The head brown mage, Ezevan, pelted waves of sand at his challenger. The red mage did his best to run away from the onslaught of sand, but his bloodied body gave out. In one desperate attempt he blasted a fireball so large and so perfectly controlled, it took the shape of a human skull.

The fireball careened towards Ezevan, hissing with a sizzling whistle that cut through the morning air like an ninjato slicing across a throat. The fireball collided into the earth mage with a shuddering explosion. As the dust and smoke settled, the red mage collapsed to his knees.

Koda watched on with keen interest and nail biting tension. He had only caught the tail end of Raine’s match against Trent, so Ezevan’s battle was the first mage duel that he had ever witnessed and it thrilled him. He loved being a mage, but the sheer excitement of watching a mage battle was something else entirely.

“The challenger has to have more in him if he wants to win,” whispered Raine to Koda as they both watched on the sidelines.

“I think he’s finished, Raine. There’s no way Ezevan would give up that easily,” responded the king.

“Easily?” Raine snorted. “Did we watch the same spell?”

Both looked on with their hearts pounding with relentless energy.

The fire mage staggered to his feet, closely peering at the wake of flames that he created. He curled his fingers and tried desperately to light a spark of fire.

Before Ezevan stood a wall of glass. He waved his hands in a circle before thrusting them against his shield and sent the glass wall flying at his challenger.

“Watch out!” Koda couldn’t help but cry out.

With bated breath Koda held silent as the red mage leaped out of the way of his oncoming demise. The challenger mustered a spurt of adrenaline and dashed to Ezevan’s flank and cried out at the top of his lungs as he unleashed a devastating combustion that shot Ezevan tumbling backwards before sliding to a dead stop.

The red mage panted heavily but fell forward into a heap.

The battlefield was as quiet as a graveyard.

Finally Ezevan’s body stirred as he struggled to get to his feet. He brushed soot and dirt from his earth-toned robes and the referee declared him the victor.

“Jedeo’s red wings! That was incredible!” Koda yelled.

Raine nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “A worthy fight for any duel.”

Several brown mages rushed to help the fire mage to his feet. He wobbled forward, shaking off his exhaustion.

Ezevan beckoned for Koda to approach.

Koda bit his lip as Raine rubbed his shoulders to get rid of any lingering tension.

“You have this Koda. You just watched an entire match,” Raine whispered. “What weaknesses did you see?”

“I-I don’t know, I wasn’t looking for them,” Koda sheepishly admitted.

“Ezaven’s defenses aren’t impenetrable. Wear him down with barrages, he’ll slip up.”

Koda nodded.

“Stick and move, keep your attacks relentless,” finished Raine.

Koda took in a deep breath and walked across the sandy battlefield to where Ezevan stood. The large desert surrounding Isa City served as the Emberwake twins’ dueling grounds. Half to Ezevan's, the other half to his sister. He took a quick glance at the red mage as he limped away. The challenger put up a fight beyond anything that Koda had ever witnessed, and yet he still lost. Now Koda had to outdo that act?

Koda looked at Wildeye. Maybe he could use the Magi? His eyes drifted to Elucard’s arm. Well, maybe he shouldn’t. Perhaps he just needed the vote of confidence that Raine gave him.

Koda stole a glance at Master Stryneth and his shroud, Cade. Stryneth gave the young king a subtle nod. He had his support, it was only a matter of winning.

“I’ve been looking forward to this match ever since I heard you entered Isa City, Lord Koda,” Ezevan said.

Koda smiled. “If you’d like to rest after that battle, I’ll understand.”

Ezeva gave Koda a hearty laugh. “Nonsense, that last battle was just a warm up!”

“I admit, I expected a grander school. However, it seems you prefer a more grounded, open school.” Koda waved his hand gesturing to the wide desert far away from Isa City. Not a single stone block or structure stood in the sands. It was as empty and devoid of any natural life that Koda could not fathom. An endless red ocean sandy dunes glistening under the burning sun.

The head mage frowned. “This is not my school. My students and I are refugees here. My school was on the outskirts of Nacsirri.”

Koda buttoned his mouth with a grim frown of his own. “I apologize—I didn’t—”

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“You didn’t know.” Ezevan placed a calm hand on Koda’s shoulder. “It’s alright, my lord.”

Koda lowered his head in embarrassment.

“My sister is a refugee as well. I assume you are here to earn your brown sash in order to stand a better chance at defeating her?”

Koda looked up to Ezevan. “That was my plan, yes.”

Ezevan chuckled. “It is a good plan…if you can beat me.” He gave the brave elf a competitive grin.

Koda swallowed his fear. “If this is not your school, will death and wounds be permanent?”

Ezeva gave his answer in a low and serious tone. “Yes.”

“Your past challenger…” Koda mulled over his next words carefully. “He lived. Death is not the only way to win?

“The celestials above, of course not!” Ezevan’s eyes leered coldly. “Who told you that?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Trent, you are such a jerk! “What are the conditions for a victory in a mage duel?”

Ezeven folded his arms. “First hit, third hit, unconsciousness, and as you know, death.”

Koda rubbed his chin. I wonder if I could win a first hit match? Koda knelt down and scooped up a handful of sand and sifted it through his fist. One hit. One hit to win the whole thing. Normally taking a body full of shots would benefit me, but if I was fast enough, if I could find that opening…I wouldn’t have to worry about Ezevans endless supply of stamina.

“What have you decided, Lord Koda?” asked the headmaster.

Koda closed his eyes and with a single breath he stated his terms. “Base color my green versus your brown. The first hit decides the victor!”

“First blood, eh?”

Koda gave the brown mage a wary smile. “Would you accept this?”

“Of course, but most challengers may ask for the last one standing or the first mage to three hits.”

First to three hits? That might have been easier. Koda thought smacking his forehead.

“The first hit is a risky gambit. Very well, take your spot opposite of me.”

Koda shuffled to his position on the over side of the dueling field, no longer as confident as he had been. He took in several quick breaths. No time for doubts, no time for doubts, no time for—

The referee held up a red flag with a diagonal brown stripe. “This a battle for the Brown color! Base colors are only to be used. The first one to score a hit wins! Headmaster Ezevan, are you ready?”

Ezaven nodded.

The referrer looked at Koda. “Challenger, are you ready?”

No time for doubts!

“Challenger, are you ready?” the referee asked again.

Koda held silent, the only disturbance in the air was his own short breaths.

No time for doubts. His first mage battle left him shaken. Trent’s match was over as quickly as it began. What if he didn’t have what it took to be a mage? What if going on this quest would make him look like a fool. With each battle handed him another loss.

“You can do this, Koda.” Wildeye said with a soft voice in his head. “You are clever, quick on your feet. I know you can calculate a strategy where there seems to be none.”

Wildeye…

“Show them you deserve to be here. Show yourself that you deserve to be here.”

No more doubts.

“Challenger—”

“I’m ready!” Koda shouted.

The referee swung down the flag. “BEGIN!”

Ezevan summoned a large tidal wave of sand that rolled up to the sky and crashed upon Koda. Panic stirred in his mind, but he pushed the distracting thoughts down just fast enough to react. Spinning around he wrapped himself in a funnel of bark and roots just as a quarter of the battlefield slammed on top of him.

Not the ideal way he wanted to start the battle, but it worked to his advantage. Koda folded his legs into a meditative position. The makeshift tree guarded him from the suffocation of the tightly packed sand weighing him far below the surface of the battlefield. The king squinted his eyes shut and collapsed his hands in contrition, keeping only a single index finger up. He concentrated on extending roots from his cocoon. The thin wooden tendrils wriggled and wormed through the layers until their tips broke through the soil.

Koda twitched his eyes and ears, now hearing and seeing through his magical roots. Keeping them as close to the open surface as possible, he commanded his plants to crawl towards Ezevan’s feet. All the while he listened in on the conversation between the headmaster and referee.

“It is done,” Ezevan told his official. “Call off the match, I will rescue Koda’s body.”

The referee held the flag by his side. “I sense his magic is still in use, The challenger defended your advance.”

Ezevan irked his lip in a mixture of doubt and anger. “Impossible. How can that be—Yow!”

The referee raised his red and brown flag. “Challenger wins!”

Ezevan tried to lift his foot, but found it grappled by a vine of bramble and thorns.

“What? How? When?” exclaimed the head mage in confusion.

Across from the brown mage, a layer of sand peaked and broke apart as spindly roots and branches scraped through the surface like a funnel spider. The trunk of a tree followed the mass of burrowing wood. Koda cracked open the trunk and fell to his knees.

“I got you, Master Ezevan!” he laughed.

Ezevan ripped his foot away from the prickly weeds. “Indeed you did, Lord Koda. Indeed you did.”

Raine and Wildeye rushed to Koda’s side while Stryneth, Elucard and Cade trailed behind at a slower pace.

“Koda, you were brilliant!” Raine said, choking the king with a strong hug.

The elf blushed. “Thank you, Raine.”

“Stand before me, Lord Koda,” commanded Ezevan. The earth mage waited for Koda before taking a long strip of cloth from another brown mage. Ezevan stretched the cloth out to its full length and presented it to his school’s challenger.

“With this brown sash, you are now a mage of my element and color,” said Ezevan with a stoic expression.

Koda accepted the gift and smiled.

Ezevan placed a set of fingers on Koda’s brow. A swirling miasma of sand and energy rose around Koda and the brown mage. “I unlock your potential to wield earth, Koda Dawnedge!”

A rush of power pumped through Koda’s heart and soul with the new source of Magi in his mind. Doors previously locked, now free to open at his whim. No longer was he bound only to that of the Vernal element, now he had the power of stone.

Koda tightened his grip on the silk brown mage sash.

“Congratulations, Lord Dawnedge. You are ready to take on Azeva Emberwake.”