The remaining students glanced from Dredd to Damien and Sylph. Their gazes turned pitying and many of them inched away from the intimidating professor’s new pupils.

“I don’t think Dredd’s tutelage is contagious,” Damien muttered as he spotted Reena trying to hide herself behind Nolan.

“You never know,” Dredd said, his face completely straight. “Better not to take the chance, but the others shouldn’t be too concerned. I only waste my time on the best.”

The shift in feeling was abrupt and very tangible. Pity turned to a mixture of jealousy and anger almost instantly as an invisible targets painted themselves over Sylph and Damien’s backs.

Aside from Mark and the Gray twins, the rest of the students quickly dissipated, heading out to train elsewhere in the arena or leaving it altogether.

“Was that necessary?” Sylph asked, pressing her lips together. “You’ve made it as if the rest of the class is now competing against us.”

“They are,” Dredd replied. “There was no tension in your class. Delph made you all dislike him, but that resulted in a sense of camaraderie that wasn’t making people strive to beat each other as much as live up to Delph’s standards. While his methods aren’t ineffective, they could still be improved on.”

“So you’ve just made us the public enemy instead of Delph,” Damien said. He crossed his arms. “How is that any different?”

“They’ll strive to do better than you rather than live up to Delph’s expectations,” Dredd said. “It’s subtle, but there’s a difference. The former is driven by desire while the latter is fear. Besides, this will also force the two of you to continue fully applying yourselves to training. You’re ahead of Delph’s pack right now, but there are others who aren’t far behind.”

Right on cue, Mark broke away from the Grays and approached Dredd. His sword hung from his hip and the boy’s hair had grown significantly longer since Damien had last seen him. Mark also sported a long, jagged scar that ran from the bottom of his chin across his neck and down below his shirt.

“Professor Dredd, if I beat one of your new students, will you take me on?” Mark asked. Delph let out an amused snort.

“Yes,” Dredd replied. “And that offer stands for anyone, but don’t think about challenging them more than once every two weeks. I’ll get cross if you’re too much of a bother.”

“Damien, then,” Mark said, drawing his sword and pointing the blade at Damien. “I’m not confident I can stand against Sylph, but I’ve seen your techniques. Don’t feel too bad – I’ll come for Sylph afterwards.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed. “Well, that isn’t offensive in the slightest. It’s not like I’ve got a choice, though. Are you actually going to use your sword?”

“I am,” Mark replied. “Don’t be scared. I’ve practiced with it over the past months, and I’m confident I won’t kill you on accident. Professor Dredd is too well renowned for me to pass this offer up. No hard feelings.”

Sylph glowered at Mark, but her expression quickly turned placid. She gave Damien a firm nod, then walked to stand beside the Grays and the small crowd of students that was starting to gather.

“Are both of you prepared?” Dredd asked. “There are healers on standby waiting to jump in at the first instant, so no need to be overly cautious. Deadly blows are permitted to a degree, but any attacks that instantly kill are not.”

“I’m ready,” Mark said. Earth ran up his legs and up his body, forming into sleek armor all over his body. It grew thicker over his vitals while still leaving a thin layer of protection over everything else. When it was done, he looked like a breathing statue.

Damien drew in a deep breath, casting his mental net out and drawing Ether into his core like a sponge. As the energy filled his body, his nerves stilled. Compared to the Corruption, Mark wasn’t particularly panic inducing.

By no means did that mean Mark was weak. On the contrary, he was probably one of the most dangerous students Damien knew due to his ability to manifest the demon he had as a companion. That didn’t scare Damien. In fact, he was startled to find that a different emotion was surfacing. Excitement.

Henry? What do you think about us switching up our tactics a little?

“And what could you mean by that?” Henry asked with a bemused chuckle. “You almost sound cocky.”

I want to actually go all out. It’s not like I’ve got that long to enjoy this, as we don’t know when the Corruption – or that other Void creature – will make their moves. It might be fun to stop feeling like I’m barely holding onto my spot behind Sylph.

“I’m all for it,” Henry said with a cackle. “As long as I don’t do anything and am careful to cloak myself when she’s around, Whisp shouldn’t have any way to detect me. You don’t have to worry about giving yourself away.”

“Wonderful,” Damien said aloud. Ether pulsed around his hands, condensing into two crackling gravity spheres. “I’m ready as well, Dredd.”

“That’s Professor Dredd to you,” Dredd said, shaking his head. “Begin!”

Mark blurred forward, swinging his blade for Damien’s shoulder. Despite the stone covering him, the boy’s mobility hadn’t been affected in the slightest.

Damien blinked out of the way with Warp Step, appearing behind Mark and tossing both gravity spheres his direction. Mark spun, sand leaping up from the ground and forming a barrier. The spells clashed with two loud pops, destroying each other.

Ether leapt out of Damien’s hand, forming into a gravity lance and launching through the air. Mark darted to the side, avoiding the spell and closing the distance between himself and Damien.

He thrust his blade towards Damien’s chest. The sand beneath Damien’s feet shifted as well, springing up and wrapping itself around his feet. Damien could feel Ether seep into his legs, trying to restrict his own magic and stop him from activating Warp Step.

A sand pillar erupted from where Damien’s foot touched the sand, driving itself into Mark’s stomach and launching the armored boy into the air. Damien sent a powerful blast of mental energy into Mark’s spell, tearing it apart and ripping himself free.

Before Mark could fall back to the ground, Damien drew a deep breath and thrust his hands upwards. A sphere of destructive energy formed in both of them, elongating into two thin blades.

Mark spun as he fell, knocking Damien’s magic away with his blade and landing on his feet. He hopped back as another pillar nearly launched him a second time.

“Your reaction speed is much faster,” Mark observed. “You’ve been training as well.”

“Let’s see whose was more effective, then,” Damien said, using the brief respite to overload a gravity sphere. Streaks of purple lightning danced through the dark orb as it formed in his hand.

He threw the spell at Mark. It zipped towards the other boy, detonating a short distance before reaching him. The sound in the immediate area grew quieter for an instant as the spell sucked it in.

It returned in a loud crack. Sand ripped through the air and Mark tumbled forwards, unable to resist the powerful magic as it tossed him around like a child’s toy. Damien sent another gravity sphere flying at his opponent.

Mark’s armor surged outwards, detaching from him and throwing itself in the way of the spell. He dropped to the ground in a roll, new armor forming around him.

“Is that all either of you can do?” Dredd asked, disappointment dripping from his words. “You might just be Year Twos, but I expect something a little more impressive from both of you.”

Mark let out a low growl. The armor covering him rippled, expanding outwards as Mark grew several inches. Jagged spines jutted out from his elbows and back and his hands flickered with yellowish red flame.

He darted towards Damien once again. Damien Warp Stepped out of the way as Mark’s sword sliced through the air where he’d been standing. The other boy wasn’t any faster than before, but he could tell that his strike carried a lot more strength than it had before.

Sand wrapped around Damien’s feet again. He cursed as Mark bounded towards him, not leaving enough time to break the spell and escape. A pillar shot out towards Mark, but the boy twisted out of the way before the attack was even out.

Damien launched a gravity sphere at Mark. His blade flashed, flaring with red energy and carving the spell in two. Then Mark was on top of him. Damien hardened his Mage armor, raising his hands to protect his head as Mark drove his blade into him.

It struck the armor with a loud crack, knocking the air out of Damien’s lungs but failing to penetrate his defenses. Damien formed another pillar beneath Mark, but the boy spun out of the way as if he knew it was coming.

“He’s watching the Ether patterns in your body,” Henry warned Damien. “He’s using it to figure out what spell you’re casting before you do it. Confuse him.”

Damien sent an appreciative mental message to Henry, then drew Ether into himself again. He sent it out into all four of his limbs, starting to cast enlarge. Mark leapt back, avoiding an attack that never came. With a smirk, Damien dropped all the spells and shattered the spell keeping him grounded.

“You figured it out?” Mark asked, watching him with much more caution than he’d shown at the start of their match. “Who trained you?”

Damien didn’t respond. He Warp Stepped a short distance away, casting Devour and binding it in place with mental energy before blinking once again and repeating the process. He traced a circle around Mark, placing ten of the spells before the strain got too high.

“What a waste of Ether,” Mark snarled, stomping the ground and launching himself towards the other boy. In response, Damien released the mental energy holding all the spells he’d just placed.

Ten black circles sprang up around them, forming a miniature wall. Damien hardened his mage armor and blocked Mark’s strike with his left arm. With his other, he sent a gravity lance launching towards Mark.

Mark twisted out of the way and the spell shot harmlessly past him. It vanished into the dark circle behind him. The armored boy reared back and thrust his sword at Damien again. Energy flared around it as he poured Ether into the strike, hoping to carve through Damien’s armor with a single blow.

Before the attack could connect, a gravity lance shot out from the dark circle to Mark’s left. It slammed into Mark’s side, digging into his armor and sending both sand and blood spraying across the ground. The spell then detonated, cracking what Damien suspected to be a rib.

Mark staggered, his armor reforming even as he gritted his teeth through the pain. Damien summoned another two gravity lances in his hands and hurled them both at Mark. The sand beneath him shifted, yanking Mark to safety as both spells disappeared into the dark circles.

“Which one do you think they’ll come from?” Damien asked, nodding at the circles surrounding them. “Could be the one behind you.”

Mark snarled. “What kind of magic is this?”

A lance launched out from a circle off to Damien’s right. Mark spun, raising his sword to block it. The other lance emerged from the circle Mark had turned his back to. The earth wielding boy managed to block the first spell, but the second one drilled into his shoulder blade, chewing through his armor and sending him to the ground from the force of the spell.

Damien Warp Stepped forward, forming a powerful gravity sphere in both of his hands. Mark rolled over, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop Damien from slamming both of the spells into his chest.

A red portal formed right before Damien’s magic could connect, absorbing both of the gravity spheres. An instant later, a ripple of magic washed over the arena. Damien’s magic vanished like a droplet in a rainstorm and all of the circles snapped shut.

Fatigue hit Damien like a hammer and his head felt like it was splitting open as agony tore through him.

“I was repressing the side effects of overusing your mental energy,” Henry said. “I can’t do it any longer without risking damage to your psyche, but you’ll be fine. Well done.”

Why didn’t you tell me earlier?

“The fight was over before anything got too serious. Besides, it looked like you were having fun.”

Damien grimaced, trying and failing to block out the pain. Dredd strode up to them, energy still fading around his staff. A young woman came alongside him, jogging to keep up with his long strides.

“That was more like it,” Dredd said as the woman knelt beside Mark, giving them both a small nod. “Decent fight. However, Damien is clearly the winner.”

Yellow energy washed over Mark. His chest cracked as his broken rib pulled itself back into place. The armor covering him faded away, sinking back into the ground as his wounds were healed.

“What did you train against?” Mark demanded. “You couldn’t do that last year. Or were you holding back?”

“Good fight,” Damien replied, offering Mark his hand and answering neither of his questions. Mark eyed it for a moment, then let out a sigh. He accepted it and Damien pulled him up to his feet.

“Were you holding back that time?” Damien asked, pushing the pain down and trying to speak as if he weren’t about to burst into tears. “I know you didn’t use your full powers last year.”

“Not much,” Mark said with an annoyed grunt. “I could have gotten more, but I would have lost control of my abilities, and I’m not allowed to do that. Whisp would kill me. But what kind of attack was that last one? It must have used a ridiculous amount of mental energy. I didn’t even realize that was possible. Ten – no, twelve spells at once.”

“We were both training all summer,” Sylph said, walking up to stand beside Damien. “It would be pretty ridiculous to expect that you were the only one that improved, Mark. As for how, that’s a secret. Can’t go giving that away for free.”

Mark pressed his lips together. Then he gave them both a small nod. “I see. I underestimated you, Damien. And you as well, Sylph. Your training is much more effective than I had thought. When I next challenge you, I will come prepared. Your abilities are both incredibly impressive.”

He swept out of the arena. Sylph glanced at Damien, then frowned. “We’ve both got an appointment to get to as well. Please excuse us, Professor Dredd.”

Dredd nodded as Sylph ushered Damien towards the Arena exit. As soon as they left the crowd behind, she looped an arm around his back, supporting him. “How bad is it? Are you okay?”

“Thought I was hiding it better,” Damien said through clenched teeth. “Pretty bad, but I’m fine. Just need shower.”

Sylph nodded, increasing her pace as much as she could without leaving him behind. Damien leaned heavily on her shoulder as they made their way back to their room.