Nobility

I passed Tess, taking my seat next to Marshal, I figured I'd get answers from Tess later.

Offering my hand to marshal I introduced myself, he accepted with a smile, revealing wolfish fangs. He must've noticed my bewilderment since he simply said 'Bruck'

"Bruck?"

"Yep, I have Bruck like qualities. It's why I have fangs."

"Oh right, you're a demi-human, I almost forgot." I knew that demi-humans were looked down upon by humans, especially nobles, so I tried to be polite without sounding condescending. "I'm from the country side and haven't really seen any other demi-humans here."

Marshal scoffed "Yeah, that's normal. Us Demi's aren't allowed to live in Patria, my family was just hand picked by the king to come live here. My parents said it was something to do with 'making peace with the humans' and that this would be the start of something new blah blah blah."

Lue grunted before Marshal continued "I got dragged away from my village and friends and to be honest, I hate it here. Every time I tell my parents about the mean looks people give me and the other kids staying away from me, it's always the same answer. 'Just wait a little longer Shal, things will get better, we promise'.

"Yeah, I get how you feel Marshal, I'll be your friend though! If anyone gives you mean looks again, I'll rough em' up for you."

Marshal giggled at the remark and I followed suit. If I was going to befriend someone, it had to be marshal, someone I could emphasize with and someone who wouldn't care about my background or wealth.

"That concludes the combat game. After the short intermission, we ask that all remaining participants gather on stage."

-"That is so creepy, it's like a ghost whispering into my ear."

Tess handed me some snacks and water to get some nutrients before we assembled on the stage. We were about 25 kids standing shoulder to shoulder, Marshal on the far right with me next to him, separating him and Lue.

"The next game will be centered around your control over your elements. You will have 30 seconds to conjure something beautiful or artistic, like so." The older one of the two women held her palms out towards the sky.

Streams of fire and water shot out of both hands respectively, flying in a circular motion above the stage. The two entities coiled around each other and started to slowly take the form of a translucent dragon with fiery scales. Its glassy body caused the sunrays to project all colors of the spectrum throughout the stadium, before flying into the sun.

"Very well. It obviously doesn't have to be on that scale, but I'm sure you all understand the assignment. First up is Freyja of house Nothyella."

Everyone went back to their seats, except for a dark-haired girl, Freyja.

The bell clanged once more. Freyja stood motionless with her hands cupped behind her back, only turning her head towards the crowd. A slight breeze entered the stadium and swept along with it cups, flyers and a few hats. The random assortment of objects rotated around the girl at a steady pace where she held the tornado for around 20 seconds, spinning the objects in the opposite direction halfway through. Before her time was up, she threw away the trash and returned the borrowed hats.

Being an air user, there wasn't anything flashy she could really do, so she resorted to pure skill and control. She gave the women a curtsy while awaiting her evaluation.

"Freyja of house Nothyella will proceed to the next round. She has been awarded 9 mybels for showing outstanding control over magic, as well as for keeping Patria clean. Next in line is…"

This went on for the remainder of the game. I used this time to think of what I could do once it was my turn. About a third of the remaining kids had passed to the next round, most of them being fire and water bearers, only Freyja along with 3 earth users passed with them.

At this point it was already mid-day and Marshal was on stage. Upon the bells' call, he stomped his right foot into the ground. Behind him came to life an earthen staircase covered by three consecutive U-shaped pillars. It was crude with roots sticking out at random points and soil powdering off where the structure was unstable. Marshal sat on the first stair and placed his hand on the arching pillars.

One by one did the stairs harden and become smooth as polished marble and the arches start to engrave themselves with simple patterns. If it wasn't for its earthen color, it would've looked like it belonged to the entrance of a grand palace.

He was panting and sweat struck the soil. Marshal kneeled to the women, half out of courtesy, but more so out of exhaustion.

"Marshal of blood Eiros will proceed to the next round. 6 Mybels for showing refined control over his abilities as well as his remarkable stamina. Next is Kenny of family Watkin."

Once again, the bell clanged. My plan was simple. First, I conjured a hollow sphere from the earth with three holes, two smaller ones for eyes and a large one for the mouth. Then came the neck and abdomen which consisted of two differently sized tubes. I did this several times and built a stickman from the head down. It was about 2 meters taller than me and had a tube running from its leg up to the head.

Finally, I shot as much fire as I could through the stickman. I had hoped that the fire would shoot out of its eyes and mouth, but I underestimated my own fire power. The puppet's head blew clean off and shot out of stadium.

-"Sh*t! okay it's fine, just play it off."-

I waited for the bell to sound before kneeling to women.

"Kenny of family Watkin Proceeds to the next round. 6 Mybels have been awarded-" a loud crash resounded in the distance. "Make that 5 Mybels due to public endangerment." Kids from the crowd started giggling. "Anyway, the final game will take place shortly. Please rest in the meantime, you'll need it."

This game was the perfect opportunity to test how effectively I could use and siphon mana from the atmosphere at the same time. I still had a way to go, but my reservoir was at about 60 percent. I started with 90. This made me wonder what Marshal was capable of, he did almost triple of what I did but his core wasn't trembling or even dimmed, in fact he seemed to have gotten back to normal within minutes.

"Were you some sort of architect in your previous life or what? That thing you made looked like it was ripped straight from a castle."

Marshal chuckled "No, I don't think so at least, I guess I'm just a little more artistic than the average Joe."

"And what about your mana? You were wheezing just a few minutes ago but you seem fine now."

"I could ask you the same thing." Marshal said, eyes squinting at my abdomen. "But I think I already know the answer. All these rich kids are still recovering while us country boys are fit as a fiddle. Us and that Freyja girl."

Marshal was right. I'm not sure if he could tell by simply noting that she was the only kid not sweating or panting, or if he could also see her core like me, but she was filled to the brim with mana. Her core shone a bright yellow with green rays trying to break the surface.

With barely ten minutes to recuperate, the old dame spoke. "The final game will be about endurance. Today has been a long day so this shouldn't take too long. The remaining participants will gather on stage."

Me and Marshal looked at each other with malice, we knew we were going to ace this. As we gathered for the final game, the dame explained to us the rules.

"My colleague-" She pointed at the violet cored guard beside her "will cast a small blizzard on stage. Your only objective is to shield yourself with mana. Once you feel cold or run out of mana, you will be relinquished from the game. Survive for 20 seconds and you get 4 mybels. 1 extra mybel will be awarded for every 20 seconds extra you stay in the game."

Without warning clanged the bell and it was like standing in the middle of the arctic. When the lady said we were to use mana to protect ourselves she didn't mean magic. We literally had to spread mana around us like an invisible coat, expelling manna from every pore of our bodies.

Within seconds I could feel my mana rapidly draining, so I started absorbing from the atmosphere through meditation, like I did at Tess's house. I quickly realized that this was a near impossible task since the mana covering my feet was blocking the surrounding mana from entering. The minimum time required was nearing and even though I'd make it, I wanted to earn as many mybels as possible.

I dug my feet underground so they wouldn't get frostbitten as I let go of the mana covering them. As the others were steadily depleting mana, I was almost gaining more. Almost.

We were at the 15 second mark and two kids had fallen limp; they were safe though. At 19 seconds 3 more had fallen. Left standing was me, Marshal, Lue, Freyja and one other kid. I passed the game with about 40% mana left. As the game went on, I felt my technique getting better and if it wasn't for the magical blizzard, I'd probably be gaining mana instead of being barely self-sufficient. At the 40 second mark Lue and the other kid fell out. At one minute, Marshal started to look tired, Freyja looked fine. The game went on for three minutes before the dame decided to end it.

At the two-minute mark I had only used half my remaining mana, Marshal dropped out at two and a half minutes, and at the end I was sweating profusely and Freyja still looked as if this was an everyday occurrence for her.

Kneeling down, I unsheathed my feet from the earth.

"Lue of family Lumbard has been awarded 6 mybels, putting him at 16 mybels for today. Marshal of blood Eiros has been awarded 10 mybels, putting him at 21 mybels for today. Kenny of family Watkin has been awarded 12 mybels, putting him at 22 mybels for today, an extra 5 mybels will be awarded for showing impeccable control and conservation of mana. Finally, Freyja of house Nothyella has been awarded 12 mybels and 5 extra for the same reason, putting her at a total of 27 mybels for today. "

The crowd gave a small applause before quietly packing their things away.

"With that, this year's games have come to end. Remember to claim your mybels at any of the stations around the arena. Farewell." Said the dame. Their guard snapped his finger, pitch-black smoke enveloped them, bats dispersed from the void. The wind scurried the smoke away and they were gone.

"What kind of magic was that?"

Tess guffawed at my question. "It only looks like magic, kid. That was simply a magical item, a distraction. But don't tell anyone I told you." She said, holding a finger up to her lips.

***

The following day we returned to the village. I had asked Tess about why Lue got the same amount of mybels as me during the combat game, even though he barely scratched me. She explained that his family had probably paid the association to assign him more points wherever they could.

"Ha! I scored more than him even though he bribed them."

"Not exactly, you still kicked *ss though! Anyway, I'm sorry we couldn't stay at the library longer. Are you sure you don't want me to send you books when I get the chance?"

"No, I'm fine, really I am. I got exactly what I was looking for."

Tess sighed "Alright. Who is this Sirius guy anyway?"

"You don't know him? People say he was a great mage."

"I must not know these 'people' you're talking about."

"Clearly. Thanks though, aunty Tess. The games were fun."

"Aunty? That's gross Kenny, never call me that again. I have to go now. I won't be visiting as much now that you know how to train yourself. Next year the games will be harder, so master earth and try getting a hold over your fire. A precise and accurate flame is deadlier than a scorching one. Or so they say. See you next year Kenny."

She ruffled my crimson-red hair before galloping off on a mare.

-"Strange, she never greeted my parents."-

***

The year was coming to an end. Winter had already passed along with my fifth birthday. Training had gone on every day, even during harsh blizzards, droughts and hunger. For the village, winter meant insanely rough times. The only source of food would be animals, imported fruits and vegetables and water. Unlike earth, winter only lasted two months. Two hellish months for the village, two perfectly normal months for me.

Heat wasn't a problem since I could easily warm up the house with controlled fires. The ravaging colds were nothing to me and my mana reinforced skin. Food was in abundance since I would hunt every day, our dinners varying from small vermin to boar-like creatures. Villagers would also suffice for my daily training. One day in particular…

"Would you stop hunting so damn much? Because of you, my dad hasn't even seen an animal on his hunts. We're barely eating enough these days." It was one of the children of the village. A burly boy with brown hair. He looked at me with eyes of contempt.

"Look, I don't mean to scare off the animals. And I don't hunt 'too damn much' I get just enough food to sustain my family. And I do it at the same time every day. If your dad can't find any animals, then it isn't my problem, he should simply consider going out to hunt earlier in the mornings.'' For some reason I had grown impatient over the months. I'm not sure if it was the freezing winds infecting me with its cold and bitterness, or if I had gotten a big head from acquiring the most points from the magi games, along with Freyja.

"Well screw you too then. You know just as well as I do that it's way too cold to be hunting that early. No normal animal-"

"Don't cuss at me kid. I could care less about you or your lack of food. Within 3 years I'll be attending an academy and be out of your hair. Until then, deal with the problem on your own or pay me to hunt for you. Farewell." I melted the snow around me in a 3-meter radius during my final statement. I had hoped to get my point across, until my ears pricked.

The boy stumbled towards me. Without turning around, I slid to the side using earth magic, easily dodging him. With the snap of my finger, a cage of plasma appeared around the boy, now sprawled out on the ground. It wasn't necessary to snap my finger, but it made me feel cooler.

"Listen, I understand you're angry and hungry." I tried to calm myself, slowly dispersing the cage of fire "but attacking me was stupid. Now go home. And only speak to me or family again if you mean business."