The training fields sat on the outskirts of Luneah, a patchwork of bare fields, open spaces and sparring arenas bordered by ancient, ivy-covered stone-brick walls which towered a fair thirty feet above any average human. The sun blazed overhead, its unrelenting heat casting shadows behind the few trees which lay in rows on the border of each plot of land. The faint scent of burnt grass lingered – a mix of freshly cut grass and scorched earth. For any aspiring mage, this smell reminded them of their own ambition.

Daniel stood near the centre of the field, his stance firm and commanding. His sharp blue eyes flicked across his surroundings as he stretched, rolling his shoulders before beginning his routine. The chatter of other trainees provided a constant backdrop around him. He didn’t bother engaging with them. He was here for only one thing: to prove to everyone that he was the best, and that none of them could ever hope to stand up to him.

His hands rose, weaving threads with a practiced ease. His arms and fingers flexed as he grasped the threads, pulling them out from thin air. Anyone not well-versed in the nature of threads would assume he was calling upon the devil himself. At first, they swirled lazily like smoke caught in an updraft, but with a flick of his wrist, they snapped into motion. The threads danced in intricate patterns; the outcome only known to the wielder.

He turned toward a training dummy – a life-sized wooden figure reinforced with steel bands – and brought forth from the ground a mass of vines. They rose from the earth beneath the dummy and started coiling around it. After completely encasing the dummy, a loud dampened crushing sound was heard from within before the vines retreated and sat gently on the topsoil.

Daniel stepped back, exhaling slowly.

“That’s the third dummy you’ve broken today,” Kana’s voice called out from behind him.

Daniel smirked as he turned to face her. Kana, with her auburn hair pulled into a tight braid running down her shoulder and her piercing green eyes, always looked like she was sizing people up. She leaned against a nearby post, arms crossed, and a slight smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Can’t help it if they’re not built to last,” he replied, shrugging.

“Or maybe you’re just overcompensating,” Kana shot back, though her tone held more amusement than bite.

Daniel chuckled, summoning another thread but… this one was different. Daniel drew energy from the very same vines he’d used only a few seconds earlier. The thread shimmered red and black, winding through his fingers like it was alive. He brought it away from the vines and had it rest in his hands, coiled like a whip. With a flick, he lashed it toward another dummy, its tip wrapping around the figure’s neck before jerking back sharply, decapitating the wooden figure in one fluid motion.

“Still compensating?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kana rolled her eyes but didn’t reply. Instead, a faint, silvery thread of her own appeared in her hand. It moved like quicksilver, fluid and sharp, glinting in the sunlight.

“Do you wanna spar?” she asked, her smirk widening into a grin.

Daniel shrugged. “If you’re looking to lose, then I don’t see why not.”

***

The two squared off in the open field, other trainees glancing over with mild interest. Kana twirled her Mind thread around her hand, her posture loose and relaxed, while Daniel summoned a mix of Nature and Essence threads, intertwining them into a dense, glowing lattice.

Kana struck first, reaching out directly into Daniel’s head with her mind threads. It wasn’t physical; it didn’t need to be. The thread shimmered in and out of sight, seen only by the caster, aiming for Daniel’s focus. He felt the pressure immediately, a subtle but insistent pull at him, like a voice in his mind, urging him to falter.

But it didn’t faze him, the number of times she’d tried this was uncountable. In fact, it seemed he might be developing a resistance to it. But she didn’t know this, so he feigned struggle.

“Not bad, not bad,” Kana said, circling him. “But how long can you keep that up?”

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He chuckled under his breath. “How stupid could she be!?” This much is nothing. He wouldn’t even have noticed if it weren’t for all her theatrics. He reached into a pouch on his side while slowly leading an essence thread to a tree on the edge of the arena. He pierced the side of the tree, drawing its energy into himself as it withers away slowly.

Kana heard cries from the spectators and looked over, wondering what had them so frightened. Her eyes widened at the sight, a large oak tree was leaning over, its roots ripping, tearing away from the ground as it fell. A lone girl rushing in to move everyone out of the way. Although everyone was safe, dust billowed out from under it as it left a small crater around it. People sat, shocked just beside it.

“Kaelin…”

“What the hell? They’re supposed to be watching our fight. Why is she getting all the attention?!” Kana shouted.

She growled under her breath as she looked back to the fight, just to realise what had actually happened to the tree.

“Too late now to run!” Daniel told her, as if he’d already won.

He took his hand out of his pocket, a bunch of seeds sat in his palm. He snapped the glistening, red whip of pure energy back to his hand and used it to sling the seeds at Kana, landing them neatly in a circle around her with Daniel’s threads connecting them all.

“Oh shit.”

Daniel’s whip sprung back to life as it pumped all of its energy straight into the seeds. Within less than a second Kana was encased in a cage of trees, with Daniel waltzing over carelessly to the cage.

“I’ve won now haven’t I, all that’s left is for you to surrender!” He said, with a shrill undertone of pride.

Kana didn’t reply prompting Daniel to peek inside the cage. As he glared into the empty room, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“I only have one affinity, and you still forgot what it does. What a blubbering oaf you’ve turned out to be.”

“Illusions…” growling as he said this, annoyed at himself for underestimating her.

“Cute trick,” he said, his smirk unwavering. “But I’m just getting started.”

He thrust his hand up, causing brambles to rise from another pouch on his left. They crawled up his arm forming the shape of a mace. The other hand being thrown down hitting the ground, causing brambles to surge outwards from his feet in a wave in all directions. He struck at the Kana in front of him with the mace in his right hand, only for her to dissipate on impact. His thorny tendrils lashing out in all directions. Called him out from behind the cage, only for him to discover a row of five sitting with their legs crossed on the ground.

“Trying to overwhelm me?” he asked, his tone light but strained.

“Something like that.” She replied with a joyful tone.

Daniel retaliated with a barrage of brambles, assaulting as many as he could reach, ready to respond at close range should she appear behind him. As he walked calmly toward the last clone left standing, Kana jumped out from atop the cage, severing the connection between his threads and himself. Her threads forming an invisible barrier around Daniels mind, preventing him access to his magic. He looked back at her with a snarky grin.

Daniel gritted his teeth and went in for a melee attack. Whilst Kana had assumed she’d won due to his lack of magic, Daniel never even thought about giving up. Being a mage is all about adapting to your environment and securing a win no matter what.

The crowd gasped as Daniel beat down on Kana’s face, with her pinned down beneath him, unable to move. He kept going relentlessly while Kana started to look hazy. Finally, she fell unconscious, forcing her to release her hold on his threads, giving him back his full array of abilities.

Daniel got up slowly, commanding vines to rise from the grounds beneath her. Lifting her into an upright position. She was finally trapped, cocooned, held up from below by the extensive network of roots and tendrils lying beneath her. From the brambles nearby, he crafted a wreath and lay it upon her head as he slapped her awake.

“You’re not bad,” Daniel admitted, his tone almost respectful. “For a Basic.”

Kana’s eyes flashed with defiance. “And despite how it turned out today, you’re not as good as you think you are.”

“That still won’t change the outcome, just surrender already!”

Kana scowled but didn’t argue. “Fine. You win. For now.”

“For now?” he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

She didn’t reply, her gaze shifting again to Kaelin. The girl was still there, and she wasn’t even watching, just training on her own in some odd sort of hand-to-hand combat. Kana’s hands trembled as she summoned another thread, weaving it around her brain to supress the pain she still felt.

“She really doesn’t know when to quit.” Kana muttered, her voice strained, though the scornful tone remained.

Daniel didn’t reply. Something about the girl’s mere presence just pissed him off. None of what she was doing could be considered admirable, all her efforts were futile especially when faced with magic. But he pushed the thought aside. Kaelin was far from where he was anyway. He probably wouldn’t see her again after the trials ended. He would be invited up to the Royal Academy for Magic, and she would be cast back to whichever backwater village she came from.

As the field began to empty, Daniel spared one final glance toward Kaelin. She was still there, drenched in sweat, her hands trembling but steady as she attempted the motion again. So stubborn, so persistent, yet ever failing.

“What a pitiful existence.” He thought.

Kana pulled him back to focus with a nudge of her elbow, blood dripping from her face. “Come on. You’re going to need more than those dummies to impress the judges.”