Magic Discovered

Chapter 12

Due to the small number of people on their team, the members of Team Oopson did not have their events on the same day. They were lucky, then, that this allowed them to see each of their friends compete. They were currently in the staging area, a location where teams could go to warm up and discuss last minute details for their events. Lydia wasn't with them, unfortunately; she technically wasn't part of their team. As a result, she was watching the tournament from the stands like normal, but promised that she would cheer extra loud for James, Algon, and Delta. And if Lydia said loud, she meant LOUD. 

"So," Algon said as he raised and lowered the temperature of a flame. "Still no indication for who you're going to fight?" 

"Nope. At this point, I'm thinking they'll tell us when they announce it the audience: right before the event." 

"Shame," said Delta. "If we knew who you were going up against, then it might...mph...give you a better idea of what to do." He finished his stretches and stood up, bouncing lightly on his toes. His armor sparked with energy and he took off, running slow laps around the staging area. Of course, slow laps for him caused everyone else to only see a blue. 

James shook his head and smiled. "Such high energy. I hope he doesn't get tired out for his event." 

Algon laughed. "This is Delta we're talking about. There's no way he could burn through all of his energy in such a short amount of time." 

They went back to practicing, with James running through the spells he could cast and Algon building his confidence. He knew that he needed to do well in order to provide a good showing for his planet, otherwise, his species would be displaced. But after his friends spent time helping him, he had a much greater amount of faith in his abilities. 

Just then, a sound echoed through the room. "Attention competitors. The Obstacle Course event is about to begin. All participating mages must head up immediately. Team members will also be allowed to view the event." 

"Well, that's you." 

"Good luck, Delta." 

"Wait, aren't you coming with me? 

"No, we can't come with you. But we'll be cheering you on; you can count on that!" 

Delta smiled and responded with confidence, "Well, then make sure you're on a good spot to see me win!" 

He headed up to where the competitors were lining up and James and Algon each headed up to the stadium floor. The floating arena now had a huge sphere made from interlocking platforms suspended inside. It was obvious that there were also many more hidden traps; this would not be just a simple course, otherwise, the Aetherlings would always come out on top. Raw speed was not the only thing important here. 

"AND WE'RE BACK! AFTER THAT STUNNING DISPLAY BY FERDAL AND SFUN IN THE TACTICAL GAUNTLET, WE MOVE ON TO THE CHALLENGE COURSE!" Strike appeared to be particularly excited for this round. "THE COURSE OUR MAGES WILL BE RUNNING TODAY IS A SLIGHTLY WATERED-DOWN VERSION OF THE SAME COURSE OUR DRAGONS USE IN TRAINING, SO LET'S SEE WHICH OF OUR MAGES CAN MATCH THE AGILITY, STRENGTH, STAMINA, AND REFLEXES OF THE TOP WARRIORS IN THE UNIVERSE!!!" 

Each of the competitors walked out of a door on the side of the stadium and lined up on a platform. In this round, there were only about 50 mages, but often competitions were reused multiple times in the same tournament. After everyone had emerged, the platform lifted off the ground. As it flew up to course, Strike explained to the audience what the round would entail.  

"THE MAGES WILL ALL ENTER THE COURSE TOGETHER. AS YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS, IT'S BEEN SPECIALLY ENCHANTED TO BE BIGGER THAN IT APPEARS, BUT IT ALSO HAS ANOTHER NIFTY FEATURE. AS THEY ENTER THROUGH THE GATE, EACH WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO SEE FAINT OUTLINES OF THEIR COMPETITION; THEY WILL BE UNABLE TO INTERACT WITH THEM. HOWEVER, THE OBSTACLES WILL REMAIN THE SAME FOR ALL COMPETITORS. POINTS FOR THE EVENT WILL BE BASED OFF SPEED, EFFICIENCY, AND OF COURSE, PLACEMENT!"