The next morning, people filed back into the Dining Hall for breakfast. Mallory, Emmett, Selena, Jasper, Max, and Linnie all sat together again, looking around hungrily as the flying silver platters delivered eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes, and a variety of other breakfast foods. The flying pitchers carried multiple types of juices, teas, and coffees. 

“We’re starting the tryouts in about an hour,” Jasper explained through a mouthful of food. “Since the Arena is still under construction, we’re just gonna do it in the field behind the dorms.”

“How many people do you think will show up?” Mallory inquired. 

“Honestly? Probably not a lot,” she replied. “People love to watch Chimeraball, but actually play it? Not so much.”

“It can be a pretty brutal combat sport,” added Linnie. “Obviously, the Arena is enchanted with a bunch of protections so no one gets grievously injured, but it still requires a lot of training and a deep understanding of Arcane Martial Arts. It’s not for the faint of heart.”

“No worries there!” Emmett said, grinning. “Like I said last night, Mallory and I have been training all Summer. You know the new Arcane Martial Arts teacher, Zebastian Dane? That’s Mallory’s brother. He’s been mentoring us.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that!” Jasper said after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes. “It’s always iffy recruiting freshmen since they can’t take the Arcane Martial Arts class, but we always urge them to try out anyway. And if you two have already been training, that gives you a major leg up. But will it be enough to get on my team? I’ll be the judge of that!”

“Okay, deal!” Mallory said with a fist pump. 

After breakfast, the six of them returned to their rooms to change into athletic wear. They headed out to the field behind the dorms, where a small group of about a dozen people had gathered. Jasper had a foldable table under her arm. 

“Alright, everyone gather round,” she said as she set the table up. There was a large triangle painted on it with a picture of an animal head at each corner - a goat, a snake, and a lion. “I know most of you already know the specifics of Chimeraball, but I’m gonna go over it just in case someone is too shy to admit they don’t know. So, this triangle is the Chimeraball Arena, and at each corner you have the Goat Altar, the Viper Altar, and the Lion Altar,” she explained. 

“You see this here?” She pointed to a small circle in the center of the Arena. “This is the Chimera Altar. At the start of the match, the Chimeraball is sitting on the Chimera Altar, but it is completely white. The referee does a coin toss to see which team gets the Chimeraball first, and then the goal is to take the ball to the other Altars in the right order - Goat, Viper, Lion. The ball will change colors after it touches each Altar, and once the Perfect Chimeraball is formed, you have to get it back to the Chimera Altar.”

“That doesn’t seem as bad as what everyone warned us about,” one of the random freshmen present said. 

“I haven’t got to the good part yet,” Jasper said with a grin. “If you’re the team with the Chimeraball, the other team will be unleashing magical attacks on you to try and Intercept the ball for themselves. You see, if you’re the team that starts the round with the ball and you deliver it back to the Chimera Altar, it’s five points, but if the other team can steal it and make the score instead, it’s ten points for them. So there is a major incentive to Intercept the ball from the other team. Each team has three roles. The Keeper is the player designated as the one to hold the ball, and they are defended by two Guardians. Then there are three Marauders whose job it is to fight off the Marauders from the other team or steal the ball from the other team if they have it.”

“Oh wow…” the kid said, clearly second-guessing his interest in the sport. 

“That’s why knowing Arcane Martial Arts is so vital,” she continued. “You need to be able to both defend against magical attacks and also go on the offensive.”

“And, um… What is Arcane Martial Arts again?” the kid inquired, though immediately regretted it when Jasper rolled her eyes and groaned at his ignorance. 

“You know what normal Martial Arts are, right? Karate, Kung Fu, Jiu-Jitsu, etc.?” she asked with a bit of an attitude. The kid nodded nervously. “It’s basically that, but with the addition of magic. You’re channeling Mana into unarmed combat. Linnie, let’s show ‘em. Observe!”

Jasper and Linnie backed away from the group slightly and then turned to face each other, taking on combat stances. After a moment of silence, Linnie threw a fist forward, shooting out a swirling blast of wind. Jasper extended her hands in front of her and summoned a yellow energy shield, causing the wind blast to hit it and disperse. Linnie then ran towards Jasper while she was preoccupied with the wind blast and pushed off the ground with a Mana-enhanced super jump, flipping over Jasper’s shield and landing down behind her. She then powered up a flaming fist and was about to punch Jasper in the back, but stopped. 

“Make sense now?” asked Jasper as she and Linnie returned to the group. The kid nodded rapidly. “Good. Unfortunately we can’t go all out since we don’t have the protections of the Arena, but we should have a few days between the completion of the construction and the start of the Tournament so we can get some legit practice. Now, I want each of you to show us your moves.”

Of course, the ignorant kid was the first to be eliminated. One by one, the others were denied. Mallory and Emmett showed off what Zeb had taught them by manifesting Mana as hard-light energy batons and dueling each other with telekinesis, fighting almost like a Jedi would. 

“Impressive!” Jasper said, quite pleased. “Best I’ve seen all day! You’re both on the team!”

“Hell yeah!” Emmett cried out. 

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Mallory shouted. The two boys fist pumped into the air and then hugged each other. “Thank you, Jasper. We won’t let you down.”

Max showed off some considerable knowledge as well, earning xerself a spot on the team. “Awesome! I’ll work hard to bring us victory!” Xe proclaimed. 

Next up was Selena, who wowed them all by unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks to the air so fast that their eyes could barely see her movements. It seemed space itself was rippling and warping around her limbs as they moved. After she concluded her demonstration, everyone else just stared at her, jaws open. 

“My mom has been training me since I could walk. She’s only a Green Warden, no big deal!” she said, then giggled as everyone’s eyes grew wide. 

Green Wardens were masters of Wild Magic, the most untamed and volatile type of magic. Very few otherkin could even use Wild Magic at a rudimentary level. The Green Wardens were basically the Navy SEALs of magical society. 

“Well then, I guess we have our team!” Jasper finally said. “I’m the Keeper and Linnie is a Guardian. Max will be the other Guardian and Mallory, Emmett, and Selena will be the Marauders.”

“Yay! Welcome aboard, everyone!” added Linnie. 

And so it was decided that Mallory, Emmett, Max, and Selena would join Jasper and Linnie on the Monsters, Tamreon Hall’s Chimeraball team. They couldn’t truly practice a real match until the Arena was ready, but Jasper felt sufficiently confident in their collective abilities…