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After the crowd had stopped cheering and Ren was taken away, Delta met up with James outside of the arena.

"Holy cow! I didn't even know you could do something like that; not only standing up to Ren but also managing to replicate an incredibly high-level lightning spell!"

"What the heck are you talking about Delta? I'm tired; explain it to me slowly please."

"That beam at the end; Ion Cannon. That was at least a 3rd, maybe a 4th-year student's ultimate. How did you know it?"

James scratched his head. "Ok... not really sure. One moment I was staring down the Sharplight Blade and the next my affinity reacted by itself."

Delta stopped walking suddenly. "Hold on. Your affinity reacted to make the spell?"

"Yeah?"

Delta spun around so fast, he almost knocked James across the street. "Are you serious? That's amazing! There's no other instance of something like that ever happening as far as I know. You need to ask the Librarian about it later; maybe he'll know what caused it."

They entered into the infirmary and made their way down to where Algon was staying. He was just finishing up his visit to make sure he was alright after expending all of his energy.

Lydia was sitting with him, watching a video of James' round on his amulet. She sprang up when she saw James come in.

"Hey! How did it go? Who won? Did Ren get his ego handed back to him on a silver platter?"

"What, did I turn invisible or something?"

"Oh, shut up Delta. I'm just trying to find out how the match went!"

"As the person watching, it was, well... impressive."

"TELL ME!!!"

"Chill. Just finish the video. It'll be a lot more impressive than if I told you anyway."

They all sat down next to Algon, who had just been trying not to laugh at the exchange. Continuing the replay, James got to see what his magic looked like from the outside for once. It was quite amazing to see him dashing around and casting spells, like something out of a fantasy story.

It was especially funny to see Algon's and Lydia's reactions to him pulling out his rock sword to fight Ren one-on-one. Both of their mouths practically fell off and their heads snapped over to stare at him in astonishment. Delta cracked up at their expressions.

When Ren used his Ultimate, Lydia looked at James as though to make sure he really was alive. James chuckled.

"Just keep watching."

"How...how did you DO that?!?" Lydia all but screamed after seeing James use Ion Cannon. "That's a spell on the level of an Ultimate, heck for you it probably would be considered an Ultimate. I can figure out that Ren got his from his family heritage, but where the hell did you learn to cast a spell like that?!"

James shrugged. "I'm not really sure. It was mostly instinct, I think. I'm not even sure if I could replicate it again, at least not without a ton of extra training."

"That does sound fairly accurate. The spell _Ion Cannon_is indeed a very powerful and advanced spell for someone of your age to cast. It was amazing at all that you could conceive of it, let alone form it correctly without losing control. Truly an impressive achievement."

All four kids in the room spun over to see Sherru walk into the room.

"Headmaster!" they said. "How are you today, sir?"

"Quite fine, thank you," he answered with a small smile.

"What brings you here today, Headmaster?" Algon asked. The others waited, curious to hear why he had left the tournament while it was wrapping up to come down and talk specifically to them.

"Several reasons. First, I want to apologize to you, James, and your friends as well. I was not fully aware of the venom present between you and Ren Den-Tok, and that led to you almost being severely injured. Although it was a demonstration of amazing skill when you successfully repelled his attack, it was still a grave mistake on my part."

James nodded. "I understand, sir."

"As you have heard, as a result of his violation of the rules, Ren's team has been disqualified from the Celestial Tournament. The judges, the masters, and Strike have all talked with me and we have noted that with the current point distribution, regardless of the few events that still need to be concluded, you will win the tournament. So, allow me to offer all of you a bit of an early congratulations as a small form of compensation."

Lydia shot out of bed once more, followed closely by Delta. "Holy realms, we WON!!! Algon did you hear that! It's AMAZING!!!"

Algon smiled broadly in response, still deciding not to get up. He was still quite tired from his ordeal the previous day.

Sherru raised a hand, quieting Lydia down almost instantly. "This win has an interesting outcome that I think you will all be interested in. There is another, much larger tournament between the other magical schools of Reality. Each school sends their best representatives to compete, and the Arcane Quintessium usually sends two teams, using the Celestial Tournament as a gage of their abilities. On behalf of the masters, I would be pleased if you would be willing to take part in the Inter-School tournament as one of our representatives."

There was absolute silence after his announcement, shocked faces looking up at Sherru from the bed. Lydia was the first to react, blasting out of her shock and sounding off with the full power of her voice. "HOLY YEAH!!!!!"

Sherru turned to face James. "I do believe that she is perhaps a bit excited about the news?"

"No kidding!"

Lydia was all over Algon at this point, practically freaking out. "This is so amazing! When you three go to the tournament, you can not only improve your affinities further, but you can also help Algon prove to the universe that his planet has good magical capabilities! It's a win-win!"

Sherru laughed. "You are aware that you would be going as well, right?"

"Say what now?"

"Even though you are not a part of the team, you still were the one to invent the Imagers, the devices that allowed James to reach a higher level. You also act as an important part of the group, providing moral and strategic support. You are a Weird; they will need your mind to be successful. And besides, each team is allowed to bring along one additional person to provide assistance in training and such, so it only makes sense. Judging by your reaction, I would assume that you wish to go?"

Lydia frantically nodded.

"Excellent, I'll make sure to notify the masters. However, we have another issue on our hands. Algon, we have something important to discuss."

He turned to face Algon, who stared up at him with a confused face. "The final reason I came has to do with your powers during the battle with the Elemental. Do you know why you gained that sudden surge of strength, enough to even cast a high-level Fire spell like Fire's Rise?"

Algon shook his head, still confused. "No, I don't. Lydia and I were talking about it while we were waiting for James' match to finish, but we haven't figured out any answers."

"I thought as much." Sherru smiled. "Do you know how a species develops magic?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"I did not think so, especially after Algon's answer. Well then, allow me to explain. Magical energy is flowing through every planet regardless of the time or the place. As a species matures, this energy collects over its development, unable to be accessed but still growing in strength. Eventually, it explodes outwards through one person, unlocking the ability to use magic for the entire planet. This person is known as an Alpha, because it is their job to lead their people out of the darkness and into the metaphorical light of understanding."

"I already knew I was an Alpha, but I thought that was just a title!?"

"Not exactly, as you can see. Because you are the first of the Volcates to gain magical abilities, you have much stronger powers than the others. In time you could become a great leader for your people, even rising to the level of a Fire Lord."

"That all sounds amazing, but how come I haven't heard anything about this before?"

Sherru, to everyone's surprise, seemed a bit sheepish when he answered. "The masters and I honestly were not sure if you were truly an Alpha. Normally, their powers emerge at a rapid rate, but yours did not, so up until your display at the tournament we could not know for certain. Now, I can tell you about everything."

After explaining a bit more about an Alpha's abilities, Sherru left to allow the friends to talk among themselves about what to do next. It was quickly decided that going to the tournament would be the best course of action, as they could improve their skills considerably while there no to mention have a good time. As the event would take quite a while, they would be back just in the for the final assessments that were at the end of the year, which meant they would have to train diligently to keep up with their studies. Fortunately, Sherru had informed them that there would be masters from all over the universe overseeing the tournament and providing training, so it was not a huge deal.

Getting out of the infirmary a short time later, Delta raced ahead while the rest of the group followed him back to the stadium for the closing ceremonies. As Sherru had already explained, they were announced as the team that would be moving on to the Inter-School competition, much to the audience's delight. The ceremonies concluded with Strike collapsing the huge arena of frozen electricity into a ball, which then exploded into a shower of sparks that rained down over the audience in a shining display of light and color. He then thanked everyone, winked at James, and then departed in a massive blast of electricity that shot into the sky and disappeared among the stars.

James still had one more huge thing to do before they left. As Delta was finishing packing up his stuff, James headed over to the Darkessia to meet with his Pure Elementalism classmates.

"Oh, hi James!" Uthiel called out as he stepped inside the training room. "I thought you had left already."

"No, my team isn't ready yet," he said, shaking his head. "Delta's taking his sweet time packing; for an Aetherling, he's really slow. And besides, I had something to give you guys."

The rest of the Pure Elementalists at this point stopped their training and came over to see him. Each began to ask how he had accomplished such a monumental increase in power, but James silenced them when he pulled out his amulet and began to explain the situation.

"My friend Lydia is a Weird, and for one of her projects she decided to construct a tool for me to use in training." He pulled out the Imager and tossed it to Uthiel, who caught it hesitantly. "This is an Imager. It can project your thoughts onto the surface of the orb. By practicing creating more and more complex shapes and pictures, you can train your concentration levels and mental strength, which is how I was able to control so many elements at the same time."

"Is this really real?" everyone around him wondered. For generations, Pure Elementalists had been searching for a way to increase their strength, but due to the lack of mages with that unique affinity, it had been long since thought impossible. So, it was understandable that the idea of easily training Pure Elementalism would be difficult to believe.

"It's true," Master Rell said, coming out from his office. "The Headmaster has already approved the method for training after seeing for himself, and from my personal experience it works wonders with our affinity."

James handed out all 7 of his orbs and the Pure Elementalists raced off like children with a new toy. Master Rell stayed behind though.

"How are you going to train now? Don't tell me you've mastered those things completely?"

James laughed. "Nothing like that. You forget, when we head off to the Inter-School tournament, the person who can make them is coming with me. She's already been blasting my ear off with ideas of new designs, so she didn't mind me giving the old ones away. Make sure you give one to the Headmaster too; that way he can pass it along to the other Weirds so they can make more."

"Thank you, James. What you've done, the gift you've given us is so utterly amazing, I honestly don't know how to say it any better."

"Thank you, sir. I think I understand."

James headed back to the Moonlight Glade, where Delta was finally finishing up.

"Ready to go," he said, storing the last of his armor inside of his amulet. "Are Lydia and Algon finished as well?"

"They've been ready for a while. For such a fast guy, you're terrible at getting things done quickly."

"Shut up. I'm done now; let's just go."

They met up outside of the teleportation platform, where Sherru greeted them. Together, they all traveled to the central shuttle port of Synthesis, where a ship was already waiting.

"Alright, here you are. The trip should take only a few hours, so just settle in and enjoy the ride. I will be arriving later, but there are already masters on-world to help you get settled in. Is everyone ready?"

After a chorus of affirmations, Sherru led them onto the ship, which was very spacious on the inside. It looked like something out of a science fiction film, except that it was powered by magic.

The takeoff was uneventful, although much smoother than James had anticipated. After putting their things away, all 4 of them gathered in their dining room, where they were briefed by one of the several mages tasked to run the ship.

"The planet the Inter-School tournament will be taking place on is called Dorian-5. It's a small jungle world, and the only mage settlement is Rioyda, the school hosting the event. When you arrive, you'll be given rooms in their dormitories, and although your teleportation spells won't work, it shouldn't be an issue because everything is within walking distance. Questions so far?"

Delta raised his hand. "If the school is so small, where are we supposed to train?"

"The species native to the planet has allowed us to utilize the jungle around the school for training purposes. In addition, there are no predators that can hurt you, so it's completely safe."

He passed out a piece of paper with a sigil on it to each of them.

"While this paper is in your amulet, it will show your schedule, as well as a map of the school. Now, we've cleared the galactic border and have accelerated to light speed, so we will be arriving shortly. Let the staff know if you need anything at all."

He left and Algon and Delta immediately began to fiddle with their amulets, looking at their schedules and at the map of Rioyda. James turned to Lydia, so she stopped inspecting her paper to see what he needed.

"Lydia, you're a Weird, right? How does this ship travel at the speed of light?"

She gave him a bit of an odd look. "It's surprising you don't that, considering you are from a far-out colony. The ship's surrounded in a magical field that works similarly to an Aetherling's powers. I think an Arcane Engineer discovered the method a while back."

"Are you serious? That's amazing!"

Algon laughed. "You've got a lot to learn if you think that magic is just good for blasting things to pieces."

"Yeah, no kidding..." James looked out the window at the stars as they rushed by, little points of light in a vast void of space, and smiled.