The crowd was in an uproar. Leo’s nonchalant demeanor had awoken a new hope in the spectators. A single attack like that was far from enough to take him out. It seemed he was made of sterner stuff.
“As you wish,” Emil said. “Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance to surrender!”
This time, it was Leo who moved first. The line of sight between the two was broken as a pillar of stone shot out of the ground. In the next moment, the earth shifted. The ground of the stadium rumbled as dozens of pillars rose from the ground all over.
Emil looked around. He had summoned two fists. The two spells now hovered behind him, ready to strike. He whipped his head left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of his opponent. Out of the corners of his eyes, he spied movement to his right. He immediately launched one of his fists toward the threat.
The fiery appendage rammed its way through three pillars before finally dissipating upon colliding with a fourth. There was no sign of Leo anywhere. Emil cursed and started searching again. The ever-shifting and expanding forest of pillars had him on edge. He whipped his head left and right, convinced he had seen his opponent. Every time he was disappointed to find out that it was just another pillar that had started to rise.
A sudden impact knocked the boy off his feet. Emil was tossed through the air and landed gracelessly on his back. He immediately sent out his newly summoned fist in the direction of the attacker. The spell collided with the wall of the arena harmlessly, not even leaving a dent. Again, there was no trace of Leo.
Another spell graced Emil’s shoulder, but he was able to stay on his feet this time. He looked in the direction the spell had come from. No movement! He slowly started to turn. He was surrounded by a forest of stone pillars. The grinding noise of stone on stone made it impossible to hear anything.
The Fire Mage tried to calm down his wildly beating heart. There was no need to panic! Leo wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. The mana expenditure of something like this had to be enormous. It didn’t even matter how proficient the other boy was at the spell.
“You can’t keep this up for long, Leo!” He called out. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to keep the nervousness out of his voice. “How about you come out, and we finish this like men?”
Another [Fire Lance] was his only reply. Emil managed to block it with one of his fiery palms. He would not be able to do that often. The extreme power of his spell came at a severe mana cost.
Emil stayed alert as he awaited the next attack. This time, he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the spell in flight. He dodged away, but inwardly he was stunned. Leo was curving the spells midair to strike at him from unexpected angles. The ability to adjust the trajectory of spells was an advanced technique that Emil himself had not even begun to master. Somehow, Leo had figured out how to do it by himself.
Still, he had figured out how Leo managed to attack. If he could trace the spell back to his origin, he would be able to strike at his opponent directly. He endured another three attacks before he finally managed to pinpoint Leo’s position. Emil didn’t hesitate and immediately swatted both of his palms down on the spot he expected Leo to hide.
With an earsplitting crash, the spell impacted the location. Emil was certain he had seen Leo throwing himself on the ground before the spell landed. This brought a smile to his face. No matter what, Leo wouldn’t be able to endure a direct blow of two of his palms. The match was won!
He hurried over to the location he had attacked. The palms had already turned into a flaming fire. The moment the flames died down, the charred body of his opponent would be revealed! The Fire Mage found it strange that the healers were not on their way already. Could he have killed Leo by accident? His face went pale at the thought. He had sent out both of the spells in a panicked attempt not to miss his opponent, but that might have been too much.
Emil came to a halt right in front of the fiery crater. The flames went out. He stared at the spot Leo had been, only to see the broken remains of a vaguely human-shaped statue.
He had been tricked! The realization came far too late as the pillar right next to him opened up. A shadow pounced on him. Leo drew his saber with unmatched grace as he closed in. His broken arm was not hindering him even a little.
Flustered, Emil started to cast. He could not use his [Gluthand]. Not enough time. Instead, he summoned a [Flame Lance]. He finished the spell just in time and aimed the spell right at Leo’s chest. He could not afford to miss now!
Leo didn’t change his course. He tossed his saber to intercept the projectile. The metallic edge was not enough to contest the flame spell. However, it was enough to direct it slightly upward. Leo ducked under the flaming missile that was now hurling toward the sky. In the next moment, he had reached Emil. The Fire Mage lived up to his title of an elite as he drew his own weapon without delay. The steely look in his eyes made it clear that he was prepared to meet Leo head-on.
Leo grinned like a maniac as he closed in on his opponent barehanded. He was looking right at Emil’s eyes, his gaze unwavering. He seemed to pay no heed to the descending blade aimed at him. Without ever breaking eye contact, he shifted his posture mid-stride, narrowly avoiding the blow.
Leo tackled his opponent. He knocked the wind out of Emil as he lifted him off his feet. While still in midair, he changed his grip so that he would land on top of the other boy. Emil couldn’t follow his movements at all. In the next moment, he found himself on the ground. He was laying on his back with Leo on top. A fist connected with his chin, robbing him of his senses for a moment. Before he could recover, there was another hit to his face. A third one knocked loose a couple of teeth. Soon all the boy could do was groan in pain as a torrent of blows struck him all across his face and chest.
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Cast! He needed to cast a spell. He tried to amass enough lucidity. Anything that would get Leo off of him. This needed to stop! He lost his train of thought as another fist connected with his temple. Emil was dazed for a few seconds. Luckily, no more blows followed. He looked up at Leo and was shocked by what he found.
The other boy was far more wounded than he had thought. One arm was bent at a crooked angle, clearly broken. A stream of blood ran down his face. It seemed the earlier [Fire Lance] had not missed completely. Leo had one eye closed to avoid the stream of blood that was freely running over it. His entire armor looked to be in shambles.
However, none of this was what had shocked Emil. It was the expression on Leo’s face. His single eye was staring right at him, daring him to make another move. It appeared to him that Leo hoped that he still had something left. Another trick to turn the tables, maybe? Leo’s amber eye seemed to almost beg him to try something more.
It was then that Emil remembered. Leo wasn’t the best fighter because of his mastery over spells. Not because of his talent with the sword. Not because of his battle instincts or inhuman reflexes, either. It was this unquenchable thirst for battle that made him so formidable. When Leo was fighting, it seemed that winning was only of secondary importance to him. What he really craved was to fight somebody that could give him a proper challenge.
Leo had started combat classes pretty much at the bottom rank. This didn’t last for long, however. Only a few weeks later, he had to apply handicaps to his fighting style in order to still find a worthy foe among the other first years. Emil saw that same burning hunger for combat now focused on himself once again. He had forgotten what kind of monster Leo truly was.
Emil let out a sigh, but a smile spread across his face. “I hope you’ll at least manage to take first place after this,” he said in a quiet tone.
“I surrender!” He yelled with all his remaining strength,
Leo’s excited expression shifted to one of disappointment at the declaration. He got up from Emil’s chest and extended his single working hand toward him. Emil took it and with a wince from both of them, Leo heaved the other boy to his feet.
The easygoing smile was back on Leo’s face as he responded to Emil’s earlier words, “I will do what I can to take first place. However, it is my honest wish that I won’t.” With those words, he turned and walked away. A healer trailed after him to provide proper care. Emil looked at the blonde boy’s back with envious eyes. He was jealous of Leo's charisma and strength, that much he could freely admit.
It was only then that Emil noticed the cheering. The noise level had reached a new high. He had been so focused up until now that he didn’t pay any attention. Emil was heartened to hear that many people had also started cheering for him. Even though he had lost the adoration of the people with his earlier words, he seemed to have at least earned their respect with his fight.
A healer approached him to take care of his wounds. In order not to lose out, he also made his way to the changing room unaided. Emil’s head still felt like he had been drinking all night, but he could at least manage this much. With his head held high, he left the arena.
The moment Leo stepped back into the private area. He was greeted by the applause of Zeke, Sophia, and Viola. Wordlessly, he walked over to his armchair and dove right into its velvety embrace. Finally, with a content smile on his face, he addressed the three.
“That was fun,” he said.
“Zeke, your friend is weird,” Viola said. Sophia also nodded at the comment. Even though Leo had been restored to good health, it was not long ago that he had suffered severe injuries. Zeke merely smiled, he had long gotten used to Leo’s personality. Sometimes, it felt to him as if Leo was the one with the Dragon heart.
It would be another half an hour until the next fight. The four of them started to talk about potential strategies that Leo could have used against Emil. Time flew by, and soon it was time for the next fight to begin. Felix Feuerkranz was facing off against Katja Brennbar.
Zeke was excited to learn what the two could do if they went all out. The match started with them trading spells. They seemed to feel each other out. It was Felix that dominated these exchanges for the most part. They both seemed to have a greater affinity, but Felix had a slight edge when it came to the mastery of the spells.
“I was hoping to save this for the semi-finals, but you leave me with no choice,” Katja said with a sigh. In the next moment, she summoned a blue flame to her hand. Her rapid breathing and pale face indicated that this one spell had taken a lot out of her.
The ball of fire was only about the size of her fist. It hovered over her outstretched palm and Zeke got the impression of a coiled snake ready to pounce. It was immediately obvious that there was something different about those flames. The longer Zeke observed the dancing tounges of fire, the more a feeling of unease began to spread. He was certain that those flames were not something that he would be able to confront head-on.
By the expression on Felix's face, it seemed he was wary of those blue flames as well. Zeke had never seen the spell before. If he had to guess, then this was probably the secret Magic of the Brennbar family. It was said that this spell could burn anything. Zeke was excited to find out how powerful their specialty Magic really was.
“I didn’t expect you to have mastered it already. Very impressive!” Felix praised.
“It’s not too late to give up, Felix,” Katja teased. The girl seemed excited upon finally being able to show off her trump card. Zeke didn’t know how difficult a feat it was, but by the expression on Viola and Sophia’s faces, it seemed this was nothing to sneeze at.
“You jest,” Felix replied with a smile, “As if I would miss out on the chance to measure my trump card against yours!”
Katja snorted, “Nice try, but bluffing is going to get you nowhere. The only spell that could rival my [All Consuming Flame] is not available to you until the Grand Mage level.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Felix said with a smile before his expression also turned serious. He closed his eyes in intense focus and his entire body began to shudder. Zeke had seen this phenomenon before. This was the consequence of channeling too much mana through one’s magic core. If Felix kept this flow up for too long, he would irrevocably damage his core.
A moment later, his eyes shut open again and his breathing also stabilized. A smile slowly spread on the Fire Mage’s face.
“Feast your eyes on the pinnacle of Fire Magic!” Felix proclaimed as he spread both of his arms wide in a dramatic gesture.