Am I going to die?

  Night felt the wind rushing around him. He had felt something like this before. It was never this... Long. He saw the platforms above him. Soon they would be out of sight forever.

  The strange energy was still coursing through him. It was stronger now. Flowing through him, shaking his very bones. What a waste! All that power, lost.

  He was falling at such an angle that he could see his destination - the bubbling pools below were suffocated with molten rock and swirling embers, a glowering orange and black, like the infernal stomach of some oversized demon. Scattered around the orange ocean, towering mounds of hardened lava, great ridges of scorched earth and smouldering stone, loomed like a grotesque graveyard, slowly illuminated by the flickering glow of the molten river.

  Weirdly enough, he didn't feel panicked. Like it was supposed to happen.

  ...

  What about them?

  What about my family?

  My brother.

  My sister.

  Art.

  Am I going to let them win?

  That villain who killed them all?

  Those heroes who do nothing but talk?

  If I don't do it, who will?

  The energy in him was raging so much Night felt he was about to explode.

  He didn't care about that.

  He knew he was going to kill Tyrinth. Blasted dragons. He knew he would. He'd boil every ocean, cut through every land, tear through every kingdom just to kill that asshole, to tear them limb from limb, snap their bones, keep them burning for eternity. He would, that evil...

  "...Fucker."

  Bolts of black and purple flew like lightning from Night's body as his vision blurred. One crackled from his right eye, arcing down his cheek. The energy seemed to tear through him, infecting his breath, his lungs, spreading to every corner of his body.

  He knew it was. What else would it be? Magic was supposed to be good, right? He had experienced magic in the past, like that in the makeshift hospital in his hometown. But that felt pleasant. This magic feels... Different.

  Night felt like the energy coursing through him, burning his blood, like an ancient devil screaming to be let free. It'd suck ass if I died now.

  He wouldn't. At that moment, he felt like a god. The power didn't own him; He owned the power.

  The crackle of black lightning swirled around him, encasing him in a swirling vortex of energy, and at that moment, he had one goal - to get back up on those platforms. Could he even do that? Did he know how?

  Strangely enough, it came to him... Almost instinctively. Like an old skill you hadn't used for many years.

  Like a skill he had used before.

  In a flash of black, Night disappeared.

  

  Art stared down into the lava, the angry light burning his eyes. Chalice had already leapt away, towards the exit. He couldn't have just fallen like that, right? His new friend! Pushed into lava! By Chalice, no less. What did she want with him?

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  All that was left of Night was sparks of black left hanging in the violent air.

  He suppressed a sob. Maybe his parents were right. Right about not making attachments too-

  An explosion rang out behind him, sending shockwaves through the stone, jagged streams of purple energy flying.

  "...What the sigma?"

  

  Invisible, Lirous watched the action from above. Most of the new candidates were alive. Better than half, He thought. Having only fifty to work with was a pain in the ass.

  He turned his head to the centre. It seemed Chalice was meeting the new ones. She had already greeted the one Lirous had been keeping an eye on. A 'Night'. The Light Master had sent someone to watch over him, he'd been told.

  Still, the boy was sent flying into the lava by Chalice.

  Sad. He seemed quite interesting. It would've been fun to investigate him further. But only the strongest survive here, anyway.

  Just as the boy was about to touch the lava, he disappeared, blinking out of existence.

  And in a crackle of purple magic, reappeared in the centre of the platform above.

  Lirous hesitated. Teleportation? Using his magic, he cast a simple spell and looked at the energy traces. He stared harder. Of course, magic. But what kind? He gazed into the dark aura of it. A moment later, his expression of shock melted into one of sinister joy. Divinus was right.

  "Void user," he muttered to himself.

  Smiling and shaking his head, he turned away, white robes billowing in the warm winds from the lava below.

  A Void user was in Valour.

  Their Void user.

  

  Stumbling, Night's vision slowly returned. He opened his mouth. "What the actual fu-"

  "HEY!" Art ran over. "No swearing! And are you alright?"

  Night glowered as hard as the lava had at him. "...That's your second concern?"

  "Huh?" His 'friend' asked, oblivious.

  "Never mind." He looked down. His feet were still anchored firmly on the floor. Standing. Not falling. "I... Teleported?" He took a shaky step forward.

  "You have been holding on to your tricks, huh?" Art grinned, pointing his metal stick to the exit. "Let's get out of here."

  "Yeah, let's-" Night tripped, stumbling, tripping, and then regaining his balance. Crap. He felt like crap. His arms were made of iron, his legs lead, and he felt like ten-kilogram weights were strapped to his black shoes.

  ...Black from soot. At least the mildew's gone.

  "Woah! Easy!" Art grabbed him by the shoulder. "First time using magic's always the worst."

  Night flinched before he groaned. "Is it always like this? Using magic?"

  "It always depends." Art took a few steps forward. "Can you walk?"

  Nodding slowly, he walked to the edge. "I've walked half a mile with a broken arm once. I'm sure as-" Night stopped. "I'm sure I can get by."

  "Great!"

  They took a few steps forward. "And hell's not a swear word!" Night blurted out.

  Art sighed. "Let's just go. We'd better move."

  "You think you'll be safe now?" Chalice's voice is cold.

  And close.

  Shoot.

  Prying himself from Art's hands, Night dragged him away quickly and ran to the next platform, the adrenaline returning to his body. "Can't you leave us alone!?" He shouted behind him.

  Her response was a shaft of a spear barely missing his head. "When you're dead," she responded, "I may consider it."

  "I can use magic, asshole!" Night called. Art followed him as Night focused, as best as he could, on the best path, picturing each and every platform, which one might fall, which one probably wouldn't, all the while trying to stay out of the way of the other kids.

  "Why don't you use that magic to blow up this demi-plane then?" Chalice mocked. Her voice was getting clearer over the heat. So were the footsteps. She was gaining on them. "Or why don't you summon a storm of swords to impale everyone?"

  What is she on about? Night jerked his gaze backwards, seeing a sinister smile touch Chalice's mouth. She came for him, her strides eating up the space between her and the pair with horrifying speed.

  There were only a dozen feet left to the final platform, and Night threw himself forward, right foot almost slipping off, but he managed to stay on. A blast of crackling thunder sounded beside him, the shockwave slamming into him, Night's arms flailing. "Crap!"

  His body was tossed left, only stopped by Art's hand grabbing him at the last second.

  "Woah! Careful!" Art leaps ahead, pulling Night forward, just as another spear lands behind them. Adrenaline surges through his veins as he sprints the last few feet, and Chalice yells in frustration, the sound gripping his mind like a vice.

  There's nowhere else to go. It's the last platform. Night spins around as the spear reaches his face and-

  "Tarry a little."

  It's Chalice's turn to spin around as Lirous held the spear shaft, which was less than an inch from Night's face. "He made it to the final platform fair and square," He sighs, like it was the fifth time that week. "If you want to kill him, you'll have to wait for the duels."

  "And if I don't?" She snarled, pushing the spear closer to him.

  "Then your father will have something to say for that." Lirous drawled.

  The girl tremored with rage, a strange expression crossing her face, before pulling away, walking back to the edge. "Fine. I'll find my own time, then."

  "Good." Lirous disappeared, leaving them alone. For a second, the cave was near-silent. Chalice slanted her head at Night. "I'll kill you. One way or another."

  One of the other candidates brandishing a longsword jumped onto the platform. Chalice spun and slammed the side of her spear into the poor kid's shoulder, sending them veering off the edge, walking away calmly, her voice trailing behind her.

  "One way or another."