—Ieros—

There was an explosion as the outer barrier ignited, the explosion blinding my vision for a few moments. But those moments were all that my enemy needed, closing the distance as they charged in, a stone lance piercing my barrier, although I just barely managed to deflect it with a fierce gust of wind. To get some space, I violently released the barrier, sending a 360 degrees pulse of invisible energy which shoved my enemies back.

Using that, I sent mana into the earth below, a pillar of stone rising from beneath my feat, sand cascading off of it as it climbed ever higher. I reestablished the air barrier and searched for my opponents, finding the fire and earth mage also having backed up a bit, the earth mage stomping his feet and making an earthen bulwark.

I raised a hand and with it, a mimicry of sand arose and I sent it down upon them, the mimicry’s fingers reaching above and around the bulwark and towards the two mages behind. This time, the fire mage responded, melting the sand and eventually his flames began to out-burn the sand I sent.

I stopped, beginning to split shards from my stone tower, sending them hurtling towards my two foes. The earth mage strengthened his bulwark as the shards shattered against its surface, although the bulwark did not emerge unscathed. Then fire blocked my vision, although I soon dispersed that with my barrier. But suddenly, the tower shuddered, the earth mage!

It fell and I with it, stone spikes waiting for me at the ground. I swiped my hand, wiping the spikes flat as I landed, glancing up to see my opponents, there was the fire mage, but where was the earth-

I felt the wind knocked out of me as something struck me in the side, I turned and saw the earth mage, clad in stone armor. He raised his foot and brought it down, but was met by engulfing sand which imprisoned him. As he struggled to break free, I maintained the sand prison with a hand and with the other, I focused on the fire mage, using air to stifle both his flames and body.

I had achieved victory, but even so, I still shook my head, displeased. I let the scene change back into the blank grey slate that was my dreamscape. Victory had been easy to achieve, although I wasn’t going to delude myself by thinking that my dream was going to be anything like reality. My opponents may not even use fire and earth and it had been a few days of competition, my opponents were likely higher level.

Unfortunately, I could only base this scene on Panam and my previous opponent, since they were the only memories I have of student level opponents. Perhaps I should’ve stayed at the arena and watched some fights but oh well, just watching wouldn’t be the same as experiencing.

I couldn’t compare them to my teachers either, not that they were any good examples of proper combat. That and I just wasn’t sure how much power I was allowed to use and how much power I needed to withhold. My previous opponents didn’t give me a whole lot of confidence in my future enemy’s endurance and one of the rules was not to permanently harm them.

I sighed, noticing the dark grey dreamscape beginning to lighten. I was going to wake soon. I could feel my mind grow more active as I rose from the depths of slumber, and then...

I woke up, letting out a sigh which turned into a yawn. I sat up and stretched, although sleep still clung to my bones as I stood, although despite that, I felt far more refreshed than I had in days. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to what the day would bring, but strangely I didn’t dread it either, I just didn’t feel adequately prepared.

But regardless, I would have to. I let out a proper sigh this time as I prepared myself for the day, glancing at the clock to see how much time I had left. I blinked as I looked at the clock, wondering if it was wrong but no, I barely had any time left! Adrenaline rose as I hastily exited the Tower, debating whether or not I should fly to keep my promise with Azorin.

But when I reached the door, I had yet to reach a decision, coming to a stop by the great doors as I struggled to make my mind. Finally, I decided against it, the cost in mana would weaken me for the fight. So I called a carriage and directed it to the arena, somewhat resigned to being late.

———

The crowd was restless, the two teammates impatient, and the announcer worried as the star of today’s match had yet to arrive. Azorin frowned at Ieros’s absence, unlike the rumors that were beginning to spread, he knew that Ieros was not afraid of this match, more likely he had lost sense of time with his research. But even so, that did not excuse the fact that he was late.

A messenger had already been sent but it would take twenty minutes for him to relay the message and another twenty for Ieros to come here. Azorin nearly had half a mind to fly to fetch Ieros himself but at that moment, one of the gates down in the arena opened and Ieros stepped forth, any sign of hurry hidden by the shadows of his hood.

Nervous laughter echoed throughout the arena as the announcer said, “Ah, Ieros is finally here! It seems he hasn’t quite lost his nerve just yet, but who’d blame him? He has to fight two opponents instead of one, and not just any two mages! They are heirs of two famous houses, Aldegar and Arawin! I’m sure I don’t need to remind you of the tales of their ancestors who helped establish this great Kingdom and besides, I am sure the tale of these two heirs will triumph that of their forebears!”

And while the crowd cheered with excitement, Ieros merely eyed his opponents with newfound appreciation. Although it was only faintly, he did recall the tales of Orian Aldegar and Selene Arawin. It was said that Orian’s Sword was forged from a piece of a fallen star which was then blessed by the Pope of the Luxian Church, there was no evil that could withstand his blade. Selene’s Arrows of Starlight were said to be as powerful as they were beautiful, seeming like shooting stars when she let them fly.

But it was mere legend, likely greatly exaggerated but even so, the legends existed for a reason and so he must remain careful. But how would they compare with his two previous opponents? Studying them with augury they appeared more powerful, but it didn’t seem that much. Ieros figured that it shouldn’t require that much effort to beat them.

Meanwhile, the two were studying Ieros, noting his lack of magical equipment other than his robes which just had the basic enchantments, mostly for comfort. They had confirmed with their own eyes his mana concentration earlier, now it was just a matter of predicting how he’d fare in the fight. Even now, they were thinking about that even after spending all of yesterday analyzing Ieros’s previous fights.

While Ieros had shown great control with mana, he was far too methodical, far too slow. A continuous assault would either break his control, or force him to expend way more mana than he normally would, and since he was accustomed to more mana, he would not worry as much about mana consumption. As long as they maintained a good enough defense, they should outlast him. And should he not break, well, they had a few more trump cards under their sleeve.

But Ieros’s voice startled them out of their mental preparation as he asked for their names.

They obliged, the swordsman saying, “I am Edward Aldegar.”

The archer followed, “And I am Lylith Arawin.”

Ieros nodded, about to introduce himself when the announcer declared that now was the time to prepare their barriers. Ieros did so, as did they and the moment for introduction passed. Then the signal echoed throughout the arena and Ieros immediately rose towards the sky upon a stone pillar, soon followed by a ring of smaller pillars. Their purpose soon grew clear as Ieros shattered them into shards, directing them at the two, who split apart, Ieros splintering more pillars in order to maintain the attack on both.

But they soon were on either side, and he could only keep one of them in sight. He frowned, as he spread his mana ever thinner into the air, using it as a rough sensory device, if anything were to disturb his mana, he would know. And so using that, he resumed the barrage of stone shards, continuing to raise the pillars just as fast as he broke them to make ammunition.

But this wasn’t enough to defeat his opponents, Lylith was dodging them just find and Edward used his sword and gauntleted fist to deflect and pulverize the incoming projectiles. Ieros shifted his focus onto Edward, switching from stone shards to sand which threatened to swarm Edward, but Ieros’s focus was interrupted by multiple and growing disturbances to his back, he turned, thickening the air barrier as three, four, five and six arrows suddenly halted in front of him.

He made sure to break them, so that Lylith couldn’t reuse them and turned back to capture Edward, who by this time had neared the base of the pillar, scaling it with a powerful jump. But, Ieros turned just in time, blowing Edward back with a gust but once again, he was unable to finish the job as a few more arrows, this time reinforced with magic, demanded his attention.

Suddenly, Edward shouted, “Crescent Blade!” as a crescent-shaped blade of energy shot from his sword towards Ieros, no, towards the base of the pillar. It cleaved clean through the stone, and since it was at an angle, the pillar began to slide and fall, although Ieros used more stone to repair the damage, maintaining the high ground. But as he did this, more arrows flew angrily through the air, seeking to capitalize on his split focus but they failed to pierce his barrier.

Revolving the air barrier to such a speed that any arrow shot would be flung away, he glared at Edward who once again cast Crescent Blade, although this time Ieros dispersed it with a directed pulse of mana. Ieros took a deep breath as he then made another pulse, made of fire.

Edward bore the brunt of the flames, briefly using a mana barrier while Lylith gracefully leapt over the flames. Ieros immediately seized this opportunity, sending a powerful gust of wind towards Lylith, striking her out of the air and towards the ground where a hand of sand waited for her. He grabbed her and turned to face Edward, who—much to his surprise—had leapt into the air towards him, his sword nearing Ieros.

It cut through his barrier with ease and with alarm, Ieros leapt off the pillar, using air to lighten his fall but Edward was hot on his tail, determined not to give Ieros the chance to use his advantage over Lylith. Ieros continued to retreat, making the sand cling to Edward’s feet which slowed him down enough for Ieros to escape.

Ieros then raised a hand, closing it into a fist as Lylith cried out, the sand immobilizing all movement as it hardened into stone. But this little victory was short lived as Edward charged towards her, reinforcing his left gauntlet with mana. With a shout, hesmashed his fist into the sandstone, shattering it and freeing her in one go. Once free, Lylith immediately distanced herself, chanting, “Starlight’s Arrow” as an arrow of pure mana formed.

It was let loose and Ieros directed a controlled mana pulse to disrupt it, but its density and speed rendered the pulse useless and Ieros was forced to dodge, right into Edward’s path. He rammed into Ieros with his shoulder, knocking him to the ground and as Ieros attempted to recover, he was once again knocked down by the flat of Edward’s blade

Edward prepared to strike again but Ieros rolled, sand suddenly engulfing Edward as Ieros rolled away, getting up on one knee and sending another gust of wind towards Lylith to slow her at least a little while. He retreated, holding Edward for as long as he could while also beginning to draw flammable gas to form the outer barrier. Arrows once again forced him to divide his focus even more, allowing Edward to break free and charge Ieros.

Discarding the outer barrier, Ieros just concentrated the flammable gas in front of him, hoping his barrier would be strong enough to hold when he ignited. There was a spark and then an explosion, knocking both Ieros and Edward to the ground. The following shockwave disorientated Lylith and knocked whatever arrows that were in the air to the ground, although she recovered quickly, sending more arrows to Ieros.

One found its mark as Ieros grunted in pain, although the rest were soon blocked by a hasty air barrier. He sat up, glancing at Edward who was still on the floor, his eyes flicked once again to Lylith as he blocked a few more arrows.

She was preparing another Starlight Arrow, ieros seeking to disrupt her focus but he was just a moment too late, a lance of sand shooting towards her just as the Starlight Arrow shot towards him.

He maintained the sand lance with his right hand and with the other, he pooled pure mana to make an energy shield, placing it between him and the Starlight Arrow. It struck, the power of the arrow tearing through his mana shield as its raw energy burned his hand and arm. But that was all, the mana shield had done its job as well as it could.

As for Lylith, the sand lance struck her bow hand, Ieros using the sand to wriggle in between her fingers and the bow, wrestling it from her and carrying it out of reach, while more sand immobilized her. Once again, Ieros hardened the sand into stone, groaning as he got up on one knee, directing a look at Edwad.

Edward was soon encased in sandstone as well and Ieros let out a sigh of relief, he had won. As he waited for the announcer to declare his victory, sandstone shattered as Edward broke free, glowing with mana. Ieros shot a gout of fire at him but the mana armor allowed Edward to push through, tackling Ieros. Ieros heard the announcer’s voice shout with excitement but didn’t hear the words, he was too busy trying to deal with Edward.

He had to get rid of that mana armor and quickly, Ieros burning more of his blood to pool mana into his one good hand. He then weakly pointed his palm at Edward, unleashing all of that mana into a pulse, although he put a bit too much mana into it. But the result wasn’t bad, it disrupted Edward’s mana armor although it did nothing to stop Edward from placing a knee on Ieros’s chest.

Ieros was dangerously low on mana now, almost helpless as Edward applied pressure on Ieros’s chest, Ieros coughing as he found it harder and harder to breath. Edward continued to press down, but suddenly began to feel a growing pressure all over his body. Realizing Ieros was doing something, he raised his fist, hurriedly bringing it down.

But in his haste, he hadn’t put as much power into it as he’d like and the invisible force that resisted him was growing stronger, as if he was punching underwater.That invisible force grew in strength as well as opacity, a silver aura forming around him and soon, Edward was rendered immobile, his fist just inches from Ieros. He glared at Ieros, continuing to struggle for Ieros just had to be low on mana, he still had a chance! Ieros glared right back, the sunlight conquering the shadows of his hood for the first time as Ieros’s grey eyes shone with a faint silver.

Mana continued to be drained as Ieros just focused on holding him, pouring more and more mana to apply more pressure. Edward for his part, just kept trying to apply pressure on Ieros’s chest, hoping that gravity would give him the edge. But Ieros just continued to burn more blood, even as his face grew pale and his body weak.

Eventually, it was Edward who lost, his fierce eyes glazing over with unconsciousness and with relief, Ieros released him, shoving his body off as he took deep breaths. He sat up slowly, wincing in pain as he kept his weight off his right leg, looking somewhat helplessly down at the arrow in his thigh. With what mana he had left, he manipulated sand into a mound behind him, so he could comfortably rest his back.

The announcer then announced his victory, when it became clear that both of his opponents had been incapacitated. The previously silent crowd then erupted with cheers, although Ieros didn’t really care, more worried about the arrow in his leg that was growing more and more painful.

Attendants soon arrived and with them, Azorin who personally tended to Ieros’s wounds. After Ieros was treated, he helped Ieros stand up, giving him a hug. Ieros blinked, but hesitantly hugged back. Seeing the attendants hesitate over the sandstone coffin he had made for Lylith, he waved his hand and returned the stone to sand, the attendants nodding gratefully as they pulled Lylith to her feet.

Azorin released Ieros and began to lead him away, but Ieros resisted for a moment, facing Lylith and bowing his head.

“You, uh, fought well.”

She just nodded and Ieros tiredly turned to follow Azorin.