If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Looking at the school's forums, Flynn could see that were already several posts that were directed at him. They were ranting about how Flynn only managed to qualify because of his father's position in the Union. Flynn was going to comment something beneath the thread, but he stopped himself from sending his provocative statements. "Oh well, I guess they could only blame their incompetence on other's backgrounds," Flynn thought, shrugging.

One could argue that without his parent's education, he couldn't have displayed such adept skills, but behind his glamorous skills, was years of nauseous from Mana Fatigue and days of endless trainings. Although the other students might not be as fortunate, their families still had the money to transform them into mages. It was their lack of practice and discipline that caused their ranks to fall behind Flynn, not because of Flynn's connections with the Union. Articulating his thoughts, he only left a single comment under the raging students. "I'm extremely grateful of my parents," he typed, sending the message. The replies of the comment weren't as lopsided as Flynn assumed. However, he didn't gave the post anymore attention since he wasn't a person who liked to use social media to begin with.

There were still several hours until the end of the first round of the Element Registration, and since Flynn was already sick of playing video games, he headed towards the sports hall. A lot of people had already finished their tests, so most of the courts were already taken. Looking around the place for familiar faces, Flynn saw Brian and Kevin sparring in a transparent cube. The transparent cube was a thin film of mana, used to block the stray spells that missed or ricocheted off the ground. Although there were several TV shows that broadcasted fights between mages, it was still shocking to see two mages fight in person. Brian, who was a technology mage, was wielding two robotic snakes that had taser guns as fangs. Brian's catalyst was directed built into his phone, which allowed him to control his constructs with a larger range and less latency. Under the precise control of Brian, the movement pattern of the snakes were unpredictable. They slithered around the arena, striking Kevin in his blind spots.

Kevin, although cornered by the two mechanical snakes, still held his ground. His catalyst was his two gloves. Crafted out of Electrium, they allowed Kevin to absorb and convert larger amounts of energy more easily. The steel snake shot fowards, lunging straight towards Kevin's throat. But before the sparking fangs could grab ahold of Kevin's flesh, Kevin stepped to the side and grabbed it's throat. Flynn could feel the mana around the arena fluctuate as Kevin began to forcefully drain the robot of its energy. The glowing red eyes slowly dimmed down as the batteries of the snake was being drained. Brian, being an Technology mage, could feel that his robot's energy level was dropping at an alarming rate. Gripping his fist tight, he controlled the other snake to attack Kevin.

Wrong choice, as a worrying amount of energy suddenly appeared in Kevin's other glove. Kevin's magic only allowed him to convert energy into different forms, he still had some issues storing it since it required the mage to have a deep knowledge of the bonds between atoms in molecules. Some powerful Conversion mages could even convert energy into matter. Those Conversion mages were considered as a potential threat to the world, since they were basically walking nuclear bombs. Converting the electricity into heat, a burst of flames erupted from his left palm. The burning flames were so hot that the air even ionized, turning into a purplish plasma. The snake lunged towards the garish fire like a moth drawn to a flame. It melted instantly, dripping to the ground as it turned into a puddle of liquid metal. Kevin was panting, face pale because of the mana that was consumed. His whole left arm was covered in blisters, since he couldn't convert the heat in time to protect himself from his own attack.

But before Kevin could declare his victory, Brian's eyes suddenly sparked with electricity. Before Kevin could react, the snake in his hand detonated, exploding like a frag grenade. Luckily the snake was only made with normal steel, if it was enchanted or crafted with other more powerful materials, it would definitely leave more than just a scratch on Kevin. "That's dangerous, you could've killed me!" shouted Kevin, dusting of the metal fragments on his body. The battle ended since both of them had ran out of mana, the thin film disappearing. Seeing Flynn waiting outside of the arena, Kevin smiled. "With you here, I don't have to head over to the nurse," he said, displaying his arm that was covered in blisters. Brian was completely uninjured, since he only fought with the two remote controlled snakes. As Flynn's mana washed through his body, Kevin could feel his scratches and blisters slowly dissipate. Flynn felt light-headed since healing a mage wasn't that simple, and Kevin sat down to rest to recover both his mana and stamina. Brian was typing away on his laptop, he seemed to be analyzing the data he collected from the battle.

After seeing the fight, Flynn also wanted to find some action. He had no way of winning against Brian or Kevin, since their elements were much more fit for battle, at least for now. And he just happened to see Josh walk right through the entrance, looking around for acquaintances. "Over here," Flynn shouted, signaling for Josh to come over. Josh eyes lit up as he saw his classmates. Coming over, he noticed that Brian and Kevin were not in the greatest condition. "Were you sparring?" asked Josh. "They were, I just watched. However, my mana is kinda boiling and I'm missing a sparring partner," Flynn said, implying that Josh should spar with him. "But I'm not good at fighting," Josh said, wanting to reject the battle. "We are both Organic mages, of course we will be bad at battling, that's why we should practice," said Flynn, trying to convince Josh. "I guess I could spar for one round," replied Josh.

Getting inside the arena, the two pressed their palms onto the panel. As their information appeared on the screen, the mana membrane began to form. A countdown could be heard as the two took deep breaths, preparing for battle. A alarm could be heard, signaling the start of the battle. The two classmates stood there, waiting for each other to make their first move. "Your magic takes a while to cast, I'll wait for you," said Flynn, putting his hands into his pocket. "In that case," Josh said, pulling out a seed from his pocket. In his hand was a syringe that was brimming with mana, which was clearly his catalyst. It allowed Josh to alter the genes of organisms more easily. Runes began to appear on the seed, indicating that the spell was successful. Josh was clearly quite skilled with this spell, since it was finished in a matter of seconds.

Tossing the seed onto the ground, it immediately began to sprout. Flynn stared at the fast growing plant, flabbergasted. Sure, the plant was growing a hundred times faster, but it was still a plant. But Flynn severely underestimated Josh, conjuring some mana, Josh chanted, "Invigorate." Invigorate was the spell Flynn casted often to speed up the metabolism of the cells he selected, but since Josh was much more inexperienced than Flynn, he had to chant in order to cast the spell. Chanting allowed the mage to have a more concrete idea of what the spell was, and it helped the mage imagine the spell in action, which played a large part in the success rate of a spell.

Instantly, the plant began to grow at a terrifying speed, a green wrath of vines and thorns slithering towards Flynn at breakneck speeds. "Oh lord," thought Flynn, he did not expect this even in the slightest bit. Who knew that the timid Josh could create such a terrifying spell combo. Sliding the ring that was in his pocket onto his finger, Flynn chanted, "Scalpel." Scalpel was the most basic spell that any surgical mage had to learn. It creates a thin fragment of compressed mana, that could slice through organic matter like butter. Luckily, only the plant's genes were altered. If the plant was able to control mana, Flynn's spell could've been stopped if it formed a membrane to block the spell from contacting its flesh.

Flynn sliced through the raging plant like a lawnmower, with its green fluids spraying everywhere. Slowly getting closer to Josh, Flynn suddenly deactivated his spell, instantly moving the large amount of mana to his legs. His legs suddenly enhanced by the sudden burst of power, he lunged towards Josh. As Josh panicked a large amount of mana poured into his arm, instinctively altering his own genes temporarily. Instantly, his arm shapeshifted into one that resembled a lobster's pincers, slamming right into Flynn's hand.