The break in their fighting lasted no longer than their taunting. As soon as Eldrian had countered Vivian's question, she had charged him again.
Eldrian, having expected this, did not meet her charge. He was now fully intending to use all the magic at his disposal to stop her mobility. To this end, he cast three spells at once.
The first was two blasts of wind heading toward one another, with Vivian in the middle. Each was strong enough to send an adult flying. They were more like shockwaves than gusts.
Following the wind blasts, he added wind blades, and, for if Vivian managed to deal with these attacks, Eldrian turned the ground between them into a quagmire.
Yet, all three spells seemed inadequate. Vivian countered the wind blasts by strengthening her flames. The heat from them caused an updraft which sent Eldrian's spells off course.
The wind blades were capable of penetrating the flames and their updraft, but Vivian had already moved to dodge these invisible attacks. Or cut them apart.
As for the ground, she turned it to stone with the heat of her flames. Charging Eldrian without hesitation, dodging or cutting the wind blades when they came at her.
Eldrian was honestly stunned, for he realized that Vivian must have gained an ability similar to his mana sense. No other explanation came to mind for how she could so easily read his attacks.
And this made him react a second too late. He forgot to combat her counterspells, forgot to redirect his spells, forgot to empower the quagmire. By the time Eldrian had processed what was going on, Vivian's blade was on him.
With no time to retreat or cast a spell, Eldrian brought his spear to block. He tried his best to angle his spear to guide Vivian's strike away from him. However, his technique was lacking.
His arm shook from the hit and he stumbled. Vivian was quick to follow up on the opportunity, only to find her footing lacking. Eldrian, realizing that Vivian could see larger spells, had changed the level of the ground. Making it uneven exactly where she would need to support herself.
When Vivian stepped forward, her foot twisted. Eldrian used that opening to attack with Crystoi, all while still dodging Vivian's strike.
Reading his intention, Vivian turned her stumble into a tumble. Diving under Crystoi and bringing her blade up towards Eldrian's midsection.
Eldrian blocked the attack by erecting a pillar of earth, but Vivian cut through it with ease. Sending flames around the pillar to chase her prey. Which Eldrian doused with an insane amount of water. Their surroundings filled with steam as a result. The heat of which was far past the safe levels of a sauna. Yet it did nothing to either of them.
Eldrian hoped to use the mist as an opportunity to great some distance, but it was quickly dispersed. And Vivian was right on his tail.
Their fight dragged on, each second containing ten or more attacks and countered. At their incredible pace, the entire area became a battlefield. The ground was scorched, scarred, and battered. The buildings reduced to rubled, and burnt to ash.
When they separated again, no abandoned village remained. Where they stood, it could only be called a battlefield.
At this point, they were both struggling to maintain their composure. Eldrian was slightly more comfortable. He still had a stat advantage, but this mostly came to be thanks to his abundant supply of mana. Of which Vivian was running low.
"What now?" Eldrian asked. While neither had managed to deal any real damage, they had both gotten in some hits. Nothing lasting. Quick healing spells had repaired the damage. The only evidence of injury on both was the blood coating their armor and clothing.
"We'll see," Vivian replied, the flames surrounding her changing from red to blue.
"Is that how it is?" Eldrian asked, shivers running down his spine. He had thought her power harmless to the living. Standing in front of her, however, he understood that was not the case.
When Vivian charged this time around, it was like she had disappeared. Realizing he would be a fool to hold back, Eldrian started channeling Wrath. Letting the aura flow through his body, he heightened his senses—and lost an arm.
Not bothered by the pain, Eldrian struck. His counter perfectly timed, yet Vivian brought Nelida's Flame to block. The clash sent Vivian flying. She recovered mid-air, landing on her feet and dashing back toward her prey.
Eldrian, for his part, had tried to find his arm. Only to find that it had been completely disintegrated. A realization that made him slower to react. Still, he managed to dodge Vivian's next attack.
She was fast, but now that he had boosted his stats, he could keep track of her. Albeit difficulty.
'How?' Eldrian asked himself. But the answer was quite clear. He thought he had been training hard, but Vivian had been pushing herself just as much.
Still, Eldrian could handle this level of speed. But, sadly, magic seemed futile. Every single spell he sent her way was consumed by the blue flames surrounding Vivian. He had to find another way, yet he was hesitant to use Wrath in the offense.
Instead, Eldrian started channeling Tranquility. Letting the aura flow through him and into Crystoi. The surrounding air started to freeze, and Vivian's next attack sent them both flying back. Their auras having clashed, causing a violent explosive reaction.
They both managed to recover before hitting the ground. And they both paused. Stunned, astonished, left without words.
"S-shall we e-end ii-t here?" Eldrian asked, his voice quivering.
Vivian nodded. Even she understood that if they kept going at this rate, one of them would die. And... that death could be problematic.
After all, they had just created a crater by simply clashing their auras against one another. If such an explosion occurred when one of them couldn't block, there would be nothing left of that person.
Still, this didn't mean Vivian was dissatisfied. Far from it, she was grinning. She might not have been able to defeat Eldrian, she knew he had still been holding back. However, she could match him as long as he didn't use his auras. That, was massive.
And more importantly, she had claimed his left arm. Sure, it hadn't phased Eldrian. But he was now in a weakened position. It was difficult to wield a spear with one arm, after all.
Eldrian could call out another weapon, perhaps even Willo. So he wasn't out for the count. But it was a fact that Vivian had been the only one to get in a good hit.
"Is it my win?" She asked, hinting at this.
Eldrian wanted to say sure, but hesitated. Not because of his pride or anything of the like. He simply worried that giving in too easily might cause Vivian's mood to sour.
"Why don't we call it a draw instead?" He offered. And it appeared that was the right thing to do.
"Yeah, let's. You were holding back the entire time. Calling it my win under such conditions would be terribly conceited."
As the heat of the battle finally calmed, Vivian became a little worried. "Your arm—"
"It's fine. I'll just need to ask Myropsis for some help." Had his arm not been disintegrated, Eldrian could have reattached it. Sadly, it would need to be regrown.
Eldrian could do this himself, but he wasn't proficient in such advanced healing magic. It would take him a few days, whereas Myropsis could regrow an arm in an hour.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel