Thinking Outside the Box

What was this feeling burning through Elijah?

Massive amounts of dopamine were rushing through his brain just thinking about this game. The stakes were high, and the action was sure to be intense. A quick explanation of the rules was given by the Magic Academy teacher who brought the group of four to the dimly lit crystal that was just a little bigger than the head of any ten year old. Being the crystal was only slightly glowing, this meant the mana had already been used and was not recharged.

"Listen for the gong, and once it has resounded you may do whatever you like." The teacher finished up and slowly walked through the rough terrain of the arena.

"So Elijah, why do you think abandoning our crystal is a good idea?" Alexia asked the elephant in the room.

"Simple. The goal is to get three crystals to pass to the next round. If someone is guarding our own crystal that we cannot move, it puts us at the same disadvantage if we leave someone to guard it."

"That's right Niko, but I think the chances are higher if we abandon our crystal. There is no guarantee that the person left to guard the crystal will succeed, so if we put our numbers into what we know we can achieve, our chances increase. We are burning the bridges and forcing ourselves to succeed!" Elijah began to raise the pitch of his voice.

"I say we split into groups of two while targeting everyone close to us as soon as the gong sounds. Catch them off guard with a quick assault by knocking them out with our blunted swords and staff!"

Alexia, Novius, and Niko were in full agreement. While this went against the normalcy of this game, that was the exact reason why everyone was in. This is the outside the box thinking that allowed Elijah to reach heights unknown to anyone. 

The simple act of going against normalcy.

BONG!

The eyes of the four met with each other, and almost instantly, everyone knew who they would be going with. Elijah and Niko ran to the left and entered a tight corridor of an above-ground cave while Novius and Alexia ran to the right and up a stone ramp that led to what looked like a monkey's playground. Not a single sound was heard within the battlefield, but surely, the first battle that would take place would relate to Elijah's group.

The hard ground was completely dry with small rocks and loose dirt that made up the arena. The small man-made cavern quickly expanded into a symphony of pillars. Both Niko and Elijah were running in between each pillar side by side, but suddenly stopped at the sound of vibrations above them.

"If they are coming for our crystal, it doesn't matter, we have to keep moving and try to guess where they came from."

Niko nodded before continuing forward.

The light soon returned as the two made their way up a steep stone ramp. The breaths of Elijah and Niko slowed, and they stared into the distance where a single mound of dirt and stone stood. This mound was without a doubt the exact place that houses the crystal, but not a single soul was seen. Small windowless houses topped with smooth pointed wooden roofs surrounded the edges of the open and flat area.

"Lets quietly search the houses, I can almost guarantee you whoever is guarding the crystal is hiding within."

Each house that Elijah and Niko peeked their head into was completely empty. The moment Elijah began using his space infused water magic to easily corrode the mound, small rocks began to fall from the curved cliff that stood over half of the open area they were both standing in.

"GET BACK!"

Niko forcibly pulled Elijah from the mound, and not even a second later, a huge boulder had hit the floor with a thud while being indented into the floor. Dust and rocks flew everywhere, and inside a windowless house stood Elijah holding a slightly glowing crystal in the palm of his hand. A devious smile was on his face, and quickly, Elijah put it into his spatial storage to act like they hadn't stolen it yet while explaining to Niko his plan.

From both sides of the windowless house came two ten year old kids with spells being shot into the air. If there was a second defender, this would help them become visible to be pursued. Even with Elijah having the crystal, they both were longing for unbridled action. Once reaching a covered cavern, they both appeared on the second level with a risky path to the top. Niko began changing the terrain with mini explosions, and Elijah blocked an attack that came from behind him…

In the darkness of the second floor of the man made cavern was a brown haired boy casually walking forward. "Hahaha! A water mage, this should be easier than I thought!"

'Another overconfident child. Not that there is a problem with that. It is always good to be confident. I can tell I will love the feeling of crushing his soul.'

"THERE IS TWO!" Elijah screamed at the top of his lungs after turning his head towards the opening behind him. What surprised Elijah was how this mage took action directly after yelling. A block of stone was shoved at Elijah at a steady speed seeable to the eye, and after quickly turning his head back to look his opponent in the eyes, he zipped around on a current of water in the shape of an arc and crossed swords with the boy.

"You are not a simple mage!" The boy said.

 The ground beneath Elijah sank without the earth mage moving his hands. He was completely barefoot, and used this to his advantage. 

Elijah knew he couldn't use an ounce of his flight ability as he was falling. Who knew where people were watching. Especially with hidden spectators to make sure rules were not broken. Wincing in pain, Elijah stood up with a limp while covering his legs in healing water magic.

"Are you looking for this?" Elijah pulled the mana crystal out from his spatial storage before getting up from the fall. He knew the kid would look over the hole he created, and what he saw was a look of anger.

"How do you have that?!"

The boy with anger welling up within him sunk the ground within a radius of ten feet all around him. Elijah stood directly above the hole and watched as his body just barely fit in the ceiling that fell over top of him. During this time, Elijah was preparing a spell. A large wave of water swept the kid off his feet, and with a single strike to the head, his body writhed in pain and slowly stopped moving.

Elijah ran towards the center with the sound of an explosion. A kid was seen falling from over forty feet in the air from a spell that came from Niko.

'Sigh… I understand how you feel, but you must be more careful…'

Water surged to the area where the boy would fall into, and rose five feet into the air. The black haired kid's fall with a trail of smoke was heavily blunted, and with a single strike to the side of his head, he was out.

"Well done, just please be more careful. These people mean no ill will, and we cannot give them grief for something out of their control."

"I know… I just was lost in the feeling of combat…"

Elijah and Niko had not seen what true combat was, but with the added layer of magic, childish combat became something much greater with ease. This is without mentioning how a ten year old in this world would look like a thirteen year old anywhere else. Magic had changed the people of the kingdom. It is only unknown because of the lack of the known past.