“Nia, come quickly! There’s going to be a duel by the village square!”

The small face of Khyl bobbed up and down outside the kitchen window. Nia excitedly looked at her father, who sighed and tied up her loose blonde hair, as Nia slipped her shoes on.

“Don’t come back too late, you won’t want to miss lunch again.” Her father gave her a stern stare as she turned around and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll be right back, Papa! I’ll ask for a souvenir too!” Nia flew off, her father catching the door as it recoiled back from swinging open.

“Thank you,” Khyl’s head bounced up, ”Uncle Nee!”

The two children ran along the well-worn road towards the village square, their friends gesturing at them at a distance.

“Khyl, Nia! They’re supposed to be greenies!” The plump Sammy explained, his flushed cheeks bouncing in sync with his hopping. “My mama said that they just came back from the academy for a friendly match!”

The two newly arrived children hooted with excitement, and the combined group moved along to the square, joining an already large crowd that had formed.

--

“Children, You all finally gathered here!” The hearty laughter of Elder Phalk greeted the children as they approached the makeshift wooden bleachers ringing the temporary arena. He handed them cups of warm tea, before guiding them to the designated section for the children to sit.

“Old man Phalkky, do you know these greenies?” Sammy asked behind his shoulder, nearly spilling his tea as he claimed the best view in the section.

“You children know them too,” Elder Phalk chuckled, “It’s Brother Peter and Brother James back from the academy.”

The children gasped in awe, all of them staring into the arena trying to catch a glimpse of their older counterparts.

“Found him!” The youngest girl pointing her finger towards a tall, muscular figure lightly stretching his back with sturdy wooden staff to their left. “It’s Peter!”

“Are you sure, Pauline?” Khyl turned towards the owner of the finger. “He could barely pick you up for a goodbye hug when he left two years ago! You must be confusing one of the guards for him.”

“What?! I would recognize my brother anywhere.” Pauline’s face suddenly went from a pout to a haughty smirk. “He promised me that he would keep me safe, and you all laughed. Look at him now, he’s definitely winning this duel!”

“No way! You’re only saying that because he’s your brother, Pauline!” The boy on the opposite side of the bench perked up. “James has a way better chance of winning!”

Hearing his name, the plain boy on the opposite end of the arena raised his head and made eye contact with Nia. He briefly smiled, pulling a small wooden horse from his pocket and waving it at her.

“Shut up Joey! My older brother is taller, faster, and more handsome!” The two children glared at each other as everyone else groaned between them.

“Regardless of the result, you two should be proud of your older siblings.” Elder Phalk chimed in from the tea stand. “They have worked hard to get into the academy, and I’m sure they studied even harder.”

Joey and Pauline glared at each other before turning away, both their faces buffed up in annoyance.

The village bell suddenly rang, and Elder Phalk took one more sip of his tea.

“It seems Elder Mya is calling for me to begin the duel. I believe he saw your arrival and decided it was time.” Elder Phalk set down his tea cup and quietly chanted, before his silhouette faded into his shadow.

The children turned towards the arena as Elder Phalk emerged in the center, his face beaming as he waved to the villagers in attendance. He retrieved a large leaf from his pockets, and traced a pattern into it before tearing it half. His throat shimmered with a faint yellow light, and the arena went silent. Nia straightened her back, making sure that she wouldn’t miss a moment of the show.

--

“Welcome, Village Fymr! Today is a joyous occasion, as the two children that we sent to Academy Fyhakr have returned as scholars!”

Elder Phalk’s voice resonated from the sunnily glowing wooden tea cups that were scattered around the bleachers.

Nia poked her cup with a finger, as she wondered why her grandpa didn’t use more normal objects as speakers.

“Student Peter and Student James have graciously agreed to showcase the fruits of their labor, allowing us a brief show before lunch. They will be demonstrating their proudest improvement and have a friendly duel. This duel will show us how much wiser they have grown in the past two years, and allow them to learn from each other’s abilities. Please look forward to it!”

Elder Phalk clapped his hands together, the yellow light around his throat scattering in all directions.

“I am pleased to introduce Scholar Peter to the arena!”

The muscular figure leapt up from the ground, quickly bowing to the crowd in front of him.

“I told you it was him!”

“I’m sorry, stop kicking me!”

--

Peter stuck his staff into the ground, sinking it a few centimeters into it. He then gripped it with both hands and slowly lifted himself perpendicular to it, the staff remaining steady despite the added weight.

The crowd began applauding, but Peter was still continuing his demonstration. Astonished chattering began as he let go with his right hand, still maintaining a perfectly flat posture with the ground.

After repeating this procedure with his other hand, he set himself back down and bowed again to the crowd. His arms noticeably trembled as he pulled his staff back out from the earth.

James walked over and patted Peter’s back.

“Gotten pretty strong, now have we?” James smirked at Peter. “Any pretty girls at school caught your eye?”

Peter laughed heartily. “Don’t worry James, I haven’t seen anyone as adorable as you yet.” He suddenly ran his hand through James’s hair. “And definitely not with hair as soft as this. Oof!”

James patted Peter a bit harder, then brushed his hair back into place. He shook his head with a smile. “I’m sure I have some secret competition that you’re not telling me about.”

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Peter’s laugh came out a second time, and the two exchanged a quick hug before Peter retreated back to the right, giving James space.

Taking a deep breath, James took a meditative stance and began to grab the air in front of him. The shape of an ornate polearm faintly glimmered into his hands, its shimmering blue form barely held together through James’s gritted teeth. He raised his arms, bringing the polearm up with them, but it shattered before he could swing it downwards.

The crowd cheered as his disappointed head shook from side to side, and Elder Phalk appeared by his side.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, James. It’s impressive enough that we could tell what it was.”

“Thank you for the words of encouragement, Grandpa Phalk.”

James slapped his own cheeks for a moment before turning and bowing to the crowd, a smile replacing the disappointment that was present a moment before. He walked back towards the other end of the arena.

Alone in the arena again, Elder Phalk discarded another leaf, and the sunny tinge returned to the tea cups.

“Now that we’ve seen their display of strength, I will explain the theme of this duel. It should be a very familiar idea for many of us here.

You will see two sets of wooden posts placed near the ends of the arena. These will be the goals for the Students to pass this ball through.”

Elder Phalk swirled his finger, an ephemeral yellow sphere the size of his head appearing before him.

“This duel will end when a Student is able to pass the ball through both posts. Their time begins now!”

The ball slowly fell to the ground as Elder Phalk melted back into his shadow.

Peter charged and attempted to grab the ball with his free hand, accidentally pushing it forward towards James. His surprise was clearly written on his face.

Nia leaned forward and tried to think about what happened. Did Grandpa Phalk mess with the ball to give James a better chance?

James saw his chance, reaching out for the ball as it hurtled towards him. The moment his fingers collided with it, it immediately shot back towards the other direction.

“Sorry Students, please forgive Elder Phalk. He neglected to mention that the ball does not have much weight of its own. He insisted that we should not use a regular ball, and instead use one of his creation. Please be aware that if it goes out of the arena, it will reappear on the opposite end.”

Elder Mya’s tired voice rang clear from the center of the bleachers, as Peter scrambled to get in the way of the ball’s trajectory.

Nia’s head tilted to one side, attempting to understand the new information.

Wolf whistles broke her concentration, as she refocused on the duel, noticing that Peter had taken his shirt off and was holding it in front of him. His staff laid discarded on the ground next to him.

Instead of ricocheting off the fabric, the ball stalled as it spun onto the shirt. Peter immediately wrapped the rest of his shirt around the ball, and ran back towards his goal. James was attempting to close the gap between them, grabbing Peter’s staff as he crossed the halfway point of the arena.

Peter threw the linen-covered clump towards the goal, only for the protective cover to be suddenly flung off as the ball veered slightly left off the goal. A thin blue line had attached itself to the shirt, the trail ending at the dirt-crusted tip of the staff that was held by James.

“I was always the better fisherman.” James smugly quipped at the other Student, whose head was still turned in surprise.

The blue line retracted back to the staff as James and flung the line out again, catching the ball and guiding it to the goal as Peter retrieved his shirt. The U-shaped goal began to glow a faint red as the ball passed through it.

“Guess that’s what I get for giving you a high quality fishing rod. Thanks for not tearing my shirt. Did you have to get dirt on it though?” Peter laughed as he put his shirt back on.

James threw the staff back towards Peter, and the ball floated back to the middle. The boys looked at each other, then looked at Elder Mya.

“Huh? You want a signal for the next round?” Elder Mya sighed and picked up his tea cup.

“Wait, Elder Mya, you can’t -” The other Elder seated beside Eldar Mya started to reach his hand towards the cup.

“The next round starts when this cup hits the ground.” Elder Mya lazily threw the cup upwards, the wooden sacrifice flying out of sight.

James and Peter refocused on each other.

Crack.

Peter sprinted towards the ball once again, and swung his staff at the ball. It immediately streaked towards James, who instinctively ducked to avoid the object flying at his face.

There was a collective series of hands hitting the villagers faces, and Nia could feel Pauline’s triumphant glare directed towards Joey without turning around.

James realized his mistake when he heard Peter laughing.

“I guess that’s one way to start a round.” James commented, an embarrassed look on his face. He turned and looked at the ball that was still spinning inside the goal post on his side.

“Sorry, didn’t want to embarrass my family.” Peter chuckled, spinning his staff around his body as he walked back to his starting point.

The goal post collapsed after the ball returned to the middle, no longer a valid area for the Students to score. James picked up the wooden plank which used to be the support stand for the goal, which glowed a gentle blue after he held it for a few moments. He swung it around, the light streaking behind it.

“Going for another fish?” Peter asked, pointing at the wooden plank in James’s arm.

“Nah, I have a better idea.” James replied with a smirk.

“Students! Please begin before Elder Mya breaks another cup!” Elder Phalk’s panicked voice rang out.

The two boys shrugged at each other, and Peter began to slowly approach the ball, abandoning his wild charge from the previous two rounds.

Almost everyone in the arena was entranced by the wispy blue aura around the plank of wood in James’s hands. Beads of sweat began to roll down his temples, as he held the plank to his side.

“He probably won’t be able to maintain that for very long.”

Khyl jumped, Elder Phalk’s voice suddenly floating in from the tea stall.

“What do you mean, Grandpa Phalk?” Nia chirped, used to Elder Phalk’s sudden appearances.

“Doing what he’s doing requires a lot of focus. He was probably hoping that Peter would run in again, but he might have been too desperate. Look, he’s getting impatient.” Elder Phalk gestured back at the arena.

Peter was about half-way to the ball, and James had lifted the wooden plank above his head. Peter saw the change and stopped walking, making sure that he could run backwards towards the posts on his side if needed.

“Haah!”

As if to compensate for his lack of muscular build, James shouted as he ran forward. The blue mist around the plank flew forward a few meters and evaporated, causing the leaves to scatter in its wake.

Peter did not miss James’s intention with the thrown wind. He sprinted in between the swirling leaves and the goal post on his side.

The wind collided with the weightless yellow ball, and it spun haphazardly towards Peter. He swung at it, managing to successfully land a hit.

When his staff collided with the ball, a look of surprise flashed across his face, as the ball immediately shot off to the side instead of his intended direction. Both Peter and James looked at the direction where the ball flew, and attempted to calculate where it would reappear in the area.

The spot where Elder Mya is sitting! Both Students immediately ran to Elder Mya’s location, the ball about to collide with the edge of the wall.

Luckily for James, the ball’s momentum was still carried towards him when it reappeared where both boys were running. He grabbed some dirt from the ground and spread it with both hands in front of him, the characteristic blue tinge holding the dirt together in a web.

The ball flew into the web. A look of triumph briefly flashed on his face, before panic overwrote it and the web of dirt disintegrated from the spinning force of the ball. The ball’s momentum continued on, and bounced off James’s chest. Attempting to remedy his mistake, Peter’s hand accidentally hit the ball as he attempted to catch it.

A grinning Peter was unfortunately ready to capitalize on this mistake. This time, instead of taking his shirt all the way off, he simply lifted it up, revealing his muscles once again to the crowd.

The ball flew into the waiting jaws of shirt and abs, and Peter quickly closed his shirt. The light yellow glow of the ball seeped through Peter’s shirt, as he waved to James with his free hand and trotted to the final goal, opposite of Peter.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to catch up, James looked on as his friend gingerly took the ball out of his shirt, and gently placed it into the goal.

“Student Peter has won the duel!” Elder Phalk materialized next to the goal post, making Peter jump and land on the ground.

---

“How was the duel, Nia?” Nia’s father looked at his excited daughter as the door flew open, a new wooden doll in her hands.

“It was awesome! We made Peter and James promise to tell us what they did to become so cool!” Nia twirled around in the doorway, and attempted to gesture with her new doll, as if trying to fish with it.

“Well, I’ll let you go play with them after lunch.” Her father pointed at the meal on the table, and Nia sat down. She looked at the unoccupied seat, and placed the doll on it.

“She should be back in a few weeks. Work has been busy.” Nee glanced at the empty seat. “A letter came in, right after you left. It said that she has some exciting toys for you.”

Nia beamed at her father, and scarfed down the meal that he made.