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Chapter 11:

"Come on guys, let's go! We're going to miss the opening ceremonies!" James raced out of the Moonlight Glade with Delta following close behind, still yanking on his armor. "I can't believe you chose this day, of all days, to be extra hard to wake up!"

"It's not my fault," Delta whined as they ran towards the teleport platform. "You know I have a hard time waking up."

"Yeah, but I thought that for just this one day you would be excited enough to jump out of bed for once. Now come on, Lydia and Algon are already waiting for us!"

Jumping onto the platform, James triggered his amulet and they teleported to the massive arena that had been constructed in the middle of Synthesis. Even though the tournament was only open to students at the Arcane Quintessium, thousands of mages showed up to watch and the actual competition was broadcast to a vast number of planets and viewers.

Luckily, they made it just in time, flashing their team badge as they hurtled through the open doors. The attendant elemental rolled his eyes but let them through with a smile. Sliding into their seats, James got a premonition of danger and moved out of the way, but Delta wasn't so lucky.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!! YOU ALMOST MISSED IT!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG ALGON AND I HAVE BEEN WAITING?"

"Calm down Lydia," Delta said nervously. "We technically not late."

She sighed. "Yes, well 'technically' doesn't cut it, now does it? Imagine what would have happened if you had missed the opening ceremonies."

"Um, we'd just show up afterwards?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!!"

"Delta, I'd stop talking while you're ahead," James whispered.

He wisely decided to take the hit. "Sorry Lydia. It was my fault."

She fell back with a huff. "I know it was. You're the only one that would sleep in on a day as important as this."

Algon just laughed.

"Alright, alright," James said. He pointed down to the middle of the arena. "Someone's walking out. I think that the ceremony is about to start."

Indeed, a man was walking out on the stage. He had an odd appearance, with a black cloak and hood covering most of his body. Casting a spell with pitch black energy to project his voice, he addressed the crowd in a soft and somewhat deadly tone. "Hello, everyone. Everyone settling in? Good, good. Well, I'm sorry to say that our announcer appears to be a bit late..."

"That's stupid!" Delta whispered, talking over the man's words. "How could he be late?"

"You were almost late."

"Stop it guys. I can't hear that well."

The man was still talking down on the stage. "We just need to be patient and wait a little while longer. I'm sure he'll arrive soon and then we can get started..." The man glanced up suddenly and raised his eyebrow. "Well, speak of the devil. He always did like flashy entrances..."

"GOOD MORNING UNIVERSE!!" a massive voice boomed, practically shattering the eardrums of everyone in the stadium. Out of the sky came a huge bolt of lightning, roaring down to crash into the stadium floor, shaking the entire structure. The light cleared to reveal a wingless dragon, clad in in a sleek black and grey jumpsuit with yellow lightning crackling around him. Twin horns jutted from his head and his tail thrashed around his legs. He didn't even need to cast a spell to talk, he was just that loud.

"WELCOME TO THE CELESTIAL TOURNAMET. I'M YOUR HOST FOR THIS YEAR, DRAGON-GENERAL STRIKE!!!"

"HOLY COW!!!" Even Algon was shocked. "A Dragon-General is the host of the tournament!?!" He looked over at Lydia, James, and Delta. "Were you guys expecting something like this?"

Their expressions told them that wasn't the case. And the crowd's reaction pretty much confirmed that they hadn't been expecting it either. Everyone in the arena erupted as soon as Strike announced himself, rising to their feet and cheering wildly. Delta and Lydia were both bursting with excitement; James was astounded to see the figure that he had heard about from the Story of Creation; and even Algon was getting into the hype.

"THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR SUCH A WARM WELCOME!!!" Strike raised his arms, basking in the crowd's cheers.

"Show pony," the clocked man said with a sigh, shaking his head. His voice cut through the entire crowd, even though it was still soft, and everyone's attention was on him instantly.

"OH RIGHT, ALMOST FORGOT BUDDY. SORRY! EVERYONE, GIVE UP A WARM THANKS TO DRAGON-GENERAL GHOST FOR TAKING HIS TIME TO FILL IN FOR ME!!!"

The hooded man, Ghost, just rolled his eyes and shimmered out of existence, accompanied by huge cheers as the audience realized who he was. James shared a shocked look with his friends; two Dragon-Generals in one place was a very rare occurrence, even if it was for something as simple as a tournament!

"ALRIGHT, WITH THE PRELIMINARIES OUT OF THE WAY, LET'S GET STARTED!" Strike spun around, sending lightning scattering across the stadium floor. Each of the Quintessium's top masters walked out into the middle, moving confidently even though electricity was dancing around their feet.

"PLEASE WELCOME, FOR YOUR OPENING THIS YEAR, THE MASTERS OF THE ARCANE QUINTESSIUM!!!"

Strike thrust his arm up, sending all of the lightning that had been on the ground flying into the sky. His eyes glowed and he opened his mouth, sending forth a blinding torrent of energy into the sky that sent a shockwave through the floor. All of the lightning began to converge in a massive sphere of electricity that glowed with an intensity that rivaled the sun, and seeing this, the masters began their demonstration.

As the lightning coalesced overhead, Master Hutam waved his hands and caused a whirlpool of water to appear, forming a swirling lake in the center of the stadium. Lava spires rose out of the ground, created by Master Altrius, lifted each of the masters clear. The water then cooled rapidly, becoming solid ice that still rotated in a disk as though it was free-floating. Then, after a moment, the disk ground to a stop.

Silence fell, no one daring to speak. A single master walked from the edge of the stadium where he had been hidden: Graten the Earth Master. He calmly walked to the center of the ice, each of the other masters watching him silently from their lava pillars. After stopping in the middle, he looked at the crowd, raised one foot, and stomped.

A shockwave erupted from the point of impact and the ice screamed before exploding into 1,000 fragments. They were blown upwards by the sheer power displayed, and the lava pillars rose with them. The light from the lightning ball reflected off each crystal to create a dazzling display that soared over the crowd, inciting applause and cheers.

Even then, the masters were not done yet. The ball of lightning suddenly compressed into a tiny speck, dragging the ice crystals into a shell around it, before exploding outwards at the audience. However, before it could reach them, space stretched infinitely; even though the ball was expanding it appeared to never convert anymore area. Instead, the mages were fully able to witness the explosive power on display before them. When the spectacle finally stopping expanding, the entire new structure, ice crystals held together with glowing lines of lightning, began to slow down, the lightning becoming visible to the audience as it stopped whipping and flashing.

Each of the masters rose up to meet in the center of the new sphere, supported by an invisible platform of air. Each clapped their hands and with a shimmer of blackness, Headmaster Sherru appeared, smiling broadly. The crowd went ballistic.

"THIS IS YOUR ARENA FOR THIS YEAR'S CELESTIAL TOURNAMENT!" Strike announced, standing below the new sphere. "LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE MASTERS!!!"

Each took the nonstop cheering and applause with a smile and wave. Sherru stepped forwards to take over for Strike. "Welcome everyone, as Dragon General Strike has already said, to this year's Celestial Tournament! The masters of the Arcane Quintessium have informed that this year's batch of students looks particularly promising, so without further delay it is my pleasure to announce the many teams that will be participating in the tournament." He cast a spell and James, Delta, and Algon suddenly were lifted out of their seats and pulled into the sphere.

"If you are not familiar with the rules, allow me to explain them to you. Each team is comprised of any number of students, each of any magical affinity they wish. Each member will compete in a single assigned event, with the team's total being scored based on individual and overall performance. Teams will not be penalized for having fewer members than other teams, though. Each will be scored equally. With that being said, allow me to introduce your teams for this year!"

"I can't believe there were 168 different teams," Delta groaned. "I mean, the first couple were neat, but after that I was just bored."

"I kind of get what you mean," Lydia put in. "You were at the very end too. But hey, at least you guys didn't faint from the attention like that one guy did."

"We almost did. Come on, what the heck was that name you chose Algon? Oopson? Please, explain it to me."

"Um, it's a word from my planet. It means determination."

"Yeah, but I don't think it came across."

"Calm down Delta," James said from where he was sitting. "Algon came up with a fine name, especially with what a short amount of time we had to register."

"Hmph. I still think it sounds stupid."

"Hey guys, speaking of stupid, when do you think we're going to be given the competition schedule? It's been quite a long time."

The group, including Lydia, was sitting inside of Delta and James' room in the Moonlight Glade. They had gone there after the end of the opening ceremonies, but they had yet to hear from any of the masters through their amulets. So they were waiting for their schedules before they did anything, out of fear that if they went to get dinner or something, they would miss an important event.

Finally, Master Graten posted their event list, which they used their amulets to access.

"It looks like I'm doing a sort of obstacle course. That should be easy," Delta said.

"Speak for yourself," Algon replied. "I've got to fight an elemental construct. Do you need me to tell you how absolutely terrifying that thought is?" He shook his head. "What about you James?"

"I'm fighting another team in a duel."

"Wait, won't you be at a disadvantage because you don't have a weapon."

"It says that it's magic only, so I don't think so. I wonder who I'll be fighting."

"Well, no point in worrying about it know; we won't know until the actual event. Let's head out to go get some dinner; I'm starving."

After they arrived inside of Synthesis, they found that Salthor's was completely full, and every restaurant was the same way. People had come in vast numbers to watch the tournament, but it hadn't really been realized until they saw the line that stretched around about 5 blocks.

James glanced at his friends. "I think we should try somewhere else."

"Strangely enough, I was thinking the same thing."

Eventually, the group decided to just head back to the Moonlight Glade because they couldn't find any place to eat. After ordering food from the wisps and asking that it be delivered to their room, they spent the remainder of the night creating a strategy for each of their events. For Delta, he was confident that he would do just fine, but James wasn't so sure. This was a tournament after all, and the masters would most likely have created something a bit more impressive than just a standard course. For Algon, they analyzed basic angles of attack and some ideas on what spells he could rely on most easily in a pinch. However, because they didn't know what he would be up against, they couldn't formulate a ton of strategies just yet. James also worked on a plan for his battle, although he was in the same predicament as Algon with not knowing who he was fighting. As such, he worked on mapping out his abilities in order to make sure that he had most of his bases covered, mainly in case of an unexpected scenario.

Lydia and Algon stayed the night, creating their own bedrooms to sleep in. Classes were canceled for the week of the tournament, so in the morning, after grabbing a quick breakfast, the friends headed down to the Darkessia to do some last-minute training.

"Holy cow!" Lydia exclaimed as they teleported in. "This place is packed!"

The entrance room alone was filled to the brim with people entering and leaving the Darkessia.

"I don't think we'll be able to get a training room today. There's too many people."

James thought about it for a moment. "Wait, I think I know a place we can go. Come on!"

He led them down to the Pure Elementalist's training room. Like he had suspected, no one was there, so they had the entire room for themselves.

"Alright," James said. "We'll have to improvise a bit because there's no control room in here, but it should be fine." He channeled a sigil between his hands and metal floor rose into a huge ring. "Delta, the course will be on the inside of arena they made, so I want you to try running around the edge of this ring."

"Why? I can already do that."

"Not on the floor. Use your speed to run sideways on the walls. It's physics. Lydia, do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I think I get it. Come on Delta, I'll help you with it."

They went over to begin working and James turned his attention to Algon. "Do you have a strategy for fighting against the elemental construct?"

Algon nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not sure how you want me to test it. There's not exactly a huge construct around here."

"Give me a moment." James began to furiously concentrate, bringing a large amount of his training to the front of his mind. In his head, he combined hundreds of different components together and slowly built up a huge rocky suit around his body.

"Amazing! That's just like the Earth Spell Geo-Armor!" Algon was very shocked. Earth Elementalists traditionally didn't learn this spell until their second or even third year of studying, and yet James had replicated the spell very accurately with less then 1 year of training. With the barriers to learning removed, Pure Elementalism was becoming more and more like a true Prime's magical affinity.

"Ok Algon, I'm finished. Attack me with everything you've got."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely! I need a chance to practicing fighting another mage and you need the assistance too. I'll also limit myself to only using Earth spells in order to give you a more accurate fight. Now let's go!"

Algon narrowed his expression and nodded. He jumped back a ways and pulled out his weapon, a Fire Staff. Although it wasn't much use at close range, it could greatly boost the power of his Fire spells.

"You're going on the defensive immediately?"

"No point in jumping in when you're not sure what your opponent's capable of."

"Delta would beg to differ."

Algon laughed and then immediately jumped to the side, dodging a hail of rock shards. James did his best to mimic how an Earth elemental would act, so he turned slowly to follow Alton's movements. Seeing this, Algon recognized an opening.

"Flame Cannon!"

A massive shot of fire flew forwards, amplified by the Fire Staff. Crashing into James, it exploded violently and sheared off large chunks of rock from his armor. James was forced back by the power that Algon displayed.

"Impressive. But now it's my turn!" A huge rumble shook the room and the ground cracked.

"Thundering Spires!"

The ground ripped up near his feet into multiple rocky spires. Each exploded outwards in a large area, able to hit anyone no matter where they stood. Algon realized that he would be severely hurt if he took the full brunt of the attack, so he spun his staff in front of him rapidly, creating a wheel of fire to block the oncoming shards.

It was the misfortune of one of James' classmates, Uthiel, to walk in at that moment. Upon seeing the violent shards hurtling towards him, he widened his eyes in terror. There was no way for him to escape; he would die!

James, acting on pure instinct, acquired from hours training his mind, reacts instantly, grabbing hold of the elements to create a shield around Uthiel. The shards vaporized when they hit it, completely neutralized and everyone, except Uthiel of course, relaxed.

As can be expected, Uthiel was livid. "What the hell are you guys doing here? This is a training room for Pure a Elementalists only; you are too reckless!"

"Calm down, they're with me."

"James? What are you doing here?"

"I'm training with my friends for the Celestial Tournament."

Uthiel was very confused. "Wait, you are participating in the competition? How is that possible? You're a Pure Elementalist, just like me. We don't have the power to compete with the other mages." At this point, he fully noticed the shield that had protected him from the Thundering Spires. It was composed of a myriad of elements, a constantly circling and changing array of magic without any defined form. This existence completely shocked Uthiel into a full state of silence; no single mage should have ever be able to construct such a thing, they would never be able to master the amount of required affinities. It was simply impossible, and yet had been done by someone in front of him. The dots aligned in his head, but the truth was still stunning.

"Yeah, you're right," James said, confirming those suspicions. "I created the shield that protected you just now. In addition, I also cast that Earth spell, Thundering Spires."

"But...but...how is that possible? You're a Pure Elementalist just like me!" Uthiel was very distressed and shocked out of his wits.

"My friend Lydia created a device and method to train Pure Elementalism. I've been testing it over the past several months, and refining it further. After Master Rell and Headmaster Sherru reviewed it, they permitted me to enter the tournament in order to gain a full understanding of my powers." James smiled. "It's wonderful! We finally have a viable way to get stronger and fully achieve our Prime's legacy!"

"I agree. But why didn't you tell us early."

James looked down at the floor. "I was worried you would have gotten jealous. You had trained for so long and worked so hard only for a new mage like me to come along and take the spotlight. I wanted to be on good terms with you guys, not alienate myself further."

Uthiel laughed. "James, as one of the oldest Pure Elementalists at the Quintessium, I can honestly say that this is some of the best news I have ever heard. No one will be angry with you; in fact I think everyone will be ecstatic."

"That's a relief."

"I have two requests though."

"Oh?"

"First off, can I stay and watch you train?"

"Of course. You might even be able to help us out with some strategy ideas! What was the other request."

Uthiel smiled. "Please let me invite the other Pure Elementalists to watch your event."

"Why? There's no guarantee that I'll do well."

"I know, but it would be a huge moral booster. The Pure Elementalists don't usually watch the tournament because it reminds them of how weak we are. But with you competing, it will inspire and impress the others. I'm sure of it."

"Of course they can watch. It would be an honor. And afterwards, I'll share the entire method so each can fully reach their potential!"