Chapter 51.4- Doom Days

“So tomorrow will have the first stage of the qualification rounds and over morrow will have the second stage. Two days from now, we will proceed with the Round of 64. Now I can already see some of you making plans to skip or wondering what to do with that time. I enjoin you all to come watch as many of the duels as possible. You need to know how the contestants are doing to make good bets, don’t you?” He said before spewing the fakest laugh I ever had the misfortune of hearing.

“I can already see some of you nodding off at all these boring rules and the like. Let’s get on with the action shall we?” He asked, and there were cheers but fewer than when he’d begun and the excitement had been high.

“Let’s wake up the crowd, then. Please welcome our first exhibition match of the day. Michelle Jones v. Rohan Bhattacharya.” As he announced the names, fireworks flew in the air, creating explosions of light that turned into holograms of both their faces with their names underneath. Michelle Jones winked, while Rohan Bhattacharya simply looked bored with the whole thing.

“The attentive ones among you will have noticed that this is a rematch of the famed 1990 U17 Championship” he said, beginning to applaud as he stepped backwards.

The grass that made the floor of the stadium parted as a platform rose from the ground. It was gleaming white. On opposite ends of the circle were the duelists. Michelle Jones was waving at the crowd and seemed highly personable. It might have been fun to work with her. But after Flitwick essentially disowned me, she’d withdrawn her offer in no time. The Indian on the other hand seemed like he would rather be anywhere but here. I could get that. From what I knew about the world rankings, he wasn’t in the top 50 yet and he’d been U17 Champion a whole five years ago. If I was in his place, I’d rather be training than fighting someone I’d already beaten.

Especially since Michelle Jones hasn’t fought a competitive duel in two years now. He probably saw this as a waste of his time and talent. I struggled to disagree.

The duel began with a popped firework that spelled out the word ‘begin’ against the sky. Bhattacharya struck first. He used his wand like an extension of his arm, almost serpentine in the way he commanded the unusually flexible length of wood to his bidding. He struck with two powerful spells that bounced off the barriers like gongs. He’d aimed for Jones, but when the spells reached her, she simply wasn’t there. So light she was on her feet that it was more like she was dancing out of the way of his bolts of light than dodging potentially career ending injuries.