The announcer paused to let the crowd absorb his words. After the excited chatter was once again muted by the silence spell, he resumed talking.

“We will have whoever was meant to fight the winner of Mark and Bartholomew’s match progress to the semifinals. This isn’t ideal, but we will not be allowing either of them to seriously injure themselves. Kingsfront thanks you all for your understanding. Please turn your attention back to the arena, where we’re about to have our next two contestants fight!”

A crystal on the dashboard lit. Everyone leaned forward and Sylph clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was Viv’s.

“Good luck,” Damien said. Viv bit her lower lip and clenched her hands.

“Only one person from our viewer box. That means there’s a fifty percent chance I’m against Drew.”

“You’re going to have to use our last card,” Eve said in a low tone. “You can’t take a risk and fight him yourself.”

Viv nodded reluctantly. She hopped over the railing and allowed the gold light to carry her over to the stage.

“Representing Mountain Hall, we have Drew! We’ve still yet to determine exactly what his magic is, but I think we’re all in for quite a show. Goldsilk has sent in their own trump card – Agon. This might come off a little confusing to those of you who have been paying attention, as this isn’t a familiar name. However, you’ll recall that all the colleges were actually granted four spots, not three. In exchange for only being allowed to compete in a single fight, Goldsilk was allowed to keep their last member hidden.”

Mutters rose through the crowd. Viv touched down on the stage and pulled out a thick sheaf of leathers covered in runes. She tossed it onto the ground and the leather unfurled into a rough circle.

Viv knelt and pressed a hand to the runes. Ether warped around her hand and flooded into the circle, lighting the runes with yellow energy. With a sharp pop, a young man appeared in the center of the circle.

The strong smell of ozone rose into the air. He stretched and pushed long blonde hair out of his eyes. Viv whispered something into Agon’s ear and his eyes narrowed. He gave her a curt nod and Viv retreated from the stage, heading back to the viewing box.

Drew arrived shortly after. He and Agon observed each other. Drew wore an easygoing grin while the other boy’s features were set in stone.

“I was wondering why you only had three members,” Damien said when Viv got back. “But why save him for a single round? If he’s strong, wouldn’t it be better to field him normally?”

“He has very little Ether,” Viv said, her lips thinning. “He can only get one good fight in, even with a lot of recovery time. We have an arrangement that allows us to substitute him in at any point we want, but he can only participate in a single fight.”

The announcer cleared his throat. “Contestants, you may begin channeling your Ether.”

Lightning snapped and popped around Agon’s hands. Drew stretched down and touched his toes, then hid a yawn while the announcer started the countdown.

“Go!” the announcer roared.

A beam the thickness of a tree trunk roared from Agon’s fingers. It tore across the arena toward the other boy.

Drew tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. The spell flew over his head and struck the barrier around the arena, sending powerful ripples rushing through it. Drew got back to his feet and rubbed the back of his head. “That was embarrassing”

Agon thrust his hands into the air, palms facing up. Brilliant white light flared around him, surrounding his body with pearl colored armor. His face paled and a silvery portal snapped open beside him.

A massive wolf paced out from it. The creature was nearly twice Agon’s height and had eyes like burning suns. It nudged Agon with the side of its head, then turned its baleful gaze to Drew.

Drew’s smile flickered. “You’re getting serious right from the start? Where’s the fun in that?”

Agon tightened his hands into fists. The wolf howled and bounded across the arena. Drew snapped his fingers and the shadows around his feet twisted, exploding up around him and concealing the boy in a pillar of darkness.

They receded, revealing a ratty spear in Drew’s hands. It was made from pockmarked black metal and had a thin red scarf tied near the top.

The wolf had no interest in admiring the weapon. It lunged at Drew, snapping at his neck with huge jaws. Drew whipped the spear up, knocking the wolf’s head to the side. He blew black mist out into the monster’s face.

With a howl, the wolf leapt back and shook itself off. A beam of silver light shot from Agon’s hand, forcing Drew to dodge before he could follow up the attack. The two boys charged each other.

Flashes of black and silver lit the arena with bursts of lightning dispersed between them. Black mist rose into the air, obscuring the fight for long periods of time. Damien could dimly make out a huge pool of silver on the arena floor through Drew’s magic, but it was only for a few moments.

I don’t suppose you’re having more luck watching?

“It’s just a huge wall of magic,” Henry said. “Drew is using Dark magic, but that isn’t all of it. His spear isn’t a companion. It’s an artifact, like what Sylph had. Just… much stronger. It’s got some interesting Time magic as well. It’s probably best described as Corrosion magic. It’s accelerating the age of anything it touches at an incredible level.”

A huge pillar of silver light crashed down on the stage from the heavens, blowing the dark mist away and revealing the students once more. Both were breathing heavily. Jagged cuts covered Agon’s face, and Drew was bleeding from a thick score across his side.

Agon’s wolf was limping heavily. Its fur was matted down with blood and a huge cut across its back marked a timer for how long it had left to fight.

“Look what you’ve done,” Drew accused. “How is this any fun? It would have been way more interesting to play around longer.”

Agon growled. A bolt of lightning tore from his hands. Drew rolled to the side, avoiding the attack. He rose and pointed the spear at Agon. Sickly gray magic hissed across the stage and lashed at Agon.

The wolf lunged, putting itself between its master and the attack. The magic tore through its hide and it snarled in pain. Agon slipped around it and darted at Drew, silver light pooling in his hands.

Drew laughed and reared back, hurling the spear at Agon. He shot forward, keeping pace with the weapon. He and the spear reached Agon at the same time.

Agon clapped his hands, forming a large silver disk between them. The spear struck it and the spell blew away like dust in the wind. Drew drove his fist into the other boy’s stomach. His armor cracked and Agon doubled over, staggering backwards.

Drew whipped his knee up, catching Agon in the face. There was an audible crack and he laughed in glee. In the moment of distraction, Agon spun on one foot and unleashed a vicious hook kick into the side of Drew’s head.

The strike sent the boy tumbling across the ground in a bundle of limbs. Agon dove after him, grappling Drew and pinning the boy down so that he was sitting on his chest. He sent a hail of blows raining down into Drew’s face, each one reinforced with silver magic.

A dark spike shot out of the ground, piercing Agon’s armor and tearing him off Drew. He twisted away from it, but Drew was already back on his feet. His nose was crooked and every trace of amusement was gone from his eyes.

Drew raised a hand and his spear shot into it. Shadows reached up, enveloping him and turning his form blurry. When Drew struck, several dark afterimages appeared around him, making it difficult to tell which spear was the real one. He pushed Agon back, each blow tearing through the defenses Agon put up.

The wolf lunged at him, but Drew seemed to know the attack was coming. He spun, bracing the spear against the ground and driving it into the wolf’s chest. He ripped it free in time to block one of Agon’s attacks.

Silver light flooded from the wound and the wolf stumbled, transforming into a stream of energy that returned to Agon. Viv’s hands tightened around the railing.

Agon is going to lose. He was barely holding on with the help of his companion.

“Good assessment,” Henry said. “And it’s just a matter of time now. His magic was pretty interesting too. He used a variant of light magic. Nothing that I couldn’t have handled, but it wouldn’t have been easy.”

Damien grunted. Agon was accumulating more wounds and slowing down while Drew only seemed to be getting stronger. The spear wielding boy slowly pushed Agon towards the edge of the arena with an unrelenting barrage of strikes.

Agon’s face was growing paler by the minute and his magic was visibly fading. What remained of his armor was growing translucent and covered with cracks. He clearly knew that time was running out.

One of Drew’s strikes broke past his defenses and hit into his shoulder. Instead of twisting to avoid the strike, Agon threw himself into the attack. The spear punched through him and sprouted from his back, but he didn’t let go. With a roar, Agon grabbed Drew by the neck and threw himself over the side of the arena, taking his opponent along with him.

“He’s trying to force a tie,” Sylph muttered.

“It won’t work,” Viv said bitterly.

Shadows enveloped the two falling boys and Agon was suddenly falling alone. Drew shot up, two huge black wings beating behind him. He flew back to the arena and touched down with a smirk. The wings folded in behind his back and he peered over the edge.

Healers appeared, catching Agon before he could hit the ground. While they started to heal his wounds, the announcer called out the win and the crowd burst into cheers.

“Damn it,” Viv said. A trickle of blood ran down from her lip. “He can’t win this.”

“Why does it matter so much?” Sylph asked. “It sucks that he won, but the way you’re acting, it feels like more than a tournament win is at stake.”

“Mountain Hall and Goldsilk frequently compete for resources and access to training areas near the frontlines,” Viv said. “And if we can’t beat Drew here, we’re going to lose even harder in the second half of the tournament. The higher you place in this round, the earlier you can enter the second round.”

“Well, there’s still Sylph and me,” Damien said. “And whoever Sylph is about to go up against, I guess. She’ll win that, though.”

Viv sighed. “I really do hope you can manage to beat him, but he’s already made it to the semifinals. That’s a big advantage already, and I don’t want to think about how dangerous Drew will be during the second half of the tournament, when there are far fewer people watching to keep him accountable.”

The announcer returned, announcing the start of the next fight. Sylph was already moving before the light went off. It wasn’t a hard guess – there were only two people left that hadn’t fought in the quarterfinals yet.

Her opponent was a girl from Redriver called Winnea. She used Fire magic. As soon as the match started, Damien knew Sylph was going to win, although he’d never entertained the thought of her losing.

Winnea’s magic was flashy, but it was slow. Compared to Yui’s versatility, Winnea only had power. Sylph danced circles around the other girl, using her camouflage to easily avoid the majority of the magic.

Against anyone else, Damien suspected Winnea probably would have put up a good fight. Her magic was certainly impressive, but she was a horrible match up into Sylph. The huge balls of fire Winnea threw around created the perfect cover for Sylph, obscuring much of the stage.

The battle was over within the first thirty seconds. Winnea copied Nolan’s strategy of throwing magic everywhere in hopes of forcing Sylph out. Her efforts were a little too successful and Sylph appeared behind her, putting a thin blade up to the other girl’s neck before she could even respond.

It was the least bloody battle of the entire tournament. Neither combatant was even injured, and the announcer called her win with more than a little reluctance. The crowd still seemed pleased with the fight, though.

“Good job,” Damien said when Sylph returned. “But I’m starting to get worried I’m not going to see your companion at this rate.”

“I’m sure either you or Drew will force me to use it,” Sylph replied, brushing a little soot off her clothes. “There are only two fights left, after all.”