It was just a warm-up.

Running laps has become an archnemesis of mine after all the senseless spriting I did both under my parents’ watchful eyes and back in the Fort. I’m no friend of physical exercise and running especially has no place in my heart.

I performed poorly… of course I did. I’m one of the few Mages here and the point of running as a warm-up is to work the muscles and not to see who’s the fastest. That means no magic.

“Now that you’ve all worked up a little sweat…” Melana says after we’re done running. And none of the physical combatants actually broke a sweat. “While you catch your breath I’ll be announcing this year’s participants for the events. Third years duels, Marcus, free-for-all, Evelyn…”

It’s easy to pair names to the faces just based on the reactions following her words. By the looks of things, everyone here is vying for a spot to earn recognition and glory, making this environment very competitive.

“... Barnabas, Kayla, Victor, and August for the team combat. The first years still have to prove themselves, although I have two strong candidates for the duels already and their position in the free-for-all is all but certain.” Melana says. “My decisions might change before the end of the year, but this is the lineup for now. Work hard and be ruthless kids!” She adds with a wolfish smile.

Are she and Zarah siblings or something?

All eyes land on us, again, and I think I’m getting used to it. This must be what it feels like for a woman to wear skimpy clothes on the street and draw the eyes of all men, just for fun.

“Third-year sweeties, make sure your juniors didn’t get soft during the summer. Shake them up a little while guiding the newbies around. Ah, and make sure to show them their place as well!” Melana assigns the roles. “Elyssia, Valka, with me for a second!”

Damn, I was looking forward to being shown my place. I’m not prone to violence but seeing what the so-called stars of the Empire can do does sound like a real treat.

We walk up to the two adults and instead of the wolf-woman, the wizened professor takes the reigns.

[Mage lvl ???]

[The general Skill [Identify] has reached lvl 92.]

“You young ladies certainly demand a lot of extra attention.” He chuckles… by himself. Weirdo. “My name is not important I won’t stick around for long, not in the Colosseum or the world of the living.” He giggles, again. It’s irritating. “Your charming professor had asked for my services to demonstrate what restrictions you’ll be placed under when competing in the tournament.” The woman beside him looks visibly pissed by his comment.

I can somewhat accept the reasoning behind the penalty. Time is something no one can buy so we have an inherent advantage just by being older.

The walking corpse reaches into his robe and pulls out two… necklaces? Wow, look at those beauties… I expected a contract or collar or shackles even, not something so pretty.

Mana Vision gets activated right away, an instinct I developed whenever seeing something inscription-related, and… just like with the carriage, all I see are weird colorful jumbles.

“The principle behind these necklaces is very simple.” The geezer hands us the accessories. “Whatever force or mana you exert, the necklace recognizes it and, using your own body and mana pool, sends an opposing reaction.”

That’s… Savant is a bit speechless. Logically speaking, this shouldn’t work. I could imagine fire or wind magic being countered like this but what about a punch or our running speed?

Instead of guessing I put the necklace on and… feel barely any different. To be fair I’m not doing much besides breathing so let’s put this beauty to a test.

I make a ball of fire, the simplest form of magic I can think of, and the moment the spell begins to take shape I feel it… Something is stealing my mana as I release it. Taking a quick look at the necklace and my hand with Mana Vision reveals the sinister workings of the little accessory.

We’re surrounded by a thin enigmatic bubble, sticking to our skin, and gripping the fireball in my hand as if trying to crush it. Then to see how the physical restriction works I do a few simple punches and kicks only to realise my every movement is slower as if the density of the air increased.

My conclusion? The necklace steals some of the mana we try to use, weakening our magic and shrinking our actual mana reserves while also acting like a thin stretchy bodysuit that resists our movements.

It’s brilliant.

I absolutely despise this feeling because it’s suffocating but the one who came up with this little tool is a genius. Maybe if I can replicate this on a larger scale… No, later.

I quickly share my findings with Valka, who does not share my enthusiasm whatsoever.

The old fellow on the other hand chuckles again. “Hoho, I thought you only had brutes here Melana… I fear I might have to steal this one for a second, darling. She piqued my interest.” He winks at Melana and I think I see a vein pop on the woman’s forehead.

The old mage waves for me to follow, however, before I can even take a step the earth beneath my feet shifts and pulls me after him. As the weird of goblin would’ve said; caught og guard I was… like an amateur. I glance back at Melana questioningly and only shakes her head with a sigh, not helping even a little bit.

“No need to be so wary, young Elyssia. My methods are way less crude than that of your mentor back in the good old Fort Karon of yours.” The geezer who refused to share his name speaks in a kind yet heavy tone. “Who might that person be if I may ask?”

A weirdly specific question. Is he trying to make small talk before throwing me into the thick of it? Oh, whatever, if I flop Martha will look bad, and if I do well she’ll only hog some of my achievements. That is if this man even knows who she is.

“Her name is Martha.” I answer. “She uses lighting and-”

“Lighting, wind, and space magic, she’s about as tall as you are and has a nasty temper when people do senseless or stupid things, yes.” He lets out an honest laugh for the first time since he started talking. “The Thundering Magister, a talented mage, an acceptable mentor, and a terrible example for someone with your abilities.”

Okay, the tables have turned. This man might know her better than I do.

“I guess we skipped quite a few questions with that.” I step off the earth slab moving on its own and rather walk like a normal person. It felt weird. “My turn to ask?”

“Feel free, after all this place was built to let the young mind spread its wings and search for answers on its own.” He says.

A simple yes would’ve been fine.

“I don’t think understanding the necklace was so impressive as to earn special attention.” I say and he grunts affirmatively. “So what’s the real reason?”

“Because you are interesting.” Comes the simple and ridiculous answer. “I’m not talking about your Blessing, of course, that’s like telling someone they’re attractive because their parents are powerful.” The man snorts, stops, and turns toward me. “The way you fight, the way you think, your straightforwardness… It’s refreshing. Not to mention, it’s rare to see a fellow battlemage. The rest are too cowardly to go up close and personal.”

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Hold up, slow down, that’s a bit too much information about me I never even mentioned. How-

“I’ve met enough people girly, don’t act so surprised. Your gait and your eyes tell me tales about what you can do and what you need to learn.” He taps his staff twice on the ground. “Attack me, mid-range, I’ll correct your mistakes on the fly.”

My initial surprise is quickly overcome and I throw a barrage of stone at him without holding back. This geezer is freaking me off. The ground shifts beneath the man preemptively the moment my mana begins to take shape, moving him out of harm’s way.

Only for a wall of fire to rush at him before the previous attack even lands.

The flames obscure whatever witchcraft he pulls to survive without a scratch but not for a second did I expect it’d amount to anything. Whips of water swirl in both my hands with electricity crackling down to their tip. The moment the elderly form appears through the fire I lash out from both sides to leave him no room for escape.

Earth rises to his sides to block and his lips stretch into a grin. But I quickly wash that smirk off when the trajectories of the whiplashes change, pushing my control over mana to the limit. The two thick limbs of water collide above his head before slamming down with arcs of electricity dancing around the air between water droplets.

He rushes forward, trying to confuse me but I’ve expected as much. I simply abandon my weapons and lunge forward to meet him head-on, striking at him with my palm.

A fiery orb of immense pressure gathers in my hand.

The grin on the old man’s face widens at my bold move and he finally speaks. “Yes, control the events, add more variables, faster!”

His voice doesn’t sound strained whatsoever and he dodges my attacks matching my speed using his mundane walking stick to slap my hand away.

All my moves are unfamiliar and cumbersome with the necklace dragging me down but I’d rather get used to it sooner than later. When I fail to land a hit for the umpteenth time I descend into a dance of explosions, trying to cover a larger area instead of precise attacks.

“No, no, don’t lose your cool!” I hear the old voice in a lull of explosions. “Fast and precise!”

A slab of earth sweeps my legs out.

This is one of my most infuriating fights ever.

***

“I’m impressed, you’re very well-rounded.” The old man pats my shoulder while I try to catch my breath on the ground. “What you’re missing is something solid defensives, a finisher, and a lexicon of trickery. Experienced Wielders are difficult to fight.”

“I have it…” I huff between heavy breaths. “A finisher.”

“Oh, do you now? This day just keeps on giving... Do show more!” He stops and watches me with eager eyes.

“Mana.” I resort to speaking in simple words to save energy and breath.

“Ah, the Hadron is right over there.” He points his staff to a palm-sized white spot on a wall that probably hides a much larger crystal. “But take this…” He hands me a piece the size of an apple that appeared in his palm. Worth more than a normal house... “I should be elsewhere by now so let’s make this quick.”

I hungrily suck up the mana before taking a deep breath and tapping into my reserves once more, making my skin tingle as the mana saturation grows around me. Why I want his recognition I can’t explain but I won’t fight it either.

“Take off that necklace. I want to see your peak performance.” The old fart adds.

With the shackles off I conjure the biggest and hottest spear of white fire I’ve ever made, and create an imbalance in charges so ridiculous the air begins to buzz around me. The wind rages and the ground withers at my feet as I aim at the large boulder raised to be my victim.

Right as the heat explodes and light makes keeping my eye open a real hassle… I let go.

The magical abomination I call an ace up my sleeve flashes through the air with an audible explosion of air before meeting its target. Rock shatters and melts under the intense heat, turning into lava and splattering all around.

I sit back down on the ground with my work done and let my mind and body relax, completely spent.

“Hmm, impressive. I dare assume inscriptions are your other specialty.” He glances at me and I give a half-hearted nod. “Fascinating… We’ll meet next week, lassie.” He plays with his beard before turning to leave.

“No, you won’t!” Melana shouts. “You can’t just hog her after that performance.”

“Name?” I ask sticking to the principle of short and simple.

He just chuckles without looking back. “Well, you earned it, didn’t you? Name is Magnus, prepare for our playtime next week!”

As the old mage, Magnus, leisurely leaves the arena I return my gaze to the rest of the people only to see them glare at me like some eyecatching street performance. I quickly glance at the boulder still in a liquid state then back again at the students…

Yeah, that might’ve been a bit too much…

***

“You just love being the center of attention, don’t you?” Valka jabs as we make our way back to the dorms just a little over two hours after departing.

We are covered in sweat and accompanied by loud stomach noises and it’s just the two of us.

Melana wanted to have a few words with us about wearing the necklaces for a few hours every day to get accustomed to it and mostly scolded me for… I don't know. I assume she can't throw a tantrum at Magnus so I had to do.

I don’t care, I had fun. I even earned two Skill levels and I accomplished the goal I had in mind for today's training. That is, finding out whether or not there’s someone around worth learning from.

“I got a little carried away.” I shrug tiredly even though it's still pretty early in the morning. “Most of my tricks got revealed, the damage is already done but it’s fine. I’ll just learn new ones.”

The meeting with Magnus was… humbling.

Putting the level and age difference aside, he demolished me without even going on the offensive properly. Every time I left myself open or made tactical mistakes he sent a harmless yet devastating attack my way. Devastating in the sense that it destroyed my momentum or trampled on my strategy, pointing out the mistakes in my approach along the way.

The main thing we focused on was mobility and approach. My minimal distance from the enemy opens me up to more attacks, meaning I have to be on the move constantly and commit to a strike only when the time is ripe.

A good example is when he used earth pillars to pincer me from all sides. There was no way for me to dodge horizontally and going underground would’ve been like making my own Prison… So I had to dodge upwards, which is commonly known as a dumb idea.

But I had no other choice. I danced on the palm of his hand, failed to see the bigger picture, and got punished.

Magnus’s earth magic was tricky to fight against because it somehow provided him with both mobility and defense. I was elated to finally have found a real battlemage but reality was a bit different than I imagined.

He focused more on small jabs and protecting himself rather than actual, devastating combat. It almost felt like taking the opponent down wasn’t his main purpose all along. His control was outstanding but his offensive capabilities felt lackluster… Am I doing this wrong?

All in all, my fighting style should be like that of a rogue… with a massive hammer and a ballista. Sounds weird and unnatural and either I kill my opponent first or do my very best to survive because I’m not the most resilient or fast.

“What did that old fart have against you?” Valka asks. “Didn’t seem like normal practice to me.”

“Yeah, it was… wild. He said I was interesting.” And not much else honestly... “What were you up to, did I miss any beatdowns?”

“Lucky, I was just a test rat. They were mostly curious how well my Blessing fares against different slashing attacks.” She shows me her shredded sleeves. “I also had a few interesting duels against the guys Kayla talked about. They were passable and I feel like one of them also has a Blessing”.

That’s… not that surprising, honestly. There are thousands of students here, the creme of the crop Valeira, and even some of the small neighboring countries have to offer. Thinking it’s just the five of us here who were born under the Crimson Comet would be simply naive.

“What about the tiny guy?” I ask, implying the boy supposedly in our grade we know nothing about.

“That guy is scary I’m telling you. He took August down faster than I did.” Valka drops casually. Oh, do tell me more! “Somehow the shadows came to life around him in many shapes and… it’s hard to describe. Arms, spikes, tentacles… the shadows just fought for him and August was helpless.”

“He should be interesting. Practice is twice a week, right?” I ask and receive a nod. “That means we’ll have to get up early again on Friday…”

“C’mon, it wasn’t that bad. Breakfast?” Valka asks, ignoring my boastful words.

“Bath first.” I don’t even leave this up for a debate. The smell of sweat and ash is too thick on me.

By the time we return to the dorms quite a number of students are already up and bustling about, throwing inquisitive glances at the two differently dressed awfully smelling weirdos returning.

After a few generous servings for breakfast, we retire to our rooms on my demand and spend a good few hours doing basically nothing.

Then I got bored.

Simple tasks like setting up my room take no time, and reading through some books about the Grand String or space mana theory feels like a waste of time with the workshop waiting for me.

“Let’s head out!” I propose less than an hour after making ourselves comfortable.

“I hate you so much.” Valka grumbles before pulling the blanket over her head.