Sportsmanship

"Let the second match begin!!" The host's voice resounded around the large stadium and was closely followed by the sound of the eager cheering of the audience.

Shockingly, it was the anxious and nervous looking Jared who charged forth first, barging forward like a rocket, his each step shaking the ground.

"Looks like his physical strength is quite frightening." Lexa couldn't help but be surprised. The only other Magician she could compare this boy to was Uncle Kil, though the boys strength was obviously not on the same level.

On the other side of the arena, Seph Farhawk looked on at the quickly incoming attacker with a calm exterior. Narrowing his eyes, he began to chant a spell that was quickly completed.

Five flaming sparks appeared around his body, lighting up and taking on the form of five birds before they shot off towards his opponent. A simple but effective move.

Not daring to underestimate these small flames coming at him at great velocity, Jared was forced to slow down his pace as he moved to manoeuvre around the fiery birds. Chanting a spell of his own, solid rocks began to slither like liquid as it formed around his two fists, taking on the shape of a sturdy pair of gloves.

Seph had already begun chanting his next spell amidst all this, and he had just finished it as Jared was getting closer and closer in range. This spell was much larger than the previous one, and when released, orange flames lit up behind his back and jutted outwards as they began to coalesce around his two arms until eventually taking on the shape of fiery wings!

Jared's eyes flashed knowingly when he saw this but he didn't react otherwise, not holding back in throwing a strong right fist towards Seph Farhawk's direction, the power of earth empowering his fist and an azure glow pulsing around it, signalling the further empowerment of aura.

This was a punch not to be taken lightly!

With arms crossed, the fiery wings enveloping Seph's arms combined as they changed form, turning into a sort of barrier.

Lexa was shocked as she actually knew of this spell somewhat, only that it was in a different form. The barrier form of these fiery wings was rather similar to one of the spells available in her own Crimson Iris bangle, the Crimson Glaze spell, which would coat the user in a burning hot barrier. The only difference here was that Seph's version only covered his arms, but at the same time, is was only one feature of this ongoing spell of his; so it couldn't be said to be weaker than her Crimson Iris Bangle's Crimson Glaze spell.

Both sides having activated their individual moves, the only thing left was for the two to clash!

Bang!

Jared's fist made contact with the fiery wing's barrier and the sound emitted due to the clash resounded throughout the large stadium. At first appearance, the clash seemed to be a draw as neither side seemed to get one over the other. While Seph's barrier was still standing strong, Jared's rock empowered fists were also in perfect shape. However, after several seconds of Jared trying to break through this barrier with brute strength alone, people looked in surprise as Jared suddenly leapt backwards as he cried out in pain.

The heat of the barrier had passed through the rock covering his fist, burning his skin.

"Seems like I can't get through those damned wings of yours with my usual methods..." Jared grumbled. Now that he was fully concentrated on the battle, it seemed his nerves were long gone.

"As to be expected by the Magical Art created by the head of the Farhawk family, the Inferno Hawk Arts is truly a magnificent sight!" The host praised.

"I thought his Magical Art looked different from the one used by Chris Farhawk. It would seem this Seph Farhawk has been learning the Art personally crafted by his father." Lexa was quite impressed with this Inferno Hawk Arts so far and looked forward to what else it had up its sleeve. She was also interested to see how Jared Lolan would break or manoeuvre around those flaming wings of Seph's.

After a deep breath, Jared's eyes narrowed in concentration and he began to chant his next spell. Seph didn't react at all, simply holding a martial pose, those flaming wings flickering in a melodious rhythm, looking threatening and majestic in contrast to his small form.

On completion of his spell, the rocks covering Jared's two fists suddenly went through a drastic transformation as it slowly mutated into a dark metallic form. It not only changed into the more solid metal material, but enlarged greatly until they were double the width of his arms in diameter. They also held several runes which lit up in an azure glow. The dark metallic gloves gave off a large "clang" as he touched fists. The weight and strength of these metallic gloves could only be imagined.

"Lets see how these work!" Jared Lolan shot forward once more, his right fist wound back in preparation for its powerful release.

Bang!

In repeat of the scene from before, Jared's fist met the solid frame of the fiery wing's barrier. But in contrast to that time, a noticeable crack appeared in Seph's wings. Noticing this, Jared didn't hold back the grin forming his lips, not letting up on his strength for a second. Seph meanwhile showed off a strong front, but his arms were shaking as he held off the strength of this punch which felt like a 2 ton boulder crashing down upon him.

The destruction of his spell was inevitable at this rate, so he transformed those fiery wings into their normal state without hesitation. With no barrier holding him back anymore, Jared's fist proceeded forth, threatening to strike Seph straight in his face!

Click!

Seph clicked his fingers, quickly forming a spark of fire which assaulted Jared's eyes. This attack would do nothing to damage him, but it was successful in its goal. Blinding him!

With his opponent unable to see him, thus not being able to redirect his punch accurately, Seph quickly acted when he had the chance. With lithe footsteps, he manoeuvred under the incoming punch of his opponent and with his left arm, directly struck Jared in the side of his stomach with the fiery wing, which seemed to sharpen at its edge, causing a cut to form on Jared's body.

Jared let out a guttural cry as he felt the sharp pain of being cut piled with the aching pain of burning surrounding it. Forcing his eyes open, he used aura to quickly revive his sight so that he could act against Seph immediately.

With surprisingly supple movement, Jared sent his left fist careening down towards his opponents crouched form as Seph attempted to pass him by.

Unfortunately, his punch was too late and Seph was already behind him leaping to create some distance, his punch only blasting apart the ground below with the force of his strike. Understanding the abilities of his opponent, Jared knew if he let Seph recover, he was truly doomed. He couldn't let him escape so easily!

'No time to cast a spell, can only push myself to the limits!' Clenching his teeth, Jared spun his body, sending his right fist swinging backwards with built up momentum. The fist was just seconds from striking the fleeing Seph when he shockingly vanished!

The grin that was forming on Jared's lips as his fist got closer and closer was instantly doused in cold water. He instantly knew what had happened, that fleeing Seph was only an illusion created by magic!

'But I didn't hear him chanting... A chant-less illusion... How formidable...' Jared could only sigh in defeat. In the end, his loss was his own fault. If he had not been so caught up in other matters and paid more attention, he could have easily figured out the other party was but an illusion through various methods. It was only that he had never heard of Seph practising illusion magic. Though he should have known that most Magician's study a bunch of miscellaneous spells, only to be brought out at the right occasions.

"T-the victor of the second preliminary match is Seph Farhawk!!" The unprepared host's voice announced the end of the battle.

In the audience, while they had a better view of the last several seconds, they still also found it difficult to follow what had just exactly happened, as it had all happened to quickly.

In the arena, Seph had been holding his inflamed arms hovering over the back of Jared's neck. Time hadn't stopped as he had stopped his momentum himself. With his victory announced, he lowered his arms, the flaming wings dissipating in the meanwhile.

It was only at this time did the audience suddenly erupt into applause and shouts of congratulations, with Andria joining in too.

"Andria's a little sad the big pup lost, but hawk boy was pretty okay, for a Farhawk." Andria clapped her hands in rhythm with the audience.

"Now the big guy will really faint if he heard you calling him "big pup"..." The side of lexa's feline mouth twitched.

Back in the arena. Surprisingly, Seph was breathing a little heavily.

"D-did you use up a lot of aura on that c-chant-less spell?" Jared asked as turned to face him. He had begun to shake nervously once more now that the match was over. He could constantly feel the thousands of gazes on him, making him incredibly anxious and nervous.

"Yeah... It took a lot out of me... More than I thought it would..." Seph's voice was a little croaky, seemingly due to how little he talks. But it was soft and humble.

Just as the two were talking, Seph suddenly stumbles, nearly falling to the floor if he were not caught in Jared's hands. Slinging his arm around his side, he crouched down to match his height.

"W-we're both pretty beat up, why d-don't we help each other out." Jared gave him a bright smile.

Looking at that expression for several seconds, Seph eventually hummed and nodded in agreement. Holding each other up, the two stumbled out of the arena to the cheers of the audience. Behind them, the host praised their sportsmanship.

It had become quite late in the day when the semi-finals of the Hawk Academy Youth Tournament finally came to an end. In the end, one of the biggest topics besides the excitement of who will win in the finals, was a topic comparing the two Farhawk brother's. Both in their abilities and personalities...

Needless to say, Chris and Caesar's hatred for the main branch of the Farhawk family didn't improve this night...