Kaelith furrowed his brow as he watched the contestant tentatively, his gaze sweeping across the contestant as if they were a treasured pawn in his ga of chess.
A wild and violent fla roared across the stage. The heat rose like a wave, making the air shimr. Kaelith felt it from where he sat, just a breath of warmth, as there was an invisible barrier protecting the crowd from the waves of the fight.
The white-uniford boy didn’t move much. His eyes were observant and calm. He raised one arm, and a ring of frost burst outward from his body. A sharp ice ford in layers across the platform; it covered it within seconds.
The mont the two elents clashed, the entire stage shook again.
Cracks ran across the floor, and a sharp gust swept through the arena as steam hissed from the collision between fire and ice. The crowd gasped and leaned slightly backward, but Kaelith stayed still.
’Fast,’ he thought, watching the boy in red. ’But sloppy. Tsk. Tsk. He wants to burn through everything, zero outsmarting skills.’
The boy in white moved with precision. Each motion had a purpose. He stepped sideways and raised his hand again. Snow spiraled upward in a sharp arc before hardening into a barrier.
The fire slamd into it, sending a shockwave through the platform. A low boom followed. Dust scattered, and so nobles near the front raised their arms to shield their faces.
However, Kaelith didn’t bat an eyelid. His gaze was too focused for a five-month-old.
Back in the arena, the boy in white used the mist from the explosion to vanish from sight. When the flas cleared, the red-uniford boy spun in confusion.
"Co out, you coward! And fight head-on," but no matter how much he searched for a glimpse of the other boy, he couldn’t find him.
Then, he froze, as cold shivers ran through his spine, the hair on his body stood up on end, and his mind blared red in his head.
As he slowly turned around, his hands engulfed in flas, his breath ca out in mist, a single cold droplet of sweat trickling down his throat.
Then, a sharp whoosh cut through the air. He raised his fla just in ti. The icicle sizzled into steam, lting into liquid. Before he could detect where the attack ca from, more icicles flew towards him.
He twisted mid-air as he dodged the attack, and as soon as his legs touched the ground, an icicle in the shape of a spear hovered at his throat.
The boy in red’s eyes widened in disbelief, and his throat bobbed up and down nervously.
"Victory to Northhelm!" the announcer shouted.
The crowd burst out in cheerful applause.
"Northhelm! Northhelm!"
The white-uniford boy retracted his magic, and the once chilling air returned to its normal temperature. He confidently walked forward before bowing to the emperors and the crowd and stepped out of the platform.
’Disciplined,’ Kaelith thought. ’He’s seen real combat. He is not strong enough, but not useless either.’
A quiet shift beside him made him glance back. His mother was still seated, her hand resting lightly on her lap. Her eyes didn’t leave him, even when the next match was called. Although her gaze was calm, Kaelith could feel the quiet pressure in her posture, like sothing was burning inside her chest, and that, he believed, was the betrothal his father had just arranged.
He turned away, not wanting to miss the rest of the fight.
"Next, Gravemarch and Sunre!"
Two girls stepped forward next, stepping into the inner ring.
One wore black, the Gravemarch colors. The other wore red with gold trim, the Sunre’s.
They looked young, but their eyes said otherwise.
"Your empire likes to talk big," the Sunre girl said, voice confident.
The Gravemarch girl didn’t respond. She drew a curved blade marked with dark symbols and stood still, silent and focused.
When the bell rang, light exploded across the field.
Orbs of golden magic hovered in the air above the Sunre girl’s head. They pulsed like small suns, raining down beams of fire. Heat washed over the stage, and Kaelith could see the runes on the stone beginning to glow faintly in response.
However, the Gravemarch girl’s face had a blank expression, her black hair contrasted with her very pale skin, her black mascara popping out more, and her black-painted lips made her look like she had just co back from the dead.
As she reached her hands out, shadows like tendrils wrapped around her like a second skin. Then, she pivoted between the beams with perfect timing, slipping through them like she’d rehearsed it a hundred tis.
Kaelith leaned forward, studying her more closely, as he could feel the stinking sll of death from her powers.
’She’s not using her full powers yet,’ he thought. ’Interesting.’
A wide arc of fla swept across the field like a bow. Seeing this, the Gravemarch girl slamd her hand into the ground. Darkness surged outward in a low, violent wave. Soon the arena turned dark as the shadows tried to suppress the fla.
The shadows grew thicker, like layers upon layers. The girl from Sunre struggled to keep the fla burning, her knees wobbling as her back crouched down.
Soon, a loud blast shook the air, as the shadows moved like a storm, roaring violently through the sky.
The Sunre girl flew back, her feet dragging across the stone before she hit the edge of the platform.
Her body slumped over the ground as she fell unconscious.
"Victory... to Gravemarch!", the announcer called.
This ti the crowds didn’t cheer that loud; only the people from Gravemarch cheered for her.
While the rest of the crowd looked at her with disgust.
"Bloodydead mongers," a man in the crowd spat out in displeasure.
Unknown to him, a slim, tall man was staring at him. An amused smile ford on his lips. His long dark hair fell over his shoulders, with so part covering one side of his face. His eyes were lined with black paint, and even his lips were painted black. The man was sitting on the Gravemarch side of the arena, his long slender hands gently caressing the cold blade in his other hand.
The Gravemarch girl picked up her blade casually, twirling it around her fingers before placing it in the sheath on her waist. She walked off without a word, a small smirk tugging her lips.
Kaelith’s eyes narrowed at her retreating fra. ’She’s dangerous... A worthy weapon.’ His eyes flickered with an unreadable glint.
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