Since they wanted to keep it fairly even, the original six shifted opponents within their group, as the four did within theirs. It was just because of the extra physical exertion the other group had.

Mathias v. Lisanna

Alya v. Eldrich

Erik v. James

The other four fights already ended, but both seemed to end with the fastest attack. Considering their physical condition was drained with excessive rock-climbing, and a few-too-many extra laps, they did not have the ability to dodge well.

'Punishment' meant opening up oneself up to a lot of pain, both present and future. And pride was the least significant force.

"Annnnnd, the next contestant, a battle of the sexes - like the one I, Ayla, and Lisanna before me won! - is up! It seems that there is some bad blood between the roommates on account of some fur or something! I don't know! But we'll battle it out like real warriors! Fire and ice, who will win?! I'm taking bets! Don't bet on Mathias just because he looks pretty though - Lisanna is just as cute!"

Lisanna's lips curled up and she suppressed a laugh - mostly because Mathias' face drained of all colour as he glared at Ayla.

"Ten gold on Lisanna!" Ayla shouted first.

"Twenty on her!" Another student added.

"Ten on Mathias!" Erik said with a laugh, "pretty boys gotta stick together!"

"Five on a draw!" Eldrich shouted.

"A draw?" A boy asked with a grin. "I'm game. Five for me."

It seemed that the lowest bid was a five gold, about enough to feed a family for a month. The students, even those that were commoners, were from well-off families, but it seemed a little excessive.

With the bets tallied, notably with Jenna allowing it but not participating (but giving critical commentary on their particular styles, arguably shifting the odds back-and-forth), Ayla shouted: "Are the contenders ready? It doesn't matter! Three! Two! One! Go!"

Mathias, like the match before, had channelled as much water and ice on his arms and neck (as was implicitly deemed allowed since he didn't chant) as he could towards his body. However, before he could preemptively attack, Lisanna shouted, "Fire Wall! Fire Pillar!"

A five-foot wide, seven-foot tall wall of flames appeared, just barely giving him a warped image of her figure. However, Fire Pillar, like its name suggests, created an explosion of fire underneath a target - even under one's feet.

He just barely managed to avoid the direct blow, by the sheer volume of slush rolling on his right arm and a quick side-step. With a dash forward, he extended his left hand, sending the water and ice forward like a spear, and solidified it. Unlike other times were he sent fractions of steel-like shards of transparent ice, an entire spear was made out of it.

It was because he was allowed to gather as much as he could in the three-second introduction (after a group meeting with Jenna who began to clarify the rules - saying nothing about the 'lethality of attacks').

The spear's handle extended below his left hand and his right gripped the butt end.

It shattered in the middle.

His left swung the divided spear into the wall of flames like a baton, and he instinctively jumped back.

"Erupt! Fire Sword!"

The wall exploded outwards.

Stolen novel; please report.

However, he was not the only one affected by it. Lisanna, clearly positioned to strike, stumbled, but then charged forward before he had a chance to secure his footing.

The baton on his left hand fractured and shot forward in a spray of ice - a last-ditch effort on his end to take advantage -, but her own sword tilted to cover her face and neck.

'It broke?!'

He scowled. The sword was much too hot. If he didn't have a habit of using ice and water to cool him down unconsciously, he would have overheated - like the shrapnel that could contend with steel.

Still, she approached.

He raised his right-handed baton, reinforced with as much mana as he could, and redoubled his control over it.

And they clashed violently. Steam erupted between the two of them as their weapons were locked. If enough mana was gathered, it would possess enough repulsive force that even a mass of compressed mana could be deadly. However, when it included into the attribute elements, it made the semi-fluid-like blade of Lisanna and the solid-ice baton of Mathias' collide.

And she struck again with a horizontal slash to his right flank. He blocked the attack, by a narrow margin, raising his left hand that absorbed some of the fragments of his old weapon.

"Fire Lance!"

The water and ice that rested on his arm shot forward and met the forming fire lance and both were sent several paces from one-another, shaken but unharmed.

'More... more!'

He summoned all the water he could from above the arena - at this point what was all that was left was the steam.

It fought against the scorching winds below to come back to him as he dashed forward to meet her with a growing, icy short spear.

He sacrificed some of the 'armour' he had to grow it to become six-feet long. While his father preferred the sword, Mathias preferred the spear since he could practise without getting walloped by his inhumanly talented kin. Granted, basic proficiency was forced on him anyways with the sword.

Keeping her at bay with steady stabs, he reaffirmed his footing. It was the most important thing with the weapon. She stepped forward, narrowly missing the blow to her sternum with a side-step, and slash high at his neck.

"Flame Lance!"

The spear broke again, with the closest half being jabbed into her stomach, preventing the cut to his neck with the grace of her recoil alone, but he felt the full force of a half-formed lance knock him down to a knee.

She, too, crouched.

"I'm calling it. Tie. Lisanna, blinding attacks would be more effective since you have some immunity to your own flames. I'd suggest Eruption if you are proficient in unarmed combat, Flare if not, but large attacks are meaningless if you can't simultaneously cast it.

"Mathias, you should have done an omnidirectional explosion at the core of your spear, or the further half. Splitting also seems to take time and focus where proper footwork would be better. Learn from her footwork if you want to be able to manifest a weapon. You might have it, but it's too slow to shift when you change weapons."

The two did not contest her decision; both collapsed into the ground seconds before.

Erik helped drag Mathias out whereas Ayla took care of Lisanna. It seemed their roles as tournament coordinators were sent in stone.

"And the two winners for the bets on a tie are... da, da, da! Eldrich and Jack! Congratulations! You'll be splitting the... sixty gold pot even since you betted the same!

"But more importantly, me! And, well, the next contestant! Me and Eldrich!" Ayla shouted happily, setting Lisanna beside the other exhausted contestants. "Erik, please count us down!"

Ayla skipped cheerfully to the center of the ring as Eldrich sighed and shook his head. He just received thirty gold which overjoyed him - but the idea of having fighting again evidently didn't seem to on his list of priorities.

She won again.

However, much like before, it was an extremely close match. She became the reigning champion right then and there with the most wins.

Erik barely pulled out a victory against James. There was an issue with compatibility. James uses Earth Magic which, when used defensively, tends to corner Wind Mages like Erik. Incidentally, Ayla was also a Wind Mage but her athleticism and peculiar movements made her moves difficult to read. She also was very proficient in mixing chants and chantless magic.

Obviously, the records were not definitive with only a third of the class competing in the training, so no one took it that seriously, even Ayla who just used her undefeated record to proclaim the glory of woman-kind.

"... Wait, is that...?"

He spent a full four hours watching battles, competing in them, and doing side training, but he just connected Ayla's face to the girl in the classroom. The one who said he looked like a girl. He was upset before, but he assumed it was another since he did not have it in him to remember every face that made the comment.

She wasn't the first.

And he couldn't be said to have paid much attention to her commentary when it didn't expressly involve him.

Mathias grew irate, but since it seemed like it would be a gorgeous night, he thought better than tainting it.

'... She's not very distinctive... Just another face in the crowd,' he thought conclusively about Ayla whom, if told, would be the first to argue vehemently about it.

She was undefeated, after all.