"This is it." Tiagon commented as he watched from a tree branch.
He was about to execute his move when he picked a couple of Mana signatures from the other end of the little span of grasses. It was another group and they did a good job of hiding.
One moved from behind a tree and looked up locking eyes with Tiagon.
'It's now or never.'
He looked beneath himself, his teammates were crouching behind the bush, their presence already picked up by the other team.
He nodded at them affirming his course of action.
He took up a rock, bands of light twisted around it and with a shimmer of light, it transformed into a red round fruit.
Members of the other team saw what he did and they understood his plan.
Tiagon lightly threw forward the shapeshifted rock now fruit on the ground mimicking the fall of a fruit.
The Spiefel lifted its long neck and spotted the fruit with its left eye, it looked around for predators but spotted none. The red color was much too enticing for it to ignore and it strode forward.
'Eat it you stupid bird'
The bird struck the rock with its beak, the binding spell broke and the fruit became a rock again, the binds of light grew and whipped forward covering the body of the Spiefel and rendering it immobile. It fell over.
"Now!"
It was now or never, Tiagon jumped off the tree, his teammates ran forward and so did the other team members.
Wands shot forward and blasts of magic collided.
Tiagon was swift, he dodged blasts of magic that came at him and crossed the distance between him and them.
His first victim was a woman whom he struck with a blow to her face rendering her unconscious.
He clapped his hands and erosive magic of condensed mana shot off his fingers launching at the remaining three.
They all avoided the blasts but unfortunately for them, they had left an opening for the other team and exploit the opening their opponents did.
Aarin shot forward blasts of water and wind that overwhelmed one above, Erin attacked with her vines and Turan with her flames but luckily, they were able to get away, the two that were hit lay unconscious.
They all turned to the Spiefel and it was still in the spot bound by sealing magic, it gave them a confused stare.
"Now, all we have to do is to maintain our turf" Aarin said.
An hour passed when one of the unconscious mages got up from his slumber. He looked about distraught and then he spotted those that made him feel in the state he currently was.
Tiagon and his comrades all sat at the foot of a tree just at the end of the patch of grass. The Spiefel beside them restrained.
The mage cast a cold stare and then he got up and fled.
The female mage Tiagon punched woke up soon after and she ran off as soon as she did.
And then it was dead silence for a couple of minutes until Aarin spoke.
"That spell that you did, the one that made the stone into a red fruit, what magic was it? I have never seen such magic before."
"It was a shapeshifting spell and it requires a lot of Mana. It's handy."
"I see."
Another hour passed in silence until Erin's tummy rumbling broke the silence. The sky was darkening and the sun began moving down the horizon.
It was almost sunset, they only needed to wait a few more minutes and they'd pass the first exam.
It seemed like nothing interesting would happen when a panicked mage in torn clothes ran out of the bush falling on the grass.
"Ahh!" He screamed, stood up and continued running.
"What was that about?" Erin said, her voice coarse.
Then, the sun set. A pillar of light suddenly erupted from the center of the designated space striking the veil above and undoing it.
Tiagon stood up and so did the others
"Looks like that is our clue." he said.
Aarin slowly whirled her wand over the Spiefel and a light breeze grew around the bird lifting it.
The team began zooming towards the area of light, they saw others that were zooming at it as well. A few mages also tried to attack the teams with a Spiefel, Tiagon and the others fortunately were not targeted.
They got to the spot and they met the mages waiting for them with some teams with their Spiefel and the rest without.
"This marks the end of the first exam. Congratulations to the winners and survivors of this examination, the next exam will happen in the next three days, do your best as noble mages and do not stray away from the graceful ways of magic. Ur'lurn is to the North, the veil obstructed the imagery of the city at a distance but you all should be able to see it once you levitate. See you in the next exam." The human mage announced.
Those whose team had caught a Spiefel had their bracelets glow, their names immediately registered for the next exam. Those that didn't had their bracelets fall off, some were in dismay and some were relieved.
Suddenly, the human mage disappeared and the elf mage remained. She smiled and walked into the gathering, she touched the Spiefels with her wands and they disappeared one after the other until they were all gone. After teleporting away the last, she walked back to the front of the gathering and disappeared herself
'Teleportation magic, they were sent somewhere' Tiagon thought.
"First exam completed!" Aarin cried in celebration.
"We wouldn't have won without your wit and power" Erin commented and looked up at Tiagon.
"You are most welcome, but pray I don't become your opponent ." He smirked and took off.
"Shapeshifting magic huh." Aarin muttered.
"He's so resourceful."
The mages began leaving, flying to the capital until there was no one left.