Evelyn's crimson sleeves billowed as she gestured toward the training grounds. "Three consecutive tournaments under Blaze Citadel's thumb. Even Dylan's third-place finish felt like charity." Her tone carried the weariness of a veteran watching her academy crumble. "A top-five ranking would restore some dignity."
Kael kept silent. Let results speak louder than promises.
"Now," the archmage spun her staff, silver sigils flickering at its tip, "show me this famed 'Flame Tyrant's Hand.'"
He obliged without preamble. The training arena trembled as the molten construct materialized, its searing claws slamming toward Evelyn with blistering fury.
Her riposte came faster than thought. "Pyric Bastion!"
A wall of condensed fire erupted between them—not mere flames, but crystallized essence forged through decades of arcane refinement. Though constrained to fifth-tier mana output, Evelyn's spellwork flowed like liquid mercury, her incantations compressed into split-second syllables.
The collision shook the arena. Heatwaves warped the air as Kael's assault cratered against the barrier, scattering embers across enchanted stones. Where his spell roared with untamed fury, hers thrummed with surgical precision—every flame particle optimized for maximum defense.
"Again." Evelyn's command cut through the smoke.
Kael adjusted his stance, analyzing her technique. Those silver sigils matched his celestial markings, yet her casting eliminated all superfluous movement. Where he channeled raw celestial power, she wove spells through calculated efficiency—a masterclass in resource management.
"Flame Tyrant's Hand: Second Iteration!"
This time, the construct's fingers curled into a concentrated drill. Evelyn's eyebrows lifted—an improvised modification mid-casting. Her barrier shifted accordingly, its central density quadrupling as the fiery lance struck.
The feedback tremor rattled Kael's teeth. Across the smoldering divide, his mentor stood unscathed, though a strand of auburn hair now curled from the heat.
"Crude," she critiqued, though approval glinted in her eyes. "But inventive. Again."
As dusk painted the arena scarlet, their duel escalated—Kael's celestial-born creativity clashing against Evelyn's razor-honed expertise. Neither noticed the growing audience of mages pressed against observation windows, their whispers weaving new legends.
In Blaze Citadel's strategy hall, Ethan studied fresh intelligence scrolls. A sketched diagram of Kael's flame construct lay before him, edges charred from intense scrutiny.
"Modifiable mid-cast..." He traced the sigil patterns, golden eyes alight. "Well played, Austin. You've been hiding a wildfire."
The tournament's stakes had just combusted.
Kael unleashed a torrent of elementary spells—Scorching Barrage, Ninefold Ember Orbs, Ignis Flash—each cast with seamless precision. The training arena became a kaleidoscope of fire, every concussive blast timed to exploit the previous attack's shockwaves.
Evelyn danced through the onslaught, her responses clinical. Crimson sigils bloomed like poisonous flowers at her staff's tip, each spell pared to minimalist efficiency. Where Kael's flames roared with untamed fury, hers sliced through chaos like scalpel blades—a Firebolt precisely fracturing his Scorching Barrage's cohesion, a Searing Gust diverting Ninefold Ember Orbs into harmless trajectories.
"Faster!" she commanded mid-parry, though her internal assessment diverged sharply. The boy's stamina defied logic—fifty-three consecutive spells without mana depletion. Her own fifth-tier reserves would've drained thrice over.
The realization came as Kael transitioned into another Flame Tyrant's Hand. Evelyn's lips tightened. This couldn't continue until dawn.
"Mana Disruption!" Her staff slashed diagonally—a sixth-tier technique compressed through sheer willpower.
The arena's elemental balance shattered. Kael staggered as his spell matrix unraveled, the half-formed fiery claw dissolving into embers. Before he could recalibrate, a pulsating Ignis Core hovered inches from his face—Evelyn's coup de grâce.
"Yield."
Kael raised empty palms, chest heaving. "Professor... was that fifth-tier?"
Evelyn's cheeks colored faintly. "An accelerated curriculum requires... adaptable teaching methods." She briskly extinguished the superheated orb. "Your fundamentals need refinement, but the raw components show promise."
As they exited the scorched arena, neither acknowledged the smattering of applause from covert observers. Evelyn mentally revised her lesson plans—no novice deserved such grueling drills, but this boy was anything but ordinary.
In the strategy hall, Ethan reviewed fresh combat transcripts. His finger traced the Mana Disruption notation. "Cheating already, Evelyn? How interesting."
The dossier thickened—Kael's improvised spell modifications, anomalous stamina metrics, even the illicit sixth-tier counter. For the first time in three years, Ethan's tournament preparation notes included contingency plans.
Dawn found Kael reviewing celestial sigils, their silver patterns glowing brighter with each decoded secret. Evelyn's flawless spellweaving had exposed his reliance on brute celestial power—a weakness to be eradicated before facing Ethan's honed brutality.
Three months.
Time enough to forge chaos into precision.
"Problem?" Evelyn tilted her chin defiantly, the faint blush contradicting her imperious tone. "Shall I limit myself further to coddle your fragile ego?"
Kael opened his mouth, then closed it. Arguing with a master pyromancer's logic proved futile—especially one whose crimson robes clung distractingly to sweat-dampened curves.
A sly smile broke through her stern facade. Across the training grounds, audible gulps followed the archmage's retreating figure. Celestial Haven's fire instructor knew her effect on hormone-addled adolescents—and wielded it as deftly as her staff.
The walk to Kael's quarters passed in charged silence until Evelyn paused at an intersection. "Dawn. Crucible Chamber. No excuses."
As her heels clicked down the corridor, Kael massaged his temples. Today's revelations demanded processing—Evelyn's unorthodox teaching methods, the illicit sixth-tier spell, her unnerving blend of professionalism and... whatever that smirk implied.
Elsewhere, Ethan reviewed the duel's aftermath through enchanted scrying crystals. His fingers drummed against the mana-disruption transcript. "Cheat all you want, Evelyn. It won't save him."
The crystals dimmed, plunging the strategy hall into shadows ripe with anticipation. Three months stretched before them all—an eternity for schemers, a heartbeat for those racing against destiny's clock.