A whole month had passed since Evan started training. This evening he and Zack were going out for a visit.

Evan ate and slept well, he spent a tremendous amount of time on magic without forgetting about physical activities. For the first time in his new life, Evan didn’t look skinny. He was a tall young man with an athletic build.

As Evan had planned from the start, he had been practicing the three zero-level spells he had chosen. It was in “Ice Veil” that he had the most success. In one month alone, he had raised his “Awareness” of this spell to the first stage- the “Beginner”.

Evan spent considerably less time on the other two spells. Not because he hoped with all his heart that he was an “Amplifier,” not at all. His task was to win in sparring, and according to Zak, “Amplifiers” were the best one-on-one fighters.

…

“Yeah, magic isn’t easy at all. It’s a hell of a thing.” Evan muttered quietly, sitting in his room and looking at his hands. They were intact, with no scratches, bruises, or scars. But that was all a merit of the healing herbs Zak provided for him. Only in one month, he’d suffered dozens of frostbites, hundreds of bruises from the “Magic Missile” blasts, and countless minor cuts from the “Summon Thorny Ivy”.

In all this time, Evan had learned one very important thing about magic in his new world.

<Without money, power and connections, you either get nowhere, or you move at a snail’s pace.> Deep down Evan was discouraged by this truth. Well, he was lucky, Zak had seen the potential in him and provided him with food, resources, spells, lodging, and all kinds of help.

The same pill Evan had already used, without Zak he would never have been able to get such medicine and alchemist`s help so quickly in his life. And it wasn’t the money that had an impact there, it was the connections.

<What would I do if I didn`t meet Zak? Shit.>

Knock.

Evan spent some more time thinking about how this world worked and suddenly he heard a knock on the door and the voice of one of the maids.

“Mr. Evan, everything is ready, Mr. Zak is waiting for you.” After these words, the girl quickly left.

Evan sighed, put on his armor, took his sword, and headed toward Zak.

…

“Well, lad, are you ready?” Zak was standing at the exit of the manor. Unlike Evan, he hadn`t put on the armor and was in his usual shirt and pants. There was a big, black sword hanging on his back.

Evan looked up at the brightly shining moon and quietly replied, “Yes.”

For Evan it would be the first real battle against another magician, or in other words, the first magical battle of his new life.

The house of Zak’s good friend was not far away at all. It would take them only two hours to reach it on horseback.

They went to the stable where Zak kept all his horses. It seemed strange to Evan that Zak’s stables were in the city and not at his estate.

However, to his surprise, Evan did not see his last horse there.

“Evan, this is my little gift to you.”

Zak showed Evan a large and sturdy black stallion, with a thick, long mane.

“Thank you.”

Zak didn’t answer anything, but just climbed on his horse and galloped forward. Evan quickly did the same and followed him.

…

After some time they arrived at the right place and Evan saw the estate. It looked very different from Zak’s one. Unlike Zak, his friend was clearly enjoying his wealth.

At a glance, one could notice the magnificent work of the gardeners, many rare plants and flowers. The majestic architecture of the house itself and the precious metals skillfully used in its decoration struck the imagination. Not to mention the luxurious fountains, ponds, tea houses skillfully blended in the overall composition. All this spoke of the indescribable wealth of the owner.

“I see you and your friend are diametrically opposed in terms of luxury.” Evan said slowly.

Zak immediately realized what he was talking about and laughingly replied, “AHAHAHAHAHAH, yes, that old fox just loves to show how rich he is.”

Once they reached the main gate, the guards quickly bowed and let them inside. Zak was a frequent visitor to his friend’s house, so all the servants knew him very well.

To Evan’s surprise, Zak didn’t head straight for the manor. They left their horses with the servants and went to another place not far from the mansion.

“Evan, I hope you are determined to win?”

The young man didn’t answer anything, but Zak understood it without words when saw the fire in Evan’s eyes.

They walked up to a structure that resembled an arena. A couple of steps later they saw the owner of the place, Marcel Vierdag.

He was a very tall man, with long blond hair and blue like azurite eyes. He was on the second floor of the arena with a glass of red wine in his hands.

The arena dome was glass, so the beautiful, bright moon was perfectly visible. It also illuminated the entire arena.

Marcel’s clothes were very elegant. Even the wine glass looked very spectacular.

Upon seeing Zak and Evan, Marcel put the glass aside and instantly appeared before them elegantly jumping down from the second floor.

“Look who is here!” Marcel bowed slightly and put his hand forward for a handshake.

Zak, on the other hand, did not bow. He simply walked closer to his friend and hugged him very tightly. It was obvious from Marcel’s face that he was not thrilled by this greeting, but he was used to it.

“So, my friend, where is your “talent”? AHAHAHA.” Everyone understood what they were there for – a fight between Evan and Marcel’s daughter.

“She’ll be soon, take a seat.”

Whoosh.

Marcel returned to his seat in one leap.

“Evan, good luck.” Zak followed his friend, leaving him alone in the arena. Soon he would see his opponent.

“So, ready to lose? А?” Zak said loudly, opening one of the bottles of wine.

“Soon you`ll see it for yourself,” replied Marcel slowly. He was sure of his victory. However, he dared not underestimate the man Zak had personally chosen.

Zak knew that Marcel liked to cheat and Marcel was well aware of Zak’s knowledge of this. So they were literally playing a game to see who could outplay who.

After a while, Evan saw his opponent, it was Marcel’s daughter Fien Vierdag. The girl was dazzlingly beautiful and quite similar to her father: blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair.

On her belt, there was a very unusual weapon- a silver-colored rapier with a beautiful guard in the shape of an angel’s wing.

Since Fien was a novice magician, like Evan, it was not yet clear what her class was.

“I knew it.” With a slight annoyance in his voice, Zak said. He was an experienced magician and could easily tell that Fien had purple “Warp”. This time he was absolutely certain of it.

Hearing his words, Marcus smiled at first, but then frowned.

He had expected to see a look of shock on Zak’s face. But his friend was just calmly watching the fight with a slight smile on his face.

<He`d already guessed, but is Evan the magical with the purple “Warp”, too?> Marcel decided that it didn’t really matter that much, since it was the duel that was about to begin that would decide everything.

Marcel and Zak couldn’t see what color of the “Warp” Fien or Evan had. However, an experienced mage like Zak took a second to figure it out from Fien’s confident gaze.

Of course, there were ways to know what a magician’s “Warp” was. But, that required either special spells with the necessary resources or special tools.

Zak and Marcel could get what they needed if they wanted to, but there was no point. They were already one hundred percent sure of what color the “Warp” of their young talents was.

Fien pulled out her weapon and bowed. Evan did the same, after which their duel began.