Erika plucked up her courage and went to meet Teresa.
"FINALLY!!! Took you long enough!" Teresa said in exasperation, "We're about to miss the contest!"
"Sorry! I overslept." Erika lied with a pleading look.
"Hmmm. Fine, whatever!" Teresa replied," Let's go! NOW!"
Erika was promptly dragged to the tournament arena.
"Luckily we registered yesterday, or we'd be in big trouble the time to sign up just ended!" Teresa said in joy and annoyance.
"Yes, yes. Great." Erika replied.
_____________
Teresa and Erika were set to battle mid-way through the preliminaries because of their strength and talent.
The first battle was between two mages.
The first mage cast a fireball and wind blade the second mage dodged the fireball but could completely doge the wind blade and got a cut on his shoulder.
Then the second mage retaliated with a water whip and followed up with a fireball however the first mage made a shield. It blocked the whip two times when the fireball hit leaving an ever-growing crack behind. The shield shatter and the third lash hit the boy. He was shocked his shield didn't hold and fainted partly due to the pain and partly due to the shock.
The second battle was between a mage and a swordsman. The swordsman started off on the offensive charging up to the mage, but the mage cast a flash shield of mana(it's not a spell but will do in a pinch if the instant defense is needed*high mana control needed*). Then, while the swordsman cut at the mana shield a true shield spell piped into existence earth btw. It was back and forth between them for a while because the swordsman easily dogged the spells the mage threw at him (earth spike and acid/poison) and the mage defected most of his attacks with magic or mana.
Finally, the mage slipped up when he let the swordsman in behind him. It was over in a flash.
***3 hours later***
"Teresa" called the announcer.
"Bye Erika!"
"Bye"
Teresa was fighting a spearman. She started off with a fireball to test his reflexes and buy herself time to cast a larger spell(the monsters wouldn't have understood that she was casting which is why she started off with a high-level spell at the guild). The spearman dodged rather quickly but the fireball barely missed her. Then she ran towards Teresa but to her surprise, Teresa barely fended her off with her staff then let loose a windstorm throwing her off the stage and disqualifying her.
"Erika" called the announcer she was to fight a fire swordsman.
Erika held her sword in front of her but was focused on casting her magic. A fireball and wind blade appeared the wind blade sliced through the fireball twice splitting it in four the four mini fireballs chased down the swordsman from the side while the wind blade came from the front. The swordsman dogged into a fireball and easily resisted its heat and explosion but was then faced with a water whip.
'I hate whips' Erika mumbled, even though it was helping her win.
Slap the whip's end crystallized into ice right before it hit. The swordsman became flustered and was thrown out of the ring 'Judging by Erika's movements she was unfamiliar with both the whip and the sword... She should train' Thought Teresa.
***3 more hours later***
"That ends the Preliminaries. See you tomorrow everyone." The announcer said with a winning(demonic to those who lost) smile.