Lost

Where Jien had just been a cloud of dirt seemed to burst into existence, a wind blowing it upwards but also in the direction of Lesley. A wall of brown blocked the archer's view, causing him to lose sight of his target. Not even the crow circling above could spot their prey within the explosive cloud of dust that was spreading through the training field rapidly.

While the children were unable to follow the happenings as soon as the dust cloud formed the adults through their variety of methods saw it clearly. Jien had used another wind spell, a rather simple but definitely expensive one. The result was the creation of a massive updraft which Jien had used to push himself up and above his opponents point of view while creating an effective smokescreen. It was an effective measure if one was in a team and was able to use teamwork to take down the foe that was blinded. It would also give potential for sneak attacks if you could see through the smokescreen yourself.

The trouble lied two fold in the use of the strategy and the cost. Jien was currently near the top of the rather massive dust cloud, his breathing a little ragged and his back covered in a sweat being chilled by the very updraft he had summoned. He hadn't trusted himself to be able to dodge the arrow that would have been loosed and in a bid to both escape sight and create an opportunity to finish the match had spent a large amount of mana to create the updraft.

He wasn't at the bottom of his mana supply but he feared that if he spent much more on this match he would have an exponentially harder time in his other matches. Even with time to accumulate more mana he wouldn't be gathering more than roughly five percent of his total current capacity between matches if he was lucky. Of course he would never risk becoming mana void over something like these sparring matches but he had to at least prove himself to a degree during these matches so that he wouldn't have to deal with problems later.

Those thoughts among some pieces of plans passed through his mind as he reached the apex of where the updraft was able to carry him some thirty feet off the ground. To reach this height he had first summoned the powerful updraft, then right as it was about to reach him he had jumped up with all his might, infusing his legs with a bit of mana to push them beyond the capacity of normal humans. When he was at the highest point of his jump he leaned back and spread his arms to create as much surface area as he could before letting the updraft pick him up and carry him to his current point.

This was a good start but he was a little at a loss for what to do as a follow up. He hadn't jumped forward so he lacked forward momentum to reach his opponent. He was lower on mana than he had been at the end of his first fight and was about to fall from thirty feet up.

He knew that with the proper handling of the fall and a small expenditure of mana he would be able to handle his landing without much more than some aches afterward. However, other than the quickly dispersing smoke screen he would be right back where he had been with an arrow coming for him at speeds he likely couldn't dodge. He had to make use of these last moments to find a path to victory without a large expenditure of mana.

If he was willing to put his all into this match and potentially forsake the rest he could use another large spell and bring himself close enough to end the match. He gave this option some serious thought before letting it pass. He had apparently found a bit of a stubborn streak within himself. He wished to see this event through to its end even if he didn't particularly care for the tradition of it. 

It was as he was mulling over these thoughts and starting to fall that he thought of a potential solution. He just hoped that it would work out better than it had when he had used it during his training with Emily. She had gifted him a rapier with two properties, the use of slight wind magic and a slightly potent airborne paralytic. He had of course trained with both under Emily's tutelage because grasping the full use and potential of all tools at your disposal was as important to survival in a fight as your form.

Jien focused a minute amount of mana into his blade and willed the rapier to release the paralytic while using a simple sigil he summoned a slight current of wind to carry the paralytic forward to his target. Lesley, none the wiser was keeping a vigilant eye at his surroundings while still receiving input from the crow hovering above. The cloud of dust was dispersing rather quickly and he was starting to be able to see shadows but had not made out Jien's form quite yet.

Suddenly he saw a slight shadow accelerating towards the ground. He took careful aim at his target, wanting to loose his arrow before his target reached the ground to allow for a better chance of hitting. One second, two seconds, he took a in a steady breath, tightened his core, chest and arm muscles making sure that he had drawn his bow back to its fullest.

At that moment he felt his fingers go numb. He knew something was wrong immediately but he wasn't sure what it could be. His grip on his bowstring loosened out of his control and the arrow fired forth with great speed.

Seeing the result Gloria took action before Earl did, stepping silently forward like a graceful shadow, stopping the arrow by snatching it by the shaft before it would have struck Jien's chest, then with a graceful twist she wrapped her arm around the falling Jien's waist, placing him on the ground carefully.

The match was over, his plan had backfired and he had lost. The referee had to interfere for the first time so far.