The stadium seemed more full than it had for the Play-In. Maybe it was, or maybe Jacob was just projecting reasons to be anxious. The sun shone down into the arena, lighting up the clay ground and the stark white boundary oval. People had finished trickling in, and now the several hundred students, staff and faculty waited for the first match to be announced.

Archie was going on and on about how the first round was the best because that's where you got the biggest surprises and upsets. Someone in the forties might surprise their opponent with a new spell, or a hidden affinity for a certain magic, or even something as simple as how Laszlo had gotten his magic early and had been training.

"But that's the eternal beauty of it." Archie said, gesturing wildly. "You just do not know what your opponent is capable of. Who is going to be the dark horse? Who is going to pull a trick out of their hat? Who is going to have an ace up their sleeve? It's exquisite!"

The highest seed to lose in the first round was a four, which had been almost twenty years ago.

"Has the eleventh seed ever lost in the first round?" Jacob asked.

"Several times, my boy," Archie said. "Several times."

That wasn't exactly reassuring, but if there was anything Jacob had learned this past week, it was to try and stop worrying about things he couldn't do anything about in the moment. AKA, his match. The week had passed in a blur of training. He'd asked Camilla to train twice more with him. Their sessions were as intense as the first one. Classes were a respite, a brief breather and distraction from the grind and sweat of training or the incessant mental preparation for the match. He hoped he was ready.

Camilla's fight was first.

She went down early into the stadium undercroft. The tournament aide came by and for a split second, Jacob was certain Camilla would request him for her Pre-Match Advisor.

"Grace Lin?" The tournament aide asked.

Grace stood up and shuffled by them. Jacob and Archie both requested she tell Camilla good luck.

Jacob sat back, a little dejected but not entirely surprised. She'd known Grace since she was a kid. He hadn't even known her two months, even though it felt like a lot longer. To him, at least.

Camilla came out to applause and excited whispers. Her opponent was Latrell, the 66th seed who'd upset the 63rd seed in the play-in. He waved to the crowd and was greeted with a smattering of applause, hoots, and calls of 'upset king!'

The match started and was over so quickly Jacob could have missed it if he'd blinked. Camilla and Latrell both engaged their strength, double flashes of bright green Consumption. Camilla deflected Latrell's first, comparatively sluggish strike, grappled him, and threw him out of bounds in one blurred movement.

"Camilla D'Angelo wins!" The announcer proclaimed.

The crowd roared.

Jacob blew a breath out. "Jesus, that was fast."

"What did you expect?" Archie chuckled.

"True," Still, the speed of it shocked him. One quick move and that was it. Latrell had been pretty good in the match the other day. Something did bother him, though.

"Why did she risk getting in a fistfight with him, though? Couldn't she just blast him away with a forceward or something?" Jacob asked.

Archie was silent for a moment. "Ah, I see why you might ask that. Camilla obviously has her sights set on the final. At the very least. She is keeping her cards close to her chest, to use a gambling metaphor. Other students don't know what her magical arsenal is, and keeping certain spells secret until she feels she needs them can be a huge advantage in a given match. All the higher seeds tend to do it."

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"That makes sense," Jacob said.

"Camilla will most likely use her strength and perception in the next round as well."

That's what the gap is like. That's what the gap between you and Altman will be. You'll be fine.

Camilla came back up a little while later and they congratulated her.

A couple more fights and then it was Archie's turn. He didn't call anyone down for his Pre-Match Advisor, which was turning out to be more common than Jacob had thought it would be.

When he was announced Archie strode nonchalantly out onto the field, raised his hands with a flourish, and gave a deep bow.

His opponent, a lanky boy named Peter who ranked in at 59th walked out onto the field and took up a stance. Like so many other low seeds, he'd used Consumption to overpower his opponent the other day.

"Start!"

Peter took off towards Archie. Archie raised his arm and splayed his hand. Dark orange Production magic Jacob had never felt before blossomed out from the big boy. The air in front of him rippled, then blasted at Peter, hitting the lower seed like a strong wind.

Peter ground to a halt, putting his arms up in front of himself in a block. His hair blew back across his skull.

Archie's hand remained up, the spell blasting out from it in a spreading cone, continuously buffeting Peter like a strong gale.

Peter took a step back, then another, then tried to dive to the side to escape the spreading cone of wind. Archie's spell intensified. It lifted Peter up and sent him tumbling back across the clay ground until he was out of bounds.

Archie lowered his hand, bowed deeply once more, and strode out of the arena.

"Archibald Vanderbilt wins."

Archie came back up just before the start of the next match.

"Nice win," Jacob said.

Archie nodded curtly. "Spell was a little loose to start with, but tightened it up at the end there."

"Can I ask why you used that spell instead of strength?"

"Ah, with regards to our earlier conversation, yes?" Archie raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, have you ever seen me use strength?"

Jacob wracked his memory. "No."

Archie grinned his Hollywood grin. "So do you think I can use it? Answer honestly, now."

"Well, I'm pretty sure you can use it because you're knowledgeable with magic and strong."

Archie's grin spread. "Of course, but how strong am I with it? Have I practiced with it? Can I actually fight with it or just enhance my movements and strength? Can I use perception as well?"

Jacob laughed. "Alright, I see what you mean."

"It's all a game, my boy. A game within a game. Some of these matches will be won before they even start."

After the next fight was Grace. Jacob was curious to see what she would do, with her minimal Consumption potential. To no one's surprise, she requested Camilla as her Pre-Match Advisor. Idly, he wondered what they talked about in that room for ten minutes.

Camilla returned. "She's feeling good," She said simply.

Grace was facing the 56th seed, a willowy blonde girl named Ingrid who'd used force cones similar to the ones Laszlo had used to win her Play-In match.

"Start!"

Ingrid shot one of her force cones immediately. Decomposition exploded from Grace, giving Jacob flashbacks to Sheriff Hueller's spells. A wall of clay shot up out of the ground. The force cone shattered against it. Ingrid started forward, another spell ready in her hand.

Grace cast Decomposition again.

The clay wall rippled forward across the ground toward Ingrid. She froze, then threw herself to the side. Too slow. The clay wall smashed into her hip and dragged her with it beyond the boundary.

"Grace Lin wins!"

"That's tricky," Archie said begrudgingly.

"She's been working on it," Camilla said. "Good way to keep people out of close combat range."

Grace came back up and they congratulated her.

Jacob sat back in his chair as the next match started. All of them had been 'one-shot wins'. So easy. And the strength of Grace and Archie's spells. So much more than he'd expected from anyone in the class. Sure, he'd seen the rogue mage and the Vancouver Rangers do crazier things, but they were professionals. Fully trained professionals. That was years away. But still...

Being surrounded by Camilla, Grace, Archie, and even that escapade with Tanaka had skewed his perspective. He knew it had. He couldn't compare himself to Camilla and Archie and Grace. Not yet. He just hadn't had the time they'd had with it. And most of the rest of the class would be more limited like him, or Blake. Magic for him right now was some physical enhancements. Nothing flashy. The mental gymnastics were too tricky to do things of Camilla's magnitude while holding onto his magic and focusing.

"Mr Caibo?" A tournament aide came over to them. "Your Prep Room is ready. Follow me."

Jacob blew a breath out. He'd been avoiding thinking about it all morning by talking to the others and watching the matches, but now a sharp, sweet angst rose up in him.

"Good luck!" The three called to him.

He smiled at them, then turned and followed the aide out of the stands. His smile faded behind him with the rest of the clamour of the stadium.

It was time.