Magi's Path (Aether's Revival Book 3) by Daniel Schinhofen (motivational books to read txt) 📕

“Novice Frederica Ferentini is a physical enhancement magi,” Dia said. “She is more like Jenn than Xandia— controlled force, not crushing force. As for Novice Charles Ball, he’s a fire magi. He can conjure a few small balls of fire, and not many.”

“Nessa will have even more problems if she wins the first match,” Jenn sighed, “and possibly face fire twice in a row.”

“We can only hope for them,” Gregory said. He looked down at the arena where the last match before the novices was about to start.

Chapter Sixty-eight

Nessa was the first of the novices to fight. She’d given Mindie a nod in passing, as her focus was on the fight to come. She was breathing slow and easy when Walun walked out onto the sands of the arena floor. The crowd started cheering louder, clearly favoring him in the fight. Exhaling, she glanced at the white leather gloves on her hands, reassuring herself they were there.

Walun gave her a bow of his head as he got closer. “You are friends with Lyall?”

“She’s my best friend,” Nessa replied warily.

“Would you—?” Walun began.

“Enough chatter,” Yunlo cut him off. “You know the rules. Bow to the boxes.”

Walun’s lips thinned, clearly upset that he’d been stopped from talking, but he did as the grandmaster had told him. Nessa was curious about what Walun was going to ask, but she pushed the curiosity from her mind— she had to focus.

Straightening from her bow to Walun, Nessa adopted a defensive position. He can only project from his hands… at least, we think so. I just need to control his hands.

Walun straightened and, seeing her defensive posture, took an aggressive one. Wind magi... I’ll have to be ready for grit to the eyes, but if I can get my hands on her, I can win. I hope she won’t be too upset with me for hurting her friend.

“Fight!” Yunlo called, suddenly two dozen feet away.

Walun came forward in a rush, his eyes mostly closed as he anticipated the sand. His brow furrowed when he closed the distance and no sand came for him. Just before he reached her, Nessa shifted from defense to offense.

Walun’s hands came up to block her punches. Fire burning, he expected her to cry out and flinch back as she burned herself. He did not expect the fire on his hands to flicker, nor the edges of cold that landed with each hit he blocked. Eyes wide, he backpedaled, trying to figure it out. He was so intently focused on the attack, he missed the sound of wind and the tugging on his kimono.

Nessa was so focused on the fight that she didn’t hear the shock in the crowd. As Walun gave way before her, she was relieved that her enchanted gloves had overcome the fire on his hands. Pulling wind up behind him to whip some sand into the air, she kept the pressure on— she wanted to drive him into it, as he had opened his eyes in surprise.

When he stepped back into the weak dust devil, he closed his eyes and turned his head on accident. He knew he’d made a mistake and did what he didn’t want to do— he’d wanted to keep it a secret until the final match.

Nessa’s lips ticked up when she drove him back and he turned his head, eyes closing against the sand. I’ve got you now! she thought, letting the wind die so she could grab him.

No one expected the burst of fire when Nessa reached for Walun. She cried out and stumbled backward as small blisters formed on her face, her eyes dry and pained. Yunlo blinked, but as the fire had been weak, he didn’t stop the fight.

Both Walun and Nessa managed to regain their footing and sight a few seconds later. The crowd was roaring, clapping, and stomping their feet, clearly loving the fight.

“Enchanted gloves?” Walun asked as he steadied himself. He knew he was fresher physically than Nessa, but his aether was now low.

“A gift from my parents,” Nessa said. “That was unexpected, but you likely can’t do it again.”

“How long can your gloves last?” Walun asked as he circled her. “The moment the chill ends, I’ll win.”

“And the moment your fire ends, I’ll win,” Nessa said. “I’m sorry, but my friends will be waiting for me in the finals.”

Walun slowed his pacing and nodded. “I need to win for the clan I will join. Apologies.”

“My clan would prefer it if I won, as well,” Nessa said.

With that said, she rushed him. Walun met her halfway, the fight underway again.

The two of them clashed time and again. Her strikes chilled him and slowed his reflexes, but his burned her and made it painful for her to move. They both knew that the first one to lose their edge would lose the fight. Walun’s aether was nearly spent and instead of succumbing to exhaustion, he stopped using it. The moment he stopped using his aether, Nessa took the lead. A half-minute after that, she had him on his knees, wheezing.

Shivering in place, Walun raised his arm. “Yield,” he chattered.

“Break!” Yunlo called to her.

Nessa stepped back and bowed to Walun before moving over to offer him a hand up. Walun looked at her glove for a moment before taking her offered hand. Shivering, he nodded, then turned with her to bow toward the boxes and Yunlo as Yunlo declared the winner.

Mindie was there the moment they finished. She placed her hands on Walun’s shoulders. “Minor frostbite in a couple of places... and the edge of hypothermia.” She pushed healing into him, but only enough to take the edge off. “Go see the healers in the hall so they can do the rest,” she told him.

“Thank you,” Walun said,