The Intra-School Competition’s ranked duels were as much as a contest of strategic skills and physical endurance as it was a contest of the Wielders’ swordsmanship and magical prowess. Participants spent hour after hour of grueling fights, with only fifteen minutes of rest between them, until the official matches ended by noon to be resumed on the next day.

It was a stressful and arduous tournament, and frankly, Estella never saw the appeal in it; only those whose grades were failing dared to participate. Her grades had been consistent, however, so she didn’t had the misfortune to join. She didn’t even watch the matches ever since she had enrolled in the Academy.

Not until Nox had decided to submit his name, at least.

She wasn’t worried; if he could defeat Karsos, all the others were easy for him. Still, it had only been a day since he had won. His body was still recovering, and his wounds weren’t fully healed yet.

“I’ll be fine,” he told her before setting off to the waiting area, not ten minutes ago. His gait, though confident, was subdued, almost as if he was conserving his strength.

Just like during his battle with Karsos, Nox had sealed his mind from the Resonance. But despite that, Estella could detect his general thoughts and emotions. Weariness was prominent, but there was firm determination and resolve that kept it at bay.

Good luck, my squire, she sent through their connection, a repeat of her words before they parted. He wouldn’t hear it, but it was comforting to know that she had said it again before his first match.

Like yesterday, Aldros wheeled her into the tiered seats that ringed the western training grounds. The scars of yesterday’s duel had been repaired throughout the night, and the stage looked as if it hadn’t suffered from the vicious duel that had taken place there.

Nox’s victory was the talk of the entire school and even the villagers who had witnessed the momentous battle. Most were in awe of it, though there were few who were already spreading unsavory rumors about the result—loyalists of Karsos and his family.

Even now, these same people were watching the Ranked Duels, no doubt to fabricate more lies about Nox.

Estella ignored them. The Headmaster had been adamant about the authenticity of the duel’s result. And Karsos, despite the certainty that he wouldn’t graduate this year, had begrudgingly accepted his loss. Nox’s victory couldn’t be contested, especially by people who merely watched from the sidelines.

So instead of dwelling on potential problems that never existed, Estella focused her attention on her squire’s first match.

“Are you sure he’s going to be fine?” Aldros asked from the seat next to her. Erian was with him this time.

“He said he’s going to be.”

“And is he?”

Estella hesitated for a moment. She nodded. “I trust him.”

In the end, her worries were unfounded. The first five matches were short, far shorter than she, and perhaps everyone else, had expected. Nox charged at his opponents swiftly and decisively, ending the duels before they could begin to formulate a plan to defeat him. He never spent more than a minute for each one, and he defeated them without a single spell.

Two more matches later, he advanced to the preliminary rounds.

There were over a hundred participants this year, or so Aldros had told her. One hundred Wielders that Nox would have to face in a span of three days. A challenge far more worrisome than his duel with Karsos, and Estella resisted the urge to shudder at the thought of facing one opponent after another.

And yet this was his squire’s wish. No matter what happened, she knew that the experience would greatly benefit Nox’s improvement—the one thing that every mentor wanted for their student.

So she watched, and she observed. Now that the novices were eliminated, the duels grew harder and harder. Minutes passed without one side yielding. Nox finally utilized his spells, though keeping his attacks simple and swift. His opponents were better, well-trained and educated. And they had obviously studied his attack patterns during the duel yesterday.

The next two matches were nerve-wracking for Estella. For Nox’s every move, his opponents always knew how to counter. It didn’t help that he wasn’t fully healed, and that he was conserving his strength.

But Nox was a determined individual. Estella had known it ever since their first duel. It was why she chose him as her squire, and why she continued to teach him even if he had defeated the one opponent that Estella couldn’t.

So when he won both matches and finally advanced to the quarter finals, she breathed a sigh of relief and her heart sang with joy.

***

“You should drop out from the match tomorrow.”

It was evening, and the moon waxed in the night sky. Sitting on her bed, Estella watched as Nox stiffened beside her.

“Why?” He frowned. “I can still fight. And the elixir they gave me earlier was good.”

“For a competition, yes, it was.” Estella eyed the salves and bandages littering the nearby table. Nox’s previous wounds were already healed thanks to the elixir, but he had acquired new ones in the duels that morning. Fresher wounds, and numerous than before. “But it wasn’t enough to fully heal you.”

Extending a finger, she poked at a bruised spot in his arm where a rock had smashed into him. Nox winced. “See?”

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “I’ll take the elixir tomorrow before my first match of the day.”

Estella crossed her arms and shook her head. “You know it wouldn’t be enough. And the duels will be harder. You’ve already reached this far, Nox. I don’t want you to win only for you to end up crippled or worse.”

“Maiming is prohibited.”

“You’ll maim yourself if you keep fighting long past your own limits.”

“I know my limits, Ella,” he said slowly, almost as if he was choosing carefully how he spoke.

“Yes, you do. But you kept trying to break it just to prove something.” She couldn’t help the edge in her words, nor how she snapped at him.

Nox seemed surprise at her outburst, but his gaze softened almost immediately. Estella looked away as heat suffused her cheeks. She shouldn’t have lost control like that; Wielders, especially Squires, needed to endure the stress and hardships of combat. It was the reason why academies held competitions, after all.

And yet the sight of her own squire barely able to stand after the final duel earlier made her threw logic out of the window. The wounds she couldn’t heal, the bruises she weren’t supposed to treat, the weariness that she could alleviate but was prohibited to—all of them convinced her that the whole thing was useless and only served to boost the participants’ egos. Especially the winners.

 “I’ll make a deal with you,” Nox said. And Estella felt his hand on her shoulder, warm and comforting.

“We already had a deal,” she said, still facing away. “You were only supposed to reach the quarter finals and I’ll grant you a wish.”

“Then my wish is for you to let me fight tomorrow until I could enter the semi-finals.”

“Nox!” She spun around with a hiss, and froze when she realized how very close they were. His warm breath tickled her lips.

Nox drew back immediately, his expression guarded. Estella swallowed the lump in her throat, but listened as he spoke gently, “Grant me this much. I promise I won’t cause you any more trouble after this.”

“Headaches, not troubles,” she grumbled, though a smile graced her lips.

“You agree then?”

Estella still wanted to protest, but how could she refuse that hopeful look in her squire’s eyes? “I’ll let you fight. If you can reach the semi-finals, and if you do, you drop out of the next match. If you can’t win any of the matches before that, and if you find yourself struggling against an opponent, you stop and surrender. Do you promise?”

There was no hesitation, no argument. Nox simply nodded and smiled as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles.

“Promise.”