"Alright. At last, we are all together."
It was perhaps a miracle that every single person from our house made it to the third round of the competition.
It was practically unprecedented that all members of a houser had managed to pass the first and the second round of the annual alchemy competition of the Principality, and, even if we just take into consideration that at least two of three people from the other houses from our school could not make it, this achievement had earned us quite a lead from the people of the other houses.
But, this was just the start for us.
"Captain… what are we going to do now?"
"I heard this day would be a completely free competition where the participants, the groups. And the individuals could make anything they wanted depending on the given theme.
I have heard the judgement of this competition will be much more different and difficult from what it usually is."
"I have heard only a few hundred people will pass the three rounds and in the fourth round, perhaps only around a hundred people will be around."
"I am afraid master…"
"Can we really… beat those people?"
Their concerns and anxiety were obvious. This was their first time in a competition of this scale and still they had managed to pass the first day so, it was at least commendable.
They were talented people, certainly, and they were trained by one of the best in the world perhaps, so, there was no way they would just fall behind in any way.
They were just worried, and, as their captain, this was my moment to suck out all that worries and uncertainty and remind them what was told to us by our captain and vice captain…
However, there was another way to cherry them up.
I called them up with a happy voice and they looked at me with surprise.
They were all worried while I was just smiling at them, something unexpected from their side, but something they could understand instinctively.
'They knew I was good enough to be on the level of the people that were currently just flowing whistles or checking their advanced equipment. They knew I was called a prodigy for a reason, and after everything that happened in the last round, they were looking up to me even more.'
They were glad I was on their side and that I was their captain, they were glad that they had someone that was as great as the people that the world praised as the Masters and the Grandmasters, however, this was still in no way the right attitude fro someone that 'he' has trained.
"Do you see the True Dragons over there with their captain? How do they look?"
The True Dragons were the top house, they had been the top house for centuries now, and still… right now, in this computation where our house had all the members that were participating, they had lost four of their members, two were even the main alchemists that they were going to depend on.
"Now that I look at them, don't they look anxious?"
"I think they are afraid. Their morals look all over the place."
"Look at that girl. Isn't she a ranker? Why is she shaking like that?"
"Because that is the normal reaction a 'student' would have in this situation."
Everyone here had to understand one thing… we were better than every single person from our school, as well as many that had trained for centuries and decades in this art.
"They are afraid. They are uncertain. They don't have faith. They don't even have hope that they will pass this round. Just losing a few members had felt that kind of mental blow to them, and that isn't all."
Their captain, Captain Alpha was with them right now and they still were in that state. This clearly showed just how much they all had fallen behind the others after losing some of the main forces that their formations and strategies might have been going to revolve around.
They could recover from that state by the time the round started since their captain was with them, however, they were in a dismay right now even though they had their captain.
"We are here by ourselves. They have their captain. And still, we are doing much better than them. What do you think that means?"
"What does that mean…?"
"What are you talking about, captain?"
"Could it be that captain… you are saying since they are in that state even though they have their captain with them, they have already lost the round?"
"Correct. However, not just the round, it showed how their captain couldn't properly manage the will of his house members."
The other houses were still doing pretty well even though they had lost some of their members.
Fascinated mages had lost five of their members and still, they were standing there with their heads healed high, their faces brimming with confidence since their captain and vice captain both were with them.
They knew they could make it even with just that many people. They had their way around it.
Even the other houses were doing pretty well for their first competition, Dark society and the Aqua mirror were looking especially in high spirits.
That was how a house should naturally be when they had at least one of their captains with them.
'The Turtle defenders were as scary looking as they were yesterday though. It was still as if they were threaded into doing all that and if they did not achieve as much as they were told, they would lose their lives… their expressions were scary right now. Even the audience could tell something was wrong with those children.'
However, among all the houses, just this one house, the house that was considered to be the top house among all of the houses, was in that kind of position.
"It is not like their captain is incompetent or anything. They will recover and give a fair competition to us after the cometation actually starts. Their captain is capable enough to push them through this round and perhaps, the next round as well depending on the circumstances.
They will do well, however, at this moment, they are not doing well.
They are doubting themselves. They were doubting their teachings, the things they had learned, they were doubting their captains…
Do you doubt your captains, everyone?"
Captain Alpha was certainly one of the most charismatic people I had seen in my life. His knowledge, insight, and talents were all unparalleled compared to the other students and captains.
He was so good it wouldn't be a surprise for him to be a student council member already, however, someone as great as him still failed to maintain the trust of his subordinates, which, truthfully, just how he wasn't some perfect protagonist of a fantasy world.
"Doubting captains? Now what does that even mean…?"
"Are you asking if we doubt captain Zoe and Lucifer? What kind of doubt?"
"Hmmm… doubt. I don't think I do. There is no reason to doubt someone that practically gave away all he had just so we could compete."
Ball Marvin was our wildcard and he will be showing his unique talent for the first time in this competition today.
I was already excited about his debut as well as the debut of all the other unique skill holders from our house. The people were going to be shocked when they see what we were bringing to table for them.
However, that was after the competition actually started.
"Hmmm? What did Ball mean?"
"Captain, please… I don't understand a thing! Please elaborate!"
"Yes, yes everyone, listen."
The people we would be up against this time were the true masters and grandmasters of this world. The people who had obtained their 'style' and were operating their own schools that taught them these specific ways of Alchemy.
They were nothing less than the teachers of the academy, some of them were even people that had already rejected the post of the academy teacher for many times now.
There were the other houses and the other individuals from all over the world that were also participating in groups, however, they weren't the ones we were going to be up against.
"We don't have even a sliver of doubt towards our captains. We know they had already done whatever they could and perhaps more than they were able to.
We know how much they have sacrificed just so we can stand here , we know the price of their precious time, knowledge, and resources.
We have seen it, we have experienced it all with our own mind and bodies. So… we don't doubt them.
The last words of vice captain Lucifer as we left for the cometation-"
"He asked us to remember what we learned together, to trust each other and ourselves, and-"
"To not crumble down if we make mistakes."
"He said it's not over until it's already over. Hahaha, what a funny statement now that I think about it."
"He asked us to not give just a hundred percent if we could go for even a hundred and two. Which ultimately means we should go beyond our limitations and do better than the best we could."
"And finally… he told us to have faith in our discipline."
They all remembered the things he had said word to word, and just that cheered them all up.
They all looked worried and anxious just a moment ago, but the words he had left with us before we departed had reignited the blazing fire in their hearts once again.
They looked brighter now.
They had the courage to cometate against every single person present here on this fine day today.
They were ready even without me saying the comforting words I was going to. Which was good either way, but… my chance to look cool in front of them was stole by vice captain Lucifer once again.
And this time, he wasn't even here.
"Haaaaa. Alright then, shall we plan up for what we will be cooking?"
Around twenty minutes were left before the start of the cometation so all the participants were mentally preparing themselves for what was to come now.
And, since the others had gathered their courage, we could start doing the same as well…