Elizabeth found her current circumstances considerably awkward. Not only was she the youngest among the participating children, and thus already received a fair amount of stares, but she also just bumped into the young boy in white and red robes they saved together with lord Irwyn earlier that day.

"How did you even get in here, brat?!" he said with great outrage. They were already divided by age and elements at this point. Their group was alone inside a spacious room.

"I passed the test," a silent chime was all Elizabeth could muster as an answer.

"I get that, but I am asking how did a brat like you even pass?" he continued to push on the poor girl who was too embarrassed to defend herself.

"Don't bully children, Darius," a new voice came in from the side. It was another youth clothed in the same white and red robes like the bully, and also like half the children gathered here. He was significantly more handsome with an already chiseled chin despite his young age and his expression was far kinder "you should focus on the competition. Only 2 people get to advance,"

"Shut it, Crowley, we both know the two of us will make it. We have no match among these brats," Darius retorted with tangible disgust.

"You shouldn't let pride cloud for judgement, especially with what is at stake," Crowley attempted to be rational.

"At stake? What are you talking about?" Darius' eyes narrowed slightly.

"Haven't you heard? The infamous Irwyn von Blackburg will be participating as the seed for flame magic in our age category. Since that is the case whoever advances will get to fight in a team side by side with him!" Crowley's eyes sparkled with excitement

"You sound like a hopeless fan boy," Darius just scoffed "what's even so special about him."

"You seriously don't know? He is a self-taught mage who achieved 2nd or maybe even the 3rd circle of magic by the age of 8! He is bound to have a unique perspective on magic," even more excitement appeared inside his eyes.

"Self-taught? That's impossible, besides why would the Blackburgs not get their son a magic tutor?" Darius tried to further the topic. Perhaps out of curiosity or maybe because he wanted to hide his ignorance.

"There are many rumours about that. The most widely believed are that there were no trustworthy mages who could teach him flame magic or that he retained fragmented memories pertaining to magic from his past life and beseeched duke Ezax to not even bring him a teacher. Some of the wilder go as far as saying that he made a deal with a devil in the accident two years ago."

"Accident?" Elizabeth who was quiet until now chimed in at that. She was naturally curious since she had no idea what they were talking about.

"You haven't heard? Everyone was talking about it back then," Darius gave her a smug mocking smile.

"I am not from around here," she slightly blushed and stared at the paving beneath their feet.

"It happened a bit over two years ago," Crowley smiled and spoke in the most amiable voice in an attempt to calm the girl down "specifics are highly confidential, but the short story is that there was an assassination attempt on back then 6 years old Irwyn von Blackburg. In a stroke of luck he managed to kill a 3rd tier huntress, although at the cost of serious damage to himself. When I asked my teacher he thought that it might have been wild magic!" Crowley had to catch his breath after he got a bit too excited.

"Wild magic, is that so amazing?" that only raised more questions in her mind. There were too many things she did not understand well about the explanation.

"Of course a peasant wouldn't know any better," Darius immediately abused the opportunity to mock her further "it means to allow magic to run completely amoc, that way all the power spent on control is allowed to instead turn fully destructive. However, since you abandon all control the magic is very likely to backfire, so it is considered a sort of desperate last measure. Also, it is incredibly difficult to truly cast wild magic and not just a half ass. Most mages below 15th circle cannot achieve that," as the explanation finished Elizabeth was only further confused, but was now too embarrassed to ask anything more. She would undoubtedly save those questions for when she saw Irwyn again.

"All participants," a sudden booming voice covered the entire area, mana clearly tangible within "I am the Elemental lord of burning embers, Amadeus. Today I shall be your referee," as those words sounded an elderly man appeared in front of their gathering, fully gowned in crimson ornamental robes. He arrived with abnormal quickness and stealth, so none of the participants managed to perceive the man before he spoke.

When Amadeus announced his presence everyone bowed and all of them had reverence reflected in their eyes. All of them except Elizabeth who knew only one being worthy of honest worship.

"Rise and follow me," the mage spoke, already turned towards the exit "I shall guide all of you to the competition site."

"So your teacher drew the lot for our category," Crowley spoke, his admiration of the man already slightly diminished. From his tone it was apparent that he was personally acquittanced with the Elemental lord.

"Of course, opening the entire event is an honour only an Elemental lord like my teacher is worthy of!" Darius laughed with a sudden new smug smirk.

"Let's see how long you can keep boasting," Crowley scoffed back "it is not yet decided which of our teachers will be the next elemental lord."

"My teacher is by all means ahead and is bound to still be ahead when the council will be choosing new Elemental lords just after the competition. What can your teacher do in such a short amount of time?" Darius just smirked back, but Crowley didn't retort as he knew in his heart just how unlikely his teacher's victory was.

It was around this time that their group entered the arena's battlegrounds. The vast space and choir of the crowd were truly breathtaking. The seats were not yet all taken, but it was still an astonishing scenery for all of the participants, especially Elizabeth who used to be confined to few hallways and rooms most of her life.

By the time they all gathered in the middle of that huge area the elemental lord Amadeus was already beginning his speech: "Ladies and lords, people of all kind. Today we remind ourselves of the day our land was reforged from ash and dust; the day of defiance when an archdragon was left to rot and nurture our continent. And what better way to celebrate than to witness those who wield the lifeblood of North? I hereby declare that the mage competition of Dragoncull begins!" as he finished those words a flare left the palm of his raised hand, when it instantaneously rose far into the skies the flare exploded, conjuring hundreds of burning beasts which danced high in the sky.

As the crowd was overwhelmed by the majestic spectacle groups of mages and staff swarmed the square, bringing in all kinds of devices and equipment. Elizabeth recognised a few of the things as the famous Magitech. The entire staff vanished as quickly as it came, leaving well before the animated flames above dissipated. That left quite a number of guests flabbergasted as when they finally looked down they witnessed the various items which seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"As per tradition, the first competition shall be of the youngest sorcerers with flame affinity. I shall be the referee and judge, so let us begin. The first stage which is shared for all of the youngest: the measurement of mana capacity. The method is to one by one place their hands on this device which will drain their mana at a gradually increasing pace. The participants will each be rewarded one point for each second they last without being drained dry. However, those who fail to last at least 5 seconds will be eliminated from the competition," he pointed towards a spherical device, it was basically a rune covered ball on a rod pedestal. Next to it stood an elevated box with lots "now then, draw the lots to decide your order."

Afterwards the participants one by one came close and drew the lots on a surprisingly organised mannersurprisingly "number 1!" Amodeus announced and it was coincidentally Crowley who stepped out. He first gave the Elemental lord a quick polite bow before placing his hand on the sphere.

Numbers began to shift inside the sphere rapidly, counting up even split seconds. At first Crowley was only focused, but the moment the numbers hit 4 seconds he visibly paled and his pale demeanor only got worse when the number 5 was passed. He looked on the verge of passing out for the next second and at some point collapsed. His consciousness was numbed for a moment, but the instant he looked up Crowley raised his right hand into the air and yelled: "I did it."

"Congratulations to the first participant for achieving exactly 6 seconds, this feat granting him 6 points," Amodeus announced with a smile, but anyone who knew him would recognise his hidden bitterness. It was after all not his disciple, but his rival's. What followed was a parade of the other participants attempting the trial, most barely achieving 4.5 and none getting over 5.1 seconds. This continued until only Elizabeth and Darius were left.

"Number 16," the Elemental lord announced and Darius stared at Elizabeth: "Watch how it's done, peasant," he said before he stepped forward. When he placed his hand on the sphere he was much like Crowley, reacting the same when he passed 4 and 5 seconds. Just like Crowley he was pale after the 5th second and momentarily fainted. When he woke up he tried to look smug, but that expression faded when his eyes landed on the sphere.

"Unfortunately the time 5.999 only allows us to grand the participant 5 points. Number 17 step forward," Amodeus announced with bitterness. Even if the gap was minuscule his disciple undeniably lost.

Elizabeth nodded and stepped forward. Unlike Darius and Crowley she did not harbour much confidence. Lord Irwyn mentioned that she had what it took to blast straight through the competition, but it seemed so difficult to believe from where she stood. Out of stress she closed her eyes as her hands were placed on the sphere and she immediately lost the track of time. Elizabeth felt a gentle tug at first, a pleasant cool on her arms, but that amiable chill quickly turned into bone deep freezing. She felt tendrils reaching up her hands a tugging at her very soul. Pain proliferated throughout her entire being and her consciousness gradually faded.

The next thing Elizabeth knew she was lying on the ground in eerie silence. That silence startled Elizabeth so she quickly scouted her surroundings in confusion. The first sight she stumbled upon were the other participants, wide eyed and wide mouthed, starting directly at her. No, not at her, but behind her.

Elizabeth gazed behind her and also gasped at what age saw: The sphere stood there and clearly showed startling numbers. "7.766," one of the other participants gasped and broke the silence. And when that happened a cascade of sounds enveloped the arena. Many people among the audience were mages who would participate in the later parts of the competition, because of that they naturally understood that each second the amount of mana doubles. That meant that even though the difference was less than 2 seconds the difference between her and the boys was large. And the boys were the disciples of the 2 main competitors for the title of an Elemental lord, yet they were demolished by this unknown girl.

And the most surprised person of them all was Elizabeth herself. Her common sense was significantly lacking so she did not begin to comprehend how high her attributes were. She didn't know that the +25 to all attributes of the class she initiated with Irwyn's instructions was ridiculously high and the same idea applied to the additional attributes gained from the personal quest initiation. That, together with the concentrated training she received added up to impressive 45 mana capacity, more than 3 times that of the two so called geniuses.

"Impressive result. For such achievement of it's only fitting that she would receive 7 points," Amadeus announced, but he was not looking towards the crowd, but gazing directly at Elizabeth. There were many emotions mixed into that stare, but Elizabeth recognised only the one she was far too familiar with: The scorn of those who wished her harm. That inevitably triggered her past trauma and she began to uncontrollably tremble, to the point where her knees failed her making it impossible to stand up. When the mage noticed her reaction he turned away his stare as this was neither the time nor the place to do something to her.

"This concludes the first round for the youngest category flame sorcerers. They are now no doubt exhausted and will need the time to recover so competitors of other elements will be the next to attempt this trial. For now please allow me and the competitors to rest," Amadeus finished and led the competitors away from the stage, trying very hard to not let his temper overcome him. And the crowd wildly cheered. Elizabeth heard their voices and applause until she left the arena.

"Taken interest, have you?" Irwyn smiled at Efora when he noticed her flickering eyes.

"So what, who wouldn't take interest in someone like her? An unaffiliated mage of such young age and power," she scoffed back at Irwyn, but desire clearly shone inside her perpetually greedy eyes.

"I will give you a piece of advice: Give up on her," those emotions did not escape Irwyn, and it was better so disuate her before she tried anything.

"Because of your little, perhaps made up, order from Avys? You should know that I always go for a prize when I see one."

"Of course, I wouldn't dare underestimates your greed, but you seem to have forgotten who you are talking too. She will be a waste of your time because you are far too late."

"Too late? That could only mean… shit, you already have her, don't you?" is what Efora said, but her eyes were clearly already plotting in the hope of still stealing the girl away.

"Do I have to spell it is for you?" Irwyn tried to disrupt her cool "you are not late by a day or two. She was in my grasp for 2 years. Perhaps if you tried before you could've entangled her with your sweet lies, but now it's far too late. To her I am a saviour and any other Blacksburg is a monster which wishes her harm."

"You couldn't have achieved that in just 2 years," was the thing Efora replied.

"Perhaps under normal circumstances, but I found her inside a living hell. I offered a helping hand to a young girl with no allies or hope. She trusts me unconditionally, and since I told her over and over again that you are dangerous then there is absolutely no doubt in her mind that you only want to deceive her somehow. The violent behaviour of Alira's twin only helped in constructing such conviction," Irwyn just smiled back, not neglecting to mention Alira.

"If she is such a secret why would you bring her out on the first place?" another question left Efora's mouth. Irwyn could just not answer, but each piece of information he shared made Efora less likely to act.

"There are great things at stake today. Naturally I have to bring out the big guns if I wish to achieve my and Avys' objectives. Just look at the screen," Irwyn hinted and Efora looked towards the screen still opened in front of her. There was the second group of young mages, this one with the elements of darkness or void. It appeared that the 3rd of their group was currently about to step forward and attempt the trial, looking awfully smug while approaching. But the moment he touched the device something went wrong and instead of starting to count seconds the sphere violently exploded, instantly tearing the boy’s limbs off, causing nearly mortal bleeding. The safety staff was understandably underpopulated during this still peaceful part of the competition so their reaction was significantly delayed. The boy was alive for now, but it was up to the healers whether he would survive.

“What did you do?” Efora immediately knew who to ask that question.

“Not that much actually. I just made sure that the last group to check the machine would happen to all be men involved with the Elemental lord of hollow depths and that one of them would slightly adjust the device,” Irwyn maintained the smile "it is also an interesting coincidence that those men will be found dead in few hours.

“I was not asking about that! Who the hell was the boy?” was the angry response, she disliked not knowing what was going on.

“Oh, no one too important. Just the direct disciple of the elemental lord’s prime rival. I wonder who will happen to be blamed for it…”

“You want to destroy the Elemental lords reputation,” Efora was smart enough to instantly grasp his intentions “you are poking the hornet’s nest. As soon as the guildmaster of mages guild hears of this he will demand to be presented the person responsible so that he can personally and publically torture them to death.”

“Yes, he would do that, if he could,” Irwyn’s expression didn’t change, but Efora could swear it turned into visage of pure malice “but he is currently occupied.”

“You obviously don’t intent to suffer the consequences. That could only mean…” Efora though for a moment and then her eyes widened, her voice also clearly raising a pitch “they are attempting to somehow get rid of the guildmaster.”

“How quick of you,” Irwyn praised “albeit the mages guild used to be a source of significant help against the undying armies of Sur’ghoru, those were defeated over 8 years ago. Now they are a tumour, ever growing like the cancer of our northern empire. In 10 more years they might have the power to content with the Blackburgs and in another 10 to lay claim to the entire North. If they are left to their own devices they would bring North into an open civil war."

"We both know that is a load of crap. What is the real reason," since Efora had more intellect than a poorly trained monkey she immediately called bullshit on the obviously manipulative explanation.

"What I said it's not entirely untrue. Avys of course exaggerated some things and perhaps forged a couple dozen documents, but the result is 5 awakened moving together despite their nature and differences. And in the impending chaos there will be only a single person who had been preparing for years," Irwyn grinned. No need to mention that he was also quite well prepared to use that chaos as a ladder.

"Damn, our mother is scary," Efora said as she considered the implications, for the first time since the beginning of the conversation hatred completely vanished from her tone.

"There are far more terrifying things in this world and beyond, but indeed: There are few in the third tier that can match her," Irwyn had to concede that point. For someone who hadn't seen every single living horror in the universe Avys would indeed be considered scary.

"Now if you would excuse me," Irwyn began to stand up.

"Where are you going?" Efora was still trying to make sense of the whole situation and Irwyn leaving could mean many things.

"Nothing serious. Just off to bring an idol to ruin," Irwyn gave her one last smile and then cheerfully waltzed out of the room.