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 The previous fights had all been something of a challenge for Vaeris, but for now they'd rest. For the first month or so magical basics would be the only class they'd be taking, and Mr. Allenbury had plenty of time to spare, so he had allowed them a half hour break to recover their mana. It seemed Mr. Allenbury was definitely enjoying watching the students beat each other senseless; as he was grinning, clapping and cheering with the rest of them during matches. At least it looked like he took his job seriously, there were already several sheets of paper written down in a stack next to where he was sitting.

 They all sat in and around the arena, which had actually subverted his expectations in that it was well lit. Various engraved plates lay on the ceiling and glowed enough to light the combat cell. From what little he knew of enchanting, he knew there had to be a power source somewhere, and it looked as though it came directly from the instructor. His mind was wandering again, father would've criticized him for it, but how could he not? The people standing before him were so dull, yadda yadda attempted political manipulation blah blah blah. Honestly one grew rather bored of it over time, especially when surrounded by such amateurs, it wasn't as though they posed much threat.

  There he went again, his unfortunate tendency, and from what he'd heard, the tendency of all the nobility to underestimate their opponents. It almost caused him the first match and it could be the end of him on the field or in the courts. He drew his attentions back to the brown-nosers and would-be deceivers, paying close attention to their every word. He was better than the rest of the arrogant nobles, he unlike many others knew not to underestimate anyone.

*******

  The students were all gathered together in their own friend groups most were discussing their previous matches or showing off their magical abilities. He payed special attention to those that demonstrated the latter, if he couldn't figure it out he'd get at least an idea of what they could do. A familiar  voice in the distance called his name. Looking around he spotted Namar gesturing and waving for him to come over. He approached Namar and the group he stood by. It was Namar's opponent, who spoke first. 

  "Hey, you're the guy with those crazy reflexes right? That all you or was that magic? Oh, where are my manners, I'm Amyra." She held out her hand.

  "Magic, and I definitely wouldn't recommend it. The whole things a giant headache. I'm Barlor." He shook Amyra's hand and noticed her grip was firm but not crushing.

  "Huh, well these are my friends..." She introduced the others standing nearby, he did his best to commit their names and faces to memory but it was likely that he wouldn't remember most of them. 

  "So where do you two come from?" Someone else spoke up, a taller man with chiseled features and a large grin plastered across his face.

  Barlor saw Namar open his mouth, but he spoke up before he could stop himself.

  "Oakswear, a village around about, three maybe four days from here by carriage." 

  The man's lips pressed into a thin line.

  Amyra shot him a glance before speaking. "Oof, sucks to be you guys." 

  Namar spoke up "Is the difference really that big?"

  "Not that much, not right now. Most of us didn't even get to really practice basic magic beforehand but..." She paused for effect. "We all have access to way more resources than you do, and in the future, well..." 

 "Wow, that... sucks."

  "Yup." Amyra agreed.

  Barlor shrugged. He didn't mind really, in fact, the prospect of success in spite of that made it all made it feel that much better. 

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  The man looked smug now "Yeah, good luck."

  "Thank you." In hindsight he really should've thought that through. He looked over and saw that the man was practically seething. He face palmed. Mentally of course, very deliberately done in his head, and only in his head.

******

  Her every step was steady and measured, each breath was natural and calm, and her steely gaze radiated intensity. Yet her training belied the emotions that lay beneath. Her heart roared, her muscles screamed, and her nerves were lightning. She looked across the stadium where a man stood, he was wary, but entirely focused on the match in front of him. There were no stakes, no bets on the table, but it was all the same, it was that constant, ever present rush of excitement, no different than a gamble, or a risky venture in her childhood. She stood with bated breath, and she heard him yell.

"Go" 

  She took off in a dead sprint, mana trailed her form and hung like a loose cloak leaving motes of light that fell in place behind her. Each of her lights intensified as a distant, rising star reached its zenith. She fired, each note of light shined more intensely before loosing a radiant beam; she was mere seconds late. The distant star expanded and a great azure sun hung before her, it's wielder stepped back and lowered his hand; as if to crush an insect before it. The star arced downwards and fell between them, each of her racing lights collapsed ineffectually, glancing off it's surface. A gust of mana rushed outwards from the sphere, one just like the explosion that nearly resulted in her defeat. She stopped, and braced herself for impact.

*****

  It was far too close for Vaeris' tastes, it could've ended very poorly if he wasn't quick enough. Still, Amyra wasn't one to be trifled with and neither was he. He stepped forward and halting the continuous gust of mana, lifted the orb in an arc back over his head, preparing to trap her beneath it and found to his surprise that Amyra hadn't been knocked down, nor were her anchor points destabilized. Instead, they were all shrouded in a loose cloak of mana and each of her anchor points took on an almost ghostly, ethereal presence; the wisps behind her growing in intensity before launching a dozen jagged spears.

  He leapt to the side, and rolled as he hit the ground, avoiding any potential injuries and placing himself in a position to distract her from the real threat. He pulled some mana from his orb, and fired two weak lances in her direction. She pivoted, repositioning her wisps in front of her and forming a large shield from the cloaks of all twelve, easily shrugged off both lances. 

  His orb was churning now, and it launched three spiraling pillars, two aimed at her wisps and one aimed at her. Yet she ignored them, and instead responded by firing twelve more jagged spears; these caught him by surprise and rendered him unable to dodge. Each struck, none were lethal, and the injuries imparted weren't anything too serious but they were all agonizingly painful, he grit his teeth and did all he could to keep his sphere together.

 While he focused on trying to stifle the pain and keeping his orb together he noticed that while her wisps were all destroyed Amyra had her hand raised; he tried to preempt her with a barrage of weaker blasts and while a few managed to hit, she still kept her arm raised. He tried to move out of the way, stepping to his left in attempt to mitigate any damage done. He was instead rewarded with a beam straight to his liver. He body instinctively crumpled in on itself, his breath left his body and the world went dark.

******

   Amyra was barely standing, she felt battered and beaten, and she felt like her arm was dislocated, but above all she felt triumphant. She made a gamble and it payed off. She felt a little guilty though, wherever she hit him it looked really painful, and she observed as an assistant got him onto a gurney and carried him out. 

  Allenbury called out from the balcony "And it looks like we have our winner!  You're the one to beat now Amyra, good luck with that."      

  Allenbury then addressed the rest of the class "Now, You're all going to have to strive very hard if you want that top spot, especially if you want the chance to go on a trip with one of the Grand Mage Guilds at the end of the month. You see, at the end of basics each of the four Grand Mage Guilds scouts out four of the best students in each class, and if you want that oppurtunity your going to have to work your little asses off to get it." 

  The class murmured and whispered amongst themselves, while a few particularly outspoken individuals declared that they would, of course win that position.

  "Now, now, settle down students, I'm sure you're all eager to practice what you've learned from our little games, but sadly class is over in about five minutes and the next class will be on glyphs and enchanting, if you are so inclined, come talk to me during lunch, I'm certain we can set a time for you in one of the practice rooms. Oh, also don't worry too much about not getting a spot with one of the Grand Guilds, you can apply for a trip with a normal one at the end of each quarter and those are all perfectly adequate. Until then, class dismissed."