With the Eternal Flame’s fight over, Dia and Bishop rose from their seats. “We will be back after the demonstrations,” Dia said.
“We’re looking forward to them,” Gregory said.
“Do we even know what kind of magic Dia has?” Jenn asked. “I’ve never seen her use any.”
“I think it’s fire,” Gregory said. “I’ve seen her light her pipe with her fingertip.”
“I remember that,” Yukiko agreed, “but I’ve never seen anything else.”
“The Eternal Flame disliked Dia during her time in the academy because of her magic,” Lightshield said. “She used it as sparingly as possible and has never been one for showing off.”
They fell silent as they watched the arena clear of apprentices. When they were gone, Yunlo announced that the first demonstration would be by Magus Samantha Bishop. Bishop walked out of the tunnel, her kimono gently swaying in the lightly blowing breeze. As she approached Yunlo, a few adepts brought out metal training dummies and placed them around the arena. The adepts were burning aether on their limbs as they carried the dummies, letting the crowd know how heavy they were.
Yunlo handed over the disk and vanished from the arena floor. Bishop looked over the crowd, then raised the glowing disk to her lips. “I am Magus Bishop, physical enhancement magi of Aether’s Guard. I’ve been a proctor for the empire for a score of years. I’ve faced down bane beasts of nearly every type, killed bandits by the drove, and fought in skirmishes along the borders. I know how violent the world is outside of the empire and, as a magi sworn to protect the empire, I will show you some of the skills used to help defend us all.” Placing the disk into her belt pouch, Bishop turned to the closest dummy.
Over the next quarter-hour, Bishop put on a display of what she could do. She cleaved a dummy’s head clean off, then punched through another. She showcased how her aether let her cross distances in a blink, going from one side of the arena to the other— the most people could see was the streak of blue flame she left behind her. She finished by coming to a stop in front of the last intact dummy, her sword blurring from her sheath before returning a few heartbeats later.
Pulling the disk out of her pouch, she addressed the crowd, “I hope this display helps you better understand what we can do to keep the empire safe.” As she finished talking, the dummy behind her fell into five separate pieces. “Even if this display just cost the academy a lot of vela.”
Laughter came from the crowd at her joke.
Yunlo appeared beside her and Bishop handed the disk to him. She was nearly back to the tunnel when she stopped and looked at the man leaning over the railing toward her. Gregory was surprised that she’d gone to the far tunnel, and was even more surprised to see Harrison speaking with her.
Bishop motioned to him, then to the arena. With a shrug, she turned and walked back to Yunlo. After a moment, Yunlo raised the disk to his lips. “After the third-place fight for the apprentices, we will be seeing a challenge between magus-tier magi. Magus Guthrie Harrison of Swift Wind has challenged Magus Samantha Bishop of Aether’s Guard to a duel. The fight will be blades only, and the stakes are a future favor between the magi, as well as a favor between the clans.”
The audience all began to murmur, but Gregory looked at Lightshield. “This is what you spoke of at breakfast?”
“Harrison does not like that Bishop was the one to put on the display, as his request to put on a display was rejected,” Lightshield said. “His pride has been battered by her for many years, but he refuses to acknowledge her as his superior in any way.”
Yukiko shook her head, wondering how Harrison had grown so twisted when it was obvious Bishop still viewed him kindly, in her own way.
“Dia,” Jenn said, leaning forward slightly as Dia walked out of the tunnel beneath them.
Her kimono bearing the same clan motif as Bishop caused a stir through the crowd. Her panda ears twitched slightly as she walked smoothly forward to Yunlo. The two spoke for a moment before Yunlo handed her the disk, then vanished.
“Greetings to you all. Thank you for coming to see our young magi learn valuable lessons. I’m Magus Dia Ursinda, a magi of fire and a member of Aether’s Guard. I have been with the clan for nearly six decades and in that time, I’ve done many things for them and the empire. I am here to show you fire magic. We’ve seen some of it from the novices and apprentices, but I thought you should see what a magus can do.”
There was a small commotion from where the Eternal Flame clan was sitting, as they clearly disliked her speech. Dia gave them a smile, but went on addressing the crowd.
“As you can see, the destroyed dummies have been left in place. Truthfully, they can still see some use as my targets.” With that said, she put the disk into her pouch and closed her eyes for a moment.
Dia stood still in the center of the arena and moved her arms. A ball of fire came shooting out from each hand. Two of the more intact dummies were struck center mass, and the metal went from dull to heated in a moment.
Gregory was shocked as he watched Dia. She tossed balls of fire from her hands, had streams of fire blazing from her fingers, and was even able to shoot small balls of fire from her eyes. Fire washed out from her in a full circle, then in small segments, as if she were showing that Nick could have avoided his friends if he’d tried. For the finale, she coated herself in fire and proceeded to snap off a three-attack kata before the flames went to the mostly empty dummy stand, turning the solid wood into ash in an instant.
The crowd was silent when she stopped, but then loud cheers erupted. Yunlo appeared beside her and accepted the disk back. Dia waved to the crowd before heading for the exit.
“We will have a small break for the trash to be removed and the sand to be cleaned before the champion novice match begins,” Yunlo announced.
~*~*~
Dia and Bishop came back during the break. They were greeted with wide smiles and many questions. Bishop explained that she’d accepted the challenge to see if Harrison had improved over the last year and a half, and Dia told them how difficult it is to control fire magic to the degree she’d shown.
“There was no chance for Shun to leave a gap the way I did. Maybe when he is an adept, but not as an apprentice,” Dia said.
“The fire didn’t burn you?” Jenn asked, shocked that Dia had been coated in it.
“When you have control over fire, it can’t burn you. Fire magi fighting each other is ridiculous for that reason. It always comes down to who runs out of aether first.”
“Yunlo is back,” Gin said, having been watching the arena while listening to them.
“The tournament will now continue,” Yunlo announced. “I hope you all used the break wisely, as it will be the last until the tournament ends.” He paused for a few seconds before continuing, “We come now to the novice championship fight. Novice Nessa Jimae, magi of wind magic, is to fight Novice Daciana Lyall, magi of earth magic. Novices, come forth.”
Daciana and Nessa appeared from opposite tunnels, each waving to acknowledge the cheering crowd. Daciana strode forward with more confidence— her head was up and her toothy grin gleamed in the afternoon light. Tail wagging excitedly from side-to-side, her ears were up and her eyes were focused on Nessa. Nessa was wearing a more reserved smile and her steps were a little shorter and slower. Her tail twitched slightly, as did her ears, but she was looking straight at Daciana.
“I can’t root for one of them over the other,” Gregory said as he watched. “It’s like watching you and Jenn fight.”
Yukiko smiled and leaned into his side for a second. “I’m glad you feel that way for our friends, dear one.”
“I can’t pick, either,” Jenn said. “I just hope neither of them gets severely injured.”
“I’m with you on that,” Yukiko said. “I wonder if Vicky is taking sides?”
“I doubt it,” Gregory said, “though she might slightly favor Daciana. If Daciana won, that means Vicky lost to the champion. Someone once said something similar to me.”
Jenn laughed and nudged him. “Then I won the next one.”
“Maybe Vicky will next time, too,” Gregory chuckled.
Yunlo had the two novices bow, and the crowd grew quiet as anticipation of the fight settled over them. Daciana took an aggressive stance and Nessa settled into a defensive one as Yunlo raised his hand.
“Fight!” Yunlo’s command was easy to hear over the quiet crowd.
The crowd erupted as Daciana rushed toward her friend. Nessa waited, expecting to feel the sting of earth balls at any time. She didn’t wait long before they started to pelt her from behind. The moment the first one connected, a sudden gust of wind picked up, flinging sand into Daciana’s face. Because she had to turn her head and close her eyes, Daciana missed Nessa stepping aside.
The next two earth balls that should have hit Nessa went flying and caught Daciana as she came out of the sandstorm. Blinking her watery eyes, Daciana dove away from the last of them.
Nessa grinned, as Daciana had come toward her unknowingly. Jumping onto her friend when Daciana tried to get back to her feet, the two of them punched, kneed, and elbowed each other as they rolled on the ground.
“That devolved faster than I thought it would…” Gregory said.
“Nessa has an advantage here. She’s better with grappling,” Jenn said.
“Daciana needs to break and get back to her feet,” Yukiko agreed.
The fight continued for a few minutes as the pair of novices kept trying to get a better position on each other. It looked like it might be over when Daciana managed to get Nessa’s arm, but a moment later, Daciana’s head jerked back and she let go.
“Air to the face?” Jenn asked.
“Might have given her a blast, making her worry about having her lungs flooded,” Yukiko suggested.
Nessa grabbed Daciana’s leg and was just starting to lock her in place when three dirt balls hit her, making her lose her chance. Daciana jerked her leg free and kicked Nessa in the chest.
“That’ll be the last of her aether,” Gregory said. “That’s the most she’s been able to use without extra aether before.”
“Not sure if Nessa has more she can do, either,” Yukiko said. “It all depends on how much she had to use to get Daciana to let her go.”
The two novices got to their feet, each sporting black eyes, bloody noses, and split lips from their time on the ground. They spoke to each other and even laughed while the crowd shouted for them to continue. They both looked toward where the three apprentices were sitting before nodding and looking back at each other.
“Here it comes…” Gregory said.
“Yes,” Yukiko and Jenn agreed.
The resulting clash as both Nessa and Daciana rushed each other was brief and brutal. Hard kicks and punches were exchanged, but in the end, Daciana overextended too much. Nessa kicked her knee, staggering Daciana’s balance. As Daciana stumbled, Nessa grabbed her, twisted, and slammed her over her hip. Nessa did not release Daciana’s arm— she twisted, bending it behind the prone woman and stepping on Daciana’s back to keep her down. Daciana’s teeth were bloody as she growled. She tried once to free her arm, but Nessa put a little more pressure on it, making Daciana whimper before tapping the ground.
Yunlo was suddenly beside them, and Mindie and Klim were running out to help heal them. Nessa let go of Daciana’s arm and dropped to her knees next to her friend.
“The winner is Novice Nessa Jimae!” Yunlo announced. “Celebrate her achievement, and the valiant effort of Novice Lyall.”
“She capitalized in the right spot,” Gregory said.
“I want to speak with them, but we shouldn’t,” Jenn sighed.
“Looks like they’re good,” Yukiko said.
Mindie and Klim stepped back after a minute, and Nessa rose and offered Daciana a hand up. When they were both on their feet, they bowed to Yunlo and the boxes before heading toward the tunnel, side-by-side.
The crowd was still cheering and, as the two novices got closer to the tunnel, Gregory and his wives stood up to applaud them. The smiles they directed at the three apprentices were bright and happy. They waved at them before stepping into the tunnel.
“The best we could do,” Gregory said. “At least they know we’re proud of them.”
“Yes,” Yukiko smiled.
“There will be demonstrations until the next fight, then Bishop’s challenge after the fight,” Jenn said.
“And then ours,” Yukiko said. “We don’t know who will be on Nick’s team… Franco and his clanmates brutalized them.”
“That leaves a lot of variables in the air,” Gregory agreed. “We’ll see what we have to overcome when we get there.”
