by D. S. Craig
Lesti hesitated before responding. “M-my best Fireball? Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m quite sure.” Malkael glared at Lesti. “There’s no point in an exercise like this if you don’t give it your best shot.”
“O-okay. If you say so,” Lesti hesitantly replied. Several of the students from her old class, who were nearby, seemed to have overheard the conversation, quickly moving further away. This earned them a perplexed look from Lani until she saw Lesti standing at the front of the class. At which point, she instructed her entire group to give us more space.
“Alright, then. Let’s begin.” Malkael launched into one of the usual long-winded chants that I had grown accustomed to seeing from mages using image-based magic. Each word and phrase was carefully constructed to help bring a sharp image to mind for the caster. Still, it was so incredibly slow compared to instruction magic that it was practically useless. Lesti could have cast ten fireballs in the same amount of time this chant took.
I carefully watched as the magic got to work around Malkael. It gathered different types of fuel from the air nearby and increased the heat directly in front of his hand. Slowly, a ball of burning gas formed in front of him. When his chant was finished, he sent it flying at the nearby dummy target.
Upon impact, it gave off a rather small explosion, catching parts of the target on fire briefly before fizzling out. Malkael’s spell was definitely more powerful than most of the students’, showing he had some skill. But I had the feeling he was in for a rude awakening soon.
Turning back to the class, Malkael launched into another lecture. “As you can see, the effectiveness of your magic is directly related to the clarity of your mental image and your understanding of how the spell is accomplished. For a spell such as Fireball, the former is far more important since the steps are so simple.” He quickly turned back to Lesti and gestured toward the target. “Now, Ms. Vilia, if you could please give it your best shot.”
“Alright, here goes.” Lesti turned toward the target and snapped her fingers with her left hand. The gesture caused Malkael to furrow his brow, seemingly unsure of its purpose. Then Lesti raised her hand and, with a single word, cast her spell. “Fireball!”
In an instant, a ball of flame larger than her entire body formed in front of her. However, it didn’t stay like that. Almost faster than the eye could see, her spell compressed the fireball down to the size of a basketball and launched it. In a heartbeat, the sphere collided with the target and erupted with such force that it blew the dummy apart. A shockwave rushed across the courtyard, and bits of burning wood flew into the air.
Looking over, I could see Lani rubbing her temples even as she threw a few spells out to deflect the debris. Meanwhile, Malkael stared wide-eyed at the demolished dummy. Even Lesti seemed to have realized she had messed up this time, as she was frozen in place, staring at the chaos she had caused.
That idiot. How many times do I have to tell her to only use experimental spell modifications when we’re alone? However, I couldn’t be too angry. This was partially my fault, after all. Lesti had been looking to improve the force of her Fireball spell based on the information I had told her. As she experimented with different balances of fuel, oxygen, and heat, I suggested compressing a large amount of everything down into a tighter space.
I wasn’t exactly a physicist in my past life, but I knew that compressing all that gas and heat into a smaller area would result in a lot of pressure. In theory, that pressure had to go somewhere when the spell was released, and it looked like I was right. Although, at this point, it would probably be better off named Explosion instead of Fireball.
Even as I mentally kicked myself for not warning Lesti beforehand, the entire academy stared at both her and the now-exploded dummy in silence. A strange tension had filled the air as if the students were unsure of how to react to the destructive force they had just seen. Thankfully, Malkael broke the awkward silence.
“Y-yes, um, thank you, Ms. Vilia. That was certainly an excellent example of Fireball.” He smiled awkwardly as he forced the words out of his mouth. “Now, who would like to go next?”
Not a single student volunteered. I couldn’t blame them. After all, who would want to follow up on the massive display of power they had just seen? Still, the class had to keep moving forward, and in the end, it was Alex who stepped up. “Instructor Malkael. A suggestion, if I may?”
“Certainly, Mr. Bestroff. Go ahead.”
“Since Lesti’s magic has completely destroyed the target dummy, it seems like continuing with demonstrations would be difficult.” Alex gestured toward the smoldering spot where the dummy used to exist.
“Ah, yes. That’s a very good point.” Malkael finally recovered from his shock and realized the problem with his plan. “I’ll have to prepare a new target.”
“Indeed. So, rather than waste our precious practice time, why don’t we skip straight to sparring matches for now?” Alex smiled sympathetically at Malkael. “I believe almost everyone in the first class has a strong understanding of the concepts you explained due to your excellent lessons, so there shouldn’t be any problems there.”
“Ah, y-yes. An excellent idea. Very well,” Malkael said, making to ask for volunteers. “Are there any—”
“Hahaha!” Lesti’s loud, boisterous laugh cut Malkael off. “So, you’re finally ready to face me, Alex?”
Alex let out a heavy sigh. “That’s not what I was saying at all. Besides, haven’t you caused enough trouble already today? I feel like you should sit this one out.”
“Not a chance!” Lesti pointed her finger at Alex and shouted loudly enough for the entire field to hear. “Alexander Bestroff, I challenge you to a sparring match!”
Immediately, a wave of chatter spread through the crowded field. “Hey, someone challenged the Bestroff boy!”
“Alex? Are they crazy?”
“Crazy might be one word for it. It’s that redhead who declared she’d take the first spot from him during the test results ceremony.”
“Oh, man. I’ve gotta see this!”
In almost no time, a fervor had spread across the grounds. Lesti stared smugly over at Alex, clearly aware of what she had done. If Alex backed down now, it would look like he was running away. It would also be a huge letdown for all the students excited to see the two of them in action.
Alex glared at her before turning and heading for the center of the field. “Fine, have it your way. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though.”
“Beat me first before you say stuff like that.” Lesti turned toward Malkael. “Instructor, would you be so kind as to set up the proper protections for our match?”
“Yes, of course.” He looked around as if searching for something before his eyes locked onto Lani. “Instructor Lania, I apologize for this, but would you mind assisting me? I believe we will need extra protection in place if those two are going to fight.”
“No, please don’t apologize. It’s the least I can do.” Lani, still rubbing her temple, headed for the center of the grounds to help prepare for the sparring match.
When all was said and done, nearly all the instructors decided to help with the preparations. I guess they figured that their classes wouldn’t be paying them any attention anyway. Several of them cast spells to erect magical barriers around the area. Meanwhile, others prepared another one I had never heard of called Magic Armor to protect the combatants and Malkael, the judge.
Once everyone was in place and the instructors had finished casting all their spells, Malkael gave a brief rundown of the rules. “Just as in the tournament, the winner will be determined by who can break the Magic Armor spell protecting their opponent first. However, if your opponent surrenders or steps outside of the battle area, you will also be declared the winner.”
Malkael turned his gaze to Lesti. “In the tournament, severely injuring or maiming your opponents is against the rules. Any such injuries here will result in consequences for the offender. Do you both under
stand?” Both Alex and Lesti nodded. “Very well, then. On my signal, you may begin.”
Malkael walked back to the edge of the protected area and raised his hand over his head. The crowd grew tense as they waited for him to give the signal to start. Both combatants prepared in their own ways; Alex crouched low, while Lesti stood tall and pointed both hands at him with her feet firmly planted.
Malkael took one last glance at each of them, then swung his arm down. “Begin!”
“Shattered Earth! Fireball!” To the naked eye, Lesti was the first one to make a move. In a heartbeat, she cast two spells, the first an earth spell that caused spikes to shoot up out of the ground between her and Alex. She knew she had to maintain her distance from him if she had any hope of winning. This spell was clearly meant to slow him down. At the same time, she started her attack with a simple Fireball spell, being sure not to compress it this time.
However, with my vision, I could see the flow of magical energy around Alex, which was why I noticed it. Without uttering a single word, he cast a spell that finished at lightning speed, far faster than any image-based magic possibly could. It was completed even before Lesti’s were, and he launched himself at her.
Lesti had thrown quite a few obstacles in his way. Plus, even without compressing it, her fireball was enough to knock out his Magic Armor in one go. However, Alex was prepared. As the fireball closed in on him, he leapt into the air, clearing it with ease and sending himself hurtling toward Lesti with a stern expression on his face.
Lesti, on the other hand, smiled boldly, clearly enjoying the challenge that Alex posed to her. Even presented with her extreme attack power and obstacles to his mobility, he hadn’t hesitated for a moment. She quickly raised her hands toward him and fired off another spell. “Air Blast!”
A ball of compressed air flew towards Alex. With no footing, I couldn’t see how he would dodge the attack. It seemed unlikely that he knew how to use Air Walk. According to Skell, that was a specialty that Frederick had created. Yet, Alex managed to surprise me.
Without a word, Alex’s absurd store of magical energy went to work. Reaching out, it pulled up a large amount of earth from below him, forming a massive wave of dirt and rock. It rose to meet Alex, allowing him to land on top while blocking Lesti’s Air Blast at the same time. However, it didn’t stop there.
The massive pile of dirt came crashing down toward Lesti, threatening to crush her under its weight. Reacting quickly, she threw up a solid wall of hardened earth between them using Earth Wall. Alex’s spell slammed into hers. But due to the loose flowing nature of the earthen wave, Lesti’s wall was able to hold as it flowed over and around it.
The entire attack caused a massive cloud of dust and dirt to kick up, preventing the others from seeing. I closed my eyes, quickly switching to my magic sense, and felt my heart drop. Standing behind Lesti as she huddled behind her Earth Wall was Alex. He had ridden the wave past her defenses and was now within striking distance.
Before I could warn Lesti, he was on her. Picking her up by her collar, he pulled his fist back and slammed it into the Magic Armor defending her. With his powerful enhancement magic, the barrier shattered like glass. The match was over before the dust could even clear.
Alex set Lesti back on her feet, and I opened my eyes. The dust finally cleared, and everyone could see that the magical barrier protecting her was gone.
Malkael raised his hand in the air once more. “The winner of this sparring match is Alexander Bestroff. Very well done, both of you. If you both perform at that level in the tournament, you’ll do just fine.”
Neither were listening to Malkael’s praise. The two stared each other down as if probing one another’s thoughts. The crowds of students had already started discussing the brief but explosive match. Most of them were unsurprised by the result. After all, Alex was the top-ranking second-year student. A few people from Lesti’s previous class seemed to be enjoying her loss, calling her a disappointment.
After a moment, the teachers began breaking up the crowd and returning to their lessons. Alex and Lesti finally broke off their staring contest and walked over to join Malkael. Lesti’s brow was furrowed in thought, and her gaze was distant as she reviewed their sparring match in her head. She had said she wanted to face Alex to learn precisely where she stood, and I thought their battle had done just that.
Malkael turned back to the rest of the class. “Now, since we can’t continue our demonstrations properly, I’d like to take this opportunity to review the match you all just viewed. Can anyone tell me where they think each of the combatants did well, as well as where they could improve?”
Lesti returned and sat by me, seemingly ignoring the conversation as she worked through the match on her own. Seeing her state, I figured I should follow along so that I could update her on everyone else’s thoughts later. Elliot ended up being the first one to speak, immediately attacking Lesti’s weaknesses.
“Well, it’s pretty obvious that Lesti simply lacked in two areas compared to Alex.” He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye before continuing. “First, the amount of magical energy she has really held her back. Compared to her opponent, the amount of raw power she can dump into her spells is pretty limited. She makes up for it to a degree by being incredibly efficient with the magic she does have. However, in this case, that wasn’t enough to overcome the gap between the two.”
Elliot then made a fist, staring down at it as he recalled the rest of the fight. “The second problem is that she lacks in close quarters combat. She’s forced to maintain her distance because the match is decided as soon as she gets close. Still, I know from experience that a strategy like that won’t work.” Lesti finally looked up, pulled from her thoughts by what Elliot said. “Alex is just too fast with his body enhancement magic. You’ll never hit him at range because it gives him enough time to dodge.”
Malkael nodded with a pleased expression on his face. “Excellent analysis Mr. Gambriel. I think you bring up some good points.” Turning his gaze toward Lesti, he continued, “Ms. Vilia, what are your thoughts? Is there anything else you think contributed to your defeat?”
Lesti took a deep breath and nodded. “Honestly, I had already expected the first two things to be an issue. That’s why I came up with the plan that I did. By messing up the terrain and forcing Alex into the air, I had hoped to take away his mobility while keeping him at range.”
The whole class stared at Lesti for a long moment, shocked. I could understand their reactions. Lesti usually came off as such a carefree, happy-go-lucky type that it was surprising that she would come up with a reasonable plan. But if you really knew her, this sort of thing was one of her biggest strengths.
Lesti had very sound reasoning skills. That was why she was so good with magic circles and why she always did so well at researching magic. Coming up with a well-thought-out plan like this was right up her alley. Yet, she had still lost, and we both knew the exact reason why.
“Still, I underestimated him.” Lesti furrowed her brow as she looked over at Alex. “The speed he was able to cast his spells at was way faster than I expected. I’ve never seen anyone cast image-based spells that quickly. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I would say you were using instruction-based magic.”
“I could say the same thing to you.” Alex shot a harsh glare back at Lesti. “The speed of your spells, their efficiency, everything about them screams that you’re using instruction-based magic. No, something even beyond that.” His accusation hung in the air a moment before he smiled as if it were all a joke. “Still, we both know that’s impossible. Only third-year students are allowed to learn that after all.”
Lesti forced a smile onto her own face and shrugged her shoulders. “I guess we’ll leave it at that, then.” However, her expression hardened once more. “But I won’t be losing to you in the tournament, so make sure you’re ready!”
Her declaration complete, Lesti finally walked away and sat by me. The other students conti
nued their discussion and analysis of the fight. Some gave other tactics Lesti could have tried, but almost none of them seemed realistic. After a while, Lesti’s voice echoed in my mind as she used our telepathic connection to communicate with me privately. “What do you think? There’s no way that was image-based magic, right?”
I groomed myself peacefully as I replied, “He was definitely lying. The way his magic worked was exactly the same as your magic, if less efficient. That was instruction-based magic.”
“I agree.” Lesti wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her head between her legs. “Still, if that’s the case, then where did he learn it?”
I stared up at the sky, pondering the possibilities. “Maybe a teacher taught him in secret?”
“No, I doubt that.” Lesti was firm in her denial. “The headmistress keeps close tabs on things around here. A student being taught instruction-based magic by the staff would be pretty dangerous. Especially if it was someone who was already super strong like Alex. She would probably shut them down.”
“She didn’t stop me from teaching you, though.”
Leaning back, she stared up at the clear sky above with me. “Isn’t that just because we discovered a safer way to learn instruction-based magic? I imagine if we were using traditional means, then she would have shut you down.”
I turned my gaze to Alex, who was still listening to the class discussion. “That’s a good point, but where do you think he learned it then?”
Lesti stood up and brushed herself off. “Well, I have a few ideas, but I’m not sure at the moment. In the end, it doesn’t really matter anyway. What’s important is that we know he can use it.”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.” I looked over at Lesti. “Still, isn’t that going to make it pretty hard for you to win? He’s basically neutralized one of your biggest advantages.”
“Well, it’ll be a pain, but I’ll come up with something.” Lesti turned and shot me her typical fearless grin. I was filled with the usual sense of pride and happiness I felt when she pushed forward. However, there was also a tinge of anxiety mixed into those emotions.