Chapter 34: Prelude to Battle
The sun had barely crested the horizon, but the training field behind Dormitory Seven was already alive with movement.
Darius tightened the straps on his gloves, breath clouding faintly in the morning chill as he took his position near the far end of the grassy arena. Across from him, Kai was stretching his arms overhead, muscles flexing beneath his sleeveless tunic, earth-toned mana already stirring faintly at his feet. Aiden stood at the center, adjusting the bracers on his wrists as soft light pulsed gently from a rune drawn across his palm.
They didn’t need to speak.
Over the past weeks, the three had fallen into rhythm—waking before the sun, eating quietly, and walking together through dew-damp grass to this field where their real lessons began. No professors, no spectators. Just the three of them pushing themselves to break through their limits, day after day.
Today was no different. And yet, everything was different.
The Mid-Year Tournament was no longer a distant event. It was here. Tonight, the duels would begin. Victory or reassignment. Recognition or obscurity. For some, this would be the end of their time at the Arcanum. For others—it could be the beginning of everything.
And they all knew it.
Kai struck first.
With a sudden stomp, the ground beneath him shifted, a jagged panel of earth launching upward like a spring-loaded trap. He used it not for offense but for propulsion, throwing himself forward with a yell, fists glowing with ruddy mana. Aiden responded instantly, twisting his wrist and calling forth a thin wall of hardlight between them. The impact sent a bright shimmer across the barrier’s surface, but it held, if only barely.
Darius didn’t wait. He surged forward, channeling Zephyr—not to fly, not to vanish, but to glide. His feet barely touched the ground as he moved, body wrapped in controlled gales that hissed beneath his boots. A subtle burst of wind spun him into the fray, catching Kai from the side just as the boy turned to flank Aiden.
The hit didn’t land. Kai dug his heel into the earth, anchoring himself mid-motion, and threw up a stone slab between them that Darius narrowly flipped over with a burst of air beneath his feet.