"Competitor Elara versus Competitor Kael. Please enter the arena."

  Elara stood up and stretched. She looked calm. Confident even.

  "Be careful," Malek said. "That Kael guy, he's been winning all his matches without breaking a sweat."

  "I noticed," Elara said. "He's good. But so am I."

  She walked toward the arena. Malek watched her go, a bad feeling settling in his stomach.

  Kael was already waiting in the arena. He was younger than most of the other competitors. Probably around fifteen or sixteen. He had messy red hair and a cocky grin that made Malek want to punch him.

  "Oh great, another one," Kael said when Elara entered. "Let me guess. You're gonna try some fancy trick and think you're special?"

  Elara didn't respond. She just took her position.

  The examiner raised his hand. "Begin."

  Kael moved first. He raised both hands and fire erupted from his palms. Not just small flames. Massive torrents of fire that shot toward Elara like a wave.

  Elara reacted instantly. She pulled water from the air, forming it into a barrier in front of her.

  The fire hit the water barrier. Steam exploded outward, filling the arena with thick white clouds.

  Malek leaned forward. He couldn't see what was happening inside the steam.

  Then the steam cleared.

  Elara was still standing. Her barrier had held. But Malek could see the strain on her face. That attack had taken more effort to block than she expected.

  Kael laughed. "Not bad. You actually stopped it. Most people just burn."

  He raised his hands again. This time, the fire didn't come as a wave. Instead, it formed into multiple spheres floating around him. Five of them. Each one spinning and crackling with heat.

  "Let's see you block all of these," Kael said.

  He thrust his hand forward. The first fireball shot toward Elara.

  She formed another water barrier. The fireball hit it and exploded. Steam erupted again.

  Before the steam cleared, the second fireball came.

  Elara barely had time to reinforce her barrier. The second explosion pushed her back a step.

  Then the third fireball.

  Then the fourth.

  Then the fifth.

  Each one hit harder than the last. Each explosion created more steam, more heat, more pressure.

  Elara gritted her teeth. She was pulling water from the air as fast as she could, but Kael's attacks were relentless. She didn't have time to breathe, didn't have time to think.

  The fifth fireball shattered her barrier completely.

  Elara stumbled back, her mana depleted from maintaining the defense.

  Kael didn't give her time to recover. He created more fireballs. Ten of them this time. All floating around him like a swarm of angry hornets.

  "You're good at defense," Kael said. "But that's all you've got, isn't it? You haven't even tried to attack me once."

  He was right. Elara had been on the defensive the entire fight. She hadn't launched a single counterattack.

  "Let me show you the difference between us," Kael said.

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  He thrust both hands forward. All ten fireballs shot toward Elara at once.

  Elara's eyes widened. She couldn't block all of them. Not with her mana this low.

  She tried anyway. She pulled every bit of water she could from the air, forming multiple thin barriers in front of her.

  The fireballs hit.

  The first barrier shattered.

  The second barrier shattered.

  The third barrier shattered.

  The explosions kept coming. One after another after another.

  Malek wanted to look away, but he couldn't. He watched as Elara's defenses crumbled under the assault.

  The last barrier broke. Two fireballs got through.

  They hit Elara directly. One struck her shoulder, the other hit her leg.

  She screamed and fell to the ground.

  The examiner immediately stepped in. "Stop! The match is over!"

  Kael lowered his hands. The remaining fireballs dissipated into smoke.

  Malek was already running toward the arena. He jumped over the boundary line and rushed to Elara's side.

  She was conscious, but barely. Her shoulder and leg were burned. Not severely, but enough to hurt. A lot.

  "Elara, are you okay?" Malek asked.

  She tried to sit up and winced. "What does it look like?"

  "Don't move. Let me help." Malek looked around. "We need a healer!"

  One of the examiners rushed over with a medical kit. He pulled out a healing salve and started applying it to Elara's burns.

  Kael walked over, his hands in his pockets. "Not bad. You lasted longer than most."

  "Shut up," Malek snapped.

  Kael raised an eyebrow. "What's your problem?"

  "You didn't have to go that far. The match was already over."

  "The match was over when she hit the ground. Those last two hits happened before that. Not my fault she couldn't defend properly."

  Malek stood up and got in Kael's face. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

  Kael grinned. "Thanks. I try."

  "That wasn't a compliment."

  "I know."

  The examiner stepped between them. "That's enough. Malek, take your friend to the medical tent. Kael, return to the waiting area."

  Kael shrugged and walked away, whistling.

  Malek helped Elara to her feet. She leaned on him heavily, her burned leg unable to support her full weight.

  "I'm fine," she said.

  "You're not fine. You can barely walk."

  "I said I'm fine."

  They made their way to the medical tent slowly. Each step made Elara wince, but she didn't complain.

  Inside the tent, a proper healer was waiting. An older woman with gray hair and kind eyes. She took one look at Elara and gestured to a bed.

  "Sit down, dear. Let me see those burns."

  Elara sat. The healer examined her shoulder and leg, then started chanting. Her hands glowed with soft green light. She placed them on Elara's burns.

  The healing magic worked slowly. The charred skin began to repair itself. The pain lessened.

  After a few minutes, the healer stepped back. "There. The burns are healed, but you' won't be able to fight another match."

  "Thank you," Elara said quietly.

  The healer nodded and moved to help another injured competitor.

  Malek sat down next to Elara. For a while, neither of them spoke.

  Finally, Elara broke the silence. "I lost."

  "Yeah."

  "I lost badly."

  "Yeah."

  "That kid is annoying."

  "Very annoying."

  Elara leaned back against the wall. She looked tired. Not just physically, but mentally too.

  "I couldn't touch him," she said. "I tried everything I could think of. All my barriers, all my techniques. None of it mattered. He just overpowered me."

  "He's strong," Malek said. "Probably the strongest fire mage here."

  "I know. I could feel it. His mana output was insane. Every fireball he created had more power than anything I've ever faced. And he made them so easily. Like it was nothing."

  Malek didn't know what to say. He'd never seen Elara lose before. She was always the strong one, the prodigy, the genius. Seeing her like this was strange.

  "I got cocky," Elara continued. "I thought because I could manipulate water at a microscopic level, I was special. But power beats technique. Simple as that. It doesn't matter how clever I am if my opponent can just burn through everything I make."

  "That's not true," Malek said. "Your technique is amazing. Kael is just a bad matchup for you. Fire beats water. That's basic elemental advantage."

  "Fire doesn't beat water. Water puts out fire. That's how it's supposed to work."

  "In theory. But if the fire is strong enough, it evaporates the water before the water can put it out. That's what happened."

  Elara closed her eyes. "I hate losing."

  "Everyone does."

  "No, I really hate it. I've worked so hard to get good at water magic. Years of practice. Years of training. And it still wasn't enough."

  Malek put a hand on her shoulder. The one that wasn't burned.

  "You'll get stronger," he said. "This is just one loss. It doesn't define you."

  Elara opened her eyes and looked at him. "When did you become so wise?"

  "I didn't. I'm just repeating what you told me after I lost my first match."

  She laughed. It was a small laugh, but it was genuine.

  "Thanks, Malek."

  "No problem."

  They sat in silence for a while longer. Outside the tent, they could hear the announcer calling the next match.

  Elara stood up slowly, testing her leg. It hurt, but she could walk.

  "Let's get out of here," she said. "I don't want to watch any more fights today."

  "Agreed."

  They left the medical tent and walked back to their resting area. The bench where they had been sitting earlier was empty.

  They sat down together and watched the sky. The sun was starting to set, painting everything in shades of orange and red.

  "That Kael kid," Elara said. "Next time I face him, I'm gonna win."

  "Next time?"

  "Yeah. This isn't over. I'll train harder, get stronger, and when we meet again, I'll beat him."

  Malek smiled. "That's the Elara I know."

  "But first, you owe me three potions. Don't think I forgot."

  "Damn it."

  Elara smirked. Even in defeat, she was still herself.

  And somehow, that made Malek feel better.