Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Two — Sandblasting
Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Two — Sandblasting The fight was... I wasn’t sure if it was going well for me or not. In terms of stats and such I was fine. Barely any stamina or mana spent. My HP was a couple of points shy of full. In terms of everything else, the gap between us was still wide.Flein had the advantage. Close up, he was much slower than me, but he moved as if he knew what he was doing. Maybe it was a skill, maybe it was a martial art, maybe he just practised fighting a whole bunch. I don’t think it mattered how, as long as I kept in mind that he was the better fighter up close, despite my reach and speed advantage.From afar, Flein had whips of sand and likely a few other ways to make my life difficult. I couldn’t just keep dodging him forever. Eventually my stamina would run out, or I’d get tired, or one of his whips would hit me hard enough to disable me. There was a chance that he’d run out of mana first, but that was a lot to hope for.I bounced on the balls of my feet, hands raised defensively before me, and ears laid back against my head. Flein took a moment to loosen his shoulders and carefully rebuilt the armour covering his hand.So far the only trick that had worked was getting in real close, touching him, and disrupting his mana. Turning it into Cleaning aspect was easy, and it did a number on his sand armour.My eyes darted around the arena for a second-where was my broom anyway? Oh! It was a few steps to his rightMy eyes shifted back to Flein and saw a blur of sand already halfway to my face.Yelping, I tossed myself out of the way of a sandy tendril that... flopped onto the ground harmlessly where I’d been standing.A feint!My little bun heart was clawing its way out of my chest as I watched Flein draw up more sand into a fresh whip. It spun around the air above him, then darted out at me faster than I could blink.I was on my feet and running already, but not fast enough.The whip cracked against the back of my thigh and I hissed at the fresh line of pain it left there. The crowd above, almost entirely forgotten, gasped.Flein wasn’t going to be swayed that easily. He pulled the whip back, then cracked it out again.I ducked under it this time, the snap going off just above my head, louder than a gunshot.Staying at range wasn’t going to work.I planted my foot down and flung myself towards Flein. At least when I was close I had a chance to take him out. Maybe land a lucky blow. From far away all I was doing was letting him bully me around the arena.Flein was ready for my move. It was a rather predictable thing to do, I guess, and he had to know that I was nearly out of options.The arena’s sandy floor burst upwards, turning into a hip-high barrier of long spikes. Running into that would be like headbutting the back end of a hedgehog. I squished myself down sideways, and somehow, just barely, I managed to slip between two of the spikes then dropped into a roll.A roll which ended right where Flein wanted me.I screamed as his whip caught me right across the face. I was wearing a helmet, but that blow crossed right through it, and the padding within the helmet shoved itself into my face and sent me reeling back. I coughed and blinded hard as sand grit into my eyes and cheeks.I only barely caught sight of the whip returning to council above its master’s head. He was going to hit me again!I never formed a fireball so quickly. My mana spun into shape and launched a burning dart across the arena with a whistling shriek.Flein aborted his attack and tore his sandy spikes apart to form a barrier between him and me. It caught the fireball with a dull thump.Planting my feet down for just a moment, I squatted, then shot myself up and into the air as hard and fast as I could so that I was launched over Flein. Humans didn’t tend to look up, but sylph were able to fly. It was only natural that he would glance up and catch sight of me zipping above him.He twisted around, tracking my arc as I flung fireballs and cleanballs at him as fast as I could make them.Depleting my mana supply wasn’t an issue. The fight would be ending soon either way, and if I lost it while I still had mana left, that just meant that I didn’t give it my all.Flein swatted my magic out of the air with a twisting mass of sand. It burst apart at every impact, but reformed just as quickly.I landed across from him, spun around so that I was facing his direction, then charged toward him, fists raised before me and body low to the ground.Flein swung his arm out wide between us, and a second wall of sand spikes formed.Good!I hadn’t jumped this way for nothing. As I ran, I ducked low and picked up my broom, both hands gripping onto the very end of the handle and mana flooding through the shaft.I swung with a grunt of effort, more and more magic pouring out of the mop until it glowed.A broom was a tool for sweeping, and right then, all I wanted was to sweep the sand away.Something about cleaning magic made it... strange. It would only clean out impurities, but the sand wasn't an impurity. When I tried to clean it away, all I was getting was clean sand.What if I didn’t target the sand so much as the mana holding it together?It was a weird idea, and one that I really, really hoped would work out as I charged right into the teeth of his barrier.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.My mop tore into the spikes... and right through them. Where it passed, the sandy construct burst apart into a cloud of dust.I was through the barrier and right up against Flein faster than either of us could think.Turning just a little, I rammed into the sylph shoulder first.I was a lot heavier than he was, even with his sandy armour, and I was moving pretty darned fast. It still hurt. His chest had a thick layer of hardened sand over it, rough and coarse and not something I’d normally want to run into at a full sprint.We crashed into each other, then I drove him to the ground. I heard him grunt beneath me a moment before he swung a fist around and hit me in the ribs. My armour took some of the sting out of the blow. Some of it.Flein twisted, trying to throw me off him, but I pinned one end of my broom under a knee and pressed down on the other with one hand. With the other, I tried to reach for his face.Sand twirled around us and shot towards my face. Was he going to try to suffocate me?I let out a powerful burst of cleaning magic, wiping his mana out of the air.Then, finally, I placed a hand over his face. “Stop!” I screamed.He grunted and shifted under me.“Stop, or I’ll turn your mana into fireballs inside you,” I said.He froze.I froze too. That was a very mean thing to say to someone. Worse... I wasn’t sure if I meant the threat or not.He sighed and let his head fall back. “I’m not being paid enough to test that.”The referee was suddenly right next to us. “Winner, by forfeit, is Captain Broccoli Bunch,” he declared.I carefully shifted off from on top of Flein, then sat down on the ground for a bit. I hadn’t noticed early, but all of the sand of the arena was bunched up around us, forming a slight hill. That... had been close, very close, way too close.“Ma’am, are you well?”I blinked and looked up into the eyes of a white-robbed sylph. A young man, maybe five or six years my senior. “Uh? Oh, yeah.”“I’m going to touch your shoulder and hand,” the sylph said. He was very gentle as he grabbed hold of me.I felt his magic coiling under his skin, then it shot out into me and I flinched. My own mana twitched and his dispersed.The sylph blinked. “Oh, you have very fine mana control, Captain. I’ll assure you, on my name and oath, that I mean you no harm. I’m just going to run a diagnostic to make sure you’re in good health.”“Oh, sorry,” I said. I glanced to the side and noticed another sylph doing the same to Flein, though they were just finishing up.This time I let the mana move in without touching it. I couldn’t even begin to guess what he was doing though. My senses weren’t anywhere keen enough to figure it out. It felt warm though.“Two small cuts, arm and upper thigh near the buttocks, one forming bruise on the left side of the chest near the short-ribs. Some light scraping of the skin around the shins... a lot of tension in your muscles and bones, especially around your legs. You might want to consider switching to a day-on-day off workout schedule, and add some more protein to your diet. Otherwise, I validate you as being in good health.”“Oh, thanks,” I said. He helped me onto my feet, and out of curiosity I checked my arm. There was a cut in the fabric of my gambeson and... that was it. No blood, of course, not with all the Cleaning magic around, and no cut under that either, just smooth, pale skin. “Healing magic’s pretty neat.”“I must agree,” the healer said. “You should rejoin your friends now, before the referee’s patience runs dry.”I nodded and headed towards my friends, but not before trading a nod with Flein and taking off the lion-headed helmet I wore.The moment I stepped into the room with my friends I was swept up into a big big hug. “You did great!”“Well done!”I laughed as the tension bled out of me. It took a bit of wiggling to free my arms, but as soon as I could I squeezed Awen and Amaryllis right back. “Thanks,” I said. “I wasn’t sure I’d win that.”“I didn’t doubt it at all,” Awen said.“Well, I certainly did. That was a tough opponent for you,” Amaryllis said. “Which only makes it all the more impressive that you managed to pull off a victory.”“Yeah,” I said. I wasn’t sure what I was agreeing to, maybe it was just the hug speaking. It was nice and warm and made all the tension in my shoulders bleed away. It also ended all too soon, though I knew I could always get more hugs if I asked.“Are you well?” Amaryllis asked in a hushed voice that only we could hear.I bobbed my head up and down. “I’m fine. That really was a tough fight. But we won.”“You won,” Amaryllis said. “And you deserved it too.”“You were great out there,” Awen added.I was going to deny that, but then Augustus’ voice cut me off. “Our final contestants. Representing Lord Francisco, Malter Roggen! And representing Lady Amaryllis Albatross is the lady herself.”Amaryllis took a deep breath. “My turn.”“Be careful out there,” I said.“Show him why you’re so scary,” Awen added.“Oh, don’t worry,” Amaryllis said. She was almost purring. “With things at a tie I have no choice but to win. I’m going to put the fear of me into that mercenary, and maybe show Francis what’ll happen to him if he crosses me enough.”Contrary to Amaryllis’ wishes, I was worrying a lot.
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Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Three — Blitzkrieg
Chapter Two Hundred and Ninety-Three — Blitzkrieg The last of the people we had to fight was Malter Roggen, the only human in the trio and, according to Insight, someone who had the Frozen Batterer class.The height difference between Amaryllis and Malter was kind of obvious. Malter was a tallish human, and Amaryllis was maybe a tiny bit taller than average for a girl harpy. That meant that Malter had a good head of height over herNot that Amaryllis seemed to care. She stood at the end of the arena, oozing such a powerful aura of malice that I could feel it despite being behind a window. Was that what killing intent felt like? I thought it was just a thing in cartoons.“I bet he’s nervous now,” Awen said.Malter did look a pinch uncomfortable. He was level 14, the lowest levelled person on the opposite team, and the only one equal to Amaryllis. He had light armour on, a padded outfit with a sort of hardened leather carapace atop it. He was armed, but he kept fiddling with his strange weapon.“What is that thing?” I asked.“It’s a meteor hammer,” Awen said. “The Ostri like to use those. They can be pretty dangerous, but usually if you’re using one, you need a lot of space to manoeuvre, so you can't stick close to your allies.”“Alright,” I said. Hopefully Amaryllis would be able to counter it properly.The referee stepped back into the ring and glanced at both Amaryllis and Malter before he started his usual spiel. He must have said those exact same lines hundreds of times by now. It was impressive that he still put so much energy into it. Though maybe there was a Referee skill out there?He had Amaryllis and Malter each repeat his instructions before finally pulling out a handkerchief and raising it above his head.Amaryllis brought her knife around so that it was before her and she crouched into more of a fighter’s stance.Malter shifted as well, his meteor hammer was a lump at the end of a thick ribbon. He gave it some slack, then automatically started to spin it around.The handkerchief dropped.I held my breath as it fluttered through the air, gently making its way down until...The arena exploded with sound and light as Amaryllis fired a spell across the space between her and Malter.There was no dodging something that fast, even if the air around Malter seemed to fill with icy crystals. He grunted and stumbled back as Amaryllis’ electrical discharge wracked his body.Still, he managed to get his arm moving to spin his hammer around some more. His free hand, still holding onto the coil of rope for his weapon, rose, and he started to form a sort of hexagonal shield in the air, like a giant hovering snowflake.Amaryllis didn’t sit idle though. She jogged around the edge of the arena, a careful spiral that would bring her around to Malter’s position soon enough. He had to turn to keep his shield interposed between them.As she circled him Amaryllis fired three more quick spells. Little zaps of magic that snapped through the air. Malter hopped on the spot to avoid one that went for his exposed feet, another missed him entirely, and the last tested the strength of his shield. It held, though it steamed from the heat where the magic hit.Then Malter started to dance. He spun, arm shifting out, and the twirling ball at the end of the ribbon he held flung itself out and came around in a big loop.Amaryllis paused her run to let it swing by her. She eyed it, eyes narrowed as the hammer came back around in a deceptively slow arc.Malter shifted a leg out, caught the ribbon behind the hammer, then spun and kicked. The hammer flew out in a straight path, right towards Amaryllis.The distance was great enough that Amaryllis was able to duck out of the way, but it was a close thing.Unfortunately for Malter, it left him open, and his weapon required a specific set of motions to reset itself.Amaryllis started to fling little zappy spells at him. Nothing that would take him out on their own, but enough of them that he had to move fast to duck and weave so that they’d miss. His shield came around and took a few hits, but it was just small enough that some part of Malter was always sticking out.Amaryllis started jogging again, one hand flinging lightning towards Malter, the other... trailing down next to her, just over the sand.“Oh!” Awen said.“What?” I asked.“I just caught on to what she’s doing,” Awen said.I glanced back at the fight. Malter and Amaryllis were now circling around each other. Soon, they’ll have traded places from where they started the fight. “I don’t see it,” I said.“She’s herding him.”I watched a bit more as Malter finally reached the spot where Amaryllis had been earlier. He was putting up a decent fight now that he’d gotten used to Amaryllis’ style of fighting. His weapon afforded him good range, and judging by the heavy thumps that sounded out when it hit the ground, it hit hard too.Amaryllis was using the fact that he had to shield himself from her constant barrage of little spells to make dodging easier. After all, he couldn’t exactly go all-out while also working so hard to keep safe.And then it happened. Amaryllis grinned the sort of grin she only deployed when she’d caught someone flatfooted. Her free hand rose up, and then she turned her talons down and tensed.Malter stumbled out of nowhere, feet planting themselves onto the ground even as he scurried to wrap his hammer around his arm. He tilted back, foot kicking out to hit the back of his shield hard enough that I winced. Judging by the confused and pained look that crossed his face, he wasn’t supposed to do that.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.I think Malter realized just how much trouble he was in, because he suddenly threw caution to the wind. He flung his hammer out with a grunt, and where it flew, the air filled with shimmering fog.Amaryllis jumped to the side and the hammer sailed past where she was to impact the wall behind her. A huge burst of icy spikes exploded out of the wall, almost skewering my friend from behind.I gasped, hands covering my mouth. That had been close!Amaryllis seemed to think so too because she raised her hand, and for a moment I was able to make out the wires she held. They trailed along the ground all the way over to where Malter was.He saw them too and started to claw at his legs and sides, but it was too late.Amaryllis smiled, and the air, even in the room we were in, started to smell like ozone.There was a great big bang and a bright light. For a moment I swore I saw the outline of Malter’s skeleton before I had to blink away from the light. Sand was kicked up around the mage, and his hammer’s ribbon trailed to the ground.Then Malter flopped to the floor, completely out of the fight.I held my breath for just a moment as a medic sylph, the same one who had helped me, ran out to Malter and checked on him. The man sat up soon enough, looking rather groggy, but alive.He was fine, which meant... “Woo! Well done Amaryllis!” I cheered.Awen and I slipped out of the room in a quick sprint. Awen stopped before Amaryllis and shook her talons with a big smile on.I, being less reserved, tackled Amaryllis off her feet with a flying hug. “You won!”“Get off me, you clingy bun,” Amaryllis protested. “People are watching you know!”I laughed, squeezed her extra tight, then hopped to my feet and helped her back up so that I could give her a second, standing hug. Awen joined in that one, despite Amaryllis’ continued protests that it would make her look improper or whatever.The referee cleared his throat, and we backed off a bit. A medic came to check on Amaryllis, but she’d been unscathed through the entire fight, so she was given a clean bill of health.I didn’t quite know what to expect then, but I didn’t have to worry much.Augustus stepped into the arena and carefully directed my friends and I to stand on one side while a team of sylph swept in. A big carpet was unrolled across the ground while another swept up the sand with a spell.Caprica descended, accompanied by a couple of guards who stood watch by the doorway, and soon the three mercenaries we’d fought were standing at attention across from us.Then Francisco entered the arena.Judging by the way he glanced up at the crowd, he was very aware of all the eyes taking us in. I had the impression that to some people, this was the best part of the show.Francisco was directed to stand in front of his team, and Amaryllis took a half step forward as well. There was only a metre between them. A very tense one.“Fighters, spectators, noble lords and ladies,” Augustus said with his most boisterous voice. “We have gathered here to watch a duel, declared between the noble houses of Hawk and Albatross over the right of participation in the upcoming International Summit. This duel is now complete.”There was a long pause and I only just managed to catch myself before I clapped.“Lord Hawk, do you concede your loss, as witnessed?” Augustus asked.Francisco’s nose rose right up and he glared across to Amaryllis. Still, the pressure must have been pretty hard on him. “I suppose it was a well-fought duel. I think it’s tradition in these parts to shake talons when two opponents meet honourably.”Augustus nodded, but slowly. “Yes. Though that is the choice of the victor.”Amaryllis huffed, a very mighty and powerful huff that carried much pride with it. “I won’t shake the talon of a bully, nor the talon of a coward. To shake with someone who has demonstrated that he is both would abase me and my family.”“A coward?” Francisco snapped.Oh, things were going off-script. Augustus seemed ready to step in, and I was sure that he’d be able to calm everyone down. He had to have some public speaking skills of some sort. But then Caprica reached out and very subtly touched his side, and the speaker kept mum.“You would call me a coward?” Francisco snapped. “You’re the one who’s terrified of a little scuffle.”“A war is not a scuffle,” Amaryllis shot back. “And I think I’ve proven amply that I’m not afraid to put my claws where my beak is. You, on the other hand, are proving to not only be a coward and a bully, but an idiot too. I think it’s well-known that I have little tolerance for birds who replace their brains with festering worms.”Francisco choked for a moment, his face turning red and his feathers puffing out.“I ought to gut you for insulting me so.”“Do you want another duel?” Amaryllis asked. “Will you actually participate yourself this time? Or will you cower behind the back of more hired goons?”“I-I don’t need to prove myself to you.”“Oh, shut up Francis,” Amaryllis said. “You’re giving our entire race a poor name when you put your idiocy on such public display.”Augustus cleared his throat. “It is the opinion, as witnessed, of the The Calcifer Spood Memorial Arena, that the victory goes to Lady Amaryllis Albatross!”Now the clapping started for real, though it was the demure, careful clap of proper people.I didn’t bother with that, those nobles could use a bit more enthusiasm, so I clapped loud and hard, and then I tossed in a few whoops for good measure. Judging by the barely restrained smile on Caprica’s face, I was doing just fine.
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