“There you are! I have been searching for you since the end of the battle! You did it!” Nold clapped his hands once as he knelt down in front of Zalan. “How do you feel? Your displays of power were incredible!”

“I don’t know about that,” Zalan said, trying not to discuss the fight directly in front of Slauson.

“No, no, you were very impressive,” Nold said.

“I barely beat him,” Zalan said, trying to offer a compliment to Slauson.

“What? You are talking about the match?” Nold looked confused.

“Yeah… what are you talking about?”

“The lightning pulled from the heavens!” Nold said grandly and looked up to the sky. “Such an impressive power! Could you do it again?”

“Right now? No way,” Zalan shook his head lightly.

“I see. Very well, do you have a good grasp over the feeling of summoning lightning? In general, not at this moment. Perhaps, if given enough time to focus, you could do it again?” Nold asked eagerly.

“Nold, I don’t even know how I did it the first time. There’s no way I’ll be able to manage it in the finals,” Zalan replied.

“The finals?” Nold’s brow furrowed.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically above them, shaking the earth with their energy.

“Right, yes, the finals,” Nold said as though it was an afterthought. He cleared his throat, trying to catch up with the context. “That was a good fight you put on. Good show in the physical fight. And I was impressed by how well you tried to mentally eviscerate your opponent.”

Zalan closed his eyes and sighed, bearing the shame of the statement. Nold seemed surprised by Zalan’s reaction and looked at Rep, waiting for him to add words of support. Rep shook his head slightly. Even more confused, Nold turned to Slauson.

“What are you doing here? Are you harassing Zabor?” Nold asked sternly.

Slauson stared blankly. Then he squinted in confusion.

“Do you mean Zalan?” Slauson asked.

Zalan reopened his eyes, surprised to hear Slauson correcting Nold.

“That is what I said. Are you harassing my student?” Nold asked.

“No. We were just discussing some things about the battle. I would have left by now, but it seems I can not move my legs,” Slauson replied, mildly offended by Instructor Nold’s accusation.

“I see,” Nold said. “You have Elemental Ice Power. I have never seen that one before. An impressive power. How would you like for me to train you for next year’s tournament?”

Zalan and Rep looked to one another, feeling as though they were being tossed aside by their mentor even as the tournament had yet to end.

“I have much to achieve between now and next year. I do not know that I will be free to train with you,” Slauson said politely.

“Just as well. I should be fine with just the lightning,” Nold replied to the group.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zalan asked.

“It’s time to set sail! I told you before. We can finally travel safely now that you have the ability to summon lightning from the skies at will,” Nold said eagerly.

“I can’t do it at will!”

“Details, details,” Nold said dismissively. “You have done it once, you can certainly do it again with proper training. And I intend to train you plenty between now and then.”

“Actually, Instructor Nold,” Rep chimed in, “Zalan and I were discussing this earlier. We determined that it would be best to speak to Madam Hikma and decide where to go next based on her advisement. Leaving now would be an obstacle to Zalan’s personal goals.”

“What?” Nold said, looking between Rep and Zalan in exasperation. “No, no, I thought you said you would assist me. I trusted that you would assist me.”

“I will,” Zalan said awkwardly. “But just after I finish all the quests that Madam Hikma gives us. They are the most important thing to me.”

“Negotiating with me, are you? Fine. Surely I can come with you for those quests. I could be an asset and move you faster. Once those are done, you will have the time to complete my quest,” Instructor Nold said.

Zalan looked at Rep for assistance. Rep shrugged slightly, leaving the decision up to Zalan. While they both felt strange about Nold, they knew he was a powerful ally and could probably teach them even more about fighting if they stuck with him.

Zalan couldn’t place exactly what he thought of Instructor Nold. Zalan never felt unsafe around him. But he didn’t exactly feel confident in him. He could trust him when it mattered, but there was a wall where Nold held his secrets that made Zalan feel off. Nold was hiding things that Zalan thought he had the right to know. He had been his student for long enough. For instance, Zalan didn’t know what Level Nold was at or the specifics of how he acquired any of his Elements and abilities. He never got to know about where Nold was from and why he liked teaching people with specific powers so much. But Zalan decided that it probably wasn’t that important so long as he was assisting them. He had never done anything that made Zalan truly believe Nold was bad to have around.

And even if he did promise to help Nold, he would be back in his own world after completing Madam Hikma’s quests. Madam Hikma’s quests would only ever be done in the case that Zalan wasn’t around anymore. There wasn’t much to be concerned about regarding Nold and going to some particular spot in the seas with him.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Yeah, sure, you can come with us,” Zalan said.

“Excellent. Let us be off. Immediately,” Nold said, standing up.

“Are you serious?” Zalan asked, stunned.

“What do you mean?” Nold looked down, trying to decipher Zalan’s words.

“Nold. The finals.”

“Right, yes, of course,” Nold said, turning around and looking at the arena. “Would you like me to carry you back into the stands? You should watch the fight.”

Zalan, Rep and Slauson all nodded. Nold waved his hands obligingly. Discs of sand were formed under Zalan and Rep, floating them upward and off the stadium floor. Slauson looked disappointed, but understanding as he was left behind. Zalan looked back at him, concerned with not having done enough for him.

“What about Slauson?” Zalan asked.

“What about him?” Nold asked, growing annoyed by all his student’s delays.

“Can he maybe join us?” Zalan said, embarrassed.

“The one who was harassing you?”

“I was doing no such thing,” Slauson said firmly.

“Nold, just bring him,” Zalan said.

Nold rolled his eyes.

“Very well,” he allowed, spinning a hand once more to bring about a third sand disc.

Nold floated them up the stairs into the arena stands. He turned their discs so that they were able to watch the fight as they were being carried to their seats. Zalan watched intently, knowing he would be facing the winner of this bout.

Dimak and Trentor were mid-battle, but it was far less violent than Zalan would have expected in a semifinal. Trentor was throwing small balls of water at Dimak from across the stage and Dimak was either moving aside or allowing them to splash him, depending on their size. Dimak was breathing heavily, not sending back any significant attacks. The crowd was roaring for Trentor, hungry to see him succeed.

“What’s going on? Are they both low Levels?” Zalan asked.

“Have you not been watching any of their matches?” Slauson asked.

“Let’s pretend I haven’t,” Zalan offered, trying not to sound stupid.

“Dimak was in a brutal match in the quarterfinal. The intensity was similar to our recent bout,” Slauson said. “He is likely very weakened. He is at Level 8, if I recall correctly. Trentor, on the other hand, is a low Level. Something like Level 2. No one expected him to make it this far.”

“So, Dimak is too weak to just go in and finish the match? There’s a huge Level gap.”

“Either that, or he does not wish to receive the ire of the audience by defeating the fan favorite,” Slauson guessed.

“I know I would be concerned about the latter,” Rep admitted.

“Even if there wasn’t a crowd cheering for Trentor, you’d find a reason to be concerned,” Zalan told him.

“True,” Rep smirked.

Dimak got tired of his defensive movement to avoid the water and slowly began to make his way across the arena. Trentor went tense, immediately stopping his output of water. Dimak surrounded his fist in a rock, effectively giving himself a spiked gauntlet. Trentor began trembling.

“Woah, is that what imbuing Elemental Earth looks like?” Zalan asked as Nold sat them all down.

“Yes. I thought you knew that. He has been using it in every battle he was a part of. Really, I am disappointed you have not caught on to it earlier,” Nold said as though it was obvious.

“I get it,” Zalan said, trying to drop the subject.

“You really seem to stumble your way through the Elemental Rage Tournament,” Slauson pointed out.

“What do you mean?”

“I just think that if you are in a tournament, you should know the abilities of your opponents as well as you can. Rather than discovering these things minutes before you experience them in combat,” Slauson said.

“I don’t see why I should take your advice when you couldn’t even make it to the finals,” Zalan replied with a hint of pride.

Slauson turned his way and raised an amused eyebrow.

“You had better not lose the final match,” Slauson said.

“I’ll try but…”

Stinging pain ran through Zalan’s chest. Everything in his body complained loudly with hurt. Slauson shrugged.

“Whatever you do, make it quick. We need to get moving on those quests,” Nold said.

Slauson leaned in toward Zalan and Rep.

“For a tournament instructor, he seems rather eager to not be part of the tournament,” Slauson mentioned quietly.

“He seemed interested in training us before this,” Rep replied, also confused.

“He only changed after my match against you. Otherwise he used to be…” Zalan was going to say “normal” but knew that word wouldn’t quite fit. He pivoted to another word. “He used to be more focused.”

“A madman who gets results is simply called eccentric,” Slauson said vaguely.

“What results?” Zalan asked.

“His students got into the Quarterfinals and Finals on their first attempts. And they were competing against people at higher Levels than them,” Slauson said.

“Oh, right,” Zalan said.

In the course of the tournament, he’d forgotten all about the rigorous training he’d gone through with Nold. He wouldn’t have made it nearly this far if he wasn’t able to imbue himself. Being able to emit lightning from his feet was a well-needed surprise attack. Even the slight redirection came in handy to throw off Rexler when in combat with him. Without Nold’s assistance, he wouldn’t have gotten close to being able to fight Slauson. Nor come to the conclusion he did about anger not being a tool to be built up and used. For that, he realized with some chagrin that he had a lot to be grateful to Nold for. It might be good to try and repay him for teaching him how to fight so well. He tried to ignore his conscience and focus on the fight.

Gradually, Dimak closed the gap between himself and Trentor. Trentor shrieked and threw as much water as he could at Dimak. Dimak blocked it with his rock-gauntlet fist. When Trentor’s water petered out into a trickle, Dimak pulled the arm back to strike. He drove a powerful punch into Trentor’s side. Dimak looked like his strike hurt him as much as it hurt his opponent. He closed his eyes tightly and grit his teeth. The way Trentor flopped onto the ground was harsh, even to watch. The crowd cheered for Trentor regardless. Then, Trentor coughed a spot of blood and raised his head.

“I yield!” he said in a small voice, blood at his lips.

Dimak grunted loudly in relief and plopped down on his rear, breathing heavily. The imbued rock at his arm crumbled to pebbles. He winced and groaned as he rubbed the bruises all throughout his body. He wasn’t even close to recovering from his fight with Skellorn, and Trentor did well to drain him of what little energy remained.

The audience had gone quiet. They murmured to one another in disbelief, trying to understand what they saw. After a few seconds, they collectively came to a conclusion and booed at Trentor. Zalan was shocked by the speed at which their opinion on him turned around. It seemed they were perfectly happy to see him beat to a pulp, so long as he never gave up in the meantime. He would have been hailed a champion if he just let Dimak beat him to death.

Slauson and Rep turned to Zalan who looked disappointed that the match ended so soon.

“Well. Are you ready for the finals?” Rep asked.

“No. Well, yeah, I guess. I still don’t think I’ll win, but I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Zalan leaned forward.

“Try and bring lightning from the sky again. It will be a very flashy way to end the tournament,” Nold said. “Show off your power and make me proud.”

“Right,” Zalan said confidently.

He stared at the dozens of stairs between him and the arena. Sweat rolled down his brow. He looked up at Nold.

“Ummm, can you help me back down?” Zalan asked, embarrassed.