Raucous laughter filled the air as a voice shouted, “More beer here!”

The serving maid went to comply with the request and once their beers have been refilled, the men returned to their conversation.

“So, what do you think of the coming match?”

“What do you mean?” his companion said, sipping some beer in the meantime.

“The one that’s coming tomorrow you dumbass, who’s going to win?” he clarified, earning an understanding grunt.

His companion thought on it a moment, quaffing down some more beer before he said, “My money’s on Ieros.”

The man frowned.

“Really? You’re willing to bet money on Faceless?”

The other shrugged.

“Why not? He’s won against three of those nobles with ease and personally, I enjoy that very much.”

“I mean I guess,” the man agreed, “But still, he’s up against five of them this time, all of them from those super-elite families.”

“Really?” the other asked as he took another drink.

The man nodded.

“Yeah, I heard the Kutani, Burkem, Vronti, and uh,” he snapped his fingers before giving up and calling over another person.

“Hey, what were the names of those noble kids who are fighting tomorrow, Kutani, Burkem, Vronti, I can’t recall the others.”

The man thought a moment and said, “I think it was the Umar Twins, why’d you ask?”

The first said, “Well, we were betting on who would win, he thinks that the boy will, I don’t.”

The third took a seat.

“Well if I can add my money to the wager, I’d have to agree with you that the boy probably isn’t going to win. Not only is the eldest Kutani boy there, but the heir of the Vronti’s too. Fire and lightning man, nothing is stronger in offense than those two.”

The first nodded.

“That’s quite true, and even if the boy could defend against them, he still has three others to deal with, the Umar Twins and the heir of the Burkem Family. I don’t know too much about the Burkems but those Umar Twins aren’t going to be easy either.”

The third agreed.

“They’re as powerful as they are beautiful and by Light they are. It’s as if Light herself sculpted their features, one to be as cold as ice and the other as welcoming as a hot bath at the end of a day’s work.”

The first snorted, “Stop trying to speak like a philosopher, you just sound stupid. I mean ‘as welcoming as a hot bath?’ Dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

The third retorted, “Well it’s probably better than whatever you can come up with.”

The first shrugged.

“Just because I can’t think of anything doesn’t make whatever you said any less stupid.”

The second said, “Yeah man, just sounds weird.”

Third huffed, “By Light, I didn’t realize that the two of you were highly educated in the ways of grammar, the two of you should become teachers then!”

The second shook his head.

“Nah, I’m fine as I am, I already have enough kids to deal with back home.”

The first nodded, “Mhmm, although it would be more bearable if my missus was half as beautiful as Verglas and half as kind as Merus.”

The second said, “Your wife will kill you if she heard that.”

The first nodded, “Exactly my point.”

He took a drink and the second man took this chance to talk.

“Anyway, So there’s fire, lightning, water, ice, I do admit it is a rather daunting match up.”

The third added, “Don’t forget earth, the Burkem’s eldest son is participating too.”

The second shrugged.

“I doubt he could make a mountain like Ieros can.”

The first said, “That won’t matter, he isn’t alone in the fight. I’m telling you, the faceless mage is going to lose.”

He took another drink.

“Why doesn’t he show his face anyway? Is he too ugly or something?”

The third shrugged.

“Maybe, perhaps he’s just shy. Anyway, it’s just unnerving. The nobles—whether or not you hate 'em or like 'em—they have faces, we know they’re people. But him? Only Light knows what hides beneath that hood of his, for all we know he could be some monster.”

“Or,” the second added, “It could be to protect his identity. After all, isn’t he a commoner? I’m sure those nobles aren’t too happy about that.”

The third took a drink, “That’s true, which is another reason why I think Mr. Faceless isn’t going to win, the nobles have too much to lose if he wins. It’s probably why he has five opponents now instead of four, the nobles bribed the Academy to change the schedules.”

The second said, “I guess, but the Seven Masters aren’t part of the Noble Families, they renounced their titles and inheritances when they joined the Academy Council.”

The third responded, “Not officially, I guarantee that there’s some shady business going on between them in places we can’t see.”

“Probably,” the second sighed, “But what business is it of ours? At the end of the day, it’s just nobles squabbling, as long as it doesn’t interfere with my drinking, I don’t care.”

“Hear hear!” the other two said as they all took a drink.

—IEROS—

One foot ahead of the other. My robes rustling softly. My heart beating louder as I grew ever closer. My mind, however, was empty. I was nervous and yet, relieved. Finally, no matter what happened, it would be over. My heart beat faster as I turned the corner, seeing the waiting chamber and the exit beyond, the dull roar of the crowd louder now.

I continued to walk, finally stepping out onto the arena. The sun was nearing its zenith as I approached the center, giving me a great view of my opponents. There was Muttavar, his features just like his brother’s, although I had a feeling he wouldn’t be as foolish. There was Fulgar, the youngest to be inducted in the Vronti Knights. Then the twins, Verglas and Merus, judging from the chanting of the crowd, they seemed to be rather popular. And finally, there was Tritus Burkem, intimidating in his heavy suit of armor.

I came to a stop, roughly five feet away from them, bowing my head in greeting. Muttavar just glared at me, Fulgar just had this weird grin and Verglas lived up to her rumors as Ice Queen. Only Merus and Tritus returned the greeting.

I debated speaking, but I was soon forced into it as Merus stepped forward with her hand stretched out for a handshake.

“Hello!” she said with a happiness that I had never seen before.

I blinked, surprised but I still ended up shaking her hand, muttering a hello of my own. She smiled again as she attempted to peer inside my hood, leaning in as I stepped back.

“Whatcha hiding under there?”

I blinked again.

“Hiding?”

She nodded.

“Mhmm, you haven’t shown your face, not even once! I’m terribly curious, so could you show me?”

I was caught off guard by such a random question, it was an easy enough request, and yet I felt somewhat uncomfortable carrying it out. She took my silence as a no, much to her disappointment, although she soon brightened up.

“Oh well, I’ll just have to see it when I beat you!”

She then returned to her side, leaving me somewhat confused, and yet strangely determined to win. I put it out of my mind for now, instead wondering when the match would begin. The announcer, as usual, was talking to the crowd to boost the excitement, describing the victories of me and my opponents as well as whatever titles we may have earned.

I didn’t quite care for it, to be honest, I just wanted to get this fight started. I sighed once again, taking slow, deep breaths in an attempt to calm my heart. I let my lungs fill as far as they could go, and then exhaled for as long as I could. And slowly, my heart began to subside, and then I heard it. The announcement to prepare my barrier. My heart resumed its hasty pace as I took one last breath and held it, burning my blood faster than I ever had before.

And, just as I had practiced, I sent it deep into the earth, as deep as it could go, and then drew it up, taking one last breath before the earth engulfed me.

———

The announcer had barely finished his words when earth erupted around Ieros, throwing up a cloud of dust, the nobles tensing as they prepared their barriers in case Ieros tried anything. However, when the dust settled, a large dome of dark grey stone stood where Ieros had once been, two and a half meters tall and five meters wide. The nobles eyed the dome warily, before Tritus cautiously approached, his armor clanking softly as he shuffled closer.

Finally, he stood in arms reach of the sphere and, prepared to retreat, he reached out and touched the dome. There was no reaction and he decided to probe further, placing his palm upon its surface and sent a mana probe. He stood there as his team watched with bated breath. Seconds passed, nearing a minute before he finally stepped back, a frown on his face.

He returned, reporting, “It’s a sphere, I estimate nearly five meters in diameter. What’s more is that it is incredibly dense, I’ve never encountered anything like it on this scale, I’d say he used up most if not all of his mana to do that.”

Frowns appeared on the rest of the group’s faces, Muttavar saying, “Can you break through?”

Tritus shook his head.

“There’s just too much of his mana in there, I can only probe it from the outside, and even that is limited.”

Muttavar looked to the rest of his team.

“Any ideas?”

Fulgar shrugged.

“I could give it a shot but five meters, I don’t know about that.”

Verglas then spoke, “Do we need to break in? Tritus just said that Ieros used a lot of mana to make that sphere, we just need to wait until he inevitably comes out again. And if he doesn’t, the judge will disqualify him for refusal to fight.”

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Muttavar grimaced.

“Tch, that bastard.”

He turned and shouted at the dome, “Come out coward! You still need to pay for what you did!”

Tritus said, “He probably can’t hear you.”

“Shut it,” Muttavar growled, “I’m going to make him suffer for what he did.”

“Yeah yeah, revenge for your brother and all that. Look man, I get it, I’d be angry too but shouting at a rock isn’t gonna help.” Fulgar said.

After a few moments, Muttavar nodded.

“You’re right. But I’d still rather do something than nothing.”

It was then that Merus raised her hand.

Verglas sighed.

“We’re not in class Merus, you don’t need to raise your hand.”

Merus pouted. “Aunty Silvie said it was good manners!”

Verglas sighed again.

“Just get on with it, what’s your idea?”

Merus smiled.

“Well, when water freezes into ice, the ice expands right?”

Verglas nodded and Merus continued, “Well, if we make a small hole and if I fill it with water, you could freeze it and make the hole bigger! Then you melt it, I add a bit more and you freeze it again which then makes it even bigger!”

Verglas weighed the idea before rejecting it.

“It’d still take too long and we’d only be tiring ourselves out.”

“I believe it best that we just wait,” Tritus said, “Ieros,for whatever reason, wanted to buy time and he did. We aren’t going to get through that barrier anytime soon. I say we just prepare for when he does come out, he wouldn’t have done this for no reason, he’s doing something in there and we can’t stop it. Our best option is to build our defenses.”

And so, Tritus made stone stools for all of them and took a seat, eyeing the dome. The others took their seats, Fulgar examining his equipment, Verglas and Merus chatting, and Muttavar bouncing his foot impatiently as he glared at the dome. The sun, having passed its zenith, began its descent to the horizon, the shadows lengthening as the audience began to complain.

The judges and game coordinators met to see what could be done, consulting both the King and Azorin on how to proceed. Azorin persistently maintained that Ieros had a plan and that he would act, they just needed to wait. The King, after confirming with his Court Mage that Ieros was indeed doing something in there, agreed to let the match go on. And thus, the announcer was left with the difficult task of placating the audience.

“Ladies and Gentlemen! The judges and coordinators have met, and after discussing things with the King and Archmage Azorin, they have agreed to let the match continue as is! The Court Mage himself has confirmed that Ieros is doing something within the dome, we just ask that you remain patient for a little while longer!”

The crowd grumbled, a few even leaving the arena to spend their time on better things but for the most part, the crowd grudgingly continued to wait. Nearly twenty-five minutes had passed when a circular hole appeared at the top of the dome, Ieros rising out of it moments later. He had done it so quietly that the nobles had hardly noticed, only Muttavar who had been glaring at the dome sprang to his feet as flames ignited.

“IEROS!!!” he shouted as he lobbed a flaming javelin, which Ieros dispersed with a powerful gust of wind.

Ieros then pointed and lightning erupted from his fingertips, although Fulgar intercepted with his shield. Fulgar prepared a counter but found that Ieros was gone, he had sunk back just as quietly into the dome. More time passed, as Ieros intermittently appeared to harass his enemy, much to Muttavar’s rage. There was nothing he could do, there was almost no predicting when Ieros would attack next and they couldn’t stand guard forever.

In his frustration, he punched the surface of the dome, leaving a faint imprint of his fist.

He then turned to Verglas and Merus.

“Break that barrier, we’re either going to force him out or make it his grave.”

He looked at Fulgar and said, “Make the initial hole to get them started. Afterward, protecting the two of them is our greatest priority.”

They all nodded as they set to work, Fulgar burying his blade as far as it would go, before using lightning to blast a hole. It wasn’t too large, but that was soon fixed by the twins who began to work on widening it. Meanwhile, Fulgar, Muttavar, and Tritus prepared to defend against whatever Ieros might throw at them.

But nothing happened, once again, all fell silent as the twins continued to labor away at the barrier, filling the fissure with water, freezing it, melting it and repeating the process all over again. Slowly, with each iteration, the fissure grew, the two speeding up as it somehow got easier. Excited, they continued to work until Tritus shouted in warning.

Confused, Merus turned to look back, about to ask when Verglas dragged her away, steam hissing as the dome gradually grew red-hot, slowly melting.

The announcer stated the obvious as Verglas looked to Muttavar but he was just as confused as her, this could only be Ieros’s doing. Meanwhile, the dome continued to melt, lava spilling onto the sandy floor, hissing as the sand melted too against the intense heat. Slowly, it began to spread, inching towards the group who retreated a safe distance. Tritus then raised a platform of stone before it reached them, reinforcing the stone with his mana to slow the melt.

With that done, he joined the others in watching the dome as it melted, although only he among them appreciated just how much energy was required to do this. He found it almost impossible to believe that Ieros had so much mana, just how powerful was he? And then, finally, the dome had finished melting, leaving only a circular platform upon which Ieros stood, its surface engraved with the formation of a large spell circle.

“So that’s what it was...” Tritus muttered, before snorting, it was so simple.

Muttavar frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

Tritus explained, “His mana, to condense stone is one thing, but to melt it is another. YOu need so much mana to do that and I was wondering just how he got it. But looking at that spell circle, now I know. That’s why he made such a thick barrier, he needed time.”

Muttavar glanced back at the faint outline of the circle, then back at Tritus.

“What does it do?”

Tritus shrugged.

“I don’t know yet, all I know is that it had something to do with melting his barrier.”

By now, the lava had reached the tip of their stone platform and began to inch around, Tritus keeping an eye on it so that the stone platform doesn’t melt.

However, he still warned, “Be careful, I’m not super confident in how long I will be able to hold this platform if he decides to attack. You guys need to start doing something.”

Muttavar snorted, “YOu don’t need to tell me twice. Now that his barrier’s gone, nothing is going to stop me.”

He turned to the twins, saying, “DO something about the lava, I will get him myself. Fulgar, protect the twins.”

He then glared at Ieros, covering himself in scarlet flames before he stepped out into the lava, somewhat surprised as he sunk half a knee down into the molten liquid. He grimaced as he felt the heat but he took a breath and began to march towards Ieros. Meanwhile, the once silent arena filled with the sound of song as Merus cast her first proper spell, the sky darkening with rainclouds.

Verglas joined her voice to the song as the rain that began to drop turned into shards of ice which hailed down on Ieros and the lava below. Ieros deflected them with an air barrier while steam hissed as cold met heat, the lava temporarily hardening before melting again. However, as the song continued, the hail only continued to increase, Ieros shifting slightly as he poured a little more mana into the molten rock.

He did not forget Muttavar however, raising his hand, with a matching arm of lava mimicking his movements. He swatted at Muttavar who leaped out of the water to dodge, only to be met by a second hand that grabbed him. Hail suddenly focused on that arm, hardening its surface which cracked as it fell down to earth, splashing the glowing orange liquid everywhere. Fulgar stepped up with his shield, protecting the twins while Tritus made an earthen wall.

As for Muttavar, with a guttural roar, he arose from the lake, scarlet flames freeing him from the lava’s grasp.

“This isn’t enough to stop me Ieros!!!”

Ieros did not answer, instead turned his focus to the singing twins. Remelting what they were freezing was taking up more mana than he’d like, he needed to stop them. And so, while he kept Muttavar at bay with waves of lava, he sent a concentrated tendril of mana to start worming into the stone platform.

Tritus frowned as he felt the invasive mana attempt to breach his own, fighting for control of the stone. He shouted a warning to the twins, who then began to focus some of their spells onto the platform, this time regular water falling upon the platform and seeping into the earth, adding their mana to Tritus’s. It was Ieros’s turn to frown, although no one saw it, as he dedicated more mana to the attempt, as well as sending a rather large wave of mana their way. Tritus once again summoned a wall which the wave broke against, wincing as Ieros’s mana took the opportunity to worm its way further, the edges of his platform beginning to melt.

Another wave came crashing down as the twins sang harder, a veritable deluge of water falling upon the lake whose surface constantly hardened and broke again as Verglas focused all her ice on Ieros. A sphere of fierce winds protected both him and the circle, Muttavar making great advances before Ieros turned his focus on him again.

Once again, Ieros pointed and lightning flashed, Muttavar roaring with pain and anger as his scarlet flames just burned brighter. Lightning flashed once again, but this time it wasn’t Ieros, Fulgar stood proudly, pointing his crackling sword at Ieros, where presumably the lightning bolt had been shot. He smiled as he saw that Ieros had been hit, the robes of his right shoulder had been scorched off. Ieros looked at his wound, and then looked at Fulgar, although that was all he could do as Muttavar closed the distance, casting a spell of his own as flaming armor formed itself around him.

Ieros just barely managed to throw him back with a gust of wind, but just like that, Muttavar was back, Fulgar shooting lightning whenever he retreated, forcing Ieros to constantly be on the defense. Frustrated with Muttavar’s constant harassment, Ieros sent him back with another wave, melting even more stone around him so that Muttavar wouldn’t be able to wade his way to Ieros anymore.

With that taken care of, Ieros once more focused on the group, using lightning beacons to misdirect Fulgar’s attacks as he thought of a way to deal with him. Ieros then had a thought, there were more of them than him but that also made that they had more targets. So two lightning beacons were prepared and enough energy for two medium-powered strikes.

He raised both of his hands, and pointed, one to Tritus, and the other at the Twins. Lightning once again flashed, Fulgar easily defending against it with his shield but Tritus was not so lucky. He grimaced as his armor crackled with energy, his lapse in focus allowing Ieros further control of the platform, Tritus grunting out a warning.

The twins did what they could as sweat beaded on their foreheads, their voices beginning to falter. However, just as Ieros was tasting victory, he suddenly the flow of mana decrease. He frowned, looking down and seeing Muttavar smiling triumphantly, having left a deep gouge in the circle’s pattern.

With the flow of mana stopped, he had to finish this quickly. The good news was that his opponents were getting low as well. So he sent another wave, forcefully regrouping Muttavar with his team as Ieros took control of all the lava on the field. It began to swell, surrounding the team on all sides, while Ieros continued to erode away at the foundation of their platform.

Verglas ceased her singing to begin reinforcing the platform with ice, with momentarily ceased the erosion. But there was still the great walls of lava that surrounded them, which Ieros then let fall. Upon Verglas’s urging, Merus ceased her song and join Verglas on the defense, creating a dome of ice that hissed as it turned the molten liquid into blackened stone.

But the cold never reached the lava’s surface as it was in constant flow, bringing hotter lava in contact with the frozen barrier, remelting the stone and eating away at the ice. And once again, Ieros resumed his assault on the foundation, victory was near. And then, with a thunderous blast, Fulgar and Muttavar broke free from their molten prison and took a pincer formation.

Ieros frowned as he burned blood, waiting until they were near before he released a mana pulse, temporarily dispersing their lighting and flames, although that did nothing to stop them physically. Ieros was forced to flee, dashing backward with a gust of wind to push them back as well, situating himself on more solid ground, clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction as his lapse in concentration had allowed Tritus to stabilize significantly.

Unfortunate but it couldn’t be helped, he needed to deal with the two before him. Once again, another pincer attack but this time Ieros was ready, having sent his mana into the earth below and making it treacherous ground. Muttavar was the first to discover this as his foot sank into the seemingly stable ground, halting his movement altogether. He mustered his mana to melt his way out but it only made it worse as he began to sink faster.

Fulgar, seeing this, managed to use lightning to boost his movement, getting far closer to Ieros, much to his alarm. His sword, crackling with energy, was at Ieros’s face in moments, Ieros feeling a sharp pain in his neck as he countered with a pillar of stone that rammed itself into Fulgar’s stomach. While Fulgar fell to one knee, groaning, Ieros began to suffocate him, taking away all the breathable air.

Fulgar struggled of course, but soon, his body grew weak and he collapsed, losing consciousness moments later. Ieros repeated the process with Muttavar, a much easier task as by now, only his head remained above the liquid earth. After assuring that the two of them were done for the count, Ieros turned his attention to the remaining three, burning more blood to reheat the cooling lava.

But this, paired with his already bleeding neck, proved to be rather taxing, Ieros finally falling to one knee himself as he attempted to stem the blood flow with his hand, circulating his mana to speed up his body’s recovery. However, his primary focus was the molten prison, grimacing as ice breached the lava’s surface, a doorway being carved upon its surface and blown away, leaving an ice tunnel which the three escaped through.

Verglas barely managed to clear the tunnel before she collapsed in exhaustion, Tritus was still standing but not in much better condition. Merus was the most fit out of all of them, Ieros taking a few breaths as he steeled himself for one last fight. Merus looked at him, and then at her teammates.

“Tritus, how much mana do you have left?”

Through heavy breaths, he said, “Very little... but... enough for one... final go...”

She nodded.

She then looked at Ieros, saying somewhat sheepishly, “I don’t suppose you’ll surrender.”

Ieros mulled it over, finally saying, “I don’t think I can.”

She nodded.

“Well regardless of how it turns out, you did very well, I would never have thought to use a spell circle like that.”

Ieros nodded.

“Yeah, you too.”

After a few moments, he added, “Your song was pretty.”

She smiled.

“Thanks.”

Ieros turned to Tritus and said, “You did well too.”

Tritus nodded but otherwise said nothing, each of them preparing for one last spell. Ieros sighed, seating himself with his legs crossed as he prepared to burn his blood, deciding on two lightning blasts. He prepared the beacons just as Tritus charged. Merus gathered what water remained and fashioned a whip, sending it whistling through the air at Ieros. And as for Ieros, he just raised his left hand and pointed, releasing a brief flash of light accompanied by concussive thunder.

Tritus fell to his knees, and then on his face. Merus was knocked backward although her attack had connected, striking Ieros in the chest and knocking him down too. The thunder faded, leaving only silence. The arena was finally still. And then, faint coughing was heard as Ieros rolled over onto his side, prompting the judges to signal the healers to begin treating the combatants.

He remained there, as the healers rushed to his side and to the side of the others, a few extricating Muttavar from the now solidified stone. As treatments began, the other healers signaled that Ieros was the only one to remain conscious, which made the judges’ decision unanimous.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, IEROS HAS WON THE 276TH MAGUS TOURNAMENT!!!”