Chapter 32

Sylph stepped off the stage a few moments later. She sat beside Damien as Mark and the other boy rose from their seats and walked onto the arena unbidden.

"Mark versus Urvo. Begin!" Teg ordered once they'd taken their positions. "And I better not see any funny b—" "Teg," Whisp warned. "Enough. I'll not tolerate this unprofessional behavior any longer."

The man's mouth closed. At the same time, sand rushed up from the ground, enveloping Mark in his armor. The boy raised his sword, then lowered into a fighting stance, waiting for his opponent to make the first move.

Urvo thrust his hands forward. A wave of dark energy rippled out from his hand, buffeting Mark and forcing him back several steps.

"He's another dark magic user," Damien said aloud.

"With a lot more energy than I have," Sylph said. It was difficult to tell if her words were annoyed or if she was just stating a fact.

Blades of dark energy slipped out from the shadows now covering the stage and slashed at Mark. However, not a single blow connected in a meaningful way. Several were caught by his sandy armor, while he blocked the remainder with his sword.

Mark made his way toward Urvo, pressing through the hail of attacks raining down on him. Damien could see Urvo panicking as the boy realized his magic was borderline worthless against the other student.

"I don't think his strikes are as dangerous as yours," Damien observed as a blade of shadow harmlessly bounced off Mark's armor. "If you'd landed half of those hits on Mark, he'd probably be down for the count already."

"It's possible," Sylph allowed. "He's got a lot more magical energy than I do, though. I don't know if I'd be able to beat Urvo."

"What about Mark?" Damien asked.

"Not sure about that either. I'm pretty sure he's been holding back in the fights we had in class. If he actually went all out…" Sylph trailed off, ending the sentence with a shrug.

Mark gained ground on Urvo. He slowly forced the other boy toward the edge of the arena. Mark bled from a few wounds on his hands and face, but none of them were serious.

Urvo's expression grew more strained as Mark gained ground on him. He redoubled his efforts, but it was ineffective. Mark's armor and reflexes were just too much.

With a sudden burst of speed, Mark dashed forward, ducking past several attacks, and slicing out with his sword. He stopped it an inch from Urvo's neck.

"Killing blow," Teg announced. Urvo's shoulders slumped, and he let out a defeated sigh.

"Damn," Urvo said. "You're insane. How can you move that quickly? I've never met anyone who could block all of my attacks like that."

"There were too many of them with too little power," Mark replied, lowering his sword. "You should focus on throwing some stronger attacks in between the weak ones.

You can whittle weaker opponents to death with mosquitoes, but that isn't going to work against anyone stronger than you."

Urvo pursed his lips and gave the other boy a curt nod.

He headed back to the stands, and Sylph rose, walking onto the arena to take his place.

"Well, it took long enough, but this is the final match of the Year One ranking battles," Teg announced. "Are the two of you prepared?"

Sylph and Mark nodded, not taking their eyes off each other.

"Then begin!"

Sylph slipped back, fading out of sight instantly. Sand flowed up Mark's body, thickening his armor. He used a tactic similar to Damien's, watching the ground to spot Sylph before she got close to him.

The ground where she'd been standing dimpled. Mark took a step back just in time to avoid a flicker of darkness as Sylph sliced through the air where he'd been standing, flickering into view in the air above him before fading again.

"You jumped that far?" Mark asked, impressed. The response was a slash that carved a deep furrow in his arm, cutting through the sand and drawing a thin red line up to his shoulder.

Mark's gaze narrowed. He stomped a foot on the ground. Sand erupted around him in a violent storm, pattering around Sylph and revealing her position.

He lunged at her, his blade flickering like a hungry viper.

A clang rang out as Sylph caught the strike with her magic, and the two of them started the fight in earnest.

Damien struggled to track the students as they clashed within the sandstorm. Several cuts appeared along Mark's chest, and his armor turned a light pink from the blood mixing in with the sand, but the injuries seemed to be little more than superficial.

Sylph's speed let her stay ahead of Mark's attacks, but they knew it was only a matter of time. They were both low on Ether, but Sylph had always been at the disadvantage in that regard.

The sand churned faster. Mark caught a strike with the pommel of his sword and retaliated with a blindingly fast strike. Sylph flickered back, reappearing for an instant with an ugly red wound running across her chest.

Blood splashed onto the sand, but she didn't make a single noise. She faded back into her camouflage.

"Don't let yourself bleed out," Mark warned her. "That wound looked serious."

Despite his words, he didn't let his sword lower for a second. A blur of darkness flew out of the sand, blurring past his guard and carving a deep furrow through his side.

Mark grimaced as the magic cut clean through his armor and into the flesh beneath it.

The sand rushed to cover the hole, but the damage was already done. Now both bled heavily from their wounds.

Sylph's invisibility faded. She reappeared several feet from Mark, a short sword made of dark energy flickering in her hand. A few moments later, the sandstorm faded as well. The two of them stared at each other, panting.

"Looks like it'll come down to our swordsmanship," Mark said, smirking. "You're lucky Damien bought you that extra time to recover. This would have been over already if he hadn't."

Sylph changed her stance, holding the sword in front of her with one hand while placing the other behind her back.

"You aren't going to win this," Mark said. "I'm stronger than you are."

"I know," Sylph replied.

They dashed at each other. Sylph's sword flickered and vanished. Mark's concentrated frown didn't waver for a second. They were upon each other in an instant. Sylph twisted, bringing her other hand forward as Mark swung his sword at her side.

Sylph was an instant faster. Her open hand thudded into Mark's chest. The tiny white corner of a slip of paper stuck out from beneath her palm.

A blast of fire engulphed Mark, the force causing him to stagger and miss his attack. The blade flickered back to life in her hand, and she raised it to his neck before Mark could recover.

"Death blow," Sylph said quietly.

The platform was silent. Mark's jaw clenched, but he slowly lowered his sword.

"Sylph wins," Teg announced, his words disbelieving.

Whisp glanced from Sylph to Damien. A flicker of a grin crossed the stern woman's face. Without a word, she launched into the sky and vanished through the clouds.

"You're a smug little bastard, aren't you? The two of you weren't even competing in the same tournament as we were." Urvo said to Damien.

"They never gave us any rules," Damien replied, trying and failing to hide his grin. "Maybe they won't keep us in the dark next time."

Teg looked like a blood vessel was about to burst on his face. The judge let out an explosive sigh and stormed over to the two students, healing them while muttering under his breath.

"Congratulations on first place," Teg told Sylph. He turned to the other students. "The results of the ranking battles will be released to your teachers shortly. They'll direct you to the location where you can pick up your rewards."

The platform rumbled. Damien wobbled as the ground shook beneath his feet. The platform slowly lowered to the ground.

"None of your teachers will be holding any class today, so feel free to do whatever you'd like with your time," Teg continued, his voice flat. "You've all done well getting here."

The platform accelerated its descent. The ground rose quickly toward them, but as soon as they got close, it slowed. When they touched the ground, Damien barely even felt the impact. He combed his hair back with his hands, the dull headache muted by his victory.

"Go on," Teg snapped, waving his hand irritably. "Get out of here. There's a portal right outside the arena."

Sylph and Mark walked over, joining Damien and Urvo.

Mark pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow.

"Why do I feel like I was fighting both of you in that last fight?" Mark asked.

"There weren't any rules about outside help," Damien said.

"Evidently," Mark muttered. "That won't work on me next time, though."

He inclined his head, clearly annoyed, and strode out of the arena. The other three watched him go.

"Delph's students are insane," Urvo declared. "I'll be watching for you guys in the next tournament."

He left as well. Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance.

"Lunch?" Sylph suggested. Damien nodded empathetically.

They left the arena and headed to the mess hall. The campus was more crowded than Damien had ever seen it, so it took them several minutes of waiting in line until they were able to order.

Once Sylph had ordered and put the bill on Delph's tab, the two students found a spot at one of the tables at the end of the room. They sat, and Damien let out an exhausted sigh.

"I thought they were going to call me on stalling our fight," he said. "We're lucky Dean Whisp didn't seem to mind too much."

"I don't think I would have had a chance of winning without that," Sylph admitted. "I barely won, even with your heat runes. And I get the feeling Mark was still holding back."

"Well, all that matters is you won," Damien said. "There was no way I had a chance of taking Mark out, even if I managed to beat you, which I don't think would have happened. We should definitely be able to go on some of the higher-level missions now."

Their runes lit up. Damien pressed the glowing light, summoning the plate of slop before him. He bit back a gag and lifted it, holding his nose shut as he tipped the food into his mouth and swallowed without chewing.

He shuddered, his lips pulling back in a grimace, and set the disturbingly clean plate back on the table.

Sylph took two of the sticks of dumplings from her plate and set them on Damien's. He gave her an appreciative nod.

"Thanks," Damien said, taking a bite out of a dumpling.

"I think I'm the one whoowes you the thanks," Sylph replied.

Damien finished chewing and shrugged. "Placing high will help both of us. We've both got reasons to get a lot of points and gold, the least of which is so I can afford to eat something other than their free slop."

"I was wondering about that, actually," Sylph said.

"There are a lot of students at this school, but even after a big event like the ranking battles, the mess hall is just barely full. There's no way everyone could fit in here. That means most people are eating somewhere else."

"We could ask Delph," Damien suggested. "He's sure to be happy that you won, so maybe he'll tell us."

"We can ask tomorrow," Sylph said. "And I hope they get our winnings to us quickly. Our room needs a door already."

Damien nodded in agreement. He took another bite out of a dumpling. A hand clapped his shoulder, and he nearly leapt into the air. He spun to see Sean standing behind him, a grin on his face.

"Look at you two," Sean said. "First place and a semifinalist. I've never seen Teg so annoyed before. It really looked like the two of you completely played the system. They're going to have to release a whole slew of new rules prohibiting students from helping each other now."

"Hello, Sean," Damien said, nodding to the older boy.

"You saw the fights?"

"Hard not to," Sean replied. "Everyone else was done like…half an hour before the Year Ones. You should have seen my face when I realized it was you two sitting in the arena, refusing to fight. I wish I'd thought of doing something like that. I got knocked out in the quarterfinals after running out of Ether."

"Hopefully, the school isn't too annoyed," Damien said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's just that they didn't give us rules, so we figured anything went."

Sean let out a burst of laughter. "Oh, you did great.

Antagonizing Teg is one of life's greatest pleasures. He's the teacher for several of the advanced combat classes in your second year, so driving him up the wall is a rite of passage."

"Well, I hope we don't get landed with him if we're still at Blackmist next year," Damien said. "I don't think he likes me much."

"He doesn't like anyone," Sean replied, sitting beside them and tapping the rune circle on the table to activate it.

"At least he's got a reason to dislike you."

"Do you know what the tournament rewards are?" Sylph asked, setting down her empty skewer and starting on another. "They haven't told us yet, and it would be nice to know if it's going to be worth much."

"For first place? It should be pretty hefty, even if it's just the Year One prize. I'd expect a good number of credits, some medicinal plants, and a small sum of gold," Sean said.

"I've never actually placed first. The highest I got was a semifinalist in Year Two, and the reward for that was solid."

"That's a relief," Damien said. "We need a door."

"Among other things," Sylph agreed.

Sean chuckled. His rune circle lit up, and he tapped it. A plate of steak and potatoes appeared on the table before him. "I know what you mean. It's good to get one now to get ahead of the curve."

He trailed off, remembering something. Then his face cleared, and he gave them a wide grin. "But we're not meant to talk much about what you'll see in Year Two, as it'll cheapen the experience or some equally stupid garbage. Either way, I'm not trying to get on the professors' bad sides, so I'll stop there."

That was the worst thing he could have said, as now Damien very much wanted to know what happened in Year Two. However, Sean clearly wasn't going to give him any information on the topic, so he didn't press it. "Say, do you know why nobody eats here?"

Sean glanced up, something sparkling behind his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there are a lot of students at the college, but the mess hall never gets overcrowded," Damien said. "They've got to be eating somewhere else."

"You're right," Sean said. "A lot of students hunt their own meals. The forest to the east side of campus has quite a few low- to mid-level monsters. Eating them is good for your body and helps you grow your core. However, most Year Ones aren't ready to fight monsters, so it isn't encouraged until Year Two."

"Not encouraged, but not against the rules?" Sylph asked.

"Nah, you're welcome to if you want," Sean said, taking a large bite out of his steak.

Damien and Sylph exchanged a glance.

"Why do you eat in the mess hall if the monsters in the forest are better?" Damien queried.

"Hunting is a pain, and my powers aren't suited for it," Sean replied, taking another bite of steak. "Besides, who wants to spend all their time running around a forest? It's time-consuming and tiring. I'll hunt every once and a while, but the improvements just aren't worth the effort for me.

I'm not planning on being a combat mage anyway."

"Fair enough," Damien agreed, finishing off the last dumpling in one large bite.

Sylph finished her own meal a few moments later. They exchanged another minute or so of small talk with Sean before bidding the older boy farewell and heading back to their room.