Teron stood before his Grandfather, head of the Atahchi family. Alistern Atahchi had practically raised the boy, grooming him into the next head of the family and yet, Teron was still nervous in his presence. His Grandfather was cold and efficient. He would laugh and smile with allies and enemies alike, privately plotting how to use each as pawns on a chessboard.

The private room of the restaurant was lavish, overly so. Alistern didn’t care for such things. Gold cutlery and essence chandeliers were a waste of resources in his eyes. Oh sure, he had such things and put them on display when hosting events, but they were merely distractions for the simple-minded people who would jealously covet his success. He sat, reading a number of scrolls, letting his Grandson wait upon him. Even he was subject to this.

Alistern looked up from his final scroll, looking over the future head of his house. He knew Teron’s discomfort but the boy hid it well. Calmly waiting as if he had all the time in the world but not showing a hint of disrespect. Yes, he had groomed the boy well.

“You and your team will await in the arena stands before and after every match tomorrow. You need to be in plain sight.” Alistern said.

“Yes, Grandfather.” If Teron was meant to be seen, then that meant he needed an alibi. “I take it plans have been set into motion?”

Alistern eyed the youth appreciatively. He would follow orders but still wanted the details. Good. Blindly following is a fool’s failing. “Yes. We will use a more aggressive approach.”

“And the Academy?” Teron asked. He was pressing his luck asking more but he understood that not asking would be worse in his Grandfather’s eyes.

Alistern laughed. “The Academy is a worthy opponent, have no doubt. But nothing will lead back to us if it goes astray. One must expect success and plan for failure. If things go awry, then no harm done. We simply bide our time and await the next opportunity.”

Teron bowed to his Grandfather’s words. The man was pragmatic. A failure was just an opportunity to learn. It had made him one of the richest men in the tower. And one of the deadliest.

Even though Dante and the others discussed tactics through the night, they were still up at four in the morning, eating breakfast and then going over formations on the training field. They had a few hours before they needed to be at the arena and waiting around doing nothing would cause no end of stress.

“So, don’t go forward?” Dante asked.

“No.” Kelsi answered. “If we go against capable ranged Mages like yesterday, we keep pushing forward together. Everyone stays in range of Gretta’s singing.”

“Humming.” Ferris corrected.

Kelsi rolled her eyes at him.

“Humming.” She said.

The group headed towards the Arena. The early practice had eased the tension that was starting to build up. By the time they had arrived, the schedule had already been posted. New rules were also in affect. Today they would be graded by all the senior instructors. There were ten matches and only the top four would move on to the afternoon. They quickly changed into their armor when they saw that they were the first match.

Serist De stepped onto the arena grounds. The crowd was a little louder today but it didn’t seem to unsettle the students as it did before. Dante focused his empathy, allowing the arena floor to flood his senses, drowning out the cacophony of the audience.

Senior Instructor Williams voice rose over the arena. “Attention! Serist De and Valcost will be our first match. Today will be graded by the senior instructors. Only the top four teams may fight in the coming matches so just winning does not guarantee success, such as in life. I congratulate those who have come this far. You have shown great courage, skill and determination.” He nodded to both teams as the they readied themselves. “BEGIN!”

Volcast moved forward quickly as Serist De kept to their formation, moving slow and steady. Gretta hummed as she held her violin at the ready. Her tune calmed her teammates allowing them to think clearly. Their steps came easier and their muscled relaxed. Every detail became more pronounced allowing Kelsi to lead her team with the precision of a veteran team leader.

That was when Kelsi noticed the slight shift of their opponent’s movements. They were slowly spreading out, trying to surround them. “Gretta, Jasmi, switch to left targets, move from the outside in. Ferris, Dash middle left, Dante take the center. If they pull away, don’t follow.” They all nodded.

Ferris cast Dash, moving far quicker than he should have been able to. His advance to the left caught the Earth Mage off guard. His tan colored eyes went wide as he barely deflected the strike from the heavy two-handed sword, leaving him off balance.

Dante intercepted the Tank. He was an Earth Mage as well, armored with chainmail and carrying a buckler and short sword. Dante summoned a short sword and axe. He wasn’t very familiar with the combination but the Head Historian had him study it. The axe was good for hooking the shield and pulling it away but the balance of the heavier axe in his left hand felt awkward to him. He met the Tank in a rush and quickly dodged a thrust aimed at his chest. As Dante stepped back, the Tank immediately charged, slamming his shield into him and sending him to the ground. The impact was blunted by Dante’s Essence Armor and he had the presence of mind to hook the axe onto the shield as he fell. Slamming onto the hard-packed dirt had knocked the wind out of Dante but the move was successful if not a bit sloppy, tearing the shield off his opponents’ arm. His opponent wasted no time, driving forward with his sword raised. Dante used his stolen shield, covering himself from the blow.

The shield was hit several times and Dante would have felt embarrassed had he found the time. He was sure he looked like some turtle being mauled by a hungry predator. The Earth Mage continued to hammer at Dante and didn’t see the strike from Kelsi’s staff. The blow took the Tank full in the face, knocking him out before he hit the ground. Dante quickly jumped to his feet, covering Kelsi who had come out of position to save him. He had not acted a moment too soon. The shield was suddenly hit by several strikes. When Dante glanced over, he noticed the far Mage was actually carrying a small beast. The beast was covered in spikes and was flinging them at the duo.

“Beast Mage and some spikey thing in her arms!” Dante shouted.

Kelsi looked over. “Huh. Cute.”

“Cute?! A ball of spikes is cute?!” Dante replied as another set of spikes pierced the shield.

Kelsi ignored him as she looked to the rest of the team. Ferris was keeping the other Earth Mage busy. The opponent wielded a two-handed mace but was unable to match the speed of Ferris. Jasmi rushed near Kelsi and directed her spirits towards the Healer. The Spirits were now the size of dogs and flew towards the Life Mage who was trying to move around to heal their Earth Mage. Dante glanced behind to see Gretta moving away from the downed mage on the left.

“Gretta, take out the Beast Mage!” Dante called.

Gretta peaked over and saw the bundle of spikes held by the Mage. “Awww! So cute!”

“How in the name of Essence is that thing cute?!” Dante shouted. A spike slammed into Dante’s leg and he quickly pulled it out, holding it out to her as if to prove his point. To his mounting aggravation, that didn’t seem to sway her. “Fine, I’m moving in. Help out Ferris.”

Dante circled the Beast Mage, taking her attention away from his teammates. She sent wave after wave of spikes at him and his shield looked like a deranged dart board. He summoned a short sword into his free hand and rushed the last few feet to the Mage, pulling back his arm to strike.

“I yield!” Shouted the Mage. She quickly covered her other arm protectively over her spikey companion, shielding it from the blow. “Please don’t hurt him! I yield!” Dante was hit with the girl’s emotions. Fear poured out from her causing Dante to flinch. He lowered his sword, truly seeing the young Mage for the first time. The beast was no older than a pup. The idea of her companion suffering must have terrified her as hey eyes were wide with unshed tears. He backed away from them slowly and the smile the Mage gave him twisted his heart with guilt. She was overcome with relief, fearing Dante would kill her companion. He quickly left as the red glow of the enchantment signaled her as defeated. He looked away to check on his teammates. He knew the tournament would test him; he just didn’t know that the test would be this.

The others had quickly finished the remaining Mages and with Dante beings hit only once, that was the entirety of the team’s damage taken. Serist De bowed to their opponents who looked a little bewildered but bowed back. The team then bowed to the judges and left the arena floor.

“Dante, what’s wrong?” Jasmi asked. Dante had been quiet the whole way to the waiting room.

“The Beast Mage. She was so scared that I would hurt her pet.” Dante said sullenly. “It was her emotion. It was overwhelming fear. Is that who we are?”

“Well.” Jasmi said, searching for words that would help him. “It’s a tournament. She knows the risks. And it’s not like you wanted to hurt the little guy, you were just trying to win.”

Her words came out awkward and even she wasn’t sure she agreed with them.

“I don’t think it’s about winning.” Kelsi said. “I think it’s about protecting your teammates. No matter how cute that beast was, he was still shooting spikes at us. If you hadn’t have dealt with it, we could have taken more damage than we did. You didn’t attack because you wanted to, you attacked because you needed to and that’s the difference.”

Dante nodded. Kelsi was right. He didn’t want to hurt anyone, but could he? Could he hurt someone in defense of his teammates? Yes, and he felt no regret with that answer. Dante felt his Essence stir within him. A faint thrum of acceptance.

Dante suddenly felt fear and excitement coming from the hall outside. He sent out an Essence Pulse and realized there was a group of men headed their way.

“Form up. I think we have trouble.” Dante whispered urgently as he readied a sword and shield. Ferris quickly followed, weapon in hand as they stood only feet from the closed door. The other’s moved in behind them, waiting quietly.

Seconds of silence ticked by and the door flew open, followed closely by the foot that kicked it in. A man in leather armor and a dark mask covering his face entered the room. He hesitated at seeing the team in front of him, armed and waiting. His pause had stopped the other’s behind him from entering and that gave Serist De more than enough time to react. Dante and Ferris closed in on the door, blocking the entrance to the room. Ferris scored a slash to the arm while Dante’s sword thrust out hitting the man in the stomach. The masked figure shouted as he fell backwards and the men in the hallway stepped over him with weapons drawn.

Jasmi called forth her spirits and sent them through the door while Gretta started humming, calming down the team. Kelsi shot out her staff between Ferris and Dante scoring hits on the dark masks. Ferris was limited in the small confines, his two-handed sword unable to swing freely for fear of hitting his friends so he chopped down from above or thrust towards the masked men. Dante had to block for himself and Ferris, leading him to only counter strike to keep the opponents at bay. He knew they couldn’t win like this. They could only hope to buy more time until someone could help them.

The stone rippled around their feet forcing Dante and Ferris to jump back just as stone spikes erupted from the ground. Kelsi saw that as a moment of opportunity.

“Gretta, Dancing Blades. Jasmi, False Flames.” Kelsi called out. They followed quickly. The spells fell across the entrance and the sound of men screaming from the hall was a joyous noise to the team.

Something blurred into the room and before anyone could react. Dante and Ferris were confronted with a Wind Mage, and a powerful one at that. The Mage moved quickly around the room, slamming walls of wind into the team. Ferris was lifted off the ground and crashed into Kelsi while Gretta was pushed into a wall and crumpled to the floor. Dante tried to attack the Mage’s back but he was too slow and the men in the hall had finally entered into the fight. They grabbed Dante’s arms and tied him up while doing the same to Jasmi. Dante struggled as he watched Jasmi take a boot to the stomach when she fought back. He looked towards his other friends but they were unconscious and left alone.

Were they coming for him and Jasmi all along? Dante tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together as they were hauled to their feet and dragged out into the hallway. Dante could see five men around them, two of which were carrying their masked companions. Dante could summon a weapon into his hands but that would still leave him tied up. Could he cut the rope? No, the masked man behind him would see it for sure.

As they rounded the long hallway, the exit came into view. As they exited the tunnel, Dante was knocked to the ground. Looking around, he saw Miss Telis and Instructor Perez standing just a few feet away.

A voice sounded on the other side of Dante and as he looked, was greeted to the sight of Head Historian Louis and four more instructors he had seen around the Academy.

“Simply amazing!” The Historian exclaimed. “What kind of idiot tries to kidnap students during a tournament! Don’t you morons know that security is doubled during the tournament?” She ended with a cackle. She was yelling but seemed to be enjoying herself.

“Try not to kill them all Alexandra. We will need some for questioning.” Instructor Perez said with a sigh.

“No promises.” She retorted.

The masked men looked about, trying to sort out what to do but were never given the chance. Dante had spent the whole time while on the ground cutting at his bonds. Once the rope gave way. He stabbed through the boot of the closest kidnapper, effectively pinning him to the ground. He swung around in time to see a huge water elemental sweep over him like a wave. The water passed over the group but didn’t touch Jasmi or Dante. The masked men however were all struggling in the belly of the elemental. Dante stared in amazement at the power his magic instructor displayed.

Miss Telis freed Jasmi and led both of them back to the waiting room where Life Mages were already patching up their friends. After the Life Mages had dealt with the team, they left with only the team, Miss Telis, Instructor Perez and Historian Louis left in the room.

“How?” Dante asked.

Miss Telis smiled. “The enchantments I made for you and your team can track your movements. Once I noticed the commotion, we came over to intervene.”

Dante rocked back on his heels. How much effort and magic went into these enchantments? He didn’t get to wonder about that too long as Head Historian Louis interrupted his thoughts.

“And lucky you were too!” She growled at him, shaking her finger. “A few minutes later and we might not have found you. You need more training boy! Just because you can make a sword doesn’t make you a master of it. However!” She grinned at him. “Pinning that masked idiot to the ground with your knife was pretty good.” She cackled.

“No, it wasn’t!” Miss Telis argued. “The kidnappers were surrounded and more worried about capture than these kids. You should have just laid low and let us deal with it.”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t have done what he did?” The Historian asked. Miss Telis looked away, refusing to answer.

“You will need more training, all of you.” Instructor Perez stated. “The coming year is going to be especially hard on all of you.”

“Why is that Instructor?” Kelsi asked.

“The majority of your training will be together and not just field training. You will be handling weapons, magic, every and anything that will help round you all out. You kids are stubborn as mules when it comes to training and you will need it. Next year you are training with Senior Instructor Williams.”

The group looked at the instructors in stunned silence. Senior Instructors only taught fourth years. They wanted to press for information but were cut off.

“You have a lot of questions but now is not the time.” Instructor Perez said. “You still have another match today so I suggest you watch the next few matches while you can.”

Not knowing what to say, the team headed into the stands in silence. They had missed the next three matches and the last match of the morning was underway. Teron’s group, Tower’s Light was facing off against an unknown team. As the group settled in, Kelsi noticed Teron stumble a moment as he caught sight of them. The moment passed quickly but she had seen it. Teron was surprised they were there. She looked over to Jasmi who nodded at her. She had seen it as well.

The match finished quickly and Tower’s Light stood victorious. Teron still hadn’t used his magic and Dante was unsure they were going to find out what it was until it was too late to plan for it. Dante was doing all he could to deal with the pressure from the crowd. He was holding the emotions in check for now.

“Is he avoiding magic to show superiority or is he purposely hiding it?” Dante asked.

“I would think both.” Kelsi answered. “The knowledge that your opponent didn’t even need to use his magic to defeat you sends a strong message. Plus, he becomes an unknown threat and that will make opponents wary.”

“So, we need to at least look up some Light Mage abilities to see what is possible.” Jasmi said.

“Already ahead of you.” Ferris said with a smile. “Light Mages are not known for their combative prowess. They are especially good at politics and many merchant families have successful Light Mages in their family, but what they are also known for is their Illusion magic.”

“So, what does that mean?” Gretta asked. “Was Teron not really in the arena?”

“Oh, he was definitely there.” Ferris replied. “He was most likely shifting his image, maybe a foot to his left or right.”

“What else can they do?” Kelsi asked.

Ferris frowned. “That’s the thing. Since they are so good at hiding the truth, no one actually knows. They keep all other abilities under wraps. There are not many threats with Light Manipulation though so his Illusions are most likely his strongest spell.”

“How, in the name of Essence, are we supposed to deal with that!?” Jasmi asked.

“Oh!” Kelsi said, turning to Dante.

“What?” Dante asked.

“We already have a counter to him!” She whispered excitedly to the team. “Dante’s Essence Pulse!”

Realization dawned on the team. Dante had never thought to use it in combat which he realized was a waste. He didn’t have to look around the battlefield to know where his opponents were. The problem was, would he be able to keep his Empath abilities centered and use pulse at the same time?

The arena quieted as Senior Instructor Williams voice rose over the crowd.

“Student’s and guests! Our top four teams have been chosen!” Cheers rose up through the crowd. “Our first match this afternoon will be Serist De versus Iron Will! The second match will be Tower’s Light versus Essence Grace! Matches will start in one hour!” Senior Instructor Williams voice faded away and the crowd quickly started talking about the upcoming matches. Serist De left for the waiting rooms. They needed to plan.

They worked through lunch in the very room they were attacked in. Iron Will was comprised of three Metal Mages and two Life Mages. They were effective at rushing their opponents while the Life Mages stayed behind and constantly healed their teammates. Effective but not flexible. They had no ranged Mages and while they might develop ranged abilities in their coming years, they were counting on heavy offense to push through the other first years.

Serist De watched as the signal was given. “BEGIN!” Bellowed Senior Instructor Williams.

Iron Will moved forward in a rush but Kelsi and her team stayed motionless, letting their opponents run to them. Metal Mages were able to move faster while wearing heavy armor and a quick sprint to the center of the arena was easy for them, but if they had to run all the way to the other side, Kelsi suspected that the Life Mages would lag behind.

The crowed was struck with confusion as Serist De stayed put. The confusion was shared by the three Metal Mages but they ran onwards, unknowingly falling into their trap. When they had almost reached Serist De, Jasmi and Gretta went to work. Two of the Metal Mages were stopped in their tracks. One hit with Confusion from Gretta’s magic and the other being dragged down by skeletal arms rising up through the ground. Ferris attacked the lone Metal Mage left standing, meeting the Mage head on. Ferris’ first strike caused his opponent to block high with his large shield.

A large shield was great for defense but even for a Metal Mage, it was heavy and blocked his vision of the battle for a moment. Dante took that opportunity and rushed behind the Mage, hitting him in the back of the legs with his staff. Ferris then pushed forward. With the weight of the shield blocking the previous high strikes, he was left off balance and with Ferris’ push forward, the Metal Mage fell back on the ground, vulnerable. Ferris cast Dash, running past the downed opponent towards the Life Mages that were still trying to catch up.

Jasmi had already sent her spirits ahead and Dante moved forward as well, leaving Kelsi to bash the downed Mage with her staff. Gretta added an occasional piercing note from her violin that pierced the Mages heavy plate armor, causing his armor to amplify the sound. From the Mages reactions, it was… painful.

Kelsi and Gretta had discussed the Ultrasonic implementations for combat. Sound was a powerful tool but how could they make it useful in close quarters? Gretta had not been able to use her Dancing Blades in the attempted kidnapping until Ferris and Dante had cleared the door. While they still didn’t have a solid solution, they had found that heavy plate armor would amplify sound and that Ferris was somewhat protected with his Wind Armor. It wouldn’t be useful in many situations but it was an idea they could build off of. It was also very useful in this situation.

Once the Life Mages were down, the rest of the match ended quickly. With a bow to their opponents and to the judges, they ran off to their seats to study the next match. They would need every bit of information they could get.