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As Ren held the lightning sword in his hand, whispers from the audience erupted around the stadium. "That's a spell that's been passed down through their family for generations. He's been training with that sword since he was young!"

Delta was aghast. Even though the blade didn't hold the power of a full weapon, it still possessed tremendous power. Hrell's laughter didn't help.

"Your teammate is doomed now!" he said. "There's no way he can possibly beat Ren when he's using that sword. It's simply too much!"

One of the masters stepped forward at this time to pose a question to the judges. "Does the sword created by the spell _Thunder Blade_classified as a weapon? And if so, is it banned from the competition as a result?" He did this in order to clarify the situation for audience members, in order to avoid a protest later.

The judges briefly consulted and then spoke out, "No, the sword is not a magical weapon. It is created by a spell and requires magic to sustain itself, therefore it is not banned." They motioned for the match to continue and the master sat back down.

James was not very hesitant. He didn't know what special abilities the Thunder Blade had, so he didn't want to jump in and find himself in a situation that could spiral out of control. In this situation, he had to rely entirely on his planning and strategies, and that meant he first had to see what Ren could do.

Of course, Ren, with his arrogant attitude, was eager to show James exactly what a true prodigy could do. He suddenly swung the sword through the air, sending a wave of lightning arcing forward, and James waved his arm, gathering up a shield of stone to block the attack. Ren swung, again and again, relentlessly casting lightning waves as he smiled viciously. James fell back under the assault and it looked as though Ren could continue doing this forever.

Ren stopped swinging, but then spun the blade in his hand and dashed forward at an incredible speed. Even Delta, an Aetherling and a mage of speed, was shocked at how fast he could move. In addition, as he charged, the sword trailed on the ground, leaving behind a trail of lightning that rippled across the arena in a brilliant light show.

James quickly absorbed a large amount of Kuitheium, the 162ndelement, into his body as he had done earlier. Using the element of speed to augment his body, he was able to dodge Ren's lightning-fast attack but was forced to spin around and avoid another almost instantly. Ren's slashes were precise and accurate and never ceased, causing James to be defensive the entire time. To make matters worse, he discovered a weakness to his affinity that he hadn't known about before. When he was channeling a vast amount of a specific element like he was doing now, he was unable to split his mind and concentrate on anything else. That meant that as long as he was dodging Ren's attacks, he couldn't cast any other spells!

"Do you understand now?" Ren grinned as he did an overhead slash, almost cleaving off James' arm. "This is the distance between you and me. While you are wallowing in the mud, I am soaring through the sky like a bolt of pure lighting! I've been trained since I could walk to wield a blade, and as soon as I discovered my affinity my family began to school me on their magical techniques. There is no way you, or your friends, can hope to beat me and save Algon's planet."

"But why!?!" James asked, avoiding a thrust. "Why are you so cruel and arrogant? Why do you hate Algon so much? Tell me!"

Why?" Ren laughed. "Because I am better than all of you. I have the power, wealth, and heritage to become great. Your friends simply need to learn their place, that's all there is to it. And now you need to learn yours!"

Ren suddenly cut forwards, using a reverse grip that knocked James off balance. The blade cut into his arm, sending waves of electricity coursing through his body, and James was sent flying backward from the force. He rolled to a stop on the ground, his entire body shook from the pain. The audience winced and Delta clenched his jaw, his face white.

Strike flew over to James. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. "This match will only be over when you can't fight or surrender..."

"No! I'm still good. I can keep going. Ren will have to knock me out in order to keep me down."

Strike hesitated. "Understood." He flew back up and announced to the crowd, "JAMES WISHES TO CONTINUE; HE'S NOT OUT OF THE FIGHT JUST YET!"

The crowd cheered as James stood up, breathing heavily. Ren raised an eyebrow and sneered.

"You really don't know when to give up, do you? Pathetic, now I have to actually hurt you. What a waste of time."

"Bring it on, hotshot. I'll beat every bit of arrogance out of your body."

Ren didn't say anything, instead choosing to express his anger with a violent charge forward.

"I can't do the same thing as last time," James thought as he rolled out of the way, immediately preparing himself for Ren's next attack. "If I do, I'll just get hit eventually and that won't be any good. I need to figure out a way to counterattack!"

He slid right and Ren pressed on, not allowing him to catch his breath. "He's relentless, but that means he's leaving openings." A dodge left, followed by a slide backward and a duck down. "He's not expecting anything from me, so I think I can use that against him. Let's see I can do this!"

This time, when Ren attacked, James began to dodge like normal, boosting his speed as high as it would go. Right as Ren swung downwards, he memorized Ren's location and in a split second, released his control over Kuitheium and slammed a fireball into where he thought Ren would be.

BOOM!

Ren was blown off his feet, completely unprepared for the attack. He had assumed that, since James was distracted, he would only able to dodge. That opening was exploited by James and now Ren had taken a huge hit. He luckily avoided falling on his face, but still stumbled, and had a massive scorch mark across his chest.

"Yes!!" Delta yelled, jumping up from his chair. "That's how you do it!!!"

Ren slowly got up to his, his features twisting. "I won't make that mistake again!"

He charged once more, this time much more carefully. Seeing this, James stood his ground and steadied his thoughts. He needed a way to battle Ren; his tricks would only work once before they were countered. He needed some sort of weapon. Ren had formed his weapon out of lightning, why couldn't he do the same?

James concentrated and brought his hand to his side. To everyone's astonishment, a spire of rock flew out of the ground and into his palm. Grasping it tightly, he swung it forwards and clashed with the Thunder Blade, completely stopping the charge. Ren's eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

"How?" he asked, his voice wavering with rage and shock. "This sword is made from pure lightning; it should be able to dissolve that rock into dust."

"Unlike like you, I've had to actually work for things. Pure Elementalism is based on concentration and mine is fortified by my resolve. With so much on the line, there's no way that something like your blade can shake me. You will lose today!"

Ren was blasted away and this time it was James that charged. His swings were wild, but Ren didn't dare take any time to laugh or make a joke after he almost lost an arm. Even though he had no formal training with a sword, he was still able to perform semi-precise strikes and weave in magic around it. Because the sword he had created was permanent, he could focus on other elements and attack from multiple angles at once. Inside his mental space, the motes of light were swirling around him and he was using them all in tandem to cast spell after spell, relying on the years of reading fantasy novels and comics to come up with creative new abilities and combinations.

The two swords hit with a boom that echoed through the stadium. Ren was forced backward after he dodged a rocky claw that reached up to ensnare him and ended up stumbling thanks to a wave of water that pulled at his feet. He fired off another lightning wave with his sword, but it was negated with by a shield of air that materialized in front of James. After it had blocked the attack, the shield exploded outwards in a wave of pressure, while James quickly switched to using speed and appeared Ren instantly, slashing downwards as he did so.

"Arcing Blast!"

Ren furiously threw out his arms to block the pressure wave and then turned to intercept the other attack. They locked swords, but James forced Ren back when he used the power of the earth to increase his strength.

"Do you see now Ren? You think you are a prodigy and destined for greatness, but that doesn't mean you can get away with hurting my friends. They've earned their abilities and their talents through hard work, and they've shown that they can get back up after they've fallen. They're willing to stand up for each other and because of that, I can't let you win today and let you spit in the face of everything they hold dear!"

Ren's expression darkened even further as he began to lose his temper. "NO! You are weak and cannot stand up to me! Those ideas that you speak of hold nothing in the face of power and greatness, and when it comes down to it, I am stronger than you. I have never lost a fight in my life and I WILL win this fight as well! And when I do, I will crush your beliefs beneath my heel and make you understand your place!"

He flung himself forwards in a mad rush to attack James, fueled by anger and the knowledge that he was rapidly running out of power. James blocked all of his attacks, finding it much easier now that Ren's strikes had lost much of their precision.

"Fire Wall!"

Ren jumped back once more to avoid being burned and landed on the ground, panting heavily.

"I know where I stand, Ren," James said confidently. "Your words only serve to strengthen my resolve again and again. You won't be able to shake my beliefs!"

"Well then, I'll just have to blast them to pieces INSTEAD!"

Ren leveled the Thunder Blade at James and fired a scorching beam of electricity that roared across the battlefield. James' eyes widened and he quickly gathered nearby elements into his own beam. They slammed into each other in the middle of the arena, shaking the ground quite a bit and causing a bright radiance to fill the stadium. Neither side was letting up, so the bolts remained in the air, violently crackling and writhing about as both competitors tried to overpower the other. Strike was watching with an intense gaze, not narrating for once, but choosing instead to let the action on the stage speak for itself.

Ren was enraged seeing that his powerful attack, something that had destroyed many opponents in the past, was negated by James, a mage with a joke affinity and no background to speak of. The worst part was, he was already expending a vast amount of his energy to maintain the lightning and was rapidly approaching his burnout period, something that would cause him to lose for certain!

"I will not lose to a weakling like you!!" Ren yelled as he tried to pour more magic into his lightning. But James' concentration held, and he was pushed back, eventually being forced to stop for fear of energy loss. James also stopped his attack and, although he did use quite a bit of magic, it was nowhere near the amount that Ren had expended.

As Delta watched Ren become more and more angry and unhinged, he felt better and better about James' chances of success. By riling Ren up, he had managed to cause him to lose precision on his attacks and expend much more magic. It was also funny, he admitted, to see Hrell getting more and more flustered seeing Ren lose.

Ren was beside himself with anger. A weakling had dared to challenge him and had somehow bested him the entire time, countering each of the moves he had relied on for years with astounding precision, and never once losing his cool as well. Looking at this magic reserves, he knew that he had only about 15% left, so he began to try and overcome his anger and plan out an attack. And then James spoke.

"Ren, I'm not giving up here and nothing will make me change my mind. Surrender, I don't want to hurt you."

James was being honest; he didn't was to actually injure his opponent. To Ren, however, this was the final straw. Asking him to surrender was a direct shot at his pride and he stopped all attempts to control his temper. At this point, he was so enraged that he forgot he was in a tournament at all; his only goal was to get rid of the pest in front of him that dared to climb so high!

"You want me to surrender?" Ren's voice was dangerously soft. He pulled his hand back, gathering all of his remaining energy, and concentrated it in his pointer and middle fingers.

"Stop Ren!" Asdek yelled, blowing past Delta. "Don't use it! It's not worth it!"

"What's going on?" Delta frantically asked.

"Simple," Hrell turned to face him. "Your friend's about to die."

"You don't want to hurt me? Funny that. I REALLY want to hurt you!" He snapped his hand forward, the two fingers extended and glowing with a bright white light.

"Let's see if you can block this. Ultimate: SHARPLIGHT BLADE!!"

There were 3 primary classifications of spells: Standard spells, Special moves, and Ultimates. Standard spells were exactly that. Standard use. Special moves were much rarer and were usually the defining spells of a mage, the ones that people knew them for. They also packed a bit more of a punch. And then there were Ultimates. These were the pinnacle of a mage's training up to that point and were generally the strongest spell in their arsenal, like a trump card. The vast majority of mages had only 1 Ultimate, tailored to fit their needs, and would classify their other grand spells as Special moves instead. This led to Ultimates having a reputation as the strongest spells in existence, and even though a spell like _Sharplight Blade_was only considered an Ultimate for younger mages, it was still capable of utterly destroying those it touched. Say, for instance, a 1st-year mage fighting in a tournament.

Strike had his back turned and was talking to the crowd, so he didn't see Ren's preparation. He certainly heard the declaration of an Ultimate, though, and spun around. Ultimates were easily classified as lethal spells and were completely illegal in such a tournament. However, he was caught off guard and not prepared for someone breaking the rules that badly, so even as he rushed forwards Ren brought his fingers down.

In an instant, a bolt of pure lightning shot across the stage at James, ready to vaporize anything it touched. James knew immediately that nothing he had available would block that attack. There was no time to think, no time to plan, only barely enough time to see the spell if one was fast enough. Simply put, there was nothing he could do. He was about to die, or at least be maimed so badly that he would never move again.

Suddenly, he felt his instincts take hold in the face of such a danger and grab hold of every nearby atom. Using his affinity to strip them down to their base components, he swirled them together in front of him, generating a blinding vortex. Right as the Sharplight Blade reached him, he felt as though he couldn't hold it together anymore, and released the light, sending it roaring forwards in a massive beam. Even an attack as powerful as a Sharplight Blade was destroyed, and the resulting explosion sent both competitors flying across the arena to crash into the wall. James stood up shakily afterward, Ren was not so lucky; he had been knocked completely unconscious.

Strike landed on the arena and looked at James closely before nodding and turned back to the shocked and silent crowd. "REN IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING, THEREFORE JAMES IS OUR WINNER!"

Cheering filled the stadium, mostly overcoming the shock still present, and James slumped down on the ground, shaking from his near-death experience.

"Hey, you alright?" Strike walked over and sat next to him.

"Uh, I think so?"

"Good, I was worried something was wrong." Strike sighed. "I'm terribly sorry about that. I wasn't paying proper attention and you almost got killed. Alcyrion would have killed me for letting one of his Pure Elementalists die, especially after they'd shown so much promise."

"Wait, you knew Alcyrion?"

Strike looked at him with an expression of disbelief. "Of course, kid. I'm a Dragon-General, what did you expect? I fought alongside the guy. You must be really exhausted from your fight to have forgotten something like that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"One thing's for certain though," Strike said with a smile. He hauled James to his feet. "Alcyrion would most definitely congratulate you for your progress. But, since he's not exactly here, I'll take his spot. Fantastic job bud, especially with that Ultimate you cast at the end. I didn't even realize you knew the spell Ion Cannon! Very impressive; I'll make sure to tell the other generals about it when I see them!"

He flew off to talk with the judges and masters, leaving James in a bit of a daze. He looked back around the stadium, just now calming down from the battle, and saw the audience cheering widely for him. He smiled and waved, happy that he had won and relieved beyond belief that he was still alive.

"OUR JUDGES HAVE DISCUSSED THE EVENTS AND I HAVE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE!" Strike's voice cut through the cheering and instantly gathered the attention of the entire audience. "BECAUSE REN DEN-TOK BROKE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RULES FOR THE MATCH AND USED A LETHAL SPELL WITH THE INTENT TO HARM OR KILL HIS OPPONENT, WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO DISQUALIFY HIM AND HIS ENTIRE TEAM FROM THE TOURNAMENT!"

Whispers came from every corner of the audience for a brief moment before clapping spread throughout the stadium.

Hrell spluttered incoherently, not believing his ears.

"Hell yeah!" Delta shouted, jumping up and down with excitement. "That means we have a really good chance of winning the whole thing!"

"It's not fair that we got disqualified," Hrell cried. "You sit down and shut up or I'll pound you to dust."

Delta stuck his tongue out at him, under the assumption that because the round was over he was technically allowed to antagonize the other team, and Hrell jumped at him but was dragged away by Asdek.

"Stop it you, idiot. You're embarrassing us even more! Don't cause a scene." He looked at Delta with an apologetic expression. "Sorry about that. I'm glad you guys won; good job."

"Thanks!" Delta called as a still fighting Hrell was dragged out of the room. He looked back at the arena where James had slumped back down and smiled.

"Congratulations, you idiot. You won."