A griffon.
It grew larger with every passing second, until it dominated the space above him. Its wings spread wide, nearly touching the limits of the shield. Its talons ford slowly, each one crackling with thunder, as if they could tear through the stone with ease. Its form wasn’t fully solid but it was more than enough to feel real.
The presence alone was overwhelming.
Black storm clouds gathered instantly above it, rolling in from nowhere as if summoned by its presence. The light in the enclosed space dimd rapidly, turning the entire arena into a battlefield shrouded in ominous twilight.
shriekkk
A low, rumbling growl echoed from the griffon’s throat, vibrating through every soldier’s chest along the far wall.
"Young lord," Aldric said, his voice steady and respectful even now. "I hope you are ready for this."
The griffon beat its wings once.
The sound was like a thunderstorm crackling directly overhead. A powerful gust of wind slamd across the training ground, kicking up dust and forcing several soldiers to brace themselves against the wall.
Julian smiled.
He stepped forward and flared his own mana in response.
A pillar of crimson and gold fire exploded upward from his feet with a deafening roar that drowned out the thunder. The heat was instantaneous and ferocious. The air in the training ground turned scorching in a single heartbeat. The soldiers instinctively shielded their eyes and turned their faces away as waves of blistering warmth rolled over them.
Out of the roaring inferno, a shape took hold.
It did not form slowly like the griffon.
It snapped into existence with a piercing, lodic cry that shattered the lingering tension in the air.
A phoenix.
The legendary bird’s body was made of living, flowing magma and golden flas. It hovered behind Julian, its wings spread wide in majestic glory. Every graceful beat of those fiery wings sent literal waves of heat crashing across the training ground, causing the Duke’s reinforced containnt barrier to ripple and groan under the imnse pressure.
The phoenix’s eyes burned with fury as it stared down at the griffon.
The two summoned beasts faced each other across the training ground: one born of storm and lightning, the other of fire.
The temperature in the enclosed space skyrocketed. The ground between Julian and Aldric began to shimr from the heat. Small cracks ford in the stone as the opposing forces of thunder and fla pushed against each other.
Aldric’s expression remained focused, but a spark of genuine respect flashed in his eyes as he looked at the magnificent phoenix hovering behind Julian.
anwhile, The Duke’s hands tightened behind his back, his eyes reflecting the dancing orange flas of the phoenix.
"My son..." he whispered, the words barely audible over the crackle of the fire. "He has truly reached the realm of an Archmage."
The soldiers along the far wall had gone completely still. So were openly staring in awe. Others looked visibly shaken. The young lord they had dismissed as a failure was now standing toe-to-toe with their commander.
Julian didn’t look back. He raised a hand, and heat shimred around his fingers like a blazing halo. The flas answered at once, without hesitation or resistance, rising and bending to his will as though they recognized him as their original owner.
"Let us begin, Commander," Julian said calmly. "Try not to fall too quickly."
Aldric’s lips curved into a sharp, battle-ready smile.
"As you wish, young lord."
He thrust his right arm forward.
"Stormcall Griffin. Gale Talon!"
The massive griffon above him let out a piercing screech. Its right wing snapped downward, and a violent tornado of razor-sharp wind blades erupted toward Julian. The air howled as dozens of crescent-shaped wind sickles tore across the training ground, each one crackling with lightning.
Julian watched them co.
His mind moved ahead of the attack, already shaping his response. At the sa ti, another layer of his focus reached into Kraven’s fire mana, pulling it into the form he needed. He envisioned a wide, curtain-like wall of fla, sothing vast enough to et the wind blades head-on and swallow them whole.
A na ford in his mind without effort.
"Crimson Phoenix. Fla Veil."
The phoenix behind him spread its fiery wings wide. A swirling curtain of golden-red flas erupted in front of Julian, forming a blazing shield. The wind blades slamd into the veil and instantly evaporated into steam with loud hissing sounds.
Aldric didn’t stop.
"Stormcall Griffin. Thunder Dive!"
The griffon folded its wings and plumted like a teor. It headed toward Julian with terrifying speed, leaving a trail of black thunderclouds in its wake.
Julian’s eyes narrowed.
"Crimson Phoenix. Blazing Wing Slash!"
The phoenix flapped its massive wings once. Two enormous arcs of golden fla shot forward like blazing scythes. They collided with the diving griffon mid-air.
BOOM!
A violent explosion of fire and lightning erupted in the center of the training ground. The containnt barrier shook violently, ripples spreading across its surface. Sparks and embers rained down like fireworks.
When the smoke cleared, the griffon was forced back into the air, its form flickering slightly from the impact, while the phoenix remained hovering behind Julian, completely unhard and radiating even brighter flas.
Aldric’s expression grew serious.
"Not bad," he muttered. "You really are an Arch Mage."
He raised both hands this ti.
"Stormcall Griffin. Tempest Fury!"
The griffon screeched again. Dark storm clouds above it buzzed violently. Dozens of lightning bolts rained down toward Julian like spears, while powerful gusts of wind whipped across the ground, trying to throw him off balance.
Julian finally moved.
He stepped forward and pointed upward.
"Crimson Phoenix. Inferno Ascension!"
The phoenix let out a lodic cry and shot straight up into the storm clouds. Its body exploded into a massive pillar of golden fire that swallowed the lightning bolts whole. The flas burned so intensely that the black clouds began to evaporate, turning the dark sky above them into a blazing orange inferno.
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