You woke up to the sound of someone tapping against your window. Sitting up from your bed, you rubbed your eyelids. You sluggishly made your way to the window and unwind your blinders. Sunlight flooded your room. Your friend was looking at you, a grin covering half his face.

“What do you want Ji Hoon?” you asked.

“Well, today’s the day we’ve been waiting for! It’s the mages festival!” Ji Hoon exclaimed.

It took a few seconds to process what he said and your eyes widened. You totally forgot about it. You told Ji Hoon that you would be ready in a bit. But before that, you let him in through the front door. Ji Hoon sat at the couch while he skimmed through the newspaper for any interesting articles. You made a dash for the bathroom and took a shower. You went back to get ready. Buttoning down your school uniform and pushing your hair back neatly, you look in the mirror.

‘Today’s the day,’ you told yourself.

You grabbed your Power Key and left the house with Ji Hoon. Ji Hoon didn’t stop talking all the way. He kept on thinking about the mages with different magic abilities. You would be lying to yourself if you didn’t spare any thoughts for it. As you got closer to the school compound, you saw the various magic academies there. Vibrant coloured banners hung against the fence as well as the school buildings. Students were in groups as they moved from one stall to the other. The magic academy representatives were already starting to pick out new mages. Guess you and Ji Hoon missed the opening ceremony thanks to your sleep. Ji Hoon spotted his friend among the sea of student while you sauntered in. When you finally caught up to him, Ji Hoon had already gotten what you and he had missed.

There was a speech by the school principal, followed by the various academy. After that, everyone was allowed to go the different academies they desire. You and Ji Hoon walked straight to where S.M Academy stall is, an academy that both of you have been yearning to go to since young. This was the academy that produce many top mages in the country. As expected, many students were waiting in line for their turn. Ji Hoon decided to go first while you waited by the side. They didn’t reveal to the competitors who their opponent was. In order to qualify for S.M Academy, the only information is a student must be able to at least bring their opponents health points to at least 50%. Of course, the opponents are brought down to their level of fighting. You overheard a conversation between two friends that all the opponents are EXO, the 12 soldiers of light. You kept quiet. Calculating the possibility of you meeting one of them is hard.

Ji Hoon stood on a pedestal that rose. It brought him up a tube and into the arena. From where the crowd and you stood, everyone could clearly see his opponent was looking at him. It was dark in the arena as the spotlight was shining down on Ji Hoon. When the other spotlight showed who his opponent was, Ji Hoon blinked his eyes. Once, then twice. Fear could be seen in his eyes. He was up against the teleporter, Kai. Ji Hoon never expected to be paired up against him.

“The match will begin in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1”

In an instant, Kai was gone. He reappeared behind Ji Hoon, kicking him before vanishing again and landed a punch on the falling boy. Ji Hoon is a mage who uses fire magic. He can cover himself with fire but for that to happen, he has to cast it. But Kai wasn’t going to let him do just that. After a string of punches, Kai appeared a few metres away from Ji Hoon. Kai must have purposely done so to prevent Ji Hoon having any opportunities to fight back. He was pleased to see his opponent on the floor, not moving a muscle. You couldn’t believe what was happening. Ji Hoon, one of the top mages in the school, couldn’t even do anything against one of the 12 soldiers of light that was already brought down to his level. The whole crowd that was cheering on started to die down. You felt your heart sank. No. Ji Hoon cannot fail. He mustn’t. He has been waiting for this day and he will not disappoint himself. All the training would be useless and in vain.

You walked over to the edge and grabbed the handrails.

“JI HOON! YOU BETTER GET UP BEFORE I GO DOWN THERE AND SLAUGHTER YOU!” you shouted at the top of your voice.

Kai chuckled slightly but stopped immediately when he saw movement in front of him. Ji Hoon was up and parts of his body was covered in flames. He glared at Kai. In a blink of an eye, Ji Hoon had flames coming out of his mouth. The heat was intense. But Ji Hoon know Kai would have dodge it. He quickly turned around. Just as he thought, Kai had appeared behind him. He grabbed the teleporter and shoot him to the barrier that covered the dome with his fiery breath. Kai was slammed against the electric force field. He cried in pain as he fell. Ji Hoon wasn’t done just yet. He muttered something and the entire battlefield had volcanic mountains sprawling all over. With one last magic spell left, Ji Hoon made a circular motion with his hands. The lava from the volcanoe ooze out and followed Ji Hoon's hand motion.Then, the lava splitted up and solidified into star-shaped projectiles and hit Kai.

“Bullseye,” Ji Hoon muttered.

He look up to the screen. Half of Kai’s health points were gone. This means that he made it. Kai got up and went to congratulate him. Ji Hoon couldn’t help smiling and hugged him out of happiness. Kai teleported out of him and just patted his head. The arena resets itself when Ji Hoon and Kai left. You high five Ji Hoon as you made your way down. It’s your turn now. Your palms felt wet as you ascended the flight of stairs and onto the pedestal. Your opponent, who is it going to be? Will it be the light mage? Or maybe the wind caster.

The spotlight shines brightly down to reveal a young man with water symbols on his hands. His lips curled into a smile, revealing his perfect set of teeth. The mage with the ability to turn water to his advantage; Suho.

“You sure did well on cheering for your friend,” Suho complimented.

“Thanks,” you said.

Once the battle commences, you got ready your cards. Suho will definitely try to find a weak spot and when he does, he makes sure to hit that spot really hard. You took out your first card.

“Electro! Let’s go!” You say as you threw the card upwards.