by Shanon Chong
“Don’t claim the impossible.” He laughed with the little pride he had left.
Thinking back a few minutes, I attempted to do what he had claimed was impossible. Drawing several runes, I placed them on the ground in an uneven oval. Already feeling a gust of wind within the arena, I knew that something had happened. Summoning a small pile of dusty ash, I threw it into the building gale.
“Isn’t that strange, a tornado,” I said, prompting him to look at me. “I thought it was impossible.” I chuckled. “I doubt you can win. How about you surrender?” I proposed, taking several steps forward.
“I-I can’t lose!” he shouted in denial, no longer on his feet.
Smiling, I crouched and looked my downed opponent in the eyes.
“Come back when you’re stronger,” I whispered as I stood up and gave him a light slap to the back of the head. Mr Rhimmage decided enough was enough and dragged Noel’s barely conscious body out of the arena.
“Next!” Mr Rhimmage paused. “Andrea versus Vin,” he added, clarifying the matchup.
As he left with Noel over his shoulder, the fights for the positions in the quarterfinals began. I dozed off as the fights came to a close. Mr Rhimmage returned halfway during the third fight and began supervising us. The final fight of the first round would be between Rachel and Bethany.
Closing my eyes fully, I ignored my surroundings, not bothered with Rachel’s fight… I already knew the outcome. The battle raged and reached a climax several times before I realised the fires Rachel had summoned had settled. Opening my eyes again, I stared at the arena’s melted expanse. Piles of melted stone lay where the circular arena for seniors had previously been. The mages who saw to the upkeep and reparation of each arena would be shocked with the damage.
“What happened?” I muttered. “Where’s Rachel?” As I looked around desperately, a student of shorter stature pointed toward the pile of debris where the duels were held.
“I’m fine…” Rachel groaned, rising out of the debris and walking toward me with little concern about where she had been hidden for several seconds.
“Are you crazy?”
“Huh? It was necessary for victory...” she said aggressively. However, her voice softened as Mr Rhimmage also emerged from the ashes carrying a student in his arms.
“Necessary? Enough damage to make a tier-four mage reconsider!” I shouted. Rachel looked away.
“Any weaker, and she wouldn’t have surrendered,” she murmured. “She’s about my level in terms of strength…”
“I won’t complain about your decision,” I said, firmly looking her in the eye. “It was overkill… However, I won’t bother you about it,” I repeated.
“Thank you.” She sighed; living in the same room would kill us if I weren’t willing to forget Rachel’s decision.
“Theodore, make sure no one does anything stupid,” Mr Rhimmage said before disappearing with the unconscious student. I remained silent, supervising the group. I watched several students start conversations as to the occurrences of the fight; however, I remained completely oblivious. A trail of dust floated upwards as Mr Rhimmage appeared beside me. “I’m back. We’ll be starting the second round of fights now.”
“What?” A student expressed his outrage quickly in response to Mr Rhimmage’s statement. “Someone nearly died! You want me to fight her?” he shouted, pointing aggressively at Rachel.
“If you’re so worried about someone dying, then you can fight her and surrender,” he replied with little regard to the student’s safety. “Anyway, the winners of the first round, pair up and select any random arena for your fight.”
Rachel turned to look at me for the chance of testing my mettle. However, the student who had challenged Mr Rhimmage’s opinion issued his own declaration to fight her before I could walk near her.
“Fight me!” an obnoxious female voice shouted behind me. Turning to look, I saw nothing. A small hand rose into my field of vision. I lowered my line of sight just slightly.
“Hi,” I greeted, surprised as I saw the small figure who had challenged me.
“Fight me.”
“Could you at least introduce yourself first?” I proposed amicably, taking a step backward as she leapt up repeatedly to obstruct my vision.
“I’ll tell you my name if you beat me!”
“Fine. Why did you challenge me, anyway?” I inquired, hoping to gain some ground on her.
“To see how you beat Noel.”
“We’ll go to arena fourteen, then, I guess,” I murmured, unsure of what would happen next.
“Sure, why arena fourteen, though?”
“No reason,” I replied casually. “Anyway, same rules, I’m guessing?”
“I just want to fight,” she replied, giving little regard to how our battle would play out.
“We’ll go with the normal rules,” I declared, lifting myself into the arena. “Need any help?” I offered as she used her slim arms to hoist herself onto the stone platform.
“Shall we begin?” she asked with a dramatic flair.
“Sure.” I smiled widely and raised my arm with my palms pointed towards her small body. Unable to name her, my thoughts remained jumbled and unfit for combat. I chanted quietly under my breath, and at my palms, a layer of water slowly expanded into a high-pressure stream aimed at finishing off my opponent peacefully.
“Is that your best!” she mocked loudly. “Surely, you aren’t this weak!”
“Don’t speak until you’ve won,” I muttered, annoyed with her criticism. Holding my anger back, I looked her in the eyes, hoping to see what she might have planned.
“I could win with a snap of my fingers!”
“Could you?” I remarked, still doubtful of the actual substance to her taunts. I didn’t actually believe any of them.
Her lips clenched into a childish pout, and she raised her tome to her chest, clutching it with both of her arms.
“Oh. Ancients, masters of their time, bless me with the power of your forbidden ways,” she chanted in a serious tone. Her voice no longer held the hop that made it unique, and the hair that I had thought was dark brown glowed a green reminiscent of Noel’s. Her feet lifting off the ground, she floated above me, radiating a holy white glow. Pillars of light manifested on the ground nearby, and the brightly lit panels left me isolated from the outside world.
“What the—"
“Isolation within the charmless realm…the land of the lifeless. The Ancients’ Prison,” she droned. Her voice had lost its human aspect, and the tone soon sounded ethereal.
“It’s just light magic. I’ll just break out!” I shouted with little care for whatever cage she’d locked me within.
“You can’t use magic.”
“What?” I murmured, raising my arm and performing a simple spell. It wasn’t coming. I couldn’t feel any of the planet’s energy. “Darkness of the holy land, I summon thee to smite the blasphemers!” I chanted desperately. “What?”
“You can’t use magic,” she repeated. “With this in mind, tell me how you’re going to get out?”
“I’ll wait for you to run out of energy!” I shouted defiantly, feeling an unnatural, unfamiliar emotion within my chest…desperation.
“The zone won’t ever disappear… Only I can void the spell,” she responded calmly, manifesting within the zone. “However, it would feel honourless if I beat you through magic that I can’t even call my own.”
The walls that confined me disappeared from existence.
“Are you looking down on me?”
“You’d prefer insanity over a fair fight? You’re a fool, Theodore Chrono,” she chided me. “I’ll give you one chance to use your strongest magic against me. I’ll give you a chance to prove you aren’t a spineless idiot!”
“You’re too kind,” I muttered through clenched teeth. I drew several runes around her feet as she remained perfectly still.
“Runes? I doubt you’re any good,” she taunted as I ran around her, adding the fini
shing touches to each of the runes.
“Ready?”
“Go ahead; if this is amazing enough, I’ll just surrender,” she offered mercifully.
“You really are kind…” I muttered, amazed at her strange form of generosity. “Trees within the forest, forests boundless and endless. Let the night bathe all the forests in eternal darkness!” I swung my arms upwards with a flourish to end my spell. The arena, plain and paved, sprouted trees. Darkness enveloped the arena as a misty fog poured from the trunks of the large oaks that had risen.
“What does this do? The trees won’t just bludgeon me, right?”
“Yeah,” I replied flatly. “The trees just bludgeon you.”
“What? Wait! At least let me dodge them,” she cried desperately.
“Oh, you mean the vines?” I proclaimed loudly, enjoying the feeling of power. “Oh, and if you try to seal me within the Ancients’ Prison, it will just keep attacking you.”
“Huh?” She paused for a second. “These are sentient?”
A single tree swung down at her, hitting her lightly as the several trees surrounding her continued to do the same.
“Fully.”
“I surrender… You’ll have to teach me how to do that later, Theo.”
“Sure. You’ll have to remind me, though,” I replied. “As per our deal, what’s your name?”
“Shannon Grys. I’m Noel’s twin sister.”
“Nice to meet you, Shannon,” I replied, releasing the magic that bound the forest to the arena. “Thanks for the match.” I held out my arm.
“Likewise.” She smiled, shaking my hand.
“Theo!” Rachel’s voice echoed in my ear canal as I descended the platform and I felt her body barrel into mine. “How’d it go?” she asked, skipping circles around me.
“I won…” I said.
“My match was less eventful… Oliver tried to fight me using his rocks, but they didn’t even touch me.”
“Rocks?”
“Oliver uses earth magic.” She paused. “Anyway, Mr Rhimmage says that we’re continuing the matches another time.”
“Why?”
“We have to learn something,” Rachel replied, upbeat.
“Did he actually say what we’re learning?”
“Nope!” She skipped to the front entrance and then turned to face me. “Let’s go to the classroom.”
“Wait a second.” Pivoting on my heel, I faced Shannon. “You need any help?”
“I should be fine, thanks,” Shannon said as she rose to her feet and stumbled toward the classroom.
“Ready?” Rachel probed impatiently. “Mr Rhimmage will be annoyed if we’re late.”
I followed her closely as we rushed down the halls, hoping to reach the classroom before Mr Rhimmage noticed our absence. The ticking of a clock echoed throughout the halls as we skidded to a halt in front of the door.
“You’re late!” Mr Rhimmage shouted as we waited at the door, catching our breaths. “Come in, already!”
“Sorry!” I apologised. After bowing respectfully, I ushered Rachel towards our front-row seats.
“Anyway, let’s continue.” Mr Rhimmage waited for the newly started chatter to fade before speaking.
“Roughly speaking, you’re all developing your own style of magic that is unique to you.” He sighed. “Though you’ll probably have to wait until we register you at the Adventurer’s Guild to get your strengths on a scale.”
Oliver’s hand rose from the back of the room. “Sir, I would assume most of us know our ranking based on the Capital system.”
“And?”
“Why would we need to know our ranks based on the Adventurer’s Guild ranking?”
“You get to compare yourself to people who spend their lives fighting beasts within the borders of Arcana,” Mr Rhimmage replied quickly. “Anyway, that doesn’t matter! Today we’re going to cover the basic theory of magic in combat.”
Chapter 7: The Fundamentals of the Strong
Chalk scraped against the blackboard, making a diagram visible to the class. The room’s many seats remained primarily empty except for the places where the few students sat. Mr Rhimmage faced us in silence, fidgeting with the stick of chalk within his hands. Opening his mouth, he paused before speaking, and he looked at the board again before finalising his lecture in his mind.
“Do any of you know what this is?” He pointed with his thumb at the diagram behind him. The words “offensive,” “defensive,” “disruptive,” and “control” were written there, with interconnected arrows creating a circle between them. A student raised her arm high above her head and stood to get Mr Rhimmage’s attention.
“Juno.” He waved his hand casually at the student, whose straight pink hair was cut at her shoulders. Her piercing blue eyes stared intently at the diagram, and her refined and distinctly posh and formal accent told me enough about her… Her origins were probably around the Capital, areas with little knowledge of the border towns.
“Is it the types of magic?” She paused. “And the interactions between the four?”
“Correct!” Mr Rhimmage declared. “The four types of magic, offensive, defensive, disruptive, and control… Generally, these titles describe the types of mages. We’ll start with offensive mages, as most mages classify under the offence category. Offensive magic is versatile and causes the most damage out of the four.” He described the category quickly. “Offensive magic is weak against control and defensive magic, with both making offensive-type magic close to obsolete in combat.” He took a breath and sat down on a tall stool behind him. “Any questions?”
“Mr Rhimmage!” a student called out. He stood at attention, placing himself within Mr Rhimmage’s line of sight.
“Yes, Vin.” Mr Rhimmage swung his arm out, signaling for him to go ahead.
“Have you got any examples of well-known mages who practice these types of magics?” Vin stood tall, his dark brown hair and brown eyes made his appearance rather average. However, his physique represented the body of a mercenary, and muscles could be seen through his shirt.
“Actually, I was about to get to that.” Mr Rhimmage smiled happily at not having to awkwardly insert the topic into his presentation. “The strongest, well, within the Adventurer’s Guild, that would be the X rank and National Hero rank. Arcana has four that classify within those two ranks, the Harbinger of War, the Seraph’s Mage, the Mage of the Eternum Seal, and the Intermediary Rogue.” Taking a breath, Mr Rhimmage looked at us before continuing with his speech. “We’ll talk about the Harbinger of War, Tiffany Indallias. Tiffany’s magic, or should I say current magic, is based on the offensive style we’re outlining currently.”
“Current magic?” a student interjected. An O came to his lips before he stood and bowed. “I sincerely apologise. That wasn’t right of me.”
“All good, Alfie. Just raise your hand next time,” Mr Rhimmage said. “Anyway, the magic Tiffany used previously was rather bland, just basic enhancement magic. I mean, it worked during the several raids she participated in. Currently her magic uses several nations’ magic to create the ultimate throwing weapon.”
“How does this relate to our studies?” Rachel stood. “With all due respect, I don’t think that describing her magic has any purpose.”
“Don’t worry; I’m getting to it… Why is everyone in this class so impatient?” Mr Rhimmage muttered. “It’s obvious that offensive magic means to attack something, right?” The unanimous nodding of the class allowed Mr Rhimmage to continue without any hesitation. “The point of me telling you about these types of magic is to have you eventually decide what type of magic you’ll eventually use.”
“Mr Rhimmage.” I raised my arm slightly before Mr Rhimmage gave me the go-ahead. “Could you explain the other three, please?” Realising the possible rudeness of the request I had just made, I lowered my hand, not saying another word.
“I’m not going to take any offence. I’ll move on from offensive-type magic. Any questions?” No on
e said a word, and no arms went into the air. “Great, I’ll move on. You’ll be more familiar with the next one. Control magic is fundamentally the art of manipulation. Of the four mages I listed, the Seraph’s Mage is a good example of a control magic user.”
“What element does he use?” a student interrupted suddenly, raising his arm for Mr Rhimmage to quickly identify him.
“Element? Have you not heard about the Seraph’s Mage?” Mr Rhimmage leaned back in his chair, his expression one of confusion. “Well, Hajlia, the Seraph’s Mage uses spatial magic. I’m certain you’ve at least heard about spatial magic.”
“Sorry for the stupid question,” Hajlia replied with slight embarrassment. His ashy grey hair covered his face, concealing both his eyes from view. He returned to a seated position, sweeping the hair from his eyes. A sheepish grin remained awkwardly on his face.
“No such thing as a stupid question. I just thought everyone would know who those four were,” Mr Rhimmage replied, following the implied teacher’s script. “Anyway, control magic relies on keeping your opponent from attacking or defending. Control mages will restrict enemy movements, nullify enemy magic, and deny the opponent the chance to even return fire. That’s the short description.” He glanced at an expensive piece of clockwork bound to his wrist. “Questions?”
“Mr Rhimmage!” a voice shouted from the back.
“Yes, Alicia?”
“Regarding the Seraph’s Mage, can you explain his title?” She stood. Her blond hair was cut short at her shoulders, and thin, wire-frame glasses obscured her deep aquamarine eyes. Her skinny, possibly sickly figure made me wonder about her health.
“Ah, he’s blessed by an angelic being, apparently. Anyway, the only fact I can confirm here is that he made a contract, with his life as collateral if he breaks said contract.”
“What?”
“Well, I’ll tell you what I know. Georgo Anity, the Seraph’s Mage, didn’t have enough energy within him to go past tier five. During his third year of schooling, he swore an oath with a spirit to allow him to control his magic with finesse. He told the Mage Association about the spirit when they asked for an explanation for his sudden increase in strength.” Mr Rhimmage sat down on the chair again and took a deep breath. “I don’t believe a word of what he said, though. During my further studies within an Enforcer facility out in Koyr, I read an ancient text explaining the idea of a blood oath. Anyway, I’m straying off topic. I’ll explain further another time. Let’s move on. Can someone guess what disruptive magic is?”
