Gesundheit!

90"Fuck...

"Poudre de perlimpinpin! Poudre de perlimpinpin! Poudre de perlimpinpin! Poudre de perlimpinpin!"

Several earth walls rose from the ground. However, as soon as they had been erect, they immediately collapsed as Aoban mercilessly destroyed them one by one, barely slowing down in his course. He was only a few meters away from me now.

Alright, I'm starting to panic.

"Abracradabra! ¡Metí la pata! 新年快乐! Dov'è il gabinetto per favore! 치과 검진 하러 왔어요! Les coccinelles sont des coléoptères! ゆっくりお願いします! Poudre de perlimpinpin! Abracadabra, abracadabra, abracadabra!"

Yelling out random chants, I casted one spell after one another. But none of them worked. Brother easily blocked the gusts threatening to slice him with his sword. Any earth structure was smashed back into the ground, he struck down any projectile I sent and he easily vanquished the flames racing in his direction by summoning the wind.

What the fuck, Nomi? Didn't you say it would be easy to lay a hit on him?

This is definitely not going well. Was it too arrogant of me to think I could defeat him with low level magic? Do I really have to cast advanced spells? If I do, I'll have to kiss my normality goodbye. But if I don't, then I'm going to lose for sure.

As I was starting to get in a difficult position, I finally saw it: the glimmer of hope.

Aoban's expression was becoming stern. He was forcing his eyes to stay firm, fighting to keep attention on me as I could finally see the first drops of sweat forming on his face. At last, my magic is starting to work!

Ever since the beginning of the fight, without anyone knowing, I've been altering the air around him, slowly removing oxygen. Naturally, brother didn't immediately feel that. The objective was to make him gradually lose stamina, without it looking too unnatural. No matter how skillful he is, brother is a mortal. Deprived of oxygen, it was only a matter of time before his body started to deteriorate. As for the rest, the fireballs, the earth pillars, the gust of winds… It was only meant to occupy him a bit, accelerating the asphyxiation process by forcing him to exert himself physically. Now that his body was starting to show the first signs of oxygen deprivation, he didn't feel so threatening anymore. His movements were slowing down and they will continue to do so. Soon, he won't be able to avoid my attacks. And there I'll have it: my victory. Without even -seemingly- using a single high level spell. But I need to hold on for a little bit more before landing the finishing move.

On the surface, Aoban remained composed. However, I could see in his eyes that his confidence was slowly wilting away. He couldn't manage to catch his breath, growing more tired by the second. I, on the other hand, showed no signs of mana exhaustion. Understanding that time wasn't on his side, he became even more aggressive, trying to finish the fight quickly.

As I I kept him busy with my magic, Aoban stopped trying to avoid the attacks. In a desperate attempt to close the remaining distance between us, he covered his face with his arm and charged, letting himself get hit by one of my fireballs. Startled, I immediately launched another one to dissuade him from coming closer, but once again, he took the blow directly.

So he's just going to sacrifice his body? Well, in that case, time to flee.

Since I couldn't hold him away anymore, I turned on my heels and immediately started running, much to Aoban's annoyance.

"Don't run away!" He ordered with a curt voice.

"What do you expect me to do? Wait for you?" I shot back. "I'm a mage, of course I'll run away!"

The pit being an enclosed area, there was not a lot of place for me to run to. But if I can buy some time, even a little, then I'll gladly run.

Despite my poor endurance, brother had trouble catching up with me. He was exhausted. Besides, I didn't make things easy for him. I kept summoning earth walls in his path. He could ignore my attacks if he wanted, but he couldn't ignore the earth walls. Blocking his way, he had no choice but to smash them down, burning away his remaining strength. However, this little cat and mouse game didn't last for long, as I quickly reached a dead end. With the walls of the arena in front of me and with brother behind me, there was no other way for me to run to. I turned around, erecting one last earth wall.

"Poudre de perlimpinpin!"

Not much to my surprise, the wall soon collapsed, as brother forced his way through.

He appeared like a zombie, rising from the rubble. He was starving for air, breathing heavily and fighting not to succumb to the exhaustion. But the light in his eyes was still there, burning with determination.

"If you want to forfeit, now is the time," he said, as composedly as he could, trying to avoid betraying his poor state.

I gave him a silent answer.

Aoban frowned, before letting out a long, complaining sigh.

"Fine," he grumbled in resignation. "You leave me no choice."

Brother reluctantly readjusted the weakened grip on his sword. He raised his blade, preparing himself to strike me down. However, as his eyes met mine, I saw my reflection in his pupils and I read the hesitation on his face. I took advantage of the moment.

"Let there be light."

I closed my eyes as a flash of light appeared, shining brighter than the sun. The light seared into Aoban's eyes. Out of reflex, he tried to cover his face but it was too late. Blinded by the light, brother did not see me approaching. I shoved my palm forward, just in front of his chest.

I will not make the same mistake, brother. I will not hesitate.

"Gesundheit!"

In one word, I released all the mana I had clustered in my hand as a sudden blast of wind gushed out my palm. Aoban was violently thrust aside. As he hit the ground, his first reflex was to grab his chest. Hit right in the solar plexus, he was gasping for air. However, the lack of oxygen around him didn't help in catching his breath. With him in this state, I had no trouble in stealing his sword. Completely disoriented, brother didn't even notice that his weapon was no longer in his hand. I raised the blade and placed it on his shoulder, right next to his neck.

It was over.

I returned the air around Aoban to its original state, allowing his breath to return to a slow and rhythmic pattern. His frantic breathing finally calmed down as brother also recovered his sight. It didn't take long for him to then notice his sword in my hand, the blade kissing his neck.

"I win," I declared.

I had expected him to be furious. To burst out his indignation. To be in denial. But surprisingly, none of that happened. Aoban stayed rational and calmly analyzed the situation. He silently stared at me for a while, before his eyes fell upon his emptied hand. Eventually, a resigned sigh escaped his nose as he came to the same conclusion as me.

"You do," he admitted.

The threatening atmosphere around him was all gone. However, the kind and cheerful brother I knew didn't return just yet.

"The duel is over!" I suddenly heard a voice announcing out loud. "The winner is Lynett Maedis Whiteheart!"

Noticing the head-teacher who had just stepped into the arena, I suddenly remembered my audience. I raised my eyes to the stands. I still couldn't hear them and from here, I couldn't properly see their expression either, but I could definitely see the swarm of students fussing. Without a single sound, it was a strange, yet amusing scene.

"I owe you an apology," brother suddenly spoke up.

I couldn't see his face properly. He was still on the ground, staring at his emptied hand, seemingly dejected.

I sighed.

"And I owe you an explanation," I responded.

Aoban looked up at me, his brows furrowed and his eyes squinted, as he tried to read my expression. I bet he thought that I was angry at him about last time. I did cry, after all. But I've long since moved on to something else. I didn't condemn him for his harsh words. He was trying to protect me, I knew that. And in the spur of the moment, he said things he didn't really believe. It's fine, it happens. The only thing I wanted from him is for him to understand that I didn't need his protection. And for that, I needed to explain the whole situation to him.

A very subtle smirk played across brother's lips.

"Alright, seems fair."