Jace the Elemental

Everyone was watching intently, there was a feeling in the air that this could be a crazy fight.

"I don't care who you are, you'll fall just like anyone else." Lyra said, a wind slowly starting to flow around her, both hands starting to glow with magic.

 Aurora didn't bother responding, using her earth magic to conjure an earth golem that was about her size, once formed it charged Lyra.

Seeing the golem coming, Lyra used a burst of her wind magic, increasing her speed even further. Leaping towards a nearby rock, her hands glowing a strange purple as she launched a barrage of crystal shards aimed at its joints, aiming to slow it down.

As the barrage struck, Lyra grinned, but the golem didn't stop. It charged her, striking the rock and smashing it into pieces. Lyra's eyes widened. She quickly pushed off the crumbling rock with another burst of wind, flipping backward to gain distance. As she landed, she kept her hands on the ground, summoning wood magic to sprout thick roots, ensnaring the golem.

Aurora calmly summoned a small void disk, using it to erase the vines freeing the golem. The golem charged Lyra again. Seeing that targeting the golem wasn't working very well, Lyra swapped to targeting Aurora herself. Summoning a mini firestorm, using her wind and fire magic to control it. Shooting her crystal projectiles through it to coat them with fire as they traveled.

The small flaming crystals flew towards Aurora as she kept a calm expression, using the small void disk she caught all the crystals as they traveled, erasing them from existence. Her golem continued chasing after Lyra who kept using her speed to avoid it.

Lyra found herself getting frustrated, it felt like nothing she had done had even gotten close to actually hitting Aurora. Changing it up she dashed towards the golem, using her wind magic to launch herself over the golem, landing close to Aurora. Slamming her hands into the ground she sent a shockwave of crystal spikes towards her opponent.

Aurora sent out a ripple of earth magic, causing the crystals to explode as they neared her. "Not again." Lyra thought, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She dashed forward, using her wind magic to close the gap quickly. Once she was closer, she cast her wood magic, causing thorny vines to wrap around Aurora. "Got you now." she thought, grinning.

"Fight over." Lord Severian called out. "Aurora is the winner." 

"WHAT!" Lyra yelled, her arms wide in protest. She turned to look at Lord Severian, confusion and disbelief written all over her face. That's when she saw it, Aurora's golem had grown to nearly double its size, its massive arms raised, ready to crush her.

"Aurora let you tangle her up as a trap for the golem to get you," Lord Severian said flatly. "If I hadn't stopped the fight, you would have been crushed."

Lyra's frustration surged. She couldn't help but acknowledge the truth in Lord Severian's words, but the sting of defeat was hard to swallow. She'd been so focused on Aurora, she hadn't seen the trap until it was too late. 

"It was a good duel, Lyra," Aurora said, extending a hand.

Lyra's jaw clenched. She shook her head, still not ready to accept the loss. "Don't lie to me," she muttered, shaking her hand away. "Do you think I didn't notice? I couldn't even get you to take a step the entire time. You never even broke a sweat." Her frustration was palpable.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't a good duel." Aurora said with her normal monotone voice. "Being able to use golem magic isn't common and you adapted to it quite well. Plus, your speed was difficult to adjust to."

"Easy to say when it feels like you won without a challenge," Lyra grumbled as she stormed off the arena.

Jace now understood why Lyra had been so confident about beating Ethan. She was exceptionally skilled. Her precision with the void disk was flawless, intercepting each projectile with calm certainty. And, like she'd pointed out to Lyra, golem magic wasn't common, making her even harder to prepare for.

A rare element with Void, rare spells with golems, her intelligence, and tactical brilliance. In Jace's opinion, Aurora was definitely someone that deserved to be in rank 1.

"Okay, I admit it." Ethan raised his hands in surrender as she came back to the group. "You really know how to fight."

"Yeah that was crazy to watch." Selene agreed.

"Of course." Aurora looked at them with her usual detached expression. "I've been participating in duels for the last ten years." Her voice still held that monotone nonchalant nature.

"Wait," Selene said, her eyes wide in disbelief. "Are you telling me you've been dueling since you were ten years old?"

"Eight years old." Aurora corrected. "I'm only eighteen currently."

Selene's jaw dropped further, and Jace and Ethan stared at her like she was a monster. "I assumed you had to be at least twenty," Selene said, still in shock.

"I had assumed you all started dueling around the same time," Aurora said, her head tilting slightly in confusion.

"I mean I started training my magic around that time." Jace said, rubbing his forehead. "But my parents wouldn't allow me to start dueling until I was a teenager."

"Yeah, same." Ethan quickly agreed.

"I wasn't allowed to duel until I was fifteen." Selene said sheepishly.

Aurora's brow furrowed slightly, as though considering their words. "Mother said that I was considered a late bloomer for starting as 'late' as I did."