The mage in the middle opened his eyes widely as the fire bolts hit him but luckily for him he managed to dull the impact by using the magic he was going to use on Matthew to instead help him defend himself. Impressive for a monk who was more than likely just a temple hand helper. However the man was coming in close now so instead of attacking directly he decided an indirect attack was best. "Flare!" the man shouted as a burst of light crackled to life from the tome and a ball of light erupted in front of Matthew's eyes. 

The mage fighting Jiro was not as fortunate as his counterpart. The boy whom had been flinging the spells at Jiro to no avail. Jiro was withering the boy's attacks like a man out of hell and even managed to dodge a couple. However it wasn't without merit Jiro figured the only reason he had gotten this far was because the boy was inexperienced in combat. He was most likely a stand in for one of the other monks or the daily routines of people trying to beat them had finally caught up with them. The boy looked on incredulously as Jiro was suddenly up close to him, "In Naga's name how-" the boy mouthed as suddenly Jiro brought his sword around and smacked the boy in the stomach sending him flying backwards as he rolled on the ground. The boy's priest cap fell off of his head when Jiro made impact. "I'm not going to fall down that easy kid! I've been doing my job for over twenty years you got a lot more to throw at me before I buckle!" Jiro said to the kid as he ran forward only for the boy to pull out a vulnerary and drink from it in an attempt to regain his energy he took from getting clubbed so hard. 

Zaku pranced around the other monk's attacks and was starting to get bored. Luckily for Zaku this kid was all about power and no accuracy. He wondered if they had switched opponents with one of the other two of his team if he'd have any luck. However just as Zaku got closer the man got a lucky shot in on Zaku who felt a harsh burning sensation on his sword arm. Unfortunately for the other monk Zaku knew how to deal with pain even if it hurt badly. Zaku didn't flinch because he knew what this man was going to do. All mages did this if they had an ounce of intelligence...they back pedaled. Zaku rushed up to the monk and grabbed a handful of his robes before kicking him in the stomach. Zaku pushed the monk to the ground with a quick shove and smacked the monk on the side of the face with a brutal swing of his wooden sword which would of killed the monk if this had been a real fight but instead it must've just hurt like hell as the monk blasted Zaku in the chest with a burst of light. "Ugh! Damn it!" Zaku grumbled as he was forced backward grabbing at his stomach as the monk scrambled to get back to his feet but the monks had little room to maneuver now and were slowly being driven into a boxed in area.