Chapter 145: Champion, Chapter 75: Turn the Tide

Aidan

The Realms

Fifthday, 2nd week of the 11th month, Age of the Chosen 1

Early Afternoon

Caellach Macht, Mistvale Highlands

For the second time in his life, Aidan faced down an opponent in a dueling ring. Fortunately, this time no one's life was on the line. Captain Valmai, looking far too unassuming in her pastel blue dress, stood at the center of the ring. "Lord Aidan, Captain Eldrid, this is a sanctioned duel. Therefore, you can fight with your full strength without risking accidental death or dismemberment. However, be aware that this protection only affects the duelists." She met both their gazes. "The purpose of this match is to show off, not to kill onlookers. Keep that in mind when you choose your spells."

Both Aidan and Eldrid nodded their agreement. Valmai grunted, then continued. "This is a duel, not a peepshow. I know this is an exhibition, but please try to keep the show to your skills, not your bodies. I cannot keep you from flirting, and the crowd will not hear you if you keep your voices to a normal level, so please try to restrict yourselves to words alone."

Aidan blinked at the diminutive otterfolk, but Eldrid gave a full-throated laugh. "Oh, don't worry, Val. I'll stick to the plan."

"That is what I am worried about," came the dry response. "Very well. Once I reach the sidelines, I will begin the duel. You will know when my Talent activates." Then, suiting actions to words, she turned and walked away.

Aidan steeled himself. He didn't know what to expect from Eldrid beyond the general knowledge that she was a high-level water mage. Aidan's magic, meanwhile, was a matter of public record. Eldrid would surely be ready for his standard barrage opener. He wasn't positive how she'd defend against it since he could attack from almost any angle, but she was much too confident to expect otherwise.

Instead, he planned to bluff her. He'd cast Burning Barrage, just like she expected him to, but he wouldn't launch the motes right away. Instead, he would Invoke Lightning Arc. Only a handful of people knew he had any lightning attacks, so Eldrid shouldn't expect it. And, even better, electricity fared much better against water than fire did. If he got exceptionally lucky, he might even land the stun.

Before he could get much deeper into speculation, Aidan felt his surroundings shift. A pulse traveled from the center of the improvised dueling ring, leaving a shimmering wake behind it. That had to be Valmai's Talent activating. Aidan's eyes locked onto Eldrid as they both started to cast. Aidan's hands traced familiar patterns in the air while Eldrid whirled into a dance.

A dozen glowing cinders flashed into existence around Aidan's head. He was glad he chose not to launch them right away, however. A wall of water surrounded Eldrid and lifted her into the air in the center of a whirling spiral. Instead, Aidan stretched out his arm and cast Lightning Arc without vocalization or gestures.

A crack of thunder sounded, and blinding light struck out from his fingers, leaving glowing streaks seared into his vision. The electricity struck Eldrid's swirling barrier—and did not penetrate.

"Nice trick!" Eldrid called out to him. "But pure water is an insulator, not a conductor." Her dance continued unabated, a second layer of liquid protection spinning into existence around her. Then one of her legs kicked out towards Aidan. A stream of water thicker than Aidan's torso split from the column surrounding Eldrid and lashed out at him.

A split second later, it crashed against the ground where Aidan had been standing with all the force of a centaur's charge. He had to dodge again immediately as a second strike followed the first, then a third, fourth, fifth. Eldrid only attacked with one tendril at a time, but it took her less than a heartbeat to switch from one to the next. The only thing saving Aidan from losing in the opening salvo was the distance between them. Eldrid's attacks were fast, but they had to travel far enough that Aidan had just enough time to dodge.

Seeking to maximize that aspect of the fight, Aidan moved away from Eldrid with each dodge. The farther apart they were, the longer it would take for Eldrid's attacks to land. That worked well right up until the column of water protecting Eldrid started flowing toward him. Of course she isn't immobile! Aidan berated himself. Water was always in motion. Why would he think that Eldrid's magic wouldn't be able to move?

"Alright," Aidan called out to Eldrid, "time to stop taking it easy on you." Of course, he hadn't been, and she'd know it thanks to her gift, but maybe it would cause her attacks to slow down just a hair while she bantered back at him. He'd need it because he'd never used this spell in a combat situation before. The nearly five seconds it took to cast Phoenixfire Conflagration would feel a lot longer while dealing with Eldrid's unceasing barrage of watery tentacles.

Sure enough, even as the first glyphs bloomed into red-gold existence trailing Aidan's fingers, another tendril hurtled towards him like a limb from a pissed-off kraken. He dodged to the side, only to find out that Eldrid wasn't restricted to attacking one at a time. The spray from the first strike's impact with the ground washed over him a split second before the second attack struck him from behind.

It was all Aidan could do to keep concentrating on his spell as he went hurtling through the air and crashed to the ground twenty feet away. He sprang to his feet and jumped to the side as soon as he rolled to a stop, correctly anticipating a follow-up attack. A quick review of Aidan's interface showed that he lost almost two hundred health from that single hit. He couldn't take many more like that.

Of course, that damage wouldn't be sticking around long. Aidan sprinted toward Eldrid and finished his spell with a shout. The fiery sigils surrounding him exploded outward in billowing gusts of golden flames. His health bar snapped back to full even as the air filled with steam. Not trusting the Conflagration to finish the job, Aidan flung the Burning Barrage motes he'd held in reserve towards where he last saw his opponent.

The rapid thwumpthwumpthwump of explosions told Aidan that he'd at least managed to score some kind of hit. He could still feel the strange effects of Valmai's Talent, however, so he hadn't finished Eldrid off.

Aidan knew he couldn't afford to let Eldrid recover. She had far better defenses, and if her offense wasn't as good, it didn't need to be. In this circumstance, she really did have a significant advantage over him. Their wager wasn't worth going all out for, but there were other, higher, stakes. Aidan needed to make a strong showing to convince the other tribes.

An idea occurred to him. Eldrid seemed to use her whole body for the somatic components of her spells. If he could interfere with her dancing, it might give him an edge. There were only two ways he could do that. First, he could maim or sever one of her limbs. He wasn't prepared to go that far quite yet, despite both Eldrid's and Valmai's assurances about the duel's safety mechanisms.

The second method was to land a Magma Blast and, with it, partial petrification. The status was a bit of a misnomer, as it didn't turn the target's body to stone. Rather, it encased what it hit with the cooled remnants of the conjured lava. If Aidan could strike any of Eldrid's major joints—shoulders, hips, elbows, knees, wrists, ankles—it should disrupt her spellcasting.

Even as the thoughts raced through Aidan's mind, his hands and voice were acting on them. He didn't start with a Magma Blast, however. Clouds of steam still obscured his sight, and he needed to land his shot with precision. Instead, he cast two different spells, one with each hand. With his left, he Invoked his oldest offense, sending a streamer of fire arcing through the space Eldrid used to occupy. With his right, Aidan debuted his newest magic.

A bar of blinding blue-white flame snapped into existence above the battlefield. A sweep of Aidan's hand sent the blade-like spell carving down through the air. Although he couldn't see through the billowing flames left over from his point-blank Phoenixfire Conflagration or the resulting steam, his combat log showed no damage dealt. In fact, it showed no damage dealt to Eldrid by anything except the very first pulse of Conflagration. Something was off.

Some sixth sense compelled Aidan to duck and roll. He felt and heard projectiles pass through where his upper torso had been. The attack came from behind him. Aidan came to his feet facing that way, but the cloud of steam was still too dense to make out a target. He gritted his teeth and summoned another Blade of Burning Wrath.

"What's the matter? Can't find little old me?" Eldrid's voice whispered past his left ear. Aidan dodged and spun to face her, plasma sword already sweeping through the air. Nothing. To whisper to him like that, Eldrid would have had to be standing right beside him. The steam was thick, but not that thick. He should have been able to see her.

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Wait. Not steam—Conflagration had spent itself, and the air was no longer superheated. Mist. Aidan cursed and leaped into motion. A heartbeat later, watery daggers rained down on his former position.

"Aww, you figured it out." The pout was clear in Eldrid's tone.

"You turned into mist to get away from my Conflagration. It must have a near-instant casting time. Impressive defensive spell," Aidan admitted even as he ran in a zig-zagging course. He had to hope Eldrid's foggy form wasn't very large and couldn't keep up with him. It wasn't much of a hope, but it was what he had.

"Not just defense. I can see, hear, and feel," the latter word was accompanied by what felt like Eldrid's lips brushing against Aidan's neck, "everything within the area."

"There must be—" Aidan came to a hard stop and leaped to the side, not quite fast enough to avoid taking a jagged cut across his shoulder. "There must be some kind of drawback. Limited offense?"

"Come now, Aidan. You don't really think I'm going to—" more watery spikes rained down around Aidan— "give away all of my secrets? I've read the Evil Overlord's List."

"Ah, so you admit you're evil."

"You can't stall me out, Aidan. I can maintain this form indefinitely." That might be true. Aidan had no way of knowing. If it was, he was fucked. None of his fire spells had any apparent effect on Eldrid like this. However, it was hard to believe in a perfect defense. There had to be something he could do.

"Right now, you're thinking, 'there has to be something I can do,' right?" Eldrid's tone straddled the line between mocking and teasing. Another barrage of projectiles accompanied her voice. Aidan was getting used to the pattern by now. There seemed to be a short cooldown, seven or eight seconds between volleys.

"I told you this was a bad matchup for you, Aidan. You can't escape, and you can't hurt me. If you've got any other flashy spells, I'll give you a chance to use them before I finish you off. Gotta make a good show of it, right?"

That triggered a recent memory.

"You have to know that you are losing, then refuse to." The wind screamed as Ysbail spun her sword around for another attack. "If there is a shred of doubt in your mind, you will fail."

There had to be a way to win. If magic wouldn't do the job, well, Aidan had other tools. He dodged another attack from Eldrid, then planted his feet and drew his sword. He wasn't very good at this yet. Ysbail could ignite her Aura with no apparent effort, but Aidan needed to focus for a couple of seconds. The timing would be tight.

"Oh? What's this? I know you aren't giving up." Eldrid sounded more curious than anything, but Aidan couldn't spare enough attention to respond. Instead, his thoughts were focused inward, locking away all capacity for doubt. It was no longer, I will win this fight, but rather, I have already won.

Thump-thump-thump went Aidan's heart hammering in his chest. He closed his eyes and focused inward. Thump-thump-thump. There was only himself and his sword. Thump-thump. The duel, the contest between him and Eldrid, vanished from his thoughts. Thump-thump. The crowd of onlookers, friends and potential allies alike, no longer mattered. Thump. All existence narrowed down to the beat of his heart and the flow of his blood through Aidan's veins. Thump. As Aidan's heart stilled, he smiled and opened his eyes.

Thump.

Five darts of high-pressure water sped through the mist toward his head and torso. There wasn't time to dodge. There was also no need to. Silver light exploded out of Aidan's body. All around him, the mist that was Eldrid recoiled like grease from a droplet of soap. In an instant, Aidan stood in a pocket of clear air ten feet in diameter.

Eldrid's attack reached him a split second later—and splashed harmlessly off his Aura. A strike of that magnitude was no threat to him now. "Your move, Eldrid," Aidan said as his lips turned up at the corners. If she didn't have another, stronger, attack, then they were in a stalemate. He couldn't hurt her, she couldn't hurt him.

His opponent didn't respond right away. Fog swirled around Aidan for several long seconds. Then, a spear of dense water screamed out of the mist aimed at his back. It fared no better against Aidan's Aura than the smaller projectiles before it.

"What happens, I wonder," Aidan asked, "if I burn off all of your mist at the same time?" Phoenixfire Conflagration's cooldown was up. The spell's baseline version didn't have the reach to answer his question. However, he could now afford the time and concentration needed to spice things up with Incantations and Glyphs.

"I am the spark that lights the world aflame," Aidan intoned. His hands spun through the air, tracing intricate layers of geometric patterns around him. He spoke in Highlands Gallic, not Divine Speech. There was no need to amp the spell up so much. And, besides, this would double as a taunt.

"Do you really have to sound so chuuni?"

Aidan didn't respond, of course. That would disrupt the spell. Instead, he continued to chant. He focused his alterations on just one factor: range. Aidan intended to overwhelm Eldrid with a towering inferno that filled the dueling ring and beyond. He didn't have to worry about friendly fire since Phoenixfire Conflagration wouldn't harm anyone he didn't consider an enemy.

In exchange for increased reach, Aidan sacrificed healing potential. He was down a few dozen health points, but he only needed a fraction of Phoenixfire Conflagration's base healing to fix that. Ten percent would be more than enough once the aftershocks were considered. All he needed was to knock Eldrid out of her defensive form. The two waiting Blades of Burning Wrath would seal the deal.

Aidan's voice rose to a crescendo, and the glowing glyphs around him pulsed with blinding energy. Even as he prepared to unleash his magic, the fog around him streaked toward one end of the dueling circle. Eldrid reappeared in the center of a small sphere of water, which hardened into ice a split second later. No sooner did she vanish from view again did Aidan complete his spell.

For the second time in less than a year, the shriek of a hunting phoenix preceded fiery wings sweeping through Ceallach Macht. Aidan directed the fire over the crowd's heads and down onto his opponent. For five seconds, shining golden flames raged across the battlefield, and within them, two blue-white swords dove in for the kill.

Zurai

Pronunciation Guide (infinitesimal spoiler warning, names only without any details)

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