What…? What just happened?
87『Debuff.』
The target's following stats have been decreased for the next 10 minutes:
Vitality -10, Mana -10, Strength -10, Defense -10, Intellect -10, Agility -10
The target's following stats have been decreased for the next 10 minutes:
Vitality -10, Mana -10, Strength -10, Defense -10, Intellect -10, Agility -10
The target's following stats have been decreased for the next 10 minutes:
Vitality -10, Mana -10, Strength -10, Defense -10, Intellect -10, Agility -10
The target's following stats have been decreased for the next 10 minutes:
Vitality -10, Mana -10, Strength -10, Defense -10, Intellect -10, Agility -10
The target's following stats have been decreased for the next 10 minutes:
Vitality -10, Mana -10, Strength -10, Defense -10, Intellect -10, Agility -10
The target's following stats have been decreased for the next 10 minutes:
Vitality -10, Mana -10, Strength -10, Defense -10, Intellect -10, Agility -10
Error
Huh? Only six times? And this time it's "error" instead of "Failed"… Oh wait. His stats just probably can't go any lower.
Hopefully it'll be enough…
Alright Vivian, it's your turn now.
To be honest, even now, Vivian is at a disadvantage. I have boosted her stats as much as I could, but it's still going to take her a while before she breaks through Lucius' defense. And in the meantime, Lucius will attack her. So I gave her two instructions.
First, never stop moving.
I noticed it in Mrs. Borge's class, but in intermediates classes, the kids are barely learning to hit unmoving targets. Lucius may be the best of his class, he is no exception. It's already difficult enough for someone who's trained to hit a moving target, so for someone who isn't, it's nearly impossible. Staying in constant movement will allow Vivian not to get hit. But while doing so, she still needs to attack. Most kids at this level wouldn't be able to move while chanting, as an incantation requires a lot of focus, but Vivian is an exception. Thanks to her skill [Hijack], her mana control is good enough that she can afford to move while chanting.
Second, aim for his limbs.
I told her to avoid the torso. The mana core is where the magic defense is the highest, and since the mana core is located close to the heart, it would take too long to break into Lucius' defense anywhere near that. And of course, the head is also a no-go, as it is too dangerous. Vivian's control may be good, it isn't that good. One mistake, and she could blow his head off. We don't want to kill the poor boy, we only want him to forfeit.
If she follows these two rules, Vivian will be fine. The loser will be the one who runs out of stamina first. And not only did I raise all of her stats, but Lucius also has a tendency to deplete his mana very fast. Maybe this time he'll learn his lesson.
Now, all I have to do is watch.
"We are here today to resolve the dispute between Lucius Bain and Vivian of Lorns," the head-teacher supervising the event loudly announced. "Both parties will engage until one is well blooded, disabled, or unconscious, or until one of the challengers forfeits and begs pardon."
The two combatants glared at each other, clearly not considering that last option, as the head-teacher kept listing all the rules. It was just a formality but it was mandatory. He also did it for the previous duels and after thinking about how he'll have to repeat it for all the upcoming fights, I kind of felt sorry for him.
"Alright, in position!" He finally finished.
Vivian and Lucius both took stance. Vivian didn't seem nervous anymore. She was burning with determination instead. On the other hand, Lucius wasn't looking too good, and the duel hasn't even started yet. I guess they've both started to feel the effects of my little gifts to them!
"Begin!"
Despite his condition, Lucius immediately started chanting. While the participants couldn't hear us, we, the audience, could perfectly hear them. All sounds coming from the battle area were amplified using magic so I immediately recognized the same chant Lucius used before.
"Ô Ignis, I implore thee! I cry foul, feel the wrath within me. Devour my soul and bring destruction before me! 『Fireball』!"
A fireball gushed out of his hand, heading straight to Vivian, but it didn't reach her. Following my advice, the young girl instantly started moving. Without giving the boy a chance to hit her, she ran circles all around him.
"Stop moving!" Lucius ordered in frustration, as none of his attacks reached her.
But obviously, Vivian didn't listen. When he tried to adapt his fireballs' courses in prediction of her trajectory, she would suddenly change direction and when he missed, she would smirk at him. Lucius immediately understood that she was mocking him and, as usual, blinded by his pride, he put even more mana into his spells. It was pointless though, if he couldn't hit her. He was only going straight toward his own destruction.
Vivian, on the other hand, was quite relaxed. I can tell she is starting to enjoy this. Seeing her like this, no one would have guessed how nervous she was before the fight. However, she was also slowly tiring herself, running around so much. Too immersed in her new position of control, she completely forgot to attack. But she soon remembered it, as she finally started to cast her spell.
"Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea. Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee."
Lucius seemed quite disoriented, seeing her chanting as she kept running. And he wasn't the only one.
"What is she doing?"
"Is she trying to cast a spell while on the move? Can she do that?"
"Of course not! She's in the intermediate classes!"
The growing commotion didn't last long in the stands, as nothing happened following her chants.
"See? It's not working!"
But unaware of her audience comments, Vivian kept chanting anyway.
"Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea. Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee."
"What are you trying to do, dead-weight?" Lucius sneered at her seeming failure. "Having trouble to cast a single spell?"
But Vivian ignored him.
"Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea," she continued, imperturbable. "Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee. Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea. Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee. Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea. Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee."
Lucius wasn't the only one to mock her. Snickers and giggles could be heard all around the stands. Even Frost and Jalone were getting restless.
"Is she going to be alright?" Jalone asked.
I could hear the concern growing in his voice.
"She is, don't worry," I told him. "It's all going as planned, trust me."
It wasn't a lie. I did expect this to happen, and so did Vivian. I had instructed her to keep chanting even if it doesn't seem to work. After all, eventually, it will. And as I thought, it was starting to work. It took quite some time, but I could now feel a very subtle trace of Vivian's mana in Lucius' body. And it was slowly, but surely, getting stronger with each one of her chants.
Completely oblivious to what was waiting for him, Lucius lost patience. He had exhausted most of his mana pool and Vivian was still unscathed. Out of desperation, as still he couldn't hit her with long distance attacks, he charged. He was now going for close combat.
In a duel of mages, although not forbidden, this would have normally been considered a disgrace. However, in this particular case, circumstances were in Lucius' favor. From an outside perspective, Vivian just kept running away from the fight without attacking back. This was not the kind of behavior you were supposed to have in a duel, so no one blamed Lucius' actions.
However, he never reached her.
Having taken beyond a reasonable amount of his mana, Vivian finally cast her spell.
"Let the sacred water flow, 『Water Blast』!"
Lucius was stopped mid-course as he collapsed on the ground, screaming in agony. His muscles were all suddenly assaulted with a shap, throbbing pain. The spell wasn't too strong, but it was sufficient. After all, when the attack comes from the inside, it's extremely painful. HIs nerves being over-solicited, it was easy to imagine the burning sensation searing through his body.
Confused, the audience fell silent at the unexpected turn of events.
"What's going on…?"
"Did she do something? I can't see anything!"
"Didn't he just collapsed from mana exhaustion?"
"That suddenly?"
"Maybe it's just an after-effect…"
"Forfeit!" Vivian ordered as she approached the boy on the ground confidently. At this point, she no longer had anything to fear from him and she knew it.
Lucius barely managed to raise his head to glare at her.
"What did you do?" He growled, his body still shaking in pain.
He was on his knees, completely huddled up on himself. His complexion was ashen and he couldn't stop panting. Coming from the proud and arrogant Lucius, it was kind of pathetic to see. Still, his eyes were burning with anger, indicating he had no intention of giving up yet.
"You lost, forfeit!" Vivian ordered one more time.
But Lucius didn't comply. As he simply shot a deadly glare at her as an answer, Vivian started chanting again.
"Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea. Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee. Let the sacred water flow, 『Water Blast』!"
His face contorted, Lucius writhed in pain. His eyes were watered in agony as he bit his lower lip, trying to keep himself from crying out. His muscles quivered. The pressure exerted against them and the pain increasing in waves, they were threatening to implode at anytime. The boy tried his best to hold it in, but eventually, his pain came out in a sudden shriek. It was clearly unbearable, still, he refused to forfeit. So Vivian launched a second spell. And a third. And a fourth.
"Let the sacred water flow, 『Water Blast』! 『Water Blast』! 『Water Blast』!"
That's… escalating, I think?
I definitely didn't expect Lucius to hold out for this long and Vivian is starting to lose patience.
The atmosphere was extremely tense. Although they didn't really understand what was going on, the spectators didn't keep their eyes off of the battle area for one second, as they could only listen to Lucius' screams in silence.
Alright, this is definitely escalating. Vivian totally looks like a villain now. We need to put an end to this before-
W-WAIT! WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING?!
She's concentrating her mana in his head!
That goddamn hot-blooded girl! I told you the head was a no-go! Are you trying to kill him?!
"For the last time," she snarled with a threatening voice. "Forfeit!"
Lucius struggled to meet her eyes. And when he did, he only smirked at her.
"In your dreams!" He managed to articulate through heaving breathing.
Annoyed, Vivian ground her teeth.
"Goddess of the Sea, this is my devotion, this is my plea," she started.
Wait, is she serious?
"Grant me the strength to defeat what is harmful to me, and in return I honor thee."
Don't-you-dare.
"Let the sacred water flow!"
As she was about to finish her chant, I jumped onto my feet, preparing myself to intervene, but Mustache was faster than me.
"『Water Bl-』"
The head-teacher appeared out of nowhere, right in the middle of the two of them. He grabbed Vivian's arm and immediately interrupted her spell.
Hmm? Her mana vanished?
"That's enough," he said with a sharp tone of voice, the usual friendliness on his face totally gone. "This fight is over."
"W-Wait a second!" Lucius tried to speak up. "I can still fight!"
"I said this fight is over," Mr. Glenn repeated, even more dryly. "You lost."
The boy's expression collapsed. This duel originally started because he wanted the head-teacher's recognition and now, the very same teacher declared his loss.
Mr. Glenn then turned to Vivian. When she met his eyes, all her previous frustration vanished in one second. His expression softened as he showed her a gentle smile. But he didn't say anything.
"Alright, alright, this duel is over!" His colleague loudly announced, approaching. "The winner is Vivian of Lorns!"
The arena stayed silent for a while.
"What…? What just happened?"
"What was that?"
But an enthusiastic clapping soon broke the silence.
"Congratulations, Vivi!!" Jalone screamed out his lungs. "I knew you could do it! You're the best!"
Soon, applause followed. It was somewhat shy, but it was there.
"This can't be happening," I heard one of her classmates mutter.
"I don't really know what happened, but she won, right?"
"Yeah, I guess it was kind of impressive."
Frost looked blankly at Vivian for a few seconds before moving on to me. He gave me a weird look, his eyes narrowed.
"Did you do something?"
He can tell? Oh well. Maybe I'll explain to him later.
The head-teacher supervising the event then started to clap his hands, reclaiming attention. Once the commotions finally fell silent enough for him to be heard, he spoke up.
"We will now be moving on to the advanced classes!" He announced.
I guess my turn is coming.