"A little over an hour," the healer said, appreciatively. The only boy did not scream when he arrived so it was much more pleasant of a task to treat his wounds. "A good time for a first-year."

"... T-that's... it?"

He had been a long time since his teeth were chattering, but even he was not immune to the cold. Resistant, perhaps, but not immune.

At least he was not covered in frost and sporting a ghastly azure hue.

The healer nodded and Mathias felt a surreal warmth flood his veins. He knew his exhaustion would not be fixed so easily, but his body did take the healing force better than the healer expected. He did mend a little of his previous wounds before after all.

However, that did little to soothe his anxieties.

He looked at Erik who also seemed shocked at the declaration. "Th... that means we still have...-"

"Three more hours to go," Jenna said with a devilish smile. "Congratulations, you two - ah, you four."

Lisanna and Ayla supported each other, collapsing ten-feet before the nearest healer. One who was waiting patiently helped the two over and began their treatment.

"I expect the rest will be done in twenty minutes or so - or rather," she laughed cruelly and turned to face those resting at the end just outside of reach from the sandstorm. "You have half an hour to finish! Anyone who fails to do it that time will have to do it again!"

"..."

There was a collective silence.

And then people started screaming, shouting, crying, or even laughing at the sudden declaration. They knew it was not a joke, but how else could they react? There was no small number that opted to charge into the fire or water formations before they were finished individually and tried - sometimes successfully, sometimes not - to fight off the subsequent eruptions that occurred.

"... Uh, I feel like this is...-"

Jenna cut him off. "It's fine. You all are able to do it. That much I know. You'll even get a break. Let's see... all said, you'll have a half-hour break after the time-limit, for the slower ones. As such, you four - ah, seven, have an hour."

Jennifer appeared, dragging Eldrich this time with James. It seemed she repaid her debt to one boy, at the very least; James, himself, did not seem the least bit averse to going out of his way to help others without expecting anything in return either. Such was the countenance of a knight family that believed in noblesse oblige. Or a commoner who looked up to said families despite the aristocracy heading towards obsolescence.

Erik was the first to speak. "Didn't Mr. Shields say that this training would happen for a full month?"

"... I think so," Mathias replied mechanically.

Both gulped. If Lisanna and Ayla were more cognizant, they, too, would have felt the terror of the Academy they applied to and the instructors they had to follow if they wanted to graduate.

Instructors, like classes, wouldn't change. It was not just a month of training; it was three years of learning - or surviving - under the tutorage of those two who seemed to be particularly cheerful about demanding many things from their students.

"... I... think I'm going to buy new boots tonight. Did you want to come with...?"

"Yeah, sure..."

It was an escapist's conversation, but neither wanted to bring up the fact that might be reiterated. Neither was stupid enough to think want was just 'faux' environments the day before could be amplified into many different levels. Just the water formation alone had three different aspects that they were exposed to in a single day. And the easy one was excluded from necessary use.

"... Say, know anywhere to eat...?"

"... Let's go to the dining hall... we have an hour..."

"Sounds good..."

Both waddled off. They would be back in a half-hour, they knew, but until then they did not want to see those formations again.

Shortly after their awakening, Ayla and Lisanna bonded over the terrifying understandings dawning over them. They, too, left the training field.

While Erik and Mathias were the first to recover and leave, their feet were heavier so the two girls met them part-way. Perhaps it was because they spent a great deal more time on the ground in the fire formation than the two girls (with Lisanna being able to mitigate the damage, not discounting that her own boots were made to be resistant to heat in the first place).

"Hey..." Ayla started, forcing a smile.

"Hey..." Erik replied, struggling to feign one himself.

"Hah..." Lisanna and Mathias both sighed.

"... Let's go."

"Yeah, let's..."

The four appeared at the dining hall. While the class was technically in-session, it was common to have breaks part-way through the practical training. As such, it was not empty, but there were not many around.

Each ordered a drink, with Erik ordering food, and they mechanically went about replenishing themselves.

There was silence for ten minutes, but soon Jennifer, James, and Eldrich appeared with two other girls.

They sat down at an adjacent table, but said nothing - not even to themselves. It was that exhausting.

After another ten minutes passing by, everyone stood up simultaneously. Whether their internal clocks were perfectly in-sync, or they predicted that another, too, would get up, it was not certain. Except all got up and meandered out, putting away the drinks, trays, or whatever else they ordered.

"... Hah," a sentiment shared by all. However, Ayla continued, "how am I going to look good beating Erik when I'm this tired...?"

"Hey!" His exhaustion was broken. "Who said you'd beat me?! And don't go changing the brackets yet!"

"Hmph, you are too noisy. I'll take it easy on you, but you have got to be ready," she tapped her newly acquired rapier with her index finder tauntingly.

"Hah, that's rich. When it comes to wind magic, I'm number one."

"Maybe when it comes to using it to abuse your body more quickly the rest of us, but not when it comes to beating others, Mr. One-Tie!"

"You know what's worth more than two-wins? Two wins and a tie after I beat you."

"Say what you want! I wouldn't bet a single copper on you."

Their bickering continued, but it did shift the attention of those that were walking in a daze before. Mathias, too, was curious about who his opponent would be. It seemed like there was two rounds planned out, like before, but with the whole class. They would be splitting it into two different divisions. Since there was a first-come, first-serve basis for slots it essentially meant the original ten were included, plus a guy named Hunter and a girl named Wendi, fast friends of Erik and Ayla. Of course, the divisions would be recombined and reshuffled later, but this way everyone got to fight with one-another before splitting up again.

Jennifer, James, and Eldrich were talking amongst themselves, catching each other up about the techniques of those they did not see themselves. While Jennifer's original group suffered from a lack of stamina, thus being decided quite quickly, it was possible to see areas that could either classified as novice or expert status.

Lisanna seemed to be lost in her head so Mathias asked Erik who seemed to be getting ready for a long-winded retort.

"Hey, who am I facing? It seems like you two set everything up already."

Ayla spoke first, "Jen! Not the Instructor, but Jennifer! She was back there talking to Lisanna at one point, so I think you two met."

"... I see? She's a water mage, right?"

"Yeah, but... Jen! Mathias wants to hear all of your secrets!"

Jen guffawed for a moment before shaking her head. "W-what?"

"Your secrets - out with them!" Ayla cheered. With a snicker she skipped back towards the confused girl and said more clearly, "he was talking about his next opponent! Hopefully you're ready!"

"I, uh... y-yeah... I guess...?"

"Okay! Perfect!" Walking backwards whilst snickering, Ayla craned her head to see a few dragging their feet from the last formation. "We're here! Let's set up the arena!"

"Uh... sure...?"

Since there did not seem to be much time, and he was knowledgeable about his own attributes techniques, he did not think it was imperative to talk to Jennifer. Lisanna, too, grabbed his wrist and whispered, "hey, how would you deal with earth spells?"

"...? Uh..." he paused since it might be turned against him, but since it did not seem like it was happening today, he relented. "If it's something you can avoid, a weapon comes in if you're not that affected by direct hits."

He left it at that. Just general, almost trite advice. Lisanna quickly nodded and said, "I thought so."

He thought that as they took the top-most arena, that there would be some sort of speech by Jenna or Mr. Shields. But there was none. Ayla looked to see that the break had not even started for those who just finished.

It seemed that no one was forced to do it again - and all were sympathetic to those that finished late.

"Well, since it seems like there is still some missing, and half of us are here, let's get started with the announcement:

"I, the undefeated Ayla, will be facing off the not-undefeated Erik! It'll be a battle for the ages! Afterwards, it'll be the water mage who rubs all the right spots - of sand, you sillies - Mathias! Against the other water mage, one of the four dark horses, Jennifer - the amazing and cute Jennifer!

"Our next fight will be a fiery battle of fire and earth mages - with the Woman Wonder herself, Lisanna, facing off against another dark horse, Jack who is surprisingly not dead yet, right?"

A boy with black hair covering his eyes nodded. It seemed like he finished earlier, but did not choose to leave. He just nodded easily to Ayla's words. He seemed much too tired to talk, though.

"Great! No deaths amongst the contestants yet! After this, we'll have our very own Eldrich facing off against the new blood, Hunter! Hunter, wherefore arte thou?!"

"Here."

A boy ran up, evidently exhausted, but he did finish his recovery. Like Jack, he seemed to have finished earlier, but was just resting at the center. He came with a girl at his side who bowed politely upon receiving Ayla's gaze.

"The almost-as-adorable-as-I-am Wendi appears! She is one of the new blood! This incredibly adorable girl is a catch for any man, her hobbies include reading, writing poetry, and taking care of flowers, but be warned: she has a big brother that will rip you to shreds! However, since she's so adorable, it'll be a tough match! And for her opponent: Fara!"

Wendi tiredly smiled, suppressing a small giggle at the announcement.

"Hello," another girl appeared impassively on the scene.

"Fara! The cool beauty that has no equal! She is wonderful and exquisite, but one best not mess her with her - even I, the undefeated me, would tremble with such a challenge! Now, the adorable Wendi or the cool-beauty, Fara?! Stay tuned!"

Ayla seemed to finally take a breath, looking towards the sky to remember the third line-up. "Ah, right! Synthy! Synthy is quiet, hard-working, and prefers intellectual boys. So Erik and his ilk are clearly no-go's!"

"Hey! What's that for?!"

"Just telling the truth! Despite her withdrawn appearance, she has a warrior's soul inside of her! She loves to help her father in disciplining those who get out of line with the strength of her fist! Kya! So cool! Ahem, and James, of course! He is a serious man who has no fault! Except for being too serious! What discipline can Synthy apply to a man that has never stepped out of line once in his life?!"

Mathias did not even see the last girl, but it seemed James was nodding approvingly at the description of him. Was that supposed to be taken as a compliment? He was conflicted. Granted, it did not exactly matter much to him.

However, as the others seemed content at their descriptions, he imagined that Ayla was skillful enough not to ostracize anyone aside from Erik too much. In fact, just his outbursts brought others to offer their sympathizes and they bonded easily without bringing ill-feelings to anyone.

Mathias was somewhat interested in what the match would entail, but a voice stopped them from advancing too far.

"Wait." Jenna said, scratching her chin thoughtfully. She just appeared and glanced towards the others slowly taking place in another arena. "I fully permit this action, but I am curious: what of them?"

Erik said easily, "since we didn't know how much time it would take, and wanted to keep the breaks shorter, we split the class in two divisions. We'll reshuffle once everyone had a chance to fight or after some time."

"I see. I'd like to hear of the distribution. If the groups are as they seem, then I'll permit this for at most a week, but then I'll organize the matches, got it, you two?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Ayla agreed immediately.

"Yeah, that's- huh?! Don't talk for me!"

Jenna shrugged. "I wasn't asking for your permission. I'll allow some distance, but the intent of this first month is to set a similar, solid foundation for everyone. Divisions make it difficult."

"We can probably throw in a floating rotation," Mathias said without thinking.

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Jenna stared at him. "Go on."

He stammered under the sudden, oppresive stare. "Uh, since there's supposed to be twenty-five, one person will miss a fight anyways. Right now the extra person is in their division... I think? Anyways, number the people, have the first twelve go to first division, next thirteen go to the second division, and then swap whoever was the last numerically to number one's spot and shift the rest down."

"... Which means we're still missing some experience, right?"

"Y-yeah, but it'll shuffle the groups enough, right? And it'll be predictable, right?"

Since he had no experience with this sort of method of organization, he was just trying to justify his outburst. It seemed she gave it enough thought and permitted it.

"I'll keep that in mind. Until I get back to you, keep with the current, hand-picked system."

He nodded. He was not even in charge of it anyways. Who he was going to fight was a mystery until a few minutes ago, after all.

Sighing, he saw Ayla take Jenna's new movement towards the others as the official opening ceremony being completed. "Now then, Erik and Me! Who will prevail?!"

"10 gold on Erik!"

"Huh?! Really?! 15 on Ayla!"

As it was decided beforehand, someone brought a hand-crafted and custom-made betting chips. After passing the gold to the caretaker, James in this case, who ten put it in the hat, he passed off the painted chips. There were one, five, and ten denominations of painted flat stones.

For ease of use, in general, red referred to girls, blue referred to guys, and the unpainted grey referred to a tie unless it was explained otherwise. Since Erik and Ayla were almost ensured to take the announcer's spot in the other's absence, it was determined to be easily dealt with on same-sex fights. And since James was overseeing the hat, it was secure.

As for the chips, they were Eldrich's idea.

"Final chance to back out," Erik said with a smile.

"Hah! As if!"

"Final bets?" James called out, scanning the crowd, and saw no one stepped forward. "Ok. The round will commence in three... two... one... go!"

"Wind Blade!"

Erik darted forward, slashing the crescent moon blade awkwardly towards Ayla.

Ayla, sensing the attack already and more than capable of reading the wind, side-stepped and shouted, "Air Step!" as she jumped overhead and flipped over Erik.

She drew her rapier, stabbing at his neck as her feet reached the sky.

He scowled and shifted the heavy, curved blade towards his head, but her attacks disappeared.

Instead, her free hand chopped down diagonally as her head finally began to rise once more.

"Gah!?"

Erik recoiled from the weak wind blade.

Since it was chantless, it was not too dangerous, but it was just the opening act: "Air Step! Wind Blade!"

Stopping mid-air, she released a arm-wide slash aimed directly at his chest.

"Wind Wall!"

A rush of air knocked his hair back, and he struggled to regain his footing.

However, Ayla began to fall after the air step failed.

"Wind Whip!"

A long, thin, but ultimately dull current of wind appeared at the tip of Erik's sword. Though he was not used to the blade's peculiar balance issues, there was no better time to engrave the specifications of the blade in his mind than in battle.

And that included spells that required an anchor.

He snapped the heavy sword forward, forcing Ayla to raise her own rapier.

"Wind Arrow! Gust!"

A bolt shot towards Erik's chest, following the trajectory of her rapier. And since it already departed, a chaotically burst of air was launched as she shifted her stance to the side.

It hit the incoming, ethereal whip, sending the flexible attack to the side, but Erik jumped away and snapped the whip back towards Ayla.

It was difficult to make advances when a similarly skilled opponent was using the same arsenal and knew the same counterattacks. If fact, if they knew the counterattacks to the predicted counterattacks, the battle would continue ad infinitum, unless one collapsed.

However, ten minutes in, no one collapsed. Both were caked with sweat as they stood against the other. Physical exhaustion was seen on Erik's body, having taken three times the number of attacks; however, mental exhaustion was present on Ayla's face, going so as to be devoid of colour, as they readied their arms once more.

Despite being new to merging weapons with magic, both learned how to coat their blades with wind quickly. So quickly that each exchange was rarely heard a clash of steel; rather, it was a howling wind as the force behind the thick crescent blade fought against the nimble technique of the rapier.

Erik stepped forward steadily and Ayla retreated to the edge of the ring.

She panicked once she saw a predatory smile appear on his face; it denoted a belief of sure victory, and he charged like it. "Wind Blade!" He shouted at the last possible moment, and the sword cut through the air, narrowly missing her chest.

Or rather, it neared her thigh. Without saying a word, a sudden foothold appeared and she kicked up, launched herself further with the wind and shouted, "Gust! Gust! Gust!" while pointing her rapier to Erik's exposed back.

He fought off the two bursts of wind with sheer force of will, but the third sent him collapsing out of the ring. By a single step.

"Victory goes to Ayla," James said quietly as Erik pushed his chest from the white stone.

"Wha-?! That's cheap! That's not fighting!"

Jenna stepped forward and shrugged indifferently. "Those were the rules you've set. Erik, you need to utilize that weapon more effectively. The sword techniques you have are not effective with that blade. Ayla, you need to learn how to conserve your energy. Otherwise... that."

Ayla collapsed onto one-knee and panted dangerously. "Hah... hah... w-whatever... I won...! I won!"

The girls cheered (because they were the ones who bet on Ayla) whereas the boys grumbled at seeing the rule being abused (mostly because they lost their bets).

Mathias saw no reason in gambling with what was the equivalent of, on average, five lynx furs for the chance to possibly lose five such lynx furs.

After Jenna walked back to the other arena, the matter was settled. James set aside three gold for the class, three gold for Ayla, and portioned out the rest to the girls based off their initial bets.

Once it was all settled, Ayla, seeming out of commission for a while, was replaced with Erik who - while incredibly dissatisfied - maintained a professional expression as he looked at the other students.

"Despite some technical difficulties on account of dealing with unsportsmanlike conduct, we will now move on to the next fight! Mathias and Jennifer! A battle between two water mages; and for those unaware, aside from that weird band that always floating on his body, he is allowed to grab as much water as he can in the countdown - the same applies for another who wants to fight with chantless magic! Now, fighters, get into your positions!"

Reminding the others of the decisions made prior, at least for the six who were not there before, Erik cheerfully went about announcing the match.

Mathias was extremely curious about Jennifer though. While intellectually speaking, he knew the vast majority of her potential arsenal, the difference between chantless and chanted magic was always made abundantly clear by those around him.

One was versatile, true; however, it tended towards being weak and slow. Consequently, he wanted to see what the power would be in water magic that was chanted by a typical mage.

"... Don't hold back, Jennifer," Jenna said with a look that was one-half impish grin and one-half supportive.

He turned to see Jenna appear again. She was just too quick on her feet.

"Uh...o-okay..."

Considering her attack was not worthy of Jenna's approval before, he was more curious.

"Ten for Jen!"

"Ten for Jen!"

"Ten for Jen!"

"One on a tie!"

"Hmm?! Am I the only guy willing to stand with Mathias? So be it! One for Mathias!" Erik declared grandly as the bidding was ending.

'... Isn't that too skewed?' Mathias thought with a sigh. It was true had not technically won any matches yet, but from what he counted the hundred-and-twenty gold pot, only one gold was put on him. Nine were on a tie, however.

"Any more bidding?" Erik waited patiently and looked around. After three seconds, he continued. "We'll be starting then. Get ready... and... Three! Two! One! Go!"

Mathias had already gathered as much water as he could when he heard the countdown start and set the recombined staff forward. He finished planning his move when he heard, "Water Bullet!"

His body was already moving though. He did not understand why, but he felt immediate danger from such a simple attack.

Mathias' eyes caught only a blue flash over his shoulder from his new position a half-step away, crouching low. Following the path, he saw the transparent barrier waver dreadfully, showing ephemeral cracks of light as water covered a third of the battling arena.

"Uh... what? Is it supposed to break like that?" He asked no one in particular. However, all he received were sympathetic gazes.

"Water Bullet!"

He dove to the side, tucking and rolling when he heard another water bullet. While steadying himself, he saw a three-foot long, one-foot deep pit in the earth where he was originally standing and another a half-step from where he steadied himself.

No wonder his leg felt wet.

"... Uh, s-sorry..." Jennifer said, bashfully lowering her head when she caught his line-of-sight. "I-I've never been good at controlling magic..."

"... I see..." 'I should've listened to Mom... I guess this is what it means to listen to your elders even it seems troublesome...'

He felt somewhat despondent, but his training from his father and sister did not let him escape the battle so easily. There were three choices in his mind: evade and wait for her to tire out, defend and counterattack only when safe, or just put everything into a direct attack.

Evading and defending would be difficult. Especially when they were so fast that as soon he heard the chant end, they were already inches from him.

"Uh, I'll be starting again then..."

"Okay," he said automatically.

He had to at least test the force. All the ice and water he had been collecting joined on the spear. While the exterior was frosted, the interior was completely transparent if one dug deep enough.

It was as thick as his wrist, with an enlarged spear tip of ice.

"... Uh, then... I'll attack? Water Bullet!"

Since Jennifer thought him standing stationary was odd, especially when he likely had more agility, she warned him before attacking.

He swung down vertically and felt a terrifying amount of mana nearly congealed into the sphere of water. There was so much that the sphere did not even disperse with the blow from his staff; rather, he only reflected the attack forward, seemingly just shifting its absurd momentum, and landed between the two of them in a slightly smaller crater than before.

"... I should've just used chants... Maybe... Water Bullet!" He tried.

He was in part trying to escape, but the water bullet was beyond pathetic. It was no larger than his pinky finger and wavered dangerously as it fell in a rough arc to her stomach.

"..."

The crowd was silent.

Mathias sighed dramatically. He stopped using chants when he was a child after all. Pretty much before he even started learning.

However, it allowed him to gather all the water she dispersed in her first two attacks on his back. It could be said to be a strategy, some thought. A clever rouse to gain time. But in reality, it was an honest attempt.

"Watch out, Jen!" A girl warned. She was the first to put money on her, after all. She assumed the 'rouse' aspect.

The ice was likely already well known to Jennifer, however. It crept up onto his shoulders, forming transparent spikes that crept to his wrists.

"Water- No, Water Cannon!"

The ice shot forward from his outstretched wrists, his enlarged speartip, and punctured a blue orb that appeared directly in its path.

Mathias felt the force of the orb punch into the spear, and his hands, face, and neck completely encased itself in the water temporarily - force carrying one half to subsume his body before recoiling back to its center of nigh-solid mass; however, it seemed to stop in the middle of the arena; the orb, without Mathias inside, flickered as he reached blindly for where the spear should have been.

It wasn't there.

While holding his breath, he looked down to see the spear was buried into the ground, trenched inside the earth, with a few of the jagged tips he failed to shoot out in time holding the orb at bay. At its side, dozens of scattered ice spikes were laying on the ground. While the spear was reinforced enough, the projectiles were not.

The mana inside the orb normally disappeared quickly; that was the issue of chanted magic. However, as the water congealed into icy plates around his body, he reached to draw the ice he infused his mana in to reform the damaged spear. The excess water created a heavily reinforced icy tip that exceeded all that he made before.

"W-Water Cannon!"

Another attack struck out, larger than before. It loomed as a still image larger than his whole body. He could do nothing besides strengthen his grip on the spear.

His feet were dragged through the earth, narrowingly missing a previously made pit, as his heels were pressed against the white stone marking the barrier.

"... C-Come on already!"

He over-extended his muscles, pushing the man-sized water sphere to the side, and darted away from the edge. Of course, this involved getting closer, so he struggled to dodge the water bullets as they beat down on the ground.

At a distance of five meters, he saw her pale. Whether it from exhaustion or fright, he did not know; he stepped forward before leaping back. "Water Wall!"

A cutting geyser appeared inches from his face.

"Erupt!"

The water exploded onto his face, covering the entire arena in a heavy fog, but there was no real damage. The ice he left on his chest and limbs prevented the dangers of the more high velocity displaced streams, but they soon disappeared as he kept moving through the comparatively small dangers.

"Wa-"

He pressed the spear against her throat from the veil of the mist.

"Match." Jenna said. "Jennifer, you rely too much on your overwhelming power. And you're much too easily distracted on the battlefield. Mathias, you should not get into the habit of carelessly receiving attacks, even if you think you know their effects. Spells can be altered without changing the words."

"Ah-ha! I knew it!" Erik shouted. "While the favourite had a specular show, it could not keep with the crafty Mathias! But on a serious note: is that all you can do with Chanted magic?! Seriously?! Tell me that was a diversion!"

"... Uh, it was... it definitely was," he lied unconvincingly.

"Damn it! Ugh, well so be it! Please stop victimizing Jennifer with that evil-looking spear any more than she deserves!"

Like Erik was saying, Mathias' spear grew into a frost-tipped pike, with more and more menacing spikes just waiting to be launched.

However, as he did steal the water formed from Jennifer's spell, it was not completely within his control.

The ice wouldn't melt either. It was quite strange. That which he stole for his body armour was fine. However, there was a strange interaction with the staff.

Even so, he tipped it back towards himself and discarded the icy armour he wore. It was already shattered in a dozen places anyways.

"... That probably would've bought you enough time to get through, you know," she said tiredly, motioning to his water that was being drained away.

"I would be too close. And I didn't want to risk forcing an entry for either of us if I couldn't control it after."

"... 'For either of us?'"

Mathias already walked away. That girl was much too strong. Except he was given something by James. "Huh? What's this for?"

"... You won. Five percent for the winner. Which translates to six gold."

Though he did not care much about money, he had a soft spot for gold coins: one was exactly the cost of the lynx fur. He wanted another one in case someone - he stared at Lisanna suspiciously without obvious connections - decided to try something. Plus, he needed boots. Probably a few new pairs. That would not be much more than a silver or two, though.

"Thank you."

Erik started, "now for the next fight-"

"The next fight will be between the Woman Wonder, Lisanna, and the new blood, Jack!"

"Hey!"

"Shush, you did the last one."

"He-"

"No complaints!" Ayla released a toothy grin and reannounced the first as if to wash away memories of his complaints by repeating it anew.

"Okay, okay! I know you all have missed you," Ayla started, bowing dramatically at the cheers sent her way. "However, even victors need to take a break sometimes! Lisanna and Jack!" She snickered. "Well, betting pools open... now! Five gold on Lisanna!"

"Five on Jack!"

"Five on a tie!"

"Five on Lisanna!"

It seemed this was slightly more even, but even a few boys were betting more Lisanna. Erik, too, put a few from his one-hundred-plus winnings on Lisanna that he none-too-slyly socked away.

"Is that it? Ah, a small outcome, whatever. Thirty gold pot. Contestant, house, and highest bidders rounds up, the rest dealt with whatever is left! Now both contestants to the stage!"

"..." Lisanna looked at Mathias for some reason, whereas the other boy just quirked his head.

He saw her pull the unfamiliar sword and ready herself into a stance, but as the countdown finished, the result was clear.

"Fire Lance!" Lisanna shouted.

"Earth Lance!"

The sheer mass of flames met in the middle of the arena; yet, Lisanna drove forward, unaffected, whereas Jack stumbled back, almost reliving the heat from the formation. Her blade was pressed against his throat and even Ayla whistled appreciatively.

"I see, I see! Match! Lisanna wins! Girls - and Mathias sometimes - rule! It's okay because he is a little girly too! Almost as cute as me! Almost."

Mathias gnashed his teeth and thumped his demonic-looking spear into the ground. The contrast was startling - until they looked at his face. "Hey! What's that for?!"

"It's true! Now moving away from Mathias' girlish features, let's get on with the next battle: with two more girls! Girl Power! Would the ever-sweet-and-adorable Wendi and ever-cool-and-beautiful Fara please come to the stage and the ever-cute-and-girly Mathias step down?"

"Hey!"

Mathias continued his complaints as he pointed his unmelting spear towards Ayla who simply drove the point further and further in. After a while, he gave up and crossed his arms irritably as Erik came to his side.

"Good job on the fight, man. I don't think I'd need to work for months because of this haul!" He tapped his bulging coin-purse happily.

"... Yeah, whatever."

"Still sour about that? Ayla is a bit of a dick-"

"... Commence in thr- hey?! What'd you call me?!"

"You heard me! Now do your job!" Erik shouted back, unsympathetic to Ayla's complaints after their match.

"Gah! Fine! Let the battle begin in three, two, one, go!"

Wendi and Fara were reasonably well-matched. Unlike the other matches with like-elements, Wendi used earth and Fara used water - or more specifically, direct ice spells.

It was rather fitting, but after ten minutes with neither drawing their weapon, both collapsed from exhaustion, resulting in a flurried debate over who fell first, but Ayla took the executive decision to announce, "they're both too good at what they do! It is too close to call, so it is a tie! Ah, boys, it's time to-"

"Guys, it is time to represent! James! Synthy! We're about to start!" Taking center stage, Erik dramatically waved to all in attendance, "here we have Synthy, a self-described iron-fist in the first corner, with a blood-red, flaming fist to beat down all those step out of line! And...!"

A tomboyish girl appeared, shadowboxing in the corner dramatically. She had her hood up, but even without that, it would still have been just as difficult to ascertain her true gender.

Nevertheless, she seemed to appreciate the masculine entrance speech.

A noble, respectful entrance of the other boy appeared.

"... James, the knightiest knight that ever did knight without being knight! Will his creed to honour his opponents win out? Or shall he chivalously let the female opponent win?!"

"Hmph, save your chivalry for someone else."

"... As you command." James lowered his head and nodded.

"... See! A knight! Sir James, Synthy, please prepare yourselves as we open ourselves up to betting!"

"Five gold on James!"

"James! Ten gold!"

"Twenty on Synthy!" One overly excitedly girl appeared from the other arena. In fact, a few more began heavily as they heard Synthy's name being called.

"Twenty! No, thirty!"

"Gah, to hell with it, twenty on Synthy!"

The ante was raised with the screaming, adoring fans of the shadow-boxing, hooded tomboy. Mathias was curious since he did not recall seeing the girl, but he just put it out of his mind as she was probably intermixed with some crowd.

It also was just the second day.

More people came from the other arena as the last fight ended and their own announcer decided it was best to just watch the fight as a group.

'Was she that good?' He thought as he felt the crowds grow around him.