Darcy cleared his throat behind Damien and Travis as the two of them stepped off the stairs. A few minutes passed in relative silence, the cheers of the crowd and the sound of fighting from the other stages drowning everything else out. "Actually, Damien, please return to the stage. You've been selected to fight again for the third round of combat."
Damien grimaced. Getting hit by whatever spell Travis had cast clearly excluded him from skipping out on the third round of combat. He steeled his expression and turned on his heel, heading back up the stairs to stand beside Darcy. He'd used up a decent amount of his energy already, but he wasn't in bad shape either.
"Loretta, please join us," Darcy said.
Shit.
"Don't even think about going easy on her because she's in your class. She'll beat your ass," Henry warned.
Don't worry. I won't, but this is going to make training awkward.
Loretta gave Damien a half-smile as she stepped onto the stage. It wasn't hard to tell she was thinking around the same thing Damien was.
"Begin!" Darcy ordered.
Water rippled around Loretta's arms, launching out at Damien like twin snakes. His eyes widened at the speed of the attack, and he dropped to the ground, enlarging the sand into a wall. The water slammed into it, boring two holes clean through his defense and passing by Damien's head.
"Enlarge doesn't make things stronger!" Henry snapped.
"It just makes them bigger and heavier. Either make your walls thicker or don't bother with them."
Damien didn't have time to respond. He scrambled away from the wall as a jet of water tore a path through it, cutting it clean in two. His spell faded, and the sand collapsed back to its normal size.
The Ether leapt to Damien's palms as he formed two Gravity Spheres. He threw them at Loretta, then ducked to the side as a bullet of water narrowly missed him.
Loretta enveloped herself in an orb of spinning water moments before the Gravity Spheres connected. The magic crackled, and large amounts of the sphere were torn away as the magic detonated, but Loretta remained unharmed.
While Loretta channeled her magic, Damien formed another two spheres and tossed them in her direction. She blocked them again, then sent two blasts of water streaming toward him.
Damien gritted his teeth, enlarging several grains of sand before him to make a wall thick enough to block Loretta's follow up attack. He gathered more Ether from a nearby line and channeled it into two more Gravity Spheres.
He lobbed one over the wall, then ducked back as water hissed by his face. Sweat trickled down his forehead and back, and Damien felt the strain of casting so many spells.
He wasn't near the edge but continuing at this pace would make it difficult to do well in future fights if he managed to beat Loretta.
Damien collapsed the wall of sand and hurled the Gravity Sphere straight at Loretta. Her eyes widened. She breathed heavily and looked to be in much worse shape than Damien. She wrapped the water around herself, blocking the majority of the spell's damage but still getting dragged several feet to the side.
Damien sent several more spheres at the girl, forcing her to remain within her watery shield to avoid them.
"You're going to wear yourself out if you keep throwing these," Loretta warned him.
Damien tossed another sphere slightly to her side. She stumbled as the spell nearly pulled her over the edge of the stage. As the water gathered around her to attack Damien, he changed his plans. Instead of creating another wall, Damien dashed straight toward the girl.
Her eyebrows raised, but a flicker of a grin crossed her face. Loretta thrust her hands forward, and two more bullets of water tore through the air. Damien twisted to the side, avoiding one of them.
The other caught him in the right collarbone. Damien felt it punch clean through him. Pain erupted throughout his body as screaming tendrils of agony traced down his side, but he didn't stop running.
Loretta stepped to the side as Damien dove forward, landing on the ground directly in front of her. She grinned, water gathering at her hands as she prepared the final blow to put Damien down.
Damien pressed his hand against the ground beneath Loretta's feet and cast the enlarge spell. The girl didn't even have a chance to scream as the sand erupted out from beneath her, launching the girl several feet into the air and over the edge of the stage.
Darcy flickered forward, grabbing her by the collar before she could plummet to the ground below. Damien rolled over, holding his bleeding shoulder and cursing through gritted teeth.
The judge set Loretta on the stage and strode over to Damien, kneeling and healing his wounds.
"Thank you." Damien groaned as he stood up. Phantom pain still echoed through his body, but a quick check with his left hand proved it was entirely in his mind.
"No problem," Darcy said, frowning slightly. "I'm here to judge who wins, not your decision making. That being said, it wasn't smart to run straight at Loretta. In a real fight, that would have gotten you killed."
"I know, sir," Damien said, "but this isn't a real fight. My Ether is limited, and your healing isn't. It was my best chance of winning the fight while preserving myself for the future ones."
Darcy gave him a complicated look. Then he grunted and gestured for Damien and Loretta to get off the stage.
"That was a good fight," Loretta said, giving Damien a small nod as they got off the stage. "I didn't expect you to run straight at me. What if I'd hit you in the heart or the head?"
"You didn't," Damien said, scratching the back of his head. "And I figured Darcy would stop the fight if you were going to kill me. If I used any more magic, I don't think I would have had a great chance at making it in the next round."
Loretta rolled her eyes. "You were thinking about the next fight while you were on the stage for another one?
That makes me feel a bit inadequate. Even if I'd won this fight, I was out of Ether. I wouldn't have been able to fight in the next one if it was anytime soon."
"It was still a good showing," Volon said, greeting them with a nod as they arrived beside him. "Probably the closest fight so far. Makes me feel a bit less awful about my performance. I think I might have just been outclassed this time around."
Blake grunted, but some of the cockiness had left his demeanor. Darcy called two more students onto the stage, but Damien didn't pay attention to the fight. He sat and let out a slow breath, focusing on keeping himself calm and recovering what energy he could before the next fight.
It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Damien heard the judge call out his name, along with Blake's. With a small grimace, Damien opened his eyes and stood. Blake didn't look at him as the two headed up the stairs and onto the stage.
"This is the last fight before the quarterfinals," Darcy announced as they took their spots on the stage. "Good job on getting this far, both of you."
Damien and Blake didn't respond. Their eyes were focused on each other, neither wanting to be slow on the uptake to channel their Ether once the fight started. Darcy smirked and raised a hand.
"Begin!" he ordered.
The air around Blake's hands crackled. Damien's nape tingled, and he let the Gravity Sphere he'd been forming fizzle, dropping to the ground, and enlarging a thick wall of sand.
The wall shuddered as a rather loud bang ripped through the air, blowing the wall to bits and releasing the Ether in the spell, causing it to collapse to its normal size.
Smoke rose in the air from where whatever spell Blake had cast impacted the wall. Judging by the sparking yellow energy forming in the boy's hands, Damien suspected it was probably lightning.
He didn't give Blake time to get another spell off.
Damien lobbed a Gravity Sphere in the boy's direction. This time, Blake was the one forced to drop his spell. He dove to the side as the spell detonated, getting yanked backward several feet but avoiding the impact.
Blake hit the ground in a roll. He thrust a hand at Damien before he rose. A small bolt of yellow energy shot out from it, clipping Damien in the foot right as he threw his second Gravity Sphere.
Damien let out a pained gasp, and his hand wavered, sending the sphere awry from its course. Instead of hitting Blake in the chest, it hit the ground slightly behind him, catching one of his arms in the blast and breaking it with a snap.
Blake's face went pale, and he cried out in pain. Damien shifted his weight to take the pressure off his injured foot and sent another spell hurtling in his opponent's direction.
The other boy threw himself forward and rolled to his feet, his face pallid. Energy crackled to life in his good hand while the other hung limply at his side. The sphere detonated behind him, causing him to stumble.
The lightning bolt went wide, striking the invisible rune walls of the platform harmlessly. Damien tossed another sphere at him, but his eyes went wide when he realized the energy sparking at Blake's hand still hadn't evaporated.
A second blast of energy ripped out of the boy's hand.
With no time to dodge, Damien crossed his hands in front of himself. Pain tore through his body as the bolt sent him skidding back several feet. His injured leg nearly gave out under him, but he remained standing through sheer force of will.
Damien cried out in pain, and his arms dropped limply to his sides, small trails of smoke rising from them. They felt fried, broken, and bruised at the same time.
"You were better than I expected," Blake said between ragged gasps. He raised his good hand, energy starting to collect around it slowly.
Damien desperately tried to raise one of his arms, but all he got for his efforts was a stabbing pain so fierce he nearly passed out. Time seemed to slow down as he saw the magic gather at Blake's fingertips.
A drop of sweat trickled down Damien's brow. He grabbed the Ether within himself using his mental energy, channeling it through his injured leg.
The droplet reached the bridge of his nose. It trailed further downward, beading up on the tip of his nose before finally falling.
A Gravity Sphere formed at the top of Damien's foot. He kicked it toward Blake, using his momentum to fall onto his back. A bolt of lightning screamed over him, passing so close to his nose he smelled the ozone.
Time snapped back to normal. Damien's back hit the sandy ground. His spell detonated as the lightning bolt hit the invisible wall of the platform, and dozens of loud snaps filled the air. Blake's cry of pain accompanied them.
Damien tried to roll over, but the pain ravaging his body wouldn't even let him budge. He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to even turn his head to see what had happened to Blake through his haze of agony.
After what felt like hours but was truly only a few moments, sweet relief washed over Damien. He drew in a sharp breath as Darcy's face swam into vision above him.
"Who won?" Damien asked.
"You did," Darcy said. "Your last attack caught Blake in the side."
"Ah. That explains the crunch," Damien said. "Is he okay?"
"Of course, he is," Darcy said, pulling Damien to his feet. Blake had already left the stage, and that didn't bother Damien much. The sound of his spell striking the other boy still echoed in his head, and his own wounds were still fresh on his mind. "Congratulations on winning stage eight."
"Thank you," Damien said, shaking the lethargy off. He was tired, but he still had enough Ether for at least one more fight. Hopefully. "When is the next round?"
A grin tugged at the edge of Darcy's mouth. "Now. Part of this tournament is testing your abilities in continuous battle, especially as you get higher up in it. Don't fear, you've already done quite well for yourself. There's no shame in getting knocked out in the quarterfinals."
Damien nodded, but it was clear he didn't believe Darcy's words for a second. The old judge shook his head with a sigh.
"Well, good luck. Someone will arrive shortly to take you to the finals stage. The other fights should be wrapping up right about now as well."
True to his word, it was only a few minutes before the shadows on the stage stretched. The student who had brought Damien to the obsidian courtyard rose from the ground. He didn't look any more excited than he had been the first time Damien saw him.
"Ready?" he asked Damien.
"I don't think I've got a choice," Damien said.
"Not really," the other boy agreed, extending a hand.
Damien took it.
They both sank into the ground. Damien felt like he'd been enveloped by a cold, wet blanket. His nose twisted in distaste, but it was impossible to move beyond that.
Luckily, they arrived on top of a new stage a few moments later. The boy sank back into the ground without another word. At the same time, without warning, Damien felt Henry rapidly retreat into the depths of his mind.
"Not the best experience, is it?"
Damien turned to see Nolan standing beside him. The noble boy's blond hair was matted to his head, and his fancy armor had several scratches in it. Despite that, he didn't look too injured.
"Not in the slightest," Damien agreed. He peered over the edge of the stage and immediately regretted it. They were much higher than the previous stage, far enough away from the ground that a fall would almost certainly be fatal if someone didn't catch them.
A thin man at the center of the stage approached them.
"The quarterfinals are about to commence. The two of you will be opponents for this match. Are you both able to fight? You may, of course, withdraw at any time."
Nolan and Damien exchanged a glance before both shaking their heads at the same time.
"Delph would kill me," Damien said. Nolan nodded in agreement.
A hint of a smile appeared on the judge's face. He gestured for the two boys to take their places on either side of the stage.
"In that case, please, prepare yourselves. Do not fear for your safety. I have air magic in addition to healing, so you will not die if you fall off the stage."
"Good luck," Nolan told Damien. "May the strongest of us move forward. Not for the sake of the tournament, but so that Delph doesn't make the whole class run laps."
"Agreed," Damien said.
"Begin!" the judge ordered.