Rahul and Razvan finally made it to the final ten rounds of the Barraks Cup, so the team could cheer for four of their members in the final days of the Cup. These duels were already among the best of the best. The competitors of the large groups who stood out from the crowd for everyone. Of the four remaining members of the Athamanas, Suk was the first to step onto the stage, against a summoner.
"Before you begin." Professor Biaskoncy stopped Suk. "You can use the techniques I taught you, but I would like you to let him win."
"Why?" The Zovárd boy frowned.
"All the techniques used by the winner of the Barracks Cup are written in the Cups' rule book. The guild's techniques, however, are ones that should not see the light of day. I know you could defeat the little summoner, but as your mentor, I must ask you to lose the duel." The guild leader said seriously, causing Suk to grin.
"But I'll fuck him up first." He sraightened himself out before leaving the teacher behind and marching into the arena, so he didn't see Biaskoncy smiling contentedly after him.
True to his words, Suk put the summoner's nerves on edge when, immediately after the duel began, he disappeared from sight among the artificial rocks and landmarks placed in the arena to increase excitement. The duel itself lasted for an hour and by the end, the summoner's otherwise pale yellow clothes were stained with brown and red, while the loser Suk, left the arena with only one limping leg.
"I didn't think he would beat you." Benkó shook his head.
"That's what it is, there's nothing to be done." Suk waved a hand as the team headed off to have lunch before the next duel.
"You're not even limping, Zovárd!" Achilleus blinked, when the team was halfway to their favorite dining spot.
"Of course not. He let the summoner win." Teveli remarked, as if nothing could have been more natural.
"But why?" Citar grimaced.
"Because Biaskoncy said so, who am I to question him?" The boy shrugged, to which the team responded with a unanimous shout of "Zovárd!".
The next member of the Athamanas took to the stage the next day. This time, Razvan had to fight the only priest apprentice who had made it into the top ten competitors. The duel itself, as it usually began with close combat, the pair landed quite a few blows on each other until the priest apprentice jumped back a huge amount, then raised his hands in the air and began to chant something. Razvan just stood there and blinked in front of him, but no one knew what had happened.
"Well, let's see how you find me now, Easterner." The priest apprentice laughed, and Razvan lowered his head and started giggling. "What's so funny?" He got the question, but the word immediately stuck in the priest apprentice when Razvan grabbed his throat.
"This is a very clever curse, let's see how you deal with it?" The question came, and Razvan pushed the boy away from him, who suddenly jerked his head left and right.
"What's going on here?" The priest apprentice asked in a trembling voice.
"What? You don't like that you're energy blind? I was even kind, unlike you. You completely blinded me, I'll let you see like my family does." Razvan chuckled.
"No, no, no." The priest apprentice cried. Then a game of cat and mouse began, which ended with Razvan clicking his fingers and looking up at the grandstand, not even paying attention to the crying priest boy.
"We're out!" He exclaimed.
"Why? If I see correctly, you won." The announcer noted, to which Razvan laughed and shook his head.
"We cheated. Both of us. His Holiness, the future preacher, gave me permission to read the rule book of the Barracks Cup. We used forbidden magic." He announced, then without a further word left the arena.
"Did you seriously make him a Zaukán Tapló boss? Given that you unlike your relatives can see?" Rahul slapped the boy in the side.
"Only the Athamanas and Master Mo know that I can see. I know how to fight as an energy seer, that's how I was taught. Unlike him." The team leader smiled faintly.
"Then why did you turn the curse back on him?" Citar scratched his head.
"Because as I said, he really cheated." Razvan shrugged, which made the team no longer care about the matter and return to watching the duels.
Like the Athamanas and all the students and teachers working at Floating Air Barracks, Tele Tete was also on leave for the Barracks Cup, although unfortunately he could not spend his free time doing what he wanted. All this because Director Weruh had appointed him as the security supervisor for the Barracks Cup duels. So he had to watch each and every duel with a sharp eye.
In his opinion, he was lucky that he had at least received clues to complete the task, so at least he knew that he did not have to do anything until he saw that the lives of the participants were at stake. He was not responsible for fair duels, which is why he did not stop the duel between Razvan and the little priest apprentice earlier. The life of both of the competitors were safe. It wasn't his job to notice that one of them was cheating.
He had just thought that he would have nothing to do during the entire Cup, because who would try to beat someone to death in such a child's game, which most resembled the Heginjülin. However, to his greatest surprise, this duel was much rougher than it should have been. After the first few minutes, he stood in the door, something whispered to him in his mind that all was not well with the taller swordsman's energies.
And his intuition seemed to be confirmed when the shorter boy, due to a blow reinforced with a stone, flew so far that if Tele Tete hadn't caught the child, he would have been impaled on one of the wooden pillars. The hegin man simply took the child to the healers standing at the entrance, then spoke with a faint smile.
"I'll take this, kid." As soon as he said this, he rushed back into the arena and, ignoring the incomprehensible sounds of the crowd, broke the nose of the taller, standing swordsman, who took two steps back, then dropped to one knee and his figure began to tremble. First his skin color changed, then his height grew.
"As I guessed." The hegin man grimaced. "You are too weak to be a daimon or a demon, but too strong for an average human. Half-demon, right?" He inquired and jumped out of the way of a blow, and then a few more. Before he could try to land a blow himself. However, his attack bounced off the half-demon like an arrow bounces off a rock face, no matter how much force or what weapon he attacked with.
"Congratulations, I haven't spoken to her in years and I really didn't feel like doing it now, but you leave me no choice." He sighed before taking a deep breath.
"Alkekengi!" He shouted, but so loudly that the entire arena heard it and Teveli immediately leaned forward to get a better look.
"He summons his ghost." He explained to his friends at the sight of their questioning eyes, so that all members of the Athamana were curiously staring at the hegin standing motionless with closed eyes. Barely a minute passed when Tele Tete opened his eyes, which, unlike the previous green, had become a blood red color.
"Is that really why you called me here? I was about to fall asleep." A distinctly female voice came out of the man's mouth. "Haven't they ever told you it's not proper to wake a lady?" He clasped his hands on his hips, then smiled wickedly. "I think I'd better teach you some manners. The sooner I can leave Teveli here, the better. I need my beauty sleep."