Ezekiel sat up straight. Up till now the fights were boring as hell, but now Dorian was standing in the arena. His Dorian. The guy who according to the novel was supposed to be the weakest kid in this whole school.
"Let's go Dorian!" Ezekiel yelled, but Dorian didn't even turn around.
Behind Ezekiel, someone laughed. Not even trying to be quiet about it.
"Look at what he's wearing. Is that Dungeon rat leather?"
"Whitmore's gonna break him in half."
"Poor kid. Should've just surrendered."
Ezekiel's jaw tightened. He wanted to turn around and say something. But didn't.
Gareth stood still. Shield in front, sword at his side. Waiting. Didn't even move, just stood there looking at Dorian like he was an insect.
Dorian held katana in one hand. Loose, almost lazy. Then he lowered it.
"What's he doing?" Ezekiel muttered.
Dorian let go of katana. It dropped to the ground with a metal clang.
Arena went quiet.
"He... dropped his weapon?" Ezekiel leaned forward.
Gareth got confused too. Brows came together, eyes jumping between Dorian and katana on the ground. Then he got pissed.
"You mocking me?" Gareth asked.
Behind Ezekiel, same voice from before. Louder now.
"See? He dropped his weapon. Kid knows he's done."
Another one. "Bet you five silver he doesn't last ten seconds."
Laughter.
Dorian said nothing. Just raised his hand, palm up, and a tiny flame popped out from his fingers. Weak. Like a candle. But fire.
"Fire?" Ezekiel muttered to himself. According to the novel Dorian was supposed to be weak. A kid who couldn't use magic cuz nobody taught him. Family was destroyed, grandfather crippled, mother accused of witchcraft. He came to school knowing nothing.
But here he was. Holding fire in his hand.
'No no no... that's not possible.' Ezekiel thought, nails digging into his knees.
Gareth didn't waste time. Rushed in. Sword came from above, heavy, fast. Dorian stepped to the side. Not quick, not clean, just enough. Sword slammed into ground where he just stood.
Dorian raised his foot and stomped hard. Ground cracked under Gareth and pushed up. Not a lot, but enough. He wobbled, one foot slipped.
"Earth magic?!" Ezekiel almost stood up from the bench. Heart pounding. 'He's not supposed to know earth magic. He's not supposed to know ANYTHING.'
Gareth recovered fast. Professional. Got up, shield raised, sword pulled tight. His eyes changed. Wasn't looking at Dorian like an insect anymore. Now looking at him like a problem.
"Alright." Gareth said quiet. "Alright."
Came again. Faster this time, more aggressive. Sword from the side. Dorian ducked but not enough, blade caught his sleeve, cut the fabric. Dorian jumped back, looked at the sleeve.
"Tsk." he spat through his teeth.
Gareth didn't let him breathe. Next swing from below, Dorian barely dodged. Then from above. Dorian blocked with his arm, forming a small earth plate on it like a tiny shield. Sword hit it and the plate crumbled apart.
"Ow." Dorian shook his hand. That hurt.
Gareth was already close. Sword going straight into Dorian's side. Fast. Too fast to dodge.
Ezekiel stood up. "DORIAN!"
CLICK
Dorian clicked his tongue.
Sword went through Dorian's body. Through him. Like Dorian was just air.
Arena went dead silent.
Gareth stood there, sword on the other side of Dorian, arm still stretched out. His eyes went down to where the blade should've stopped. Where there should be blood. Where there should be a body. But nothing.
He pulled sword back. No resistance. Like he cut through empty space.
"I could've sworn I..." Gareth started but his voice broke off. He looked at his blade. Clean. No blood. He looked at Dorian. Standing. Not hurt. Didn't even move from his spot.
"What the..." Gareth stepped back. First time during the whole fight. "What did you do?"
Dorian didn't answer. Just looked at him.
Gareth gripped sword harder. Hands shaking, not from being tired. He looked at his own hands, then back at Dorian, like checking if any of this was really happening.
"I'll cut through you again." Gareth said, but his voice didn't have that same confidence anymore.
At the edge of arena, Director Miraaz, who up till now was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, straightened up. Her eyes narrowed.
"Valdim." she said quiet, not taking her eyes off the arena.
Security chief standing next to her was watching too. His hand, which sat lazy on his sword handle all day, now gripped it tight.
"Saw it." he answered.
"What was that?" Miraaz asked.
"Don't know." Valdim said, and that was the worst thing he could say, cuz this man always knew.
Elvyra, director's assistant, leaned closer. "Illusion maybe? Light magic?"
"No." Miraaz shook her head, fingers touching her lips. "We would've seen through illusion. That sword went through him. Physically. And I have no idea how."
Silence between them. Miraaz didn't look away from Dorian.
"Fifteen year old kid." she muttered. "Interesting."
In the arena Gareth rushed again. From above this time, both hands, full weight behind it. Sword going straight at Dorian.
SNAP
Dorian just snapped his fingers. Inches from Gareth's face. Air around them compressed. One second of silence. Then everything blew up.
Shockwave hit Gareth straight in the chest. Not fire. Not heat. Pure, brutal air explosion. Threw him back across the whole arena like a ragdoll. Body slammed into arena wall, armor cracked, dust went up.
BOOM.
Arena silent.
Gareth lay by the wall. Wyvern hide held up. No burns, cuz there was nothing to burn. But the shockwave... that was different. He tried to breathe. Eyes empty, staring at the sky but seeing nothing. Mouth opened but air wouldn't come. Ribs, maybe cracked, maybe broken, he didn't know. Just lay there.
Half dead.
Someone from crowd yelled "What powerful fire magic!" Some other kid added something about how "maybe that guy isn't so weak after all." Third one said something about Whitmore family and shame.
Fire magic. Everyone thought it was fire magic. Explosion, the flame before, simple logic.
Miraaz said nothing. Just watched.
Valdim was quiet too.
Dorian calmly picked up katana from the ground, wiped dust off his sleeve and walked out of arena. Passing by Ezekiel he didn't even look at him.
Ezekiel stood frozen. Legs shaking. Not from fear. From shock.
'Spatial magic.' he thought. 'He just used spatial magic. The same one he wasn't supposed to learn for another eight years according to the novel.'
"No no no no no..." Ezekiel whispered, fingers grabbing his hair.
He kept staring at Dorian's back as he walked away.
In the novel Dorian was weak. Nobody taught him magic. Family was ruined, grandfather crippled, mother accused of witchcraft. He showed up to school knowing nothing. His danger came from anger, not power.
But this Dorian already knew fire magic. Earth magic. And spatial magic that shouldn't exist for eight more years.
'Who taught him?' Ezekiel thought. 'Who the hell taught him magic? His grandfather can barely walk. His mother isn't allowed to practice. So who?'
No answer.
Ezekiel swallowed.
'If he's already this strong now... what's he gonna be in eight years?'
Behind him, the guys who were laughing before were quiet now. Not a word.
Ezekiel shook his head. Took a breath.
'So he got a head start. So what. If I can change the plot, none of this matters. I just need to get to him first. Before the story does.'
He opened his eyes. Looked at Dorian one more time. Already gone, disappeared into the crowd.
'But... what else is different?'