R-S Chapter 12 (Patreon)

I didn’t take part in the first contest so I didn’t know what to expect. I felt apprehensive as we were led out of the city and to the nearby forest. Everyone knew monsters lived in the forest… I guess we did have a bunch of people who could burn the forest to the ground with little effort but it was a built-in wariness from people constantly telling you about the danger of the woods.

Well, nothing bad happened the first time so the chances of something bad happening this time are low. We were playing capture the flag between us, the infiltrators, the magic warriors, and the healers were nearby to heal anyone who got hurt. It was a three-way competition as the support magic specialists didn’t have enough people to compete.

It was a capture-the-flag event where each team had to not only attempt to get the other two teams' flags but also defend their own. Judging by the lack of coordination, both teams most likely targeting the mages, and the inability to cast offensive spells I could understand why the mages lost. To me, the event seemed heavily weighted against the mages, most likely because it was.

The competition seemed heavily skewed towards the warriors. Infiltrators were a mix of physical and magical but neither we nor them could compete with the people who were pure physical in a contest like this. They were not only more physically fit baseline but they put three times as much magic capacity towards cycling in their bodies than mages do.

Our weapons were limited as well, the wooden focus we had was far, far weaker making casting magic even harder. I was completely limited in what was possible because of it, if I hadn’t practiced three months longer then I wouldn’t have been able to cast anything. I had enough to cast manipulate earth or wind blade but I couldn’t cast wind blade as it was an offensive spell. Even if I could cast it, the armor the other teams were wearing would completely absorb it.

I finally bothered to learn everyone's name. The girl from the Ash family was Clarabelle, Queeny was her bodyguard and the only person whose name I actually remembered as Clarabelle said it any time they talked. She had blonde curly hair and a small tight body while her bodyguard had a larger frame and much bigger breasts.

Frey Blaire was the black-haired pretty boy, a fire mage like most and possibly the strongest mage in the classes. He was also the one who warned me to leave and I thought he was bullying me before. The facade of indifference was seen through and looking at the situation more… I think he was gay, which was fine with me. I had no problems with gay people just… I think he might have had a crush on me now that I thought about it. I wasn’t gay in the slightest and as long as he didn’t make a move I would be fine with him.

Julius Gallant was the skinnier black-haired youth whose family focused on physical training as well. He must have been an outlier of his own family as most were big strong men or muscle mommies. I saw his sister come back from the war and the parade she led had her and many other magic warrior women behind her. She waved and I swear she met my eyes and smirked, but that could have just been my imagination. I never met her and didn’t even know her name.

Arthur Oak was the last person I remembered. A shorter boy who was part of the wood specialist family. With a heavy emphasis on earth magic, he left the least impression on me. Right now he might have been able to do the most to protect the flag but it appeared he didn’t want to use any of his family's specialty magic unless it was an emergency. He began to create earth walls but it was a means to an end, they could just go around them or eventually smash through them. I think Brutus might be able to vault the wall.  

The handful of other mages weren’t worth learning about in my mind. Either they were from minor families or just left less of an impression than even Arthur did on me. The girls were average in appearance while the boys could be lost in a crowd, none of them stood out besides the five I bothered to remember.

The fighting for leadership finally began as Clara spoke. “Listen, we need to prepare. Does anyone have water spells they can use to soften the ground? It’ll make defending the flag easier for the people on defense.” No one spoke up before Frey interjected. “If my group takes out the infiltrators, do you think the rest of you can outlast the magic warriors?”

In a monotone voice, Julius spoke next. “We should all defend at first, it’ll allow us to counterattack in full force after we repel the first wave.” Everyone ignored him as I heard Oak yell. “Great, with these walls made we can just sit back and protect the areas that they tear down!” 

With everyone doing their own thing, no one except me noticed the group sneaking up behind us. They’d have had to run all the way around us to approach from that angle but it was completely defenseless and unguarded. I grabbed the flag from the ground and ran through the crowd. Everyone looked confused at me as I yelled out. “Behind us!”

I can’t help but cackle maniacally. The mages would be taken out before the fight even started if I wasn’t here. Once the flag was touched by the other team that team would be taken out of the competition. I hadn’t met anyone from the infiltrators but it was clear that they knew what they were doing. We were left completely on the defensive as they began to beat the shit out of the mages.

All of the students forgot how to cast spells in the heat of battle and got their shit absolutely rocked. The weapons were made of wood but they would still hurt to get struck by. I now see why there was a mercy rule that if a person knelt or fell down they wouldn’t be attacked. Clara and Queeny were the only two to be capable of fighting back in the back line.

I sprinted towards the wall before stabbing the flag into the ground and pole-vaulting over it. I was about to make my way and hide in the trees hoping to buy us time to make a comeback but I landed in between the magic warriors who were moving along the wall to ambush the mages from the other direction. I managed to get five steps away before I got dog piled.

We lost even with me avoiding the infiltrators, I just bought the mages enough time to get beaten. I laughed as I looked at Brutus. “Well, well, well.” I smirked at him before saying. “Most of the infiltrators are on the other side of this wall. Now’s your chance to go get their flag.” We were led outside the area as our teacher sighed. “This happens every single year and it’s a good lesson. Just because you can cast spells doesn’t make you invincible. All that training and only a few of you are walking away without any bruises. Mages are the target everyone is going to go for first.”