Allo Aurios's Story

Preparations were already under way in the city, as countless mages of all kinds began to arrive in preparations for the upcoming event. Even if the event itself was nowhere near starting yet, people still began to gather from all around to this city. Countless people who possess all sorts of magic, or have dedicated themselves to working hard in the field of magic, or just wanted to watch some epic magic battles and events, all were gathering. The streets were flocked with crowds and people, and it was clear that the news had been very popular with the people.

King Verrevia himself had a flashy entrance with the captain of the Royal Guard, with the additional protection of the Rosetta Dragon Knights. They made quite the entrance, and it seemed the King would be in town for quite some time to help set up the event. Decorations and special designs were already being created by the various crafters and manufacturers, and news outlets not even native to Origin, including Terracast according to rumor, were arriving.

And as one bus made its stop at a nearby bus stop, a boy began to step out...but ended up tripping on the bus stairs and went face first into the sidewalk. That boy, known as Allo Aurios, quickly got up and dusted himself off...while wimpering. The ears on the top of his head, along with his tail, drooping with sadness.

"Hey, kid...you okay?"

"Sob...it really hurt..."

"Ah, here, I can help you!"

Suddenly, another figure got off the bus...Dr. Simon Azler. The current headmaster of Astrius Academy. Constructing a magic array, he cast a healing spell on the boy that also helped deal with pain.

"...thank you".

"Your welcome. Now excuse me, I am going to be quite busy. I hope you enjoy the event!"

Allo nodded to him, smiling a little from the nice man. And so, Allo Aurios, the Oracle of Destruction, made his way into town.

And meanwhile, a few blocks away...

Luna Bell landed on a nearby sidewalk, having used magic to fly all the way here. It was a bit exhausting, but he didn't want to wait for all the others, or have to take a crowded bus or Warp Gate with everyone from Astrius. No, he wanted to get here early, see it all stepped up, and of course, get everything at a discount before the prices got jacked up for the event. The first thing he did, was to head into the Traveler's Hotel, unique for the fact that you could pay part of the hotel room with others who also wanted to stay, and get a discounted price for staying in the same room as them.

They apparently had a magic tool to ensure compatibility. And so, Luna Bell walked up to the desk and asked...

"A key for room 5B please!"

Two voices spoke out at the same time. Luna turned to see who it was and...

"Luna?!"

"Astral?!"

The two were shocked to see each other, but even more shocked when they realized they were roommates.

"We are sharing a room? What are the odds of that?!"

"Seriosuly, to think we got stuck together again!"

"Oh, I was a bit worried sticking a boy and a girl as strangers in the same room, but do you know each other?"

At that comment, Astral started to laugh as Luna's face blushed.

"I am a boy!"

"Ah...uhh....oops, sorry about that".

"Hahaha!"

"Shut up Astral! Its not funny! And you better keep your half of the room clean!"

"Fine, I wont be able to mess it up much since I will be busy with the magic tournament, beating you!"

"In your dreams, it will be my victory!"

And so, those two fought on the way to their shared hotel room.

It seemed that there would be a lot going on in the coming days and weeks.

A swirling fiery portal opened up outside the Traveler's Hotel and out of it stepped a young looking man with red hair, wearing a hoodie style jacket and a pair of jeans. A number of orange floating "gems" orbited the man's wrist like a bracelet. He looked like any other young adult aside from the bracelet. He didn't have any bags with him but he went into the hotel and walked up to the front desk. He didn't know any of the other mages that were in town for the Grand Magi Games, so he wasn't sharing a room with anyone.

"Hello, I called ahead a few weeks ago and reserved a room for one for the length of the Magi Games." He said politely to the person at the front desk.

"And what was the name?"

"Tavlin Cyclus."

"Alright, and you have the card it was reserved under?"

Tavlin reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet and pulled out a card and handed it to the lady.

"Here you go."

The lady gave him a key card for the his room and he went to go check it out. It was a pretty normal hotel room, one bed, a bathroom, a crappy view from the balcony and a mini fridge full of over priced items. He plopped down on the bed and relaxed. Tomorrow he would go to the Mage's Guild and register for the games.

"And there, regitration is all done" said Dr. Simon Azler, who had arrived ahead of time to deal with booking rooms for all the students who would be attending the Grand Magi Games, as well as himself and some staff. The hotel that he had chosen was the Lucky Ace, said to be the luckiest hotel around.

"And there, sweetie! Registration is all done!"

"Thank you!"

And that was when Azler heard a familiar voice. He turned to confirm, and indeed it was the boy he had encountered earlier.

"It's you..."

"Ah! Mr. Nice Man!"

"Huh. So you are staying here too?"

"Yeah..."

Allo said that in a rather shy way, and what was when Azler noticed it...that Allo had a pin on his shirt that meant he would be working with the adminitration of the event, like with judging and commentating and score keeping.

"You...you are working with the event commitee?"

"Ah! Yes! My name is Allo Aurios, and I will be in charge of detecting and preventing anything that would endanger the audience".

"Hmm...oh, I see! You are that Allo, the Oracle of Destruction!"

"Ahh...yes...please dont say that out loud though, its embarrassing".

Allo had been recruited because of his power and title, Oracle of Destruction. This let him predict and observe events of large scale destruction. Normally, while not impossible, it was difficult to change or stop them...however, between Azler, Gale, and Atrinix, not to mention the various mages and knights present, it would be rather easy they figured. And also...Simon planted one right on Allo's lips.

"Wh...wha?!"

"From what I hear, one can increase their vitality quite a bit if they do that right? I figure it couldn't hurt".

And with that comment, Azler walked off as if nothing happened while Allo had a blush red face. Indeed, he possessed the power Kiss of Life, and because of that he had been kissed by all types. But Allo was never able to grow out of the embarassment of it, despite the sheer number of times his lips had been stolen by others, metaphorically speaking.

And so, night turned to midnight, and then eventually back to dawn as the sun rose.

There were those who arrived quite early that day, and got to see what changes had occured over night. Novelty items were now in full production and being sold, banners and other entertainment had been set up. There were a variety of magical wears being sold from booths and stores, and all sorts of special made magical items. It was a madhouse.

Shinku got off of the overnight bus and looked out across the crowd. It looked like things were really picking up, even though the event had not started yet. That just meant he had time to register.

"You sure about this, Shinku?"

"Yeah. If I am going to learn how to really use and control this power, I need to be pushed to my limits. And to do that, what better way then a Grand Magi Games event?"

"True true. BUt the events wont just be fighting. There will be other events as well, so we should be ready for anything".

"We can do this Akamaru, and I will show them all the true power and beauty of fire magic".

"Well, if you are this pumped up, how can I say no?!"

But as Armor Spirit User Shinku and the Armor Spirit Red Fox Akamaru traveled down the street, he got stopped by some kid operating one of the booths. He seemed to have dyed his hair multiple colors, and motioned Shinku to get in closer.

"One hundred Rozens, and I can give you a blessing of good luck for the next few weeks".

"A Good Luck Blessing?"

Shinku found himself taking out and holding up a one hundred Rozen coin, when suddenly it got snatched up as the boy planted his lips on Shinku. The surprise kiss was a shock, especially since the boy didn't let up at all on Shinku, but then eventually let him free.

"Blessing Delivered! Now, how about you give it your all and not let those Mage's Guild people boss you around. You can do it!"

"Yeah, I can do it! Alright, lets do this!"

And so as Shinku ran off, Azaken could only smile as he imagined the chaos that might unfold. That was his twentieth mark so far, and he could only imagine the chaos that it would cause. Of course, there was that strange fox with him...might cause some trouble, so Azaken figured he should probably change locations soon.

Although, he had his eyes set on a much larger prize.

"Amazing...simply amazing!"

Those were the first words to leave Emry's mouth as they arrived. The lights, the sounds, the pulsating waves of mana from all over, they were all entrancing to him!

"Alt-shu! This place is amazing! Look, over there is a man juggling fireballs, waterballs, lightningballs, and earthballs! And over there, what is that smell?! It smells delicious! Oh, oh, and over there! Those two people are seriously duking it out with magic right now!"

Emerin was completely enthralled by everything, as he knew nothing about it. Because of that, he looked at Altian with expectant eyes, knowing his friend probably knew everything.

"Well, is that normal here? Is food always this great smelling?! Do you know what type of magic those two are using?!"

And then, what had to be the single loudest, high pitched whistle was blown less then five feet away from them, as a boy who appeared around their age ran past with a whistle around his neck, and a pin that indicated he was with the Event Committee.

"Hold it you two! Stop! Stop this right now! If you continue here, it will cause way too much chaos and destruction and endanger people! If you want to keep fighting, go find a Magi Arena, or an isolated space, and duel it out ther...OW!"

Unfortunately, the boy, who was actually the Oracle of Destruction Allo Aurios, ended up tripping on his own leg and fell face first into the sidewalk. Some people looked in concern, as the boy began to stand up...and was clearly trying to hold in his tears.

"You two...better stop fighting here!"

With that sort of scene, it seemed to totally break the mood the two had been in before, and they complied and walked off. Plus, he did have the authority of the Event Committee after all.

"Oh! Oh! He did a really great job! Also...is he okay? Heey! Are you okay?!"

Before Altian had the chance to even answer those questions, the whistle broke through his thoughts and turned his attention towards the duel partaking nearby and the other boy trying to stop it. He winced as he watched the boy trip on his feet and land smack on his face. When he got up, they could clearly see the red mark on his face from where impact was made. They could also see the quivering in his eyes as he continued to tell them off, a very slight tremble in his voice. Altian knew the boy wanted to cry, but despite that, he put on a brave face and continued to do his job.

He was startled when Emerin called out to the boy, but relaxed when he noticed it was just Emerin. He knew very well how outgoing his best friend was, especially to total strangers. But still, his voice rang clear and distinguished above the hustle and bustle of this street. Regardless, that was alright. He wanted to help the boy anyway. Just from the vibe the surrounding crowd was giving told him all he needed to know about the virtually thankless line of work he was in.

And sometimes, praise was all that needed to be given.

Altian ran over to the boy, who was picking himself up, "You alright? I think I know a spell or six that'll probably take away the sting." He rubbed his hands together, a small green energy forming from them, and then moved his hand in front of the boy's face. The green energy lightly brushed against the boy's face, maybe even tickled. But when the wipe was complete, the mark was gone, as well as any signs of an injury.

"The pain will disappear in a moment," he added with a smile, "Gotta let the nerves settle a bit. Perfect for minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises."

"Ah, thanks" Allo said as the soothing feeling of healing magic came over hi....and then he started laughing because it was ticklish.

No, wasn't this too big of a reaction though? Was it possible he was weak to tickling? Emerin certainly thought so, and so he decided to test it out by tickling Allo and Altian at the same time to see the result. He definently wasnt doing this with a mischievous grin on his face.....yeah, he totally was.

"Ha...hahaha! Pl...please stop it!"

"Tada! I helped! I got everyone to laugh!"

Maybe there should be some skepticism there, but otherwise....he was technically right?

"By the way, was it really dangerous for those two to fight? It didn't seem too bad..."

Indeed, the fight that Allo had stopped had not started to get to a level that seemed dangerous...yet...

Of course, Allo, with the power of his Oracle of Destruction, foresaw large amounts of damage from letting them continue. His power, which for the record was an Oracle power, could not actually create destruction unlike popular belief, but he could foresee potential destruction. And he saw those two causing an entire building to collapse in on itself. Sure, one building in a whole city might not mean much usually, but with all the festivities and people walking around, a lot of pedestrians could get caught up in it. So Allo foresaw it, and prevented it.

His entire purpose of being a member of the comittee was to foresee these potential disasters, and stop them from happening. But, he was not sure if he should just outright say that. The less people who knew about his power, the better after all.

"Ahh...uh...yes! Trust me! If those tow had continued, their magics could have combined and gone all...kaboom! So it was safer to have them seperate now! Trust me, I know what I am doing!"

Trying to put up a tough face, as untough as it looked, Allo said those words.

"So...uh....are you here to watch the event, or compete?"

Tavlin was getting bored in his hotel room, so he decided to go register for the Magi Games and, if he had time, maybe take a look around the city. He left his room and locked up making his way down to the lobby. He saw many people there that he was sure were there for the games.

He went into the city and started off in the direction of the Mage's Guild Head quarters. He took his time enjoying all the sights along the way. He felt a little out of place not knowing anyone, but he wasn't from around here, so it was understandable. It was actually a complete fluke that he even found out about the Magi Games.

Tavlin decided to stop off at an ice cream shop before he registered. He loved sweets. He went inside the shop and looked at the flavors before deciding on bubble gum and peppermint ice cream in a two scoop sundae.

"Huh," Altian's brow flared up as Allo started laughing, "I know it tickles, but not to thAAAAHHHAHAHAHA!"

He knew immediately what was happening and who was the mastermind behind it all. He turned around to look at Emerin with pleading eyes while trying to stifle his giggles.

"Pl-Please staaaahahahaaaap!" he managed to say through laughs. To his relief, the tickling feeling stopped spreading across his body and he was allowed to breath. He took deep breaths, regaining the air that he had lost during his belly laugh. I'm glad he stopped there, he thought with a smile as he playfully smacked him on the arm. He usually goes longer...

"Thank you, Emry-shu," he said, "For that lovely contribution." Part of his words were in jest, part of them were genuine. But there was enough friendship between the two to imply that there were no hard feelings, of course. This was a daily occurrence for Altian, anyway.

He turned to face Allo when he asked the question, "Uhh...I'm not sure. Emry-Shu, were you going to compete? Or was I? Or were we both? Ooo! Is there a team's tournament?" his gaze whipped between Emerin and Allo, "I didn't see one on the flyer, but if there is, then definitely we are. Otherwise, we'll probably just watch."

Brand stretched his limbs as he hopped off the bus. He yawned, taking in the city towering round him. This was his first time leaving Terra, and while Questrios was more modern looking than he’d expected, it was clear to him that it was very different from Wing City.

He’d known of Origin's existence as long as he could remember, but knew very little about it other than magic being much more prevalent here than on his home planet. He’d heard about the grand magic games recently and, thanks to an assortment of odd jobs, had worked up enough funds to make the trip to take part in the tournament.

It was getting late once he reached the Traveller's Hotel. He’d picked this place for the affordability, opting for a shared room, and was told he’d be sharing with at least one other person; someone called Teak, who hadn’t arrived. So with that he went straight to bed and nodded off.

The next day he got up early to get himself registered. He looked pretty normal, with short hair, amber eyes and sporting casual clothes. Not mage-like at all, really. Nevertheless he was seen entering the HQ, smiling.

“Hi. I’d like to register to take part in the games, if I can.”

"Obviously we both will compete! And we will both win! And you are welcome!"

Emerin said something like that in response, with a stupid grin on his face. Meanwhile, power was practically overflowing from him due to his excitement.

"...but, I think there is only supposed to be one winner..."

"We will still both win!"

"But thats..."

"We will still both win!"

"...what if you end up facing each other?"

"We will definitely still both win!"

"Ehhhh?"

Allo then looked towards Altian.

"Is he always this...unreasonable?"

Of course, that question might be hard ot answer since Emerin had a habit of pulling through. He had his fair share of losses, sure, but somehow he managed to get this far.

As for the answer....well, Emerin and Altian sparred against each other using magic, so maybe Emerin was saying that because they tended to tie? Perhaps that was the reason?

All Allo knew was that this event seemed like it would be getting very interesting.

"I suppose you will want to know where the Mage's Guild is then? I can lead you there!"

"He's got a ton of optimism," Altian flashed his own smile, "And a lot of willpower. I think if there's any chance of a tournament giving way to exceptions, it's when he and I compete."

He gave Emerin an encouraging grin of his own as he flashed him a thumbs up. At this stage, he had no idea what it would like if he went full beans on his friend. And the reciprocal applied. The truth was, when they sparred, there were a lot of fun moments, a lot of slack each gave the other. But Altian never dove into full tactical mode and pulled all the stops on his friend. And he felt that Emerin never really unleashed all his power back onto him. They didn't really compete against one another. They had fun.

But what if they did compete at the same time? And what if they did end up fighting one another? Who would win when all the tricks were pulled out of the bag and all the power was unleashed? Those questions came to Altian's head so suddenly, it gave him a head rush. But he knew the answer easily. He knew so much, so many different types of magic, how to tap into them all, and how to utilize each magical ability to it's fullest extent. But at the end of the day, he only had so much energy to spare, so much magic he could output before he couldn't anymore.

Whereas Emerin's powers seemed limitless...infinite, even.

He still believed the source of his powers at least tapped into the dragon tattoo on his back. It was one of Emerin's secrets that he wouldn't dare tell anyone else about. It was also one of the few things he couldn't understand, one of the few questions he didn't have the answer to. What was that tattoo about? Why did it exist? What gave it the magical properties it likely carried? More questions that left him dazed. But it was on his bucket list...to figure out every single magical thing that could exist ever. And there was as much unexplored magic in the world as there was energy within Emerin's body.

And wohohohoooo that was a lot.

But when there were questions he couldn't answer, there were questions he could. And the boy with the tail had just asked one.

"I think that would be cool," Altian nodded before turning to Emry-Shu, "What do you think? Ya wanna head to the Mages Guild?"

"And here we are, the moment we have all been waiting for! The Grand Magi Games has begun! Here in the QuestZone Colosseum at Questrios, we are here now to celebrate, or participate, or just enjoy the Grand Magi Games! I am your well known reporter, Trisha Adler, here with ONINet, the Original News Intelligence Network! We are here live for the very start of the event, hosted by the Mage's Guild, and sponsored by more companies and organizations then I can say in one go! So you can see the list of sponsors below, and probably across the stadium on various ads! In addition, I believe those companies and organizations have even offered to pay all of the expenses for certain contestants in exchange for wearing clothes that feature their brand! Now...oh, look! The Guildmaster, Aedrios Gale, is standing up from his center position to make a speech!"

ALl of the cameras cut to the center judges table, where Aedrios Gale had stood up.

"We are here today to let everyone here today use their magic to their fullest. Remember, today, it is not just about magical strength! It is about creativity, cunning, cleverness, charm, aesthetics, talent, skill, hard work, and so much more! For we are not just brutish warriors or powerful artillery, we are those who have honed and mastered our gifts to their fullest! We are those who had taken our talents, our aims, beyond what most view our gifts as being used for! We are those who will seek out the unknown, find unexpected ways to use what we have, and aspire for greatness beyond simple means!"

With those words, he sat down. It appeared for today, the judges would be Head Mage's Guild Leader Aedrios Gale, Second Prince Acara Verrevia, and Local Mage's Guildmaster Donna Roux. Meanwhile, in terms of announcers, there was Allo Aurios, the reporter herself Trisha Adler, and Lyrian LeCross.

"Now then, lets go and watch the contestests as they come on out!" she announced, and surely enough the contestants hurried onto the field. There had to be at least one or two hundred, a large number to keep track of, with mages of all types. Men, women, old and young, it seemed like people across the galaxy had come to compete. Some even looked rather intimidating and scary, as if they had experienced hundreds of battles and wars.

ANd in the center of all that, the Master of Ceremonies, Sola Arken, stepped onto...

"Oh my...look! Its Sola! Sola, sign my cup!"

"Sign my shirt!"

"Sign my napkin!"

Suddenly, the audience went into a blitz for someone who was not even competing. That was just how popular Sola was as a pop idol.

"Now now, calm down everyone! Otherwise, I wont be able to do my bit and get the games underway!" he told everyone with a charming wink. The audience calmed down in an instant, far quicker then anyone else had expected to be possible. "Now then, I am here to announce the first event for the competitors! That is right, the first one right off the bat! After all, we have too many people here right now to introduce everyone! And iv been told that it is rather fitting I introduce this one...because event number one is a talent show and popularity contest!"

With that, the crowd cheered even more until Sola waved at them to let him continue.

"After all, while the Mage's Guild has plenty of people who can fight, the primary focus is not fighting but magic! The Grand Magi Games is about magic and creativity, about spirit, not about who is stronger! So, here is the deal! You gotta use your magic and abilities to put up a great show, dazzle the crowd and get their interest, win their hearts! Be charming and sweet, cool and composed! But don't worry, because its not just a popularity contest but also a talent contest! You can pass either by getting enough votes from the crowd, or by impressing the judges with your talent! So make sure you stand up, but do remember to play it safe! Be fair everyone, and I will appear afterwards! And if everyone behaves and enjoys the game properly, I even get to be in charge of the halftime show!"

And with that, Sola Arken hopped off the stage and into the back, since he was told this event would be impossible if he remained in the crowd's sight apparently.

And of course, as if by fate, pretty much everyone who was at the Mage's Guild together earlier would be going up with the first group...though it was pretty much guaranteed many of them had not expected the first event to be like this.

Emerin looked at Altian, and had a wicked and playful smile. "I got a great idea!"

Jaune meanwhile looked at Shinku, and had a mischevous grin. "Game on".

Allo just sighed, and hoped no one would trigger his ability.

Nao started to do some stretches before anything began.

Iviri meanwhile was rooting from the sidelines, though he was not sure who he should be rooting for. Demor? Ixa? Rivyan? So he rooted for all three.

Ixa just looked back at Elysia. "I think this will be a ton of fun!"

Azaken meanwhile may have used his highest of stealth and discression ability, and pumped a small amount of an oderless, colorless, soundless, tasteless hallucinogen into the field to see what sort of mayhem would occur...though, when he saw everyone else get pumped up, he couldn't help but decide to compete for real.

Luna and Astral were also doing stretches, as they glared at each other from their friendly rivalry.

And Cyrus was preparing himself for a grand show, interested in participating in such an event. Teh revelation of the first event had only pumped him up more actually.

And so, the Grand Magi Games....began!

Elysia listened to the explanation, it was nothing she hadn't foreseen, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. A fight might have been easier on her frazzling nerves. She was not quite being used to being around people yet after millennia of isolation, let alone comfortable at being the centre of attention like this.

It was Ixa's words that drew her out of her funk. She smiled, albeit still a bit of a wan one, to the boy, "I'm sure it will!"

She watched as a few of the more confident people in the group she was standing on one of multiple stages with, started their appeals. In some case, that confidence seemed to be founded. In most others it seemed to be decidedly misplaced. Not even a minute had passed before she decided to join in on the fun herself.

She eyed what was already being cast, and how the different magics clashed with each other in a rather unsightly manner.

'This wil not do', she thought to herself, a mischievous smile on her face.

She began to draw on her magic, which in turn drew on the Seed of Wonder hiding itself in her soul. She altered the structure of her magic, which was by nature an amethyst color, to make it shine golden.

As it was, it caused her to seem to be surrounded by a lazily swirling golden haze, birdlike constructs formed of the same golden magic, visible in the vortex. She took the opportunity created by going unseen to transfigure her clothes into something more fitting for the occasion.

All of this, safe for the transfiguration of her clothes, had been pure manipulation of aether, not given purpose as of yet. This, as one might have guessed, was about to change.

She imbued the magic around her with a single purpose, and blasted it outwards. That purpose: Dispel. The magic raced across the field, dispelling whatever displays it was capable of. In the process her new outfit was unveiled, a form-hugging pale green ensemble with white, black accents.

She did a rather good job at hiding just how uncomfortable she was in such a revealing outfit, continuing on with her appeal.

Now that the field was cleared of most magic cast by the rabble that would have lost anyway, whether it be to her, or to other opponents with actual personality, she started her appeal for real.

She raised her arms to the sky, and a giant construct shaped like a bird formed around her. If one had paid attention earlier on, they would have noticed that this bird seemed to be of the same design as the ones flying around the haze earlier.

The bird moved, and a mournful trill could be heard throughout the entire colosseum, reaching even the spectators that where the furthest away. Creating several more effects by shaping her magic, she simultaneously focussed on continuing what turned out to be the approximation of a bird's song. In truth, she controlled strings of magic to create the music.

A portion of the spectators, and even a few contestants broke into tears at the sound. It was a song of loss, of longing, of melancholy. It was song of realisation that what was longed for could no longer be found anywhere but in memories. Yet halfway through an undercurrent that had been there from the beginning, but was not focussed on became the focus of the piece. It seemed to speak of determination, of love, of hope.

What once was may never be again, but every end marks a new beginning. As the music died down the bird flew to the sky, the other effects she had created rising with it. With a final 'cry' the bird and the other visual effects burst into flame, a golden shower of sparks raining down on the platform she was and the others in her group were on.

At the center of these gentle lights, a small construct shaped like an egg appeared in the sky, where the bird, now identified as phoenix used to be. It slowly floated down to Elysia, who appeared to absorb it into her body. She gave a small bow, signalling that she was done.

As she sat down on the edge of the platform, her legs dangling. As the transfiguration on her clothes dispelled, sounds of dismay could be heard once more from her fellow contestants. The first round of grumbling had come when their magic had been dispelled mid-action. The second however, was when they determined those gentle lights from earlier, which stuck to them, were draining their magic bit by bit. They gave her the stink eye, but she didn't see nor care. That performance had drained her emotionally, if not magically.

She'd start paying attention again when Ixa decided to come out and play.

A round of creativity and flashiness, rather than combat, eh? Demor crossed his arms and lowered his hood as he looked around the stadium. So many contenders, so much Magic Power in one place. The Judges had their booth, the audience was countless and surrounded them entirely. The Male Drachini nodded softly to himself, and tapped his foot. Most of his spells and skills were purely combative in nature - this wouldn't be easy.

But then he saw it: Another Mage who could use Storm Magic, or at least Weather Magic of some sort, creating a Storm Cloud above the Arena, drawing many eyes towards it as the lightning arced between the clouds and Thunder roared. Many children and those scared of the thunder cried out in fear, and Demor's eyes widened, pupils narrowing into Reptilian Slits as he darted for the Mage, Lightning arcing around his body as he let out a loud battle-cry, drawing perhaps some of the crowd to look at him as he then shoulder-charged that mage, slamming them off their feet before crouching, and leaping high into the air.

"I Sure hope everyone can see this..." he thought to himself as he continued flying upwards, covered in lightning as used his Arc Flight spell to dart across the air within the Arena, the Yellow and Purple Lightning flashing and arcing beautifully as he flew from spot to spot, right into the clouds.

Then he began to inhale. Within seconds the Storm calmed, and after perhaps a minute, it became apparent that the size of the storm cloud was shrinking. Demor was EATING the Storm Cloud. More specifically, feeding off the Magic that created it, and using it to both sate his appetite and fuel himself.

It would take another couple agonizingly frighting minutes before the entire cloud was gone, and the sun shone through to hit the audience again. Lightning arced from the clouds to the ground, scorching the earth and kicking up small bursts of flame or dust. Once the cloud was gone, though, Demor remained floating in the air for a moment, before letting out a small, almost inaudible belch, and beginning to fall to the ground face first, smiling the whole time.

His body began to glow brightly, and then it began to shift. Feet and Hands became claws, his tail flicked out fast enough to make a whip's crack, horns grew from his forehead, flowing back against his skull smoothly before pointing upwards, and finally, great wings of Black erupted from his back.

Dragon Force.

Once entering this form, the light vanished and he spread his wings, stopping his descent immediately with a burst of air that spread across the field, kicking up more dust, making clothes in the audience flutter, and hats fly away. He then flew up without the need of his Arc Flight spell, flying over the audience and directly in front of the judges to make sure they saw him and considered him for the next round. As he did, he did a variety of tricks - flips and corkscrews and other fancy flying before launching bolts of lightning and water into the sky, the two bolts of magic meeting in a dazzling explosion of light and mist.

He'd continue to do this, and many other flashy things that came to mind as long as his transformation lasted, which based on the sun-blocking size of that storm cloud he consumed, would be for most of the first stage at least.

Rayia looked at the crowds of people cheering as the Mages made their way in even with the mass of people Rayia quickly spotted her red armored bodyguard watching from the stands. Be ever watching. Rayia sent into Kassandra's mind. Kassandra gave a nod to Rayia as sign she had gotten the message.

Rayia made her way to what was to be her stage as the games where opened. Someone named Sola who was some kind of big deal here started off telling them the first event. A talent show of sorts... Not really one of Rayia's strong suits.

Rayia watched on as others made storms and some dragon thing ate it... Well that ruled out playing with her lightning. Rayia suddenly had a flashback to her days in the Jedi temple....

Rayia sat there all of 10 years old her pale freckled face and long brown locks. She gazed on in wonder as her master made objects float around her head. the young Jedi Rayia laughing and cheering as her master gave her a show...

Rayia brought herself back to the here and now. "Weak Jedi tricks..." she spit out

But those tricks would awe these feeble minds... Rayia sat down on her stage crossing her legs in front of her as she removed her hood and mask her dark shadowed skin was in stark contrast to her snow white hair. closing her eyes she began to channel the force around her. her lightsaber unhooked from her belt and ignited it's blood red blade. It and soon other small objects began to dance around above her head.

As the crowd looked on Rayia entered into her battle meditation. in her mind she could sense everything around her. The object danced her lightsaber carving shapes of ships and creatures that the peoples of Origin had likely never seen before. As the range of her battle meditation spread mages on platforms near her found themselves facing mishaps. Spells would fizz out or backfire on the caster. Some mages even tripped and fell from their stages.

Rayia's power slipped into the crowd as well a chant of "All hail Lady Rayia!" came from the lips of those taken by Rayia's power. Kassandra seeing this soon joined in the chant and encouraged others around her to join as well.

Maybe Rayia could pull this off after all.

Altian smiled at his friend as he glanced among the crowd, his gaze resting on the judging booth, "Well...there's no rule saying we can't work together yet. I'm all ears! What'cha got?"

"Alright!" Emry shouted, and then began to think. Which in retrospect, while it wasn't like he was dumb, what tended to happen in cases like this... "Okay! I think we should go with a big wazoo! And then crackle crackle with some pshiii, followed by fwooosh and bams and krataw! Oh, and then some buuble buuble for good measure, followed by more crackle in a big swirl overhead, with some kachink and sploosh!"

That is what happened. Emerin's mind was....unique.

But Altian, having been around the blue-haired wonder for a while, knew that while he couldn't understand what he was saying, he definitely had an awesome plan in mind involving some sky stuff, "Then let's do it! I'll follow your lead."

That was how they worked. Emerin enjoyed creating the huge shows, casting the powerful spells and conjuring the most brilliantly awe-inspiring stuff few could think of. Altian refined the edges, making things smoother and more practical, and bringing Emerin's imagination to life.

The moment he agreed to it, Emerin immediately started working on what had to be largest collection of mana ever conceived. Not as in mana capacity, nor the amount of mana a wizard could gather inside him. What he was doing was gathering the mana into a gigantic ball in his hands, a relatively pointless and almost moronic activity normally. However, what Emerin did next caused everyone to change their minds.

He smashed his hands together while holding that massive chunk of mana, and this caused it to burst out into the sky in a form of a vortex, creating a sort of waaa noise around it while a zoo noise rhythmically went down the center, meshing into an unusual but appealing melody. And then, he added a large amount of lightning into the vortex, following the trails of mana he created, and formed a vortex of lightning and colorful transparent hue with a huge beam down the center.

And this was followed by wind magic, zipping around and around and causing the vortex to shift and shape, making it a fluid ever-changing structure instead of something static. And it caused some reactions, making the mana light up in all sorts of colors. From all sides, the light show flowed and twirled with a pattern that made a spectacle.

Of course, if one was not careful, it would probably run totally out of control and maybe explode.

But that was why Altian was there. As quickly as the vortex could become unstable, he would spot the uneven ebbs and flows of pure mana around them and correct it. Sometimes it meant throwing a bit of wind magic in one spot to push it along, sometimes it meant actively manipulating the mana in the air to keep the swirl smooth and non-clustered. The melody set a cool and relaxing tone, Altian realized, recognizing the potential to do some cool stuff.

He took some liberties and started shifting the raw magic power around them with his dominant hand, using some more wind magic to spawn miniature twisters from the vortex. A total of six touched down and began circling the duo, drawing the audience's attention back to them. With his non-dominant hand, he continued to keep the vortex under control within the new facets of spawning several wind towers created out of pure mana. The six twisters split apart, creating twelve, then twenty-four, growing smaller after each split. The cords of wind themselves would appear synchronized as they moved, twirling around Emry and Alt and bending in several interesting and chaotic ways...but it never felt too out of control.

"Emry! We can use the mana in the air!" he called delightedly as the twisters around them started to converge into two funnels, making it look like they were inside a massive, shimmering candy cane as it spun, "We can turn it into stuff!"

As Altian said that, some playful ideas formed in Emerin's head. As the funnels began to shrink and dissipate, he began to twist and shape the mana in new ways, deliberately this time, and began to create a stage with the two of them at the center. Compared to before, he shifted it in a purposeful way to make sure that all the eyes would see them at the center of the magic, and created decorations of simple design around them. Funnels, loops, and all sorts of other things, while maintaining the base core of it. The lightning sparked and cracked around them, the wind swept and sung, and now fire of various colors was added to the mix to bring a brilliant flare. It added more effort and work to maintain, but it began to form into the start of a brilliant display.

"Then let's really spice it up!" Emerin replied, with a full on grin.

"I'm glad you said that," Altian winked as he rubbed his fingers, a few sparks emanating and falling to the stage beneath them.

His attention turned towards one of the loop-de-loops. Pulling out the pen resting on top of his ear, he clicked it, letting it morph into the shape he desired: a short, smooth stick with a hilt on the end he was holding (A.K.A. a wand). He muttered an incantation and flicked his wrist, pointing the tip at the loop he was focused on. As if a metamorphosis had occurred, the loop suddenly gave way, falling away into a sort of magical dust. In it's place was a mid-sized, elegantly slender rainbow dragon. It's beard was white and magnificently long and it's body closely resembled something like a snake or a leviathan. It's scales were rainbow-colored and seemed to shimmer magical dust like a fairy. There would be no classification of species for this particular dragon as one didn't exist of it's kind. It was completely made up by the imagination of a twelve year old boy, after all.

With a flick of the wrist and a wave of the hand, the dragon started flying through the air, doing loops and corkscrews and all kind of crazy tricks. It even flew by the audience...so close that the spectators could touch the raw energy that passed them. Eventually, it barreled over to where Alt and Emry were standing. But Altian had control and he had a plan in mind.

"Hop on!" he cried gleefully as he took Emerin's hand and jumped onto the dragon.

Immediately they were airborne. The Dragon was undeterred by the new presence on it's back and continued it's routine. But for the two boys, it was like a roller-coaster ride, zigging and zagging all over the place. Once more, they passed over the audience, only this time it would be Altian and Emerin reach out to slap fives with the spectators, immersing them in the experience. It was pure controlled chaos.

Altian glanced up at the sky and noticed the massive mana pool was suddenly severely depleted, having been used to fuel their wonderfully thrilling creation. It was still huge, but not nearly as big as before and it seemed to be shrinking fast!

"Emry-Shu!" he pointed as they rode, "We need a big finale! Something that can use up all that mana!"

Seeing an opportunity in mind, Emerin quickly grabbed Altian's hand and smiled at his idea. "Just hold on tight, and make sure to keep us balanced!"

What he said might have been odd at first, but then what he did next explained it all. Emerin went for the grand finale of the performance, with the dragon taking them down and then up, the mana forming an even stronger vortex that they went up through the center of. The dragon stopped after it reached the top of the vortex of lightning and mana and wind and fire around them, extending its head which now carried Emerin and Altian on, as it breathed out an array of breath that turned into sparkling glitter like particles around them, causing the vortex to burst out into this as well. Like a vacuum, the cloud of colorful mana above them absorbed itself into the dragon and out the mouth, fueling the beast's breath.

And in the center, Emerin and Altian were in a rather meaningful and heartwarming position. The two had their feet planted on opposite sides of the dragon, and both were at an angle where they would fall off, if they were not holding each other's hands. Of course, because each human being was different in some way, Emerin and Altian had to use some magic to keep up the actual balance, but from the perspective of the audience, it looked like they were keeping each other perfectly balanced through will and teamwork alone and the light show floated down around them.

They kept up this position for a bit, until it was finally time to lower themselves down and let someone else use that part of the stage. The dragon slowly disappeared into a blend of sparkles and glitters that rained down with all the others. Despite this, the two boys seemed to gently float down like a feather until their feet hit solid earth.

"Well I think that went really well!" he said, probably unaware the sheer amount of time Altian stopped the entire thing from exploding...

Altian was breathless after the excitement, effort, and overall mana strain on his body, "Yeah...ooo, we should've brought the staff you got at the underground library! I bet we could've done some REALLY cool stuff!"

"Oh yeah! Wait, maybe I could get it to come now!" Emerin said, raising his hand into the air. The staff was supposed to have an automatic recall if he called for it but... "Oh, it might be out of range. Oh well".

...and on that note, Allo was also glad to see them done, having recieved various visions and what not about the potential chaos that could have been caused each time before Altian dealt with it.

Well, he hadn’t been entirely sure what to expect walking into this but Brand had been hoping the games wouldn’t all be focussed on combat. This was good news for him, since he wanted to try his magic in lots of different situations to see what he could do with it.

He had tried a bit of performing with his magic before, so he had kind of an idea what to do, although those sparkly fireworks he’d shown at the guild HQ earlier would likely be lost in the sea of spectacles if he used it now. He needed something bigger, flashier.

“OK” he said, igniting a spark in his hand, “Let’s-” he was cut off by a wave of magic which dispelled his own, and he turned to a nearby mage whose own display had just begun. Brand’s first instinct would have been to show off his shapeshifting ability as a phoenix, which he was now realizing would be a not so great idea. After this rather moving performance involving a golden bird motif, something too similar looking would look like a cheap rip-off to the audience. After this finished he could already see a few of the more desperate mages across the arena trying to imitate it. Nevertheless he applauded the mage, having genuinely enjoyed it despite having such a high bar to go against.

“OK, maybe not that. Let’s see if a dragon gets-” almost immediately his attention was caught by the sound of thunder and lightning. He watched the draconic mage’s display of shapeshifting and storm magic, clapping resignedly along with the audience.

“Right, maybe one that’s more serpentine-” as if on cue, he was cut short as another two began their display, this time in collaboration. It involved a giant serpent-like dragon. Again he was very impressed, although this was starting to worry him since there was such daunting competition, and from the first group as well.

“OK. OK… crap, I can’t just copy someone else’s idea.” The knight that he defaulted to for combat might be interesting but it just wouldn’t grab people’s attention by itself. “Oh!” he snapped his fingers as the idea kindled in his mind.

With a small flourish, Brand enveloped himself in an orange blaze, shifting effortlessly into his usual awakened form, a large suit of armour covered in phoenix and wing motifs. He observed the feather like patterns on his forearm, appearing deep in thought despite having no visible face beneath his stoic helmet. He shook his hand downwards, and the flames broke up, reassembling to change the decoration - and colour. The inner glow remained a fierce marigold while the outer plates of his armour took on a marble of deep crimson flame which trailed black smoke, making an ominous but vibrant display. To match, his phoenix motif was replaced by an ornamentation of various bone shapes, namely skulls. This change spread over the armour, the result of which was spooky looking while being just goofy enough to not actually scare any of the younger spectators. Waving a hand over his helmet, it changed into a flaming grinning skull which he promptly removed from its ‘neck’, tossing it up and down in the air while it chattered and cackled.

He then spun around, being swept up in a cloud of black smoke. He them emerged, atop a matching flaming horse, rearing on its hind legs, while he held his laughing skull ‘head’ up in the air. The smoke from the cloud formed into a cloak around the rider as he galloped up into the air and did laps around the edge of the arena.

As the blazing steed galloped across the air right past the audience, the young mage balanced atop the horse and juggled his skull, which split into two, then three, until he was performing various tricks with about 5 heads along with various swords and daggers, also made of fire. He also added some hops, handstands and backflips in for good measure. In reality, this kind of performance was impossible for the young man as he had little, if any, acrobatic skill. But thanks to his magic ability, it was just a matter of manipulating the fire his awakened form was made from, and doing it in a way that convinced the viewer he had weight and realistic anatomy. Actually, even the ‘smoke’ was just fire that he had altered to suck in light instead of emit it.

And now, Ixa walked onto one of the center stands. Around him, contestants would feel a chill when he passed, even those such as Demor and Rayia would notice. This was not anyone getting spooked, but rather the temperature dropped several degrees around Ixa as he took center stage. He then winked at everyone and gave a nice little bow...and then it began.

Huge pillars of ice errupted, majestically being shined upon by the sun as their smoothness and quality was beyond the measure of a normal ice sculptor. And because Ice Sculptors did not rely on magic power, their creations were often of higher quality then an Ice Sculpture produced by a mage as they could focus more of their mind on the details. It was more direct and not through magic power, so they could be more precise and of higher quality.

But Ixa, he was different. It was not magic that propeled him, or at least not only magic. He himself had command over the ice and snow, as if he was the very thing itself.

Furthermore, one could only really tell that he was wearing a blue sweatshirt. It was so oversized, but his legs that were not covered were bare as if the cold did not bother him. And right now, he had actually left his shoes by the side of the stage, so he was standing on ice without it bothering him, as he rode his creation up to the top.

At the same time, to add some flare, snow and ice particles floated and danced around him, creating a glitterdust effect around his creation that captivated the audiences even more. And with the addition of his red eyes and snow white hair, he couldn't help but draw attention to himself.

And then, the ice he was standing on shattered, and revealed him to be standing on top of a refined bird ice sculpture as the particles fell all around him. Surely enough, the applause went wild for him...as well as another. Rivyan, off in the distance, seemed to have also caused a huge stir, including the fact he created three dozen rainbow colored birds at once.

Meanwhile, Astral and Luna were having their own rivalry go on. Suddenly, the entire day turned to night, and a moon appeared overhead. This moon let down a beam of light, a spotlight if you will, that focused on Luna as he went into song, using his charismatic, if not really manly, voice to soothe and capture the audiance....or at least, that was how it started.

But then, several blasts of starlight came and exploded next to the stage, and then illuminated Astral, who counter sung him...

Well, to put it simply, the two tried to outdo each other and it turned into a duet of sorts? Its better not to question those two when it comes to rivaling each other.

As for Azaken...he was putting on a show. With enough pyrotechnics to make Allo cringe a little and be worried from all his visions, Azaken did what Azaken did best...cause a chaotic scene and attract attention. In retrospect, he had a brilliant personality for all this, although thanks to his disguise no one had recognized him yet...or even that he released a powerful hallucinogen to affect some of the contestants.

As for Jaune, he had summoned Kimaru and was doing a one boy one spirit routine, creating rings of magic and then hopping through them while bringing around storm and lightning for special effects. As for Shinku, he was proving fire magic could do more then just destroy. From the fire, he forged and smelted metal he had brought with him, and used the fires to take shape and form all sorts of things. For while all forms of fire he was good with, his true specialty relied on the creation power of fire, and its ability to change and manipulate things.

Cyrus of course showed off his flying ability, taking to the skies, moving around freely, and showing a clear domination of the air above. He also made use of his skills with a bow and shot targets down as they appeared, while also always giving the audience a smile.

ANd in one corner, Nao...showed something spectacular with his lightning. Not only did he become lightning, but he created a sort of sphere, in a way line art or constellations, with his lightning and made it form all sorts of things around him. It expanded and grew, and showed everyone a new side of lightning they would not have expected as the lightning projections moved about around him and put on a circus show.

As for the judges, they looked ojbectively and inquisitively.

"Truly, that contestant...Nao Toreta...what an interesting application of lightning".

Trisha said that as she admired Nao.

"Indeed, it seems like we have some talented storm users all around. Look at that one boy Jaune, or that one sorcerer Demor. Truly, we are seeing some unique and exceptional displays of storms".

Allo mentioned that as he tried to look as if he was enjoying eager, like there were not certain people out there who seemed to enjoy giving him heart attacks...such as Emerin on accident various times, and Azaken because its Azaken.

Lyrian however eyed Altian and Emerin.

"I liked those two the best so far. They know their strengths and weaknesses, and compensate for each other. They also understood you really could work together for this event...and their ability to understand and read each other's actions and react. Although I do want to see what they can handle solo, as a team they seem quite formidable".

"Well....I think that Rayia is rather nice. She is not pushing the limits but instead keeping it safe and elegant. A rather wonderful display".

"Oh oh! BUt look at those two! Its weird, I think Astral and Luna are trying to compete against each other only...but they have unmistakable turned into a great duet!"

"I will give them that".

"They way they use Lunar and Astral Magic is magnificent".

"I think that one woman, Elysia Ryder, also shows potential as well..."

The commentators continued to make observations and remarks, occasionally pointing out a negative but mostly it was positive. Although, as people were still performing, they were not done yet and continued to give on the spot commentary as the last few people got their shows in.

On their stage, Norme and Jezebeth stood back to back, rather intense looks on both of their faces.

So, shortstack, what do you suggest we do first, hrm? You know we're not suited for this, at least with these rules in place.

I know. We have no choice though. We have to put on a display that can rival these around us. We'll just roll with some improvisation. It just means I'll be using Roaming Pit a lot. If you can use Lava Wall inside the pits, that may be a solid appeal round.

Oh, my Norme. You're so intelligent! I might just be smitten, mmm hmm hmm!

The duo began their appeals, first with Norme glowing with an orange aura as magic flared off of him, a large orange gate opening upon the floor at one edge of their arena. From within, several orange horned demonic creatures climbed out, each one appearing menacing and durable, their total eventually coming to number about 20.

Jezebeth stood opposite Norme and channeled magic herself to encase their arena within four walls of igneous rock that spanned several feet wide and high. Several glowing orange lines cracked through their construction, brimming with a desire to burst.

Following the summoning of the creatures, Norme gave the order for them to rush forward, an order he followed by immediately opening several pits upon the arena's floor. Each pit began moving in erratic motions to try and catch each demon, their display being used to form several symmetrical patterns as some caught demons while others missed.

Jezebeth then used a burst of magic to crack the walls, spilling lava into the arena, and into each pit, filling each to full capacity, and even overflowing them. As the lava spilled over, Norme created a massive earthquake that cracked the floor thusly to allow him and Jezebeth elevated land to stand upon as lava filled in the now encased stadium, the pits being used to swallow the summoned demons.

However, just when it seemed to be finished, the demons reemerged from the lava, looking entirely different. They had changed and become more fearsome in appearance. Red colored with fire spewing from their heads and extra horns, they seemed even more aggressive. Jezebeth then broke the walls entirely, allowing the lava to spread across the arena floor while the demons began running amok, attempting to interfere with some of the lesser competitors.

At this point, as Norme and Jezebeth moved to finish, a laugh Norme didn't want to hear echoed throughout the entire Colosseum, audible to all. Similarly, a musical beat began playing throughout, audible to all.

From the sky, an entrant; a figure flying in, was warping the immediate area around her, creating a bizarre visual effect that normally was only visible when black holes were involved. Upon a closer look, she was not flying traditionally, but rather, was surfing the air. Seeing all the flair and magic going on already, she changed her course and glided straight through the performances of other contestants. Any magic that strayed near her was wrapped around her as if pulled in by an intense force that it couldn't escape. As the magic swirled around her form, it simply vanished, as if consumed by whatever effect surrounded her.

Swooping low, the ground-based performances were next to be disrupted, whole figures and shapes being disrupted and consumed into the vortex that seemed to surround her. Passing over Norme's lava field, she began to glide the lava as it rose up and curled around her before being sucked into her as everything else was. She even took the lava walls with her.

Changing her glide to a pose of traditional flying, she continued her path of disruption as two brilliant beams of light began emanating from her. With precision, she landed on the most central of available arenas as her collected magic from everyone else's performances ejected with brilliant power in the beams of light, forming several stage effects and elements needed for a performance.

Striking a post in her idol uniform, miniskirt and all, that had a vague militaristic tone to it with the peaked cap and vest, she awaited the creation of two backup dancers, created entirely out of the same magic that created her venue. With speakers, lights, and all sorts of effects, the music picked up as she began a striking walk forward. With attention presumably on her, she spoke, her voice audible as before, magic augmenting her headset and speakers.

Greetings, people of Questrios City! To all my fans, and those soon to be, it's so great to see your support of myself in this competition! But no competition is complete without the main feature! Enjoy the main attraction!

With almost flawless timing, the girl and her magic created backup dancers began their synchronized and practiced dance routine to the music, a song that she sang with a level of forwardness uncommon even among seasoned singers.

--

I can't keep up with you as you say such nonsense
You ask, "Can I do what I want?"
Who do you think you are?

Just be quick on the uptake and get what I want even without telling
But be sure not to see into my thoughts
You can touch me only when I let you
Just keep wagging your tail and stay

Screaming is just vulgar
I won't let you say you can't go on any longer
Make me moan and satisfy me
I don't know what brilliant ecstasy feels like

I want to know
Just let me know
With your warm hands
Hey, hold me tight

I hate love tactics
They're just irritating
Shall we act like our feelings have gone cold?
Do whatever you want

Shall I attach a collar to you?
I wonder if a leash makes you a little tamer?
You behave better as a pet dog
Anyway, listen to me
Your answer should be just one bark, okay?
Stop barking and back off a little bit

Shouting is just vulgar
I'd say you're pathetic if you can't go on any longer
Fascinate me with your technique
Love me at full blast until I go off

I won't be attracted to you or fazed
You ask, "Won't you come over here?"
But I won't fall for that
I won't let you do what you want
I'm a killer lady

The one who's blind is not me but you, right?
You have no choice
Answer yes, or yes!
Yes, very good~ ♥

Screaming is just vulgar
I won't let you say you can't go on any longer
Make me moan and satisfy me
I don't know what brilliant ecstasy feels like

Ahh! I utter an exclamation with grace
I won't tolerate that anymore
Did you get it? Hey, are you listening to me?
You ask, "Can I do what I want?" …how selfish!

You're so sly
Just for today
With your warm hands
Hey… hold me tight

--

Throughout the song, itself a darker and more mature piece despite her apparent youth and age, the dancing could almost be considered a little provocative with some of the motions, though every bit of the performance had magic strewn throughout, literally using everyone else's magic she siphoned to power the magical flair she added to her performance.

Additionally, some of those present would feel quite taken by her music, definitely growing a liking for it that wasn't present at the start. The more they listened, the more this feeling grew. It was subtle, and easily shaken with even a fraction of willpower, but it also felt like it was purposefully being extremely subdued to the point of near ineffectiveness.

After a short time, she ended the song accordingly, finishing as she always did a show, with some dialogue and a reminder of the post-round handshake events she would be participating in, where they could shake hands with her, and procure an autograph. The magic that formed her stage began fading, returning to her in the same vortex as before. This time, however, the magical energy that was absorbed simply vanished, and was no more.

Norme himself actually seemed to get upset, which was apparently rare enough that Jezebeth was intrigued, moving to his side in her usual flirty fashion, as if to see what was wrong.

As everyone finished their first event and everything finally settled down, the commentators were still at it, pointing out all sorts of things, bringing up interesting dialogue, and so on. Everything seemed to be all well and good, and while there were those that really stood out, there were also a few who...well, no one really remembered them. Plenty of people who were clearly only focused on combat fell out as well, and so the first event was finally completed.

And then, projected onto the sky above, a screen that showed all the people who passed was put up. Everyone who had made an impact was on it, and there were still hundreds of people left. That showed just how large the event would be though, as if that many were left, there would clearly be many more rounds to eliminate the competition.

And with that, Aedrios Gale stepped forward and began to address everyone.

"Well done to everyone! As you can see, the winners have been decided! But for those who did not make it, do not lose heart! For everyone surely made a marvelous effort in their performance for the first round! Now, there will be a break for everyone to rest up and recharge, before we get into the second event that will happen today! We have prepared locker rooms for the contestants to rest in, eat your fill of food and beverages, and shower off or change if you feel it is needed. After all, the second event...shall be a race! But don't be fooled into thinking it will just be a normal race, so make sure you are properly prepared...and ready for anything".

With those ominous words, the doors to the locker rooms were open, and several scents of delicous and delectable food could be picked up from within. During the break, they would also be showing various scenes and performances from the last event, in case two epic performances happened at the same time which caused the audiance to miss one or the other.

ANd inside the locker room, which was rather large, there was a large main room full of benches and tables, a buffet table larger then any seen before, some rather nice ambient music, drinks of all kinds, some workbenches for people to work on or adjust their gear, sports shower rooms to shower off and cool down, as well as lockers to store anything of excess that one might not want to weigh them down during the race. There was also a supply of people in maid and butler uniforms to help assist anyone with anything they could.

...of course, the way it was said...

"Speed is going to be important" Jaune mentioned to Shinku and a few others nearby, as he sat down on a bench and too off his shoes and socks to relax. He also had Kimaru appear, who began to blow magic wind on them both. "But I doubt the race is going to stick to the stadium. They will have it all planned out and monitored of course, but if I had to guess, the race will involve Demon Beasts and traps. Not to mention other contestants".

"I suppose a wind attribute person like yourself would think that...though I am surprised you are putting thought into it at all. You typically just go all free willed and roll on instinct" Shinku added as he grabbed some food and began fueling up. "Well, its rare to say this, but you are probably not wrong. It depends on the specifics, which they are being so shrouded with".

Akamaru appeared on Shinku's back...but in his humanoid form, as a young boy with red ears and a red tail. He pointed at a few male and female contestants who were by the showers, taking off their gear and clothes and some already entering the showers. "Should we shower too? It seems like others are doing it".

"Akamaru! Just, go back into your animal form! Not here!" he said, and the boy became a fox.

"So shy...but we cant lost now, so early into it!"

"Just...shut up. Jaune, how about you..."

But Jaune had already done the same, left his clothes folded in a locker nearby. "Come on Shinku!"

Shinku just facepalmed, remembering again that Jaune was always like this. Never listening, never being concerned, just jumping right in...

On the other side, Ixa was near Ryder, stuffing his face with more food then should fit into his body. On the other side was Snowflake, although she had shrunk down her form so it was not a hassle.

"I hope the race goes through someplace cold. That would be the most ideal for me".

"You should probably be prepared for heat. Looks like a number of people are fire users".

And budging into the group was Nao.

"To be fair, a lot of mages are fire users. Its the most common, at least that is what it feels like. They all hear stories of fire and fire and more fire, so they go fire. I prefer lightning myself. How about you...Ryder was it? Name is Nao. Nao Torretta".

"You going to change too? It looks like a lot of people are layering down, shorts and shirt. Some are even just going shorts".

"Well, admittedly one of the reason people are changing is because the feel of wearing fresh clothes will feel less burdening to them, improving their mental fortitude. Also, a lot of people who won were those who gave it past their all, so they built up sweat. The smart thing to do would be to shower that off, and wear fresh clothes, as it will make it easier to move in and let you be faster and more efficient. But...well, lets just say there is an advantage with my stuff to where using the same gear is helpful. That said...showering off might be best".

"Wait...your gear is special?"

"Hey, I aint answering that anymore. We are competitors after all" Nao said with a smile.

Cyrus meanwhile had taken out a brush, and was brushing off his wings. He wanted to have them in the best condition possible for when they raced, since having them would surely give him an advantage.

"I should probably anticipate part of the race going underground though. Whether they limit it to the city, or take it outside, there are plenty of caves and underground tunnels along with subways. And if they use spacial magic, it could go from the mountains to the deserts to the arctic. Its a gamble basically. Carry too little, and you may be unprepared. Carry too much, you might be overencumbered. In other words, the race is not just about speed. That should be obvious from the start. This test is about cleverness as well, and how we will use our magical abilities to deal with the situation...this is going to be so much fun!"

And Azaken was...he seemed to be sitting calm and still? Even if he was using a fake name, his fake personality was not usually this calm...if his mind was still where his body was, anyways...

I will just take a peek at the race, and have some long range summoning gates put some monsters in areas to make this more interesting. Get their focus away, prepare for even more mischief...

And Astral and Luna meanwhile, were preparing in their own way...eating large amounts of food to fuel up, while arguing about what the best food was at the table.

And Emerin, he was trying to pull Altian all over the place.

"We should try this out! And this! Look at this delicious food! Oh, I wonder if their showers are like back home also. What do you think we will see during the race? You think it will be a tag team race? A three legged race? Maybe we get chased around by monsters? Oh oh, what magic do you think that person can do?"

"How about asking me instead of your friend?" Rivyan mentioned as he sighed. "And for the record, I can use all sorts. Maybe you will see them during the race".

The chaos of having so many mages, with all their various personalities, was becoming clear as they socialized and interacted with each other in the room.

Elysia couldn't help but snicker at Nao's interjection, or rather at the idea of the people unfortunate enough to try melting Ixa's ice... There were plenty of his pursuers who had tried that after all, only to be sorely disappointed before wising up.

"Yes", she answered to his following question. "Nice to meet you Nao. You can call me Elysia if you'd like."

As Nao started to talk to Ixa, distracting the boy Elysia took the chance to grab some of Ixa's food from his plate. She surveyed the room as she began munching on it. She couldn't help but notice once more just how many of the group were children. Talented children for sure, and she was looking forward to what they'd become in the future, but somehow she couldn't take most of them serious as competition.

She noticed one of Ixa's siblings in the group, and figured that they'd probably go talk to him later.

As the first round wound down and Aedrios Gale began to speak, Demor's body began to glow brightly again, and he returned to his normal form, shuddering as he blinked, and continued to recover from the strain that Dragon Force puts on his body. A locker room? With food and showers? Sounded perfect. As the doors opened, Demor walked with the crowd of mages towards the locker room, licking his lips. Food sounded great, as did the shower.

A race, eh? He sighed and found a locker, stripping down and tying a towel around his waist before heading over to the buffet table, and quickly piling multiple plates worth of food, and heading back to his locker bench to chow down while listening to Jaune and Shinku, as well as the others as they discussed the possibilities for the next round of the games. Regardless of the obstacles that would appear in the race, Demor was naturally much faster than the average human eye could see, and was equally as agile with his years of battle experience and the added agility due to his tail. His magic was versatile enough for most elemental blocks, and he was tough enough to power through a lot even without the need for his magic.

Finishing his food rather quickly, he walked past the boys, his eyes lingering on Nao, sensing the boy's affinity for Lightning magic before he walked past and stretched his shoulders with a groan, his tail moving to take the towel off his hips and place it on a hook so he could shower without getting the towel soaked and making it useless. As he stood under the hot water, his body shook and he half chuckled to himself, the steam and hot water revitalizing him as it cascaded down his scarred body. Spotting Jaune, entering the showers, Demor smiled and lifted his chin in greeting.

"Yo, Jaune! How'd you do? I sort of... black out a little when I go Dragon Force." he said, shrugging, his eyes naturally going towards the female contestants that he could see, if the showers weren't gender segregated. His eyes didn't linger for long, but he did feel his lips tug back into a smirk, teeth glistening.

"Lot of Storm Users, or lightning users here.... plenty of fire users too." he added with a shrug, dipping his head under the hot water, scrubbing his hair clean before sighing and rinsing off, turning around and opting to let the hot water run down his back for a few minutes while he and Jaune talked.

After finishing talking, however, he turned off his water and began to dry himself, humming a Draconian Lullaby to himself. Demor wasn't being his usual flirty self that Jaune and Iviri had come to know outside of the competition, but then again, perhaps it was the competition that was making him act this way. The combination of all the other mages and the prospect of fighting them making his normally laid back, care-free attitude give way to his competitive, serious nature.

Inwardly, he was concerned. There were so many children competing. Or at least, those many would consider to be under age or children. He had no doubt about their powers, but the fact that they were here concerned him - how powerful could the most powerful mage on this world be? How powerful was he in comparison? He had heard there was a ranking system, but didn't really get to study too much in detail about it.

Guess he'd have to do a little research after the Grand Magic Games, he supposed. After drying off, he wrapped his towel around his hips again and walked back to the locker he'd chosen for himself, getting dressed slowly, almost as if in pain. Now that he was in the light, and mostly bare to the world to see, those watching him would be able to see the many scars that his body had. Many had healed and were merely discolorations in the skin by this point, but at the same time, the area of his upper back where the wings seemed to sprout from his back when he entered Dragon Force seemed to be deep cuts. Not bleeding or even painful looking, but definite differences in texture... valleys in an otherwise smooth surface. As he dressed, many joints popped audibly - perhaps his body was stiff after his performance, or perhaps he wasn't in as good a shape that he portrayed out in the arena.

Or perhaps it was all a ruse to make the others under estimate him, allowing him to snatch victory.

Slipping the last bit of his clothes on, he made his way back to the buffet table and served himself again, this time taking his time to eat as he watched the others around him, Emerald, Reptilian eyes looking out with a predatory gaze over the crowd. Searching for weaknesses or lack thereof. Searching for those who he could defeat easily, and those who might give him trouble.

Race-Wise, Demor wasn't worry in terms of needing to pack. His cloak kept him relatively warm in cold climates, and being Reptilian made him predisposed to warmer climates. His speed and agility could get him through obstacles, and his power could handle most anything that stood in his way. Needless to say he wasn't worried for now. If anything strange popped up that he wasn't accounting for, however, it might have him reconsider his options, but for now he was confident.

And Ultimately, confidence was what won the day more often than not.

Altian let Emerin lead the way as the driving force of what they should do, what they should try, and what they should talk about before the second challenge. He didn't pay any mind to being dragged across the room, nor did he mind the overly excited and emphatic nature of the scene around them, nor the occasional stares and glances they got in every room they went to. It made him wonder exactly how many people were witness to their performance in relation to others. Sure, they listed who passed and who didn't and maybe it wasn't important, but it was a question that nagged at his curiosity. How well did they perform in comparison with the other performances?

He had to constantly remind himself that it wasn't important as he explored the insane waiting room with so many different types of food he had only read about. To be fair, it was easy to forget as Altian realized how hungry he was when his stomach growled. His mouth was practically salivating at the plates of Hop Scotch Burgers, Magical Matt's Mashed Potatoes, deep fried turkey, and even the iconic city cuisine...the Classic Questrios Club: A monster of a sandwich with every exotic meat that could be salvaged in addition to flavorful peppers, crunchy lettuce, and some secret spice and sauce that brought all the flavors together. He knew that each one costed a good 20 quid out in the stands and they were getting them for free, basically. Part of the perks of being a competitor.

He didn't hesitate to grab one of these legendary sandwich in addition with some turkey breast (pulling out the wish bone with it), some classic Groovy Gear French Fries, a serving of Vincent's Veggies to balance out the unhealthy stuff, a Calypso Colada (which was not an alcoholic drink, but a tropical fruit smoothie), and a Hesh Cake to remind him of home.

"You should get one of those Questrios Clubs," he pointed the gigantic sandwich out to Emerin, "They're super expensive in the city and you may never get another chance to try one again! Mmmff..." he couldn't help but moan in satisfaction as he bit into this sandwich, the rush of flavors filling his mouth and blending together like a sautee symphony, "Oh, id so guhd!"

As he ate with Emerin (who likely had three times his appetite and that was saying something), he glanced around at some of the other remaining competitors, watching them chatter among themselves. Most of them were in high spirits, of course. They all made it past the first round. A few were hardcore analyzing the room, trying to get a read on what others could do, figure out their opponents and understand how they could surpass them. A few were stressing out over how they could prepare for the upcoming race, most notably a pair of fat, bard-like wizards who were attempting to whip up a speed spell on the fly. It was easy to tell from some people who was confident and who wasn't...who was here to have fun and enjoy the moment and who was here to compete and take home the victory. And some people remained ghosts or unreadable husks, not wanting to reveal anything or give away any thoughts as if it might betray them and lead others to exploit their weaknesses should they ever be found out.

But all the while, he couldn't help but wonder what the next challenge was going to be. Of course he knew as much as everyone else knew...it was a race. But something about the atmosphere told him this wasn't going to be a typical race...something about the design and the structure and overall feel of the Grand Magi Games. This was going to feel different.

And as the massive amount of people slowly recharged their batteries, the nature of their performances coming through on the big screen as it replayed round one, and the cryptic messages and mysterious nature of the judges and their intentions played through his mind, a hunch began to form.

"Hey, Emry-Shu," Altian nudged his best friend on the arm as they continued, "I'm getting a vibe that this next round could throw some crazy, unexpected turns at us. There's so many people here still...and there's so many more events to get through. That first round weeded out all the combat-centric magic users. I feel like this next round is going to do something similar."

His voice was low and close, not out of secrecy, but so Emerin could hear, "Every time we get to work together again, let's do it. But I have this strong feeling like at some point, sooner or later, we might not get to do it anymore. When that happens, I may not be there to help ya. And it's the same the other way around. So promise me that no matter what happens, we do our best, we try our hardest, and we trust each other. And even while we're competing, we're rooting for each other. Cause I'll be rooting for you no matter what, Emry-Shu!"

"Spit Pact on it!" he stood up, hacked up a lugie, and spit it into his hand, offering it out to Emerin. He knew the Spit Pact was their promise shake and he knew that the blue-haired boy would do the same and they would shake. Not that they needed it since they basically grew up as best friends and they trusted each other more than most people would trust another in the world. But Altian knew what it would do to Emerin: Bolster his confidence in case they couldn't join forces and have it be a reminder that no matter what, no matter how, they would never become enemies.

Like true best friends...

As more and more food was supplied, from Flameboar meat, to Pickled Squid Tentacles, to Zuuumba, which was some combination of of fruits, meat, vegetables, and a bit of dairy. There were also sweets, such as cookies, cakes, and ice cream even. Not to mention the assortment of cheeses.

"Hey...ELysia...is it me, or is there some food missing from my plate?" Ixa asked innocently.

Meanwhile, Jaune made note of some others before he looked back at Demor.

"I have never seen so many magic users in one place before" he mentioned, as he looked at those in the shower room alone. "There are a lot of powerful magical auras...although, none were anywhere near as intimidating as that guild leader, Aedrios Gale. Jaune felt that he stood no chance, in any situation, against that man, that was how overwhelming it felt to him. And Jaune usually was just a bright optimistic cheerful person with no sense of modesty.

It was a bit interesting to others, seeing how Jaune who was small and Demor who was large were interacting so casually.

"That said, you did really great! It was really flashy! Although, that one guy cried I think when you ate his magic" Jaune mentioned. "Also, I am curious. That whole dragony thing you did...are those scales aerodynamic or something? If not, you might have trouble with wind resistance in the race".

Indeed, if one thought about it, all of the racers would want to reduce wind resistance as much as physically possible.

"I think there is a few people who might be problematic for the rest of us in the race. For one thing, there is this one kid, people keep seeming to get sick around him. Also, another one, Nao Toreta, can turn into lightning, so he might just zap on ahead. There is also a few others...this seems like it will be really fun!"

And while Jaune was there, Emerin was with Altian, eating unreasonably large amounts of food and other such things. However, when Altian questioned what would be involved in the race, Emerin went and pulled an...Emerin....

"I bet they will have blizzards, and deserts, and dragons, and mountains, and jungles, and forests, and monsters, and traps, and all sorts of things! I bet they will have things that we never even thought of before! I bet they will have magic no one would ever consider there! Oh, and agreed!" he said, finishing the pact with Altian after his mind had rambled in ways that probably didn't make much sense.

Before anyone could say much else though, enough time had passed that the announcement system sparked to life, and told everyone the next event would be starting soon.