Lunch was taken care of inside the Protectors Circle private restaurant. The trainees engulfed everything they could in preparation for the afternoon while Mahon and Jorik leisurely discussed with Ailluin and the other instructors while eating. The food was even better than what Siraye had made at her home.

As Mahon, Jorik and the instructors were leaving to join the afternoon training session and meet the other Protectors, Rania intercepted them.

“Hey, Ailluin, sorry for the late notice, but the master is free right now, and he wants to welcome our two new recruits. We’ll seize the opportunity to do our first training together.”

“Oh, ok.” Ailluin sounded almost disappointed as he gestured for Mahon and Jorik to follow after the vice-master. “If you still have enough energy after the training, feel free to join us!”

The duo nodded with eager smiles while following Rania into a part of the Protectors Circle they had never visited before. Rania didn’t say much during the five minutes walk, and until they reached a closed door on which she knocked politely.

“Come in.” A serene voice answered from the room.

Rania pushed the door open, and with Mahon and Jorik in tow, she entered the office. An old-looking man with the longest white beard Mahon had ever seen welcomed them with a gentle smile. Although his body and face showed signs of aging, his stature was still vigorous as was the vivid glow in his eyes as he seized them.

“So, you’re the two new talents that my instructors can’t stop talking about?” He asked.

Jorik nodded and smiled back. “I’m afraid, we are! I’m Jorik, and this is Mahon.”

Mahon bowed slightly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. I’m Paegis, the current Protectors Circle’s master.” The old man stood up and walked to shake their hands energetically. “I’ll assist in your training session with little Rania if you don’t mind. She mentioned you had some magic capacity despite not being a sorcerer?”

While making the conversation, he gestured to a hidden side door and walked them to a private arena just beside his own office. The grimace on Rania’s face at her moniker didn’t escape Mahon either.

“Kind of.” Mahon answered. “It’s more of a trick. I don’t think I can teach it to anyone, but learning to fight against it might still be a valuable experience.”

“Everyone has his secrets, of course. But I admit I’m getting more and more intrigued. Please, the stage is yours.”

Only a few candles were lighting the wide training room, but with just a flick of his wrist more than ten times the previous amount of candles suddenly lit up, making the arena even more luminous than in plain day.

The gesture shocked both Mahon and Jorik, but Rania didn’t seem surprised in the slightest, and she walked straight into the center of the arena and started warming up. She made a small gesture with her head to signal them to join her in the arena.

But Mahon ignored her and turned to Paegis instead. “How did you do that?”

“Everyone has their secrets.” The old man answered with a playful smile.

Despite his gentle behavior, Mahon understood Paegis wasn’t willing to share his knowledge before he got a demonstration of their own powers. The duo started to warm up shortly after. They were careful to get rid of the strain of their morning workout before going into a serious fight where they would have to give their all.

Once everyone was ready, the fight started. At first, Jorik went alone against Rania, and they both didn’t use any magic. Even though Rania was a vice master and sorcerer, she didn’t seem as trained with the sword as the instructors. Mahon rated her at the peak of six-star, but guessed she hadn’t yet made the breakthrough to seven.

She has probably always relied on her magic to win fights and thus she’s a bit lacking in swordplay.

When it was clear Jorik would have the upper hand if she didn’t change something, Rania managed to repel Jorik far enough to have time to ignite her sword. As Mahon had noticed previously against Varek, the woman suddenly turned stronger and faster. Jorik immersed himself in the Flow to hold her back, but It immediately teared down by the fire magic. Rania then only needed three exchanges to put an end to the fight.

“I didn’t feel anything like what you did before.” Rania raised an accusatory glance at both Jorik and Mahon.

“I’m not as used as he is.” The noble answered with an apologetic bow. “But give me some time, and I’ll give you some trouble too.” He said with an eager smile.

Rania nodded slightly before she turned to Mahon with a defying look. Clearly she wasn’t satisfied with what had happened. And it was understandable. Given Jorik’s control of his Flow, he hadn’t even time to hinder her fire magic. He had barely managed to hold back his Flow together for a short time before It collapsed, there was no need to mention anything about trying to fight her magic back.

Mahon unsheathed his sword and positioned himself in front of Rania. She extinguished her flame before she assumed a fighting posture and gestured to Mahon she was ready. He didn’t even let her any time to think that he was already right beside her. He had moved so fast that she could barely raise her sword in a poor parrying attempt. To Mahon, such a defense could only be considered shabby, and he made quick work of it, ending the fight in the next move.

He stopped with his sword pointing at her throat, and a death glare was the only retaliation the woman managed to do. Mahon had won before she could even invoke her fire. From the side, Paegis burst out laughing at Rania’s face.

“Oh, oh! It has been some time since you got crushed so easily!” He said between two laughs.

She threw another death glare to the old man, but he completely ignored her. Mahon went back to his initial position, a few meters away from Rania, while she resumed her fighting stance. This time she immediately invoked her fire as soon as the fight started.

Mahon kept his Flow at shallow levels, trying to both hinder her with his magic and keep it active for his own use. The Flow outlined the woman’s shape, but Mahon didn’t dare to push for more.

On the other hand, Rania didn’t hesitate to make her fire roar even stronger when she started to feel the suppression. With her added speed and strength, she much resembled Varek’s fighting style, although even less refined. She made wide swipes that Mahon had trouble parrying and she moved as fast as she could as if trying to blur from speed was her way to victory.

Her techniques were crude, but alas, against overwhelming strength and speed there wasn’t much one could do. Mahon did his best to resist her, filling the gaps between their physical differences with techniques alone.

She is less comfortable with a sword than Varek, but her magic seems stronger.

Mahon fought to find a balance between reading his opponent and suppressing her magic with his own. He could feel making progress, but it was too slow to change the outcome of this fight. Adopting the same strategy he used against Varek, and before the woman would grow too strong from her magic, he created some distance between them and dived deeper into the Flow to snuff out Rania’s fire.

Rania had started to get used to Mahon’s suppression, but only because he kept his Flow at a constant pace. When he suddenly changed, however, she was caught off guard, and Mahon immediately seized the opportunity to end the fight. Before he could reach her, though, an immense pressure dawned on him, and he immediately lost control of his Flow.

The word of rhythms fractured in an instant, and the backlash propelled him three meters in the air. He crashed harmlessly on the sand of the arena with a puzzled look.

By the Fada! What was that?

“Oops. Sorry.” Paegis raised a hand and waved apologetically. “I wanted to get a feel of what you were doing, but it seems it was more fragile than I thought.”

“What did you do?” Mahon asked, shocked, but Rania interrupted him.

“Hey, old man! It’s my fight! Wait for your turn!”

“He was going to beat you, anyway.” He grinned back at her. “Your turn was over.”

“No, I could block his attack and…” She started to argue, but Paegis raised his eyes to the sky.

“Shush. The adults are talking.” He said with the amused smile of a father squabbling his kids.

Three fire arrows exited his open palms and targeted Rania. In an instant they were at her foot, and she immediately jumped to the ground to avoid them. She rolled and tried to get up, but a pair of burning shackles appeared and caught her ankles together, making her fall. Although burning hot, the magic didn’t seem to hurt her at all, and she struggled to get rid of them.

With a few more gestures from the old man, a golem of fire appeared beside her and attacked her with its fists. The moves were crude, but with her two legs immobilized, Rania was in an uncomfortable posture to defend herself. A short, funny fight followed, but Paegis ignored her while turning back to Mahon with a barely suppressed laugh.

“You’re a magician?!” Mahon blurted out the only thing that made sense given his knowledge and what the man had shown.

“Bingo!” He nodded to Mahon’s assumption. “Keep it between us, though.” He winked. “But, unfortunately, I’m not trained in the sword arts… However, I can still fight in my own way. Please, indulge this old man and attack me with the strange power you used previously.”

Mahon nodded and going back into the Flow he was repelled an instant after, falling on his knees. His brain threatened to shut down from the immediate assault that had welcomed him once he entered even the shallowest levels of the Flow. The cause of all this distortion, however, was still imprinted in his mind.

He turned a fearful look to the clumsy fire golem that was now rolling on the floor while wrestling against Rania. It just looked like two innocent children wrestling clumsily. To Mahon’s Flow however, the sight was one of horror.

“Can you shut this thing down?” Mahon asked after recovering a bit. “It’s too strong for me to try anything.” He explained to the old magician who was looking at him with a scrutinizing face.

“This? Oh, sorry.” With a clap of his fingers, the fire construct disappeared, letting a puzzled Rania fall to the floor as her wrestling partner suddenly disappeared.

Catching his breath, Mahon focused on Paegis and immersed himself into the Flow. The magician then slowly waved fire magic into existence around him, trying not to throw Mahon off. Without breaking a sweat, he leisurely infused his fire with more magic and made them grow until Mahon was struggling to maintain his Flow.

Contrary to Rania, where he felt he could push back her magic, there was nothing he could do against Paegis’ magic. He fought all he could against the magic, but he couldn’t stop its inexorable growth. Actually, he couldn’t even slow it down. All his efforts were for naught in front of the magician’s power.

Paegis relentlessly increased his flames until Mahon couldn’t bear it anymore, and he exited the Flow an instant before he would get expelled. Paegis threw him a questioning look.

“I can’t suppress your magic at all.” He explained.

“Oh... I felt something, but yes, it wasn’t very impactful. Like arm wrestling with a child.” Paegis’ words weren’t mean or offensive, simply descriptive of what he felt. “It was very interesting, nonetheless. You’re not actually using fire magic, are you?”

“No.” Mahon shook his head.

Paegis nodded, expecting the answer. “The sensation is weird. It’s like you’re trying to surround my fire and take it away from me.” He stopped for a few seconds before observing Mahon attentively. “Do you think your training with Rania could help your ability to grow stronger?”

“I’m not sure.” Mahon answered honestly. “It’s like our two energies are clashing. I’m pretty confident I can train mine until I can withstand even your power without crumbling. But I’ve no idea if I would be able to suppress you more at that time. Nor how much time would be needed just to resist your spells.”

Paegis nodded pensively. “I see. Well, then I can only let Rania train with you two for now. It will actually be a good practice for her too. Both in sword fighting and fire control.” He threw her a caring glance. “Keep me updated about it. I’m eager to test it out again once you’ve got more power.”