Rise of the Devourer
Book 4: Chapter 20 — Tournament Pt. 7

As Noah practiced his combinations, the air in the palace training rooms felt thicker than normal. After the first round, the tournament's mood changed. What had started as tests to see who was worthy had turned into a real high-stakes battle between the best fighters.

Noah teleported from one training dummy to another, and with each time he did it, his Arcane Step got smoother. He was getting used to the new ability, and to be honest, he was just glad to have it back. The weeks without dependable teleportation had been torture—he'd gotten so used to moving across space that going everywhere felt like being permanently disabled.

But the new one was amazing. In addition to basic teleportation, he could now make what the system dubbed "anchor points," which were geographical marks that he could return to from very far away. So far, he could only keep one at a time, but it was enough to give him new ideas that he was still working on.

He concentrated on a location near the entrance to the chamber and willed an anchor to appear. There was no visible change, but he could feel the spatial marker settling into position like an invisible beacon. He then teleported to the far end of the room and, with only a thought, came back to his anchor point right away.

The range was huge; he had tested it the day before and was able to anchor-jump from the palace to the city's outer wall, which would have taken an hour to walk. It really felt freeing to have that type of freedom again.

"Are you still getting used to the new version of your toy?"

When Noah turned around, he saw Seraphina coming into the room. He smiled as he realized that she had spotted him nearly bouncing with delight at his returned teleportation powers.

Noah turned around and saw Seraphina coming into the room with a lot of thick magical books in her arms. She put them on a nearby bench and started putting them in some kind of order that presumably made sense to her.

"Something like that," Noah said as he casually teleported next to her. "Tomorrow will be fun."

"Yes, it will be," Seraphina answered without glancing up from her studies. "I've been looking forward to facing you in particular."

"Is there a specific reason?"

"Your magical signature is interesting," she said, finally looking at him. "Void magic, draconic components, and spatial manipulation—it's a mix that shouldn't work in theory, yet it does. I'm interested to see how it stands up to rigorous deconstruction.

Noah couldn't help but smile. "Are you going to take my magic apart like you did with Thane?"

"Oh, that was just a basic theoretical application," Seraphina said with a wave. "Earth magic works in very predictable ways. Your skills are far more complicated, which makes them more fun to figure out.

For a while, they worked in silence, Noah rehearsing his movement patterns and Seraphina studying her readings with great focus. He could hear the noises of combat practice ringing through the halls as the other combatants got ready for their fights tomorrow.

"Can I ask you a question?" Noah remarked this during a break in his training.

"You can ask." I might or might not answer, depending on whether or not the question interests me.

"What made you want to learn about theoretical magic? Most wizards start with real-world uses.

Seraphina was quiet for a long time, tracing complicated figures in one of her books with her finger. Noah was starting to worry she wouldn't respond until she finally did.

"I found out I had magical talent when I was eight," she remarked, her voice strangely quiet. "My parents were happy. They thought it was a chance to get up in society. Even people who aren't very good at magic can get good jobs in noble homes or merchant guilds.

She flipped the page without looking at him. "They set up lessons with a hedge wizard who lived nearby. Basic practical magic includes small illusions, heating charms, and light spells. The kinds of tricks that wow folks at parties.

"That doesn't sound like you,” Noah said.

"It wasn't. I got bored after a month. The spells were easy, few, and easy to guess. So, I began to experiment on my own to figure out why magic worked the way it did instead of just remembering the patterns.

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Her face became distant. "When I was twelve, I accidentally made a feedback loop while trying out the mana flow idea. The explosion damaged half of our house and placed me in a coma for three weeks.

Noah's gut tightened. "What happened?"

"My parents thought magic was too dangerous for me to keep studying," Seraphina replied in a matter-of-fact way. "They stopped me from practicing any more and set up for my magical education to end." He said it was for my own benefit.

"But you didn't stop."

"Of course I didn't stop." Seraphina glanced right at him for the first time since she started telling her story. "Do you know what it's like to find out you can change reality itself, but people tell you it's too dangerous to do so?"

Noah pondered about his own problems with power, which he thought were too dangerous or unpredictable for other people. "I have an idea."

"I kept studying in secret. Mostly theoretical works because I couldn't practice in public. By the time I was sixteen, I had read everything I could find on magical theory and understood that most of the so-called "experts" were just scraping the surface of what was conceivable.

She went back to her reading, but Noah could tell that her shoulders were tense. "My parents found out I was still studying when they caught me slipping into the royal library's restricted section. They told me I had to give up magic or leave home.

"You went."

"Without a doubt," Seraphina said. "I had already absorbed everything I could from their narrow, comfortable vision of the world. The Celestial Academy let me in based on what I knew in theory, even though I didn't have any official training in practical skills.

Noah was quiet for a while as he thought about what she had said. It helped me understand a lot about Seraphina's personality, such as how she didn't care about following the rules, how she was obsessed with being perfect in theory, and how she got mad at individuals who didn't want to learn more.

He asked, "Is that why you want to learn the 'ultimate magic'?" "To show them they're wrong?"

Seraphina looked up from her book, and for a minute her usual scholarly face fell. Noah sensed something raw in her—ambition, yes, but also a strong urge to prove that she was right.

"Partly," she said. "But largely because I know it can be done. Magic isn't a mysterious energy that can't be understood. It follows rules, patterns, and ideas. And if you can fully understand and master those ideas, there shouldn't be any restrictions on what you can do.

"No limits sounds risky.”

"Everything that's worth it is dangerous," Seraphina said. "The question is if the danger is worth the possible payoff. I think it is in this case.

She put her book down and got her things together. "That leads us to tomorrow. Noah, I admire your skills and think of you as a friend. But I don't plan on holding back.

Noah answered, "I don't either." "May the best wizard win."

"Oh, I plan to," Seraphina answered, sounding like her old self again. "I think you'll make me work for it, though."

Noah was wondering about one more thing as she was getting ready to go. "Why haven't you asked to see my mystical signature in person? You said it was impossible in theory.

Seraphina stopped at the door of the room. "Because knowing someone's magic takes away all the mystery from it. And tomorrow, I want to relish the challenge of figuring out something that is truly new to me.

She left with that strange comment, leaving Noah to think about it. The talk had taught them more about Seraphina than months of talking to her. Her desire for theoretical perfection wasn't just academic curiosity; it was very personal, based on a childhood where other people's worries and limits held her back.

Noah went back to training, but he couldn't stop thinking about the contest the next day. Seraphina was right that his magical combination shouldn't be conceivable in theory. Void magic and draconic powers shouldn't be able to exist together, let alone work together with spatial manipulation. The fact that they did showed something basic about his nature that even he didn't entirely comprehend.

The fight tomorrow will teach both of them something.

He practiced for another hour, concentrating on combinations that may even astonish a theoretical specialist in magic. Arcane Step and Void Annihilation worked together to make attacks come from angles that seemed unattainable. Cosmic Vault made changes to space that could mess up spell patterns. Runeforged Armaments got better because of his different magical affinities.

He also knew that Seraphina would be getting ready for anything she could see coming. Because she was so organized about magic, she would look at his known powers and come up with ways to cancel them out.

The match tomorrow would be a game of chess with powers that change reality. Mastering theory versus using it in real life. Adapting on the fly vs. planning ahead.

Noah was really looking forward to the challenge as he finished his exercise and headed back to his room. Fighting Seraphina would be different from any of his other fights. It wouldn't only be a test of strength or ability; it would also be a test of diverse ways of doing magic.

The second round of the event was going to be highly interesting.

Noah walked around the halls as other members of his group were still exercising. He could hear the clang of steel from Valeria's room and the controlled blasts of Aurelia's fire magic from another room. Everyone was working harder now since they knew that the room for error was getting smaller with each round.

Noah went over all he knew about the bracket for tomorrow in his room. He was going to fight Seraphina second, thus he would get to see another second-round battle before his own. That could give you useful information about how the rival is changing its strategies and skills.

But first, he needed to sleep. Tomorrow would require all of his skills, not just magical ones. He would need to be quick-witted, able to think strategically, and able to adapt to ways he had never used before.

Noah's mind went back to Seraphina's story as he lay down to sleep. Her parents had tried to limit her potential out of fear, and she had decided to leave instead of accepting those limits. Noah knew the choice better than most: to go after power even though it was risky and to not let other people's comfort zones constrain him.

Tomorrow, they'd both find out if the choice they made was the right one.