Stepping Up
“Right then… it’s a pain, but I shall do my best,” you say, rising reluctantly. The audience cheers and claps, and Nostrus’s smug smile widens so far that you think his head might split open.
Alexander brings out a mug of water for Arlin, who is lying prone on the grass while making intermittent gagging noises. The burly guild master looks at you, his wrinkled eyes twinkling with renewed respect and the sort of admiring disbelief reserved for looking at people who are bravely intent on making a fool of themselves in public despite all advice to the contrary. “Good luck out there, Trider. You’ll need it,” he says. “You should go all out. Argius has cast a barrier around the area to contain the force of any stray spells, so do not worry about injuring any bystanders.”
Does that mean you can use Gigadyne? You give the wooden sword a light twirl in response and walk out to meet your opponents. Knight-Captain Wisteria greets you with a nod, her face resolute. The other one, the handsome wizard called Elmont, gives you an apologetic smile and tilts his head as if to say, let’s get this all fuss over with, shall we? Tapping the sword on your shoulder, you stand in front of them leisurely, tilting your hat downwards until it obscures your eyes.
“Are you ready, Sir Trider?” asks Wisteria sharply when you make no move to acknowledge the imminent duel.
Before you can say anything, Nostrus calls the start of the match.
Elmont is the first to move. Raising his hand, he calls out an incantation for a magic arrow, one of the most elementary attack spells a magic wielder can cast. Five shining bolts of energy shoot forth from his outstretched fingers, converging on you as swift as actual arrows. The crowd lets out a collective gasp at the majestic sight, though their amazement soon turns to disappointment as the magic fails to hit its mark – by the time it arrives you have already stepped aside, letting it harmlessly scorch the cobblestones.
Wisteria acts next. She leaps, bringing her sword downward in a lunging slash. You swing your own weapon lightly – there is a small cracking sound as wood meets wood, and you repel her attack easily. She hops back to her original position, taking up a stance again.
After that, Elmont casts his next spell: a glowing red snake that zig-zags erratically through the air at high speed, homing in on you. You consider dodging again, but your Battle Premonition warns you that this magic has a limited ability to track you. You could move faster than the spell can strike, but it would be too much of a hassle. As the snake flies towards your chest, you smash it with your wooden sword, shattering it into little red sparks. For some reason, Elmont looks a little surprised at that, his mouth slightly agape.
Wisteria acts, darting in low to swing her sword at your knees. Her blade is met with your foot, which you use to force her back with a quick kick. You watch her return to her original position, and then at Elmont, incanting his next spell.
“Wait,” you call out.
“Oh? Are you giving up already?” sneers Nostrus from the sidelines.
You ignore him and continue, “Are the two of you fighting in turns?”
“Well, yes?” Wisteria looks puzzled, as is Elmont. “It is only fair since you are fighting alone.”
“If Sir Trider finds the challenge insufficient, then I think we would be much more entertained if the two of you treated this as an actual battle. Non-lethally, of course,” Nostrus speaks quickly, before you can readily agree with Wisteria. “I mean, a duel based in turns does seem quite boring, don’t you think?” He addresses that last question to the crowd, who holler in agreement.
“If you say so, Lord Nostrus,” says Elmont slightly reluctantly. “Shall we, Knight-Captain?”
Wisteria sighs. Then, sword in hand, she dashes towards you.
Crossing swords with her, you find that she is certainly as good as you had expected from her short fight with Arlin. As you defend yourself from her skillful bladework, Elmont shouts from somewhere behind her a familiar word: “Fireball!”
Wisteria retreats, getting out of the way as a fiery ball barrels towards you. You hear Nostrus let out a triumphant laugh as the spell approaches you, close enough to illuminate your face. Then, it appears to hit a wall of runes appearing out of thin air, and the fireball explodes in a flash of red and blue light. The sight of the explosion causes the crowd to draw back instinctively though the barrier is more than enough to keep its force restrained. Magic’s guard denies thine spell. “Lesser Spellshield.” With a quiet whisper, you recast the shield.
Elmont grits his teeth in disbelief. “Wh-what was that magic? Don’t give him time to cast any spells!” he shouts to Wisteria, although you had already done so under his nose. “Keep him occupied, Knight-Captain! I’ll prepare something more powerful!”
“Yes!” Acknowledging his advice, Wisteria closes in. The two of you cross blades again.
“Wisteria… Wist? Can I call you Wist?” you ask, parrying a thrust from her blade that would have struck you right in the throat.
“You may not!” she responds heatedly.
“Pity. You are pretty good at this, aren’t you?” you say, turning the subject quickly to something else.
“So are you, Sir Trider. For a mage, you are an excellent swordsman. I am honestly surprised, but I suppose if you are that boy’s teacher…”
“For a mage, you say,” you grin. “Does that mean you think you are still better?”
“Yes.” The answer comes quickly, confidently. So she is still holding back. You swing just a bit faster and just a bit harder. A look of shock flits across the face of the stern beauty, and she backs away. “You… you are full of surprises. Are you trying to tell me that I cannot beat you unless I do my best?”
“Maybe?” you say, keeping it enigmatic. In truth, it had merely been a careless lapse in your concentration.
“Then I shall answer your call!” She seems almost joyful. “Let’s see how you deal with one of the Knight-Commander’s famed techniques… Threefold Flash Strike!”
Calling out the name of the technique, Wisteria strikes. Her wooden sword is a blur of movement, appearing to strike from three directions simultaneously. Somehow, at almost the same point in time, you perceive two horizontal swings from the left and the right and a powerful slash from above. The move is executed with such precision and speed that even your Shadow Steps and Battle Premonition provide no reliable escape route: you are trapped within the cage of her sword. It is a move that would normally be impossible without the use of magic that could twist time and space. There is a burst of light as your Lesser Forceshield is overcome by the attack – it only blocks one of the three hits. The remaining two land squarely on your hat and your flank. A strange clanging noise resounds along with a loud crack as the wooden blade breaks itself on your hidden halo, driving the hat further down your head.
The look of concentration on Wisteria’s face is replaced by that of shock when she realizes that you are unharmed. There was too little power behind her strike. From her murmured astonishment, she appears to be attributing it to some strange magic of yours rather than your natural resilience. Again, you feel thankful that you aren’t facing Rin, who would probably have upped it to something ludicrous like Hundredfold Flash Strike.
“Good job buying time, Lady Wisteria! Draw back, I’ll handle it from here!” shouts Elmont, glowing with magical energy. Once Wisteria has heeded his words and retreated to a safe distance, he launches his spell: “Quagmire!”
Instantly, the surrounding area under your feet transforms into a sticky, foul-smelling swamp. You sink into it, ankle-deep, before you can react. The mud grips onto you like a baby clutching its mother’s breast, sucking and clinging. It would not be easy to break free; you expect that you would need to exert a good part of your strength to do so physically.
“Now that you cannot move… it is over, Sir Trider. You will now face not one, but six powerful lightning elementals!” declares Elmont as he raises his hands up to the night sky. “Come, divine familiars of the Sky Goddess! Burn the skies with your howl!” Surges of electrical energy erupt into existence on both sides of Elmont, flapping his beautiful purple robes in a dashing and dramatic manner. They coalesce into six shining wolves, their majestic manes sparking with blue light. Snarling and pawing at the ground, they stare at you. The audience shouts out in disbelief at the sight of those wolves. As if Elmont had been forced to use them to deal with you, that there was no other way to defeat this rude mage with a big hat.
Ah, Electric Wolves. Six of them, at that.
“It is over, Sir Trider,” Elmont repeats. “Will you surrender?”
***
This is getting to be a bit tiresome. You wonder if you can get out of this with minimal effort... As elementals, the wolves would be impervious to most normal physical attacks and a fair bit of magic, though you could still blow them apart with a strong enough wind spell. You could also have your own summons attack his...
A. You summon seven wolves. Two can play at that game. Let’s see if Elmont can call eight.
B. You conjure a Lightning Tiger and have it eat the wolves.
C. You call up a Thunder Dragon, structural integrity of the palace be damned. They need to learn not to bother you with piddling summons.
D. You tear the wolves apart with a Whirlwind.
E. You cast Elemental Protection against lightning, rendering yourself all but immune to the wolves attacks, and let Elmont exhaust himself trying to maintain his summons.
F. You are the one that they called the Thunder Emperor: you use Gigadyne directly on the wolves, destroying them and reshaping them into beasts under your control.
G. Despite your strong feelings of apathy, Barbatos is feeling a bit left out that you haven’t been beating up your opponents with manly fist-fighting – you can tell from the way your right arm is tingling. You should probably entertain him from time to time. Exerting your Battle Aura, you break free from the swamp and smash the wolves with your fists.
H. You surrender. There is no effort more minimal than this. So what if you have to strip?
