Jace the Elemental

"Are you sure about this, sir?" A soft voice emerged from the darkness, its tone hesitant. "What if she loses?" The words seemed to hang in the air, the voice unsure even of speaking them.

"Then she loses," an authoritative voice replied, calm and steady. "Maybe losing to someone her own age will push her further." A subtle hint of care lingered in his words.

"But, sir… what about her mother?" The unsure voice pressed. "She won't sit idle if she loses to some nobody."

"That boy isn't a nobody," the authoritative voice countered. "He's… important. And if needed, I'll deal with her mother. For now, let's just watch."

Back in the arena, the countdown began. Jace stood across from Aurora and her golem, poised like a coiled spring, waiting for the timer to hit zero.

The instant the horn sounded, Jace sprang into action. He unleashed his Ice magic, rapidly cooling the entire arena while simultaneously using Water magic to freeze key joints on Aurora's golem.

Aurora reacted without hesitation. Summoning her Void magic, she erased sections of the ice, restoring flexibility to the golem, while channeling Earth magic to reinforce its remaining joints.

Jace saw his opportunity. With a swift motion, he conjured a massive ice spear alongside a fire spear, launching both toward the golem's legs.

Aurora's eyes flickered with concern. She focused her Void magic, dissolving the fire spear before it could land, but the ice spear struck true, shattering the golem's left leg. It buckled slightly, forcing Aurora to redirect her Earth magic to stabilize it. 

Jace didn't waste a second. He dashed toward the weakened side, launching a curved firebolt around the opposite flank, aiming to split her focus.

Seeing her golem about to collapse, Aurora acted fast. She dismissed her magic, letting the construct crumble between them, forming a makeshift stone barrier. At the same time, she cast two Void spells simultaneously, one defensively, near the incoming firebolt, attempting to knock it off course, and the other offensively, laying a trap near Jace's feet while preparing a third spell to launch the remains of the golem at him the moment he stepped wrong.

Jace charged forward, unknowingly triggering Aurora's trap. A sudden, crushing force weighed down on him, slowing his movements. Before he could adjust, the shattered remains of the golem hurtled toward him.

He had a split second to react. Instead of wasting time trying to block the attack, he redirected his firebolt, pulling it back on course just as the debris slammed into him. The impact sent a jolt through his body, but his attack struck true, both of them landing a hit at the same time, each earning a point.

Ethan let out a low whistle. "Damn they're both fast. Jace didn't hesitate for a second."

Selene nodded, crossing her arms. "And Aurora's counters are so immediate and precise."

"It's still too early to call, but Lucian, I think you might be right, They're struggling to land clean hits," Astra said, while she watched intently.

Lucian nodded. "Both of them are controlling space well. Aurora's use of her Void magic to try to redirect spells and lay traps, just solid. And Jace's raw power to push through and counter would be tough to deal with."

"That slowdown trap was brutal," Felix said, cleaning his glasses.

Ethan grinned. "Yeah, but look how he handled it. He realized that he couldn't dodge and made sure to trade the point."

Selene started tapping her fingers on her arm. "To be able to calculate that he wasn't going to be able to dodge it and confirm that it was at least a trade."

"But it was still Aurora who confirmed it to be a trade." Lyra huffed.

The group collectively leaned forward, eyes locked on the fight as the next exchange began.

"Good shot," Aurora said, placing both hands in front of her to form a large void sphere, which she then sent hurtling toward Jace. At the same time, she knelt down and caused one of the stone plates beneath her to rise, lifting her into the air.

"You too," Jace said, grinning. Seeing the void sphere closing in and Aurora gaining height, he quickly used his own Earth magic to tunnel underground, vanishing from both her view and the sphere's trajectory.

Aurora blinked in surprise before letting out a small laugh. "I didn't realize he was a mole."

She began sending out small Earth pulses, almost like echolocation, trying to detect Jace's movement underground. However, Jace had already tunneled deeper, and since she was floating above the ground, her magic couldn't reach far enough to track him.