Chapter 256 - Festival Begins(1)
Chapter 256 – Festival Begins(1)
Days went by.
The students had gotten used to the routine of doing last-minute training and studying the documents given to them by the royal duchess.
After a few days, it was finally time for the event.
A carriage was arranged for them and they entered it.
They were formal attires that had the theme of NIRA, but their battlesuits were packed in a large bag carried by one of the servants.
While in the carriage, Reve made sure to sit beside the small window.
Since there was no one talking due to the tense atmosphere, he kept on looking outside while going through serious thoughts.
'A battle event? Ahh, this is making me both eager and tense–'
One of the students finally asked, "Dean Helias, where is our destination?"
"The only place that can house almost all of Narva's denizens, the royal colosseum!" answered Dean Helias.
The students were dumbstruck.
If before they were agitated, now they were beyond agitated. It finally dawned on them that the whole of Narva will be watching this event.
As the leader, it was Amice's job to quell this negative feeling, "After three participations, I can confidently say that this means nothing. You don't have to think about the spectators. I won't dismiss the pressure on us, but we have to get our heads into the game. Our prime objective is to showcase our true strength. We can't control what is beyond us."
Her words of encouragement managed to invoke a blissful atmosphere. The teachers watching this conversation smiled.
'It was a good decision to pick Amice as their leader,' thought one of them.
Soon, the carriage stopped and the students got down.
They had arrived early in the morning so the place was quiet and only other carriages could be seen here.
As they observed the huge structure that appeared in front of them, some of them noticed that there was someone waiting for them at the entrance of the colosseum.
It was the royal duchess. Three maids stood behind her as she walked closer to the group.
"Finally, you arrived," said Royal Duchess Ryia.
She led the group into the colosseum.
It was huge as expected.
The center held a large field with nothing but brown earth while surrounding it was the circle of seats, divided into different sections.
Royal Duchess Ryia led them to one particular section.
There were other groups dressed in formal attires seated in some of the rows.
Their eyes met the group and a silent fire sparked.
Reve thought to himself as he looked at the theme of their attire, 'Silver background… they are from Narva Academy!'
Apart from them, the other groups seemed to be from smaller academies in Narva so Reve paid little to no attention to them.
To him, except for the prestigious academies, nothing else mattered. That was the sad truth.
However, that did not mean that he would look down on the minor participants.
After the NIRA students settled down on their seats, Royal Duchess Ryia said in a low tone, "The details of the event still eludes me. The king will commence the event in a few hours time. I suggest that you use this time to prepare your mind for any scenario."
"I will be in the royal section. If you need anything, tell my attendants."
She motioned for one of her maids to stay behind while the rest of them followed her back to the place where she sat.
Reve observed that the section was empty with only the royal duchess sitting down.
After a while, lots of people began rushing into the colosseum. Most of them were aristocrats so they filled the upper sections of the colosseum.
Soon, the chatters stopped as a solem footstep could be heard.
A man covered in a silver robe made of fur approached the aristocratic section. His head was raised straight as he walked dignifiedly.
He sat just beside Royal Duchess Ryia. Naturally, his seat was constructed higher than her. In fact, after a momentary observation, Reve discovered that his seat marked the highest seat in the colosseum.
With the way he gathered attention easily and the bearing he exuded which made one want to bow to him naturally, his identity was quite clear.
He was the king of Narva, the supreme head of the royal family!
Two young people stole the crowd's attention from him suddenly.
They possessed the same deep silver hair as the king and the royal duchess. However, they didn't dress just as lavishly as the two.
Rather, they wore the standard formal attire that the Narva Academy students wore.
Feeling their intense aura, Reve realized, 'The prince and princess of Narva. I was wondering when they would show their faces, especially the royal prince, the previous victor of the event.'
If anything, the royal prince was just as Reve expected.
Just by looking at him, his senses got burnt and he could only force himself to look away.
In terms of appearance, the royal prince was a bit similar to Reve, except that he was way leaner. However, that wouldn't make Reve underestimate him.
'I can't get a read on his power. Even when I look at the royal princess, it remains the same issue.'
This only served to put Reve on alert.
He removed his focus on the group and waited for the king to commence the event.
Minutes passed by before the voice of the king reverberated in the colosseum. There was no one that could not hear his autocratic voice clearly.
He held a tiny device in his hands as he spoke, "It was around this time in the Year 610 A.E when the world was ravaged by the fury of the Black Phoenix."
"Her waves of destruction saw no bounds. She consumed the sun and plunged Arcadia into its first eternal darkness. It was said that nothing could stop her and her army of phoenixes. Mortals were nothing more than slaves and the various races were her servants. She drank in the blood of gods and feasted on the flesh of dragons. But we know how the story goes."