Tarragon

Chapter Fifteen: Quarter-Finals

-Mantis

-April 11th

I walked onto the field, along-side the Skytreaders, or what was left of us. Felix had been replaced since our last game, with a short light mage named Alexander. He wasn't allowed to, in his own words, "Cast the void on people's faces," because it was illegal by the Tarragon rules, but nonetheless he was still an incredible asset to the team.

Another fact, if it hasn't been mentioned already, is that light magic is one and the same with dark magic. They're two separate branches of the basic element, but function off the same elementai inside of each bit of Energy.

Yet ANOTHER thing: Elementai are a major part of Energy. They function as the way that elemental magic can be cast. Fire elementai cannot produce water magic* but are perfectly effective at making fire.

*It is possible to cast water magic with fire elemental Energy, yet is both extremely dangerous and inefficient. It is possible to accidentally get two types of elementai in your Energy while attempting to multicast different forms of magic, crippling both of your forms of magic, as your body might send water elemental Energy when fire elemental Energy is requested. The reason this happens is because your body can produce all kinds of elementai, and it begins the production of one when that form of elemental magic is requested, but your body also has no way of filtering the Energy based on elementai. To put it simply, you can but shouldn't try to cast water magic with fire elemental Energy in your body. This goes for all kinds of magic.

"On the Skytreaders, the most controversial man in current times- who quite possibly could have killed over a hundred baby dragons- is Mantis Ethwell. Next, the newest member, following the untimely death of Felix Ray, Alexander Porkington- yes, someone in his bloodline hated his family- is the newest member of the Skytreaders, pulled from the collapsing Skysworn Piranhas team. I'd give it about a week and a half before Tykranaea comes in and crushes him trying to kill Mantis, am I right?"

Dead silence in the arena. That pricked an anxiety in me that couldn't be matched by anything else. I felt responsible for both Felix and Aliya's deaths.

"On another note, is the Silverheart team! All earth mages. A rising star when it comes to Tarragon, it's time for them to be humbled! A permanent stain on their 100% win rate is about to emerge, with some of the most talented mages of this generation going up against... seven earth mages. This team is perfectly balanced and weighted to have different strong points which balance out the weak points of each other," the announcer seemingly pulled back from the mic to talk to someone else in the same room as them, "how the hell did this team get into the World Colosseum?" the announcer returned to the mic, "the game will begin in three minutes!"

I looked at the lineup of the Silverhearts. They were all so... equal. They only differed a few inches in height, and all had the same hulking body type. It's as if they had just been copy pasted, it was so strange. Each one spoke in a deep, grizzly voice; they were all men.

The people on the team were: Cole, Chole (pronounced the same as Cole), Choal, Coal, Koal, Khoal, and Morgan. Such an interesting bunch of people.

They didn't have a known team leader- which further set them apart from the rest, and they were secretive about their lives, to the point where people theorized that they were robots, with silver hearts inside each one.

We didn't talk much before the game, either. Everything about it felt unusual. I was on edge- waiting for the punchline, when I would have to fight for my life. I was fully ready to go hand to claw with Tykranaea, or to dismember an automaton, or fight the King again.

"Both teams will now be sent back to their benches. The game begins in fifteen seconds." the announcer spoke over the intercom. The crowd rumbled, excited for the game.