I still couldn't see her level, so she obviously hadn't slouched since switching to [Earth Mage]. My very first fight would be against someone more than twenty levels above me. On the other hand, I couldn't think of a better opponent for testing how much I could mess up an enemy mage with [Greater Mana Control].

"So you came back to Dawnhold again? You can't seem to stay away."

"Of course not. It's currently the most interesting place in the world, thanks to you. Nice to see you're still alive, by the way."

"Nice to see you too, but we can catch up later. I've got some mage beating to do first."

"Oh?" Freya grinned wickedly. "They be fighting words. Let's hope you can back them up."

We took positions, and the referee signalled the match start. I didn't react, but covered the arena with [Mana Perception] and waited for Freya to make the first move. She didn't disappoint, and I felt the mana gather for a fireball. The speed and finesse behind it left Kari in the dust, and there was no way I could halt it in mid-air, but Freya had to hold back to avoid putting me in danger and that was enough to give me an opening. I didn't flinch as it zoomed past me, missing me by millimetres and phutting harmlessly against the barrier behind me.

I saw a brief look of shock on Freya's face, before she launched another one, which I similarly deflected. I'd caught her by surprise the first time, but this time she seemed to pick up on what I was doing.

"You little trickster. Full marks for originality, but can you deflect this?"

This time I felt mana gathering under my feet. I made a split second decision that there was no way for me to stop or deflect it, and dived to the side just as a stalagmite burst from the ground, only to find another fireball heading straight for me. Without the time to deflect it, I projected my staff forwards with [Far Reach], where the fireball impacted it and detonated at a safe distance. The downside of that manoeuvre was that my staff was now on fire. Fire that still had a whiff of mana about it...

I used [Far Step] to avoid a second stalagmite and engage at melee range, knowing that my weapon proficiency exceeded Freya's, and with all my buffs my physical stats should exceed hers too. That turned out to be a mistake as a spherical shield of fire manifested around her, forcing me to back away. It wasn't a complete loss, as I used the time to finish drawing out what mana I could from where her fireball had impacted my staff. I formed it back into a smaller fireball and blasted it at Freya. It did pierce the shield, which ironically appeared to offer no protection against fire, but was slow enough for Freya to dodge. I took the opportunity to launch a strike with [Far Reach], but she casually avoided that too, presumably able to read my attack with her own [Mana Perception].

I tried to interfere with her shield with my mana control, but I couldn't get through at all. Unlike the fireballs, which were fire and forget, the shield seemed to remain under active control of the spell. Which made logical sense, given that it was sustained a lot longer. It also moved with her a little, but she obviously didn't have complete freedom. Annoyingly, I couldn't think of anything to do other than try to drain her mana pool, which seemed like a really bad plan given that my weapon was still on fire and I had no idea how to put it out. I tossed it away for the extra mobility and concentrated on avoiding Freya's magic. Between my boosted dexterity, mana control and [Far Step], she couldn't hit me, and I felt confident I could run her out of mana. Then her shield flickered out, and she charged.

I was pretty sure it didn't time out; she had cancelled it, apparently deciding that she'd have a better chance engaging me at short range now that I'd discarded my weapon. By this point it was fully alight, which was probably what she had been waiting for, and there was no way I could pick it back up. Darn wooden training weapons. I was tempted to splurge a point on unarmed proficiency... Heck, why not? Being disarmed was always a danger, and having backup options would be advisable.

My boosted physical stats may have exceeded hers, but my new level one unarmed proficiency wasn't enough to offset her higher skill, not to mention the greater reach a weapon afforded. I managed to evade for a minute, but failed to land any blows of my own. It ended when I mistimed a dodge and she scored a clean hit on me, leading to the referee calling the match.

"I thought you were going to beat me?"

"I said I had some mage beating to do. I seem to recall losing to a warrior with a quarterstaff, not a mage."

She looked over at my still burning staff. "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

We retreated from the arena to let the next match get started, a fight between a pair of mid-levelled scouts. There had been a number of dings in that fight, so I reviewed my gains while they were getting into position.

Skill [Greater Mana Control] advanced to level 7
Skill [Mana Perception] advanced to level 6
Skill [Greater Mana Finesse] advanced to level 8
Class [Body Mage] advanced to level 8
Class level increased intelligence by 1
New skill acquired: [Weapon Proficiency: Unarmed]
Dexterity increased by 1
Skill [Weapon Proficiency: Unarmed] advanced to level 2

The speed at which my mana related skills were progressing was insane, which in turn was doing wonders for my class level. All that dodging gave me dexterity, and my new unarmed skill had levelled despite me not landing any blows. A good haul, even if I did lose.

The referee signalled the start of the next match, and the scouts promptly vanished. I really hoped at least one of them had some sort of perception skill, because a match between two people with [Stealth] if neither had a way to defeat it would be as tedious as watching paint dry. They'd both just stay invisible until the mana of one of them ran out. I spread out my [Mana Perception], and could vaguely sense their positions. One of them was moving, not towards his opponent, but off to one side. He continued moving around the arena, stopping and stooping in various places. Setting traps, perhaps? There was some sort of mana signature left behind in each place he had stopped. The other contestant still hadn't moved, standing in place.

The moving contestant popped out of [Stealth], and the statuesque one moved towards him, slowly. Then he stepped on one of the locations the moving contestant had stooped at, and it was, indeed, a trap. There was a flash under his foot, and his stealth was forcibly removed. There were also wisps of mana wrapped around him that I guessed caused some sort of debuff. The first contestant stealthed himself again, then reappeared with a dagger against his opponent's throat, ending the match. It seemed that although neither combatant could see the other through their [Stealth], I was completely wrong about how boring it would be. Although I doubt it had been as interesting to the people who couldn't see what was going on, to whom it would have been several minutes of silence followed by a flash and the end of the match.

The third match of the day was between a level nineteen mace wielding [Warrior] and a level three [Ice Mage], and the fighter won without difficulty, using some sort of combat arte to smash the forming ice apart in mid-air before the mage could launch it. It seemed like some lesser version of whatever the guild master had used to demolish whole corridors. The fourth was between a level twelve [Ranger] and what I initially mistook for a low levelled [Warrior]. A second glance showed that despite his level only being two, his overall level was forty-two. [Warrior] was obviously his second rank two class. The [Warrior] used a combat arte to close the distance before the [Ranger] could get a single shot off. Trying to use a ranged weapon in individual duels like this seemed like a major handicap, but he wasn't half as bad off as the [Life Mage] that turned up in the last fight of our group. His opponent was a mid-levelled [Lightning Mage], who took him out with one spell, despite his high level of eighteen.

That was something I'd failed to consider; this tournament was useless for healers. Rangers could take full part in the group matches, but healers had no such luck. The rules of sparring were that someone was defeated after receiving a solid hit, whether they were wounded or not, so even the group matches had no work for a healer. The best they could do would be [Rejuvenation] or similar to let their team fight for longer, and healing any incidental wounds once the fight was over. Another interesting point was that I was seeing life mages everywhere, but I was yet to see a death mage. Probably less desirable, but still odd I hadn't seen a single one. I hadn't seen light, dark or time either, so maybe it was just extremely rare.

Of the others in my group, the two high-level warriors would be the most problematic. The other mages weren't at Freya's level, and the ranger would stand no hope if I used [Far Step] to close the distance. The two scouts would be interesting. I could sort of see them with [Mana Perception], but their presence was diffuse enough that I wasn't confident I would be able to land a hit. As to the overall winner, I couldn't say. Freya was the highest levelled, but against the high level warriors a fight could go either way.

The next day I was up against the bow-wielding [Ranger]. I went in unarmed, and as expected it ended with a single [Far Step]. Having seen me jump around the arena yesterday, I didn't catch him completely by surprise, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Dad was in the audience with Kari this time, unfortunately getting to witness a far less interesting match than my spar against Freya. I noted Grover was there again too, although this time the guild master wasn't with him.

Day number three was against the loser of the two scouts. Not being sure of exactly how it would go, this time I was armed again. He stealthed and casually walked towards me, apparently not expecting me to be able to detect him at all. As soon as he drew near, I thrust my staff right at him, and I heard a grunt of surprise as he dodged it. I followed up with a sideways sweep of my staff, which the scout failed to dodge, still being off balance from evading my sudden thrust. Despite the easy win, I gained a level of [Mana Perception].

Freya was up against the second scout, and she obviously had no problem seeing through his stealth and his traps. He had no trouble dodging her magic either. As was seen in my fight, Freya struggled against highly mobile opponents, and unlike my fight he wasn't stupid enough to let his dagger be set on fire, which meant Freya would stand little chance at close range. Then she stomped, and the arena shook. An earthquake type spell? It wasn't one I'd seen her use before, and it knocked the scout off balance. The next fireball ended the match.

On day number four I was pitted against the [Life Mage]. I was unarmed again, and as expected it was another easy win despite his high level. He did seem to have at least some weapon proficiency, but it wasn't maxed out, and his physical stats were on the low side despite his age. He could have won if I hadn't used buff spells, but with them I completely outclassed him. I did at least get another unarmed level, which was nice given that I'd missed out on one from the ranger.

Later that day was another interesting match, with Freya pitted against the higher level warrior. So far I'd only seen him with a two-handed sword, but this time he went in with a bow too, and I guessed that his previous class was [Ranger]. He wasn't as nimble as the scout, but his reactions were heroic and he was starting to dodge long before Freya's magic even got moving. That was enough for him to evade, despite his slower speed. Freya, on the other hand, completely failed to dodge his arrows, being forced to throw up her fire shield instead. Then one of his arrows started glowing, pierced straight through Freya's shield and struck her full in the chest, blasting her clear of the arena and scoring Freya her first loss.

Day number five would be my next interesting fight. This time I was against the level nineteen warrior.