"I'm sorry," I cooed as I scratched behind the world lion's ears.
Grawder laid his hulking mass across the bench I sat upon. He rested his head on my lap as he purred rhythmically.
"I didn't want to hurt you, but Curtis left me no choice," I continued, taking his head in my hands. I lifted it so he could look me in the eye. "You understand, right?"
He licked my face.
"Pffth," I recoiled, letting the lion's head drop back to my thighs.
"He understands that you threw him into a wall twice," Curtis murmured, tapping his foot whilst he directly avoided looking at me.
"He also understands that he lost fair and square, don't you Grawder?"
He yawned, ignoring both of us.
My foot drummed against the hardwood as I continued to run my hand along his mane.
"How's the arm?" I asked, not looking at Curtis.
"You're nervous, aren't you?" Curtis laughed.
"I am not!" I snapped back with a glare.
With a snicker, Curtis stood and instructed Grawder to move. The world lion reluctantly complied and moved to lie down on the wooden floor. Curtis cleared the space and sat where his bond had just lain.
"It's okay to be nervous, you know?"
"I'm not," I repeat, more firmly this time.
He placed a hand on my shoulder. I swiped it off.
"Fine, I guess…" he groaned, standing back up.
He bent down and stroked his bond.
"I expected to fight Tess in the final…"
"I know because you wanted to fight a conjurer, you made that much clear-"
"Because I know how to beat her."
"Huh?" he perked up, looking back at me over his shoulder.
"Since her arrival at Xyrus Academy, I have spared against Tess almost every day," I folded my hands before me and played with my thumbs. "I know how she fights, how she casts spells, how she moves…"
Curtis stood from Grawder and sat down on the bench opposite me.
"I expected to breeze to the semi-finals, where I expected to fight and beat one of you before then beating the other in the final."
I sighed before looking up at him.
"I also breezed through the Semi-final," I said with a smirk. "Though that's not really relevant…"
His face twisted as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "If you're so confident, then why are you acting like this?"
"Tess is strong, you agree, right?" I asked looking to my friend.
He nodded. "She is… To be a light orange core mage at 14 would make her a generational talent"
'What would that make Art then?'
I snickered to the confusion of my friend.
"Tess has pushed me to get stronger; she even beats me sometimes," I smiled, "But to see her beaten so easily, it's just…" I sighed.
"Just because she lost, it doesn't mean that you are going to, Lias."
"I guess…"
He stood and walked over to me. Placing a hand on my shoulder, I looked up at him.
"Even if you were to lose it would only be seen by the entire continent."
"Fuck you," I groaned, pushing him off me.
He laughed, though that was cut short by the knocking at my dressing room door.
---
"It's nice to meet you, Elias," the red-haired teen smiled as she offered a hand to me.
I took it cautiously. Her grip surprisingly rough.
"You too," I replied.
Grey eyes studied me carefully before she released my hand.
Up close, Claire looked less imposing than she had during her match with Tess. Though the rapier hanging at her waist still drew my eyes every few seconds.
"You've got your whole family here, huh?" she asked, looking toward the royal viewing box.
Curtis stood next to Tess, looking down at us with a glum scowl.
'Losers,' I smirked.
"Is your father also here? I saw him talking with my brother earlier."
"My uncle," she corrected, "Uncle Kas, trained me since I first awoke around your age," she smiled.
"Any idea what they were talking about?" I held the back of my head.
"I do not," she exhaled.
We stood in an awkward silence as I debated kicking rocks.
"So, how does your healing magic work? I've been dying to ask since your earlier fight against the prince."
"I don't really know… but if you yield now, I'll be sure to tell you to the best of my abilities." I smiled innocently.
"Hmm… as tempting as that offer is, I'll have to pass,"
"Your loss," I sighed as a large square of light pulsed to life high into the sky.
The construct flickered for a moment before Grandma Cynthia appeared upon it, her amplified image towering over the coliseum. Wind tugged lightly at her hair as she smiled down at the sea of spectators beneath her.
'Where is she…'
My eyes scanned the arena, looking for any sign of grey hair that didn't belong to an elf.
"Citizens of Dicathen!" she boomed. "Thank you all for joining us for the Summer Series Grand Finale!"
The crowd roared, shaking the stone stands they stood upon.
Claire glanced up at the projection before looking back toward me. "She really likes dramatic entrances, huh?"
"She's old, let her have this."
The real Cynthia descended from above atop her wyvern, the beast's wings hammering the air hard enough that sand spiralled across the floor beneath us.
'There she is…'
Grandma stepped down gracefully before spreading her arms wide. She smiled, looking between the two of us.
"Before we begin," she announced, her voice carrying across the arena with ease, "I would like to congratulate both finalists on making it this far."
The crowd once more erupted in cheers, though this time accompanied by claps. Claire lowered herself into a curtsy, which I swiftly mimicked with a bow.
"Elias Leywin," Grandma placed a hand on my shoulder before doing the same to my opponent. "Claire Bladeheart." She smiled, turning away from the two of us as she performed for the broadcast. "As always, standard tournament rules apply. Yielding, incapacitation, or my intervention will determine the victor. And please avoid killing each other."
"I didn't plan on going that far, though I can't speak for my opponent."
"As did I, Director," Claire smiled in response.
The Director's wyvern huffed heavily as she stepped back toward the arena's centre.
"Participants," she called, lifting an arm high into the air. "Take your positions."
"Good Luck, Elias," Claire nodded, walking away from me.
I nodded in kind before clearing back ten paces.
With an exhale, I withdrew my sword from my dimension ring. Lofting its length up, I rested it against my shoulder.
With a laugh, I turned to face Claire. Who, in turn, stared back at me over 20 paces away.
Standing atop her Wyvern's back, Grandma stood tall. "Are you both ready and able?" she asked.
"Yes, I am, Grandma," I nodded.
"As am I, Director," Claire said eagerly as she drew her rapier.
Light reflected along the weapon's thin length, illuminating it in a harsh shine. It became hard to look at as the redhead readied herself.
The wyvern flapped with a fury, scattering sand as it now hovered 3 meters above us. "Then begin!" Grandma exclaimed as she exaggeratedly hammered her arm down.
Sand burst beneath Claire's heel as she vanished.
My eyes widened as a line of light glimmered beside my neck.
I jerked backwards instinctively as her rapier skimmed across my collar, the thin edge biting just deep enough to draw blood before she slipped past me like a gust of wind.
I twisted around with my blade already swinging toward where she should have been.
A sharp sting bloomed across my ribs.
"Hk-!"
My breath hitched as another thrust pierced through my side. The narrow blade slid free before I could retaliate, leaving warmth pouring beneath my shirt. Steel clattered to the floor with a dull thud as Claire flowed backwards with measured footwork, her ponytail snapping behind her.
"Too slow," she smiled apologetically.
I gritted my teeth, gathering mana to the wound as it began to stitch itself back together.
"15, 16, 17…"
'Damn it… I couldn't even see her.'
Bending down, I freed my blade from the grains.
'How is she moving like this-'
Light caught the length of her rapier as it impaled my shoulder. All strength vanished from my right arm as my weapon thudded to the ground
"Fuck," I groaned, falling to a knee.
"12, 13…"
'She's an augmenter, Lias…'
I heaved slightly as I tightened my grip on my shoulder.
'I've had plenty of experience fighting them…'
I stumbled to my feet with a wobble.
'But I'm a Conjurer…'
I gathered mana towards the soles of my shoes.
'So I should fight like one and make some distance'
Fire mana exploded beneath me, sending me flying easily 30 meters into the sky. The ground grew distant, and the air ever so slightly colder. Thousands of eyes watched me take flight. Each with awe. Eight with worry.
As I reached the apex of my flight, just over 50 meters above the crowd, I rotated my form, letting my back face the heavens as I looked down upon the earth.
'It's so…'
I looked over my home, the distant streets I grew up walking beside my mother, El, Aunt Tabitha, and Lily. The Helstea's Auction House, where I first met Kat and Curtis. And Xyrus Academy, where Grandma and Tess pushed me every day.
A faint tear crystallised before it could fall, shattering as gravity acknowledged me again.
Wind shrieked beneath me as the arena rushed upward, and my descent accelerated. I gathered mana to both my palms. Two orbs of white-hot flame gathered in either hand, hovering just beyond me despite my acceleration towards the ground.
'I fall just under 10 meters a second, if what Art's told me is correct, which of course it is.'
The ground grew larger as heat rolled across my palms. The twin suns swelled larger with every passing second.
Below, Claire looked no larger than a doll, yet she still watched me. I couldn't make out her expression, but it almost looked like she was smiling.
As I passed the uppermost row of the colosseum, I smashed both orbs together with fury. The spheres collapsed into each other with a violent shriek.
Light plumbed in wide arcs from my clasped hands as the condensed mass detonated.
'Let's see ya dodge this!'
Parting my fingers, flame rushed free in a concentrated beam of heavenly wrath. Golden fire carved through the sky in a blinding pillar wide enough to engulf the entire arena floor. The sheer heat distorted the air around me as the concentrated inferno descended toward Claire like divine judgment.
The crowd vanished beneath the light.
Stone and sand vaporised instantly beneath the impact as molten debris erupted skyward. The colosseum trembled violently while cracks spiderwebbed through the arena floor and into the surrounding walls.
A dome of golden flame swallowed everything below me. The heat slammed against my body hard, halting my descent for half a heartbeat. I heaved against the sudden force before crashing against the floor with a crack.
"I need to work out how to land for next time," I groaned, unmoving in the sand.
After enjoying the comfort provided by shattered glass and sand grains pushing into my face, I climbed back to my feet.
I stretched my back, letting a faint click ring out across the carnage before me. "Shit, I might've gone a tad overboard ther-"
My arm fell to the floor with a dull thud.
"Huh?"
Falling to one knee, I reached towards my severed limb.
"Pretty impressive," Claire smiled. She slashed blood free from her rapier as she strode towards me.
My eyes snapped up to meet her own. "How- What?"
I stumbled back to my feet as golden flame illuminated from my right stump. Bone tightly wrapped by sinew shot out from my elbow as she strode towards me.
"8, 9, 10…"
"Why are you counting again?" I grumbled as skin layered atop fresh muscle.
"17 and 18," she smiled.
"What?" I wobbled.
"It takes you exactly 18 seconds to heal any wound, no matter how badl," she smiled proudly.
My mouth dropped.
"How did- I didn't even…"
She disappeared again, this time taking my left arm off just below the shoulder.
I staggered sideways as blood sprayed across the shattered glass beneath me. My severed arm spun once through the air before landing somewhere behind Claire with a muffled thud.
"Hk-!"
My knees nearly buckled beneath me as I clutched at the empty socket with my remaining hand.
She flowed past me without wasting a single movement. Scarlet hair whipped behind her as she turned smoothly upon her heel, rapier already raised once more.
She shot forward again, taking my right leg just above my knee with a single, clean slash.
I stumbled forward, biting the sand.
"Elias," Claire said, standing over me. "As much as I enjoy cutting off your limbs, I'd rather not do it one by one for the next hour," she added, rolling me over onto my back.
She lowered her blade to my neck. "Yield now, and we can avoid any further pain."
Flame burned down my leg and arm, both of which regenerated slower than my arm had a minute earlier.
"Elias?" she repeated.
"Fine…" I groaned, "I yield."