An illusory timer appeared at the top of the dome counting down from five minutes.

Dreiki stood in place and remembered his goal. He didn’t need to beat them, he needed to weather the storm.

And what a storm it was. The moment the fight started, the entire ring filled with ripping winds that threatened to knock Dreiki off his feet.

A barrier of ice encircled him, protecting him from the wind. Rock and debris from the ground around him were pulled up into the air, only to shoot straight through the ice like bullets. They were creating a sandstorm with their magics combined.

It was difficult enough to dodge the incoming debris, but Dreiki knew instinctively it served the same purpose as a jab. It was meant to condition him and test his reactions. To overload his senses until it opened the opportunity for them to strike.

That opportunity had come quicker than he expected. Rixam, unburdened by the wind cut a line straight toward him, a knee to the gut sending him right off his feet. He wrapped his hands around the back of Dreiki’s neck and kept him in the clinch. Each blow made Dreiki wonder if Rixam could wield earth magic as well. His knee felt like stone.

It was made of stone. Gornax had wrapped his legs in rocks. Dreiki grabbed hold of the next knee and swept at the inside leg. Rixam remained standing, however, picking Dreiki up like he was a doll and tossing him to the ground.

Between the impact and the vortex, Dreiki couldn’t get any air back into his lungs. He glanced at the timer. Only twenty seconds had passed and he was already about to be knocked out.

The ground tried to swallow him, but Luna soaked it through with her water and pulled the muddy mixture back apart. Dreiki rolled, narrowly avoiding a stomping blow from Rixam, but unable to avoid the punting kick he followed up with.

A blast of air sent him smashing into the arcane wall behind him. A wave of purplish energy dissipating through its transparent veil.

The air was pressing down his lungs, he was losing his hearing.

Smokescreen

Smoke expanded his lungs and poured from his mouth, but blew away in the storm. At least he could breathe again. He dodged a rock coming for his head, only to feel it smash into his thigh as it boomeranged back towards him.

Rixam did not let up, already smelling blood in the water for Dreiki.

It was that exact line of thinking which Dreiki punished. Rixam had overextended.

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Comet Fist

Dreiki slipped his hook, and cracked his straight in the jaw. Rixam’s legs wobbled. A wall of stone cut between them before Dreiki could press him further.

“You okay Rix?”

“He won’t be!” Luna said, sending a pillar of ice to his head.

Rixam was too quick, narrowly ducking under the pillar and shattering it with an uppercut. Dreiki vaulted over the stone wall, and flung a kick to his body.

Rixam had a good poker face, but Dreiki knew it had to hurt.

Ice had joined the storm, using their own tactics against them as hail pelted the two.

Rixam retreated back to Gornax who had been having a difficult time with Luna’s magic thus far.

Any time he raised his stones, Luna would seep water into the cracks and turn them to ice. The expanding water and rapidly dropping temperature shattered any useful stone he pulled from the ground, and made it a lot more difficult to toss about.

It was like a grappling match with magic.

“Switch!” He said, back to back with Rixam as they turned and swapped opponents. Dreiki tried to get to Rixam, but another stone wall got in his way. Not only that, but it tried to swallow him too.

He sent a plume of fire from his hands to change his momentum and evade the living wall. His foot was caught in the ground, that wall now chasing him down.

He had a split second to react, summoning another comet fist and punching the boulder in half. They hovered on either side of him, and clapped together.

Bull’s Haste

Strength poured into Dreiki’s muscles as he outstretched his hands to keep the two halves of stone from crushing him. Gornax didn’t give him room to breathe, however, grabbing him from behind and slipping in a rear naked choke. Dreiki put his chin down, and breathed fire over his forearm, but Gornax had already coated his arms with a thick layer of dirt.

Dreiki felt a hook to his ribs, cursing Gornax for having his extra set of arms. It was unfair to grapple with someone like him. He knew he was trying to distract him with body shots and slip his choke in deeper.

Again and again, those punches dug into his body, hurting more with each strike. It made him want to accept the choke and tap out. He refused to quit, though. There was a lot more on the line than a simple sparring match.

Small thorn-like blue flames peppered his body in an instant. Shocked, Gornax’s hold slackened just enough for Dreiki to take advantage of it. He peeled Gornax’s hand off the back of his head and popped out of the hold.

He heard Luna yelp behind him, turning to see Rixam had tackled her to the ground.

Dreiki ducked on instinct, slipping a punch from Gornax, and thrusting a fire-charged front kick to his belly.

He skidded backward on his feet, giving Dreiki enough room to double back and plow all his weight into Rixam. He didn’t have much weight to throw around, but he knew he made for a fantastically annoying and dangerous backpack.

Taking a page from Gornax’s book, he slipped in a rear naked choke and hooked his heels into Rixam’s thighs.

Rixam tried to pull him off, only to get hooked to the jaw by Luna. He punched down at her, only for Luna to catch his arm and lock it up.

Rixam stood up with both of them clinging to his body. Gornax came running in, only to slip on some ice Luna had put down.

The timer rang out. Two minutes had passed. Dreiki did not let up, though. Rixam and Gornax might have lost, but he and Luna hadn’t won yet.