The news of Cardinal vont Clermont's recruitment offer to Rebecca surprised the city. The king was the first to send his compliment, followed by marquis, counts, viscounts, barons, and baronets all pass compliments to Rebecca. When Duke Whitby heard, his entire family paid Rebecca a visit to celebrate her achievement. Unlike vont Ballards, the vont Whitby family was a very religious family, with a deep connection to the Aether church. The number of guests became such a problem, Headmaster Abe posted guards outside Rebecca's dorms. Not only did a number of people pass compliments, Baron vont Ballard also received several engagement proposals. The nuptial proposals ranged from marquis to baron families. As Rebecca was 15 and unengaged, many families took the opportunity to offer engagement proposals, hoping to get closer ties to The Church of Aether.

Rebecca who was usually unobservant, immediately understood how her life had changed. Moreover, how difficult the rest of her life at the academy would become and become secluded for a time.

After the light mage duels, days passed as the fourth, third-, and second-year mages dueled. Each night, the King, cardinals, Headmaster Abe, and other dignitaries watched from the box as the King and others commented on each fight. When it came to the first-year mage duels, Grandmaster Thaddeus was invited to join the king in his box.

"Grandmaster Thaddeus, it is good to see my tutor again," said the king.

"Your majesty, King Remus Albus Fermion IX, it is good to pupil again," said Grandmaster Thaddeus bowing slightly.

"Come tutor, sit by your student, and tell me about your thoughts on the duels," said the king.

"Your majesty, Headmaster Abe can surely provide more comment than me, I am just a librarian," he said.

"Yet, you'll disciple Will be participating. Surely, you'll comment on his performance," said Cardinal vont Gaius

"Ah my dear Silva, it has been too long. How are you?

"You sly fox, I will not give you what you seek. Sit down there," said Cardinal Silva vont Gaius.

"You two always fight, time seems to stand still when you two are present," said Cardinal Marcus vont Clermont.

"Marc you'll always play peacemaker and look where it got you. You should thank us!" said Cardinal vont Gaius.

Both Grandmaster Thaddeus and Cardinal vont Gaius laughed

Even the king stayed silent as these three bantered and joked back and forth.

"How did you find the inspection of the academy your majesty?" Grandmaster Thaddeus spoke

"Very well and orderly. I complimented Headmaster Jiro Abe on his continued success as headmaster, including his new star Rebecca vont Ballard," said the king.

"May yes, hasn't Baron James vont Ballard been blessed with such extraordinary children. I hear Jason will be promoted captain within the month, Rebecca was offered discipleship at Aether's Sacred Temple, and William is a disciple of the renowned Grandmaster Thaddeus. What luck" said sneeringly Count vont Driskell.

Ignoring his derision, Duke Whitby agreed.

"Well Grandmaster Thaddeus please tell us about your disciple, I wish to hear more about him and his accomplishments. He sure has a bright future; would you not agree tutor?" said the king.

"Yes, he seems he may," said Grandmaster Thaddeus chuckling, but refusing to say more.

The conversation stopped as a mage instructor announced the start of the first-year mage duels.

In the first-year Mage Academy class, there were 61 students. Students were selected into two brackets. With the winner of the two brackets facing off in the finals. Since Will technically enrolled late in the academy and was not screened like the other students, he was ranked in the last place. The placement of students on the brackets was random, only the students ranked first and second in the orientation were put into different brackets.

Will was placed in the bracket with the second-place student. Thankfully the students did not have to sit in the waiting area but could sit in the stands if he/she wanted. Will found it too awkward to sit in the waiting room. Most of the students in the waiting room knew each other. Every so often people would glance at Will and turn away. Many people looked like they wanted to speak to him but choose not to in the end. After about 10 minutes of being ostracized, Will decided to sit in the stands with his parents.

Will preferred the stands because he had an aerial view of the arena floor. As Will was sitting with his parents, he noticed someone walking towards them. Rebecca joined their family and sat next to Will's interlocking arms.

She smiled and said, "I couldn't miss your duels Will could I? You'd never forgive me."

"…"

Before Will could say his true feelings, both his parents expressed their joy at seeing their daughter.

The arena was split in two, both sides were encased in protective magic making sure no magic could harm the crowd or cause lethal damage to the students. Will's bracket matches began between two earth mages. Will had never seen another earth mage duel, and he was curious what spells they would use and how they fought. When the duel began, he was sorely disappointed. Both wizards stood in place, and cast [rock spike] and counteracted each other's spell below their feet. One cast [earthquake] by a gap the sign of coin appeared. Will thought both students' spells were weak and the duel boring. Watching two people stand and cast spells were boring. Will has used the excitement of moving around the arena with a sword. Finally, one student one when he cast [fertile soil], [nature's blessing], and [entangle] and saw large vines shoot from the ground and tangle around his opponent's body and wrap around the mouth stopping his opponent from casting and being announced the victor.

The second match was between water and air mage. The air witch created a vortex lift and spin the water mage in the air. The water wizard used his magic to turn the vortex into a cyclone and redirect it back to the air mage. The air witch canceled the air, letting the waterfall to ground. The water mage quickly froze the water, making the air mage slip on the air. The water mage won when he cast [flood] and buried the air witch underwater. The third duel was between a fire and an earth mage. The fire witch cast [fireball] and tore through the earth mage's [earth wall] defense, and before she could cast a second spell. The fire witch easily won. The duels went on and on and usually lasted between 5 to 15 minutes. The longest-lasting 32 minutes.

Will's first opponent was an earth mage. At the bell, Will enhanced his body, and shot towards her, unsheathing Āsudorgon and casting [meteor]. The woman was so thrown off that she stopped casting [earth spike], which caused the spell to rebound off her and made her fall down. Seeing Will charge, and the boulders falling from the ceiling, she admitted defeat. The instructor canceled Will's spell and he was announced victorious.

Will's second opponent was a water mage. Again, running towards and unsheathing his sword, he cast [rock wall] to block her [water sprout], maneuvering around his wall he cast [iron lance] and threw it at him. Seeing the lance hurling toward him the water mage cast [water wall], but was too late as the lance pierced through the water all and impaled him in this thigh. The mage screaming in pain, only looked worse when he saw Will kept charging in his direction. Pissing himself he fears, he collapsed to the ground unconscious. Only later did he realize he forgot to admit defeat.

Will's next three opponents withdrew, refusing to duel. Will's fifth opponent was a fire mage. As Will ran to attack his opponent, the fire mage cast [fireball] repeated trying to hit Will and roast him alive. Master Thaddeus was skilled at all types of magic, and Will had practiced against fireballs. Will cast [rock golem], and a snowman rock created formed. After the golem formed, Will fed his consciousness to it to walk forward. Will's [rock golem] served more as a distraction than a threat. But the fire mage did not know, he attacked the [rock golem], giving Will a chance to cast [rock spike] behind his opponent and [meteor]. The fire wizard cast [fire storm] to counterattack the meteor, but the spike shredded his legs. Being crippled, the mage and lite his staff on fire to parry Will's sword strike but was no match for Āsudorgon which cut his staff in half. Seeing his expensive staff cut him two, he immediately admitted defeat.

After defeating his fifth opponent Will secured his spot in the second round. Will was the third person to make it to the second round. After securing the spot, slowly the first-year mages began talking to him, congratulating him on his accomplishment. People admired his casting speed, and novice and immediately spellcraft. Many bespoke about what he could accomplish in the future, especially within the King's Box.

"Your majesty, he is a brilliant spell sword. My compliments Grandmaster Thaddeus," said a Marquis vont Ellis.

Others also piled on the compliments, however, Count vont Driskell was playing down the significance.

"Congratulations on your disciple being the third slowest to make it to the second round," he interjected.

The second round started shortly after the twelfth person won. Now each bracket had six students on either side. Once the students had an hour of rest and recovery, the quarterfinal duels began.

Will's first opponent was the earth mage who had used the spell [entangle]. When the bell rang to start the match, Will cast [iron lance], [meteor], and [earthquake]. His opponent cast [entangle] repeatedly trying to short vines at Will to keep him in place. However, Will's earthquake split the ground beneath his opponent. The student went tumbling down into a pit. Thankfully the iron lance shot just away from the student's head, scaping the student instead. Last the boulders falling down landed perfectly in the whole burring the student. The instructor immediately ran to check on the student who was unconscious and badly damaged. Seeing this fear that some students already had towards will grow. Will's opponent recovered fine, after taking a recovery pill.

Will's second match was against a water witch who cast [ice cannon] and [ice whip]. The ice cannon shot a ball of ice toward Will, which led him to cast [rock armor] to help take the damage when dodging was impossible. The ice whip cracked against Will's rock armor, making chipping away rock from his armor. Unable to get close, or trap his opponent, Will was at a disadvantage. His iron lance was shot down by the ice cannon. His meteor was cracked into pebbles by the ice whip. With his options running out, Will decided to gamble. Mumbling quietly, he cast [fertile soil], [nature's blessing], and the new spell he saw today [entangle]. A vine shot from the floor, using his mana he directed the vine to wrap around the woman, unlike his previous opponent, his vine slowly wrapped around the witch. She resembled a brownish-green mummy. However, as soon as Will began wrapping, the witch began freezing the vines, causing some to break. Will ran towards the witch unsheathed his sword and ran the sword through her chest. Finally seeing her body slump and the ice magic stop trying to break the vines, Will stopped his spell and was announced the winner. After being announced the winner, Will fell to the floor breathing heavy, in pain as all his mana had been depleted. Will was still practicing using his mana on objects at a distance, and when he did his mana pool bottomed. Running, while using his mana on her from a distance, was exhausting. That is the reason. Will collapsed in pain.

Both Will and witch were given a recovery pill. After recovering will won his other two fights easier than the first two. Will's last fight was against the second-ranked student Ryan vont Driskill. The first ranked witch was a water mage.

After performing the etiquette, the bell chimed. Will and Ryan cast a couple of spells repeatedly. Will cast [earthquake] and [rock golem]; Ryan cast [inferno], and [fireball]. When the earth rupture, Ryan jumped away, towards the rock golem. Ryan's inferno spell melted the rock golem and forced Will to created distance. As Will ran to create space Ryan shot fireball after fireball keeping Will on his toes. Running and dodging Ryan's fireballs, Will cast [fertile soil], [nature's blessing], and [entangle]. But Ryan cast [firestorm] and burned the ground beneath his feet. With a clear path to victory, Will cast [rock armor] and ran towards Ryan brandishing Āsudorgon. Running inside inferno, made Will feel like a roasted peanut. Seeing Will charge like a mad man, Ryan focused on casting [fireball]. Seeing Ryan concentrate on him, Will cast [earth spike] and [iron lance]. The spikes ripped through Ryan's legs and back, pinning him in place and the lance tore through the inferno, a fireball, and a firestorm nailing Ryan to an earth spike. The fire was so hot, traveling through the fires, it had turned the iron lance to steel. Ryan began coughing blood, his stomach cut open, his innards lay cauterized outside this body.

Seeing his son crucified on an earth spike, Count vont Driskill balled his hands into a fist. He never expected his talented son to lose. He had given his son mana-infused herbs and pills since he could swallow. He was burning with rage; he began to smolder.

Seeing the steam, Cardinal vont Gaius asked him, "Count Driskill is that your son crucified on the spike" she said amusingly.

"Yes, your grace that is my son Ryan. I rescind my earlier statements about William vont Ballard, he is an admirable mage. Congratulations Grandmaster you chose in an exceptional student," he gritted through clenched teeth.

Once again there was an hour break before the final duel. The final duel matched Will against a mage named Alice vont Ellis. Will and Alice both took recovery pills and meditated before they were called to the stage. Alice was a gangly tall girl, with brown hair and blue highlights. Her cheeks were sunken and with deep blue eyes. Will had not seen this girl fight, but he knew she was formidable.

At the start of the duel, Alice cast [tempest] and [flood], suddenly the entire floor of the arena filled with water, the sky above the stage stormed and the rain felt like stone pellets. Will was engulfed in knee-high water, that only kept rising. As the water made its way up to his chest, he saw Alice expressionless standing on top of the water, not caring at all about this competition. Will cast [earthquake] with his entire mana, the water quickly spiraled downward like someone pulled a plug. For a moment, a second Alice's eyes widened as she saw the water leave and the ground return. Having spent his mana, Will did his best to stay upright and not crash to the floor. Alice pointed at the figure at Will to cast [snowstorm], but before she could finish, Will admitted defeat.