Magic Island Battlefield

"Now then let me see how far ahead I've gotten?" Nathan was making his way through a forest of iron while keeping an eye on his Advance Mana Control spellbook, currently showing a basic map of the area. "...Hmm? Was that mana further off than I thought or did they sense me and moved away?" He pondered after noticing that the mana he was tracking disappeared all of a sudden.

"No, you shouldn't rely on your magic so much..." He told himself before scanning around with his eyes and ears and not just his magic. "Bah! I am no Lutwig! Or that smith with his axe!" He brushed a hand through his hair after trying for a minute or two and couldn't make out anything that was out of place. "Well, if they are hiding then maybe I should shock them out? Hmm, hmm, hmm!"

He clasped his hands together and gathered up some lightning mana around himself that jumped and sparked between the metallic trees and bushes. "Lightning Scatter!" Nathan threw his arms out and sent a roaring burst of electricity in all directions. "Now out with you!"

The lightning bounced and surged throughout the forest of iron, electrifying the air as the spell searched for an unknown target in hiding.

With Blake and co in their V.I.P Box

"What is that mage doing down there?" Blake muttered unable to see anything much from his seat. "...Hmm, how are these good seats again?" He asked out loud to the air. "Huh?" And in said air appeared a large mirror that instead of showing the group's reflection showed what Nathan was up to.

"Oh! How wondrous! I believe this must have been Master Ruleek's doing!" Risabeel lightly clapped at this useful convenience. "Ah?" At her words, the mirror flashed to Ruleek's grim face.

"Oh?" Which was set in a surprised expression. "You figure it out? That giant fireball up there was supposed to tell the V.I.Ps how to get a better view on things, but of course, he went straight to battle." The Elf rolled his eyes just as Teihoon's let out one of his mighty roars at something. "...Eh? What are you two doing here? I don't remember you being with them?" He noticed Caspar and Fran trying to hide, but that was impossible due to the size of the mirror he was in.

"She got us in!" The two pointed at Morgen on the other side of the seats.

"A knight?" All Ruleek saw was Gwyn, leaning her head to the side to see the island.

"They mean her..." Gwyn muttered before pulling Morgen out from behind her seat all rolled up in ball mode.

"Oh? The magic loving freak...that's unsurprising, my brother did mention her..." Ruleek eyed the Morgen ball for a moment.

"..." Forcing the young witch to unroll herself. "...Hi, Master Rul-

"Don't waste your time..." Ruleek lectured her, setting his face in a scowl that worked a bit too well with his skull-like face. "...just sit down and watch. If another accident happens, it's my turn to handle it..."

"Uh, what's up with her?" Blake asked with Mari and Os, pointing at Morgen for him, so far two members of the Sigil Sect knew about this kid and weren't too happy about seeing her.

"Did she ask Nathan to sign her book?" Ruleek asked in answer, and after he got a nod from Blake, he rolled his eyes like he did with Teihoon. "That leaves Nathalie and myself...just know this; she is highly thorough in her love for those she finds interesting to the point that if it weren't for the headmaster; someone would have used her as research material by now..." He trailed off as he stared at Morgen's shaking form. "...Oh please, child, do I look like a mad wizard? Don't answer that." Ruleek snapped to Blake about to speak. "Long story short she's good at finding her way into places she does not belong...like now..."

"I found them in the hallway at sch-EEP!" Morgen tried to defend herself, but all that got her was another scowl from the Elf mage. "Okay! I promise not to touch your personal mirrors again!" She yelled from ball mode.

"Again?" Ruleek dull eyes opened a bit then returned to their usual look. "I will believe it when I see it...as for now, back to cheering on the young Nathan, I do hope he was not defeated while I...entertained you." The mirror flashed back to Nathan after those words.

Back with Nathan on the Magic Island

"There you are!" Nathan smirked after his spell hit something that wasn't made of iron. "Now come here!" He brought his arms in, and his Lightning Scatter sparked back to him. "By the Goddess on high, what is that!?" The mage gasped when his bolts of lightning came back with what appeared to be a solid mass of pitch blackness in the form of a robed person.

This seemingly black ghost struggled against their electric bindings. "Ooooh?" Until a man's voice escaped his non-existent mouth from the black void of a face. "Well, this is embarrassing; I didn't expect to get caught by Le Fay's star student! Nathan was it?" He asked, giving up on breaking free as Nathan held him in place.

"It unwise to answer a question from those who like to remain unknown," Nathan answered with a hand held to this shadow man while the other was beginning to surge with lightning. "Strike true and destroy my foe with unrivaled speed and a booming roar..." The electricity around his free hand took the shape of a javelin.

"Ooooh? Full incarnation, eh? Heh," The shadow man chuckled as Nathan was holding a Thunder Javelin the size of a tree over his head. "But, I suppose in a fight to see which among us is worthy of joining the Sigil Sect such cation is needed."

"Indeed..." Nathan agreed with the talking shadow before wheeling around on the spot. "Thunder Javelin!" Then launched his spell at a series of black orbs that were coming up behind him.

"Dammnit!" The shadow man disappeared as Nathan's javelin tore through the orbs and screamed through the iron forest and out into the desert part of the island until it met its mark by crashing into a rocky pillar.

"Well, gotta give it to the kid, he's smarter than most." Came the voice of the shadow man as a middle-aged man stepped out of the shadows inside a hallowed out part of the now crumbling pillar. He had pale white skin, fizzy blue hair, and wore a dark robe of grey with purple trim and tied around his waist was a rope of red beads. "Hmm?"

The moment he showed himself out of the iron forest came 5 Thunder Javelins flying towards him. They were half the size of the one that destroyed his hideout and appeared to be coming right for him. "Shadow Javelins!" In response, he clapped his hands, and 5 orbs of black appeared around him that turned into javelins to meet Nathan's.

Each one met in a violent clash of darkness and lightning as their mana fused and mixed then rocked the surrounding area in blasts of black and yellow. "Tch!" With the shadow mage bringing up a Mana Barrier to guard himself against the random chucks of rock flying at him.

It went on like that until the only thing left were 5 craters where the spells collided. "You matched me rather well, friend." Nathan stepped out of the iron forest to look up at his opponent. "Care to go for another round?" He taunted with his Sparking Strikes Of Boa spellbook at the ready.

"Heh! I would! But then I wouldn't have the strength to deal with the others!" The shadow mage threw out his arms as other clashes of spells were happening around the island from all sides. "But I do feel bad that my first win is against a welp still using books!"

"Oh? You learn much of power and skill from books, no? I would say you should feel bad for being matched by a welp such as myself, hmm, hmm, hmm!" Nathan shot back while tapping his Iron's Call tome to his head. "Then again, you do know my name, so my reputation precedes me."

"Hmph! Then let I, Coalass, show you how wrong you are!" Coalass brought his arms back in as more black orbs appeared around him. "Dark Embrace!" He shot his arm forward, and his balls of blackness sped off from his side and right at Nathan.

"Hmm?" Or so it seemed as each one missed the young mage and met their marks in the shadows of the random debris after their javelins' clash. "Embrace...?"

"Get crushed! Rookie!" Coalass made a fist, and all of the shadows hit by his Dark Embrace came together on Nathan's shadow.

"It's like this!" Nathan's eyes snapped to the things these shadows were attached to and saw them flying towards him. "Skin of Steel!" His entire being was replaced with harden steel right as he came under siege by boulders, iron branches, and even piles of sand.

"Ooooh? He guarded it, eh? Well, gotta give it to Le Fay they make you smart that's for sure, worked good enough for me." Coalass muttered, keeping his fist held tight as he was already feeling Nathan trying to break out. "But can't let a rookie get above me...not until you prove it." With his other hand, he gathered up black mana. "Cast out all that is seen. Strip away all that is felt. Deafen all the is heard. And utter all under you in a void of senseless! Null Blackness!"

Coalass held the hand he was building up with mana to the air, and instantly a dome of black appeared around him, and the pile of rubble Nathan was under.

Blake group's V.I.P box

"HEY!?! What gives!? Stupid mirror!" Gwyn yelled at the black screen that was the face of the mirror used to watch Nathan's fight. "Come on! You're magic all and that! So work! Dammit!" She shot up from her seat and started wiggling the more than 4 times her size mirror like a piece of paper.

"Whoa! Whoa! Ahhh!" Taken for a shake as well was Morgen, currently clinging off the knight's back.

"The hell's going on up there!?" All that got some people looking up at this one V.I.P box.

"Gwyn! Sit your ass down!" Blake got up to pull her away from the mirror before she broke the thing. "Calm down! Your little bookworm boyfriend isn't gonna lose to something like that!"

"It's not like that!" The knight snapped at the smith in front of her. "GRR!" Then growled at him when he and Natula raised an eyebrow. "I just don't want to miss the good stuff!" She groaned before slamming back down on her seat with her arms crossed.

"Uhm?" Morgen still on Gwyn's shoulder leaned down to the knight's face. "Uh, he's...fine..." She whispered as Gwyn stared long swords into her.

Gwyn softened her eyes at the little witch's words then went back to staring at a black screen. "Of course, he is..."

Magic Island battle between Nathan and Coalass

Inside of Coalass' Null Blackness was nothing but that pile of rubble Nathan was trapped under and total blackness.

*Crackle, Crackle, Boom*

Until it was blasted open by few blasts of mana from inside then crumbled away as Nathan stood in the middle of this nothingness. "..." He tried to speak but heard no words. "!?" When he held a hand, he could not see to his neck, he felt nothing. "?" Even his Mana Sense wasn't working.

"Ooooh! Look at the poor and naive face you are making!" Coalass was standing right in front of Nathan, unaffected by his spell and was so close that the young mage's aimlessly waving arms bumped into him a few times.

"?" Yet Nathan didn't react to his presence as his face showed only confusion.

"See nothing, feel nothing, and hear nothing! Nor can you sense anything with the best of your magical knowledge! This is far worse than the good old Advanced Darkness! If I didn't have to give it such a fancy name, I would've called it Extreme Darkness! Hahaha!" Coalass chuckled as he circled to Nathan's back and pressed a hand to it. "Better luck next ti-Huh?" He was about to fire a bolt of mana into Nathan's back when orbs of mana appeared around Nathan. "Ooooh? You're planning on shooting those off randomly, aren't you? Well, gonna need a lot more if you want a chance to hit me!"

"I do not agree, shadow mage..." Nathan answered as he turned to Coalass with a light bluish glow shining through his eyes. "...Mana Lustre..." Next, he pointed a finger right at Coalass' nose.

"Wha?!" Coalass was instantly blasted from 8 different directions by a barrage of mana beams. "Guah!" That gave him no time to put up any kind of defensive spell to counteract the surprise attack.

"That must be painful..." Nathan muttered only being able to see the effects of his attack while his other senses were still gone. "...there we go." But they soon returned when Coalass lost the will to keep his Null Blackness active as cracks appeared around the endless void with beams of light raining down on the two. "I hope you aren't defeated by this, senior! It would look bad for our school! Bashing Chain!"

The chain around Nathan uncoiled itself and started to spin around him until it rammed into Coalass gut as the Mana Lustres let up their attack. "GUAAH!" The force of which shattered his Null Blackness and sent the shadow mage skipping across the desert like a flat stone on water. "Nggggh! RAAAAH! Shadow Puppeteer!" Until Coalass had enough of that and called his shadow from the ground to catch himself before he went for another face full of sand.

"Bah!" Coalass spat blood onto the sands and gripped his stomach while his shadow kept him afloat in the air. "Grraaah!" Then screamed to the sky as the feeling of his cracked ribs hit him along every other seething pain Nathan gave him in that short exchange. "You got me! Ragh! Good with that one!" He snarled at Nathan who was walking up to him with his spellbooks at the ready. "Didn't think Master Valdre would take his time to teach someone else about counterspells for curses..." His eyes made their way to Valdre's tower. "Tch!" But sadly the Lich was looking at some other fight. "Doesn't look like he chose one of us, eh?"

"Ture, once he realized I wasn't going to be his newest pet project, he lost 'some' interest in me..." Nathan's eyes followed Coalass' then came back to the man being held by his own shadow. "...but it was useful learning a bit of defense against magic of a darker kind..." He twirled his own bit of dark mana around his finger before it fizzed out. "...and I must say you held out well for not having the time to protect yourself..." A hand went to his chin and trained to guess how Coalass got off not at the very least knocked out by his combo.

"Heh! That's what you're worried about, eh? Guess, I wasn't much for you..." Coalass chuckled then sharpen his eyes at Nathan who readied himself. "Well, I feel the same! Umbra Titan!" Black strings of mana shot out from his fingertips and attached themselves to any shadow they could reach.

"Hmm!" And immediately Nathan jumped back as the strings went for his shadow. "Quick bolt!" He summoned a ball of sparks to hold the strings at bay as he back off.

"That wasn't the point rookie!" Coalass' black string turned into a web of chains as he made a fist in each hand. "Now come out to play!" He pulled on the chains, and out of the shadows his chains attached to; came not the forms of rocks or dunes but that of a giant It started with a huge head crowned by jagged horns and featureless face of pure black, followed by spiked shoulder, long lanky arms that ended with wicked claws but then stopped at its waist.

"Be crushed by my darkness!" Coalass stood in what would be the belly of his shadow giant then swiped a hand at the air and his shadow puppet brought down a massive claw of darkness on Nathan with each of its fingers leaving a trail of black as it let out a disturbing mouthless roar.

Nathan did the best thing one should do when about to be clawed at by a giant of magical controlled shadows. "Thunder Javelin! Mana Lustre!" Fight back with all you have! This was a show of might and magical power! The need to run and hide was gone. "Not under this many eyes!" He told himself as his javelins and beams clashed with Coalass' Umbra Titan's hand in an eruption of shadows, lightning, and mana.

"Grraahh!" Coalass was sent reeling back with his shadow giant's hand nothing but a stump after clashing with Nathan's spell. "Dammit!" But the thing that put to shock to his face was that his chains were cracked. "I can't be wasting time with you, rookie!" He swiped his other hand at ground. "Umbra Geyser!" And like before his giant followed his movements as it slammed its one good fist into the sands.

"A geyser?" Nathan felt rumbling under his feet and got a good idea of what was about to come. "Grasping Chain!" He sent his chain flying back as a 3 clawed grappling hook, and into the destroyed pillar Coalass was hidden before. "Wah!" And was yanked backward as not one but five torrents of blackness shot up from the ground.

"Dammed Loved By Mana!" Coalass brought his arms up as did his shadow giant now with two working hands. "Umbra Meteor!" Forming between the Umbra Titan's hands was a growing ball of blackness as the shadows from all around it were being pulled in.

"Ah! Get back, you!" Even Nathan's own shadow was getting sucked in, and it tried taking him with it. "Grasping Chain!" To ensure he wasn't thrown off his feet, he sent his chain around the pillar then linked it to itself with him wrapped up tightly.

"That ain't good enough, rookie! Haha!" Coalass only laughed at Nathan's attempt at saving himself. "At least get taken out by my best shot!" He threw his arms down, intent on slamming Nathan into oblivion with extreme force.

"GAHAHAHAHA!" At the same time came the guttural laugh of a beast that was only drowned out by the full-on tidal wave of water coming down on the fight between Nathan and Coalass.

"By the Goddess on high!" Both mages screamed for their lives as they each tried their best to save themselves. Coalass by wrapping his Umbra Titan around himself while Nathan got himself to the top of the smashed pillar via his chain.

"Ngh!" Despite being surround by magical empowered darkness of his making, Coalass was still pushed back by the dominating force of raging waters. "Huh!?" And in these waters, he saw a shadow but one he did not know or had control over. "What is th-"

"GAHAHAHA!" Again came that beasty laughter as the shadow got larger and larger until bursting into the belly of Coalass' Umbra Titan was a large blue scaled crocodile Lizardfolk, with bloodshot green eyes of pure furry. They were dressed in a long blue skirt with silver bracers on their arms, a necklace of gold and sapphire around their neck, and transparent veil mask around their long snout. "Fight me!" They roared, ramming the palm of a clawed hand into Coalass' side.

"Ugrah..." Coalass' only reaction to that was him spitting blood as the unnerving sound of his side getting caved in greeted his ears.

"Weakling!" The Lizardfolk did not stop for a moment as they slammed Coalass through his own shadowy creation and into the rushing waters. "Flood Force!" Which turned into a single force of destruction that tore its way through the desert and as the name would have guessed it flooded the entire area in water with Coalass lost to the waters. "You're next!" The wild water spellcaster pointed a gold-tipped claw at Nathan watching from the pillar. "We shall engage in the glorious rite of battle!"

"How did 'that' pass the report trial?" Nathan had to ask himself as he looked at the members of the Sigil Sect to see which one of them picked this battle crazed monster. "Of course..." And found his answer in Teihoon, who had the toothiest of grins on his face. "Where?" When he came back to crocodile, they had disappeared.

"Right here!" A jet of water wrapped around the pillar, quickly crushing it under the force as its maker appeared behind Nathan. "Now fight me!" And just like with Coalass they were coming in for a palm strike. "Gahaha! Good! Good!" They smirked under their veil when Nathan dodged the surprise attack by zipping to one side with trails of lightning following behind him.

"Lightning Cloth..." Nathan was sparking with power as his hair and clothes stood on end. "May I have the name of such a brazen woman..." He offered a hand surging with lightning to his opponent. "Eh?" And was surprised when the Lizardfolk took it in theirs without hesitation.

"Good! You know a woman when you see one! I am Nomtrix! Now prepare to be crushed!" Nomtrix introduced herself as she shook Nathan's hand with the only sign of her being affected by his Lightning Cloth being the sparks flying off her. "Now fight me!" The muscle in her arm, shaking Nathan's hand bulged out suddenly.

"Oh, dear me!" Nathan screamed as he was tossed high into the air the next moment.

"Piranha Poppers!" Nomtrix slashed at the air and jets of water from the now watery landscape she created, shot after Nathan, with each one turning into a school of relentless biting fish.

"Mana Barrier!" Nathan quickly threw up a shield to block out the snapping fangs. "What?!" But not only were they chewing through it but each one was getting bigger.

"Pop!" Down below, Nomtrix snapped her claws, and the piranhas feasting on Nathan's Mana Barrier exploded in a torrent of water. "Gahahaha! Two for Nomtrix, The mig-!!" In the middle of her cheer, Nathan's Grasping Chain clamped her jaws shut. "UGAH!" Then came a loud grunt as a bolt of lightning came down on her.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm! Did you think that would *pant* defeat me!" Up in the air and slowly falling due to magic was Nathan still in the fight but panting and his robe was in tatters then discarded with his soaked vest and tore dress shirt left to cover his upper half.

"RAAAH!" Nomtrix forced her jaws open and smirked at the young mage. "Yes! YES! And fight we shall! One Loved by Mana!" More jets of water began appearing around the pillar she was on. "Piranha Poppers!" Slashing at the air again she sent another school of fangs at Nathan.

"Mana Lustre!" Nathan fired a rain of magic beams down on Nomtrix. "Tch!" And as with his barrier, they were chewed through by the Piranha Poppers before they went off between the two mages, sending shockwaves throughout the once desert turned beachside.

Blake group's V.I.P box

"Well, it looks like things are getting good!" Blake put on a smirk as spells were getting thrown all over the place by not just Nathan and his battle-hungry lizard chick, but the other mages as a tower of iron shot up from somewhere while a storm of purple lightning raged on in some other spot. "But he's going from one fight to the next. I wonder if he can catch his breath?" He sent a glance at Gwyn. "Oh?"

He found both the knight and little with their eyes only on Nathan as he dashed around the watery spells from Nomtrix while throwing his own bit of lightning, mana, and chains at her.

"Come on, Mr. Mage, you gotta start taking these guys out." Gwyn cheered Nathan on from her mind as the grand magical battle continued on.

Chapter End