“This match may be over as quickly as it began!” the announcer shouted. A chorus of shocked cries and gasps came from the audience.
No one had expected this.
Snake snarled and erupted forward in a flash of movement, his hands glowing a dark green as he hawked down Tonka. The members of Green Book ran forward to support him. The heavy-set man wasn’t very fast now that the speed of the spell had worn down.
“What do we do?” Joseia asked, turning to Sen.
“Cognitive Enhancement Maxim. Time Crawl Maxim.” Snakes burst of speed slowed dramatically, and it now looked like he was walking. Tonka moved even slower. The look of pure hatred in Snake’s eyes worried Sen, but he doubted the boy would do anything to lose points.
Tutor, can he handle this?
[Girch is too far, and too slow to impact the fight. Snake will be facing the full force of Green Book alone. His odds are around 31%.]
Sen turned back to Fire Kite. Like Green Book, they were targeting Bright Sail. For a moment he wondered if they hadn’t yet realized Green Book had already stolen their sphere, but he watched as Alari looked at Tonka and then back in the direction of Sen’s party. She pointed a finger, and two members of her team, Lakin Smen and one whose name he had missed earlier, shot toward Snake. They were trying to intercept him. Were the other two schools working together?
[Updated odds that Snake succeeds: 23%. That specific number relies on the off chance that one member of Fire Kite trips and face-plants before reaching him.]
Time crawl faded.
Sen sighed. “Joseia, can you get to Fire Kite’s sphere if I create an opening?”
Joseia appeared to vibrate as he readied to run. “Yes.”
“Then go. Milim, it’s time to use that spell of yours. We’ll try that combination technique we developed.” He felt his own mana thrum and focused, whispering a slew of spells to set up the engagement according to his plan.
“On it!” She skidded to a stop and held her hands out. “Dream Decay-Mass Dream!” So she’d opted to use the modifier they’d worked on together. A modifier designed with this specific spell in mind. It only took a single moment for the spell to take effect. The two members of Fire Kite rushing to aid Tonka, stopped mid-stride. They fell asleep standing up, their minds pulled into a pleasant dream that would devolve into a quite unpleasant nightmare before long. Alari and the other members of Fire Kite and Green Book were trapped by the spell as well.
Milim looked at Sen with excitement. Single-handedly, she’d just incapacitated every magician on the battlefield of both rival schools. Sen had to admit he hadn’t thought it would be that effective.
Joseia wasted no time. He rushed past, casting an enhancement as he ran, pushing his already high speed stat even further. He wasn’t traveling in quite the blink that Tonka had somehow, but he was quick. To Sen’s right, Snake was rapidly gaining on a now defenseless Tonka. He could retrieve the sphere and grab Green Books as long as the spell held.
Joseia reached Fire Kite’s sphere and returned, rushing past the members of Fire Kite to cut his travel time down. It was risky, but Milim’s spell should last long enough.
The crowd went wild at the development. “It seems Brightsail is rallying! But will it be enough?” the announcer cried out.
Joseia was on the way back to Sen and Milim when a clap resounded throughout the arena.
A wave of mana surged all around them and overwhelmed Milim’s spell. “Now, now, don’t go sleeping on me, everyone,” Anonymous Student called out. His voice was amplified by mana. He yawned after making his announcement.
Just like that, everything went wrong.
Alari’s head snapped up, and she stretched out a hand. She snatched Sen’s teammate by the neck and yanked him back. Joseia flew backward in her grasp. The sphere rolled from his hands and towards Dasai, who was also awake now. He stepped on the rolling red sphere to bring it to a halt under his foot. Marin shook her head, looking around in confusion.
It was almost too late. Snake was only ten feet away when Tonka awakened, and Sen thought he’d close the distance in time. That was before the blue-haired guy known as Anonymous Student shot forward and slapped Snake with his pillow. The blow sent Snake reeling backward. It looked like he’d been hit by a wall of stone.
The pajamas, the pillow, it was possible Anonymous Student had control over dream magic as well. If he was the top student of Green Book, it was unlikely Milim could match him in the element he’d honed over his four years there. So much for that. Oh well. He hadn’t expected things to go that easily.
That was when the battle started in earnest.
Snake was still flying backwards when Girch caught him. The two exchanged a look, and then Girch wrapped a massive hand around Snake’s back, reared his arm back, and flung their team leader forward like a spell. Snake’s arms exploded into a wave of green and purple poison dripped from his hands. Anonymous student waved a hand, and his pillow floated in front of Snake. Two serpentine hands pierced through it, sending feathers scattering everywhere.
Not far off, Lakin Smen crossed her arms in the air in front of her, and an enormous wave went crashing towards Anonymous and Snake. A golden wall cut the wave off, sending the water flowing harmlessly to either side. Lakin turned to sneer at Susanna, who stood atop a thirty foot tall guard tower made of translucent, golden light.
It was time for Sen to get involved himself. He started reapplying cognitive enhancement. Sen froze. He’d never deactivated it. Why wasn’t it still active? He reached out with his mana, seeking an explanation for his altered state, but his mind felt fuzzy. He wasn’t operating under an enhancement, but this was more than that. Sen wasn’t even operating at his baseline.
[It appears you’ve been de-enhanced. Analyze?]
Yes.
This was bad. “Milim, go help Snake. Do not let them turn in that sphere,” Sen said. Tonka was getting dangerously close to turning in the sphere now. Mary Candless waved him forward with her staff. If Sen didn’t act quickly, their chances of winning the round were over, and he’d lose out on his unique class quest reward.
“What about—” Milim started.
“I’ll handle it. Go!”
She hurried off to join the fight. Snake still traded blows with Anonymous, and golden creations of light still met powerful water magic at every turn.
His eyes locked on Alari. She smirked. Her hand was wrapped around Joseia’s neck, and a massive flame was forming in her other one. She’d taken his teammate hostage. It would cost her team points if she maimed or killed him, but nobody would intervene during the competition itself. If Sen didn’t choose his moves well, her hostage was going to face some excruciating pain.
“Stay right where you are, first-year. You’re going to sit this one out, or your friend gets hurt real bad,” Alari called out. She turned to look at Dasai and Marin behind her. “You keep doing your thing, Marin. Dasai, stop the pink-haired brat.”
Dasai nodded and disappeared into thin air.
[Mind Alteration. The Marin girl is reducing your ability to reason.]
“So she’s trying to force me into bad decisions.” A realization hit him all at once. “No…not just me. Maybe even Snake’s plan. He split our forces up and left a single defender.” The way their enemies were acting…this had been a trap from the start.
Alari gave him a weird look. “Are you talking to yourself? This is why they don’t let first-years participate. You’re having a mental breakdown in the first round?”
[Shall we purge the de-enhancement?]
“No.” If they did, Marin would know they were on to her. Besides, maybe this stupid idea of his resulted from Marin’s magic, but…she wasn’t aware of what he was fully capable of. He could take that to his advantage. She expected him to try something risky, but she didn’t realize that the risk would involve all of them.
Sen looked over at Tonka. His teammates wouldn’t make it.
One spell. He had an opportunity to cast one spell to buy time on two fronts.
“You wanted me making bad decisions, well, here it goes,” Sen said.
Alari cocked her head. Her eyes shot open when she realized he was pooling up his mana.
“Violent Tempest Maxima.” He added mana to his own voice for a bit of dramatic effect. Though the spell wouldn’t need any help in that department.
As soon as he’d summoned the spell, he abandoned all control over it. Now, the chaos was everyone’s problem. Let’s see how you adjust when your plan goes to hell.
Tonka’s feet started sliding backward moments before he reached their pedestal. He looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. Alari’s hair slapped against her face, and the magic in her hand weakened, though she still pointed it at Joseia. Anonymous Student and Snake both paused their fight, looking around them as the wind shifted.
And that was just the beginning.
The tiniest strands of a tornado touched down in the center of the arena.
Then it exploded outward as if pure magic had been poured into it.
“Shatter Vine Maxim!” Large vines erupted from the ground in front of and around Sen, blocking the wind and carving a path directly towards Alari and Fire Kite’s sphere. He moved in a straight line towards her. The flame in her hand grew in size.
“Last warning,” she called out.
Joseia’s eyes went wide.
Sen grimaced. For what it was worth, he was sorry about this.
He didn’t stop running.
Alari made good on her threat. The attack blasted into Joseia’s side, and the boy burned. His flesh turned into a puddle of ooze.
Marin’s eyes went wide, and she covered her face. “Alari! You killed him?”
Sen held out a hand to his side as he ran. A moment later he felt a hand slap against his own and he skidded to a stop. The clap seemed to echo around the entire arena, even through the deafening sound of rushing wind.
The contact broke the invisibility spell Sen had cast on Joseia the moment he left. The replica Joseia that Alari had taken hostage was now a puddle under her feet. His vines hadn’t been there to protect Sen from the wind.
They’d been a pathway for the real Joseia to make his move.
Already Susanna opened the door to their fortress for him; the golden tower beckoned him inside with open doors. He’d be there in less than twenty seconds. Sen covered his face with a hand to protect his eyes from the wind. He looked across the battlefield. Tonka flew by, caught in the tornado. He wasn’t the only one. Milim, Girch, Snake, and the members of Green Book and Fire Kite all flew around it. Still fighting. Bursts and beams of magic ripped around the tornado. Like a beacon in the night, a blue glowing sphere floated above as well. Alari was still piecing together what happened, but she noticed the sphere too, and Joseia was already safely behind Sen with hers.
With a look of pure hatred, she charged towards Sen.
He rolled his neck. “Let’s do this.”
The announcer was almost as shocked as the audience was. But finally, he found words once more. “It’s the prodigious first-year of Bright Sail Academy versus the Flamelord’s daughter!”
Alari drew her blade of flame as she reached him. Mana Encapsulation filled his body. Aggression would help him strike harder, and Protection could protect him if he failed to dodge, but they also could affect his movements. Too much power, too much durability; right now he was fighting a battle of precision. Because Snake had lit a fire in him. He wasn’t just aiming to defend their base and retrieve their sphere anymore.
He still wanted to capture Green Book’s.
Alari
She didn’t care about the points anymore. This white-haired brat had made her look stupid. He was going to pay for that. In fact, each of the little pieces she cut him into were going to pay for that.
Flamesaber was like an extension of her arm as she swatted at the boy like the bug he was. He was fast, maybe even faster than the curly-headed kid, but he’d slip, eventually. She didn’t know how he’d conjured a wind spell that powerful, but she suspected he’d used an artifact. Something like that would leave him nearly drained of mana; it was a matter of time until her sword seared his flesh.
“Don’t run too much now, at least the wounds will cauterize.” She lunged, unleashing a flurry of attacks.
Sen rolled his eyes. “No, thank you.” He dodged the attacks in quick succession before ducking past her. She wheeled around, waiting for a counterattack, but he was gone. A vine lifted into the air with him attached to it. He looked over his shoulder and smirked at her.
“Coward!” she called after him. Shooting into the sky, propelled by explosions of flame beneath her feet.
She glanced back at the boy with Fire Kite’s sphere and realized he hadn’t claimed it officially yet. He stood there in the defensive apparatus the blonde girl had made. They were waiting.
Why?
Didn’t matter. She’d take care of the boy then retrieve her sphere.
As soon as she entered the tornado, it swept her up. Pieces of debris and broken rock from the battlefield flew dangerously around her. Other students, including her friends, scrambled to gain control of the situation. The audience was lucky the barrier around the battlefield was keeping them safe from all this.
Her eyes darted back and forth in pursuit of her target. Where was he?
There!
More of the thick green vines shot out of the ground and filled the air. The wind didn’t affect them, and she noticed Sen grabbing onto them, grappling from one to the other. She followed his gaze and saw the Blue Sphere of Bright Sail Academy. It went around, spinning wildly overhead towards the top of the tornado. He was going to snatch it from the sky. It spun around once. Twice. The vine he was on grew higher; he stretched his fingers out to grab it and…
She smirked, swinging Flamesaber toward him. A slash of flames cut through the center of the vortex and sliced the vine he was standing on. She released the weapon and surged upward in an explosive show of force. She snapped the sphere out of the sky herself.
She looked down at Sen as he plunged toward the ground. But he didn’t seem upset. He was smiling.
He pointed behind her.
Alari wheeled around just in time to see a black-haired boy with green hands hovering behind her.
Snake.
His shirt stretched in several directions, being tugged on and pulled through the wind by…butterflies?
“Goodnight.” He smirked.
That was the last thing she saw before his fist smashed into her face and her world went black.
She smashed into the ground of the arena.
Sen
Sen switched to Protection just before he hit the ground, and then back to Encapsulation. He landed on his feet, then forced the shroud of mana outward as much as possible, stretching his mana to its limits.
“Release!” he shouted. The vortex ended immediately, and the students caught up in the chaos plummeted to the earth. Anonymous Student took pity on the others before Sen could.
“Sleepover Drowse!” Anonymous shouted.
Ethereal pillows formed under all the falling students, including the ones from Bright Sail Academy, and cushioned their fall. Satisfied that his spell and its maximizer had worked correctly, Anonymous Student rolled over and started taking a nap fifty feet in the air.
Sen looked toward the final sphere, but Milim was already there. So he’d been right, she really could utilize the effects of Mana Encapsulation when he activated it. She plucked Green Books’ sphere from its holder and started running back toward their base. Mary Candless, witch hat and all, rose to stop her. But a shadow loomed behind her, and she turned slowly to see Girch standing over her with crossed arms. He shook his head once.
“Right…I’ll…I’ll just sit here.” Mary took a seat and let Milim pass.
Susanna opened the doors to Bright Sails defensive castle once more, and Milim joined Snake and Joseia, who carried the other two spheres.
As the barriers fell, the sound of the crowd going wild filled the air.
Sen chuckled. “Does that cut it, oh wonderful class of mine?”
[Quest Complete. Achieve total victory in round one of the Academy War.]
[Reward…]