The first round of the tournament consists of all the participating mages shoved into a massive arena and having a free-for-all on the dirt ground while stadium seating is filled to the brink with cheering. It's an absolute mess in there, just a hoard of mages and splashes of coloured spellfire.

It is funny to watch as people are yanked off the stage as soon as they pass out, forfeit, or -for people who chose the option- when their wristband shield hits red and they're disqualified.

Luca disappears into the crowd and because of the wards in place, the audience can’t use spells for tracking or better sight. Nicholas therefore doesn’t catch sight of Luca again until the twenty minutes are up and the remaining four hundred and twenty-eight mages move onto the next round. 

There is not a scratch on Luca.

That sets the tone for the rest of the tournament where they move onto individual rounds, and there's a short break as they split the large platform into a dozen smaller ones. This second round of the tournament is a round robin where the winner stays until they're defeated and all the wins tally up to see who's going into the third and final round.

It's randomised so the contestants hang around until their number appears over a stage and they head up. Luca’s number is a good several dozen behind the first to be called up so it takes a while and Nicholas spends that time making a giant flashing sign to cheer him on while Luca appears to be chatting to another contestant.

Luca's first opponent doesn't have her focus raised when the platform flashes to start and she goes down before she can lift it.

The second is whipped off his feet and hurled from the platform. The third goes down the same.

The fourth wizens up after watching Luca and deflects the first spell but not the other three that come in rapid succession.

Luca stuns the next one, then hurls someone off the edge, blinds another, cuts the wristband shield off the next, disarms the one after, knocks the other unconscious.

Luca fights all offence, all speed and no flair. Hard and fast spells and he keeps going until his opponent is down and isn't getting back up. He casts so fast the spells barely have body to them, just a streak of faint colour instead of a ball of energy and the comet tail.

Luca doesn't stand still either. His spell splashes against a shield so bright it's blinding and when his opponent recovers they see an empty stage, only for Luca to hit them with a sleep spell around the edge of their shield, having circled around behind them.

One opponent, the second-place winner of last year's under 18s tournament and now old enough to join the adults, actually manages to disarm Luca. His apprentice wand goes flying out of his hand but Luca reels back his arm and his fingers drag through the air half clawed, sparks building. The woman’s spell goes sailing over his head as Luca ducks, pegging the ball of electricity built in his hand.

It explodes over the stage and the woman is thrown back, lightning crackling through a dust cloud. The woman scrambles back up but her hairpin focus is yanked from her hair and into the settling dust where Luca steps out, the focus in his hand, his own wand raised.

She doesn't even have time to forfeit, Luca knocks her out.

Vinaya is the loudest as she cheers for her grandson, mostly because Nicholas is so far gone he's just silently shaking Jordan in excitement.

They come back on the second day to finish off the second round and when they split off for Nicholas and his parents to head to the seats, Luca walks over to a group of other duellists who wave at him in greeting.

Luca hit the thirty point cap and had to secede his winning streak yesterday, so he spent the rest of his time wandering amongst the swiftly dwindling crowd of contestants around the twelve raised platforms, trying to reconnect with old resistance members.

A lot of them are here since one of the co-leaders, Verma, hosts duelling tournaments or obstacle races and has essentially raised herself a small army of amateur but enthusiastic mages. Luca spotted Verma in the spectator’s box yesterday but she’s down here with the contestants today.

“You must be Luca Ayad,” Verma greets as Luca comes to a halt with the group, the woman built solid and muscled, which is obvious even under the navy suit she wears. “Only nineteen, are you?”

Luca doesn’t remember giving his age to anyone but this wouldn’t be the first time Verma waved privacy clauses and checked his entry form. He nods. “And you are?”

“You can call me Verma,” she says, eyes wandering down Luca’s body to check for certain tells of a dueller. “My organisation hosts these tournaments.”

Luca doesn’t shift his weight into a proper stance despite how that look in her eyes makes him want to. “I’ve had a fun time so far.”

“Fun?” Verma echoes, impressed. “Not counting how long it took them to get on stage, you destroyed thirty people in under twenty-five minutes. It’s great to hear you’re having fun.”

The first time Luca met her, she approached him during a tournament like this. She praised his potential and offered to train him for a professional tournament with a higher cash prize. Verma helped him a lot but their relationship was teacher and student and even after Luca streaked ahead of her, she never let him forget it. That came to a head when Luca tried to sit at the table as a commander of the resistance and she shoved him back down as a mere soldier.

Luca is going to come into this as an equal this time, so he shrugs. “Like you pointed out, it’s not been much of a challenge.”

“Ouch,” jokes one of the other duellists of the group, hand to his chest.

“I haven’t fought you yet,” Luca offers kindly.

“I’ve got fifteen points, please don’t bully me.”

The others chuckle and Luca smiles. It wasn’t a good time that they had together, not with the war, but they’re good people. He doesn’t hold it against them, using him as an empty figure head and then as bait.

“Have you participated before?” Verma asks, an easy smile on her face. “I think I would have remembered you. The Ayad heir certainly comes every year.”

“Nicholas is memorable,” Luca agrees fondly. “No, this is my first time.”

Verma hums. “Do you have private spars then? You must have a teacher to get this good if you aren’t practising in tournaments.” She raises an eyebrow. “I heard High Mage Xia has taken quite a liking to you. I see a bit of him in your style.”

Luca pauses. Verma doesn’t see Haochen Xia, she sees Wei Zhang. Wei taught Luca all of his basics, Verma threw him into tournaments to practice against different people, and Christos told Luca to forget the rules – only the winner gets to live so use every dirty trick in the book to stay alive.

“Do you?” Luca asks, faltering a moment. He didn’t know Wei was still with him like that. “Uh, I mean, Xi – High Mage Xia is a good duellist. We haven’t sparred before but I’ve seen some of his work.” 

Verma doesn’t lead a militia and Haochen isn’t the worst thing mankind is facing so Luca isn’t too concerned about denying anything to do with the man. Verma, actually, seems intrigued.

“Have you thought of learning from him?” Verma asks with interest. “It’s not every day you can spar with a high mage. In fact, I often try to invite one just for a display, certainly not fighting anyone, but you know how hard it is to even talk to a high mage.”

A paper airplane sails down to them and Verma snatches it out of the air, unfolding it and scanning the quick note. “Ah, we’re almost onto the third round. I have to head off. Good luck, everyone.” Verma pauses, “Luca, do keep in touch.”

As the others call out goodbye while Verma leaves, Luca gets the feeling that something has gone wrong. He only realises what it is when the others turn to him and, unlike before when they discussed Luca’s techniques, they all start asking about Haochen.

Luca didn’t prove himself an equal, he just firmly placed himself under Haochen instead.

“What do you think they’re saying?” Nicholas asks, leaning forward.

“Did honey say they were the ones he knew before?” Vinaya asks, frowning a bit because the conversation seems to be crowding Luca.

“I don’t remember him saying it was a good sort of knowing,” Jordan frets. “Should I go down?”

“I’ll hex them from here,” Nicholas plans and his wand snaps out of his sleeve, aimed at the group even as he presses it down in his lap to half hide it.

Jordan puts a hand over Nicholas’ to stop him. “We wait for a signal. I don’t want Luca to be disqualified if it’s only a simple misunderstanding.”

Before long, the second round comes to an end and the participants are called together to receive new instructions.

The third round takes a bit more time to set up, raising a Loops course (as is traditional) from the rubble and cracked stages of the second round. The crowd oohs and aahs as it’s formed.

There are ten mages left and they’ll fight in groups of five, on five wide mobius strips hung in the air. It’s last one standing and they’re grouped according to points so obviously Luca gets in the highest-scoring group. He’s tied first with two others in terms of points – only because that’s the maximum.

Nicholas is certain if they let Luca keep going, he’d be so far ahead they’d just declare him the winner without a third round needed.

The lower scorers go first and the winner is quickly decided because one of the mages knows how to fly without equipment and weaves behind rings as she hurls spells at the other contestants who sprint along the loops.

Luca’s group goes up next, the mages spreading out across the loops and Luca seems thoughtful. Right before the referee fires out the fireworks spell to start, Luca looks up and smiles because Nicholas and his parents are cheering like Luca has already won.

Luca blocks an area-wide spell that lights up the sphere in crackling green electricity, disarms a woman so another mage can knock her out, sticks his own feet down so he can summon that man right off the edge, and sprints along a strip towards a fight between the last two.

Another mage is knocked out so as the only two left, Luca and the last man turn on each other but Luca is already close enough that he leaps off the strip and is falling through the sphere towards the man as he turns to Luca, too late.

Luca flying kicks the man off the Loops course and hurls four spells even as the man falls, disarming him and knocking him out before he can recover and get back up.

Half a minute to end the fight.

They never stood a chance against Luca.