“Today's the day, Rye. You ready?” I asked my feline companion as I put my new cloak in my spatial ring.

“I’m always ready.” He tilted his head as he watched my cloak disappear into my ring, “No cloak today?”

“Everyone saw me and the introduction. If they saw me in the cloak at the assessment, it would defeat the whole purpose of the cloak keeping the wearer a mystery.”

He bobbed his small head in understanding, “Makes sense.” Then hopped in my body.

I paid Zeph beforehand to let me use the carriage once more. I wasn't going to walk all the way to the dueling arena, even though paying him left me flat broke.

Whatever, it doesn’t matter. After I pass this assessment I'll be on the road to riches.

I cared little for money, but anyone had to admit it was useful.

The ride to the dueling area went by faster than I thought, and soon I was standing right in front of it.

Calling it a dueling arena was rather vague. It was more like multiple arenas clumped together, forming a huge facility.

Walking up to the front booth, I saw a man who looked rather bored, sitting behind the glass wall.

“I’m here for the adventures assessment,” I said.

The man didn't give me even a glance, asking, “Instructor name?”

“Aithne Cyrus.”

He laughed, “You're late. The assessment has already started. Go straight to Arena B, if you’re lucky, you still might have a chance.”

Late? But this is the time she said to be here. If anything, I should be early.

I held back any questions I may have had. By the way his legs were kicked up in his booth as he sat there and lazily filed his nails, I doubt he knew any specific details.

Turning my walk into a light jog, I looked for the corridor with the label ‘Arena-B’. When I finally found it, I went through. As I jogged through the dimly lit walkway and began to get closer, I heard the sounds of spellfire and cheering become more audible.

Making it out I was met with a stone railing that overlooked the arena. The rather empty bleachers encircled the entire battling area. The other candidates from the introduction were all sitting in one section of the bleachers, not all clumped together of course, but near one another.

‘I guess we made it in time. That guy was full of it.’ Rye scoffed.

I walked up the stone bleachers and sat down near the group and watched the battle below. ‘Well, we're here, there's no reason to get all mad at him now.’

I felt him sigh, but in the end, he began to watch the battle with me.

It was Aithne against a quite burly, but muscular man. He threw many of mana-enhanced punches, but Aithne dodged them all. I could hear the man grunt in frustration at the realization that he couldn't hit her.

The man began to chant and the ground under him began to rumble ever so slightly.

“Rock Fist!” He roared as shards of earth gathered and formed giant gauntlets around his fists.

“If you can't hit me regularly, what do you expect to do with the weights on your hands?” Aithne asked, her tone quiet condensing.

The man didn't answer, instead, he cuffed his fists together and swung downward at the ground. His two fists collided with the ground, forming a small creator where they landed.

The result was not what I had expected, though. The collision of his fist caused a row of large earthen spikes to erupt under Aithne.

But Aithne was no longer where he aimed. The man looked around in obvious confusion, but the crowd in the bleachers knew exactly where she was.

She had jumped an unnatural height and landed behind the man holding two fingers at his neck. “You have decent skill in hand-to-hand combat and spell casting, but both can use a lot of work. You pass, and will receive the rank of Iron, Second Tier.”

Was that jump just pure mana-enhancement alone, or does she possess the wind element? My thoughts remained unanswered in my mind and began to grow more cautious of Aithne.

‘I might have to try harder than I originally thought, Rye’

‘Don’t worry, Fal. I’ll watch your back.’ He said, Determination in his voice.

I smiled, ‘I'm happy I can count on you, buddy.’

The man grunted once more and shook his head. As he exited the arena Aithne glanced at a piece of paper she pulled out of her pocket, then looked up to the bleachers and called, “Kent Ashfall.”

I looked over as Kent stood up. He seemed to have noticed me and gave a disapproving glance. Jared was sitting next to him, but Kent’s other friends weren’t present.

Everyone watched as he made his way to the battling area. When he was finally standing face to face with Aithne, she asked, “What type of mage are you?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Martial.” He said simply, as he placed one hand on his thin rapier.

“Elemental affinities?”

He then unsheathed his weapon, “Fire and water.”

Aithne smiled and got into a fighting stance “It seems you’re eager to begin. Come at me whenever you're ready.”

Kent complied. His rapier ignited into flames and he sent multiple speedy jabs toward Aithne.

I heard some murmurs and gasps throughout the crowd at the sight of Aithne being pushed back, but it didn’t last long.

She sent a pulse of wind through the battling arena that made his flames flicker and in that instant she closed in on him. Aithne landed a blow square in Kent’s chest, making him grunt in pain.

Somehow, though, he managed to gain some distance and regain himself. His flames disbursed and he began to send power mana-enhanced thrusts with his weapon.

Aithne didn’t close in as I expected her to, instead she began dodging.

But why? Is Kent using some sort of spell I can’t see?

Then it hit me. Squinting my eyes I could make out tiny blades of water just a little bigger than toothpicks barraging Aithne.

“Wind barrier.” She said, as a near-visible wall of wind surrounded her. The collision of the water blades sent ripples through the barrier, but never reached Aithne herself.

Kent’s somewhat calm and composed face turned more serious as he prepared his next spell. He swung his sword in a myriad of motions as if he was casting. “Heat Hail.”

A ring of flame spread and opened behind him, sending multiple spheres of raging fire shot toward Aithne with no sign of stopping.

Oddly enough, Aithne's grin just got wider. She clad her arms in wind attribute mana and started intercepting each fireball with her bare hands at an unnatural speed.

‘This woman's a monster.’ Rye mumbled. And I couldn't help but agree.

The balls of fire kept forming from the flame gate and shooting straight toward Aithne, but after a while, Kent saw that it was fruitless and he stopped the spell.

He quickly closed in once more, jabbing with his rapier.

Aithne must’ve foreseen this because she cocked back both of her fists and punched them in unison toward Kent, sending a humungous shockwave of wind toward him.

To my and everyone's surprise, though, Kent did a heel spin, minimizing the shockwaves damage, and jabbed again. He still flew backward from Aithne’s blow, tumbling several feet away, but he managed to accomplish something no one today has.

Aithne stood there surprised as she wiped the falling blood from her now-nicked cheek, “I’m surprised you managed to hit me, Ashfall.”

Kent scoffed and stood up, “Why are you speaking like it's over?”

“Because it is, brat. You’ll receive the rank of Bronze Tier 1.”

Kent just narrowed his brows in annoyance and walked away, exiting the arena.

Hearing the rank Kent had received the gossiping in the crowd grew more audible.

“That's the highest rank anyone's received all day.”

“I can’t believe he managed to hit the instructor.”

“Did you see the smile she gave when he cast that fire spell?”

“Yeah, she's a monster. So is that Kent kid. I've never seen someone so young with that much skill with a rapier.”

These types of statements and questions continued for some time, and I just tuned them out.

So she has the wind element. I should still be cautious when my turn, though, It's not hard to tell she's still holding back and hasn’t shown the true extent of her abilities.

My eternal notes were interrupted by a tap on the shoulder and the sound of a familiar voice, “You really came, kid. It’s good to see you weren’t all talk under pressure.”

What pressure?

“If you’re referring to Kent then you’ve got the wrong idea. I’m not worried about him in the slightest.”

Jared laughed and he took a seat beside me, “The more I interact with you, the more I realize how much of a scary kid you are. I'm serious, you’ve got guts.”

“Thank you, I guess. But I'm just a normal person as everyone else.”

He shrugged, “Not many kids apply to be adventurers, so I’d say your not, but whatever floats your boat.”

I didn’t respond and just let his words float in the air as the next contestant made her way down to the arena.

After the battle Aithne, like always ways announced her rank, “Iron Tier 3.”

She kept dwindling down the candidates and the bleachers started to become more empty. Although, there were some who stayed and watched the rest of the battles.

“She’s assessed this many people and she hasn't even broken a sweat,” Jared said, as we watched the most recent contestant leave the battlegrounds.

“Yeah, I can’t assess her mana core rank either, I wonder what it is,” I added, as Aithne stepped up to call the next name.

“Jared, no surname.” She called.

Jared stood up, “Wish me luck.”

I just nodded and I watched him make his way down.

When he entered the battle arena Aithne asked the usual questions, “Attribute and type of mage?”

“Just earth, and I'm a caster.” As he said this, he pulled out a pair of brown leather gloves. From here I could see earthen-colored gems embedded into them.

My best guess was they acted like some type of wand or staff.

After he got done putting them on, I was left wondering why he didn't get into a battle-ready position. He was just standing there.

Aithne titled her head, “Well, kid, are you ready?”

I saw a glimmer run through Jared's eyes as he said, “Yes.”

“Come at me when-” Aithne started, but she didn't get to finish.

Jared had already begun chanting and casting a spell. “Dear Earth, grant me empowerment and aid, for the sake of a single soul's ambition, [Slithering Archs]!” He yelled.

Four earthen spikes shot from the ground and curved like snakes, shooting directly toward Aithne.

“Aren't you and eager one?” She laughed, cladding her arms in the wind and doing the same as she did with Kent’s flaming spheres, disbursed them all as if they were mere flies.

Shards of earth flew in all directions and clouds of dust had built up on the battlefield. I could spot Aithne, but Jared was nowhere to be seen.

Aithne shot a gale of wind, causing all the dust to disappear in an instant. And there Jared was, mumbling a spell once more, now uncovered by the dust he had caused.

“Dear Earth, grant me empowerment and aid, for the heroism and valiance of a lone man's victory, [Earth Maiden].”

The ground of the battle arena started to rumble and the bleachers along with it. Walls of rock layered with spikes erupted from under Aithne and began encasing her.

But they weren't quick enough. Aithne began shooting pillars of wind at the walls like canons, blowing them to cinders and sending boulders flying in all directions. When the spell was dealt with, she went for Jared, shooting a torrent of wind straight toward him.

Jared must’ve been on his last leg from the two huge spells because he was clutching his side. All he could do was lazily swipe his hand upward, saying, “Earth Wall.” As a rather weak wall erupted in front of him, as a means to protect him from some of Aithne’s wind torrent.

The wind torrent tore straight through the wall and hit Jared directly. He was sent tumbling across the battlefield, but he managed to prop himself up on one knee. “I'm out of mana, I can’t go on any longer, instructor.”

The wind around Aithne disappeared, “I assumed so. Those spells you used were quite consuming, but impressive nonetheless. You’ll receive the rank of Bronze Tier 2.”

Jared managed to stand up and nodded his head. He glanced up at me in the bleachers and smiled as he mumbled something. If I wasn't mistaken, he had said, Good luck.

Jared showed more combat prowess than I thought he would, and It caused me to look at him in a bit of a different light. I had first taken him as one of Kent’s little cronies, but now I could see that wasn't the case, after all, he was ranked only one tier below him.

When he exited the arena, I felt myself getting more eager for my turn.

After the battled field was back to being level Aithne stepped up to call the next candidate, and I couldn't be any more satisfied with the name.

“Falyn Elway.”