“Quickly, make sure you’re covered well,” Lorelle shouted, making sure that the entire class heard her. “You don’t want to risk getting burnt today.”
That was especially true with the Winter Solstice Tournament the next day. Chelsea was already out after breaking her leg that morning in a sparring accident. She was healed and walking around without issue, but she was under very strict instructions to avoid injuries or heavy stress for a few days, meaning the Tournament was not an option.
Yaric wore the same clothes as everyone else, a heavy leather apron, thick boot covers, and heavy gloves that went almost up to the elbows. They were all oversized and loose, fitting over their existing clothes, and they were actually fairly comfortable in the chilly winter air. The apron even covered the arms, and very unusually, had a hood with a wrap to cover the face. Most importantly, though, they were fireproof.
“I need you all to watch your faces. It’s unlikely that these creatures would do anything to hurt you, but there are enough of you here that one or two individuals may get startled or become nervous. Do not hold the Raróg if they want to fly away.”
Lorelle led the class into another of the large aviaries. This one was filled with rock formations, though the few trees were evergreens with thick leaves. Scorch marks covered the rocks.
Several small falcons were roosting among the rocks. They were all tiny, at least when compared to other falcons Yaric had seen before, with most standing no taller than the length of his hand. It wasn’t hard to spot them, as they had striking red plumage, a dark red that stood out starkly against the rock face despite the matt color. A small black line ran up their foreheads, with even larger black markings around their eyes that extended and expanded toward the back of the head. Dozens of smaller splashes of ink formed a ring around their chests when they stood, matching the tips of their tail which all looked to have been dipped in the same pot.
“The Rarógs we have here arrived only a few months ago. This species is considered fantastic pest control, as despite their size they hunt creatures far larger than themselves. Their affinity toward fire magic might not be as great as other creatures, such as the phoenix or Houdou we will be looking at next, but it is more than adequate for them to tackle prey several times their size.
“Raróg can and do hunt anything, but they have a very marked tendency toward hunting creatures that are abundant in their environment. If crows and squirrels have low populations, but rats are abundant, they will avoid the crows and squirrels and exclusively hunt rats. This extends to almost anything, to the point that they are frequently observed shooting locusts out of midair with bursts of flame during swarming events. They don’t even eat them, and many think they enjoy the act, but a small family group of Raróg can greatly lessen the impact of many pests.
“This behavior has given them a reputation as a control species. Their instinctive behavior manages the population levels of different creatures in their environment, in a manner that always tends toward beneficial.
“There are problems with farmers on occasion, as they are often afraid that their crops will be burned, but fires seldom start, and their control of fire is such that they quickly put out any small blaze they may accidentally spark. Natural fires are actually less likely to occur with Raróg around.
“They also breed very slowly, with each pair laying only one egg every three to five years. That means that flocks of ten to sixteen birds will only raise five to eight chicks in an average of four years, and breeding pairs would be lucky to raise four chicks over their lifetimes.”
Lorelle went on to show everyone how they hunted. She released several rats into the aviary, which were pounced upon after a minute or two of careful scrutiny. The Raróg spat concentrated jets of flames as they grabbed the rats, and then they ignited their talons. It was quick and efficient, and even allowed the Raróg to cut the rats into smaller, charred pieces so they could carry the large rats back to their nests.
“Can anyone tell me why such efficient hunters are not considered pests themselves? Particularly as they sometimes kill prey that they have no intention of eating?”
“Because they breed so slowly?” Lauren asked.
“That is part of it,” Lorelle admitted, “though not what I was looking for. Raróg might have small numbers, but they certainly have an impact despite this. Unfortunately they are rather easy to exterminate if their nesting site is found, so they would never be considered pests no matter how they behave. Not by anyone who understands them, anyway.”
Lorelle waited a few moments for someone else to try, but the class remained silent.
“The answer I’m looking for is their prey. No matter what environment we find them in, they always have a beneficial impact. Some deeper instinct seems to guide them in the variety of prey they hunt. Their preferred food source will even change to match a change in the population of pest species.
“We hope to breed them and restore their populations across the Kingdom. Raróg are in no danger of extinction, but their populations replenish so slowly that just a few uninformed farmers can dramatically reduce their numbers in a given area. This flock has become conditioned to our presence, and they will allow you to handle them freely so long as you’re gentle and don’t pose a threat. It’s their eventual offspring, and the descendants of our other five flocks that we hope to start using to repopulate some areas.”
Yaric and Lauren took over holding one of them, a small, hand-sized little predator. They created an odd juxtaposition with their fierce demeanor and predatory gaze on such a miniature form. The thick leather boots protected Yaric’s shins when he pointed out the similarity with one of his friends.
Somehow the fireproof leather became something of a self-fulfilling prophesy, as the Raróg Lauren was holding examined her glove carefully, tilting its head from side to side and even nibbling it with its hooked beak. Finally, still unsatisfied, the Raróg hit her glove with a blast of flame as if to test it, making Lauren jump.
Her hand and glove were unharmed.
One by one the Raróg began flying back to their nests, and each time Lorelle made sure that the students allowed them to leave and left those individuals alone. They left the enclosure once the Raróg had all returned to the rocks they called home.
“Now this enclosure is sealed off for a reason,” Lorelle began, gesturing to the high fences and locked gate behind her. “The creatures inside here are not as tame, and they are also larger and more dangerous. Therefore you will be studying the Huodou from behind a safety fence inside. Do not remove your protective gear!”
Lorelle unlocked the gate and stood beside the entrance while her class filed in. Then she locked it securely behind her, securing the exit and locking everyone inside.
The fences formed a winding path that led them around a stone wall. Yaric was just wondering why they would need a stone wall on top of the metal fencing when they turned the corner and saw the Huodou for the first time.
They were the most bizarre dogs he had ever seen.
Coal black, each of them stood waist high at the shoulder. They looked like well-muscled wolves, solid yet lithe. Thick black tails hung down behind them. Of all their features, however, it was their faces that seemed like they were an odd mix of species. The Huodou had thick, strong muzzles, more like Dobermans than wolves. Yet the face the muzzles sat on reminded Yaric of foxes, right down to the tufts of fur on their cheeks. Everything else was wolflike.
Well, not everything. Because orange and yellow flames licked up and down their bodies periodically, flickering and dancing around the Huodou’s motionless forms. There didn’t seem to be any pattern as to where or when the flames would ignite. Sometimes the flames curled up and around from their underbellies, other times they wreathed their necks like a dancing collar. But most of the time there were no flames, making the brief flareups stand out even more than they would have.
“This is a pack of Huodou. Now, unlike the Raróg, these are pests. Well, pest is perhaps not the right word. While they do tend to avoid people, they are predators, and they are more than capable of hunting even very large prey. The unwary have often been preyed upon by Huodou, so treat them with respect. These are dangerous predators.
“But that is not why they are considered so dangerous, however. The danger they pose to any of us is no more than the danger posed by wolves, and wolves are very unlikely to see us as prey. Leave them alone, and they are likely to leave you alone as well.
“You need to understand that while Huodou do in fact come from the Abyssal Fields, they are not inherently malicious. The danger they pose comes from their unfortunate habit of igniting dry underbrush. Wildfires will start frequently whenever they are found, and while we aren’t certain, it is suspected that they are often started deliberately.
“Huodou hunt using fire. They stalk through the flames, waiting for prey to be flushed out when they flee the wildfire, and then they chase that prey down just like you would expect a pack of wolves to do. If it weren’t for their tendency to ignite everything around them they would be treated like any other predator in the wild. Unfortunately, as things are, we need to cull any packs that escape the Abyssal Fields. In this case, we captured them.
“Any method we can find that could prevent them from becoming unintentional arsonists would allow us to release them back into the wild, where they can live out their lives like any other creature. For now, though, they remain -.”
Lorelle was cut off when a jet of flames burst from the mouth of one of the nearest Huodou. It was standing right up against the metal fence, leaving little time to react for those who were enveloped in the roaring stream. Screams echoed out, making the other Huodou jump to their feet, but the flames cut off to reveal several shocked-looking students standing unharmed under their fireproof coverings. They must have been magical in nature, as the heated air didn’t seem to have harmed them either.
The shocked silence was broken when everyone began to laugh. Yaric was laughing as well when his world turned red and orange, forcing him to quickly raise his arms over his face.
“Everyone, move back. The Huodou are uncomfortable.”
Yaric scrambled back with the others, not wanting a fire bath. Lauren had been spared, but Li Na and Sven had joined him under the blanket of flames, as had three others.
Watching them from safety, Yaric noticed their predatory gaze. Their size and demeanor certainly didn’t make them seem like something that would leave him alone if he did the same. He felt more like they would quietly watch him leave, only to begin stalking him when he turned his back.
It had absolutely nothing to do with their sudden attack.
The first Huodou began pacing up and down the fence, watching them with an unflinching gaze.
“What you have just witnessed is the method we believe they use to start deliberate fires when hunting. Of course, such an attack would also be effective in self-defense, but there are very few creatures that would threaten a Huodou. Outside the Abyssal Fields at least.
“One thing that differentiates them from the Raróg you saw earlier is their use of fire. Unlike the Raróg, they don’t use fire to kill their prey. They will use it to kill something they see as a threat, but never something they intend to eat.”
It was not feeding time for the Huodou, and despite the efforts to tame them they were still far too dangerous for the students to approach, so most of the lesson was conducted with the students watching the Huodou, and the Huodou watching them in turn.
Taking off their protective clothing and putting everything away after their lesson took so much time that they were forced to run to their horse-riding lesson, though they then got to stay in the saddle while the horses ran. Not that it wasn’t a workout for them as well, but this time they weren’t left out of breath from a long sprint to get to class in time.
“That wasn’t bad for the last day of the year,” Lauren said, smiling while they took their plate for dinner.
“I’m more worried about the actual last day of the year,” Sven said, looking unusually somber. For Sven.
“Why, it’s going to be fun,” Li Na replied.
“We still haven’t resolved anything with the group that targeted us in the last Tournament,” Sven explained. “They haven’t reacted reasonably when I’ve tried to talk to them since then, and I’m guessing they’re going to try something similar again. It’s the last Tournament we’ll have together for the next two years.”
“I thought you said that they were uncomfortable sharing a class with junior students who were treated like seniors,” Li Na said.
“Yes, but it’s unreasonable. If we could just talk, there wouldn’t be any issues. Nothing we’ve done reflects on them. Our actions reflect only on ourselves, just as their actions reflect on them. This antagonism doesn’t make any sense.”
“We can’t rule out some other problem,” Yaric pointed out. “We’re assuming a lot about why they act like they do. Maybe they just don’t like us. Or maybe something else has happened that we don’t know about. We could have offended them without realizing it, or through some misunderstanding.”
Lauren was looking quickly between Yaric and Sven, her smile growing wider and wider.
“What?” Yaric asked.
“Look at you… Sven is suspicious of their motives, and it makes sense in this case, so that’s expected. But you’re the one reminding everyone that there could be a reasonable explanation for their behavior, even after they targeted you in the last Tournament.”
“So?”
Lauren just smiled even wider and briefly wrapped an arm around him for a quick hug. “It’s just nice to see,” she replied, without any further explanation.
Still, Yaric did agree that they should work out some strategies in case the same thing happened again. He didn’t really have anything in mind yet, and he’d actually run out of ideas part way through the last Tournament. He’d come up with the last few in the spur of the moment.
There wasn’t much they could do outside of discussing some ideas on how to apply their newer spells, but they did decide to try and claim fields near each other once again.
Crisp, cold air greeted Yaric when he left for the arena the next morning, his armor slung over his shoulder. He had his cloak on, and both Lauren and Li Na were carrying their now traditional blankets, but the biting breeze still somehow cut through his clothing to chill his skin.
Small clouds rose from the line of students making their way through the entrance to the arena, their combined breaths obscuring the view. Everyone was nervous, even more so than the previous year. They walked quietly up to the stands for their year, waited for Lauren to heat the freezing stone they would be sitting on, and then wrapped themselves in blankets.
Li Na broke the silence once they were settled and bundled up together.
“We got this.”
“Who knows, maybe this will just be a normal Tournament again?” Lauren said hopefully.
It wasn’t a normal Tournament. Not by any means.
The Winter Solstice Tournament started normally enough. Arch Wizard Phelps welcomed everyone and started the event. The second years went down and gave a decent enough showing. Then the first years went down for their turn, and chaos ensued. As it usually did.
All through the morning and lunch, everything went as expected. It wasn’t until the seventh-year students went down that things changed.
No one expected much from a class that would have their acceptance ceremony the next day. They would also have their own, private Tournament for family members to watch, leaving this day as a day to celebrate and have fun.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Simon took to the field with the rest of his class, sword and shield in hand. The fight started, with both fighters approaching each other cautiously. Then Simon launched a fireball.
It was the same basic ball of flame that everyone knew by the end of their seventh year, but only Yaric’s class had ever really used magic at that point. Or at least, only they had used shaping spells. In combat.
Then another student used a wind blade, and someone else knocked their opponent out of bounds with a blast of wind. There was never a lot of magic being thrown around, and they weren’t using magic to the same extent Yaric and his friends had, but they certainly seemed to be under the impression that spells were expected.
Most of the time the effects were less than effective, and sometimes hilariously so.
“Look, Scary Guy is going to mess it up,” Li Na said, continuing her normal commentary. The student in question had made the unusual choice of wearing his cloak during the fights, prompting Li Na to suggest he was probably hideous and trying to hide. She was right about his intention to cast a spell, however, as he had his eyes scrunched tightly closed in concentration and his right arm held up loosely in front of him.
Unfortunately his opponent wasn’t waiting, and Scary Guy opened his eyes victoriously only to see his opponent stepping right in front of him with his sword raised. Scary Guy’s spell went off almost instantly, blasting a stream of wind straight into the ground between their feet and sending a great big cloud of dust billowing out in a ring that immediately obscured them.
The dust settled to reveal Scary Guy lying on his face, his cloak billowing around him in the icy breeze that naturally blew through the arena.
“Shield Fighter will mess up,” Li Na predicted, pointing to another student who had left her sword sheathed to keep her sword hand free. She was wielding a shield in her other hand, desperately trying to defend against a series of sword strikes while sending the occasional fireball or wind blade at her opponent. Yaric had no idea why she was so dead set on using a spell to fight.
Not long after, Shield Fighter was forced to bring her shield in front of herself to block a vicious thrust – just as she launched her own wind blade in retaliation.
The edge of her wind blade caught the inside of her shield, ripping it from her hand and deflecting what remained of the spell away from her opponent. The second thrust went straight to her heart.
Lauren awed when she saw the devastated look on Shield Fighter’s face. She had clearly expected to win.
“At least she will have some real experience before she fights in front of her family,” Yaric offered. Lauren shoulder bumped him gently in reply.
Yaric watched two students as they each tried to outmuscle the other, pumping streams of wind that met in the center and scattered dust everywhere. One started to advance, prompting the other to do the same, and they soon found themselves with their hands half a meter apart, both with shields and one with a sheathed sword, and the other with an axe in his belt. There was a mad scramble to draw their weapons and fight it out in melee.
While they were clearly using far more magic than usual for a seventh-year class, they weren’t just using less than Yaric and his class had, they were also far more inexperienced in how to use the spells in combat. Much of what they were doing was obviously being done for the first time in an actual fight. Li Na pointed out their expressions after some of the spells were cast, speculating that they had been practicing some spells in secret based on how they seemed to expect their opponents to be surprised.
“I wish we could watch their fights tomorrow,” Yaric said. “It’s going to be interesting.”
Simon took the win once again, dominating like Sven had. He didn’t seem to be at quite the same level as Sven, but he also didn’t have any real competition. Still, Yaric had always liked him, and he would have far more serious competition when classes resumed.
Because he’d be in their class.
Lauren groaned when she pulled back the blanket, shivering in the sudden cold. It was their turn to fight.
Yaric donned his armor and once again helped Sven to tighten his, before turning for Sven to do the same. He picked up a longsword, did one last check, and then joined Lauren, Sven, and Li Na as they walked out onto the field together, intent on choosing adjacent fields for the five of them.
‘Wait… when did Kaeden get here?’
Kaeden was sticking close to Yaric, making sure he got the first fight.
“Begin!” the referee shouted.
Yaric knew he couldn’t use the same barrage strategy as before, so he decided to cast a single, powerful spell that would win the fight in a single blow.
Kaeden was hanging back as well, and Yaric realized that he was also casting something.
Adrenaline rushed to Yaric’s head as he disrupted his spell and switched to a shield spell, knowing that without a physical shield Kaeden would have multiple options for attacks he couldn’t otherwise block.
He was just in time.
Shards of glittering ice splintered across his shield, shattering his shield in turn. It was only Yaric’s paranoia and last-second decision to cast a segmented shield that saved him from being savaged by ice on a freezing winter day.
Kaeden slumped slightly, his trump card gone, but he still stepped forward gamely, his grin never faltering. This time their fight was pure melee, pitting longsword against short sword and shield. Though as Sven would always insist, the fight was about Yaric and Kaeden, their weapons were merely tools for them to wield.
The fight ended with Kaeden looking up at the sky as he laughed, splayed out over the ground two meters from his sword.
Yaric quickly checked the other fights and saw each of his friends had faced opponents from their own class. Edward and Grant were nowhere to be seen.
“See? Normal Tournament,” Lauren said while they watched the last few fights.
They went out again, taking the same fields and once again waiting for challengers. This time they had ninth-year students approach them. All four of them.
Despite Lauren’s comments the previous day, Yaric found himself racing through the possibilities.
‘We were all challenged by people from our year, now we’re all challenged by people from the year above?’
Yaric fought a far more straightforward fight this time, at least from his own perspective.
He held back once again, creating a shard of stone to fire at his opponent. She had been charging him down, but she immediately slid to a halt when she saw that his spell would be finished before she could engage. Backing up, she raised her spear warily, her knees bent deeply and ready to dodge.
Unfortunately for her, Yaric wasn’t pausing to aim. The shard cracked forward, already distorting. It covered the distance impossibly quickly, striking the mage shield shimmering over her hip as if she were just two or three meters away.
“Match! Crippling blow!”
She raised her shield with a smile and left the field, already heading toward a few other students who seemed to be waiting for her.
Li Na had taken a surprise loss, quite literally, as the ground bucking up beneath her feet had been entirely unexpected, but the other two had won their fights as well. She was still smiling, but Yaric could tell that Li Na wasn’t happy, though he was also certain that she was more upset at not keeping up with her friends than with the actual defeat.
The next fight was with a mix of eighth and ninth years, and Yaric began to relax. He managed to get an explosive fireball off while fighting Anton, knocking him off his feet even with the mage shield, and the other three won their own fights as well.
Then Edward stepped into his field, with Grant stepping into the field beside him to face Sven. Looking back, Yaric saw that Jaime was already facing Lauren, and the giant student Yaric had faced last time was facing off against Li Na in possibly the most comical matchup of the Tournament.
The crowd had been rowdy throughout, but while they never went completely silent, Yaric felt more than heard the hush that fell over the arena. He shifted his sword in his hand nervously, knowing that some people would likely remember the previous fights and might be focusing on him, even if there weren’t likely to be many.
Then the damn chanting started, getting louder and louder as it spread, starting with the first and second years before being taken up with the third years as well. Yaric glanced back again and immediately regretted it. Most classes were far quieter than the younger years, but even the older students were beginning to chant with everyone else.
Edward looked livid.
He held his sword and shield again, despite what had happened last time. Yaric intended to make him pay for that mistake.
“Begin!”
Edward charged forward while Yaric hastily cast his spell. It was one of his earlier spells, so he had his hand raised and his spell launched when Edward was only a third of the way to Yaric’s position.
Air blasted downrange, enveloping Edward in two hundred kilometer and hour wind. Even with the intense velocity, Yaric still noted how Edward’s eyes dropped to the ground, watching the approaching swirl of dust. He saw the spark of recognition in his eyes as he dropped his knees and raised his shield directly in front of his body, held close to his chest.
Yaric was shocked to see the wind split around Edward. It took him a second, but he saw that Edward had cast his own spells as well. Two shields were anchored to his physical shield, forming a sharp vee shape in front that deflected the wind around him. The air swirled violently behind Edward as he advanced steadily, safe behind his shield.
But Yaric didn’t care. His constant practice with multiple spells came in handy, since Yaric didn’t have a shield of his own. He cast a low shield in front of himself, cut off the wind, and tossed a ball of flame forward as he ducked.
BOOM!
It was exactly the same strategy he had once used against Sven, though this time his history with his opponent went a long way toward hiding his intention. Unfortunately, this time it was also a very poor choice of strategy…
“DRAGON! DRAGON! DRAGON! DRAGON!”
The muffled boom of the explosion faded away to reveal the roar of the crowd, followed immediately by chants that were now being taken up all across the stands. Only then did Yaric realize just how powerful his spells had become when compared to the last time he’d used the same strategy. The blast had been significantly more powerful than the last time he'd igniting flammable gasses, with a swirling cloud of flame rising almost to the same level as the highest level in the stands. Shields around the field protected those still fighting from the wall of dust kicked up by the shockwave.
Edward’s angry red face had been entirely replaced by a pale white one, his eyes wide with shock.
Looking back, Yaric was just in time to see Lauren leap away from Jaime and blind them with a searing flash of light.
CRACK!
Lightning flashed between them, instantly ending the fight. Sven was already alone in his field, the glowing shards of stone at the far end telling Yaric everything he needed to know.
Li Na was still fighting, however.
Her opponent was on the ground, lifting himself up with one elbow and desperately trying to crawl back, all while holding his mangled tower shield up to defend himself. Li Na didn’t care, she just kept raising her mace above her head and raining blow after blow on the shield, its metal surface buckling with the unceasing strikes. She followed her far larger opponent relentlessly until he was forced to call out to the ref, surrendering the fight.
Yaric walked off with his friends, joking about who had struck the hardest.
Edward, Grant, and Jaime were in a huddle, seemingly both angry and surprised with the outcome. Li Na’s opponent was off to one side, cradling his shield hand.
Chris came striding toward them before the next round started, with Gerrick and Cormac close behind. They seemed to have come to the same decision independently, but Sven stepped forward with a smile and shake of his head before they could say anything.
“No one is doing anything they shouldn’t,” he began. “We don’t know what their issue is, but I’d rather face it than duck around them.”
All three looked hesitant, but Chris soon nodded. “Let us know if you need us to challenge you. Or we could take turns challenging them instead,” he added, despite knowing they were less likely to win. Everyone realized that Yaric and the others were only winning through their shaping skills and ability to keep changing strategies. The variety of spells they were using was one of their biggest advantages.
This time Grant faced off against Yaric, his own longsword clutched firmly in both hands.
“Begin!”
Grant threw a fireball at Yaric’s feet, catching Yaric by surprise. It was thrown quickly enough that Yaric knew it couldn’t have been anything other than a simple ball of flame, but Yaric himself was able to cast that same spell in less than half the time.
Despite the dismal casting, Grant raced forward, his sword now held in one hand and his free hand holding another ball of flame, ready to throw.
Yaric continued with his incendiary fireball, already almost done with the spell form. He stepped forward absently as he did.
Thud.
The tip of Yaric’s sword impacted something solid in front of him, revealing the shield Grant had somehow anchored to the fireball he had thrown earlier. It had manifested between them but right in front of Yaric, forming an invisible barrier that would have stopped the spell he was currently casting, and in this case, setting of the incendiary less than two meters from his hand.
Yaric stabbed forward hard, shattering the shield, but Grant had already thrown the second ball of flame between them, and he was now just five meters away. There was no time.
Gritting his teeth, Yaric dispersed the anchor and stopped short of manifesting the spell. As long as he concentrated he could keep the spell ready with only a second or two required before he could cast.
Grant dispersed his spell as well, leaping through the space the shield had occupied and engaging Yaric in melee.
Having a proper augmentation spell active changed things massively, but Yaric still found himself hard-pressed. His spell wasn’t as powerful as Grant’s, leaving him with a noticeable disadvantage in speed and power.
Still, Yaric wasn’t desperately trying to keep his blade between them, and he even managed to get a few of his own counterattacks in. They were all deflected, but he wasn’t completely helpless like he was before.
Seeing his chance, Yaric stepped back slightly and swung wildly, his sword cutting horizontally through the air in a massive, two-handed swing.
Grant dropped his blade and leaned back, not even bothering to block.
But Yaric had learned from their previous fights, and he knew you could anchor spells to almost any object. Such as anchoring an incendiary fireball to the blade of a sword.
The amateurish swing passed far in front of Grant, but the fireball didn’t. Propelled even faster by the swinging sword and released with vastly extended reach, few even saw the fireball before a massive inferno erupted where Grant stood, the force of the impact sending flaming liquid splashing high into the air.
The human torch stood under the mage shield that covered him while fire rained back down in a spectacular display, washing the ground around him in flames.
“Match!”
Crack!
“Match!”
Grant flamed off the field once again.
“DRAGON! DRAGON! DRAGON!”
Yaric looked back to see Lauren’s fight, having heard the final call being given.
Lauren was lying on her back, with only the lower half of her shield still strapped to her arm. A long shard of metal was lying across her body where it had fallen. It was too big to have been brought onto the field, so it had no doubt been formed through a spell and was very obviously the cause of Lauren’s broken shield.
Yaric jogged over to help her up.
“Caught me by surprise,” she gasped, winded despite the shield that had protected her.
“You do that to me all the time,” he smiled, dropping his sword so he could help her with the straps on her shield.
Li Na had won her fight this time.
BOOM!
Everyone snapped their heads around to Sven’s fight, just in time to see both fighters windmilling through the air.
“Draw!”
Both had cast explosive fireball spells, both had managed to intercept the other in midair despite the odds, and both had been blown back by the combined blast from close range.
A draw in the knockout stages would count as a loss for both.
Sven looked disappointed, but just like Li Na, he wasn’t disappointed by the loss. In his case he was disappointed by the random nature of his defeat. The odds of them both casting the same spell, or having them impact in midair like that were just so low. None of them had ever seen it happen before, and neither had the crowd if their reaction was anything to go by.
Yaric helped Lauren with a new shield and walked back out with his friends, determined to use something other than fire this time.
A ninth-year student stepped into his field. Edward and the others were nowhere to be seen.
The crowd noticed, because they first went quiet, then stopped the incessant chanting of ‘dragon’ over and over. Or at least, the older students did.
This fight went horribly. Neither moved at first, but Yaric’s opponent raised his hand just two seconds after the match started. A brilliant flash blinded him, leaving him to fight while trying to blink the afterimage out of his eyes. Yaric did manage to cast his newest wind spell, however, sending a solid blast of air into the ground around him, at enough of an angle to create a ring of wind that pushed out, with himself at the center.
The heat that passed his face let him know he had unknowingly avoided a fire-related spell, either because his opponent simply missed, or more likely because the strong winds pushing outward had deflected it slightly. Either way, Yaric was incredibly thankful for the spell they had all thought would only be useful when fighting multiple opponents.
He wasn’t completely blind, so Yaric still saw his opponent pushing their way through the spell, having given up on trying to hit him magically with the chaotic winds between them but hoping to take advantage of the partially blind condition of the caster in the center. Defecting a spear with a sword was hard enough when you could see.
Yaric sighed and took a deep breath while he formed the spell components to change his spell while still being channeled. It was much harder to do than simply casting the spell from scratch, but he knew he had the time, and it still only took four seconds to complete.
A tunnel of fire swept down over him and expanded outward, with Yaric at the epicenter. Not that anyone could see that, as the funnel that formed around him would look like a solid cylinder of flames to anyone outside. Part of the spell naturally remained as simple air. It used the constant downdraft of cold, fresh air to create a barrier to the heat, but no one outside could see that either. All the crowd saw was a pillar of flame descending on Yaric, then wash out in all directions, enveloping his opponent in a waist-high maelstrom of swirling, writhing fire.
“Match!”
The inferno took a couple of seconds to disappear, revealing Yaric standing unharmed in the center of a patch of pristine ground, with blackened sand extending away from him in all directions.
Only then did Yaric notice the silence that had descended. Momentarily.
“DRAGON!”
Yaric groaned before walking forward to shake his opponent’s hand. He still had lights flashing behind his eyes every time he blinked.
Lauren had won her fight this time, though she had somehow ended up with a broken spear, the two pieces held together only by splinters. Li Na’s fight was harder, even though she had won. Yaric wasn’t used to seeing her with a dented shield, but her opponent had somehow managed to damage the solid steel shield she preferred even though she had no doubt augmented it. The fact that such a powerful strike wasn’t enough to win the fight must have come as a shock to whoever she had faced.
Sven was already walking calmly toward her, apparently having won his fight rather easily. At least in comparison to the others.
This time Sven joined him in the quarterfinals, as did Li Na, much to her surprise and excitement. Lauren hugged her twice before letting her leave to find an opponent.
Yaric found himself advancing alone amongst his classmates, this time making the semifinals. Despite being knocked out earlier by an amazing gravity spell he’d never seen before and a swordsman with skill that rivaled Sven, this time Yaric was stuck by a simple yet powerful stream of water. The force of the pressurized blast pushed him back, and no matter how he tried to move he found himself struggling to keep his weight forward.
The shocking cold played a major role as well, practically taking his breath away in the freezing winter afternoon. Breath that he struggled to get back without taking in lungsful of water.
This time when the dragon left the field for the last time, he was both utterly drenched and shivering uncontrollably.
“And now you know how to defeat the Dragon,” Arch Wizard Phelp’s voice echoed out across the arena, drawing a pained groan from Yaric as an unoccupied referee cast a spell to dry Yaric out. “You have to extinguish his flames!”
That didn’t stop the crowd, however.
“Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!”
This time most of the second years were joining the first years, and Yaric shuddered to think what would happen next year when a new crop of impressionable young arcanists joined the Academy.
Lauren helped Yaric out of his armor so the referee could dry out his soaked clothing and the inside of his armor as well.
‘Those idiots are going to be second and third-years next time,’ Yaric thought despondently.
“DRAGON! DRAGON! DRAGON! DRAGON!”
‘I’d rather stick to fighting Draugr…’
Yaric's clothes were now dry, but he was still shivering when they made their way back to their seats. Lauren insisted on wrapping him tightly under their blanket, then shifted closer to help warm him up.
Hot chocolate was handed out soon after, which they slowly sipped from under the blanket. The next round of fights was halfway done when they finished their hot chocolate. Lauren pulled the blankets tighter and rested her head against Yaric's shoulder.
'I guess I can be the dragon puppy now and then...'