The preliminary rounds of the academy tournament were brutally efficient.
Sitting in the tiered stone stands reserved for the Magic Department, Alex watched the rigged brackets systematically tear through the first-year mages.
Martin Vance fought at noon. His heavy infantry opponent charged exactly as expected, and Martin timed his new wind blast perfectly at the Knight's ankle. The Knight stumbled, but his weight was too much to bring him down completely. He recovered, widened his stance, and slowly forced Martin back toward the arena wall until the referee called a technical submission. Martin walked off the sand with a bruised shoulder, but he kept his head up. He hadn't panicked, and he hadn't hidden behind a useless barrier.
Ariana Flamehart's match was much shorter.
