C22: Elf vs Elf

'Connor, huh?' I think, lowering my hand and closing my eyes. My guard is up. I'm ready for anything. 'I'll remember this name if I can…' I say to myself.

Connor raises his sword, a bright white mana oozing out of its blade-like smoke from a burning flame. "Mana negation. That's my specialty," he says, grasping the hilt with both his armored hands.

The mana graces his face and the white hair gradually turns to pitch black. The blue eyes shift back to the dark crimson like a drop of blood staining the waters.

I see his real face now. That mana oozing out of his blade is negation magic. He's enveloping his sword with that. If my attacks are not on par with his negation attacks, I will lose in an instant.

"I had a feeling when I first visited the castle, Connor. That I would meet you again. Now, look who's here," I say to him, stepping back as I focus my mana on my hands.

My ears are on alert.

If this battle draws out and more attention falls upon this street, I am sure to lose. From the looks of it, this young man somehow has an equivalent mana to mine. The younger generations are always so talented. And Dark Elves have much more refined skills in using mana.

If any more unwanted attention, specifically, guards are drawn to this street – I will be outnumbered.

It's bye-bye, Silver.

"They say that you feel it when you're at your death's door, fake elf. I guess that feeling was just that," he remarks, his eyes blazing with a crimson spark.

The white mana oozing out of his blades suddenly shifts into a blood-red color.

He's good.

"I can't waste time with you. I'm going to go all out on you. I will strike you dead in an instant," he blabbers away, closing his eyes and focusing his entire mana on a spell.

Red snake-like dragons embodied by mana emerge from the dark cleaver as the intensity of his mana levels rises to insane levels.

A smirk draws on the corner of my lips.

"If you're going all out, Connor. I might as well, right?"

That intense mana or those crimson dragons is not merely enough to strike fear into my heart. I've faced off with real dragons before. And I have survived them.

If I am to lose here to this young man, it would only be a disappointment.

I raise my hand towards him with a grin. I close my eyes, a cold breath escaping my lips.

'If his mana dragons catch me, my mana will weaken. I can't retreat either. My night with the Princess would be over that instant,' I presume, focusing my entire mana on this spell. 'I have to successfully avoid every single one of those attacks from him. Yeah, this is the spell. Only this.'

"Mana Domain: Castle of Ice."

Darkness surrounds me. The same happens to Connor, of course.

"...what?" I hear Connor mutter in the distance.

An eerie coldness envelops me. Walls of ice surround me. The castle takes its shape in my surroundings.

In a snap, we're transported to a different world. To my domain where I'm in control. Only a being who lived long enough to perfect this skill can cast this spell.

I stay seated on a throne of ice. Icicle-shaped spikes hang above us in the icy slab of the palace, like in a cave in the North.

This entire castle is made of ice. Even my throne.

In the distance at the tail end of the icy carpet that leads to my throne, Connor stands, his crimson mana negation dragons slithering across his armor.

Behind him, his wolf and horse remain, spiked into ice spikes. They are dead as they could be.

"Mana Domain of this size? You must be a damn old man to have such power to create this," Connor declares, resting his dark cleaver upon his shoulder. "But – this is all mana. What I do is negate it all. You think I'd be afraid just because you have this spell?"

The young man is good. He's not stupid at all.

But – he is underestimating my skills far too much.

He points his dark cleaver forth, right in my direction.

"The gig is up. I'm up against a smart dude. Better start moving!" I climbed to the back post of my throne, perching atop there like a monkey, no king.

"Mana negation: Crimson Courtiers!"

The dragons slither head first in my direction, crashing the icy carpet and making it disappear into thin air as their bodies touch the ice castle. Below that ice carpet, only a void of darkness lies now. After all, these are just a simple creation of mana.

I wave my hand, ordering the gigantic icicles in the icy slab above us to fall.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

As if the entire roof is crumbling down upon the enemy, the spikes of ice fall. One by one, the dragons get nailed to the floor. But just as the spikes touch them, the icicles disappear along with the dragons.

However, Connor's mana is too powerful.

His mana keeps sending more and more crimson dragons embodied by mana toward me. I grin and leap into the air, yelling: "Wind Mount."

As the icicles fall upon the countless crimson dragons slithering across the air toward me, I slip past them, hovering through the air.

"Stop running, you piece of shit!" Connor cries out in raging fury.

I dismount the wind right when I reach the long spiraling stairs of ice that lead to the upper floors.

My heart rate rises. It's a challenge to crush all of these dragons, but it's not impossible. At least, I hope not.

Skipping two steps each turn, I rush up the staircase.

RAWRR!

Behind me, the crimson dragons crash into the staircase, making the ice disappear. Every inch they touch on these stairs made with mana will negate the magic and make it disappear.

This is a hassle. Then again, I love hassles.

"Hahaha!" I laugh as fear strikes my heart. The staircase shakes. Behind me, the ice is crumbling apart. The dragons are ripping the castle, part by part.

I stumble as the stairs shake, but I don't seize my running. I run and run and run with a grin on my face.

"Come at me!" I scream out to the crimson dragons.

Swish! My ear catches the sound of a swinging object. I duck.

Crash!

The dark cleaver crashes into the icy wall, letting me know that Connor is right behind me. I don't slow down. I won't stop. I keep running as far as the stairs will go.

Rawr! Rawrrrr!!

"Frost blast!"

"Frost blast!"

"Frost blast!!"

I blast the dragons catching up to my speed with the remaining mana I have.

Connor's mana is strong. But even he can't spawn endless amounts of these mana-negation dragons. As the dragons slam into the icy staircase, they create a void within those stairs. If I fall, I'll be out of the mana domain now.

By the time I reach the end of this staircase…

If Connor still has a dragon left, my domain will fail.