Would this be another repeat of the last 3 years? They wondered grimly. Even Rowan had his head tilted in quiet anticipation.

“Just kidding,” the alchemist singsonged.

Syryn’s gems suddenly brightened up – all 10 of them. Their intensity matched Rowan’s and it elicited a thundering of noises from the stimulated crowd.

“He really was hiding his true strength,” Unri softly vocalised.

“I don’t know how to feel about this,” Lensa added.

“Magnus, did you know?” Drake asked the fire mage whose eyes were focused on the exchange that was taking place.

“Maybe.”

“Che! Your replies are always so slippery,” Corvus complained.

“Rowan, I suggest you get your divine staff out,” Syryn leisurely allowed his ice magic to gather in a slow circle around him. It led to snowy powder falling around his body in a slow but beautiful shower of white.

Rowan seemed to think about what Syryn had just said. Divine weapons were used by mage hunters and qualified anti mages. It acted as a funnel through which the anti mage could gather his power and express it into a physical form of attack. Divine weapons were difficult to wield as they required intense focus and power. Unsurprisingly, amongst the students of Winter Fortress, only Rowan was known to own one.

“Up to you then, anti mage.”

Syryn gathered a huge wave of power that dropped the temperature around the stage to a dangerous level. The chill was Rowan’s second warning after Syryn’s words.

Hand moving rapidly, Rowan pulled out the short cylinder that was strapped to his hip. Then with a flick of his wrist, it elongated to a long staff in his hand, and not a second too late too because Syryn had released his magic.

A glacial snake bigger than its caster arose from behind Syryn and rushed towards the anti mage in a whirl of jagged ice. The blonde leapt backwards and swung his divine staff just as the cold snake opened its mouth to swallow him. In a beautiful shower of light, the snake shattered into a thousand pieces of glassy ice.

And when Rowan had swung his staff against the snake, the gems on his side had flickered faintly allowing the audience to see just how much of his power he had used to destroy Syryn’s attack.

The playfulness was gone from his bearing. Rowan had realised just how much magic the alchemist was drawing out even against his suppression. No, his anti mage field was almost useless against Syryn. It seemed to Rowan that Syryn was strangely familiar with his power and knew the ways to push back against his suppression.

Blue eyes flickered and fell shut. Rowan took two even breaths, and when he looked up again, there was no trace of emotion in his face beyond cool focus.

Lightning fast, the anti mage was above Syryn, staff swinging down like a hammer of judgement. The alchemist only had enough time to layer his crossed arms with thick ice that shattered at Rowan’s attack. He could feel the bone under his flesh crack but Rowan did not stop there. Another swing infused with power fell upon Syryn.

The mage leapt backwards and out of the battle stage but not without channelling a hill of icy spears from every inch of every available surface on the stage. Two pairs of feet landed below the stage at almost the same time that it was hard to tell who had landed first.

The judges continued to remain silently watching. This was the signal for both fighters to continue.

Rowan was like a demon hunting its prey, relentless and unforgiving. His staff swung with a ferocity that sent shockwaves travelling through the air hard enough to cut through rock. And every time Syryn dodged, a deep gouge was left in the soil where the shockwave landed. He couldn’t allow Rowan to get near him at all or he would receive more than a cracked bone!

The earth beneath Syryn’s feet froze and he sent a thick sheet of ice across the ground that encompassed the arena, freezing everything in its path. And when the ice began to creep closer to Rowan, the blonde anti mage twirled the staff and shot out a bigger shockwave that torqued through the ice in a straight line towards Syryn, blasting everything in its path.

The mage had long since realised that there was no hope of defeating Rowan with just his ice element. His mana was not going to last a battle of attrition with Rowan. To add to his troubles, the cracked bone was also hurting like a bitch. Syryn had to end the match like 10 minutes ago when his bone still hadn’t cracked. He had wanted to hold his power of darkness as a surprise for the future but the choice was quickly removed from his hands.

The monstrous blonde was already heading towards him swinging his annoying weapon. Syryn took a breath and waited for Rowan to get close. And as soon as he did, the alchemist stepped back and disappeared from Rowan’s sights.

Blue eyes went wide before the anti mage rolled away as quickly as the hand that appeared behind him. Rowan was still on the ground breathing hard. If Syryn had been allowed to touch him, he would have turned into a ball of ice like Vincent.

“How?” he couldn’t help but ask. How had Syryn teleported? Flown?

Syryn wasn’t about to reveal his secrets. “Look, this bone is cracked, Rowan. You’re not getting your potions anytime soon if this doesn’t heal properly.” Syryn waved his injured arm at the blonde whose guilty blue eyes wavered between Syryn’s arm and his face. The anti mage was starting to feel his senses warning him of something dangerous. He grabbed his staff and whirled into a kick that threw him back up on his feet.

True to the warnings, Rowan realised that Syryn had begun channelling a huge amount of mana. 8 glacial snakes manifested out of the exhausted mage and they came flying towards Rowan with violent fury. The anti mage barely had time to notice the mage collapsing to his feet from mana exhaustion when his icy attackers assailed him.

Rowan had the realisation that he only had to destroy the snakes and it was enough to win the battle! He rolled, dodged, and smashed apart one snake after the other almost effortlessly. He had, however, used up a lot of stamina channelling his powers through the staff. Syryn was challenging him like no other, not even his own training mentors.

When Rowan destroyed the last glacial snake, he also noticed that his opponent was no longer where he had last seen him. And that was also when the anti mage had a terrible realisation. It had all been a distraction.

Syryn’s presence appeared behind him without warning and it felt bitingly cold. It was that same teleportation skill, the one Rowan couldn’t understand. A single thin blade of ice then bit into his skin, piercing the thin layer of flesh between Rowan and his jugular.

“I really regret asking you to use the staff,” the alchemist wearily spoke from behind Rowan. Syryn had the unfair advantage of knowing the anti mage’s fighting styles and moves, and it was the only reason he hadn’t just taken advantage of Rowan like he had done with Vincent.

Knowing when to quit, Rowan closed his eyes and finally relaxed. Resorting to his staff had been unexpected given that his field had always been enough to suppress the mages. He sat down on the dusty ground to rest his body. The anti mage still had a lot more in him but this was Syryn’s victory. If the mage hadn’t held back his ice, Rowan would have died from a fatal bleeding injury.

Syryn collapsed next to Rowan with a groan, ignoring how Green Valley exploded into a celebration that sent vibrations through the structure of the arena. The battleground was a mess of upturned soil, melting ice and gouges that left deep impressions.

Syryn was belatedly reminded of what had happened the last time when he had run out of mana. The sea orb could only help him sustain the illusion like an amplifier as long as its wearer had mana so even that was useless. Syryn slapped his hands to his face and moaned when pain bit through his now broken arm. How was he to hide his face?

Between exposing his face to strangers and forcing a friendly Rowan, it was an easy decision to make. When a few healers approached the duo, Syryn rolled to Rowan’s side and hid his face in the fabric of the black uniform. He needed a few minutes to gather enough mana.

“Keep the healers away for 5 minutes!” Syryn hissed at the surprised blonde. No questions asked, Rowan raised his hand and signalled for the healers to stop. Confusion etched on their furrowed brows, they halted and waited at the edges of the ground.