King of Crystals

The resonating beats of drums, gongs, and lighter percussion equipment with a simple and methodical rhythm were beating within the far and high corners of the arena. The seats were filled to the brim with mostly nobles and powerful mages looking for apprentices, and with specific and special seating arrangements for the council and the King.

Within the three groups of mana core levels lies almost 400 red core mages, almost 400 orange core mages, and little over 250 yellow core mages. The semi finals will be eight teams of four battling to keep their crystals, while stealing their opponents. 

King of Crystals.

Inside a semi-populated dimly lit room of the arena stands Elijah and his friends — including Niko — gathered in front of the board that previously had names being consistently displayed, but now having a map of the arena with the respective zones designated to each team of four. 

"…You may do whatever you like to guard your bed. Teams will be chosen by yourself, and you may do whatever it takes to steal the crystals of the other teams besides dealing blows that will be fatal to you fellow citizens. The goal is to have at least three crystals, and by having more than that, you guarantee yourself nothing. Once the teams are chosen, you will be transported to the respective rooms where you will enter. Once the gong has been sounded, the round will commence. We will start with the red core mages."

Elijah began thinking about how this was an exact copy of this game he used to play as a kid. However, the only mysterious part is that the arena has not yet been revealed. Black curtains are hanging in front of the entrance that blocks any view of the outside. Also, with close to 400 red core mages, there will be 12 rounds total if they plan on making everyone battle once.

Alexia and Novius quickly stood closer to Elijah's side once hearing the rules that were revealed. "I guess we are together again."

Both Novius and Alexia were confused by his tone, but they would rather not ask for a third time as to what is going on.

Knowing that the tall lady who just gave the instructions was avoiding giving them hints as to what this game would entail besides the fundamentals, Elijah began looking for a fourth that would give them an advantage. What they needed was someone with an earth affinity as being able to manipulate the ground would give the team of four an advantage. Thankfully Theon and Raylen did not protest and began looking for their own group as well.

A small gong echoed through the transition room which indicated the start of the first round. The black curtains were pulled to the side to reveal a magnificent and deep terrain full of twists and turns. It was not just the natural earth that had been manipulated, but there were also wooden bridges, small houses, and randomly shaped metal structures that looked to come from Elijah's past life. Modern art… The biggest surprise was how the terrain itself, or the ground level was lowered at least fifty feet to make room for an arena with vertical complications. 

"Elijah! You see what I am seeing right?!" Novius was flabbergasted at the display in front of him. It was obvious this took the highest level of the respective element mages to accomplish this.

Elijah said the first thing that came to mind. "Yes… and this doesn't make it as important to have an earth mage with us anymore. If only Harry was with us…"

Immensely loud cheering took the attention of everyone in the transition room. The game had begun.

…

Curved tunnels, tall and hollow stone structures, beaten wooden bridges, steep drops, and quickly made houses blanketed the 108,600 square foot battlefield. What was the size of two football fields stood on the border of the Inner North and the whirlpool, just to the left of the northern road. A specific group of four composed of an earth mage, fire mage, wind mage, and metal mage were surrounding an oversized crystal covered in metal and earth. One of the rules of this game was that you were not allowed to move your crystal, but only cover it with whatever you wanted. The location would be secret besides the huge lump in the ground which would give the team the option to leave their crystal for a short period of time.

The fire mage, Emery, began his path to steal another team's crystal… Alone. His idea was to have one person guard from a distance, while the other three split up and joined in on the chaos that would come. Action came sooner than expected, and caused Emery to tighten the grip on his heavily blunted and smooth wooden sword while shooting a thick wall of fire forward to blur his opponents view. Throughout his path, he was running up stone ramps, crossing a wooden bridge, and traveling through tight corners made from stone. Another fire mage was his opponent, and with his expertise in magical combat as one of the top red core mages, Emery matched every attack his opponent threw while zipping through the holes in the stone walls. With a few strikes of his sword, the fire mage was down for the count. When battling against the same affinity as yourself, it is best to beat the opponent with pure skill. Magic is limited as a red core mage, but sword skills have a much higher skill ceiling.

Applauds and chatter was heard within the stands at the first sight of battles going off on the smooth and circular stone platform that stood in the center as a stage. A stage destined for the best fights of the day. After the dust was settled, only a few mages were left standing. Within the stands of where The Council members sat, conversations were held at the agreement of this tournament. This is exactly what the kingdom needed. The yellow core mages would be the hope for this kingdom, and even the orange and red that would support on the frontlines.

…

Elijah never saw Emery leave the transition room from the crowd of older hunters blocking his view. But when both of their eyes met, Elijah couldn't help but say good work. While they both believed they felt no ill will towards each other, this much hadn't been confirmed through a simple conversation.

'Twas the fate of noble families.

"Let's go with Niko." Elijah had made up his mind. A sadness was within Elijah as he left Niko by himself. It was the exact same situation as the hunter exam, only this time, Niko wasn't pretending to be something he wasn't. In a secluded corner near the entrance of the transition was Niko leaning against the cold stone wall. His eyes didn't change one bit while the trio walked towards him, but both Alexia and Novius did ask for a reason for this decision. 

"Because we are going to abandon our crystal!"

Elijah stood firmly and asked Niko the question he knew he was expecting. Without hesitation, he said yes. The previous conversation the day before was still lingering in their minds with the emotions that revealed themselves. However, both Niko and Elijah were hungry for action. The idea of zooming through tight spaces, light and dark, and showing to everyone around him how powerful a water affinity was gave him the feeling of satiation.