Chapter Three.

"What are the win conditions?" Jenna asked.

She was confident she could beat the nerd in a match, and if she did, he would give her the way to contact Eden. She needed a strong mage and wasn't going to pass up the chance to try to recruit one.

"Knockout or yield," he answered, looking at the clerk behind the counter. "We'll be using the arena. Let Adam know for me, please."

"Will do," the clerk nodded.

"Adam?" Jenna asked as the nerd made his way across the empty warehouse to the arena. It was just them, the referee, the bouncers, the healer, and the clerk he had spoken to. "Who's that? The owner?"

"Yes," the nerd answered, entering the arena ring and taking a spot. "Attack whenever you're ready. In a real fight, you don't wait for someone to call it. To give you a chance, I won't attack until you do."

Jenna snorted as she entered the arena, then assessed the boy. He was cocky, arrogant. There wasn't a chance he could beat her, though – she was a demigoddess and he possessed no divine aura. She didn't, either, but she had an amulet from her father that concealed it without weakening her.

Deciding to change her usual strategy from darting to the side using flaming strikes to propel herself, Jenna thrust her hands forward, summoning up fireballs and throwing them at the boy. He watched, his stance remaining cocky, as the fireballs soared at him.

He's not even bothering to dodge! She laughed mentally. My fireballs have broken through a nephilim's shields before! Moron!

Her fireballs passed through the boy, who faded away.

"Oops," he said from the side, and she jumped, lashing out with a flaming whip at where he was, only to find it passing through him, though he didn't fade away that time. "That's better."

Jenna charged at him, lashing out with a flaming foot, only to find it passing through him.

"You're really simple, you know that, right?"

This time, the voice came from behind her, and she struck, only to find him standing there as well. Jenna looked between the two nerds. They were identical.

"Illusions," she growled.

"They're my specialty," he responded. "The only chance you have is to hit my real body. Perhaps one of these is it, perhaps it's hidden somewhere. But I promise it's in the ring. I'm not a cheater."

"What happened to not making a move until I did?"

"Ah," he held up a finger. "I said I wouldn't attack until you did. I never said anything about not making a move first. I created the illusion to conceal myself and to fool you into thinking I was still walking forward when I entered the arena. You don't wait for the opponent to make the first move in a fight. That will cost you."

A fist slammed into Jenna's back, and she let out a gasp as she kicked backwards, only to find her foot passing through air. He was already gone.

She summoned up her blazing aura once more to ensure he couldn't draw close to her, then began shooting fireballs all over the arena. He wasn't a demigod, which meant he couldn't be older than he looked, maybe a couple of years older if he had good genes. There wasn't a chance he could dodge all of her attacks.

Several minutes passed, but none of her attacks connected. New illusions appeared, though she spared the images of the nerd only a fireball. Growling, Jenna summoned up a pair of thick whips of fire and spun around, letting them lash out across the arena as she moved around. The whips struck the ground, the air, and the walls of the arena, but never touched the boy.

Jenna growled after several minutes of spinning. She was growing dizzy and needed to stop, so she did, thrusting her hands out. Fire blasted out, flames burning all around and filling the arena.

"Good job," a voice said in her ear. "But you'll need to do better than that to defeat me. You see, despite my skinny frame, I'm actually quite athletic. My dad insisted on gymnastics as I grew up, and under these baggy clothes is a lean body of athletic reflex. It wasn't hard to evade your attacks."

"My flames didn't seem affected when they hit you," she growled. "There's no way you evaded the projected flames."

"Ah, yes," he chuckled. "That was fun to pass through. Quite hot, Jenna. But you see, you forgot that I'm an illusion mage. I simply made it seem like your projected fire was unbroken as it passed around me."

"Where are you?" She scanned the arena despite knowing her gaze wouldn't catch sight of him. "You can't touch me as long as my blazing aura is active, and I can last a long time. Much longer than some illusion mage's spell."

"Are you sure about that?" His voice came from the right that time, and she lashed out with her whip, a fireball, and a projection of fire. "Nice try, but you missed again."

This time, he was further right of there, causing Jenna to growl. He was moving as soon as he spoke.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said. "There isn't a chance your mana pool can compare to mine."

"No," he said, his voice on the far side of the arena. "I meant about me not touching you."

A foot connected with the side of her head, and Jenna blacked out.

Kris snorted as he undid the illusion surrounding himself. He wasn't just a light mage, but also touched into air magics, one of its neighboring schools. He used the power of wind to divert her flames around him while using an illusion to make it look like her fire was unbroken as well as to protect his foot and leg from her blazing aura.

Admittedly, it had taken a lot of his immense mana pool to protect himself, but with his father being the son of a High God, he'd inherited a bit of that high amount of mana.

Shaking himself, Kris sat on the ground and waited for the demigoddess to wake up. He knew what she was, even if she was concealing her aura. His father had taught him about those amulets, and Kris had seen it briefly a few nights before.

Jenna didn't take long to wake, and Kris smiled.

"We had an agreement," he reminded her as she sat up. "Why don't you answer my questions? Why are you looking for the strongest mages around?"

"A friend of mine is in trouble," she told him. "I need strong mages to help me rescue him. Not weaklings like the fighters here, but people like you, me, and Eden. And Cam, if his reputation is what is claimed."

"It is," Kris said. "Cam is the son of a god, and he has a lone school. That, alone, makes him powerful. And that's before factoring in which god in particular is his father. Cam's main weapon in combat is performing a mental ram against the opponent's mind. Without any mental defenses, they will be knocked out immediately, unless they have a strong will. Then, they might manage a few moments."

"Will you introduce me to the person who can contact Eden?" She asked.

"No," he answered. "I don't trust your story. Why should I believe you that a friend's in danger? How do I know you aren't trying to lure Eden into a trap? Or Cam? See, it's Cam I'm concerned about. He's powerful, and he's sought after by god, angel, nephilim, hunter, and slaver alike."

"But," he stood up. "If you come here on Monday night, I will let you know if Eden will consider talking with you about your supposed need. If I'm wearing a red shirt, he will approach you after the matches are over. If I'm wearing a blue shirt, forget it. If I'm wearing a green shirt, run as far away as you can."

Kris brushed off his pants, then turned and left, wrapping an illusion around himself as he made his way home. He'd only lived there a couple of months, ever since his dad randomly announced they were moving there.

His father had learned that he had a brother living in this town and had wanted to meet him, resulting in the sudden move. His father had a brother, not Kris.

Kris had frowned when he'd found out who the brother was. Who his uncle was. He didn't like the idea of his uncle being younger than him, but he was.

It was a friend of his, too. Someone who had run away from foster care three years prior. Ambrosius Caldwell, now calling himself Cameron. Cam, for short.

He was happy that Cam was doing well. His friend and uncle seemed to be having fun in the arenas, before he'd gone missing because of the Fairy Empress kidnapping him at the underground mage auction.

Then there was the battle. Kris and his father had taken part in it, though his father didn't have access to his divinity. He'd asked Ulrima to keep it bound, so that he could continue living a normal life.

As normal of one as he had.

The High God had respected that request, much to the surprise of his son.

Despite that, Kris's father had still fought hard, taking out six Fairy Lords and a Fairy Queen during the battle at the forest. Kris had managed to kill a Fairy Lord, too, though his sleep was still bothered by it.

It had only been a week, after all, and he was only fourteen, even if he was nearly fifteen.

Letting out a sigh, Kris let himself into his house as he wondered how Jenna was doing.

She was pretty, he thought.

And indeed, she was pretty – pretty mad, that was.

Jenna had lost not once but twice that night. It reminded of when her brother was taken. She had barely managed to flee and save herself, and had felt helpless against the people who had taken him. She had figured out who had taken him and where he'd been taken to, but was unable to infiltrate the place. That was why she needed help.

Odds were, her brother wasn't there anymore. But if they raided that place, they might find information on where he was moved to. The problem was that the government wouldn't attack a place like that on the word of a girl, and she wasn't powerful enough by herself to take it on.

That was why she had begun fighting in the mage arenas. They were underground, and participated by people already under the law. Several of them had likely fought mage traffickers before, and many of them probably had reason to go up against them.

But over the last few months, she had yet to find someone powerful enough who could truly be considered someone who could fight against the traffickers. Someone who could take them on with her.

Jenna stood, then made her way to the apartment. She'd bullied the complex's owner into letting her stay there indefinitely and covering the bills. He was a magic smuggler, and she had leverage on him.

Jenna stripped off her hoodie and pulled the tie out of her hair, letting it fall across her shoulders as she threw herself onto her bed, tears streaming out of her eyes.

"Wait a little bit longer, Ty," she cried. "Please wait a bit longer for me to come to you."

She prayed to any god who would listen that the nerd would put her into contact with Eden, and that he and Cam would be willing to help her rescue her brother. When she initially prayed to him asking for help rescuing Tyler, he said that he didn't care what happened to them, so if she wanted him back, she'd have to do it on her own.

She then cursed the gods for their lack of care. Their father only cared about how much chaos and destruction they caused.

Well, if it's chaos and destruction he wants, then he'll find it when I have allies who'll help me take on those traffickers.

Jenna sat up and rubbed her eyes. If the nerd came through for her, then it might be sooner. If the spatial mage and mind mage refused, she could always go to the vampire in the Blood. There were rumors he despised traffickers, especially if they went after children.

That he'd killed or chased out every mage trafficker in his domain.

If she went to him, she'd agree to whatever his price was for his help. As long as she got her other half back, she would be fine. They were a team, she and Tyler, and together was when they were the most powerful.

In fire and ice, their enemies were destroyed. Their powers complimented, augmented, and amplified each other's. They had thought they were unstoppable until that ambush a few months prior.

Jenna burst into sobs again. She really wanted her brother back, and that night had reminded her of just how weak she really was.