The pre-dawn chill had grown familiar over these past weeks. Not that Vel noticed it anymore—his mind was elsewhere, working through spell theory and tournament strategies. A small light mote hovered beside him, casting just enough glow for his work.
The Academy training grounds sat empty around him, like usual.
Voices drifted across the field as Celia and Tomas approached from the distance.
"Where do the elites train?" Tomas asked. "I've never actually seen them outside their class."
"Probably some private training area," Celia replied. "Noble privilege and such."
"Yeah, guess they wouldn't want anyone peeking."
"Well, more space for us."
The tournament break had given them precious time to develop new techniques. Their victories so far had exceeded expectations, but the challenges ahead would be considerably more difficult.
They stepped closer, noticing Vel focused on something.
"What are you doing?" Celia asked.
Vel didn't answer. He raised his hand, whispering an incantation again. A faint shimmer appeared in the air.
He turned with a satisfied smile, gesturing them closer. "Look what I made."
Vel sat down on what appeared to be nothing at all. His body remained suspended about three feet above the ground, as if perched on an invisible chair.
"After watching Lysithea's match, I figured out how to replicate this spell."
Tomas and Celia stared with undisguised amazement at Vel's magical creation.
Celia's mouth hung open. "You're just... sitting on air?"
"And pretty comfy too. Look." Vel patted the space beside him, the gesture making small ripples in the air like disturbing the surface of a pond.
Celia approached cautiously. She extended her hand where Vel had indicated, and her palm met resistance—not solid like stone, but supportive like a cushion. She carefully folded her skirt and lowered herself onto the unseen platform.
"It's like sitting on an invisible cushion," she said, bouncing once to test it. "You could actually sleep on this."
Tomas joined them, poking the barrier several times before sitting. "Coool! What are you going to use it for?"
"Definitely not sleeping," Vel said, monitoring his mana usage through his interface. "There's a cost to maintaining it."
Celia pouted slightly in mock protest.
"But..." Vel continued, "I might have figured out how Kein's team pulled off their finishing move. With this."
Both of them perked up immediately.
Vel explained quickly—how Kein used these invisible platforms to change direction mid-strike, bouncing between targets faster than anyone could track. The coordination wasn't just about speed; it was about creating footholds where none should exist.
"So he's not just fast," Celia said slowly. "It's coordination. Down to every step."
"How exactly does it work?" Tomas asked, curiosity written across his face.
Vel tested the edge of the platform with his hand. "At first, I tried to press the air together, but continuously doing that made it very volatile. One small external force and the air... exploded. Sent me flying."
Celia's eyes widened. "You experimented on yourself?"
"Then I tried creating a constant current of air—you know, like blowing in one direction. But it wasn't precise, and the current needed too much space to pick up enough force."
"Until I realized I was overthinking," Vel continued. "It's basically a 'fixed position' spell, like my ice mirror. It keeps the dense air structure in place rather than continuously manipulating it."
Celia bounced slightly on the invisible cushion, testing its resilience. "But how does this help us in the tournament? We're not facing Lysithea's team unless we reach the finals."
Vel smiled, pleased she'd asked exactly the right question. "If you find something hard to counter, try applying it yourself."
His mind raced back to his knowledge of his old world, where as a developer he was constantly fixing broken strategies players came up with. Sometimes he didn't need to 'nerf' these strategies; he just needed to let players know a way to counter them.
"The best way to understand a technique is to master it yourself," Vel said. "Once we know how it works, we can find its weaknesses."
Vel slid off the invisible platform and stepped back, motioning for Celia and Tomas to move aside. He wanted to demonstrate something crucial.
"Let me show you something," he said, raising his hands again.
With practiced movements, Vel created another air barrier a few feet away, this one vertical like a wall. The faint shimmer in the air was barely visible in the early morning light.
"Watch carefully," he instructed.
Vel focused, drawing upon his water and air elements. The familiar incantation formed in his mind: "Zetahn Feryis Crystallum."
A jagged shard of ice materialized before him, then shot forward with considerable force toward the barrier. Upon impact, the ice lance shattered, fragments scattering across the ground. The barrier rippled slightly but remained intact.
Tomas nodded appreciatively. "Makes sense. It's like hitting a very dense wall."
"Now watch this," Vel said, his expression intensifying. He turned to Celia. "Can you send a quick lightning bolt through it? Use your rapier."
Celia stood, drawing her rapier. She channeled lightning through the blade, the familiar crackle of electricity dancing along its length.
With a swift motion, she thrust forward. A bolt of lightning erupted from the tip, streaking toward the barrier. Instead of shattering or stopping, the lightning passed straight through without resistance, striking the ground beyond with a sharp crack.
Celia's eyes widened. "It went right through!"
"Do you see it?" Vel asked, excitement building in his voice. "The barrier stops us because we're tangible—our bodies, our clothes. The same thing happened when it stopped the crossbow bolt in the match."
"But it doesn't stop something intangible."
Vel struggled to find an easy way to explain the physics concept without revealing knowledge from his previous life. The barrier wasn't truly solid—it was compressed air molecules with microscopic spaces between them.
"Think of it like... a very fine net," he offered. "Small enough to catch fish, but water still flows through."
"Wait... so certain types of magic can still get through?" Tomas asked.
Vel nodded. "But that's where their strategy is very well thought out. Any time a spell is about to be cast..."
"Eldrin cancels it," Celia finished.
"And if they get close, Kein stops them." Tomas nodded slowly, understanding dawning on his face. "It's a very well-structured strategy."
The three fell silent as the implications sank in.
"So how do we fight it?" Tomas finally asked, his voice betraying his concern.
Vel turned to Celia, a smile spreading across his face. "We have the key person right here."
Celia blinked in surprise. "Me?"
"Celia is lightning specialized, and she doesn't use spells," Vel explained to Tomas. "That at least opens one door for counterplay."
Tomas's expression brightened. "Right! Her sword art channels lightning directly!"
"But what about the other spell?" Celia asked, frowning. "The one Eldrin used to stop attacks directly. Won't that be a problem?"
"Right. That could be an issue if we don't account for it." Vel paced in a small circle, mentally reviewing what he'd seen during the match.
Can sound and lightning truly clash? Lightning makes sound, doesn't it? But lightning is created by charged particles jumping through the air, finding the shortest path forward. Even if sound waves disrupt the space, the lightning would still find a route—maybe slightly longer, but it would still travel. Because where there's sound, there's air. And where there's air—
"There's Celia!" Vel stopped abruptly, like a scholar who'd just found his answer.
Celia blinked. "What?"
"I'm confident you're our answer. You need to face Eldrin directly." Vel turned to her with certainty. "If you get close enough, I doubt he'll have time to play his harp before your blade reaches him."
"Which means..." Tomas started.
"Yeah." Vel nodded grimly. "I have to face Kein. Keep him busy so he can't protect Eldrin."
"That leaves me and Lysithea. Two wild cards." Tomas paused. "But what about the barriers?"
"Pretty easy. We just need to make them visible," Vel said with a grin. "Once we know where they are, Celia can just dance around them."
"Then I'll make sure I reach him." Celia's grip tightened on her practice sword.
"The prince is our prime target. We have to take him down first!" Vel declared.
A beat of silence.
Vel suddenly realized what he'd just said. "Oh. That sounds a bit wrong out loud."
Tomas snorted. "Just a bit."
Vel scratched his head, his momentary excitement fading as reality set in. The tournament's challenges loomed larger than just one team.
"Well, even then, we still have Kein to worry about," he sighed. "His Flash Step is something else entirely. And he's gotten much stronger since our days in Elnor."
Celia's expression hardened. "We'll figure out something for that too."
"And EVEN then," Vel continued, counting problems on his fingers, "we still have Severin's team to worry about. Did you see that fire serpent he summoned? It was massive."
Tomas shuddered. "I've never seen a fire spell that complex before. The way it moved... almost like it was alive."
"Yeah," Vel nodded, letting the air platform dissipate as he stood. "We can slowly work on this later. For now, let's focus on the match ahead."
Their next opponents weren't as high-profile as Kein's or Severin's teams, but underestimating them would be a fatal mistake. The tournament's progression meant each subsequent team would be more skilled than the last.
"Alright," Vel clapped his hands together. "Back to basics. Tomas, I want to try something with your magma bolt. If we can modify the trajectory mid-flight..."
The three returned to their practice positions. Vel demonstrated a modified casting stance while Celia worked on her footwork, developing a pattern that would keep her mobile against barriers. Tomas concentrated on maintaining his spell's stability while adjusting its path.
As the sun slowly rose over the Academy grounds, their movements became more coordinated, their strategies more refined. Sweat beaded on their foreheads despite the morning chill.
"One more time," Vel called out, raising his hand to signal the beginning of another practice sequence. "From the top!"