A Dishonorable Effort

"ELIJAH!"

There is something funny with the human body—how when given a reason—it jumps back into action like nothing happened. The sound of Niko's voice and the roaring sound of fire being pushed through the air gave him this sensation. From the pain Elijah received when standing up, one or both of his collarbones were dislocated from their natural position. The extremely small amount of mana left in his body was extinguished as it made its way to his upper chest. A cooling sensation gave him even more energy that allowed him to take advantage of the distraction that Niko had given him.

Boom!

However, just when Elijah was running to send a kick to the head of the last man standing, Niko had finished him off by himself, and what went flying was an arm followed by a trail of blood.

Loud booo's and screams were heard within the stands. The powerful wind mage with fluttering brown hair held two people within her arms, and quickly floated to the floor with a focus on the heavily injured boy.

"I… I'm so sorry…" Niko dropped his eyes to the floor and quickly followed with his knees. This time, Elijah was not there to stop him, based on these urges, Elijah believed this wasn't the first occurrence.

"Niko… Why must you be filled with rage…"

"STAY BACK! YOUR DONE NIKO! Your family has already banished you, and now we have no choice but to…" Alessia's words were filled with rage and remorse and stopped before she could finish her last sentence.

A very kind water mage began filling the ears of the boy with kind words who had unfairly lost his arm. What Elijah couldn't see was how unfair his strike was. A condensed ball of fire was thrown at the boy after he had been sacked violently in the chest with a blunted sword. His last action before despair was stumbling backwards in anguish.

"Don't worry about me Elijah, I'll be okay!" Niko yelled to Elijah while being grabbed by Alessia.

Elijah and Niko gave one last look at each other before being taken separate ways. "That was an incredible display of magic young one. I have no doubt that all eyes are on you now. You have great potential and have shown the kingdom the power of a water mage. Your friend, on the other hand, will be punished. I don't know the specifics, but it has been quite some time since a citizen had broken a law more than once…"

The laws of the kingdom are very simple, and take inspiration from the Bible in Elijah's past life.

'Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not lie, and thou shall contribute to the betterment of thy kingdom.'

These laws are not widely broken as the almost guaranteed mind spell that inhabits the minds of the people prevents them from doing so.

A befitting congratulations was given to Elijah, Novius, and Alexia by their peers including Raylen and Theon who are up next. Secondly, Elijah's group will move onto the next round without Niko, which won't matter as the finals are simply one versus one sparring matches.

Within the covered carriage alongside his friends, Elijah became worried about the situation of Niko. Their plan was to escape as soon as the tournament was over. This decision was made by Elijah because he wanted to win. He wanted to learn as much as he could before leaving. But also… Elijah wanted to spend more time with his friends and family, people who he would likely never see again.

Knowing the possibility of the void swallowing Alexia and Novius alive, the idea of escaping with them was completely off the table. Novius was a friend that caught interest in him the moment the two met. Although Elijah has not seen every interesting magitech invention he has made, he knows he hopefully has a future in changing the way hunters battle beasts. However, with Elijah leaving, the possibility Novius forgetting everything he knows and returning to being infected with the mind spell worries him. Alexia is someone Elijah potentially saw himself marrying. She was his first friend, and suffered the loss of their homeland together and just barely surviving. There was one truth that has been recently rearing its head in Elijah's kind.

'Has the mind spell changed who Novius and Alexia would have become?'

…

"Welcome back. How was the semifinals?" Don was seen rolling his wheelchair across the floor of the grand foyer.

"While we did move on to the finals, Niko was disqualified for removing the arm of his opponent." Elijah matched his fathers energy.

"I see. Elijah, when you get a chance, I want to talk to you. I know you probably want to rest, so I will come see you after dinner."

"Okay." Elijah felt weird at the idea. Slowly, he noticed his father coming around which lightened his spirit, but still, what was the reason for his obvious negative banter besides tricking himself into believing he is shunned for being paralyzed. A useless piece of trash meant to lay on the streets for eternity.

The simple black long sleeve shirt was thrown onto the plush white and brown bed. A thump was heard with Elijah's action of spinning and throwing himself to the bed. His head was overflowing with potential, and very quickly his eyes closed for a long and restful nap…

…

-{The Arena}-

The palms of Theon clasped together release a speedy and thick icicle in the direction of an earthen mound that tightly held a crystal. A condensed ball of fire was then released from the hand of Theon that made contact with the icicle, and created a magnificent explosion that sent the crystal inside flying into the air. This method of destruction was found accidentally in the beginning of the match that allowed them to snatch a crystal within the first five minutes. However, this was not a method used to injure their opponents as they feared anyone caught within its grasp would be blown to bits, but only as distractions and easing their way to destroying whatever blocked their path.

Theon and Raylen ran in different directions while using the smoke as a screen for their sneak attacks. From above, a wind mage was throwing simple blades of air that were slowly chipping away at the small ice shield coming from Theon's arm. Raylen used Niko's technique he had seen with his own two eyes of combusting condensed balls of fire to create even more smokescreen while rushing in with a sword. Simple strikes to the head and shoulders were all it took to become the leaders of this match.

A standoff of confidence was not happening within the center stage which disappointed the arena, but still, the previous fight between red core mages surprised them, and with orange and yellow, the arena was sure to be blown to bits.

"TIME!"

The announcer's voice rang through the arena with everyone stopping in place. The walls melted as mages clothed in black and dirty outfits appeared from within the rough stone walls who guided the conscious contestants out of the arena. Congratulations was given by the earth mages and attendants within the transmission room because of their incredible display of magical prowess. Massive and loud explosions caught the attention of the crowd and spectators, and from the beginning, everyone knew these two red core mages were going to be a force to be reckoned with.