Alexander rushed through the trees, dodging one spell after the other before turning and shooting a small ball of flames behind him in retaliation. However, as the barrage of icicles came closer to him, he ducked hastily behind the bushes beside him and attempted to gather his breath. trainingleast

  The ground rumbled around him as the dirt began to break apart. Instinctively, he dove out of the way and rolled, an earthen pillar erupting behind him. He eyed it for a moment before deciding it was probably best not to stick around much longer. Without another wasted moment, he got up and began running again.

  Alexander thought back on the task at hand, the scenario of the Final Trial. Hidden throughout Kora Forest were four blue flags. Up to this point, the four - Alex, Taber, Emily and Kieran - had found three of them. However, unfortunately for them, the last one replaced the sword that had usually hung from Azerael's hip.

  A bead of sweat rolled down Alexander's face. It had been almost an hour since they had captured the third flag, and yet all he'd been able to do was run and evade Azerael's attacks. Sure, he was wearing an enchanted vest that mitigated most of the damage, if not negated it, but it wasn't so much the power of the attacks that was giving him trouble as much as it was the of them. Even without the damage, he was still getting knocked back any time he got hit. And now, with none of the others in sight, he was alone against an opponent of calibur! If it wasn't for Azerael's resignation to leave everything in the hands of mortals, Alex wouldn't be far off from calling him a menace. A monster, more accurately.

  Azerael took the same slow, methodical steps as he always had, advancing on Alexander with the speed, firepower and intimidation factor of a main battle tank. Creeping ever closer to him while tossing numerous spells his way. Alex finally figured: not

  His palms became moist as his legs trembled. As he closed his eyes, deciding whether or not to make a move, he heard a loud crack of thunder just beside him as a familiar voice sounded off, moving away from him at speeds so fast he almost didn't hear him. "You gonna sit there and cower , you idiot?!"

  He opened his eyes to see Kieran make contact with Azerael, forearm to forearm. Alex watched on in awe as the two went at it. Kieran sent a flurry of attacks, doing several acrobatic moves as if out of an 80s martial arts movie. All while Azerael stood there, blocking, parrying and redirecting each blow with one hand. His off-hand, no less. And yet despite all of that, Kieran's words had pissed Alexander off. Call a coward?

  Alex balled his fists as he let his temper control his actions, two small flames erupting from his hands, dancing up his arm as he began running, taking advantage of the situation and Azerael's split focus. With Kieran's blinding speed to his front and Alexander closing the distance behind him, Azerael noticed that he had a little more to contend with. However for him, this was no more than child's play.

  Before either could make a move, Azerael used Flash Step, appearing behind Kieran in a pulse of light as he was just barely able to cancel his previous attack and block Azerael's punch, knocking him off balance. Alexander imbued his legs with more Energy and kicked off, increasing his speed as he rocketed toward Azerael, his fist reeled back, a raging flame engulfing it.

  As his punch made contact with Azerael's palm, a small jet of flames erupted from either side, causing Azerael's amulet to wave with the resulting wind. "Impressive," Azerael said, sweeping Alexander's leg. Alex placed a hand on the ground and somersaulted backwards. "'Blazing Fist,' huh? I don't remember teaching you that one, nor have I ever heard of it."

  "You never said Magic was limited to premade incantations," Alex smirked. "I assume the other spells had to have been made ."

  "Yes, very astute." Azerael said, shifting the flag on his hip. "Now that you're finally getting serious, I guess we can get this training started for real."

  A dumbfounded expression invaded Alexander's face. backHe watched as Azerael began to ready himself for an attack. Alex braced himself, unaware of just what he was about to do. Azerael held out a palm. "Attraction."

  Alex yelped as he got yanked toward his opponent, trying as hard as he could to do anything to stop his momentum, however futile. He tripped as the force stopped pulling on him just a few feet away from Azerael, who had already prepared another spell prepared in his off-hand. "Airburst." Just as quickly as before, Alexander was shot away from his opponent.

  "You see," Azerael began, ducking under Kieran's attack from the rear. "You don't have It's a lot easier to face an opponent if you work " He blocked a high kick from Kieran before slamming a palm into his chest, sending the Lightning Mage into a tree. "Your attacks don't each other."

  Azerael stepped to the side as a sizable stone impacted where he had once stood, looking up to see Taber jumping down from a tree. "Terra Wall!" He slammed his hand onto the ground as a wall of earth emerged. Taber then grabbed Alexander by the arm as the two sprinted off into the wilderness.

  Azerael thought to himself as he observed their retreat.

  Kieran found his opening and activated Thunder Step, reaching for the flag. However, he was stopped short by Azerael, who had caught his wrist without looking. "Follow the example of your fellow students, Kieran," Azerael urged, implying that he should probably retreat as well. I'm sure I just told you that one-on-one is easier for me to handle."

  "Why would I fall back when my goal is right Kieran grunted, freeing his wrist from Azerael's grip with a backflip, his kick narrowly missing Azerael's chin.

  "We've gone over this before, Kieran," Azerael continued while simultaneously keeping up with Kieran's quick movements. "You can't be so arrogant when in a real battle. I may be going easy, but they won't be."

  "I know that!" The moment Kieran touched the ground, he huffed, "Osvoros." In an instant, he was behind Azerael, going for a blow to the back of his head. Though, this wasn't the first time he had used this trick in a spar. Azerael reacted accordingly, grabbing his apprentice's vest and throwing him to the ground.

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  "Thunderbolt!" Both of them jumped out of the way as a bolt of lightning struck the space between them, the thunderous impact echoing through the forest. They stood opposed to each other, returning to their stances for another bout.

  Alexander, Taber and Emily sat at a small clearing in the trees, hearing the relentless clashing of Kieran and their teacher reverberate throughout the forest. "We need a plan," Taber began. "If we keep going like this, we're never getting that damned flag."

  "Much less pass the Trial," Alexander added. They all took a moment to think, before Taber caught an idea.

  "Every time we attack, it's like he knows we're coming. He's always a step ahead of our actions, regardless of what it is that we do."

  "He did say before that he possesses Time Magic," Emily recalled. "Do you think that has something to do with it?"

  "No," Alex interjected. "He also said before that Time Magic is something he only ever uses in an emergency or something. He wouldn't use it for something as simple as this."

  "So then what is it?"

  "What if," Taber began, "he has the ability to sense even the smallest hint of Arcanic Energy?"

  Alex placed a hand on his chin. "You know, that makes sense. He doesn't have to see us because he's already of us."

  "Which means that the only way to catch him off-guard-"

  "Is by muting our aura!" Alexander blurted, standing up excitedly as the thunderous claps of the clash behind them raged on. "And who better to mask their auras than the people who spent most of their lives without one?"

  Emily smiled. "Which means that we might actually have a shot at taking the last flag!"

  Taber, rubbed his chin, thought. Then the battle between Kieran and Azerael gave him the basis of a plan. He brought the others in. "Alright, so here's the plan..."

  Kieran slouched before Azerael, out of breath and low on energy. "I admire your endurance, Kieran," Azerael began. "But you can't keep doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different outcome each time. That's

  Kieran stumbled, trying one last, desperate time to grab the flag from Azerael's belt. Azerael stepped to the side, as Kieran fell to the ground. "Get some rest, Kieran. You're exhausted." Kieran didn't respond, instead laying there while Azerael gave a sigh, looking down at his pupil with a look of sympathy. "You don't have to try so hard. This trial isn't for you. You've already proven yourself than capable with your surname alone."

  Azerael went to pick his fallen student up, when a voice distracted him from the woods. "I'M BACK FOR ROUND TWO, MASTER!"

  Alexander shot out from the bushes, Azerael just barely managing to block the kick flying toward his face. Alex spun around, sending his heel into Azerael's palm. As Azerael flipped him around, Alex pulled a bundle of dry leaves from his pocket, setting them ablaze as a puff of heat and smoke forced Azerael to temporarily lose sight of him.

  When Azerael managed to regain a line of sight, Taber had replaced Alex, sending one stony punch after another while Azerael evaded. He was surprised by the two of them. Not only for the fact that they had managed a surprise attack on him so effectively, but more the fact that they were radiating far more energy than usual. Then again, he didn't know how he was of them for that. He'd told them repeatedly to waste their energy.

  He ducked under the attack from Alex behind him, grabbing his arm and then countering Taber's onslaught of blows. Throwing Alexander to the ground, Azerael gained some distance from the two. "Impressive," he began. "Your attacks are coordinated. Seems you took my advice seriously."

  Taber and Alex feigned a smile as best they could, though the ever-growing size of the violet ball of lightning Azerael held above his head wasn't really inspiring much confidence in either of them. "Ready to do it," Alexander mumbled. Taber nodded.

  The two each charged up their own attacks, the strongest they could muster at their current level of training. Taber erected a wall of earth before him, coating his arm in a dense layer of rock, while Alexander tried to generate as much heat as physically possible. "You realize that this is going to hit us, right?!" Taber shouted over the roaring energy.

  Alex replied, reluctance in his voice. "Unfortunately, I kind of figured he did would!"

  Azerael's ball continued to expand, leading Alexander to wonder whether he was intending to cast it or use it as a method of intimidation. Regardless of the intent, Alex reeled back his arm, a ball of fire expanding in his palm. The stare-down seemed to last several minutes, until Azerael brought down the electric sphere.

  "TABER!"

  "On it!" Taber slammed his off-hand down to the ground. "TERRA WALL!" One rose from the ground after another, until five thick walls of stone stood before them.

  "Arcane-Plasma Magic... Annihilation." Azerael's attack shot off, stopping briefly at the first wall before shredding through it into the second, then the third.

  Alexander's eyes widened briefly. kill

  He shook off his brief moment of panic and turned to Taber as the orb reached the fourth wall. "I'm gonna jump to get a clear shot! You move out of the way and attack from another angle!"

  "Got it!" Taber abandoned his position and ran off in an adjacent direction. Taking advantage of the clearing, Alexander focused his energy, jumping on top of the fifth wall and shooting upward just before the orb slammed into and shredded the final wall. Amidst the dust particles flying wildly through the air, Alex caught a glimpse of Azerael's position. He reeled back his palm.

  "FIRE MAGIC: SEARING JET!" A huge cone of fire rushed from the orb, engulfing Azerael, who used his own Magic to attempt to counteract it, absorbing the attack. After the last of Alexander's energy had been expended, Azerael redirected the energy, shooting back at Alex and knocking him back into the tree line.

  "GRAPESHOT!" Azerael redirected his attention toward the hundreds of pebbles shooting his way.

  Azerael raised a palm. "Spatial Magic: Volumetric Prison!" Taber's eyes widened as the pebbles appeared to freeze inside of a translucent cube. "Redirect." In the blink of an eye, the cube disappeared as the hundreds of pebbles started shooting back at him. Taber attempted to create a wall against them. The half-erected rampart blocked half of them as the other half slammed into his vest, knocking the wind out of his lungs and slamming him down to the ground.

  "It was a valiant effort," Azerael began. "Your attacks were well-coordinated and complemented each other well." Azerael chuckled. "I just pass you based on that, alone."

  Taber wheezed as he stood up. "About that, Master..."

  Alexander made his way out of the brush. "I'm pretty sure we already " he said, a smug grin painted weakly along his face. Azerael raised an eyebrow, placing his hand onto his hip. To his surprise, he felt nothing, glancing down to find that the last flag was no longer there. He looked around. Left, right.

  Then, he looked behind him to find Emily doubled over, catching her breath, flag in hand. "I've never ran so fast in my life," she panted frantically. Azerael observed with an amused smirk.

  "Well I'll be damned." He turned to Alex and Taber. "Amplifying your output so I wouldn't notice her snatch the flag. I'm impressed." Alex and Taber let out a pained chuckle as they hobbled their way over to Azerael.

  Azerael motioned to Emily to walk over to him as she stood up and walked over, still trembling from her close encounter. "With that," Azerael began. "I am proud to announce that you three have officially passed all of the Trials I have placed before you. As such, you have completed your training. From this day on, you three are officially Mages."

  He wasn't sure how the other two felt. However, to Alexander, it was an exhileration like he'd never felt before. As if one of the many things weighing him down had finally been lifted off of his chest. A feeling of accomplishment so tremendous it almost felt alien to him. A tear welled up in his eye. he thought.