“Maybe Parks and Jason will be out? The two with Franco didn’t hit them lightly when they got to them. Multiple broken bones, I think,” Yukiko said.
“We’ll find out when it’s our turn,” Gregory exhaled. “At least it’ll be a little easier.”
“We hope,” Jenn said.
Chapter Seventy-six
With the Eternal Flame’s fight over, Dia and Bishop rose from their seats. “We will be back after the demonstrations,” Dia said.
“We’re looking forward to them,” Gregory said.
“Do we even know what kind of magic Dia has?” Jenn asked. “I’ve never seen her use any.”
“I think it’s fire,” Gregory said. “I’ve seen her light her pipe with her fingertip.”
“I remember that,” Yukiko agreed, “but I’ve never seen anything else.”
“The Eternal Flame disliked Dia during her time in the academy because of her magic,” Lightshield said. “She used it as sparingly as possible and has never been one for showing off.”
They fell silent as they watched the arena clear of apprentices. When they were gone, Yunlo announced that the first demonstration would be by Magus Samantha Bishop. Bishop walked out of the tunnel, her kimono gently swaying in the lightly blowing breeze. As she approached Yunlo, a few adepts brought out metal training dummies and placed them around the arena. The adepts were burning aether on their limbs as they carried the dummies, letting the crowd know how heavy they were.
Yunlo handed over the disk and vanished from the arena floor. Bishop looked over the crowd, then raised the glowing disk to her lips. “I am Magus Bishop, physical enhancement magi of Aether’s Guard. I’ve been a proctor for the empire for a score of years. I’ve faced down bane beasts of nearly every type, killed bandits by the drove, and fought in skirmishes along the borders. I know how violent the world is outside of the empire and, as a magi sworn to protect the empire, I will show you some of the skills used to help defend us all.” Placing the disk into her belt pouch, Bishop turned to the closest dummy.
Over the next quarter-hour, Bishop put on a display of what she could do. She cleaved a dummy’s head clean off, then punched through another. She showcased how her aether let her cross distances in a blink, going from one side of the arena to the other— the most people could see was the streak of blue flame she left behind her. She finished by coming to a stop in front of the last intact dummy, her sword blurring from her sheath before returning a few heartbeats later.
Pulling the disk out of her pouch, she addressed the crowd, “I hope this display helps you better understand what we can do to keep the empire safe.” As she finished talking, the dummy behind her fell into five separate pieces. “Even if this display just cost the academy a lot of vela.”
Laughter came from the crowd at her joke.
Yunlo appeared beside her and Bishop handed the disk to him. She was nearly back to the tunnel when she stopped and looked at the man leaning over the railing toward her. Gregory was surprised that she’d gone to the far tunnel, and was even more surprised to see Harrison speaking with her.
Bishop motioned to him, then to the arena. With a shrug, she turned and walked back to Yunlo. After a moment, Yunlo raised the disk to his lips. “After the third-place fight for the apprentices, we will be seeing a challenge between magus-tier magi. Magus Guthrie Harrison of Swift Wind has challenged Magus Samantha Bishop of Aether’s Guard to a duel. The fight will be blades only, and the stakes are a future favor between the magi, as well as a favor between the clans.”
The audience all began to murmur, but Gregory looked at Lightshield. “This is what you spoke of at breakfast?”
“Harrison does not like that Bishop was the one to put on the display, as his request to put on a display was rejected,” Lightshield said. “His pride has been battered by her for many years, but he refuses to acknowledge her as his superior in any way.”
Yukiko shook her head, wondering how Harrison had grown so twisted when it was obvious Bishop still viewed him kindly, in her own way.
“Dia,” Jenn said, leaning forward slightly as Dia walked out of the tunnel beneath them.
Her kimono bearing the same clan motif as Bishop caused a stir through the crowd. Her panda ears twitched slightly as she walked smoothly forward to Yunlo. The two spoke for a moment before Yunlo handed her the disk, then vanished.
“Greetings to you all. Thank you for coming to see our young magi learn valuable lessons. I’m Magus Dia Ursinda, a magi of fire and a member of Aether’s Guard. I have been with the clan for nearly six decades and in that time, I’ve done many things for them and the empire. I am here to show you fire magic. We’ve seen some of it from the novices and apprentices, but I thought you should see what a magus can do.”
There was a small commotion from where the Eternal Flame clan was sitting, as they clearly disliked her speech. Dia gave them a smile, but went on addressing the crowd.
“As you can see, the destroyed dummies have been left in place. Truthfully, they can still see some use as my targets.” With that said, she put the disk into her pouch and closed her eyes for a moment.
Dia stood still in the center of the arena and moved her arms. A ball of fire came shooting out from each hand. Two of the more intact dummies were struck center mass, and the metal went from dull to heated in a moment.
Gregory was shocked as he watched Dia. She tossed balls of fire from her hands, had streams of
