Rhapsody (4) [Triple Chapter 2/3]

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(Part 2)

With a speech full of fervor, the students clapped once again this time alongside the members of the faculty and the guests of honor. With that, Provost Albert Morgan joined the ranks of the VIPs alongside the guests and the Deans before signaling the Martial Performance to begin.

The first performance was of student Reginald Ashcroft who will perform a shortsword and shield fight against Richard Marshall from the second year.

Both students entered the performance court together and greeted each other with respect. This bout wasn't a duel about winning and losing but rather a show of skill from the two sides, heavily focusing on letting each other show off how skilled the other is in what can be seen as a sword dance of sorts.

While it seemed less interesting than an actual competition, it is known to almost everyone how fast and deadly a duel can be. It only takes a few instances to land a hit and defeat the opponent while a performance may last for a good few minutes.

The judges took their seats in the performance court and so the bout began.

What was most notable was when the two participants ignited their aura together, each showing off their three bronze star Aura. Two Apprentice Knights of the late stage. It was one thing for Reginald Ashcroft to be a 3-star Apprentice Knight but for Richard Marshall to be that as well, despite being a year younger than Reginald, was pleasantly shocking to the crowd.

The two young men drew their swords, each focusing his aura stars on different parts of his body. Reginald had two on his hands and one on his shoulder while Richard had one on his hand, one on his abdomen, and the last on his right foot.

This showing off of ignition was just to please the crowd but real knights don't deliberately make their aura stars radiate like that since it will expose their next move in most cases. That's why when Richard Marshall, who reinforced his right foot, started to move, he crossed the 10-meter distance between him and Reginald in a single step.

Reginald endured Richard's sword strike with his shield as he reinforced his hand to do that and tried to return an upper strike which Richard parried with his shield as he backed a step. Reginald followed up with a left, right, left, and then lower right before changing the trajectory and fainting a blunt bash with his shield that pushed Richard back.

Making an opening, Reginald went for a stab but Richard simply backed away and broke the engagement to catch a breather.

While the fight just now was careful and calculated between the two, it was nonetheless exciting as all of that only happened in the span of five seconds. It was fast-based, very accurate, and done with real sharp weapons. A martial ballet of fighting choreography.

After around three minutes of constant attacking and defending, the two participants backed out and cleared the stage for the judges to declare their judgment.

The three men simply stared at each other and a second later, Sir Gerald Fitzwilliams spoke up.

"Contestant Reginald Ashcroft, Pass!"

As the pass was declared, Richard and Reginald greeted the judges and greeted one another before retreating from the performance court. It couldn't be more joyous for the two since their performance was so good it set a standard for the ones coming after them.

The following performance was more systematic than exciting and the performers did their best to deserve a warm round of applause and did the following ones until the seven martial performances were over.

What varied between most of the performances, aside from the skillfulness of the performers, was the reaction of the judges. While all the performers passed, they were given a specific score that was recorded by each judge on an official log and it wasn't revealed on the spot. This will be done later this evening with the main grades.

After the martial performance comes the magic performance and even Vivian had to come out from the rehearsal room in order to watch the magic bouts.

The Judges took their seats but this time, a magical artifact was installed near the judges, and its control was given to them. This was a barrier artifact that could envelop the whole performance court in order to prevent any wild magic from getting out and harming an outsider.

As the first bout started, two students stood in front of each other and each of them had his own Magic Ring equipped on their fingers.

One student revealed the ability to summon fog and cloud-like constructs while the other could conjure twilight emissions.

Magic abilities varied greatly. While one can be element-based, others can be rather odd and manipulate any kind of energy. More than just magic, Vivian felt this was almost like Superpowers. Once one awakens a superpower, he gets to be limited to its applications but needs to be creative in order to find versatility.

The fog and twilight were a very odd match-up. While Fog is basically condensed vapor in the atmosphere, its caster could thicken in to be as white as clouds and could shape it into large things like a big arm or a giant made of fog. His attacks were a mix of strong wind and a chilling watery effect.

As for his opponent, he used a rather strange power of manipulating dark light, this twilight had arcane properties that defied sense as if it was eating away its opponent's power but it seemed rather limited at what it could be shaped into and the duration it can be kept up.

The twilight mage cast his magic like bolts but the fog was dense enough to let light pass through and finally cornered the twilight mage into a defensive battle until he was cornered and gave up.

This was an impressive match despite the difficult visibility caused by the fog. It set a large amount of hype for the following bouts.

The second magic bout performers were a conjurer of crystal-like objects, that flew freely and formed rough constructs, and a heatwave manipulator.

The third bout performers were both using sonic attacks in varied ways.

It went so on and so forth until the last bout was over between the Morgan twins. With that, the magic performance was over and it seemed like all the excitement was over but the crowd soon started whispering about Prince Edward the same as it happened in the garden just a few hours ago.

It was known that Crown Prince Liam would perform this year alongside his girlfriend, Lady Matilda, not too long after his engagement was broken. For that, people were expecting him to participate in the Magic Performance and finally show off his true capabilities to the world but that didn't seem to be the case this time around.

He was participating in the Music Performance as it seemed since he hadn't shown up yet. While a bit lackluster, Prince Liam is known to dislike grand appearances or showing off. But what was said after that was revealed afterward was a bit shocking.

"I was anticipating His Highness to finally show us his swordsmanship. I feel like I missed a great opportunity to judge his abilities." Lord Henry Marshall spoke with a hint of disappointment after he returned to the VIP area.

"Heh! Count Henry, you surely jest." Lord Nivel Musgrave replied as he turned towards Lord Henry Marshall, "Surely you and others know that His Highness's skills are considered a national secret."

"Yes, I have heard." Lord Henry Marshall replied as he smiled at the chamberlain of the royal family.

The two lords smiled at one another but it seemed that their eyes didn't reflect their smiles as if there was some wicked power struggle between the two of them.

And with that, the Musical Performance commenced. The judges took their seats with Madame Sophie on the left side, Sir Hans on the right side, and Sir Theodore Nightingale on the middle.

"First Performer Isadora Wellesley accompanied by student Johann Stirling."

As the first student was called, a modest-looking beautiful young lady was accompanied by a young man of the same age. Both of them sat in the performance court's new arrangement, where a multitude of musical instruments were laid out. Of course the students who came in had their own instruments with them. In the case of Isadora, she brought her violin while her partner, Johann, was going to play a piano-like instrument called the Harpsichord.

"Isadora and Johann, mes bons élèves, what will you play?" Madame Sophie asked as the two students took position.

"Sun Serenade, first movement." The girl replied.

"Très bien. Begin." Madame Sophie clapped once as the starting signal.

And so the music started with the support of the musicians who provided background music for the main play. The duet of virtuoso violinist and masterful harpsichordist took the stage. With each stroke and chord, their serenade weaves a tapestry of love and longing, transcending time itself. The music, an enchanting spell, leaves the audience breathless, lost in the ethereal beauty of their performance.

It didn't take long for the crowd to be enthralled by the beauty of the music composed by a certain old man sitting as a judge. He was gray and thin but displayed sharp wits and eccentric love for music.

Sir Theodore Nightingale was the composer of the Sun Serenade and a judge witnessing his piece being beautifully played. And as soon as the music ended, he seemed satisfied and smiled at the performers.

This meant well, this meant really well. Theodore Nightingale was known for his vicious criticism of many things but he was a selfish man in regards to his own music, praising his own work without restraint. Why not, since he is the most talented musician in this era?

The second performance began and another piece of Sir Theodore's making was played. The Echoes of Trumpets and Horns was an angelic piece that he made for the Temple of Saints years ago and it is considered to be one of the most played pieces during Temple Prayers after those of Saint Amadeus.

The remaining performances were all the same. The best pieces crafted by Theodore Nightingale. It made the other two judges, whose works are also world-renowned, roll their eyes at how narrow-minded their friend and colleague can be. That, until the sixth performance where even Theodore Nightingale had to stand up for the one entering the performance court.

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