A few hours had passed as Kasper lay in wait to hear news of his next bout. The first round was just about wrapped up and the experts in the crowds were generally unimpressed, it could be said maybe 20 or so of the 400 had real potential. It would've been overlooked as an overall weak class if it weren't for the cream of the crop, Leo and Kasper, no one wanted to be the first to admit it but from the way they fought, interacted with others or generally held themselves it was obvious they each oozed with confidence. They were perhaps the highest potentials in a decade. As the last match concluded Felton approached the stage once more and managed to calm the crowd finally as they grew tense from anticipation, they all wished to see a clash of giants but none really had hope, how great were the odds it would be so? As Felton bellowed out the matches he saved the first match for the last announcement and the quicker ones in the crowd realized the names that had been withheld so far as he turned dreams to reality. "And finally the last to be announced meaning the opener of the second round will be one i'm sure you all will be happy with. Leo son of Icarus user of wind will grace the stage against a home town stunner in Kasper the Unknown son of also Unknown." Kasper couldn't help but smile as he heard the last part but a second later it was as if an earthquake had indeed descended on the arena. The crowd was awash with excitement hammering their feet into the ground and clapping and screaming as loud and as fast as they could. Kas imagined this is probably what rock concerts felt like. He didn't know who Icarus or who his son Leo was but he could gauge from the crowd reactions it was someone elite, the applause certainly wasn't all for him. His thoughts were reinforced when he saw his two guards both turn snow white and avoid eye contact with him as if he really was a ghost. Felton finally able to quiet the crowd once again managed a last "Would the first contestants please make their way to the arena at this time." With one last heavy sigh Kasper took one more sip of water before grabbing his weapons, turning to the guards he managed to say "Don't worry boys i'll get the doors myself." He promptly made his exit towards the next hurdle to clear yet he couldn't help but feel strangely at ease. Maybe this Leo kid was all so great but not really knowing anything about him might actually be beneficial since I wont be overthinking it. Little did he know on the other side of the arena Leo latching the last strap of his armor was scoffing at the announcement. No one had ever lasted more than a handful of exchanges in a duel with him now the crowd was hyping up some commoner to compete against him? This Kasper wouldn't last more than 5 minutes, egotistical sure but who wouldn't be when you've been unmatched all your life. With a grunt he picked up his longbow whipped his cloak on and headed down to meet this upstart. Kasper finally made it to the entrance of his side of the arena and he could practically feel the wall of emotions emitting from the crowd, he could feel the vibrations in his feet from the amount of force they produced. He spied his opponent on the opposite side but all he had was a longbow, no ammo and just a small dagger accompanied by some light armor. Confused about the ammo part, the rest made sense. He probably never had a threat ever make it close to him so the armor was probably more decoration than anything honestly. Kasper didn't want to try and dual wield again, his opponent seemed much to skilled to bring in some half ass technique in so begrudgingly to his dismay and the crowds he grabbed his buckler once more as he headed in to meet Leo. After the introductions were made yet again the crowd grew deadly silent even before the loud horn blasted across the arena signaling the start. I tensed my legs, it seemed Leo's weakness was close combat but the way he held himself he was obviously confident no one would ever make it there so I was loathe to start sprinting. Instead I think i'll w-... suddenly I felt a nasty sensation reach me and shot to my left and instantly a sharp pain reached my cheek as a thin sheet of blood soon poured down. In what seemed like a second Leo had took an arrow from God knows where and already sent it at me hitting with such deadly accuracy it was all i could do to react as I did. Without further ado I hit the dirt as again I heard the wind whistle as his deadly arrow zoomed above. Managing a glance behind me I looked to see what kind of damage his arrows produced but amongst the cracks in the wall I saw no arrows as if...his arrows were the wind themselves. Suddenly fear cemented itself in my stomach as i rolled to my left onto a knee and held my shield above my head. Instantly a sharp pain hit my shoulder as my shield struggled to hold on as it was forcefully slammed back into me. To my dismay it looked as if it could maybe take one more hit like that then it would indeed be useless, I needed a plan fast. The crowd was stunned speechless as to the one sided action so far, true Leo was a known powerhouse but some small hopefuls were hoping to see the great put down a peg, he had a big head as it was. Leo to his credit was somewhat unnerved as to what he was witnessing as well, he had fired 5 wind arrows at his opponent and not only had they not disabled Kasper, he had managed to dodge or block 4. No one had ever lasted this long without some serious damage but the most he could see was a small amount of blood that Kasper himself hardly noticed. Nose furrowed a small begrudging amount of respect began to form for his rival as he drew back his bow once more ready to finish this once and for all. Kasper seeing his opponent moving knew he had to act as he eyed the tall podium on the wall to his left and suddenly a reckless plan formed but with little in the ways of options he knew it was all or nothing. He sprinted to his left managing to dodge the next arrow and catch the one after that with his shield as it finally broke into pieces, throwing the fragments to the ground he pressed on. Eagerly he then jumped onto the high wall and to the crowds disbelief began running sideways gaining height and speed as Leo struggled to account for his angle, but being the natural he was felt a satisfactory sensation as he finally saw two arrows pierce their mark, Kasper let out a small scream in pain as he felt an arrow pierce him through his left shoulder and right calf and his speed noticeably faltered. As he was awash with pain struggling to reach the peak of the wall he came face to face with someone in the crowd and in the moment time seemed to freeze, Mango sat there shamelessly looking at Kasper as he ran by and gave off one of his trademark house eating grins with a wink. In that moment Kasper didn't even feel the 3rd arrow pierce his side, the wall of emotions he felt from the man who gave him so much and got him to this point combined with all the roller coaster of emotions and pain he's swam through, him all he wanted was to not let that man in front of him down. Mind going blank Kasper opened himself to the rage he was feeling and as he succumbed to the shadows in his thoughts he reached the peak of the wall right above Leo and let out a monstrous howl as he pushed off and streaked with thunderous speed towards his opponent. Only the few Knights of Dawn present and Felton managed to catch in time what truly happened in those precious moments. As Kasper jumped a black energy seemed to cocoon his right hand as if surrounding it with pure emotional power, as he connected to the ground sand from the arena flew all the way to the ceiling shielding from the crowd how the match had truly finished. Felton quickly ushered the medics to rush and grab the boys before too much damage had been witnessed. Leo lay battered, empty of magic and accompanied by broken bones, he weakly managed to look at the monster of a boy next to him oozing power before passing out as well. Kasper had a created a ten foot crater and brought Leo down into it with his single punch before passing out himself as the black energy faded with his consciousness. Felton felt a small bead of sweat start to form as guards rushed in to attempt to help calm down everyone and assist those injured from the shockwaves. The match would be rated as a draw since both contestants were unable to continue fighting but thats not what really worried him. Hands shaking and eyes filled with disbelief, did he really just witness the creation of one with the fabled Dark Magic. He could only shutter when he looked back onto his conversation with Mango. There hasn't been a Dark Magic user in hundreds of years so he was loathe to confidently say Kasper was indeed one, maybe it was a fluke. Yet his thoughts couldn't help but stray to the fact that rare as they are, whenever a Dark Magic user appears they change the world undoubtably, and never for the better.