"Okay, let's see what you can each do," Spyro told the class, wanting to see how the group of dragons in front of him could perform in combat. The students nodded in response.

"Lets see here… Connor, you will fight Isildur first." He instructed them. Connor walked out calmly and confidently onto the middle of the ring, followed by an equally confident but also shaking with excitement knowing that he would be able to show off his skill to the legend teaching their class.

Both opponents took their spots on opposite sides of the training ground, then lowered themselves into a traditional fighting stance. Both fighters twitched anxiously, waiting for the call from Spyro to start the match.

"Begin." the purple dragon said plainly, but both competitors sprang into action immediately. Connor rolled under Isildur, but the yellow and red dragon had been expecting it. He quickly landed and fired a quick bolt of electricity from his maw, hitting Connor in the flank. He let out a quick yelp before turning around and firing an earth bullet. Isildur dodged it with time to spare.

The electric dragon spent the next five minutes easily dodging the powerful but inaccurate elemental attacks from Connor. He was quickly drained all his power, and his movement became sluggish. Isildur took advantage of this and went in for the finishing blow. It was all too easy from there. He jumped in close, quickly swept his tail across the floor, knocking Connor to the floor. Before he even knew what was happening, Connor was on his back, his opponent standing over him with his tail blade to his neck.

"Very good, Isildur. Waiting for Connor to wear himself out was a good move. If this were a real fight, Connor would be dead, and you would still have full energy." Spyro praised. Then he turned to Connor. "You on the other hand, you rely too much on power. Instead of spending all your energy on trying to hit your target, try to use more controlled shots, even if they are less powerful."

Isildur walked back to the group of dragons looking impressed with himself. Connor mumbled something under his breath while picking himself up. Spyro walked over and offered him a paw, but he just shrugged it off. After picking himself up, he walked back the way Isildur had.

"Okay, next will be Austin and Arya." Spyro said, walking back to his place next to Cynder.

The two opponents stood across from each other, waiting for Spyro's call like Isildur and Connor had. After a few tense seconds, he started the match.

Arya sprang at her opponent, but Austin stood his ground, waiting for the right moment. At the last possible second, he froze himself in ice, causing Arya to ram the rock-hard ice armor at full force, disorienting her long enough for Austin to take advantage of the situation. He quickly froze her paws to the ground near the edge of the ring, making her limbs useless, for the moment. She kept him away with her fire breath and tail, while at the same time heating her scales to melt the ice that held her immobile. After she was free, she jumped and flapped her wings twice to get over Austin's head and back to the center of the ring.

Austin fired three icicles at Arya, hoping to catch her off guard. But she easily melted them with one blast of her fire breath. To only Spyro and Cynder's surprise, she shot a stream of electricity at her opponent, hitting him square in the chest. He was knocked off his paws and bounced a couple times before landing just outside the ring.

Austin was trying to get up when Arya walked over and offered a paw. Unlike Connor, he accepted the help and used the support to pull himself onto his feet.

"Arya, how did you fire and electricity?" Spyro asked.

"Well, when my egg was laid, Isildur and I shared it, meaning were twins. But while we were inside the egg, something that no one could ever explain happened, and we now share each other's elements, but in weaker forms." Arya explained. "But didn't you know?"

"Know what?" He asked.

"That this is the special class. Everyone in here is different in one way or another. Flame, Ember, Austin, Natalie, Connor and Isabella are the best our age in the city at their own element. Me, Isildur and everyone else can control elements."

"But how? With the exception of me, being controlled by Malefor, isn't the purple dragon the only one that can control more than one element?" Cynder asked, joining in on the conversation.

"Yes, that's true, but only naturally." Arya explained. "All of us were mutations, meaning we were supposed to have only one element, but somehow got one from each of our parents. But let's save the DNA talk for Cyril's science class." Everyone got a good laugh at that.

"All right, we need to get back on track. Arya and Austin, you both did a great job." Spyro butted in. "Austin, good tactics trying to catch Arya off guard with the ice armor and the icicles, but they were easier for her to get to due to her controlling fire, watch out for that. Arya, rushing in doesn't always work. You should have known something was up when he didn't do anything to stop you or get out of the way. Other than that, you did very good. Fighting off while melting the ice was smart, and keeping yourself from getting cornered is always the key to winning in a real fight. Good job, both if you." Austin and Arya trotted back to the group, smiling from the of the purple dragon himself.

Next was Michael and Cameron, Cameron being the winner. Flame and Spade, Spade being the winner. Razor and Chase, Chase being the winner. Rachel and Isabella, Rachel being the winner. Natalie and Ember, Natalie being the winner. Since there was an uneven number of students, Chase went twice. Out of Frost and Chase, Chase won again. After the battles were over, Spyro and Cynder threw in a surprise twist.

"Okay, good job everyone. But just to show you, me and Cynder will spar for you." Spyro told his class, and everyone, with the exception of Connor, was pleased to be able to see the two fabled heroes battle it out right in front of them. "And Spade, I will have you start the match."

Spade nodded, showing he understood, as Spyro and Cynder took their places at opposite sides of the ring.

"Begin." Spade yelled, and both dragons sprang into action.

All that could be heard in the cave was metal against metal. By orders of Ashur, the raptor-dragon, the apes were to make mine cart tracks leading to the upper levels of the cave they were in. That way, the crystals could be brought up faster. Hundreds of apes were using the metal tools they had made to pound the nails through the metal trach and into the ground.

Meanwhile, Ashur sat his personal quarters, waiting for word of the progress they had made. After about ten more minutes, the same small ape he had seen the night before came into the room.

"What do you have to report?" Ashur asked, and the ape stood slightly nervous with the taller creature towering over him.

"Yes, the progress is going along nicely. By this time tomorrow, we should have half of the required crystals up to your specified location." The ape answered.

"Good, we are moving along nicely. Before you go, get this message to the general. Prepare a force of fifty troops and be ready to send them off by tonight. I have a test I would like to perform." Ashur told the small ape, devilishly smiling at the end of his message. The ape nodded and quickly ran out the door.

Lets just have a look of how strong you are after fighting with Malefor and his army for the past years Ashur thought to himself, then picked a book off his shelf and began to read, waiting for any more news on his project.