Andrej ran towards Maya with a sword in his hand, Maya managed to make a gigantic shield of rock in front of her which blocked Andrej's strikes.

"Full concentration" Andrej said and managed to break the shield with the sword, but Maya was behind him with another shield in front of her, and went to try and ram Andrej into a nearby tree with it.

"Ah i'm still not good enough, but it is how it is, alright, let's try this"

Meanwhile Katarina and Alexandra were exchanging fists, they were both evenly matched.

"Puddle hand" Katarina transformed her hand into water and went to strike Alexandra, who used her wind to disperse the water into small droplets, but Katarina used those droplets to bind Alexandra, who with an exhale broke free of the binding.

"Full concentration" said both Andrej and Konrad, spells aren't working, so they continued their fight with fists and swords, Konrad swung his sword, which managed to cut Mateja on the chest, then Mateja went to counterattack, swinging his sword vertically, which Konrad barely managed to parry with his sword.

In the meantime, Andrej decided to use a new attack that he learned.

"Dark spiral" he said, and a spiraling blade shot out like a projectile and hit the rock shield, which was immediately turned to dust, then Maya went to get another strike with her fist, which Andrej managed to dodge, but then she kicked him and he fell to the floor, but then he disappeared, but in truth he moved between shadows of the trees, a new technique which he learned, and using his sword he managed to pin Maya down on the floor.

"She has the same magic as Ivan, so i should be able to defeat her, i don't want to spend money" Thought Katarina while evading attacks.

"Water cage" Katarina managed to trap Alexandra in a cage of water, which temporarily rendered her magic useless.

"Double wave slash" attacked Katarina with two vertical water slashes, but her cage weakened, which Alexandra used to escape, and then used her wind to redirect Katarina's attack back at her, which Katarina managed to dodge, only leaving a scratch on her cheek.

"Can't go on anymore hero?"

"Shut up, i am just beginning, what about you knight?" Mateja said and used a east wind style move to swiftly move behind Konrad, leaving a small slash on his shoulder.

"Whale splash" Konrad said with anger, then summoned a gigantic wave of water out of nowhere, which he hurled at Mateja leaving him wet and unable to use his fire.

"What now, hero? Your fire has been sealed" mocked Konrad.

Maya managed to stand up, then she turned her hands into gigantic ones made out of stone, and went to punch Andrej, who used his shadow movement to evade all of her punches.

"Darkness chase" Andrej said and from his shadow sprouted several shadowy hands which wrapped around Maya, binding her to the ground.

"Guess i lost, you are good" Maya admitted.

"Thanks"

"All that practice was good for me, i really am becoming stronger"

Katarina and Alexandra were still evenly matched, and neither of them wanted to prolong the battle any longer, so they both went for their strongest attacks, intending to finish the battle.

"Holy water fist" said Katarina and around her right hand appeared a massive amount of water, which took the shape of her hand.

"Wind slice" Alexandra said and between her palms a massive amount of wind formed and she released it in the form of a big slice, both techniques hit, cancelling each other and producing a big explosion, their battle ended in a draw.

"I guess we both pay for the drinks? " said Katarina.

"Fine by me" replied Alexandra.

"Those two are still fighting" said

Andrej with an annoyed tone.

"Hero, you have lost!" announced Konrad.

"Not yet, stupid knight" said Mateja as the water slowly evaporated from his body.

"What, you shouldn't be able to use your fire?"

"Are you stupid?" said Mateja "Heat neutralises water"

"Grr, take this, Holy water fist" angrily said Konrad and gathered a large amount of water, which turned into a fist.

"I don't have time, i need to use this, even if it will be weak" Mateja thought "Dragon roar" he shouted, and a large amount of fire which took the shape of a serpentine dragon shot out of his hands, albeit this one was weaker than the normal ones, since it was used without its proper chant, but it still was enough to extinguish Konrad's water fist, and their battle ended with a gigantic explosion.

"That was a great fight hero" said Konrad.

"Agreed knight" added Mateja.

"I guess we are all paying?" said Maya.

"Yeah" answered Katarina.

Meanwhile Ivan took Anya to watch the jester's show, which was weird and confusing.

"Let's go somewhere else" Anya complained.

"Sure" Ivan replied.

He took her to the nearest stand, which sold wooden swords and sweets. Ivan grabbed a wooden sword and showed it to Anya.

"Want a sword? You could be known as Anya the great sword in the future" Ivan said while swinging the wooden sword in his hand.

"Idiot!" Anya yelled and slapped Ivan on the head "You are sounding like Mateja now, so shut up"

"Ahaha, it was a small joke, no need to be so upset, anyways, would you like something sweet, my treat"

"Okay if you say so….. i would like this one" she said and shyly pointed towards a heart shaped confection.

"Okay, please give me five of those" said Ivan, and Anya was red as a tomato.

"Ah love, the best part of life" commented the old lady who worked at the stand.

"No, it's not like that…" said Anya.

"Let's go" Ivan said and took Anya to the nearest tavern.

"Two glasses of kvas please" said Ivan, they both gulped their drinks and in that moment a song was heard, it was a fast song composed of violin and guitar sounds, many people went to dance along with the song, and Ivan took Anya too, they danced elegantly to the song's rhythm until Ivan noticed a clock on the wall.

"Quick, we will be late for the ceremony" he said and then he and Anya ran towards the ceremonial hall, they barely managed to come on time.

The two of them entered the hall, which was as big as about three classrooms, and could take up about 1000 guests, and most of the seats were taken, they quickly found Katarina sitting in one of the back rows.

"Barely arrived on time, almost took Andrej's title" Katarina jokingly said.

"No, that title is forever his"

"Sit, it is beginning"

"Ladies and gentleman, let us begin with the North and South magic school meeting event ceremony" said one of the professors who was in front of the audience.

"First, a bit of history, both schools were opened in the year 308 to train knights and adventurers for the kingdom. This ceremony is held every year for 200 years now, ever since the South uprising in 1420 as a token of respect and friendship for both sides"

"Now then, awards are awarded to students for being the best in various categories, let us begin with the award ceremony, starting with the South magic school greatest students, a fifth year coming from Jezergrad, Jaroslav Maslanski" a roaring applause was heard as the boy went to pick up his reward, which was something similar to a certificate, before retreating back to his seat.

"Now, the north magic school greatest student, another fifth year coming from the Malchat village, Katarina Gavrilova" another round of applause could be heard as Katarina stood up and took her prize and retreated back to her seat.

"Now, the award for the greatest natural talent, another boy from the Malchat village, Andrej Antonov, who is a dark magic user"

The crowd stared at Andrej with awe and applauded as he took his prize, which made him extremely nervous.

After all the awards were given out, it was the time for a dance, and a song similar to the one which was played in the tavern played, and all students started dancing with each other, Ivan danced with Anya and Konrad danced with Maya.

"Do you want to dance?" Katarina asked Andrej.

"I, uh, oh, sure" he said nervously and they began dancing, their moves were not good, but they still had a good time, the only one who didn't have a partner was Mateja.

"I need to find a girlfriend soon, i need to be better than that damn knight asshole" Mateja said, then the music became more and more silent, until it stopped.

"Hey Mateja, let's go get some drinks" called Andrej, and Ivan led them to the tavern where he took Anya earlier.

"So, how did you make friends with our idiots here?" Ivan asked Konrad.

"I fought your hero"

"I am not surprised"

"Let's introduce ourselves, my name is Maya Zayzeva, sixth year student"

"Alexandra Milich, fourth year, sorry i don't talk much"

"It's okay, my name is Ivan Sergejevich, fifth year, i am in the same class as Katarina"

"Anya Gavrilova, third year, my classmates are Andrej and the hero"

"Finally no nicknames"

They danced and had fun until it was time for them to go back to their school, the same chariot which took them to the event is now taking them back.

"So, young ones, how was the night?"

"Unforgettable" said all of them in unison.

"Ah good, but let me warn you, the awakening of the demons is near" Grisha said, but nobody could hear him, then he magically kicked them out of the chariot again when they arrived.

"So Ivan, thank you for today, it was r-really amazing" Anya said shyly.

"Thank you for coming with me, i said it will be fun" Ivan replied.

"Next time we learn how to dance" said Katarina to Andrej.

"Of course" he replied.

"It was interesting, but i must find a girl soon" added Mateja which made others laugh.

"This was amazing! I wish that this lasts forever" Andrej thought to himself while walking to his dorm room.