Tables lined with everything the kingdom could offer for food was inside a medium-sized decorated room. It was custom for any contestant that won or lost to make their way to the lunch room.
Elijah received many stares from the people around him, and was surely not the only one.
Any contestant that had lost was deep into their food, while anyone that had won was monitoring their surroundings to look for their opponents. Elijah caught the gaze of Jared Ruby — a member of Emery's party, and gave a quick smile before sitting down peacefully.
The only thought going through Elijah's head — knowing he will be facing Jared next, was how he was not going to fuel the literal fire within that boy's soul. Passive aggressiveness would cause him to hopefully make a mistake.
This hope came from the idea of how skilled Jared is with the sword, and without mentioning uses of magic that relate to placement nor complex spells which aren't possible for red core mages.
The key to Elijah's victory was not by beating him in close range combat with a sword, but by beating him in close range combat with his magic.
Of course, this is without considering his space affinity, which Elijah will use if necessary. In fact, Elijah fully believes he will not only be mixing space with water, but performing small and precise spatial spells to give himself the edge.
Elijah knew his confidence would lessen in the face of his future opponents, especially in the final round.
That would be the moment where he would show the kingdom the intricacies of spatial magic.
…
Two hours passed, and it was finally time for the second round to begin.
While his friends were watching everything go down, he was giving advice and letting his friends know of earth mages who would be removing their mana from their spells.
This idea took processing for Raylen and Alexia to fully understand, but with simple demonstrations using Theon's ice magic and Alexia's air magic, the understanding came about quite quickly.
Even the people behind him nodded at the display Elijah was creating in the very front row of the windowless room. Even Emery and his posse were turning their ears towards Elijah, but when a look was given towards them, they batted their eyes away in embarrassment.
The head of Elijah and Jared both perked up and turned towards the door in the back of the room. An organizer had mentioned their names, and what quickly followed was the shoulders of both opponents rubbing against each other as they both walked out of the opening.
"Why do you hate me Jared?"
"Huh?! You seem to think you are special because of your water affinity. All I can tell is that there is something off about you… and it disgusts me…" Jared said as he sped up behind the organizer.
Jared's brown and short braided hair was very interesting for Elijah to look at.
'Could the reason for his discomfort around me be because of what makes me special? The reason I am unaffected by this so-called mind spell… But I have met his father and even converted him.'
The dry and steep stone steps led to the familiar earthen floor made of dirt, stone, and topped with dust and microscopic rocks. The slitted bottom shoes of Elijah dragged against the ground to feel if the rocks that would get in his shoes would affect the fight. A heart was carved in the ground with his black short sword, and once finished, he backed away and took his stance.
Between the silence of the air and the anticipating stances of both Elijah and Jared, there seemed to be tension in the crowd that knew this would be one of the first true fights that would show the people the talents that lay hidden within the kingdom.
"GO!"
Lukewarm water began funneling out of Elijah's shoes with the intention of carrying him forward in a nondescript path.
Meanwhile, Jared began concentrating power within the palm of his weak hand while his shiny metal sword rested in his dominant hand.
BOOM!
A near point blank explosion of Jared's spell created a gray smog blocking Elijah's view.
Just as he was about to continue riding his wave, Jared's sword came from within the smoke, and slashed the arm of Elijah through his water shield he was just beginning to conjure.
'I need to back off!'
Sword strike after sword strike created vibrations within Elijah's whole body as if Jared was ten times stronger than him. There wasn't even time to create a miracle, just defending himself was taking every bit of concentration from him.
The closer Jared came to his body, the more of an understanding of the circumstance he received.
Quickly, directly after the strike of Jared's sword, Elijah shifted all his weight forward after planting the back of his foot further behind his body.
Clank!
Elijah's sword stopped Jared halfway through the arc of his sword, and with a tempered left fist, struck his abdomen.
Bang!
Erratic coughing noises came from Jared as he backed away alongside a trail of saliva that dripped slowly to the floor.
Elijah however, had begun to feel the pain of having his left arm sliced open — with metal no doubt, as well as the pain of mana being released within his fist.
Healing water magic can't heal the body to 100% considering the amount of water within the bones is not comparable to what is in the muscles and organs of any body.
At least, this was Elijah's guess…
Waking up inside of Jared was a burning fire.
After fumbling back, he couldn't help but question Elijah's attack. However, during his questioning, a ball of tumbling flames began to expand in his left hand, and within ten feet of each other, spells were released on both sides. A wall of fire, and a shield of water.
The sounds of steam being produced covered the footsteps of both Elijah and Jared. In fact, when both ran to the side of their spells, their faces came within just a couple inches of each other.
Elijah had expected as much with a fist moving towards Jared's face, but was just barely avoided besides his ear, and instead received his own blow to the stomach whilst covered in flames.
'Dammit'
Elijah became momentarily paralyzed due to a perfect hit to the liver, which is something he assumed was not on purpose, but pure luck…
Elijah was by no means finished, yet a spartan kick to the center of Elijah's chest further dampened his resolve.
'I'm cheating and I still can't win?!'
A great ball of fire was tossing around inside the palm of Jared, and just as he was about to release it, his prey escaped.
"NO!" Elijah forced himself up after not predicting the situation perfectly.
Everything had gone so easy for him up until now, but the truth was he was weaker than everyone when it came to combat strategy.
The only truth he knew was how far his imagination could take him, and began acting on what he envisioned.
Leaving his sword, Elijah spun around while also throwing his leg towards the face of Jared in a complicated and loosely put together spinning kick. Using his left hand to pivot his body caused three of the joints of his finger to completely crack.
This is without mentioning how Jared had barely dodged his unexpected strike in the nick of time.
A ball of water was forming in his hand while backing away. Once riding the waves created underneath his feet, he began circling Jared while accumulating an attack worth blocking with an equal force.
When both of their visions were completely skewed from the explosion of steam and moisture, they shifted to relying on their own luck and reaction time.
The moment an elaborately designed metal sword came into Elijah's line of sight through the thick smog — instead of dodging it, his hand went to grab it. No blood was drawn, but what no one — not even Jared saw, was a small pearlescent and translucent rimmed portal that swallowed more than half the blade whole.
The smog quickly dissipated, and when Jared went to swing his sword again, he severely underestimated how long it was.
Elijah did not move a single inch from his current position, standing eerily still as the blunt tip of the blade rubbed past the tip of his nose.
Later, a densely packed and whirling ball of water was chives into Jared's face. Already, he suspected his sinuses, throat, and entire mouth was aching to push the water out of his body.
A single punch to the stomach with Elijah's right hand sent all the water in Jared's body into the face of his oppressor.
Fortunately, his eyes were unable to see in front of him, as the wicked smile written across Elijah's face would bring Jared to a state of discomfort…
Thump!
"E-ELIJAH VERAN!!"