Time flew by as Damien trained. His lean body had just barely started to show signs of muscle, although he was still a long shot from even getting close to Sylph or Delph. However, his magical talents had continued to increase at a rate impressive enough that even Delph acknowledged it.

He and Sylph spent most of the time training together. They saw little of the other students in their class, only interacting with them while they waited for Delph to arrive for the normal classes.

Mark and the Gray siblings were similarly busy with their own training. As the first days of the ranking battles grew closer, the tension in the air became thick enough to feel.

When there were only three days left before the first day of the tournament, Delph instructed Damien to arrive at the arena an hour before Sylph did.

Delph was standing in the center of the sandy ground when Damien arrived. He gave the boy a critical once over, his expression unreadable.

“The tournament is coming up soon,” Delph said, not bothering with a greeting. “Do you feel prepared?”

“Not particularly,” Damien said with a small grimace. “I’ve been practicing a lot, and I think I’ll be able to do well against some of the other students, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to make the top ranks. I haven’t seen much of what our own class can do, much less what the other classes are capable of. Can you tell me anything about it?”

"Not yet," Delph replied. "But I can still prepare you for it. What do you feel your strengths and weaknesses are?”

“My magical power and mental energy are my strengths,” Damien replied immediately. “I don’t know how much other students have, but from what I’ve seen in our class, I think I’m at or near the top. My weakness would be my physical body. Lots of other students have had combat training or something like it.”

Delph stroked his beard and gave Damien a slight nod.

“Your assessments are largely correct,” Delph said. “Your magical abilities are a significant tick in your favor, but you have no real combat training. You need to ensure that your opponents don’t get close to you during the ranking battles, or you are very likely to lose.”

“Wouldn’t my armor give me an advantage?” Damien asked.

“Normally, yes,” Delph said. “Unfortunately, your reaction speed isn’t quite up to par yet. You’ll be able to block some things, but the chance of doing it incorrectly is still high. You should avoid getting hit if you can avoid it.”

“Sage advice,” Henry said, chuckling. “Just don’t get hit.”

Damien ignored him.

“Furthermore,” Delph said. “You aren’t the only student with mage armor. There are several others in the other classes. Mage armor is fantastic against melee attacks and spells, but it doesn’t do as much against larger area of effect attacks.”

“Noted,” Damien said. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you call me here separately from Sylph? This feels like something we could have all gone over together.”

“Because you and Sylph will be competing in three days,” Delph replied, rolling his neck. “You may be a team before and after the tournament, but the ranking battles are entirely solo. There is a chance that the two of you will fight, and you both have your secrets.”

Damien blinked. He hadn’t considered that. Fighting Sylph, especially without Henry’s help, was an intimidating prospect. Delph noticed Damien’s expression and chuckled.

“You don’t have to look so scared. You know her greatest weaknesses, just as she knows yours,” Delph said. “However, the two of you do not fully know the complete extent of each other’s powers right now. We haven’t had a serious fight recently – just sparring. It’s time to rectify that while you don’t have to worry about hiding your full capabilities.”

Damien took a step back from Delph, lowering his center of mass slightly as a small grin crossed the professor’s face.

“This will be the last training match before the tournament,” Delph announced, the air around him warping and twisting. “Do not hold back.”

Unlike their first fight, Delph didn’t wait for Damien to make the first move. The professor dashed towards him, his feet gliding over the sand without even leaving an impression.

Damien drew on the Ether he already had stored within him, forming a gravity sphere in each hand. He tossed the first one in front of Delph and the other slightly to the man’s side.

The spells detonated one after the other. The first one forced the professor to stumble forward as the powerful force yanked down on him, and the second one yanked him off his feet.

Delph rebalanced himself midair, dropping into a roll and leaping back to his feet as the gravity sphere faded. He shot at Damien again, forcing the boy to run as well.

Damien tossed spells behind him as he ran, but Delph ducked and slipped out of the way of each one, slowly gaining on his pupil despite the magical forces yanking him back and forth.

As Delph chased Damien around the arena, the boy felt his core start to run out of Ether. He paused his barrage to draw more of the energy into himself. The professor sped up the moment he stopped attacking, closing the remaining distance within a second.

Damien hardened every portion of his Mage armor moments before Delph drove his knee up into the boy’s chest. Armor slammed against armor and Damien skidded back a foot, but the strike hadn’t harmed him. Delph unleashed a flurry of blows on Damien, draining his Ether faster than he could recover it.

“This is why you don’t harden every part of your armor!” Delph said calmly as he beat on Damien. “You stopped moving because it was all frozen, and now you can’t release it without taking a strike. When you run out of Ether, you’ll lose.”

Damien pressed his lips together and didn’t respond. He only had two motes of Ether left. He channeled both of them into a gravity sphere. He allowed the armor to soften and tossed the orb a few feet behind Delph.

His reward was several strikes that slammed into his now-unprotected flesh with meaty thuds. Damien’s gritted his teeth as pain tore through his concentration. Behind Delph, the gravity sphere detonated, yanking the man backwards.

Damien lunged forward while the professor was off balance. He drove his fist up into the man’s chin with all the force he could muster. The strike connected, but it was Damien that leapt back, swearing in pain and holding his hand. Delph didn’t even lose his balance.

“What the planes is wrong with you? Why is your skin so hard?” Damien, taking several steps away from the professor.

Delph rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I was protecting myself against the force of your magic. I didn’t expect you to try to punch me in the face.”

Damien discretely gathered Ether while the other man spoke.

“Why not? Is it a bad idea?” Damien asked.

“For the tournament? No, so long as your opponent doesn’t have defense like mine,” Delph said. “And they won’t. In the future, though, avoid hand to hand combat unless you’ve got something to protect your hands from impact.”

“Understood,” Damien said, channeling a gravity sphere. Delph still hadn’t said the fight was over.

Delph chuckled. “You can release the spell. This fight is over.”

Damien let out a sigh of relief and allowed the spell to fade. He shook his stinging hand out with a grimace.

“I notice you didn’t use the enlarge spell,” Delph observed.

“It didn’t seem like it would do much against you,” Damien replied. “You’re too fast, I think you’re strong enough to break anything I enlarge. The gravity spheres were more likely to slow you down.”

“Good assessment,” Delph said, giving Damien another nod. “You still have a lot to improve on, but you’re adequately prepared for the tournament. Take the next few days easy and relax. Let your body completely heal, so no training at all.”

“Okay.” Damien nodded, discretely rubbing his arm. His heart was still pumping from their fight, but as the adrenaline faded, the bruises that Delph had given him made themselves known. “Ah… how well do you think I’ll do in the tournament?”

“Hard to say,” Delph replied. “If you use your head, you have a shot of making it to the finals. Your space magic is quite strong. It will do a lot more damage to the students than it did to me. You might actually have to be careful to avoid killing them.”

Damien thought back to the rock walls shattering under the force of the spell and nodded grimly. He could imagine what it would do to an unprotected human body.

“Don’t worry too much,” Delph said, spotting the look on Damien’s face. “Just don’t aim for their head. There will be some very powerful healers on the field.”

“Alright,” Damien said. “Thank you for your help, Professor. And… do you think I can win the tournament?”

Delph tilted his head. Then he shrugged. “At this stage? It’s unlikely. We’ve got some real impressive first years. I don’t think you’ve got enough experience to win the whole thing, but you have a very good chance at it in the future.”

That was higher praise than Damien had expected. He gave Delph a small nod of appreciation.

“Thank you,” Damien said. “I suppose I’ll see you at the tournament, then.”

“I suppose you will,” Delph replied, cracking a miniscule smile as Damien headed back to his room.