Tournament.

With those word the tournament officially started. The participants got into position and started. Both Allan and Spencer were in the first round, although in entirely different positions. Spencer had turned 9 shortly after they had started developing their abilities and was put into the second age bracket. Allan celebrated his birthday on the 8th of February, while Edwin celebrated his on the 29th of November.

---

Spencer walked up to his stage, where his opponent was already waiting for him. His opponent was an older student named Jessica, she was 11 years old and was among the oldest during the examination.

Both wielded their weapons before going into a fighting stance. Each field had one referee that would give the starting shot. His job was also ending a battle once it either turned actually dangerous, or when cheating was detected.

The referee then gave his starting shot, which made both participants move backwards. Spencer's opponent, Jessica, wielded a crossbow. Which soon started creating Earth-bolts. Spencer on the other hand, had already knocked an arrow, which he had shortly touched at the tip before firing.

The crossbow generally provided more power in a trade-off for less maneuverability, it was the best choice against tougher beasts. It made Jessica unable to dodge, proving a clear disadvantage against fast beasts or humans.

The referee quickly blew into his whistle, declaring the match as over. Jessica's Index flew out before quickly activating a yellowish transparent membrane. The membrane didn't even budge, as Spencer's arrow hit. The arrow bounced through the air before landing on the ground, where the arrow slowly ate itself into the ground.

Jessica could tell what would have happened if the membrane hadn't activated. She had accepted her loss.

Spencer walked back to the sidelines where occupied an empty bench. He decided to watch Allan's battle, since he had a good view from where he sat.

---

Allan was currently facing off against a long-sword user, who turned out to be quite a hard nut to crack. The two were currently standing apart from one another, having separated from each other after their first clash. His opponent was a girl named Sophia. She usually laid low during the lessons, and lived quite a bit away. Her strength was therefore rather unexpected.

They both re-engaged in combat. Sophia opened with rather straightforward strike, which Allan narrowly avoided by dodging to the right. He quickly accelerated by using his first ability, 'second wind'. The ability allowed him to summon a spiral of wind, pushing him in any desired direction. Although clumsily, he could still use it for fast movement.

He used his right rapier to attack, while keeping his left at the ready to block. She had almost no way to dodge, and was swiftly defeated.

Allan shortly appreciated the limelight, and then went to the same bench as Spencer. They had a 30 minute break before their next match would start.

---

The first round was over, and it was Edwin's turn to fight. Edwin's opponent was an 8 year old girl named Ella. She was slightly taller than him, being roughly 1.3m tall.

The battle started, and both rushed towards each other while activating their abilities. Edwin's first ability was an aura of sorts, that would lower the temperature of the arena. This ability was very useful against quick opponents, as it would wear them out especially quick.

His opponent had a number of wooden daggers on her, two of which she set on fire and brandished. A frustrated expression appeared on her face when she entered Edwin's frost aura, as the flames on her daggers were diminished.

She rushed in anyway, deciding that it would be best if she were to attack, before the effects of her daggers wore down. Edwin dodged to the left, dodging the right dagger, and parrying the left one. The parry damaged the already suppressed dagger and left a burn-mark on his sword.

Edwin stomped his right foot on the ground and jumped backwards.

Ella rushed forwards again. That was before she felt a hard impact on her left leg and the protection of the index activated. Startled, she looked down. The ground was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow.

This was Edwin's second ability, a landmine. He learned of landmines when his father told him stories of his time in the army. They were generally used in huge quantities when beast-hordes attacked. They were a very effective measure and had prevented many human casualties over the years.

This ability was very exhausting to Edwin, even if he had tier ll essence capacity. It also required a lot of concentration to hold, but it was less than if he sealed it. He planted the landmine by concentrating a large amount of essence into a small spot, and then letting it loose. He still struggled with sealing it in combat, as that required a large amount of concentration that he simply didn't have.

The referee quickly announced Edwin's victory. Both participants bowed toward each other and left the stage. Edwin nodded to his parents, before heading towards the same bench as Spencer and Allan. They quickly started chatting about their matches, and the types of opponents they had met.

Allan's, Edwin's and Spencer's parents were smiling at this scene, the trio had met very often outside of their lessons. They had trained on the fields almost everyday, in aspiration to one day become knights that would protect their family and friends.

'Those three will be friends for life.' they thought in unison.