Thorne Veylora stepped forward with a determined look. He had always been a show-off in training, using his wind magic with arrogance and flair. His tall frame and strong build gave him an imposing presence, and his mastery over wind allowed him to move at unbelievable speeds.
"I hope you're ready," Thorne said, grinning. He snapped his fingers, and a powerful gust of wind rushed through the hall, throwing Elijah off balance.
The air grew thick as Thorne summoned powerful tornadoes and gale-force winds, each one stronger than the last. Elijah quickly realized that Thorne wasn't just relying on speed—his wind magic was meant to overwhelm and wear him down.
Elijah bent the space around himself, warping the air to reduce the force of the wind. But Thorne didn't stop, sending blast after blast in a frenzied attack. Elijah ducked, dodged, and folded space around the blasts, but he couldn't keep up for long. Every attack seemed faster and more unpredictable.
Finally, Thorne charged him, using wind to propel himself at breakneck speed. Elijah, thinking quickly, opened a rift in space just as Thorne moved to strike, causing the wind mage to miss his target by mere inches. Elijah used the opportunity to slip behind him, summoning a blade of void energy to strike.
Thorne stumbled, caught off guard by the precision and adaptability Elijah had shown. "Damn, you're good."
Thorne's face showed a mix of admiration and frustration as he stepped back, his breathing labored. "But you're still not unbeatable, Elijah. There's always someone faster."
Magnus clapped his hands from the sidelines. "Excellent. One more—Edrik."
Edrik Veylora, though younger than Elijah, had a fierce look in his eyes. He stepped into the arena, his hands already conjuring ice. Unlike the previous two, Edrik's magic wasn't about brute force or overwhelming control—it was about precision, freezing the air to trap his opponents in a deadly cage.
Edrik immediately shot a burst of icy tendrils toward Elijah, the air around them dropping in temperature. Elijah reacted quickly, creating a void rift to redirect the ice shards away from him. But Edrik wasn't about to let up. He spun in place, summoning a whirlwind of ice spikes that shot toward Elijah with lethal speed.
Elijah bent space again, warping his position to dodge the incoming attacks. He created a void blade and slashed through the ice, but the frozen shards scattered and reformed into more projectiles. Edrik wasn't giving him a moment to breathe.
With a sudden shift, Elijah folded space behind Edrik and teleported, aiming for a decisive strike. But Edrik anticipated this, using his ice to create a barrier just in time. Elijah's blade collided with the ice, but the magic shattered under the force of his strike.
The two stood facing each other, breathing heavily, each exhausted but unwilling to yield. "You're not bad," Edrik said, a small grin appearing on his face. "I thought you'd be all about void tricks, but you've got more to you than that."
Elijah nodded. "So do you."
Magnus stepped forward, giving a rare nod of approval. "Well done, Elijah. You've proven your strength not just to me, but to the entire family. You're ready for the next step."