Amara spent the next two months training with Veil at noon and fighting monsters in the evening. Amara felt her skills had drastically improved from her debut in the cave and would only continue to grow. She surveyed her catch for the night, a feline monstrosity the size of a bear. The monster was coated in dark red fur and flaming orange stripes. Its teeth were constantly ablaze, making it stand out in the forest.
Amara silently weaved a sigil from behind a tree and two red daggers materialized in her hands. She stabbed them into the tree and began climbing the tree. After reaching one of the upper branches, she dispersed her daggers. A bright red sigil emerged and a long, thin rod appeared in Amara’s hand. The glowing sigil grabbed the monster's attention and it turned to face Amara. Amara immediately hurled the spear downwards and straight through the monster’s eye. Amara slowly climbed down once she was sure the monster was dead and didn’t have a second brain.
“Well done Amara, you have now slain 59 monsters,” Veil said.
“Thank you, am I ready for the Mage Tournament now?” Amara asked.
“As ready as you can be unless you want to obtain a manifestation,” Veil answered.
“Great. Then will I see you at the Mage Tournament next week?” Amara asked.
“Yes, but I will be disguised, cloaked mages are rather suspicious, “ Veil replied.
Amara met up with her friends the day before the Mage Tournament. They met up in Riven’s smithy after all four were done for the day and discussed the tournament.
“I hope I don’t have to fight any of you in the first round,” Amara said.
“Yeah, also have you guys heard who is participating in the tournament?” Riven asked.
“No clue,” Elora said.
“Ironhold, Greenhaven, and Fairville all have a mage participating and there is one mage from Silvercrest in the tournament,” Landon said.
“Is no one from Stonegate participating?” Riven asked.
“Apparently the one they were going to send had to attend to something, so there are just eight participants,” Landon said.
“Think any of them are strong?” Elora asked.
“The one from Silvercrest is probably quite formidable if the rumors about that place are true,” Amara said.
“They probably are given how massive Silvercrest is,” Landon said.
“I want to crush the mage from Silvercrest,” Elora said.
“Why Silvercrest?” Riven asked.
“It will send a message about our strength if someone from Stonehaven can beat someone from Silvercrest,” Elora answered.
“So you want to show off,” Riven said.
“Of course, but I also want to win. Don’t y’all want to as well?” Elora asked.
“I’m mainly hoping that I can make it to the second round and put up a fight,” Landon said.
“So you don’t want to win,” Amara said.
“I do, and I probably have a good shot at winning. I just don’t want to get overconfident,” Landon said.
“As long as we all do well I don’t care how the tournament ends, provided I win,” Riven said.
“That’s nice, well let’s get to practicing and then rest before the tournament,” Amara said. The four of them then went their separate ways for the night.
The next day, Amara made her way to town and saw that everyone was congregating near an empty field. She went over and saw a giant opening in the ground with Arinthea, Thomas, and some other mages that she didn’t recognize. The hole had two tunnels an opposite sides so the contestants could enter. The opening was surrounded by wooden stakes around three feet tall forming a wall around the edge. Amara stood around for about an hour before Arinthea spoke up in the center.
“Hello to everyone from Stonehaven, and to those of you who have traveled to visit this spectacle. I am Arinthea, a high mage from Stonehaven and the overseer of this tournament along with Corvus from Silvercrest,” Arinthea said.
“Thank you Arinthea, I am Corvus and I will now explain the rules. The Mage Tournament has eight young mages competing in single-elimination battles. The fight ends when one mage yields or is unable to continue fighting. If the fight gets dangerous, then Arinthea and I will intervene to stop the fight. Additionally, Thomas, Stonehaven’s priest, will heal any injuries sustained in the fights,” Corvus said.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Thank you for the explanation Corvus. Now then, for round one, the battles will be Atlas versus Riven, Darian versus Elora, Aria versus Landon, and Amara versus Lysandra,” Arinthea said.
“The first match will begin in two hours so the contestants can prepare,” Corvus said. Amara walked away from the arena to look for her friends.
“You’re up first Riven, so don’t disappoint,” Elora said in the distance. Amara made her way through the crowd to find Elora, Landon, and Riven sitting on the ground in a triangle.
“We didn’t train for months just to lose Elora,” Amara interjected.
“Good, looks like we’re all here now,” Landon said.
“Yep, let’s crush everyone in our matches and fight amongst ourselves to determine the winner,” Elora said.
“I like that idea, well I’ll see you all after we win round one,” Riven said. Amara smiled at her friends’ confidence. However, she still was a little worried about Veil’s warning that she wouldn’t win without a manifestation. Still, she felt confident in her abilities and decided to review her spells before the tournament began in its entirety.
After two hours, everyone gathered around the arena for the first match of round one. Amara spotted Arinthea, Thomas, and Corvus, she also noticed that Marquis was also in the opening.
“I’m glad everyone could make it here today, let’s start off this tournament with Atlas from Ironhold versus Riven from Stonehaven!” Arinthea shouted from the middle of the makeshift arena while the audience cheered. Riven casually strode into the makeshift arena holding a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left hand. Atlas walked in from the opposite, visibly shaking with no weapons or armor.
“The first match will begin on my signal, ready, begin!” Arinthea exclaimed. Riven and Atlas began circling each other, observing their foe. Riven stood tall and held his shield and shield at the ready while smiling. Atlas kept himself close to the ground and was slowly backing away.
After a few seconds, Riven sprinted toward Atlas. Atlas slammed his hands to the ground and hastily rose a wall of dirt in front of Riven. Riven dodged to left, still closing the distance. Atlas stood and with a swift gesture turned the wall into hardened spheres and hurled them at Riven. Riven’s shield vanished and was replaced by a massive tower shield with glowing blue runes. The dirt spheres crashed harmlessly into the shield while Riven continued his charge. Atlas attempted to place his hands on the ground again, but Riven stabbed at Atlas. Atlas tripped as he tried to back away, and Riven held his spear to Atlas’ chest.
“Do you yield?” Riven asked rhetorically.
“Yes, yes I yield,” Atlas answered.
“The first match of round one goes to Riven! Riven will be moving on to round two along with the next three winners,” Arinthea exclaimed. Riven let his shield and spear disperse and extended his hand to Atlas. Atlas accepted the offer and the two shook hands and walked out of the arena amidst the audience’s applause.
“That was a great fight between two talented young mages, now in a few minutes we’ll move on to match two, Darian versus Elora!” Corvus shouted. Marquis began rebuilding the arena, repairing the ground broken by Atlas’ earth magic while Thomas left to attend to any injuries. After the repairs were done and Thomas returned, Arinthea announced the second match.
“The second match of the tournament is between Darian from Greenhaven and Elora from Stonehaven!” Arinthea said as she gestured to the combatants. Elora sauntered in, her body wreathed in bright orange flames. Darian slowly walked in with a faint white glow emanating from his body.
“Now let us begin the second match!” Arinthea shouted.
Not skipping a beat, Elora unleashed an incendiary burst of flames toward Darian. Darian backed up and dodged right while throwing a rock at Elora. Elora responded with another stream of flames that threatened to engulf the small arena in flames. Darian raised his arms to his head and ran through the flames toward Elora. Elora relented her assault right before Darian reached her and released a focused ball of flames at Darian. Caught off guard, Darian was hit in the stomach and hurled backward.
“Pretty good,” Elora said as Darian stood up, his clothes heavily burnt. “However, it takes more than that to beat me!”
Elora followed her statement with another bout of flames, which Darian dodged. Darian charged Elora, dodging or withstanding her flames until he was right in front of her. He slammed his fist into Elora’s stomach, hurling her into the ground. However, before he could follow up, Elora unleashed an explosive burst of flames, launching him away. Elora stood up and prepared another fireball to launch. Darian barely managed to stand and limped towards Elora.
“The second match is over as Darian is too injured to safely continue the match! Elora moves on to round two with Riven and our next two winners! But still, let us cheer for Darian’s valiant effort in the face of overwhelming power!” Arinthea shouted and the crowd erupted in thunderous applause. Thomas ran onto the arena to tend to Darian’s injuries. Yellow light emerged from Thomas’ hands and Darian’s injuries began to fade away and soon vanished. Thomas then helped carry Darian off the arena.
“Match two has given us another impressive display of magical prowess, now let’s move on to match three swiftly,” Arinthea said. While Arinthea and Corvus were preparing for match three, Amara made her way to the tunnel and prepared for her own match. While waiting in the tunnel, she saw Landon walking through the tunnel out to the entrance.
“Good luck Landon,” Amara said.
“Thank you, and good luck to you as well,” Landon said.
“The third match of the tournament is between Aria from Silvercrest and Landon from Stonehaven!” Arinthea said as she gestured to the combatants. Landon walked into the arena with a bright smile and four hand-sized spheres of ice orbiting him. Aria walked in with no visible magic active.
“Let the third match begin!” Arinthea shouted.
Landon immediately fired off a hail of ice shards at Aria. A dark mass of shadowy tendrils arose to block them. Landon unleashed a blue jet of flames at Aria who once again shielded herself with the shadows.
“Do you have anything else? Something more interesting perhaps?” Aria asked.
“In spades,” Landon replied. He conjured a pool of grease right beneath Aria’s fight. Aria tried to balance but fell to the ground. Landon created a spark and the grease erupted in a glorious burst of blue flames. Maintaining the momentum, Landon summoned a massive spear of ice flying into Aria’s position. A cloud of steam erupted as the spear made contact with the fire
“Was that interesting enough? Or was it a bit too much?” Landon asked.
“Not really,” Aria replied. Shortly thereafter, the steam and flames were blown aside by a large shadowy mass as Aria emerged unscathed from the attack. Landon responded by firing a volley of stone spears, ice shards, and flames at Aria.
“I really hope you haven’t used your best attack yet, you’ve barely done anything,” Aria said.
Landon answered the taunt by summoning a jet of flame from behind Aria. Aria sighed and with a wave of her arm, a wall of shadows smothered the attack.
“This is getting boring. I’ll give you a moment to through your best attack at me, and I won’t even interrupt you,” Aria said, she then sat down and placed her hands on the ground.
Landon’s face scrunched up and he began chanting. While casting his spell, a sphere of elemental energy was forming in between his hands and growing. After a minute, it was about as big as he was, and Landon fired the sphere at Aria.
Aria got up and raised her shadows around herself and the sphere crashed into her defense. The sphere pressed into Aria’s shadows for a tense few seconds before dissipating in a burst of white light. The light vanished and the shadows subsided, leaving Aria completely unscathed.
“I suggest you yield,” Aria said. Landon froze for a moment before responding.
“I yield,” He said.
“Good, now we can move on to a less boring fight,” Aria said.
“The winner of match three is Aria. Let us cheer Aria’s control over her magic and Landon’s versatility,” Arinthea said. However, there were few people cheering this time. Landon slowly walked off the arena while Aria lazily strode through the tunnel.
“Now, let’s move on to the final match of round one! Amara versus Lysandra!” Corvus shouted at the top of his lungs.