Mock Duel (2)

Though the dragonling grumbled about not being able to play, Arcturus shambled off to the side to sit and spectate the duel. The Cyclone Goshawk, which bore the name of Ella, fluttered from her partner's shoulder to perch atop the young Dragon Clan child's head. As she had shrunk to the size of a finch, the B-grade avian barely weighed anything, so Arcturus just remained unfazed.

Though Luca no longer had his handgun, he was not the novice he was before. After the two mages stood 25m apart, another mage, this one to record the battle via the simulation array's built-in recording setup, stood off to one side as a referee. With the Head Guildmaster's staff in her hand and the Dragonborn lad empty-handed, the duel began as soon as the referee declared, "Ready... Duel!"

With almost no delay, Elizabeth cast three spells with expert skill: the Lv. 3 Non-Elemental [Magic Shield], the Lv. 3 Fire-type [Flare Defense], and the Lv. 3 Fire-type [Firebolt]. The two defensive spells were to make Luca's accuracy decrease if he attempted to hit her, while the latter was an immediate attack in order to take control of the battle from the beginning. With her skill, Elizabeth cast three [Firebolt] spells simultaneously.

As Elizabeth began the duel with three spells right off the bat, Luca responded in kind with two Lv. 3 Non-Elemental [Magic Shield] spells and a Lv. 3 Space-type [Minor Wormhole] to intercept one of the three Firebolts. The last two individually broke one Magic Shield each. As his two Magic Shields destroyed, the Dragonborn boy launched three Lv.1 Light-type [Lightbolt] spells to distract Elizabeth while he prepared a Lv. 4 Non-Elemental [Spell Guard], an upgraded version of the Magic Shield spell. While his Lightbolts failed to do any damage and barely granted him more than a second, that second was enough for him to erect his defences.

As her Magic Shield and Flare Defense spells easily handled the three Lightbolts, the Head Guildmaster deftly threw a Lv. 4 Fire-type [Fireball] at the young Dragonborn, only to discover that his new defences took it head-on before breaking, the AoE damage making a wave of flames from its impact location, though it proved to be ineffective thanks to Luca's draconic scales. Thankfully for Luca, his Spell Guard still stood after taking the masterfully cast Fireball head-on. It wouldn't be able to withstand more than another though.

Knowing he had little time to waste, the ten-year-old mage used the brief advantage he had after his shield had sprung forth to charge and cast a Lv. 4 Space-type [Spatial Blade] at his opponent, whose experience prompted her to two Spell Guards, one of which was crushed by the Spatial Blade, while the second barely withstood it. He did the same as Elizabeth and cast three Spell Guards before beginning his next spell.

Quite surprised at the exceptional combat ability of the young boy who, to her knowledge, had only been in combat twice to date, along with his veteran-like state of calm, the Head Guildmaster was certain that Luca truly was a heaven-defying genius with more than a few secrets in his repertoire. As such, she prepared to up the ante and, with masterful skill, she launched four Fireballs in a cluster to increase their effectiveness. She expected to win due to her larger mana pool and a greater wealth of knowledge, but she did not plan to underestimate the young lad, and for good reason.

As he saw the four Fireballs arcing towards him, Luca pursed his lips in mild disappointment. He wouldn't have enough time to cast a defensive spell that could handle the combined explosion of four Fireballs, not to mention he was already preparing another offensive spell. Now down to just 275mp out of his newly enhanced 1500mp, after 200mp total was used for his first two Magic Shields, 150mp for a Minor Wormhole, 25mp each for his three Lightbolts, and his four Spell Guards' cost of 800mp total, Luca had to forcibly cancel his spell, wasting the 250mp he had been charging up to launch a Lv. 3 Lightning-type [Thunder Wave]. With only 50mp left, the boy no longer had any castable spells to assist him with his situation. Coupled with his stubborn tendency to never back down in a battle, Luca refused to go down without doing some damage to his former Archmage opponent.

From Elizabeth's perspective, seeing the young lad recognize that he needed to defend himself despite needing to waste mana and not hesitating to cancel his spell, she silently praised him. Based on her understanding, though, he shouldn't have any mana left to continue the battle. As the four Fireballs came within a few centimetres of the boy's Spell Guards, she spotted a familiar pinkish transparent barrier spring up to intercept them. As such, her pupils shrunk with recognition, quickly using what time she had to cast a spell she was woefully incompatible with, the Lv. 5 Water-type [Frost Curtain] to defend against the expected reflected attack. Upon contact with the Mirror Magic barrier, the four Fireballs bounced off and reversed their directions, arcing back towards Elizabeth and impacting the Frost Curtain. While a large portion of the enormous explosion that should have formed was instead quashed by the counter-elemental force of the Frost Curtain, the four Fireballs still erupted with an explosion twice the size of the normal result of a Fireball.

While it cost him no mana to unleash his Mirror Magic, Luca's mental strength was sapped in exchange. Grunting as he felt that he could no longer focus as clearly, which was a major problem when it came to spellcasting, the Dragonborn lad made a simple gesture towards the referee, who declared his surrender without missing a beat.

Overall, Luca's combat ability was astonishing, proving to be capable of matching a Lv. 4 Mage without suffering much of a loss, along with showing how he still had the ability to protect himself from an attack beyond his level. As such, following the mock duel, Elizabeth had no problems officially updating his files, along with his Mages Guild card, to reflect his new status as a Lv. 4 Mage. On top of that, it also listed his new titles as a Grandmaster Enchanter, Master Alchemist and Master Array Specialist.