That was a concern, we were far and away the weakest team in the entire cohort, on my side we were all pretty much equal, my specialty probably giving me a leg up on everyone else.

As a whole though, we were doomed to death and last place from the start.

Not only was Iirin the weakest, his focus was on pure offense, which did very little against people in the 4th tier who could create shielding, or any of the higher tiered offensive specialists.

So this sparring would be painful for  us, but there wasn't much we could do about that.

We lined up in the formation that had been drilled into us so many times yesterday, where he then proceeded to pick out randomly the teams, I felt a bit of relief when the Tier 5 Team was selected to fight against the fully focused defense team, which would have been a hassle to deal with.

I was hoping for the us to be picked as the team that would be observing today, but I should of known I wouldn't get that lucky.

What was lucky however was the match up, the Healer and the defensive specialist.

So we would be able to slowly whittle down his defenses. Even with his power advantage.

Still we would have to wait for our chance to spar as the others went first.

The two teams faced each other, the defensive team were serious, the legacy gave out some rapid fire instructions and they both got into position.

The captain called to a start and an impressive shield arose from the ground, a great wave of circling energy, compounded by the power of the team was set in between the two teams.

The warrior of the team didn't even move a muscle.

The tier 5 began  a simple incantation, the dirt of the ground slowly started shifting, raising from the ground in ever turning spirals, the cyclone came to a head as a form began emerging from the magic. The golem that appeared was terrifying, the pressure that it was letting off almost pushed me to my knees, even Iirin was in awe watching the construct.

It moved slowly but with great confidence, the confident smirk on the Tier 5s face all we needed as confirmation to the battle.

The defending team defense crumpled immediately under the immense blow from the creature. Immediately surrendering afterwards, they returned to the sidelines with disappointment on their face. Still there wasn't much they could have done against a Tier 5 summon. It was interesting to see that we were in different schools of summoning.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Absolutely horrible from you Terrence and Birleu, Urtil well done, an impressive construct you have there, Adrian I want  to see you take part in the fighting from now on."

The two nodded their head, obviously pleased with the praise before they too returned to the sidelines.

Now it was our turn which made my stomach flip around, I had never practiced true spell-craft before, my first attempt would be right now, luckily the people we were against had no firepower to speak of, leaving us with a good opportunity, the only issue is whether Iirin can get past the defenses of someone a Tier above him, something I truly would doubt. Still we would have to try.

"We just have to keep hitting them, you try using your summons to flank around and try to take out the healer, while I focus my fire on the big lad."

Ever a tactical genius, Iirins plan might work, but I would not be confident in our abilities to be able to take down the shield of a Tier 4.

The other team signaled that they were ready.

With the captains nod the battle begun.

Iirin immediately hit out with a stream of concentrated fire that blew back the Tier 1 behind him, but left the Shieldbearer sturdy.

The mana twisted and twirled inside me, my mind calming down as I flew slowly down my soul path, preparing the spell that would bring one of my creatures into the world before me. I had enough reserves for two spells.

My summoning motions were very different to Urtil. Mine were a mess of movements, a small portal appearing from my inner world to the current one, the lack of synchronicity with the world around me greatly increased my expenditure, so with a heave the a steady stream of the small lizard dogs that I had yet to name emerged from the portal.

It snapped shut after the fourth came out. The force of it nearly sending me to the ground, I could feel my heart trying to break out through my skin.

I had done it. The rush of mana made my head feel as if it was floating, the world was nothing, I could do anything I want, I had such great power.

A thump from Iirin who had switched up casting brought me back to reality. His attacks weren't doing any damage and my summons were just laying down and getting in the way. I needed to move and fast.

Feeling the connection between us I asked them to begin moving around and began lightly attacking both the Tier 4 and the healer.

They were happy to respond and began circling the duo as they did to me when I first went into my inner world.

The healer was spooked by the ferocious creatures but a few words from the Tier 4 relaxed him, it was clear that they wouldn't be able to get through, but that wasn't what they were there for. A volley from Iirin brought his attention back to the Tier 3.

I let my pets slowly circle closer and begin nipping on the two, while staying as much as they could out of range, when I began to perform my second spell.

This one would take a lot more power as well, so I prepared myself as much I could for the rush.

The mana began to twist and spiral in turn, as a far larger portal began to grow, the giant creature that greeted me when I became a Tier 1 soon joined the fight.

That really spooked the Healer and even the Tier 4 seemed to grow more serious.

Now the true fight could begin.