"Alright, are you ready for your match, Jace?" Aurora asked, shifting the conversation to the next round.
"Oh yeah," Jace replied. "There's no way I'm going to be the only one to lose."
"You'd better not," Ethan said, laughing. "Can you imagine how much I'm going to ridicule you if you do?"
"Not just him," Astra added, jumping on Jace to rub his head. "Everyone will! Except Elias, since he doesn't talk… and Lucian, since he just doesn't like to. But everyone else!" she said, raising her voice like she was proving a point.
"You're including me?" Aurora asked, a little surprised, people didn't usually include her in things like that.
Astra looked at her like she was crazy. "Of course. You'll be the disappointed mom of the mockery." She laughed as she said it.
"Well, I'd better do my best then. I don't think I could handle disappointed mom," Jace said, taking a deep breath like the thought truly weighed on him.
"Then the answer's pretty simple… just win," Aurora said with a shrug.
Jace gave a mock salute. "Yes, captain!" Then he turned and headed toward the arena.
The tension in the arena felt different.
As the final round of the match, this duel didn't matter much for the overall outcome, but to both contestants, it meant everything.
One was trying to prevent a shutout. The other was doing everything he could to secure it.
The arena was the most basic of the contest, almost like the organizers knew this round needed to be purely about magic.
Stone pillars rose from the ground like ancient sentinels, scattered irregularly across the battlefield. Some were broken, some towering, some weathered, but all still sturdy. There was no fancy terrain here, no tricks or special gimmicks. Just two Elementals, and a stage to prove who was better.
Jace stepped out of the portal, emerging from the tunnel into sunlight. He rolled his shoulders, cracked his neck, and walked forward, eyes scanning the arena with a calm, focused gaze, his usual analytical approach.
Then, his trademark grin began to spread, the excitement of the duel impossible to hide.
Across from him, a second figure emerged, taller, older, and carrying the weight of authority.
Even Jace recognized him: the opposing team's captain, Igor.
He moved with a practiced grace, each step confident and deliberate. His affinity with shadows was immediately obvious; his outline seemed to shimmer, even when standing still. His uniform was crisp, his posture perfect, and his eyes held the weight of experience.
He didn't seem surprised to see Jace.
"Yeah… I figured it would be you," Igor called across the arena. The silence made his voice carry easily.
Jace shrugged. "What can I say? I like dueling."
There was a pause, two different Elementals, two very different philosophies.
"Standard rules," the announcer's voice rang out. "First to three successful hits. Begin at the sound of the horn."
Both duelists readied themselves, tense and focused.
The horn sounded.
Jace moved immediately. He didn't charge forward or posture. Instead, he focused, channeling his magic through a calm, deliberate breath.
His training duel with Harper had taught him the value of terrain control. So now, rather than letting emotion guide his magic, he was going to test his precision.
The sky dimmed slightly. The atmosphere shifted.
Snow began to fall… Slow and silent. Beautiful, but not just for show. The arena's temperature dropped sharply. Frost crept across the stone beneath them, slick and cold.
It was serene, but it was a trap.
His ice would hit harder, form faster, and spread more efficiently in this chill.
Across the field, Igor narrowed his eyes.
He didn't rush in either. Instead, wind began to whip up around him in tight, silent circles, small at first, then growing wider, faster, more unpredictable. His shadow element hadn't revealed itself yet, but Jace could feel it lingering just beneath the surface, like a second blade waiting to strike.
The cold didn't bother him. Instead, he was watching Jace carefully.
Calculating.
Testing.
Then, with a sudden surge of Wind magic, Igor vanished behind one of the tall stone pillars, his speed blurring as he zipped laterally across the field.
It was a test, fast and evasive, meant to gauge Jace's reaction time.
But as he slipped behind the pillar, counting on his speed and the cover of wind, he was met with an icy shock.
An ice bolt slammed into the stone just inches from his face, fracturing the surface with a loud crack. Splinters of frost sprayed outward, and Igor's eyes widened.
'He predicted that?' He thought to himself.
Jace stood steady at the far end of the arena, another shard already forming in his palm. The snowfall had thickened, and the wind had subtly shifted—but it wasn't Igor's wind.
It was Jace's forming storm.
The temperature continued to plummet. A thin layer of ice crept across the battlefield, slicking the stone and turning every step into a risk. The environment was shifting, not just cold, but strategically dangerous.
Jace was accelerating the battlefield into his favor.
Igor had heard of terrain manipulation before. He'd even seen it in a few matches.
But experiencing it firsthand was different.
The magic wasn't wild. It wasn't dramatic.
But it was efficient.
And it was working.
Igor narrowed his eyes. If he didn't act soon, Jace would claim full control of the arena, before the first real exchange had even begun.