The students lined up yet again for a practical demonstration. This time, it was Alexis Faeron facing off against Tyr Faeron. Husband and wife, professor and assistant, friend and friend.

Quite a few of the highborn students were excited over this bout. Tyr might be, or have been – it was unclear – a prince, but he didn't act like one. Alex on the other hand was like a celebrity in the school, the number one overall in marks for three years and counting. An incredible talent, and who knew how far she'd go in the future? Even if not out of a concern for supporting her, everyone was on her side for the demonstration, if only to garner some favor or influence with her.

Of course, she ignored them as she always did. That was what made her so 'cool'. Blitzball star, perfect student, future archmage beyond a doubt – that was Alexis Goldmane. She didn't let anyone but her friends call her 'Alex' and there didn't seem to be many of those, it was a very exclusive group.

“Oh, shut up will you?” Tyr silenced the cheers with a bright smile again, waving his hand and speaking in a playful tone. All of the men were rooting for Alex, but it was clear that the women were split, some of them very passionate in their calls. He found this incredibly amusing, watching Alex's eye twitch in obvious jealousy. “Cirdan, what is the point of this exercise?”

“Spellbreaking, sir!” Cirdan shouted, his hands clasped behind his back and standing at attention like some kind of soldier. He was an exceptionally awkward man, still only 19, so perhaps he'd grow out of it.

“Great answer! Twenty points to Cirdan!” Tyr shouted. “Minus twenty points because you're so fucking awkward!”

He couldn't remember the guys last name, it was odd because he could remember the text in certain books he'd read years ago. Word for word. Memories were odd like that, or maybe the man was truly that forgettable.

“Close, but not totally correct. Spellbreaking is as rare a phenomena as soul magic. None of you are spellbreakers, but you can all use metamagic and achieve a similar result. We're going to be talking about counter spells today. Not in the sense of wards, but in the sense of using energy the right way to break an opponents spell or disperse it before it hits you. You all know this, but the mana of one mage will always be foreign to another – and this is the reason why though we can heal – we cannot give our mana to others via traditional means. Our mana signatures are all different and we can use that to make a mess out of a spell even after it's been cast. For some reason, this doesn't seem very common outside of the battlemage study, but that's why we've set up this demonstration. Brennwulf and Sigi, would you be so kind?”

The first of those mentioned didn't delay.

Brenn stomped his foot hard into the earth, cracking the hard packed dirt on the field until it took on the density of clay, soft and springy. It was a simply spell, just larger in scale than he used to. He was able to complete it silently and without any complex movements, raising a wall of earth around the makeshift 'arena' while Sigi did the same on the opposite end with a pointed scowl. About four feet high, while academy officials decorated it with water and generic arcane barrier runes with short focus rods. Alex had asked if this was 'necessary', all of these precautions. All students in her year were capable of casting mana skin at the intermediate level, and all Tyr had said was to 'watch'. Whatever that meant.

He had turned that self-deprecation into raw arrogance, thinking himself about 'humans' – as if he wasn't one of them. She very much looked forward to wiping that soft smile off his face.

“Whenever you're ready. We'll start with fire spells, lightning magic like yours is pretty rare but it's easier to ground out electricity, and it moves too fast for people to properly observe. Fire specific spells are seen as basic, a tool of mages lacking focus or talent, but I do not agree. Fire is, like lightning, manipulation of raw energy.” He spoke to the class. “There is no natural physical component to it. A shield can block a rock, stream of water, gust of air, or a spear of ice – but fire will surround and consume the shield, the person, or the air they breathe. By utilizing this method, you will save quite a bit of mana in lieu of casting a ward or barrier. And, might I add – time. Alex will be using a level four fire spell, and I will be using a level two spell.”

“Professor!” Someone raised their hand. Many of them didn't like Tyr much as a professor, he was a hard teacher to please. Charming, surely, ready to give them extra lessons if they asked, but not many of were happy with this new and mandatory class. If there were ten mages in a room, nine academy mages would eventually decide on a non-combat discipline after a few years. What use in this was there? His explanation before hadn't been enough. If a war broke out, they'd run, simple as that. Human selfishness and self preservation. Tyr was still astonished that they thought they'd be given a chance. “Are you sure this is safe?”

“A level two spell cannot break a level four spell.” Tyr nodded. “This is true, the power of a spell increases exponentially as the level rises. When you begin, you'll be matching a spell at the level lower. As in a level three in this case. But as you'll see... Finer control will expand your horizons a great deal. This is a martial art, something that your culture has stepped beyond in recent years, and I invented it myself.”

“I'm ready when you are, Lady Alexis.” Tyr bowed in a way a gladiator might to another.

In truth, Tyr wasn't sure if it would work, he was experienced with matching a spell with a spell at the same level. The theory held true, of course. He could use his spira rich spell-weaving to slap aside a simple incoming projectile. Lina had taught him this, elaborating on how overly dependent he'd become on his ability to regenerate.

But eventually, he'd run into an opponent where he couldn't simply rely on the strategy of 'hit them as hard as possible until they died'.

Thus, this was as much for him as it was for them. He didn't have much free time in his schedule to pursue it elsewhere. Also, there was one factor at play. Alex would never hold back, she... To say she wanted to 'please Tyr' was nonsense, it wasn't like that. It was more like she wanted to impress or surprise him.

Or... Dominate him. Lina had said that she wouldn't hold back, but she had a soft heart and didn't like to hurt people. Despite her words, she had held back, and Tyr had known it all along. In terms of talent, both women were far beyond him and it was his current micro-goal to challenge that assertion within himself. He was a man blessed by a god, quite literally, and he couldn't die. It wasn't satisfying in the least to live like that, he wanted more from himself.

As expected, Alex reacted as soon as the words had left his mouth. Her movements were that of a mage used to the the more rigid style of casting that lightning magic required. Index and middle fingers extended, arms rigid and wheeling around, sweeping over a root that never left the ground. But magic was all about imagery and the proper formulation of a spell, the movements were not always uniform between mages and it didn't necessarily influence their effect.

Her pointed fingers raised skyward, she chopped them down, kneeling until both hands struck the ground.

“HELLFLAME INFERNO!” Violet flames the same color as her eyes erupted all over the ground, chasing out in a cone of vivid radiance from the point her hands had struck the dirt and straight toward Tyr. Even the academy officials were astonished by the violence of the blaze. These kinds of demonstrations were exceedingly rare, even in the battlemage workshop. Magic could kill, even an archmage was not immune to being taken unawares. They typically stayed casual with practical exams, so as not to put a student in the hospital for weeks.

Alex had no such compunction, not that she'd ever need to with him.

What a name... It was worth repeating that a spell could be called whatever a mage wanted it to, revealing a bit of edgy drama in a normally rigid woman.

“Professor Tyr!” Cirdan cried out in concern. Alex was beyond powerful, this was a level he'd never seen from her. Purely focused into one element, and Tyr had no obvious defense against it. “Use your mana skin!”

Tyr didn't reply. He had no such ability as a 'mana skin' in his tool belt, and Alex had in fact gone further than he'd anticipated. Still, he was a proud man. Too proud to go beyond that level two standard he'd guaranteed to the rest of the class. Without moving much, hands crossed over his chest in dramatic fashion himself, his leg rose vertically. Landing a hammer kick into the dirt in the direction of the flames rushing toward him.

“Scarlet Lance!” He shouted. This was no cast spell or hybrid technique like those he'd developed. He just yelled something that sounded appropriate for reference, as ridiculous as it was. A whining jet of scarlet flame burst from the heel of his boot, shooting forth in a thin, focused line unlike Alex's widespread assault. It split the flames down the middle like a chopped log, carrying on until it washed away to either side of him.

A level four spell, albeit a middling one, broken by a level two spell. It didn't seem like much of a difference, numerically – but it was. To any casual observer, he'd just done something truly amazing, meeting her violet with his crimson and coming out on top.

Regardless of the obvious cheat that he'd just engaged in, the principle was sound. Counter-spells were common, but they were needlessly complex and tuned to commonly used spellcasting.

IE: My opponent is using a fire-wind-arcane hybrid cast, I should meet that with a stepped array of my own. Water-earth-arcane, whereas simply targeting the prime element used to comprise the spell was both smarter, and far more efficient. It took skill, a quick release might mean a mage lacked the punch to defend themselves. A delayed release might mean they just boiled themselves, but a few burns were worth a life.

In all honestly, it hardly made sense, the fact that counters didn't exist in the way he used them – but the complexity came from the arrogance. People who were constantly trying to reinvent the wheel for clout and recognition. All of these students were here because, shockingly – perhaps, they were talented. Talented enough to double cast, and 'it's too hard' was never an excuse Tyr was willing to allow into his repertoire of cope. They'd do it, or they'd die, because one day soon there were going to be people coming for them with the skills and experience necessary to gun them down.

Counter breaking, he called it, eyes on the magic at all times. Utilizing one's own mana to disrupt the spell of another and crack it like an egg while it was in it's volatile state. Get lucky, or just skilled enough to do it properly, and one could enforce a backlash on another mage. The general and oft repeated consensus is a mage couldn't burn themselves with their own fire, but that rule flew out the window when another mage's mana was introduced to the mix. That's why going 'mana down', like those young women in Aurora, was so dangerous.

His way was crude, making a spear-tip of the magic and smashing it against Alex's blunt instrument with brute force. But if given time, these significantly more talented students might be able to do something real with it, a new way of fighting. A 'dirty way' of fighting, Alex had called it – claiming it was dishonorable. Tyr would allow the dead to keep their honor, but the pre-Solomon doctrines of a mage duel didn't exist in a war. It was time for them to go, this would be his Opus, what he'd leave behind for the others.

How to kill, but most importantly – how to survive. It was as worthy a goal as any, he excelled at that in particular. Constantly staring down the barrel of a superior opponent and still making it out alive, that was his gift.

Beneath his armor, he was cooked like a stuck pig, roasted and crisped – but that wasn't the point. It healed in but a moment, and he removed his helmet to behold a cheering audience.

Something that never stopped feeling nice, the praise. Smiling at them gleefully, and a bit surprised that it had actually worked.

“Can anyone tell me what I just did?” Tyr pointed. Micah was always the one who participated most in the class, jumping up and down with his hand raised. It was nice to see him moving like that, like a normal person, but then again Tyr had never been big on ableism. Micah was a normal person. “Fine...” He sighed. “Micah?”

“Thanks Tyr! I mean, professor!” Micah cried out. “You utilized a cooler flame with a high density to counter her spell and split it. There was little breakage in the power but the air and contrary mana rushing into the area split the focus of the spell and made it go wild! Focus versus brute strength, genius!”

I did...? Tyr was aware of the principle, but the proceeding critique of his 'brilliant' method wasn't exactly what he'd been aiming for. It was ridiculously simple, hitting and arrow with an arrow – difficult, but not impossible with the right amount of training.

Alex wanted to spit. Bile was rising up in her throat. She didn't want to hurt Tyr, but she'd refuted the idea he could break her level four spell with a level two spell. Spending many hours on formulating the most destructive fire spell she could in the process. And yet it had been treated like a plaything. She was more mature now, though. A little happy to see how far he'd come, but no less stung by how easy he'd made it look. Similarly unaware that any normal person would've died in the process, Tyr hadn't even flinched.

As before, Tyr had no idea what he was doing. This agenda had been developed by Lina, almost from day one... He was no genius in mana, he was just doing what Lina had told him to, inventing a new style of fighting in a bid to improve along the path of the spellbreaker. That was his ultimate ace in the hole against Hastur, the way he could kill him. He believed that this was what Varinn had been getting at the whole time, focus, it was a wonder he hadn't just said so in the first place.

“That's correct. No points for Micah though.” Tyr said. “He's already got too many as it is and I'm running out of incentives for the lot of you to speak up. Sorry friend.”

The class laughed not at his expense, but because it was true. Micah was what they'd like to call a 'teachers pet'.

“That's alright!”

“In any case.” Tyr spoke again. “I want you all to pair up with students capable of using the same prime element as you and try it. Spell for spell. It's not always like this, but sometimes a smaller rock can send a larger one off target if struck at the right angle. Our focus today is on mana efficiency, not simply stopping a spell. Too often I see large walls supposed to stop a small projectile when a lesser thing would do just as well. Think about your approach and practice, Alexis and I will be observing as you go about this task. Remember to always keep your barriers up just in case, though know that you will not always have this luxury in live combat.”

Alex approached him with a long stride. He expected to be insulted or to be slapped for taking such a dishonest approach, but that wasn't who she was anymore. For the most part... “I'll get you next time.”

“I know.” He smiled back at her stormy expression. Tyr could see that she wanted to continue and test herself, and he liked that a lot. Alex was as determined and proud individual as he was, and in a far less toxic way. As fair a role model as any. “I just got lucky.”

“It's good that you know that.” She patted his head, stopping after the third soft touch to ruffle his hair. “Good boy.”

Tyr blushed wildly. Alex was taken aback by this, and frankly she was glad that nobody else seemed to have caught it but her. “Are you okay?”

Tyr coughed awkwardly. His pale cheeks were red beyond belief and he quickly slammed his helmet back into place to obscure his complexion. “Just awakening to something I guess. Don't mind me.”

“What...?” She pursued him, not allowing him to get away. “What do you mean? Did you like it when I did that?”

“Leave me alone...”

“I will do that more often.” Alex nodded. “It's only natural to be pleased by praise from someone you care about.”

“...Please do. But never tell anyone about this.”

“Oh, I wouldn't dream of it.” Alex purred, patting him on the back of his helmet and noted how Tyr's legs quivered. “What a silly little man you are. And this counter breaking of yours, I hate to admit it – but it is genius.”

“It's rudimentary.” Tyr scowled. “A child should be able to do this.”

“You'd be surprised.” Alex sighed. “Ingenuity in magic is what makes one an archmage, and single element casting hasn't been in vogue for... Dunno, thousands of years? This is refined, lacking complexity but that is what makes it beautiful, I'd never have thought to do something so... Simple, to be honest. We'll see how well it holds up when used by actual mages."