Jason Cross's Story

Glancing down at the small list in her left hand, then to the two bags in her right, the girl smiled, brushing several strands of straight, silver hair from her blue-green eyes. Well, that looked like it was just about everything she needed. Tieria grinned, noting idly that her efficiency had continued to improve. When she had first arrived at the magic school at which she now studied, it had taken her ages to find the right food and other necessaries when she went shopping in the stores adjoining the school. Given that the magic academy was - obviously - a live-in arrangement, although they did serve meals at the cafeteria, anything special you had to make for yourself. Although admittedly the warrior wasn't much of a cook, it was always nice to have options, and her new hobby - one she'd picked up a little after her arrival once she got tired of the school's food - might be useful eventually. Plus, although she didn't like to admit it, it was sort of fun doing things yourself, and when she wasn't busy training, it was a nice way to spend her free time.

Sliding her grocery list into her pocket, she glanced up at the sky. The sun was pretty high overhead, which meant it was about time to be getting back. She didn't want to waste the whole afternoon loitering when she could be practicing her techniques, and, although she didn't have her usual sparring session with her swordfighting teacher - a private lesson she'd taken up after she had started basing her techniques around a bladed weapon as an amplifier, something not many mages did - she still had drills to go through, spells to fire hundreds of times at countless different targets to improve her endurance, efficiency, and aim, and countless other things to be completed. There was no time to lose! Holding her shopping bags carefully to make sure she didn't drop them, she grinned, and hastened toward the school that towered over all the other buildings in the small campus area, the four small black tails of her unzipped crimson jacket trailing out behind her freely as she ran. Right, then left, then straight ahead to the courtyard, and after that-

Tieria stopped sharply, noticing immediately that something was off about the sight before her. There were too many people in the courtyard, way more than usual. What was more, it was a group of low-level fire students and a couple higher level ice students, two classes with completely different schedules. Why were they together here, and what was it they were doing? A moment's examination told the warrior that her suspicion at the strange sight hadn't been unfounded. Actually, the fire students seemed to have been surrounding a single location, while the ice students looked like they were standing back taking charge of whatever was going on. Tieria had a feeling she knew what was happening right from the start. Little scenes like this weren't exactly uncommon. Actually, she could guess pretty easily what - or rather, who - was at the center of that circle without even bothering to check.

Probably, those upper-class cryo-mages had a bone to pick with a member of their own class. Probably, it was a play made out of envy, or just because whoever it was had refused to join their little gang. If it was the former, then they were probably just trying to disgrace someone better than themselves so they could take that person's rank in their class. If it was the latter, then they were probably making a move to ensure they themselves weren't passed up. Infighting like this was common, and this was the usual method, too: get members of the opposite school of magic to deal with your problems for you. These fire kids were probably looking to rise a few ranks in mage society by beating up on someone way above their own level. That'd get them respect and prestige, and, with any luck, they could cow the schmucks at their own level into following their commands. In short, it was a gang of playground bullies in the making, a bunch of weaklings who were trying to make themselves look impressive without even earning the power they hoped to wield. How cute.

Tieria didn't know who the unlucky idiot was at the center - probably some second-rate mage who'd made the mistake of getting a little too full of himself for his own good, and was reaping what he deserved - but it was pretty clear what the outcome would be in this situation. Normally, Tieria probably wouldn't have cared all that much about a schoolyard squabble like this, as neither party particularly interested her, but this was so one-sided that it was just pathetic. A bunch of weaklings with big heads were one of the things she absolutely couldn't stand. And, besides... it was always better, not to mention more fun, to train against real enemies than it was to blow up a bunch of practice dummies. Even if they were amateurs, there were enough of them that it might be fun.

In an instant, she had set down her groceries, and strode calmly into the courtyard. One of the ice students who looked to be a leader of sorts seemed to be just getting ready to gloat over his victim before having his peons deal with whoever it was, but he never got the chance to open his mouth, his words stolen away by the white haired arrival who, brushing her hair back in preparation for the upcoming fight, reached under her coat and began to zip up the black leather vest she wore there, covering up her simple white blouse with her one and only piece of actual armor.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, exactly?" She asked, a sarcastic smirk on her face as those in the area stopped for a moment, glancing over to see who had just showed up. The teachers seldom intervened in little battles like this, so they probably knew right from the start it was another student. Judging by their general expressions, though, they hadn't expected the rather infamous fire-user from the seventh level advanced class, at least four years their senior without even taking into consideration her higher stat level.

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Yeah, I think it is. That crazy upper class girl with the sword, right?"

"Doesn't she have some sort of weird title? 'The Phoenix,' or something?"

"I hear she's a total psycho. Just fights all the time with anybody who even looks at her funny."

"Shit. Think that's what she's here for? I thought we were only gonna fight this stuck up ice guy from level five advanced! If that's her, she'll probably kill us!"

"Yeah. Have you guys seen that sword of hers? And what her sparring partners always end up like?"

"Relax, dude. There are six of us, and we've got the three best cryos from level five basic. Even if she tries to take us-"

"What was that?" Tieria interrupted, smirking as they turned back to her to find her several paces closer, one hand on her hip and the other held up in front of her, several quiet cracks coming from her knuckles as she clenched and unclenched her fist. A faint red glow seemed to be dancing like lightning between her fingers, and a very ominous feeling started filling the courtyard, as though the air had suddenly become much more dense and begun to push down upon all those present. The sky, which had been sunny and bright before, almost seemed like it had somehow dimmed in the past few moments. A distinct smell of ash assaulted everyone's ears, and yet Tieria hadn't even stopped smiling, nor had she even fully cast one of her spells. This feeling... the pressure that now assaulted everyone's senses was just the sheer weight of her presence, the power of her fighting instinct, made manifest in preparation for battle. In the face of the elite's arrival, the original ambush target had been momentarily forgotten, and the encircling group took several involuntary steps backward, abandoning their original position in favor of backing away from the unnerving girl who had just appeared. "It sounded to me like you were just challenging me."

"Damnit, you idiot! Don't you realize who this IS? I hear she totally exterminated the hawks from air class six, all by herself! Just one of those guys kicked our asses completely last month without even using his third spell! If we fight her-"

"-You'll lose. That's what you were going to say, right?" Tieria finished, smirking.

"Er... Yeah. Pretty much. Er, look, we don't want any trouble. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He's new. Just don't mind him, alright? We'll just be-"

"-Going nowhere at all." This time, the voice that finished the frightened boy's sentence came from behind him. He froze, only beginning to realize the full extent of the situation he was in. That was right... he wasn't going anywhere. If he left, then the upperclassmen who had recruited him and his friends would not take kindly to being abandoned. Now that they'd begun this plan, they intended to see it through. They were far more powerful than the minions they'd enlisted, which meant desertion was not an option. No, all the idiot fire-users could do is suffer the trap they'd fallen into themselves. And suffer they would.

"But boss, you didn't-"

"It doesn't matter. We're dealing with this upstart, and that's final. Seriously? You're scared of this little girl? All those stories you're so afraid of are nothing but rumors. I mean really? Look at her! She doesn't even come up to my shoulder! All this nonsense about her being some sort of unstoppable berserker with a sword the size of-"

"Caladbolg," Tieria interrupted.

"Calad-what?" The upperclassman began, but never even finished his sentence. His breath stopped in his throat, for leveled directly at him, its two-pronged tip only inches away from his face, was a truly gigantic blade of warm, gleaming steel at least as long as the biggest of their number was tall, if not even larger.

"Oh, don't mind me. By all means, continue! I'm just calling a spell, is all. Oh, and by the way, its name is Caladbolg, and you're wrong. As you can plainly see, I do, in fact, have a sword. It's a very large sword. Did you notice? Of course you did," The Phoenix said smilingly. "Now then, I believe there was something about all of you challenging me to a fight? Better get ready. Since you have the advantage of numbers, I won't be going easy." She lowered the blade and stepped back, taking a position in front of the boy they'd been attacking. Glancing back over her shoulder as the group of would-be attackers swiftly moved away, suddenly looking very, very frightened by the gigantic weapon the "little girl" was now leveling effortlessly at them with a single hand, Tieria offered a carefree grin to the boy behind her.

"Hey, do you mind if I blow all these guys up, or should I save some for you?" She asked, completely ignoring the enemies as several of them started chanting their various spells, preparing fruitlessly for the fight to come. It didn't matter, though. No matter what they did, the outcome at this point was already decided. Hell, Tieria doubted she'd even have to use her third spell to deal with them! Still, she'd comply for now. She'd wait, for now, and let them try their hardest. If they broke out their best attacks and came at her with all they had, so much the better. A battle wasn't any fun if you ended it too quickly, after all.

It all happened so fast. One moment Jason was standing there, about to have himself a nice ass-whipping session, courtesy of the fire casters. Not a moment later, Jason is standing there, back to back with some random girl. She appeared to be the same age as him, however was a bit smaller than him. He just stood there, taking short glances at each member that encircled him and her. As the members of the circle began to whisper their incantations, Jason's hands began to set off a bluish aura. He was ready to fight. His attention then turned to the girl behind him, as she prompted a question to Jason. He just stood there and smirked a bit. "Oh please, I'd rather get the vast majority as to set an example for these useless fire types. Plus, I wouldn't want some girl like you getting hurt" he said, unaware of how that second part sounded. But before the girl could react, Jason cast Crystal Copy and his copies began to attack the fire users surrounding him and Tieria.

“Oh dear…”

Parked in the grass with a bowl of water between her legs, a tiny blue-eyed woman watched the display of battle just beginning. She could try to stop it…though she might get hurt in the process. So many times did Fire and Ice students run into each other though, giving snide remarks to show how one could be more stubborn than the other. It was rather sad. Fire and Water could co-exist happily if they wanted to. Together they would form a bond as strong as that of an air element. But when they were fighting together as Fire and Ice, neither element would allow the other to triumph.

Unfortunately, the whole endeavor would have to end at a stalemate if it were based one-on-one. However, this was never the case. It would always be a group of Ice students against a Fire student…or in this case, vice versa.

Gabrielle watched as another Fire student came to the aid of the ice student. Spells began chanted out at her arrival—apparently she was a big-shot. The second year wouldn’t know.

“H-hey…” She shouted down the hill at the battle upstarting before her eyes. “Maybe you guys…”

The young man created ice copies of himself that promptly began to beat the snot out of the Fire students.

“Maybe you all shouldn’t fight…”

“Guys,” she started, the steaming battle continuing to wear on as the Fire gang continued to chant wildly their entire spell calls.

“SERIOUSLY.” Standing up, the bowl of water toppled over as the blonde accidently cast Neptune’s Wake. A whip of a wave from the remainder of water on the ground followed her as she put her hands on her hips. “You all should be ashamed. Fighting on school grounds with another student could lead to—“

“Shut up, Raindrop!”

She glared at the direction of the upper-class Fire boy that shouted the remark as she directed the wall of water towards him, not sending him off balance, but surprising him enough. His clothes were several shades darker from the drenching and a fat droplet rolled off the tip of his bulbous nose. Immediately, she felt guilty.

“Oh…oh dear,” she stammered, standing there like a deer in the headlights. “I didn’t mean to do that…are you okay?”

"Hey! Watch your mouth, kid," Tieria exclaimed, glancing back at the boy behind her with anger suddenly showing in her face. "Don't be insulting fire-users when you're being saved by one, and most certainly don't treat me like some kind of helpless idiot, or you just might be next!" Unfortunately, this was all the retort she had time to give, for at the next moment, her new temporary ally had already begun his attack, spawning several copies of himself - an interesting ability, if a strange one - and sending them off to attack the fire students, who, despite having the elemental advantage, couldn't even seem to land a grazing blow on the three fakes now assaulting them. Pitiful. Maybe this wouldn't be as fun as she had first thought...

An explosion of light and flames from above her attracted Tieria's attention, and, in an instant, her expression twisted into an eager grin as one of the fire-users launched off a stream of projectile attacks, countless individual bursts of fire streaming down at once from his hands and raining down upon her. It was a pretty impressive attack for someone of his level. Controlling so many different firing arcs at once was no small feat. At yet, the boy's skill was still lacking. He'd made the amateur mistake of having all of his many shots converge far too soon, completely ruining the advantage given him by numbers by firing all his shots at a single area right in front of her, instead of spreading his attack out to make it harder to block. As it was, she wouldn't even have to dodge.

Raising her giant sword with ease, she simply braced herself into a combat stance, and then swiftly set about a flurry of practiced cuts in front of her, bringing up her enormous weapon to flawlessly cut through each and every shot without ever seeming to either slow down or overbalance herself. Her arm and blade were both mere blurs as she moved, forming a curtain of continuous defense around which the fiery assault broke like a wave against a rock.

"Not too bad, I suppose," She commented critically, looking up at the baffled fire student as he hovered above her - evidently, one of his spells consisted of using a constant jet of flames to fly, a trick she herself already employed without having to waste an entire spell on it. "But it's nothing special. Hey, brat! Try a little harder this time! I'm getting bored already!" The boy merely stammered something in disbelief. Probably, it was just setting in how totally outclassed he was, but still, watching him just float there, wide-eyed in disbelief, was annoying when he could have been at least trying to attack her. Hmm... maybe if she pretended to actually be trying to attack him, he'd do something?

"Oh, would you just stop whining already?!" She called up in irritation, bringing back her sword from the final movement of her defensive kata, at the same time flaring her energy through the blade. She braced herself, powering the attack for a moment, then, in the next instant, she leaped upward. At the same time, a torrent of fire roared forth from the end of her gigantic weapon, and, with a triumphant cry, she streaked upward at incredible speeds, little less than a blur. In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the distance between herself and the floating student, who gave a pitiful squeak of fright before his voice was entirely drowned out by Tieria's own spell call.

"Dash Spark!" She roared, completing the spell as she used the force that had propelled her to raise Caladbolg high over her head, then to bring it down with tremendous force like an guillotine atop the head of her adversary. He, in turn, attempted to cast some sort of a spell, a shroud of flame flickering to life between the descending weapon and himself, but before this could even fully form, the magic that composed it was totally overwhelmed by Tieria's brute force, and the defensive screen was shredded in a second. The boy didn't even have time to scream as a tremendous explosion was released around him from the sword, and he was sent hurtling downward, all three of his spells completely broken.

The Phoenix, however, was far from done. Caught up in the euphoria of the moment, she pressed her attack, following through on the motion of the original slash and flaring just a little bit more power through Caladbolg, which in turn amplified it an released it in a concentrated jet, propelling Tieria downward at even greater speeds than the boy she'd just struck. In the blink of an eye, to the disbelief of the surrounding students, she was already standing on the ground, bracing to attack her victim who was still only falling! Planting her feet, she brought up her elbow viciously, slamming it into the boy's jaw with the force of a hurricane as he fell, abruptly halting his movement, then altering it as he was sent careening off to the side, rolling helplessly like a ragdoll across the ground. In an instant, the Phoenix had once more leaped after him, and by his second bounce, she was already upon him once more. Grasping him by the collar with her free hand, she streaked across the ground, hanging from Caladbolg and using it to brace herself as she began to viciously pound the boy into the ground. Once, twice, three times he was slammed into the dirt with enough force to leave a track through it, and then abruptly, he was hoisted into the air, hurled upward only to be intercepted one final time, not from below, where his enemy had last stood, but from above as she yet again passed him completely with tremendous speed. Raising her sword over her head, she released her coup de grace, slashing downward with both hands as the boy flew helplessly right into the path of her strike. She had reversed her blade during the last engagement, so even as he was struck by the giant weapon, he wasn't bisected as he otherwise would have been. She had a feeling he'd have a few broken bones from the strike, though, as it connected crushingly at the very center of his chest. At the same time, she released all remaining energy within the blade of Caladbolg, causing a vast arc of flames to spread momentarily across the sky as the roar of an explosion resounded across the courtyard.

"Spark Wave!" She roared, releasing the technique. Her victim screamed, but his voice made no sound against the din of the tremendous blast as, one last time, he was sent crashing down into the ground in a smoking, charred heap. She'd kept her flames from igniting him directly out of pity, but, Tieria only now realized, it looked like she'd put a little too much power into her attacks. All the enemy was doing now was lying on the ground in a broken heap, motionless aside from the occasional wracking sob or rather pitiful groan.

"Oh, WHAT?!" She exclaimed in disbelief, breaking her fall with another jet of flames as she slowly touched down, planting her blade viciously beside her. "That's all the beating you can take?! Pathetic! I wasn't even trying to beat you there, and yet you can't even stand up to a warm-up? Just how weak are you, anyway?!" The boy answered only with a few very pathetic cries.

"H-hey! Quit that!" Tieria commanded sternly. "Stop whimpering over there like a baby! Geez! Man up a little, would you? Fine, then! Since you forfeit, I'll just leave you alone for now. You don't have to cry at me about it! You're not any fun, anyway." Turning sharply away from the defeated boy, she glanced at the other people in the area. The older ice students seemed to be weighing their odds after her own little display, and most of the other fire users were getting curb-stomped by the copies of the boy who she'd showed up to help - pretentious jerk that he was, treating her like some kind of helpless child - except one who seemed to have been somehow defeated by a water-user, despite the fact that said water-user was currently apologizing and begging everybody else not to fight. Oh, yeah. There wasn't a point to blowing up these cannon fodder. If they could be defeated by a freaking pacifist, then there was no longer any point in her even being here.

"Hey! You!" She called, leveling her sword at the water-wielder. The soaked boy standing next to her let out a squeak of fright and quickly backed away before realizing she wasn't talking to him. "Quit raggin' on me when I'm having fun! They're the ones who started the fight, let them reap the consequences, or they'll never learn anything from it. If you really want to make yourself useful, could you go take that pants-wetting brat I just accidentally broke to wherever his mommy is, so he can cry at somebody who cares?"

(Ah, Tieria... She's such an asshole for someone who's supposed to be playing the hero. XD)

"..."

"..."

"They're all leaving," Tieria observed.

"So they are," Keith concurred.

"..."

"..."

"We're not going to get to fight, are we?"

"Seems that way. Not much point in carrying on now since everything else is already over."

"..."

"..."

"Sigh. What a shame."

"What a shame."

With this agreement, the two fire mages slowly dropped their fighting stances. All that had happened aside from their brief exchange of words was that Keith had grown a pair of burning claws and leaped at her. They'd entered a weapons lock, only to see that the battle around them was already over. Disengaging with a mutual sigh of disappointment, the two fighters dismissed the weapons they had summoned.

"Well, I need to go take my groceries back to my quarters before they spoil, anyway."

"Ah! Right. That reminds me. I have errands to run as well."

"Well, maybe we can fight some other time, then," The Phoenix suggested, swiftly going to fetch the bags she had set down by the entrance of the courtyard, avoiding the small trenches she'd dug in the ground with her attacks as they slowly closed up. Probably, some earth-user in the school's administration had noticed the fight already, and were just cleaning up the carnage.

"Maybe so. Well, I guess I'll see you later then, now won't I?" The Dragon waved cheerfully to his erstwhile enemy, and the Phoenix casually returned the gesture.

"Indeed you will. Until next time." With this, the two separated, Tieria headed back towards her room while Keith headed off in the opposite direction. As the white-haired fire wizard returned to her home, however, something odd happened. The ice mage she'd helped, on his way out of the courtyard himself, gave her a rather odd look. At first as he passed, he didn't even turn his eyes slightly, as though she wasn't there. Yet at the last second, he glanced over to her with an air of appraisal just moments before he passed her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him simply leave quickly, not even shooting a glance back at her. Odd. It seemed like he was trying - and failing - to ignore her. What, was he angry that she had jumped into his fight, or something? Well, it hardly mattered, she supposed. Tieria needed to get back to her room right now, and then there was training to be done. Although, that ice user was evidently pretty good, since he'd managed to trounce the other four fire users in close combat even when magically outmatched. Hmm... There weren't many mages nowadays - save herself - who favored such an up-close and personal fighting style. Maybe he'd make an interesting sparring partner some time? Well, it was something to think about, anyway.

Outside the wind started to pick up to a ferocious roar; though quickly settling down as a man came from the sky and gently landed on the ground. Delvin, one of the few air or wind mages, was fairly well know due to being able to keep up with many of the other mages. The courtyard were he landed was empty and the last of the trenches from the fight he saw a bit ago just finished closing up. "Huh, seems here was some fun not long ago," he said before heading over to the side to get out of the way.

Delvin walked into the tavern slipping by both the fire user that was fighting before and the one that was leaving. At the speed and grace in which he did this it would seem like simply a breeze of wind went by rather than a person. Although if one looked closely they could notice Delvin rushing by. Taking a seat at the bar he gave a quick scan of the area and gave a sigh. "I wonder what other interesting things will happen today?" He asked himself as he waved down the bartender and ordered a water.

By the time Jason left the tavern, it was already late in the afternoon. He simply strolled out, not speaking a single word to any of the passerbys who tried to acknowledge him. He just continued to walk, just as he usually did, back to his dorm. However, this night was strangely different. He combed his surroundings with his glance as he tried to point out what was different. Unbeknowsted to him, however, the difference was mental. While Jason walked, his thoughts couldn't quite steer clear of the white haired girl he fought with earlier. Stopping for a second, he shook his head; his hand to his forehead. Get a hold of yourself Jason, she's just a girl....A fire-user no doubt. Why are you getting so worked up over it?, he thought to himself as a random couple walked by him. As they walked, his eyes followed for a few. He was curious; intriguied; jealous, even. Jason was never one to deal with such emotions as love, envy, or jealousy, but when it came to Tieria, there was just something about her. He knew well enough it was nowhere close to love. His thoughts just followed her as he walked on.

After a while, Jason finally reached the Sparring Arena. Just as every other day, he payed little to no attention to his surroundings. However, just like everything else, today proved to be different. As he started to walk away, he overheard some commotion coming from the arena. As he turned, a blast of fire almost catches him as he quickly bounces out of the way. Without hesitation, he quickly ran towards the entrance. Once he reached there, what he saw left him breathless. There she was. The girl who had helped him earlier today; the girl who has been in his thoughts since the moment they met; Tieria. Jason was shocked, however, on her current state. She was on the ground, surrounded. She looked as though she had no idea what to do. That moment, Jason felt something rather odd and without any prior thinking or any time to think things through, he calmly addressed the group. "Well well well, looks like Tieria fell into a burning ring of fire" he said, making a rather strange Johnny Cash reference. "Oh, sorry. I forgot my manners. The name's Jason Cross, and I'm the man who will be sending your asses to a frozen hell." he said, staring down each member that circled Tieria. He was ready to fight. He was ready to win. He was ready to save her.

Giving a loud roar, Tieria lunged forward, leveling her gigantic sword and stabbing directly at her opponent's torso, both hands on the hilt of her sword, forcing the giant blade forward with all her might. This time was different from the last time she had fought. With this strike, she made no attempt to turn the twin points of Caladbolg away from her enemy. No, quite the opposite, in fact. She plunged them straight towards her opponent's heart. This wasn't because she was angry, or because she felt like killing someone. No... it was because she knew that any less effort would in turn end in her own death.

Victory merely smiled, raising her newly created blade across his torso without even seeming to brace himself against the attack. And then, he did the seemingly impossible. With a flash of power and a tremendous shockwave... he simply turned aside the monstrously powerful thrust with a slight twitch of one hand. Crying out in anger, the Phoenix did not stumble, catching herself immediately and bringing herself back around with all her momentum, only to find her blade batted aside yet again by another casual, one-handed motion of the Ice Demon's comparatively tiny sword. Now Victor went on the offensive, continuing his motion and sliding his own weapon down the mammoth blade of Caladbolg, forcing the Phoenix to leap back, sliding across the iced over floor and spinning around in a full circle, twirling her own blade behind her and raising it just in time to deflect a second slash as her enemy bounded after her.

Sparks flashed into the air as the two weapons connected again and again, scattering clouds of lingering steam and powdery, broken ice in all directions with each blow. The Phoenix brought up her blade to deflect an overhead strike, only to have Victor hook his blade on the divide at the center of Caladbolg, somehow overcoming even the leverage bestowed by the giant weapon itself to wrench the blade out of the way, pivoting around at the same point to bring up his elbow beneath his opponent's defenses, slamming it hard into her gut and sending her flying into the air, bursting forth from the cloud of dust like a shot from a cannon. Flipping head over heels, she righted herself mid-flight, halting her chaotic upward spiral just in time to brace herself against the very ceiling and, with the force of a falling star, launch herself right back down at her adversary.

"Spark Wave!" She bellowed, raising her huge blade high overhead as an immense storm of crimson light took shape at the weapon's heart. Slashing downward, she released a cataclysmic swath of flames that spread across the entire arena. And yet, her blade struck nothing but empty air, for at that very instant, a wall of ice had taken shape across the entire barrier behind her, and, from its clouded surface, her opponent stepped forth unharmed, wiping a small stain of blood from his blade.

Tieria grimaced and instinctively clutched her shoulder, only realizing now that her enemy had somehow struck beneath her upraised weapon in the instant before she attacked, moving so fast that she hadn't even noticed he had struck her until the wound had actually started bleeding, a delayed spike of pain flaring through her mind. It was only a scratch, comparatively, but it was nonetheless a very painful one.

Spinning about, she turned to face her adversary, who merely continued to smirk self-assuredly, as he had done since the beginning of the battle. "Well, I see your training hasn't been in vain. Now, are you quite done?" He asked coldly, leveling his weapon into almost casually into a laissez-faire battle stance.

"Not hardly," The Phoenix replied, a determined fire burning in her eyes just as her own flames began to condense and rush up and down the blade of her sword, collapsing in upon the notch at the weapon's center. Power poured from every fiber of her being, concentrating down to a single point. For an instant, neither combatant moved, their eyes locking for a split second. In the next, several things happened at once. With a mutual roar, the two launched at each other at the same time, crossing the space between them in the blink of an eye.

"Dash Spark!" Tieria declared, flames streaming from Caladbolg's surface as she shot over the ground like a rocket, raising her blade with all her might and delivering a single blow. Victor gave a wordless cry as ice sprang into existence across the surface of his own weapon, a pale blue aura flickering to life around him to match the Phoenix's scarlet flames. With a tremendous explosion, the two clashed, streaking past each other in the very same moment as fire and ice collapsed upon themselves and burst outward in all directions. Another jolt of pain shot up from the young swordswoman's side, but Tieria only smiled... for the only blood she could see was the faint trail streaming from the edge of her sword, swiftly evaporating into a fine red mist as the weapon yet continued to heat up.

"What...?" Victor asked, sounding surprised as he raised a hand to his cheek, brushing a small trickle of crimson claret from his face and looking for the first time with shock on his own life's blood. "You... actually cut me...?" Disbelief in an instant turned to excitement as the Ice Demon slowly turned, a suddenly very eager smile breaking out across his face as his enthusiasm for the fight redoubled.

"You're damn skippy I did," Tieria replied, a similar smirk of almost psychotic amusement spreading across her expression as well. This was the first actual hit she'd landed on Victor, and with it, although it wasn't much, she had proved that he wasn't invincible. She had a chance. She could still win this! And so, she continued to smile, even as the frosty halo surrounding her adversary began to grow and expand in a way she knew all too well. This technique... she already could anticipate what was coming. This was the ability that had struck her down before, laying her low at the Ice Demon's feet. It was up to her now to overcome it. And so, even as innumerable blades, each more formidable than her own, began to take form amidst the icy light, Tieria's smile never once faltered. And even as Victor raised his own weapon, slowly pointing it at his target to direct the barrage she already knew was coming, all the Phoenix did was brace herself against the icy ground, her own flames rising to match the Demon's unspeakable power as best she could. The arena was suddenly deathly silent as the two intense magical powers at its center slowly condensed themselves, concentrating down to innumerable tiny points. Then, in the next moment... all of this power exploded at once as two voices shouted in unison.

"Armory of Ragnarok... FIRE!"
"Spark... BARRAGE!"

With these words, countless blades plunged down as a single wall, like all the armaments of an invisible legion striking as one. And, at the same time, a single blade danced brightly through the chilled white light, spreading a web of scarlet flames with each passing stroke. One strike, two strikes, three strikes, four.... the movements of that flashing blade blurred together into a single continuous hailstorm of attacks as, at the same time, the one wielding it leaped forward, dancing dangerously through the evil rain as flames scattered around her to clear a path. A dozen blows became a score, and that score became a hundred, which multiplied a hundredfold more as innumerable flaming arcs of power expanded around a single point as countless freezing blades scattered in all directions, shattered into dust by the force of the Phoenix's desperate charge, until at last the red-clad girl tore through the final curtain of incoming swords, and into free, open space, her sword raised high for a finishing blow. But her victory never came, for at that same instant, raising his sword along with a twin weapon before him, pointing both directly at the oncoming white-haired warrioress, Victor spoke but two words.

"Fenrir Gun."

At that second, there was an explosion of power unlike any other, as though an entire glacier had been made manifest and concentrated along a single line, cutting through the air in a frigid torrent of absolute magic that engulfed the Phoenix in an instant. Her flames dimmed and grew cold as the ice spread around her rapidly chilling blade, in and instant forcing her back across the slippery floor, taking back all the ground she had only just gained. At this rate, she realized, she'd be frozen solid, or perhaps crushed against the barrier. She had to break out, had to fight back...! Desperate now, she gathered all the power at her disposal, raised her sword high, and, channeling all her strength into his mighty blade, she struck downward into the earth.

"Ground... Spark..." She gasped, her voice drowned out by the howl of the frigid wind all around her as the deathly frost threatened to consume her. At that instant, a single flame took life at the heart of the chilled void, then grew. It grew and grew and began to expand until, in a single, mighty surge, it at last broke outward in all directions, scattering walls of ice and snow every which way as the heat returned to the Phoenix's body, and the will to win rekindled the determination in her heart.

"What's this?" Victor asked, watching with surprise as slowly, shaking the snow off her body as she did so, Tieria stood, tiredly but resolutely raising her blade before her to continue her fight. "Not only did you force me to summon multiple weapons, you actually managed to take a shot of my most powerful spell and stay standing? Just how much more powerful have you grown...?" The Ice Demon asked.

"You really want to know?" The Phoenix replied, a confident grin emerging on her features as a faint, flickering flame suddenly became evident, dancing across the surface of her body, and Victor realized for the first time why his enemy had been so hard pressed. She hadn't been weak. Rather, she'd been holding back the large part of her power in preparation for some kind of large spell. But what was she...? "Well, then you're in luck," She said, her hair beginning to rise upward and dance about upon an invisible current of unseen wind as the ice beneath her feet suddenly cracked and scattered. "Because you're about to find out firsthand!" As a wall of steam rose around her, a sudden tower of flames roared to life, reaching clear from the ground beneath her feet all the way to the ceiling above. As Tieria raised her sword over her head once more, she chanted the name of her spell of last resort, the power she planned to use to turn this battle around. Victor, surprised and curious to see what she was planning, made no effort to stop her, instead watching with silent astonishment as all of the flames surrounding his enemy began to collapse, and a single wing of pure, elemental fire spread from her her right shoulder upward towards the unseen sky, scattering all of the dust on the winds of a mighty gale.

"Seventh Sorcery - Phoenix of Princes," Tieria finished, sweeping her sword downward into a combat stance.

"So... this is your third spell?" Victor asked, a sudden tone of respect in his voice that hadn't been there before. "I'd heard you had perfected some sort of transformation, but I have to admit, it's more impressive than I had imagined. This must be how you got that title of yours, isn't it?"

"Naturally, but let me be frank. You haven't seen anything yet." Tieria smirked, and the Ice Demon only had barely enough time to register that she had planted her feet firmly before she was already moving. She struck like a lightning bolt, bursting across the distance between them almost instantaneously and slashing upward with her burning sword. A loud roar resounded throughout the arena as Victor raised his swords in a futile attempt to defend himself, crossing them in the path of the gigantic weapon only to have the force of the blow, even when broken by his defenses, actually pick him up and carry him into the air. Groaning with the sudden impact, the Ice Demon tried to right himself, summoning a giant lance of ice and launching it down towards the mighty firebird below.

"Oh, this is going to be good," Tieria chuckled, grinning as she braced herself, then, instead of attempting to dodge or block, leaped straight upwards, crossing her blade over her body and raising it before her. In the next instant, a storm of flames burst throughout the air, and with a tremendous crash, the frozen lance was split clean in two, and the Phoenix had burst forth from its core, her fires burning brighter than ever before as, too fast to even follow, she streaked past Victor, dealing two blows almost at the same instant.

"Knock, knock!" She said, slamming her giant blade into the Demon's crossed swords, shattering them into countless pieces with the incredible impact as, at the same time, she let go of her own weapon with her left hand, using the force of her own blow to spin around behind her target, raising her now free hand over her head, clenched into a mighty, burning fist, bringing down a bone-crushing punch to the top of his skull which sent him crashing down into the ground like a star falling from heaven, naught but a blur as he slammed down into the stone floor of the arena with enough force to not only shatter the ice covering it, but to leave a crater in the ground itself.

"It's pain!" She finished, pointing Caladbolg down towards the smoking hole in the arena floor. "Sword Flare!" With an ear-splitting howl, the flames licking the blade of the giant weapon suddenly collapsed down into a single orb, then tore forth, growing vastly in size as the projectile plummeted down toward its target, until it was as though a miniature sun was being thrown down at the helpless Ice Demon. In an instant, the giant ball of flames had reached the crater and filled it, a sea of flames raging throughout the hole where the enemy lay. And yet, Tieria knew victory wouldn't be so simple. A suspicion still lurked in the back of her mind, one that proved in the next instant to be correct when an object flashed across her peripheral vision from the right. She didn't even turn to face the attack she knew was coming, instead just sweeping out her burning wing and batting several icy swords out of the air before they could even reach her. Huh. Funny. She distinctly remembered his weapons being tougher than this. Oh, wait, she forgot. She'd turned her body into a conduit for pure elemental fire, essentially making herself into living, breathing magic. Even the Demon's enchanted blades hadn't yet attained that level. In short... she'd surpassed him, at long last, and she was about to prove it!

Turning to see where the attacks had come from as she slowly floated down toward the ground, she found her enemy standing, as she had expected, unharmed, clear across the arena from where her last attack had struck. So, he had escaped. His first spell's ability to teleport him made him very hard to pin down and eliminate. Even when he could no longer follow her movements, he would still be a bother to deal with considering his agility. But, with the ability to just create the ice he needed to use anywhere he wished to, she couldn't exactly stop him from using it... Ah, what a pain.

"My, my," Victor said, trying to regain the breath she'd knocked out of him. Judging by his stance, his physical reinforcement had managed to absorb most of the impact of her successful strike when she'd broken his weapons, but it looked like he hadn't fared so well at weathering the blade itself. She'd dealt a rather bloody across his chest, and he was clearly favoring the area. Perhaps she'd broken a rib or two? Maybe this would be easier than she had thought. "That was quite the attack. If I didn't know better... I'd say I was fighting a completely different person from the one I defeated so easily before."

"You are," Tieria replied. "Ever since you crushed me in our last battle, I focused on one thing and one thing alone: more power. I fired techniques until they were second nature to me, exhausting every last ounce of my energy in the process to increase my endurance. Bit by bit, my natural magical ability grew by being pushed to its limits. And then, I focused all of that newfound strength into one thing and one thing alone: my own body. This is the ultimate evolution of the physical enhancement magic I created when I made this sword, Victor. Even your countless blades can't compare to this spell's reinforcement power."

"So I see. But, then again, they don't have to," Victor replied, his old smirk returning.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, aren't you assuming something foolish? After all, Armory of Ragnarok isn't my only spell." Tieria grimaced, beginning to realize exactly what the Demon meant by that. "That's right... Look around you. Remember when I shot you with my Fenrir Gun? That attack wasn't intended to kill you. I meant for you to deflect it, in exactly the same manner as you did." He spread his arms, pointing to the arena surrounding them. Tieria's eyes widened. Every last inch of it, walls, ground, and even the ceiling... were all covered with ice, countless giant shards spread across the whole room by the scattering of the ice used in the Demon's third spell attack. The once level, open field now more resembled a crystalline maze, random walls and crevices like holes in a frozen ocean jutting up and down all across the battlefield. Using those... Victor could transport himself anywhere he felt like, at any time, from any angle!

"True. You may be faster and stronger than me now physically, but that'll only help you if I stay still. You're no closer to beating me than when you started!" A flash of white light lit up the air as he spoke, and, in the next instant, Victor was gone.

"Shit!" Tieria cursed, her eyes swiftly searching about in an attempt to spot the enemy in his next appearance. A flash of movement from the left alerted her just in time, and, bringing about her weapon, she intercepted an incoming lance of ice, sending it spiraling up into the air and away from her. But there was no sign of Victor. Then... it was a diversion? Realizing the danger she was in, she leaped upward just in time to avoid a vast storm of ice that tore through where she had just stood. Following this attack back to its source, she just had time to locate Victor before he terminated his Fenrir Gun and vanished into the icy mist.

Leveling out, Tieria swiftly began searching once again, only to be struck abruptly from behind by a slash from a bladed weapon, sending a spurt of scarlet blood streaming upward from her shoulder as she hurtled back down towards the ground, which abruptly turned its entire mass into blades of ice and began launching back up at her. Grimacing, Tieria rolled sideways, evading most of the incoming storm. But even with all her speed, she was unable to escape being slashed across the side by a passing blade.

Crashing down into the ground, Tieria landed in a kneeling position and tried to rise, only to find her enemy suddenly coming in from above, a wickedly curved blade of ice held high above his head. Raising her own blade to defend herself, she suddenly found her left arm feeling weak. Actually, she was barely able to move it at all...! Damnit! He must have severed something important with that last attack. There goes my arm, I guess, The Phoenix thought, grimacing as she nonetheless braced herself with her working arm, intercepting the incoming slash and turning it aside before sliding her own weapon up the sword's blade, using the Demon's own momentum to plant his blade uselessly in the ground while simultaneously countering. To her surprise, however, her blade cut through nothing but thin air. Damnit! She'd forgotten. His teleportation magic used contact with ice to warp him instantly. By stabbing his blade into the ground, she'd allowed him to escape!

"I told you. You're too slow," Victor hissed from behind her. Tieria's eyes widened in surprise as she tried to leap upward to evade the attack she thought was coming, only to feel a sudden surge of searing, unbelievable pain from her lower torso as, with a horrible squelching of flesh, she looked down to find an icy blade piercing clean through her lower left side. "It's over," Victor said, and, with those words, he drew back the blade from her, sweeping the blood off it as his enemy staggered weakly forward, planting her blade and then clutching her side as she fought back tears at the overwhelming, unbelievable pain. That was right... this was what it felt like to be impaled. She'd felt this sensation before, and at the hands of the same person. He'd driven blades through every one of her limbs over the course of their fight, and, although she hated to admit it, she had cried pathetically at the pain after the fight had ended. But she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her tears. Not this time. Not again. No... this time, she would pay him back in full, somehow. She had to... reach him. Had to strike him down and win, to show him, to show herself that she wasn't weak anymore.

"Damn... you..." She hissed through gritted teeth as blood began streaming from her many wounds. To Victor's surprise, however, she didn't fall over then and there, but rather, slowly began to rise back to her feet, drawing forth her blade with her scarlet-stained hand and turning about to face him with fire in her eyes. "I'm... not fast enough... am I? Fine... I'll get faster... I'll keep on getting faster and stronger... As much power as it takes to beat you... I'll use whatever it takes!" She howled, flames once again beginning to spread across her sword, then over her entire body as she gave a vicious, guttural roar.

"What...? How the hell are you still even standing, let alone mustering all this power?! I broke your arm, drove a sword clean through your side! I've cut you enough times that you should have passed out by now from blood loss, if not have fainted outright from the pain! How are you still moving, damnit?!" Victor exclaimed, involuntarily stepping back as, to his disbelief, the power surrounding his enemy doubled as she continuously amplified her full strength through her sword, then absorbed it again and repeated the process. The flames around her were almost blinding to look at, now, and yet, even beyond their light, the Demon could see something, could see the answer to his questions.

Tieria's wounds were no longer bleeding.

"Those flames around your body..." He murmured. "You burned yourself to cauterize your own wounds?"

"Oh, I've done far more than cauterize them," Tieria hissed over the crackling of the fires. "Didn't you know...? When a phoenix immolates itself... it's reborn, brighter and stronger than ever before! You can take my flames as many times as you like, Victor. I'll just keep burning with more and more power until you're the one who can no longer stand!"

"That third spell of yours can heal your body in the middle of a battle...? Are you insane, Arcander? Trying to manipulate your own flesh while concentrating on fighting at the same time? Not to mention channeling so much magic through your body at once. If you keep going like this, you'll tear yourself apart if you don't go down the very first time I even hit you."

"This is all for the sake of defeating you," Tieria replied, smirking. "I already told you. I'll do whatever it takes to win! Now, then... Sixth Sorcery - Phoenix of Powers!"

"What...? You managed to create a spell with multiple transformations?!" Victor gasped, watching as a second wing slowly sprouted from the Phoenix's left shoulder, spreading along with the first as the flames around her condensed into her own body, surrounding her with a radiant red glow. Slowly, she raised her sword over her head, and her wings flared violently to life upward, feathers falling from their burning expanse and beginning to swirl around the giant weapon as a blinding crimson light expanded from the hilt all the way down the blade. Victor leaped backward, the searing heat of the flames forcing him to retreat.

"You know, Victor," Tieria said, smirking as she twirled her sword above her head, flipping it around backhanded. "There's a weak point in your strategy."

"What...?"

"You need your ice to move around, right?" Realization began to dawn on Victor as he realized exactly what his enemy was planning. But... she couldn't possibly intend to... She couldn't have the power to do something like ignite the entire arena in a single attack, could she?!

"You don't mean..." He gasped.

"Want to try creating ice when every single inch of your surroundings are on fire?!"

"You're insane! Like I'll just let you do that!" Victor cried, raising his sword and pointing it at his enemy as an icy aura took shape around him. He'd stop her, he'd freeze her solid before she could make her move! "Fenrir Gun!" He howled, launching a tremendous typhoon of ice at the Phoenix, only to watch in horror as it broke around her like waves upon a rock, evaporating before it even reached its target.

"You call that an attack? Hah. No, my friend. Allow me to educate you. THIS is what an attack looks like. GROUND SPARK!" With this bellow, she brought down her upraised blade with the force of eternal judgement, like the hammer of god smiting an insolent mortal below. The blade struck the ground and pierced straight through it, and, in the next instant, the world exploded in a single, vast wave of flames. Everything within the area was burning, from the floor to the ceiling, and even the formidable protective barrier began to strain under the sheer force of the widespread destruction raging across its entire surface. Those students who were watching the fight recoiled in surprise as the heat began to reach even them, and almost all of them began to make a hasty exodus from the grandstands, not wanting to remain in case the shield actually broke and they were all exposed to the full force of the Phoenix's tremendous attacks.

Victor cried out, raising his last sword before himself and flaring all of his power around him, trying in vain to fight back the firestorm that now threatened to completely engulf him. But even he, the mighty and famed Ice Demon, found his own strength paling in comparison to the vast power with which he was now faced. Such force, and such heat, over such a vast area. Tieria had been right, for as the flames finally cleared, he saw what he had feared. Every last scrap of his ice had been entirely and completely melted, evaporating instantly under the tremendous heat. In vain he tried to recreate it, but he already knew that it was of no use. The moment any of his magic took form, it was overwhelmed, consumed by the vicious, hellish inferno that blazed all around him.

The Phoenix smiled, and, raising her sword, pointed it at him. The flames around her roared to life one again, and began to dance along the weapon's blade. When her entire aura had been consumed by Caladbolg's heart, she moved on to her wings, spreading them before her as they rippled and faded into the weapon in her hands. Victor's eyes widened in horror as he realized exactly what was happening. Every last ounce of her power, the full force of her total prepared magic, was being channeled into one, final attack.

"Hey, Victor. Better make good use of that sword. It's the only one you've got," Tieria hissed. Victor looked down at the weapon in question, only to give a cry of helpless rage as it cracked and dribbled away into nothingness, the heat of his enemy's power overcoming even his strongest enchantments. He was helpless, disarmed, trapped by walls of flame on every side, unable to move, and his enemy had all the power she needed to finish him. The battle was over, and, he realized, he had lost.

"Oops. Guess I broke it," The Phoenix laughed. "What a shame. Ah, well. If you can't attack me anymore, there's really no point in prolonging this. 'I told you already. You're too slow.' And now... 'It's over.'" She gave another mocking chuckle, quoting his own words from a moment before just to rub in the fact of her victory.

"D-d-damn... you..." Victor hissed, but the words never left his throat. For, at that instant, the Phoenix called her final spell, the attack that would finally end the battle. Without a doubt, it would strike, and when it did, her victim would be helpless to stop it.

"Flare... FINALE!"

Victor cried out in vain, for even his screams were drowned out completely by the explosive roar of the Phoenix's spell as a giant, condensed beam of fire tore across the arena, consuming all in its path. When the flares in the heart of the stone chamber finally died down, there were only two things to be seen. Tieria standing, battered but victorious... and Victor lying at the center of a vast trench in the ground, half buried by ashes and rubble, charred, burnt, and completely unconscious.

.....

The Phoenix's victory was short lived.

"Damnit. Not you again." Tieria scowled, sizing up the group of three ice-users standing between her and the exit. She had expected they'd leave when their champion was beaten, cowed by her power, and yet, it seemed that they hadn't taken the hint. Or, more accurately, they knew exactly what sort of a state she was in. Actually, although she put on a brave face, she could hardly stand at this point. She'd put almost all of her strength into her finishing spell, and having to use her transformation had taken quite a toll on her body. Her left arm hung limply at her side, and her right could barely even lift her giant weapon at this point, upon which she was now propping herself.

"Oh, don't worry about us," The lead boy said, smiling sickeningly. "We just thought we'd congratulate you on beating such a well-known opponent. We have to admit, we didn't expect that."

"Considering you sent him to fight me, I'd think that was pretty obvious," Tieria replied coldly. "So... what were you hoping for? That he'd send me to the healers? If that was your aim, then you need to grow a clue. I don't put up with anyone who tries to take me down."

"Of course not. It would have been stupid to give you a chance to get your revenge on us," The boy replied slyly.

"So, you were hoping he'd 'accidentally' kill me? Or, better yet, that I'd tear my own body apart from the strain of fighting and save you and your friend Victor the trouble?"

"That's a little closer. If Victor had done the deed himself, he'd face expulsion, which would be good for us as fellow ice users. Without the old prodigy to overshadow us, we'd be able to gain reputations of our own. But, of course, we weren't counting on him doing something so careless. Why else would he only run you through the side where you don't have any vital organs, when he could just as easily have slit your throat or impaled your heart?" The boy stopped, and another picked up to continue the explanation.

"If you had ended up killing yourself, it would also work out in our favor. We'd be rid of you as an enemy, and we wouldn't be blamed for it. But, of course, we doubted this would happen, either."

"So what's your plan, then? Surely you don't intend to kill me yourselves, considering you've gone to all this trouble to dodge the blame," Tieria asked, not liking where this conversation was headed.

"How perceptive of you. No, although it would be easy to just end your life now considering the state you're in, we'd just be thrown out for it, and that's exactly the opposite of what we want. But, of course, we need to dispose of you somehow. Tell me, Tieria Arcander, do you know what happens when a student suffers severe injuries in an unauthorized sparring match? For example, so severe that they can no longer use magic?"

"What are you implying...?" She asked, sounding a little nervous. She knew exactly what happened in such a situation. The student would be healed, but then expelled for their carelessness and sent back to whatever home they came from. It was for that reason she'd been careful not to overly injure Victor, instead just burning him and breaking a few bones with pressure until he was unconscious. He'd been fun to fight, and she hadn't wanted to assist these three schemers by getting him out of their way, nor risk a punishment upon herself for injuring him thus.

"Well, let's say, hypothetically, that there was a student who needed to activate all of her spells by speaking. Say in in a certain, unsupervised battle with a higher level student, her tongue was carved out with a knife? And let's say this student had a summoned item that embodied all of her magical power, that, when destroyed, would release all that energy, making it very hard for her to recover the strength she once had. Such a student certainly wouldn't draw much pity from the instructors, especially considering the fact that she crushed one of the star pupils of the school, damaging his reputation a great deal after they worked so hard on helping him build it up from behind the scenes. The delinquent who ruined this role model's pride would certainly be expelled, using her inability to use magic anymore as a justification, wouldn't she? It wouldn't matter what tales she told trying to pass off her guilt onto a certain three other students. Nobody would have any reason to believe her, now would they?"

"So that's your plan..." Tieria stepped back, drawing her sword and leveling it in front of her in preparation to defend herself, even though she knew it was hopeless. She could thwart their plans partially by dismissing Caladbolg so they couldn't break it, but what then? She'd be completely vulnerable, unable to stop them from cutting her tongue out and doing whatever else they might feel like doing in the meantime. She had no choice but to keep the weapon drawn. In short, she was cornered. "But what's to stop this hypothetical student from coming back? It's not impossible to circumvent voice restrictions on spells, nor is it impossible to regain power once lost."

"Oh, but you won't have a chance to do that, Miss Arcander. Do you think I haven't done my research on the enemy I intend to eliminate?" He laughed coldly. "I know all about your family, and about you. It's almost laughable, really. To think that you're a pathetic failure and trying to hide it. But the best part is what your family does to those who shame their heritage. For someone of such noble blood to lose their potential for magic. Oh, I'm sure you'd be punished severely. Burning alive slowly over the course of a whole week, was it? To purify the shamed blood by the family's traditional flames, keeping the victim alive with magic all the while as everything from their feet all the way up to their head is slowly immolated, bit by bit? How primitive. But, it's convenient, no?"

"Damn you..." The Phoenix hissed, her eyes narrowing in absolute, furious rage as the three boys standing in front of her laughed cruelly. She tried to muster her flames, but found them weak, far too weak to save her. She was cornered, helpless... In this state, there was nothing she could do to save herself, and they all knew it. She was already... she was already dead.

"My, my, isn't that a little foolish?" The lead boy asked, taking a step forward. Tieria realized what he was doing far too late to stop him as a vicious-looking black icicle appeared in his hands, a weapon which he plunged toward her. Damnit, damnit, damnit, not good! The Phoenix thought frantically. If she didn't move her sword out of the way, that attack would break it for sure! But if she did, that icicle would be carving its way straight into her eye. This realization was, perhaps, what doomed her, for in her heart, she hesitated for just a moment to sacrifice her eye to save herself. And, in that moment... she lost her only chance to move Caladbolg out of the way. With a quiet crack that yet rang out through the silence, the icicle struck the blade of her sword... and shattered the weapon into four separate pieces.

An explosion of flames erupted from the broken blade, scattering fire in all directions and forcing the three assailants to jump back as Tieria staggered under the weight of the flames she was too weak to control. No... her power... all of her power was escaping! The strength she'd worked for years to attain was slipping away, vanishing into thin air. Desperate now to save herself from the fate she couldn't escape, she strained with all the mental strength available to her. Channeling her full will through the broken-off hilt of her sword, she snatched at all the flames she could reach, and sealed them away within the broken weapon. This power... it was pathetic compared to her former strength, but at least, maybe with this, she could somehow-

She cried out weakly in pain as she was suddenly caught by her hair and pulled back, lifted into the air painfully by one of her enemies, then hurled down upon the ground. Before she could even recover from the searing pain as all of her wounds began to reopen, she found herself caught firmly and held down, her mouth forced open as the boy standing above her drew forth a wicked looking knife and held it over his victim. She struggled in vain, unable to escape the hands that immobilized her. In that moment, as her consciousness faded and exhaustion overtook her, she found herself making a silent plea more humiliating and yet more earnest than any other words she'd ever thought or said before.

Help me... Someone... please... help me...

As her eyes closed, she knew deep down that this plea wouldn't be answered. This was it. Her life was over already, she just wasn't feeling the pain yet. She was already dead, even if her mind yet remained. It was hopeless. And yet, she couldn't help but notice something that, to her, seemed miraculous. The knife above her had stopped in its descent. The hands grasping her had suddenly weakened, as though distracted. A voice rang out from beyond her field of vision, speaking words she couldn't make out or understand. But, the meaning of all these things was clear to her as she faded into an unconscious stupor.

Her plea had been answered. Someone had come to save her. She was... alive?

(Whew. I'm glad I managed to keep this fight scene comparatively short. Most NPC 1v1 battles I write go to about 30 pages long. Fortunately, I managed to wrap things up in only 11 pages. Sorry to make it so long, guys. I think I was enjoying myself a little too much. XD Still, I hope you liked it!)

Jason kept his eyes focused on the fleet of ice mages that now began to surround him, his hands starting to set off a bluish aura. He was ready to fight. "Let him go...he's mine to fight" a mysterious, yet so recognizable voice spoke out from the back. The fleet then went to semicircle formation and slowly backed up as the leader of the ice mages, Pryce, slowly approached Jason. It wasn't Pryce's presence that shocked him, but it was who Pryce was holding. For in his arms, Tieria was unconcious. Cuts and gashes covered her body, bruises were apparant. She looked like she went through a warzone. At that moment, however, something happened; a feeling became present deep within his soul. "Let her go!" he screamed as Pryce was now about a good 20 feet away from him. Pryce just snickered at the remark, then slowly looked up at his long-term rival.

"Oh how foolish of you to boss me around, but no other. I was done with her anyway" he stated as with more than the reasonable amount of force, he threw her unconcious body against the wall. Jason panicked and ran over, trying to go check up on her, but an icy blast whizzed in front of him. He nearly dodged it as the blast hit the wall behind him. His attention then turned to Pryce. Jason and Pryce have fought numerous times in the past, always for the same thing; the right to be called Head of the Ice Class. However, this time was different. This time, it was personal.

"You know as well as everyone else not to piss me off Pryce...." Jason muttered in a stone-ridden tone, his eyes focused on the ground.

"Oh please, you and I both know these battles are more fun when your angry anyway" Pryce replied, laughing a bit. Pryce was always brash and cocky about his talents and abilities. There was a reason why he was head of the Ice class.

As they exchanged words, Jason's eyes scoped the ground, then his attention turned to Tieria, then to the extra ice mages that blocked the door. If he was to win this fight, he would have to reduce the numbers to make it fair. Before Pryce could finish what he was saying, Jason laughed a bit.

"What the hell is so funny?" he demanded, a bit confused, yet curious on what the source was of Jason's laughter.

With a twisted, evil look in his eyes, Jason whispered "Game On", and out from the ground came 4 crystal copies of Jason. Using the copies as a distraction, Jason manuevered the now numerous ice blasts coming from Pryce and the other ice mages. Once he reached Tieria, he carefully pulled her onto his back, making sure her arms were wrapped around his neck so she wouldn't fall. Taking a quick surrounding of the arena, Jason noted the ice mages were dispersed from the door. As much as he would love to end Pryce's reign right now, he found it more important to get Tieria to safety. As he used his ice powers, he slid slyly around the arena and headed to the door. Before he bashed through the door, he set off his final spell, releasing a wave of subzero frost. On contact, the ice mages were encased in a thick layer of ice, preventing Pryce or anyone else from leaving the arena for a while.

Pryce, taking a moment to recollect what just happend, could only laugh. "Well well, I guess Jason does have a heart. Just another thing to crush" he petitioned as his eyes turned to the door. "Run and hide while you can Jason. Soon, you and your girl will be just a distant memory" he said as he sat down on the floor and waited patiently for his escape.



Meanwhile, Jason was running through the streets, trying to find the nearest hospital. All the while, his mind was racing, however they stayed on one specific course: Tieria's safety. He had no idea what he was doing, or why he was. For some reason, it just felt like the right thing to do. As he turned the corner, he quickly rushed towards the hospital door and ran inside. There's an old saying that actions speak louder than words, and this instance was no exception. As soon as Jason ran through the door, the attendant could easily tell what needed to be done and called for doctors immediately. Within several seconds, a team of doctors took her to the back. He insisted on going back with her, but the nurses had him wait in the waiting room. As he stood there alone in the waiting room, his whole body went ice cold. He took a seat by the window and looked outside, not sure what to think or what to do. All he could do was hope that Tieria was ok, that he wasn't too late.

Minutes, maybe even hours passed. No matter how long, Jason remained seated, waiting to hear any news on Tieria's condition. He started questioning to himself if she would be ok. She did look pretty banged up. While he was on that note, he seemed to realize that her sword was in shambles. "Maybe that's got something to do with it...." he whispered to himself. Jason read something before about sorcerors who also use magic-enfused weapons during combat. He had no idea though that by having her sword crushed, it would make her so vulnerable. Maybe this was all his doing.....maybe it was his fault she was so weak now. Jason couldn't stop feeling guilty for all of this. A few minutes later, a nurse came through the doors, and Jason quickly turned around, getting up in an instant. "How is she? Is she ok?" he asked, his words stammering a bit. The nurse just smiled a bit, and replied saying "She's fine, and she's awake now if you wish to see her", as she led Jason to Tieria's hospital room. 137. That was the room number Jason now found himself outside of. "Just remember, please keep your voice down" the nurse stated as she walked off to help another patient. Jason then turned into the door, spotting Tieria on the bed, but what she was doing kept him stunned at the door. She was crying. He didn't know what to do. He just stood there for a minute, then finally got the initiative to give the door a slight tap and whisper "Hey", as to signify to her that he was there.

The quiet creaking of the door alerted the young sorceress to the presence of another individual, even before the boy tried to make himself known. She'd been lying on her side, staring blankly out the window, which, considering the half-light of the room, would make it hard for whoever was watching to make out exactly what she was doing. Tieria had made nary a sound as she wept, and had remained largely still, so perhaps, just maybe, whoever it was wouldn't realize that she'd actually been crying, something it wounded her already damaged pride deeply to admit. She supposed she should be thankful for that much, at least, but found it hard to, considering the fact that even if he somehow hadn't noticed already to begin with, she'd still have to turn to face him to find out who it was, at which point it would become obvious. Her face was red, her eyes watery, her expression broken and disconsolate... How could anyone, looking at an expression such as that, reach any other conclusion save that she'd been weeping? How disgraceful. Even when she was alone, it was careless to let such weakness show, she realized. Yes, careless. That was what she'd been. Crying so openly, feeling sorry for herself... those were just ways of making herself more pathetic and wretched than she already was. Her image had already been broken enough along with her sword and body, and now the last shards of her hard-earned pride would be taken from her, wouldn't they? But, she had no choice. Slowly, as stealthily as she could, she brushed her damp cheeks with her working hand, and then slowly, gingerly rose, keeping her head just so slightly slumped so her bangs would hang a little down over her eyes, hopefully hiding them from view. It was a desperate attempt, and one that probably wouldn't amount to anything, considering that even now, in the presence of someone else, she found it hard to stop the tears that had been waiting for so many years to finally flow.

Tieria was quite the sight, patched up as she was, like a garment torn apart by wear, then crudely sown back together. Her usual leather vest and bloodied blouse had been taken along with her skirt and leggings, presumably to be cleaned and repaired, and she'd been left with a featureless, long-sleeved white gown to replace them, although thankfully, her customary scarlet jacket had been left her, draped over her shoulders - with a broken arm, it would have been impossible for her to actually don it - like some sort of blanket or mantle. Beneath its folds was just visible the swelled, bandaged shape of her arm, wrapped in a thick, blank cast. Although her new attire covered most of the bandages wrapped around her torso, it could never hope to hide that injury, at least. Not even her face remained unmarked, either, for a small, thin line of wraps were wound around her forehead, and a small medical patch was taped over her cheek, both of these covering wounds that had been inflicted by the scattering shards of her own weapon as it broke apart.

As she raised her head slowly towards the doorway, the light of the rising moon, streaming through the window, silhouetted her against the blank room, gleaming through her equally silvery hair and painting it like a celestial veil around her dejected face. Her eyes twinkled sadly beneath her pale fringe as, unnoticeable were it not for the light that flashed through it as it fell, lighting it up like a plummeting star, a single rebellious tear dropped silently to the sheets below. Shame and sadness lit up the defeated warrior's countenance with a pale pink hue, and her lips pursed in a helpless, angry line.

"Oh," She said quietly, trying not to speak too much lest her cracking voice give her away, even though she knew hiding her tears was already a lost cause by now. "You're that kid from earlier. So... you brought me here, huh?" She asked, seeming disinterested with even this information. It seemed logical enough to assume, considering she'd helped him out before, albeit in a situation in which he hadn't exactly seemed to need it. So, since he was here right now, it was pretty much already certain that he'd been the one to help her when she'd been beaten. She didn't want to say "saved," but, well, she'd thought it anyway, as much as the notion of it disgusted her. Oh, how the mighty had fallen, to need "saving" by some random kid whose name she didn't even know.

"Why? Why'd you even bother?" She asked gloomily, giving a hollow, mirthless chuckle and her wryest smirk. It was clear the only person being laughed at here was herself, and even that was just a futile measure to keep composed, because the Phoenix knew that if she didn't laugh, she'd start to cry. To be honest, though, Tieria had been wondering this for a little while now. Why had anyone even bothered to help her? She'd lost her strength, the one thing that had made her a worthwhile person. She'd be of no use as an ally now, and, since her reputation would be in tatters by the next day - to be defeated by a couple students over 3 levels lower than herself would steal any credibility she might have had as an actual warrior - she couldn't hope to serve any purpose as a mouthpiece or as a deterrent. The only reason she could possibly think of for being left alive was that maybe this boy was hoping to force her into his service as a status symbol. Maybe a person or two would think it was impressive that he'd managed to clip the wings of the once-feared Phoenix, reducing her to his puppet, but something like that would just be naive and foolish. That'd just open her to take him out or abandon him the moment he stopped being convenient, so what use would there be in it? She couldn't see one, anyway.

Jason just stood there, not sure what to think. Here she sat, clearly devastated on such an alteration of power level, and clueless on what to do now. With caution, he slowly walked up to her. As he took a seat beside her, she asked him why he did it; why he saved her. Jason looked out the window for a second, then back to her. "I have no idea why I did it, but all I can tell you is I'm glad that I did. I haven't exactly been steady-minded after seeing you....it's like something has changed." he told her, trying to explain his mixed feelings about everything. "And about your powers, don't worry too much about it. Sure, they might give you a hard time about it at first, but you'll get your powers back soon and be feared once again." Jason said, smiling a bit at her. Without even thinking, he took her hand in his. "And if you ever need help training, I'm there for you" he whispered to her. A few seconds passed by until he finally realized he was still holding her hand, as he quickly let go. In a frantic panic of sorry's and "I didn't mean it"'s, Jason's cheeks began to turn red as he turned away from her.

The long silence between then was broken by a single sound.

"Ha," Tieria scoffed, drawing back her own hand, although she didn't recoil quite as violently as the boy seated next to her. She felt too overwhelmed to be embarrassed by such a thing right now. Or, perhaps it was just that her shame couldn't deepen any further than it already had? Either way, it hardly mattered. "What? Were you hoping I'd say you were my hero, fall into your arms and become your mindless devotee? Or perhaps you thought you were repaying some kind of debt? Don't make that mistake." Tieria glared coldly at the boy. "All you've done is ensure I survive long enough to see myself weak and helpless. Is this your idea of 'help?' Because if it is, I don't want it," She said icily, the anger rising in her voice perhaps her only way of driving back the sadness that yet lingered in her blue-green eyes. "I didn't ask for any of this. And yet, because I stepped in to save you, look at me now, trapped by you trying and failing to save me. Don't treat me like a child by trying to make light of all this when you don't have any idea what you're talking about, damnit! I'll recover from this, true. I always do. But when I do, know this. The first thing I do when I get out of here will be go after those bastards who did this and make them pay. You have that long to prepare yourself or settle whatever other scores you might have. After that, you're next. For everything you've caused me to go through, I swear right now that I'll beat you once and for all, and prove that I don't need you or your so-called help! In fact, if I wasn't without the use of one of my arms right now, I'd probably beat you into the ground here and now, even without Caladbolg! So, there, are you happy? This is what you've 'saved,' or rather, doomed. Maybe you should kill me before I finish recovering and come after you? Or, barring that, you should at least get the hell out and leave me alone!" Her voice was growing more and more despairing, even as it become ever more pointed, accusing, and hateful. It wasn't quite clear who she blamed more for this: the boy, or herself.

Sitting there in disbelief, Jason had no idea what to think or say anymore. He just sat there and took each vocal dagger straight to his heart and just sat there with his head hung down. As she concluded her words, he just stood up and started heading towards the door. Before he left, he slightly turned to give her some parting words. "I never wanted any of this to happen either. I only saved you to pay the debt for your help from earlier, nothing more. And I have nothing against your plans, and I'll be expecting to see you again in the near future." he said to her, his voice as cold as the ice magic he so greatly possesses. "And don't think for a second that I'm leaving because you asked me to. It's the only thing I can do" he said. And with those last words, he walked out of the room, and outside. By then, it was downpouring outside. Showing no concern of it, Jason began walking out in the pouring rain. He walked for quite a while before he took a seat on a nearby bench, his face covered by his palms, so frustrated with himself on what he did to her.

As the ice user swiftly left, seeming cold and defensive all of a sudden, the Phoenix shifted in the darkness, gazing numbly down at the cast that was all too apparent around her arm, even in the shadow of the coat draped over her. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, considering what had been said, but somehow, it seemed disappointing to her. Had she wanted him to accept her challenge, to mock her so she could really, truly treat him as an enemy without compunction? Or perhaps she'd been hoping he'd simply kill her quickly and put an end to her shame. Or, least likely of all, in Tieria's opinion, had she actually been hoping he would defend his position of helping her? That he'd refuse to leave, even when she commanded him to? That he would continue trying to aid her, even after she rejected him outright...? It wasn't that she felt like she needed his assistance or his comfort. No, that was a level of weakness the young warrior would never stoop to. It was just... it felt like he had only helped her because he, like her, didn't want to feel weak, like he had needed her assistance. He'd felt that he owed her somehow, and had wanted to prove to himself that he was the more powerful one by in turn "saving" her. Was that it? Was that the only reason she'd lived at all, because somebody else wanted her to be the weak one? If that was the case, why did he even bother pretending to offer to help her in the first place? To lord over her the fact that he was now superior, that she'd been brought down to his level? Tieria had never been one to believe in the honest charity of others, but despite that, the realization of the cynical truth of her "rescue" still weighed upon her shattered pride. She hung her head, hugging her knees against her chest - at least, with the arm that still worked - and gazed blankly down at the tear-stained sheets between strands of her drooping silver hair.

"I'll show you who's weak. Don't pretend you're better than me, you hypocrite!" She hissed, her words going unheard in the silent room. The magically enchanted bandages wound around her body would have her healed by tomorrow, and already, she was beginning to plan out her moves to come. All four of the ice users who had insulted her so would pay, and pay dearly. She was the Phoenix, and, no matter how many times she was struck down, and no matter how long it took to rise from the ashes... she would be reborn.