Defiance in the Arena

Harper sucked in a breath, forcing her feet to stay under her. The cold threatened to seep deeper, but there was no way she was going to let it.

Fine. If he wanted to trade hits, she'd play that game.

With a sharp twist, she forced herself off the frozen spike. Fire surged through her veins in response to the cold, battling back the creeping frost. But instead of retreating, she lunged forward, her free hand igniting in roaring flames. She drove the attack toward Jace's exposed side, point blank.

Jace was still processing his success, a half-second too slow to react. Her flames slammed into him, searing pain jolting him back to his senses.

Gritting his teeth, he swung his left hand, ice surging in response. A massive ice-coated fist formed mid-motion, catching Harper before she could fully react. The impact rattled her bones, the sheer force sending her flying.

But Harper wasn't ranked fifth for nothing. Twisting mid air, she threw out a burst of wind, the gust catching under her and slowing her momentum. She skidded back, boots scraping against the arena floor, breath coming fast.

"That hurt," she muttered.

Then she felt it.

A massive surge of mana flooded the battlefield, pressing down like an unseen force. Every instinct screamed danger.

Jace barely registered the hit to his side, his attention pulled to the energy welling inside him. The strange, dormant power was finally responding.

"Alright then," he muttered, breath visible in the frigid air. "Let's see what you can really do."

His mana surged.

One spell. Then another. Then another. A fourth.

Then… a fifth.

Jace's mind raced. The most he'd ever successfully cast at once was four, and even then, it wasn't always stable. But now? Now, he knew he could do it.

As Harper's feet touched the ground, five spells formed behind Jace.

Four elemental bolts. One of each element under his control.

Then a fifth. A frozen spear, dark blue and jagged like a glacier.

All five spells launched simultaneously.

Harper looked up, eyes locking onto the five spells flying toward her. "Five?"

Rather than disbelief, the reaction most would have, her voice held something else. Excitement.

Her grin only widened. She was actually being challenged. And she had never been happier.

"Bring it on!" With a defiant shout, her magic surged. If Jace was going all out, then she couldn't disappoint him.

Heat flared through her body, igniting every vein with power.

She wasn't about to get blown away now.

First up, the Earth Bolt.

A pillar of stone erupted beneath her feet, launching her into the air. She soared over it effortlessly, twisting mid-air with the ease of someone who had trained for this moment a thousand times over.

Next, the Wind and Water Bolts.

With a sharp pivot, she unleashed a torrent of flames, the sheer heat consuming the twin spells before they could reach her. The force of the fire sent her rocketing backward toward the arena wall.

Finally, the Ice Spells.

As her boots hit the wall, she pressed into it, using it like a springboard. Inspired by Jace himself, her arm encased itself in stone, forming a massive fist.

She swung. Hard.

The first Ice Bolt shattered on impact, breaking apart in an explosion of frost and shards.

But the second ice spell the larger, denser ice spear was right behind it.

Harper's stone fist collided head-on with the spear, both forces clashing in a violent burst of ice and dust.

Jace, mid-cast for another spell, froze. He wasn't sure which would win out, his attack or Harper's counter.

But then…

The spear broke through.

The impact overpowered her stone fist, sending her hurtling backward, slamming into the arena wall.

Silence.

Jace exhaled, shoulders finally relaxing as the final hit was secured.

Outside the arena.

The silence didn't last long.

Selene was the first to break it. "Did that… seem like an insanely high-level duel to anyone else?"

Ethan let out a low whistle. "Highest I've seen here, beyond the teachers during the show duel."

Felix's brows furrowed. "I might not know him super well, but wasn't Jace's usual multicast limit… three?"

"Correct," Aurora confirmed. "And he had also never succeeded at adaptive magic until now."

"Wait, what?"

The entire group erupted into disbelief, the same reaction rippling through Hannah's team. It made sense, of all the spectators, only Aurora and Hannah had actually understood what had just happened.

Lyra shook her head. "I knew he'd been making progress with it, but that doesn't mean he was close to actually getting it."

Aurora simply shrugged. "I don't know what else to tell you. The way he changed his ice wall into an attack spike, there's no way that was anything except adaptive magic."

Ethan let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "Classic Jace. Pulling stuff outta nowhere."

Inside the arena, Jace made his way over to where Harper lay sprawled on the ground.

"You good?" He asked, crouching slightly. She hadn't moved since hitting the floor.

Silence.

Then. "I lost…" Her voice was quiet, almost disbelieving. "You actually beat me."

Another pause.

Then, with a sudden burst of movement, Harper shot up from flat on her back to sitting upright in a blink.

"I've never been better."

Despite the loss, her grin hadn't shrunk in the slightest. If anything, it had grown.

Jace let out a laugh. "We have a lot to talk about."

Harper nodded, brushing stray hair from her face. "Agreed."

But their conversation would have to wait. Their captains had already made it clear, no post match analysis until they were out of the arena.

The breakdown discussion was coming.