Shouri’s life had been full of twists and turns. He never expected to be a guildmaster, nor date his trio of Resonators, and he certainly didn’t expect to be a referee for a match between a fifteen-year-old boy and a forty-something-year-old farmer from central Lybertera.

  They stood out in a small clearing in the middle of the property. Far enough away from any of the buildings or crops to prevent any damage as well as give the two battling Resonators plenty of room to run around. The farmhand Resonators were allowed a break to watch the battle, bets being made between them about who would win.

  The farmer’s choice of Resonator was one Shouri and company had not expected. Hailing from the land on the world’s edge, L’ultera, was a long-tailed creature known as a kangaroo. The marsupial man bounced on his legs, his long thick tail resting behind him. He held his fists up like a boxer. Mila, standing his opposite returned the stance in kind.

  As Shouri’s gaze drifted between the two ready fighters, he couldn’t help but think this was a touch bit unnecessary, but all participants were willing. He was glad he sent Taika and Rebecca back to the guildhall to grab the medical bag – they were about to need it. At least Pacifica was still by his side.

  Delaying it wouldn’t solve anything, at least this way he had some sway in the proceedings. Shouri took in a deep breath before officiating the match. “Maestros!” he bellowed. “This is a one-on-one battle with no substitutions! Goal is fifty percent rhythm remaining!” He stole one more glance between the two fighters – neither wavered for a moment. “Let the battle begin!”

  With that declaration, the two Resonators rushed down one another.

  “L'Ordine di Gabriele, Lento!” was Vince’s first command.

  “Colpito da una Roccia, Fortissimo!” the farmer answered in kind.

  The spells of the two Resonators came into effect as they met in the center of the clearing. Mila took on a protective glow to bolster her defense, allowing her to recklessly charge in. The fire cat threw a blazing fist at her adversary and the kangaroo threw his back at her. The difference between the two fighters was while Mila was using her ad-Lib, the kangaroo’s spell materialized in a way neither Vince nor Mila had expected.

  Rather than the boulder of Colpito da una Roccia forming like they were used to seeing, the kangaroo’s fist rapidly turned to stone, reaching a large size mid-thrust.

  Fist met fist, but it wasn’t even close. Mila’s flames were mere sparks against the massive stone armament she had to punch through. The kangaroo had more force behind his swing and Mila’s attack was extinguished, her momentum reversed as she flew backward through the air.

  “Holy crap,” Pacifica gasped.

  “Yeah…” Shouri stole a glance at his tuner, showing the damage to Mila’s rhythm was minimal thanks to Vince’s calling of L'Ordine di Gabriele – without that spell bolstering her defenses that may have knocked her below the goal.

  “Mila!” Vince cried out, snapping Shouri back to the battle.

  The fist of stone crashed into the ground, Mila’s head having only been there seconds ago. The cat was fine, a timely spin of her hips and legs not only brought her to her feet but also out of the trajectory of the devastating boulder.

  “Colpito da una Roccia, Fortissimo,” the farmer called out again. The kangaroo didn’t immediately arm himself, glaring down the fire Resonator while he awaited her move.

  “Bastard!” Mila charged him again.

  “Mila stop!” Vince cried out, but it was too late as history repeated itself. The fire cat found herself on the receiving end of a stone fist, being swatted away like a pest.

  She landed with a sickening thud, but was back on her feet in an instant, dodging another massive rock thrown her way.

  The cat spat to the side, baring her fangs as she scowled at her adversary. The blue rhythm in her eyes glowed stubbornly bright.

  Again, her rhythm was being chunked, but not nearly as much thanks to her shielding. The glow faded from her body however as the effect wore off.

  Vince was sharp enough to recognize that was a problem and began to re-cast. “L'Ordine-”

  The farmer was already one step ahead of him, however. “Colpito da una Roccia, Pianissimo Staccato!”

  -di Gabriele, Lento!” Vince managed to get out.

  Mila boosted her defenses again, but not before taking a couple of good blows from smaller rocky fists thanks to the kangaroo’s excellent foot and fist work. The cat used her flaming fists to put some distance between herself and the earth Resonator.

  Vince ground his teeth, his eyes darting back and forth between his spell list and Mila.

  The kangaroo didn’t allow a moment of reprieve, standing stationary as he shot small fist-shaped rocks at the fleeing cat. The one advantage she had to press was she was much faster on her feet than him. But his fists could match hers in speed and overwhelm her in power.

  Vince shook as he continued to pore over his spell list trying to piece something together. Mila needn’t say a word; he could feel her screaming at him in his mind.

  “DO SOMETHING!”

  “Tempeste Cenere, Legato!” was his answer.

  Gathering the fire and nature magic in her body, Mila raised a hand and shot the orb of brown light into the sky.

  Not a moment later, a hot wind kicked up and the distinct smell of smoke filled the air as ash began raining from the sky carried by the heated gales.

  “Fuck really?!” Shouri cursed, pulling his jacket over his nose and mouth.

  “What is this?!” Pacifica cried out, clinging to her Maestro.

  “It’s a Fire-Nature Ossia! It makes an ash storm that damages non-fire and nature elements for a little bit!” Shouri explained over the harsh weather gracing the farmlands.

  “Bolide, Piano!” Vince shouted.

  Within the storm a ball of fire erupted, hitting the Kangaroo at an angle he couldn’t dodge from.

  “Again! Bolide, Piano!” Vince shouted.

  “Down!” the farmer shouted in response.

  This time the fireball sailed through the storm, fizzling out on its own, never striking a target.

  “Mila now!” came another cry from Vince.

  Then…

  BOOM!

  The ground shook as an explosion rocked the farm.

  “What in the hell?!” the farmer could be heard shouting.

  The tuners beeped in protest – a result had been reached. As the wind storm cleared the result lay for all to view on the ash-covered battlefield. The kangaroo remained on his feet, but his clothes were charred along with being covered in dirt, cuts, and minor burns.

  Mila was sitting on the edge of a small crater formed in the dirt, her glare remaining as stubborn as ever, though her partially white hair told the tale in full. A tense silence followed as Shouri confirmed his suspicion on his tuner. He raised an arm in the air, toward the farmer’s direction.

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  “The winner of the match is Liam!” Shouri declared.

  “It’s what I thought. Can’t trust you fire elements with anything,” Farmer Liam shook his head noting the hole formed on his property. “You city kids should just pack up and head on home. You ain’t gonna make it out here with that kinda foolishness.”

  Vince had no words, he hung his head, the red tuner in his grasp trembling.

  “How about me then?” Rebecca chimed in. As she walked up she plucked her tuner from Shouri’s waist, sliding it onto the side of her skirt as she approached the battlefield.

  The farmer shot a glare at the second fire Resonator.

  “Mila’s a bit of a wild child. I’m a professional,” boasted the fox while having the cat’s glare turned on her.

  “Pickin’ on someone who is already roughed up?” questioned the farmer, looking down his nose at the small fox.

  “Use one of your waters. I’ll still kick their ass,” challenged the fire fox. “In fact, I don’t even need my Maestro’s help. I’ll school you all the same.”

  Farmer Liam snorted, accepting the provocation. “Olivia! Git over here!” the farmer shouted to one of the awaiting farmhand Resonators.

  The kangaroo held up his hand. “No Liam, let me fight her.”

  All on the field remained still for a moment, processing the absurdity of the request. “Kai, don’t be a stubborn fool, yer in no shape to fight, ‘specially after that explosion,” Liam scolded his Resonator.

  “Taika, heal him.” Rebecca motioned to her fellow fox who now donned her medical bag.

  “Va bene,” sighed the healer, stepping up.

  Shouri rolled his eyes but acquiesced to the implied ask. “La Bella Vita, Lento tutti.”

  One healing later and Kai the kangaroo was ready for round two.

  “There, now you’ll have nothing to bitch about when you’re picking yourself up off the ground,” Rebecca said wearing a grin.

  “Hope you don’t come to regret those words missy,” Kai smirked back.

  Vince and Mila cleared the way. Shouri caught the two muttering apologies to one another, but he didn’t have time for that. The situation had gotten out of hand in his opinion, however, he trusted his partners. Pacifica and Taika weren’t saying a word; in fact, Pacifica was wearing a smug smile while Taika almost wore a look of pity toward Kai.

  “Oh no,” Shouri mumbled to himself, realizing what was about to happen.

  “Sometimes you have to prove a point,” Taika whispered to Shouri.

  The guildmaster wanted to say more, but he was still on ref duty, so he played his part. “This is a one-on-one battle with no substitutions! Goal is fifty percent rhythm remaining!” He shook his head. “Let the battle begin!”

  THWACK!

  In that single instant, Rebecca had cleared the gap between her and her opponent, beginning with her signature kick to throw her opponent into the air. She followed him, easily clearing the distance he had been thrown and then some.

  THWACK! THUD!

  Kai met his element face first, having met the ground in a stunning fashion.

  “D-DOWN!” Liam shouted, having shaken off the shock of the fire element’s speed. Kai was no slouch when it came to matters of dirt and rock, burrowing his way just in time to avoid Rebecca’s devastating axe kick.

  The flames at Rebecca’s heels extinguished as soon as her opponent was out of reach. She exhaled sharply, her posture relaxing as she steadied her breathing.

  A tense silence fell over the battlefield.

  “AAAUGH!”

  It happened so quickly that it took a couple of seconds for anyone to realize what happened. Rebecca’s blazing heel was firmly planted on a hand that had burst out of the ground. The now burnt appendage withdrew into the dirt before Kai popped up a small distance away.

  Kai glared daggers at the fox, gripping his damaged hand with his other.

  Rebecca just kept her eyes on him, not moving a muscle.

  The sweat dripped down the farmer’s face as he couldn’t tear his eyes off the battlefield, the tuner in his hand threatened to slip out of his grasp, but thankfully remained firmly in place. Every time he drew in breath to call a spell he watched Rebecca twitch.

  She was going to attack as soon as he called a spell. She was waiting for him, taunting him.

  “Oh, that’s not fair,” Rebecca sighed. “Go ahead.”

  Kai’s teeth clacked as they slid past each other in their owner’s frustration; one could almost hear the enamel grinding away in real-time.

  “Colpito da una Roccia, Pianissimo Staccato!” Liam finally called.

  “No bitching now!” Rebecca resumed her attack.

  Kai was allowed to launch his attacks, pulling on his Maestro’s rhythm to launch a barrage of stone fists towards the vixen. No matter the angle she danced around him with ease. In fact, she made a game of it, ignoring approaching him in favor of avoiding his attacks.

  The rest of the farmhands watched in awe – Kai was their Maestro’s first, the strongest on the whole farm.

  And this city girl was just making a complete mockery of him… without a Maestro.

  “This was fun,” Rebecca vanished. “But I’m bored now,” she said from behind him.

  Before he could swing on her, she swung first.

  THWACK!

  The tuners declared the winner, beeping loudly to signal as such. Shouri sighed. He didn’t need to state the obvious, so he didn’t. A simple motion of his head told Taika she was up.

  “There we go.” Rebecca dusted her hands off. “You did more damage to the farm this time than I did,” she noted, motioning to the stones haphazardly strewn about the field and the burrows now dotting the landscape.

  Liam was silent, just watching as Taika tended to his knocked-out Resonator.

  “I swear we’re not a bunch of city thugs,” Shouri began as he approached the other Maestro.

  “Coulda fooled me. I didn’t miss a new Grand Master being crowned, did I?” Liam scoffed.

  “Not at all,” Shouri replied.

  The farmer shook off his stupor. “But still, you only proved yer worth yer tuners. The same courtesy doesn’t extend to yer people.” Vince wilted further at the pointed commentary “Any of them,” he spoke, his tone now more bitter than anything. “You’re welcome here. Anyone else ain’t. That’s final.”

  Shouri frowned, Pacifica’s hand on his back telling him plenty. There wasn’t changing this stubborn farmer’s mind. At least not right now.

  “Fair enough. Vince and my other guild members won’t come onto your land. Me and my Resonators are fair game though right?” Shouri confirmed.

  “Yeah, have fun kid. If any of my crops are damaged though I’ll be charging your guild twice the market price for the damages,” he added as a stipulation.

  “Fair I guess,” Shouri mumbled.

  With that matter settled, Shouri turned to his gathering of guild members. “Let’s head back for the day everyone.”