stadium. The participant must shoot their answer with a magic arrow. If they shot the correct answer, they’d receive a point but if they were wrong then there would be no points. The quiz would range from any subject, from history, to magic theories and even common subjects, so the participants must be really smart.

Senior George is smart. He’s just too lazy at times.

Anyway, Archery Quiz is divided into three categories; Average, Intermediate and Difficult, with a point system of 1, 3 and 5 points respectively. But the first one to hit their target correct answer will have two extra points. Average questions will have twenty questions, Intermediate have ten, while Difficult will have five questions.

The one with the highest score will be ranked first.

At least that was the rundown I was given about Archery Quiz.

And I am proud to say that we aced Archery Quiz with two hundred five points!

Senior George really was smart and both his archery skills and speed were no joke. I watched Senior George run around the stadium to search for the correct answers and shoot it! It was a spectacle! Although he wasn’t the first one to answer every time, he only had one mistake in both Intermediate and Difficult!

“Wow. I want to be just like him.” I heard Kai mutter beside me.

-Right. He’s an archer as well.

Unfortunately, Retoulis Royal Academy was still in the lead with the total points of two hundred twenty-three. They were ahead with five points. It was only a small difference but still sort of agitating.

Not to mention I was a little miffed about Andrei from that team.

“Next is Hunting! Let’s rake some points and shoot up in the ranks!” announced Senior Trent in which we all cheered.

But first, lunch break.

My team members and I gathered in one room to discuss our strategy for the next event, Hunting, which would be held in the afternoon. Nobody knew the mechanics and rules for the event so we were discussing initial plans.

Only five representatives can participate during Hunting and those were Trent, Anastasia, George, Daniel and me. The last two, Freya and Torii, would be participating in the event Firefly which would be held in the evening.

“Torii, Freya, makes sure to get some rest and don’t exhaust your magic power for tonight’s event.” Senior Trent said in which the two nodded. “Luna, the event will be held in the Celestial Territory’s forest so I will leave navigation to you.”

“Yes Senior Trent.”

Hunting would be held in a chosen and secured area in the Celestine Territory. I couldn’t be more glad we had the terrain advantage, but considering Aunt Zaira was the overseer of the event, she probably planned a lot of things which I’m pretty sure would go out of control.

“Luna, you and Senior Anastasia will be placed in front while Daniel and I will be placed in the rear. Senior George will follow us at a considerable distance. We will leave long-distance attacks to you.”

“Got it!”

“We will be given an hour before Hunting begins later so we can make further plans then.”

-I hope things will go well in this.

I definitely shouldn’t have thought that.