The Summoner's Mark (First Draft) (Book One)

A Triumphant Return

Once more, Sin stood within the line that Sten forced his students to stand in and though he was injured the night before when some unknown rogue had decided to use his body as target practice for whatever sick game that they were playing; due to the nature of the wound, the healers were able to fix him up with little difficulty.

Now that he had no excuse to keep him away from the cruel Mage who led this class, Sin must put up with the horrendous remarks that fall from Sten's moth like manure from a horse's rear. As per usual, Sten paced before those he had gathered before him and as he was doing this; he was informing the class of what they would be going through today. "Good morning everyone! Please welcome back the mongrel that has milked his injuries to get time off from this class and though it won't do him any good, considering that all of you have been training during the time that he was away; you should all have an advantage in today's tournament." Sten growled as his feet kicked sand into the sky as he continued to move before those that were gathered.

The moment that Sten had mentioned a tournament, Sin knew that he was at a disadvantage considering that everyone around him had more time to practice than he did. Even though Sin couldn't prove it, he had an inkling that Sten had planned this in hopes of seeing him get viciously beat by his classmates and though he wasn't sure of their skill level anymore, Sin refused to go down without a fight.

"While todays tournament won't be an official one, I don't want any of you too lose hope and since this is an assignment that I am giving you; I will also be giving those who place in the top three, an achievement which will allow others to know of your battle prowess." Sten explained to those within the line which seemed to have the effect that he desired considering the excitement that bubbled within the students.

Even with his detest for the older Mage quite evident across his face, Sin himself felt the excitement of this coming battle since he had the chance to win another achievement to gain recognition from his classmates.

Now that Sten had ensured that he had the attention of the entire class, he called out the first two individuals that would be battling and for once Sten didn't try to make an example of him.

*

Two matches had already come and gone and both combatants were those that Sin thought of as his friends. Castien was the placed within the first match against a human that Sin didn't consider important enough in his life here to remember the name of and from how effortlessly Castien was able to decimate his opponent; Sin knew that the elven male would be quite a ferocious opponent if he had to face him within the arena.

Lucius was the next fighter to be called into the dueling ring and his opponent happened to be Enmoria. From watching the bout, Sin was able to gather that Enmoria had been able to grow in her combat skills which was evident from how she was able to land strikes upon Lucius. Even with her skill growing slightly, Sin determined that Enmoria still highly relied upon defense which would eventually come back to bite her in the rear which happened a few moments after this thought flickered through Sin's mind considering the Lucius caught her across the side of her head which dropped her unconscious to the ground.

Now that two fights have been completed and two of his classmates eliminated from the tournament; Sin felt as if his chances at winning was surely rising. As this thought was running through his mind; Sten called for the next two combatants.

"Mita Tedash, please enter the dueling ring..." Sin called out which prompted the student that was named to make their way out of line. This revealed that the student who was named was of the race known as dwarves and as she made her way further into the arena; Sin noticed that she had dark brown hair that was held in a ponytail as well as pale skin. As the dwarf neared the dueling ring, Sten's voice once again echoed around them. "...mutt, I need you to follow Mita into the ring." Sin growled as he motioned for Sin to make his way from the line.