Mio moved first.

She pulled an arrow from her quiver in one smooth motion, nocked it, and released almost instantly. The wooden-tipped arrow cut through the air straight toward my chest.

At the same time, Ken rushed me from the side.

He wasn’t using his bow like a normal Ranger at all. He held a single arrow in one hand almost like a dagger while sprinting directly at me.

I quickly stepped sideways, barely avoiding Mio’s shot as it flew past my shoulder, and fired a small Fireball toward Ken.

The flame shot across the arena with a sharp hiss.

Ken ducked low without slowing down at all.

"Seriously?!" I shouted.

"Yep!" he yelled back cheerfully.

He closed the distance frighteningly fast and slashed at me with the arrow like it was a knife. I twisted away from the strike and grabbed his wrist before he could pull back. Acting mostly on instinct, I kicked the side of his leg.

Ken lost balance immediately and dropped onto one knee.

"Okay, rude," he complained.

With his free hand, he grabbed another arrow and swung upward toward my ribs.

I leaned backward hard enough that I nearly lost balance myself, the wooden tip missing my chest by inches. Before he could recover, I drove my forehead straight into his face.

Thunk.

"At least take me to dinner first, Ace," Ken groaned while clutching his nose.

I glanced behind him toward Mio. "Sure. Eat this."

I released his wrist and rolled sharply to the side. An arrow whistled past where my head had been a second earlier.

"What the hell?"

The wooden tip smacked directly into Ken’s forehead.

"Ow! Friendly fire!"

He toppled sideways dramatically and collapsed onto the sand.

I barely had time to react before another arrow came flying toward me from behind. Mio had already repositioned while I was distracted dealing with Ken.

The arrow struck my shoulder hard enough to make me stumble backward.

Pain shot through my arm instantly.

"Ah, shit!"

Before I could regain balance, another arrow clipped my thigh. The impact wasn’t sharp like a real arrow would’ve been, but it still hurt badly enough to throw me off balance completely.

I crashed onto the sand beside Ken with an exhausted groan.

For a moment, all I could see was the evening sky above the arena walls.

"...That actually hurt," I muttered.

"No kidding," Ken groaned beside me while rubbing his forehead. "I think she gave me brain damage."

"You didn’t have much to lose," Mio replied dryly as she approached us.

She stopped over us with her bow resting casually against her shoulder. Standing there under the moonlight, she honestly looked less like a student and more like someone who hunted monsters for a living.

She exhaled slowly and shook her head. "Wow," she said. "We are genuinely terrible."

I stared up at her from the ground. "Yep. Absolutely doomed."

"I think we lasted, what, twenty seconds?" Ken added.

"Less," Mio said.

"Fantastic."

Ken sat up first and dusted sand off his uniform. "I mean, technically this is still valuable experience, right?"

"That wasn’t experience," Mio replied. "That was a public execution."

I snorted despite myself and pushed myself up off the ground, rubbing my sore shoulder.

The arrow shots honestly stung more than expected. My body still wasn’t used to this world’s combat training. Everyone here treated fighting like second nature while I still mentally flinched every time something came flying toward my face.

Mio lowered her bow and pointed at us. "Alright. Team change."

Ken blinked. "Already?"

"Yes. Ace and Ken together this time."

"And you?" I asked.

She tilted her head slightly. "You’ll both fight me."

Ken immediately pointed at her. "See? This is exactly why she scares me."

"You should be scared," Mio replied calmly.

I looked between the two of them and sighed.

Yeah.

Tomorrow’s tournament practice was going to be a disaster.

ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎

I stepped through the academy gates and glanced back over my shoulder. Guards were everywhere.

Not just the usual few standing around either.

More had been stationed near the walls, beside the gates, along the paths, and even near the rooftops overlooking the courtyard. Some wore heavier armor than the academy guards normally did, carrying long spears and shields marked with the royal crest.

They were taking security seriously.

Probably because of the elf they caught near the academy grounds yesterday.

Just thinking about it made me uneasy. An actual elf sneaking around this close to the academy sounded like the beginning of a disaster. If the stories about the war were even half true, then one enemy slipping inside a place full of students could end horribly fast.

Still, something about it bothered me.

Why target the academy specifically?

This place was packed with combat instructors, veteran guards, and those terrifying S-class students who could probably wipe out entire groups on their own. Attacking somewhere like this didn’t sound smart at all.

Which meant there had to be another reason.

Something about it smelled wrong.

"Gods. My arms are killing me," Ken groaned while walking beside me. "Mio worked us like slaves yesterday. Ugh..."

"Tell me about it," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. "My shoulders still hurt."

Ken stretched both arms above his head and winced immediately afterward. "I think she enjoys violence."

"She definitely does."

"At least she didn’t use real arrows."

I snorted quietly. "Pretty sure she considered it."

We climbed the academy steps together and passed through the large double doors leading inside. Students were already crowding the entrance hall even though there was still some time left before the first class started.

Coming early had been Ken’s idea. Apparently, according to him, "serious students" gathered before classes to study and discuss tactics.

Personally, I thought serious students needed hobbies.

"Let’s sit by the elder tree," Ken suggested.

"Sure."

We found an empty table beneath the massive tree that stood at the center.

Students sat everywhere.

Some occupied benches while others leaned against pillars or gathered around tables in groups. Most of them were talking intensely among themselves, occasionally gesturing dramatically while discussing formations, spells, or weapons.

And almost every group had five members. Tournament teams. Guess everyone was taking this seriously because the Queen would be watching the practice matches today.

Ken dropped into his chair with a loud exhale and tilted his head back dramatically.

"I feel like we’re going to get absolutely destroyed," he announced.

"Yep."

"In front of the Queen, too. That’s the worst part."

"Also yep."

Ken opened one eye and looked at me. "Should we fake our deaths?"

"That might actually be less painful."

"I knew you’d understand me."

Despite the joke, my stomach tightened a little. I genuinely did not care about this tournament.

If it were up to me, I would’ve skipped the whole thing entirely and stayed far away from an arena full of overpowered academy students trying to impress royalty.

Unfortunately, the Queen herself had ordered me to participate. Refusing that sounded like an excellent way to disappear mysteriously. So here I was. Forced into a tournament I didn’t want, with a team that barely functioned, while pretending I had any idea what I was doing.

Fantastic.