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When they woke up in the morning, the air was still just as hot, but this time they were all boosted by the knowledge that this was the day they would start the matches!

"Come on guys! Let's go!"

Delta was attempting to pull his teammates out of bed, practically bouncing with energy. The rest of them just groaned and rolled over.

"Come on! This is the one day that you chose to get up without a fight?" James whined. "Why aren't you ever this way back at the Quintessium?"

"Because, idiot," Delta said, yanking the covers off of his bed. "I don't normally have a match first thing in the morning!"

James was shoved onto the floor, following his covers, as Lydia and Algon shot up from where they had been pretending to sleep.

"What!?!"

"Like I said," Delta said smugly. "I've got a match in an hour. You guys overslept and the schedules were released a short while ago."

"Next time, open with that!" James yelled, chucking his pillow across the room as he sprang up from the floor and dashed over to the closet. Grabbing his Arcian robes, he joined Lydia and Algon in racing out the door.

"Come back, you idiot!" Delta yelled from the room. "You forgot your amulet!"

"AGH!!!"

They got to the stadium lightning quick as it was only a short walk away, and 3 of them were sprinting at top speed. For Delta, of course, it was nothing more than a light jog, a warm-up for the actual match.

This tournament only consisted of 1-on-1 fights; there were no obstacle courses or elemental constructs. This was a raw test of skill and determination between the mages of each school, with the winning team gaining much recognition from the rest of Reality and a reward they could put towards any program on their campus.

James slid into his seat and pulled out his schedule to check the match order while his friends grabbed an actual breakfast.

"So, when's Delta going?" Algon asked, sitting down beside him and forking over a sandwich.

"It looks like he wasn't joking. He's the second match of the tournament."

"Good, I was going to kill him if he was just waking us up for a joke. By the way, where is he right now?"

"Getting ready, I think. I saw him take a detour to the training room, probably to stretch a little."

"I hope he remembered to grab his pistols before we left the room," Lydia sighed, also back by then. "He's always forgetting them."

"I hope too. Because he's the second match, he won't have any time to race back and grab them, even if he is incredibly fast."

"By the way, if Delta's second, who's going first?" Algon asked.

James checked his amulet and shook his head. "I don't know them. It's a Lightning Elementalist and a Temporal Mage from the other schools."

They sat back to eat and wait for the tournament to begin. In his haste to get to his match, Delta had rushed them out when they actually had had quite a bit of extra time. As a result, Lydia was using the wait to come up with creative ways to get him back later on.

Headmaster Nu finally took the field, accompanied by Mr. Teilion and a regiment of guards, to officially declare the start of the tournament.

Lydia shivered. "I still can't get over his voice. It gives me the creeps."

The first 2 mages, fighting in the match right before Delta's, walked out onto the stadium floor and took their positions.

"I just realize, this is a much smaller stadium than the one back at the Quintessium," Algon said. "Delta might have a bit of trouble. He won't be able to move as quickly as normal."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Don't forget, he's got a weapon now as well."

Down in the stadium, the mages were fighting vigorously. The tournament was set up to try and put mages of similar ages together so that one wouldn't have an unfair amount of training. The current combatants were 2nd-year students and, as a result, displayed a much greater magical ability than James and his friends had previously witnessed.

"Holy cow!" Lydia exclaimed as the Lightning Elementalist was forced backward by a mysterious flash of light. "What even was that spell?"

"It's part of Temporal Magic," James said. "One of their spells allows them to rewind attacks in reverse to create a magical backlash."

They both looked at him in surprise. "And how exactly do you know that?"

James shrugged. "I read about it in the library one day when I was bored. This was back when I was still focused on training my affinity and so I was researching the other branches of magic to see if they could give me any clues. Kind of stupid, but I was extra desperate that particular day."

"Then how exactly does that spell work? I heard your explanation, but it made absolutely no sense. How does something like that follow any law of physics?"

"It doesn't. It follows the laws of time, which are completely different from standard rules. The Librarian told me that it wouldn't make much sense; you apparently have to be a Temporal Mage to understand it."

"Hey guys, look! I think that the Temporal Mage is about to win!"

James and Algon both stopped trying to puzzle out the odd rules of time and looked down, following Lydia's finger. The sight that greeted them was almost as comical as it was amazing. The Elementalist was attacking wildly, shooting spells at random things around him while the Temporal Mage dodged calmly out of the way.

"What happened?" James asked.

"I'm not sure. The spells name was something like Visions of the Past, but I've got no idea what that means."

"Oh, I wonder if.... yeah, I think I get it!" Algon said. "Judging from the name and what's going on, I'd bet that it causes the target to see the past as opposed to the present. So, they think that they're fighting against enemies that aren't really there. That's why he's just attacking randomly; from his perspective, he's defending himself."

James scratched his head. "How would I even fight against something like that? I'd lose instantly if I had to fight that guy."

"Usually, spells like that can be defeated either by waiting out their duration or emitting so much magical energy that the spell just falls apart. But first you have to realize that's what's going on, and if you can't..."

"Then you're in the same position as him."

The Temporal Mage finally ended the fight with a hard knock to the head, not enough to severely hurt the guy, that sent him to the ground and would leave a nasty bruise after he woke up.

"I hope that Delta won't be up against a Temporal Mage like that one. His speed would have no chance."

James shook his head. "Have more faith. He's been training hard ever since his defeat and he's also got his new pistols. He'll be fine."

Delta finally emerged from the far side, opposite to were James and the others were sitting. He saw them and waved slightly, walking towards the middle of the stadium.

"Is that a new suit?" Algon asked.

"I think it is. Where did he get that from?"

Delta was wearing a different bodysuit than normal. Although he still had bone armor plates covering the front and arms like before, he now had glowing conduits that ran across his body, converging on his palms. He also wore holsters on both of his hips and James could see his pistols sticking out slightly, along with several other small pouches near the side.

"I altered his normal one," Lydia said, a bit proudly.

James and Algon both looked at her in surprise.

"When exactly did that happen?"

"We had a bit of extra time directly after the tournament, and Delta asked me for some help with his gear. We decided to keep it a secret so you both could be surprised the first time you saw him fight."

James took a closer look at the suit. "And what modifications did you make exactly? Delta's suit was already pretty good."

Lydia chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. I didn't alter the base suit, just added in a couple of things to help him out. For example, those conduits can gather his energy much more easily when he runs, which he can then use to increase his pistols' firepower. I also made more ammunition for his guns; that's what's in the pouches."

"But why the holsters? Most mages just store their weapon using a spell."

"Honestly, I have no idea. He spouted off some nonsense about how it felt wrong to not have a physical holster, but I just kind of went with it."

"That does sound like Delta."

"Hey, look at his opponent!"

James' and Lydia's attention shifted away from Delta at Algon's comment and settled on the girl entering from their side. She was, to put it simply, a monkey. James' mouth fell open with surprise; he was used to seeing aliens at this point, but this species looked too close to a simian from Earth.

"She's a Sonreían. Supposedly their pretty rare; I've heard that because they have a school on their world, they tend not to send their mages off-planet to train. She must be very skilled if she went to a different school."

"Didn't we have a Sonreían in our history class?" Algon asked.

"Yeah, I think that was the case. I didn't get a clear look at them, though."

James took the opportunity to take a closer look at the girl. Although she was a monkey, she walked upright and had streaks of bright pink running through brown fur.

"I wonder if those are natural."

Lydia shook her head. "They're dyed. It's a representation of accomplishments on Sonus."

"How do you know so much about her species?" said James.

"Several representatives came to my planet once." Lydia shrugged. "I'm not sure what they were there for, but one of them had a son. We talked quite a bit about our respective worlds."

"What affinity is she? That could drastically alter Delta's chances of winning."

"I don't know. Their species doesn't have one single affinity like several other planets. It could be anyone; the only affinity I know for sure she doesn't have is Pure Elementalism."

One of the judges announced the match from the sideline. Unfortunately, there was no announcer like Strike at this tournament; it was much more formal and contained.

"Representing the Arcane Quintessium, we have Xe 'Xndry from the planet Xxntry. He has been training for almost 1 year now and studies Aetherling magic."

Whispers echoed around the stadium. "He's only been training for 1 year? He must be powerful if he was selected to participate in the tournament."

The judge continued. "On the other side, representing the Deckard Academy of Magic, we have Aurra from the planet Sonus. She is currently training in Celestial magic and eventually hopes to join the Eternal Guards, the personal assistants to Lord Eternius."

"Holy cow! She really has far-reaching goals. That force is legendary as far as achievements and power are concerned. They might even be able to rival the Dragons in terms of strength."

Algon leaned forward to take a closer look at her. "How much of a chance does Delta have against her?"

Lydia shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. Her affinity doesn't pose a particularly nasty threat to Delta's Aetherling abilities, and I can't clearly remember how her marks show her status. If I knew that I'd probably have a better idea of how they match up."

"It's ok," James said. "Delta's got this. After losing last time to Asdek, he's lost a bit of that overwhelming confidence and gained the ability to step back and look at the bigger picture. I'm thinking he'll do fine."

On the stadium floor, the 2 mages took their places on opposite sides of the field. Aurra bowed slightly to Delta acknowledging him as her opponent.

"The Sonreíans are supposed to be very noble," Lydia whispered. "It's their policy that every opponent deserves respect, no matter how big or small."

Delta returned the bow, which startled Aurra. She held out her right arm and a bracelet flashed into existence, the red gemstone on top glowing brightly. In response, Delta narrowed his eyes and moved into a ready stance, releasing the seals that kept his pistols locked in their holsters.

The judge raised an arm. "As per the rules of this tournament, I would like a clean fight with no Ultimate moves cast." His arm came slashing down. "Begin!"

Delta immediately jumped backward, gaining space between him and Aurra. He didn't know what that bracelet could do, so he decided to play it safe and rely on his pistols. As soon as he landed, Aurra smacked her fist into her open palm, creating 3 sigils around her. These didn't trigger, only hovering in a half-completed state in the air.

"Defensive spells. Those could get nasty if Delta tries anything too drastic."

Deciding to take the initiative, Delta drew his left Arcane Pistol. He had already loaded his guns with basic ammunition, choosing to save his more powerful rounds for later in the match when he needed them. Taking aim quickly, he fired a shot with excellent precision.

"He's been training hard with Master Gan," James noted with a smile. "During his obstacle course, he didn't really get a chance to show off, but now he can demonstrate what he has been working on."

The bullet moved at lightning speed, but Aurra wasn't fazed. She held out her arm, the one with the bracelet, and pointed the gem at the approaching projectile. The gem flashed red and a barrier sprang outwards to intercept the round. What was more impressive is that this wasn't a barrier of physical proportions. Instead, it was made out of something ethereal, a thing that could be sensed and touched, but barely seen. It was as if someone had condensed and hardened Space itself, the fundamental fabric of existence, into a small square to block all things.

The bullet hit the barrier and lost its power, falling to the ground. Delta glared at the bracelet on Aurra's arm. "So that's her weapon," he muttered. "Something that can create barriers by solidifying Space. But how's she going to win with just that?"

He got his answer soon enough.

"Good aim, but not enough power." Her voice rang through the stadium, strong and vibrant. "But now it's my turn."

She pointed again with her arm and the gem flashed yet again. This time, the barrier flew straight at Delta incredibly fast and he accelerated instantly to dodge out of the way. The ground exploded at his previous location, the hardened Space crushing the ground to pieces.

"Dang! I can't be caught by that thing; I'll be doomed for sure."

The barrier accelerated after him, changing directions almost instantly, and he drew his other pistol.

"Quick Draw!"

Accelerating his hands to lightning speeds, he fired off a salvo of rounds in a single instant. They were only basic bullets, but they possessed enough force to pierce through metal. Under that force, the barrier was pushed away and even cracked slightly, although it remained unbroken and soon resumed its chase.

"Hells! I emptied half of both my clips into that thing and only a crack?" He glanced over at Aurra, who hadn't moved from her starting position. "I can't focus on that shield; I need to get her! But does she have any more of those things?"

He jumped, dodging another strike from the barrier, and changed direction on a dime, blasting towards Aurra with a massive increase in speed. While racing forward, he fired again over and over.

"Darting Burst!"

She simply smirked and held out her bracelet again.

"Crap, she can create more!" James cried, worry clear in his voice.

Hardened Space flew out in huge panels to block each of shots, then continued onwards to bash Delta. He dodged to the right and continued forward, firing more and more bursts. In response, Aurra created more barriers, and each one Delta dodged.

"What's he doing? Shouldn't he be backing up to gain distance from those things?"

"I get it!" Algon shouted. The others looked at him for an explanation. "Delta's actually using his brain for once!"

"What do you mean?" James asked, still confused.

"He's testing the limits of how many barriers she can create right off the bat. He doesn't want to be surprised later on if she can create a vast number of things to beat him with, so he's pushing her right now. Honestly, it's a good plan, especially because he's got no other way to beat her with his current setup. It's what I would do in his position."

As Delta maneuvered around the stadium, bounding from one spot to the next without hesitation, and moving closer the entire time, Aurra's gaze narrowed. She began to cast her barriers faster and faster in response to his attacks, reacting to his shots but not having enough time to move her other shields into position.

Then, she moved suddenly, dodging one of Delta's shots by shifting to the left. This was the first time she had moved during the entire fight.

"Got you," Delta said with a smirk. "You're out of shields."

He jumped to a higher gear and instantly flashed behind Aurra, using the straight shot to gain a massive amount of speed in a single moment. Raising both of his guns, he fired a single round from each. The bullets exploded out and rushed across the stadium towards her, each blazing with a brilliant light.

"What the heck are those?!?" James and Algon both cried, shocked at the change from the standard shots Delta had been using.

"Modified Aldion rounds, just like the ones that the Librarian gave him back at the Quintessium. Delta just used his energy to boost the power of those rounds to a much higher level than his other shots. He only has a limited supply though; I told him not to be wasteful."

Aurra spun around to see the bullets bearing down on her like a predator hunting prey, but she didn't have time to do anything.

"She's not using her shields?"

"No, she's out and can't change their position in time!"

The Aldion rounds raced toward her and then appeared to slow. Her hand didn't move, but one of the floating sigils suddenly lit up.

"One of her traps is activated! But what's it doing?"

The rounds eventually slowed to a crawl and then stopped in midair entirely, becoming lines of energy that crackled before eventually losing power and fizzling out of existence. The bullets hovered in midair, now just pieces of metal. Delta couldn't believe his eyes.

"What did she just do? How did she stop such a powerful attack?"

Aurra didn't give him any time to think as she flung a vast number of barriers at him in an attempt to catch him off guard. Delta was forced to stop focusing on the spell and resume dodging, bouncing between spots on the ground and becoming almost like a blur with his speed.

"His motions are becoming predictable," James said, shaking his head. "At this rate, he won't be able to win. Come on Delta, figure out a strategy!"

After almost being slammed by 2 barriers, Delta loaded an additional clip of Aldion rounds into his pistols and used the energy gained by running to fire several shots at the barriers. He hit a couple, destroying them with multiple shots, but that only brought him a little time, as the shards flew back into the gemstone on Aurra's arm.

"She probably can reform them with enough time. Damn, I can't destroy any more of those shields or else I won't have enough shots to finish the match, but I also can't let her keep boxing me into corners. I need time to think."

Delta ran through all of his spells in his head, looking for a possible solution. "Think idiot, think." Then, he remembered back to his course at the Quintessium. "Even though I failed, I was still able to figure out the pattern of the vortex by moving faster than it. If I go incredibly fast right now, I should have enough time to think things through. But that spell's not exactly ready..."

3 separate barriers smashed into the place he had just been standing and he saw the rest flying in around him, creating a zone that he couldn't escape from.

"Well, might as well try it. I'm not going to get another shot."

Delta pulled a massive amount of energy into his body, drawing from the planet's magic and his pistols. His eyes crackled as he yelled, "Aether Flux!"

The world froze around him, blurring halfway into the ethereal form of the Aether Plane. The only purpose of this spell was to send the caster into the Aether Plane, and it was used mostly for traveling. But with Delta's incomplete training, it only worked part-way.

"Well, that was reckless. I'm sure there was a rule somewhere, that someone said, about not casting incomplete spells, but obviously, I didn't think that through. Looks like I'm moving so fast that everything is relatively slow though."

Delta tried to raise his foot and the energy around him reacted, trying to draw him fully into the Aether Plane with an incredible force.

"Ok, so I can't move or else I don't know where I'll end up if I get sucked all the way into the Plane. I don't know how long I can maintain this state for, but at least I can think. Alright, let's check this out."

He studied Aurra for a while and noticed that the sigils floating behind her were the same as the sigil that disappeared when she had stopped his attack earlier.

"That answers that question. It looks like she has 2 more of that same spell stored up. I can't beat her with speed; I'm not fast enough yet in this small environment. Ugh, what did Master Filgoth say about spells when we were doing Rudimentary Theory? Something about maximum energy, I think? Dang it, I should have paid more attention in class."

The Aether Plane began to crack around Delta, signifying that the spell was dissolving.

"Crap, I thought I had more time. My magic must be running out! Think, think. A spell's stability is determined by the amount of magic poured into it by all forces. That's why if you hit a wall hard enough, it'll break because you're applying some sort of force. Technically, that Space sigil thingy is a spell, which means I should be able to break it if I generate enough energy. But I can't draw that much out normally, and I only have a couple of Aldion rounds left. How can I do thi..."

The Aether Plane shattered, and Delta was tossed on the ground, the magical backlash luckily shoving the surrounding barriers back as well. Delta jumped up and blasted off, escaping the trap, but Aurra recovered and was hot on his heels.

As Delta ran, he happened to glance back down at his guns and saw the energy being siphoned off of his suit and into the weapons. "Right, Lydia modified my armor to collect my magic and channel it to my pistols. Wait a minute, that's it!"

Delta zipped over the outside of the stadium, on the very edge of their fighting space. "Well, if I mess this up, it's probably going to hurt. A lot. Better do a good job then!"

Seeing the barriers flying over, he brought up a large amount of magic and took off around the edge of the stadium, running in a circle around Aurra. Although he started slow, he eventually sped up until he was a blur that tore around the stadium like a tornado, kicking up quite a lot of wind in the process.

"What is that idiot doing?" Aurra laughed. "Let's see how he likes slamming into my barriers!"

She dropped them onto his path, aiming to provide a very painful end to whatever he was attempting to do, but Delta had anticipated this. At his current speed, he couldn't dodge, but he could still cast spells, as so as he approached the first barrier in his path, he cast Aether Flux once again.

The spell lasted for all of 1 second before shattering, but that was enough time for Delta to partially faze into the Aether Plane, allowing him to pass through the barrier. By using this strategy multiple times, he was able to bypass all of Aurra's barriers!

Seeing that her plan was ineffective, Aurra reached for another method of attack, but she was too late. Delta stopped on a dime, allowing all of his tremendous energy to gather into his weapons, and took aim.

"Block this! Aldion Cannon!"

2 rounds shot out like before, but these fired with a roar that made the stadium shake, blazing brilliantly like miniature suns. They moved faster, and Aurra barely had time to turn her head before they got within range. One of her sigils triggered like before, attempting to stop the attack, but it was not strong enough. The rounds slowed down immensely, but with a loud whine, Space stretched suddenly and the area around the bullets shattered, allowing them to resume their previous speed. The other sigil couldn't trigger in time, and a terrified expression appeared on her face.

BOOM!

Aurra was sent flying into the stadium wall, the ground cracking under the impact. When the dust cleared, she was lying unconscious; it was lucky that her sigil had stolen some of the attack's energy, otherwise it might have severely hurt her.

Delta holstered his pistols and walked over to the center of the stadium. He looked slightly remorseful, even with his victory, which the judge immediately pronounced upon seeing that Aurra was unable to fight. Then, he crashed to the ground, still conscious, but panting heavily and covered in sweat. The judges called for several healers, which carried them off to the infirmary.

"That last attack was very impressive," James said. "It must have used up most of his energy."

Lydia furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head, making her hair poof in consternation. "That shouldn't have happened, though. Those rounds were designed to consume the energy he outputted with his spells and speed. They don't actually drain energy."

Algon looked doubtful. "Are you sure? You could be wrong, you know."

"I am NOT wrong about this; I would stake my pride as a Weird on it. I modified those bullets myself; I know how they perform. There's something else, probably something that Delta did, that caused him to collapse."

"Regardless of the reason, we should go and see how he's doing," James said, cutting them off before it could become a full argument. "You can find out the reason later, Lydia, but for now, our friend's health is more important.