The televisions displaying the live footage changed, turning into a view from an overhead drone as it slowly sweeped over a group of students. Their gray-blue uniforms instantly identified them to Zoe, even without needing the text that appeared at the bottom of the screen.
“Faultline School for the Magically Adept participated in last year’s tournament. Well known for being a highly disciplined academy, their students took the tournament by storm and won decisively.”
The camera panned over each of the three students walking out of the dueling hall. Each wore a large, high-peaked cap on their head. That combined with their sleek uniforms made them look like they were straight from a mundane military academy.
A name appeared along with each person, but Zoe decided not to comment on the individual level unless Hank made a motion to do so. She honestly didn’t know enough about the foreign students to speak on them for any length of time. Not to mention the fact that without names on the screen, it was doubtful that anyone besides their mothers would recognize them. Identical uniforms. Identical hats. Even identical hairstyles.
She could, however, speak generally.
“All ten of their students are in their sixth year of schooling, making them the oldest students able to participate.”
“The older they are, the more unique magic they can learn, right?”
“Indeed. Though only fielding three students at the moment, I expect to see all four elements of magic used between them. They may offer us some excellent uses of less common magic as well. Order shields and perhaps even short-range blinking.”
As she finished speaking, the drone flew off towards another group of students walking out of the dueling hall.
“Isomer Holy Academy,” Zoe said, identifying the pure white uniforms before the name could appear on the screen. “A school primarily operated by members of the Elysium Order, a group dedicated to hunting down undead such as zombies and animated skeletons.”
Hank made a slight choking noise but didn’t actually manage to get any real words out.
So Zoe just went on talking.
“I don’t imagine that they will be facing many challenges along those lines as raising the undead is typically grounds for having a bounty placed on your head. Not to mention that it is a fairly tasteless act.”
“I can imagine,” Hank said, looking a little green around the gills.
Speaking of undead, Zoe thought, pressing her lips together into a thin line as she saw who was leading out the next group of students.
“The Nod Complex for the Supernatural is one of the few magical academies to enroll non-human students, along with Brakket Academy. I should mention for your viewers’ sakes that the other academies are generally not racist against non-humans. Most non-humans have their own unique brand of magic they practice, leading to a lack of applicants. The Nod Complex has spent a great deal of money designing their facility with unique infrastructure required to support beings of other races.”
Hank stared at the screen for a moment before reading something off a smaller display hidden among the refreshments on the table.
“Caithe,” he said slowly. “The one in the middle. I don’t mean to be rude, but is she made of plants or merely wearing them as decoration?”
Zoe leaned forwards slightly, watching the larger camera. As it switched off the vampire and on to the pale-green skinned woman, she nodded her head. “A dryad,” she said. “The white leaves making up her hair are indeed part of her, though I’m not sure about the cattails. They may be purely for decoration.
“The one behind her,” Zoe continued, “is an elf. The pointed ears, narrow eyebrows, and thin chin are telltale signs.”
“And the one in front?”
“Possibly a human,” Zoe lied.
Serena had told her about how romanticized vampires were in modern mundane media. She did not want to set off a million teenagers on a quest through dark alleys in some attempt to become a vampire.
“Not all non-humans have obviously distinguishing characters,” she said after a moment of silence. “The Nod Complex does enroll humans as well as non-humans, so it shouldn’t be surprising.”
“Well,” he said as the camera shifted on to the next group of students, “I think the dryad is surprising enough at the moment.” He said the word unnaturally, though not necessarily in a disrespectful manner. Merely an unfamiliar one.
He definitely had questions. Zoe could see it in his eyes.
But she was already moving on to introduce the next school.
“Mount Hope Academy,” she said as three younger-looking students walked out of the dueling hall. “I believe all three of those students are fourth years. To be selected, they must be quite capable. I look forward to seeing them in action.”
She really didn’t have much more to say about the school or its students. None of the three were familiar to her, even when their names popped up on the screen. The school itself was… average. Though she thought for a few moments, she couldn’t think up a single interesting fact about them.
If she were honest with herself, she wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing them fight. It was highly doubtful that they would perform well. Mount Hope had two fifth years on the team with the rest being sixth years. Perhaps they had decided to send in their worst three students, hoping to gain an advantage in the second event with their best.
None of them looked all that confident either.
At the same time, she almost wished that the camera had lingered on them just a few moments longer before flying over to Brakket’s students.
“Brakket Magical Academy,” she said, trying to ignore Hank’s wide open jaw upon seeing Eva.
Despite repeatedly telling Zoe that she hadn’t wanted to participate, Eva was actually smiling at the camera.
A wide, tooth-filled smile.
Zoe had to resist pressing her hand to her forehead. Eva’s face would be the first student from Brakket that everyone in the world saw. And she was deliberately making herself look unnerving.
An idle part of her mind wondered how Anderson was reacting. Being press-ganged into the tournament was probably why Eva was acting how she was in the first place.
“You said that Brakket Academy accepted non-humans,” Hank said before Zoe could continue introducing the school. “I take it that the girl in the front is not.” His words came slow as if he were trying to pick them with extreme care.
Zoe decided to save him from trying to figure out a proper question.
“Believe it or not, Eva was born a human. Beyond that, it really isn’t my story to tell. Something fairly personal happened to her. If she wishes to divulge it, that will be her choice.”
“I see,” he said, unable to keep the dissatisfaction out of his voice.
“Brakket Academy is fielding the youngest students in this tournament. Two third years, though only one of them is participating in this event.”
Behind Eva, Randal Hemwick and Rachael Davis followed.
Together, with the candidates from the other schools, they lined up before a large wooden stage. The judges were seated atop on one side while the headmasters of each school were seated on the other. Wallace Redford, who had been sitting in the very center, stood and moved to the front podium.
All the cameras focused on him.
He ignored the hovering drones in favor of looking over the students.
“The event will soon begin. Lots will be drawn to determine your starting location,” he said, holding up a large colored marble. “There are seven starting locations with a maximum of three students per location. Each student will pick one marble. You may find yourself among friends from your own school, but you’ll likely find yourself with an opponent.”
He paused for a moment. The cameras switched to a wide shot of all the students.
Zoe watched their expressions. Specifically, Eva’s still-wide smile. She didn’t flinch in the slightest. Of course, if she had Arachne on her, she would have very little need to fear starting with even two opponents.