Chapter 279: Lynn VS. Diane

The sky was clear and the sun shined down on Undergrowth and her people. It was a perfect day for viewing the duels of magic and the coliseum’s crowds agreed. They cheered eagerly as the two contestants emerged from their respective gates and stepped into the arena.

Freya Goldelm glanced about the seats around her, searching for a particularly familiar face. Four sections of the front row seats had been specially set aside for the four participating teams respectively. Stryg had been ecstatic to have gotten such close seats to the action, he wanted to study the opponent’s fights as much as possible. Which is why Freya found it so odd that he wasn’t here.

The intermission had ended over ten minutes ago and he had still yet to show up. Freya wouldn’t have found it so odd – after all Stryg had gone to meet with Ophelia Thorn herself – except that Ophelia was already in the coliseum, watching from her private viewing booth.

“Where is Stryg?” Freya muttered.

“I don’t know, he should be back by now,” Callum said uneasily. “You don’t think Lady Thorn did something to him… do you?”

“I don’t know, Stryg was with the Tempest Archmage, he should be fine… I think,” Freya said.

“He’s probably getting something to eat,” Sylvie said as she munched on some chicken on a stick.

“Maybe, he does eat quite a lot,” Callum said thoughtfully.

“Whatever the reason is, Stryg’s fine,” Sylvie said between bites. “More importantly, what happened to the frost giant’s huge sword?”

“Huh?” Freya looked down at the arena. “You’re right.”

The frost giant hybrid had walked into the arena without the enormous sheathed sword strapped to her back. It was strange, she had been lugging around the overtly large sword ever since she had arrived in Undergrowth. The blade had seemed precious, or at least important to her. But now it was gone and in its stead, the frost giant carried a warhammer.

“What do you think happened to the sword?” Callum asked.

“She probably realized swords suck and decided to go with a more optimal weapon,” Sylvie shrugged. “I would have personally gone with a double-sided ax, but a hammer is fine. Honestly, anything is better than a tacky sword.”

“Tell that to the other girl,” Freya pointed at the frost giant’s opponent.

The young woman held two straight-edged swords, one in each hand. She was undoubtedly an orc, with their iconic bright blood-red skin, dark hair, and amber eyes. But where most orcs tended to have larger frames, she was short and lean. Her arms and legs were well-defined with the curves of toned muscles. And though she was smaller than her teammates, she carried herself with the same confidence and solemnity as them.

Sylvie made a face of disgust, “Ew, two swords? Someone’s overcompensating.”

Callum chuckled under his breath, “Now I’m glad Stryg isn’t here.”

“Hey, wait a sec, why can she have two weapons!? I thought the rules said you can only bring one weapon at most!” Sylvie exclaimed.

“One weapon and one enchanted item. One of her swords is probably enchanted, while the other isn’t,” Callum explained.

“Hm, that just makes her look dumber,” Sylvie crossed her arms.

“You know, I just noticed, neither of the contestants is from a Named House,” Freya said. “You’d think the Great Cities would have sent mages with extensive magical backgrounds.”

“So? I’m not an aristocrat, neither is Stryg, and we’re stronger than both of you,” Sylvie said casually. “No offense.”

“Offense taken,” Freya frowned. “You and I have never had a proper duel. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

“The tournament is about the best mage students of their year, not about who had a surname or not, so it makes sense why they’re not aristocrats,” Callum said. “Murktonian culture especially values raw ability over money or titles. I heard only one of their members is an aristocrat.”

“Look, they’re starting!” Sylvie said excitedly.

The Herald’s Tower blared with the now-familiar voices of the Stemme siblings.

“Welcome everyone to the 2nd duel of the Challenge of Spell & Steel!” Jane Stemme yelled happily.

“After Hollow Shade’s overwhelming victory against Undergrowth, I bet you’re all wondering what Murkton and Frost Rim have to offer!” Mark Stemme announced.

“Oh! They’re talking about me!” Sylvie jumped up in her seat proudly.

“Without further ado,” Jane began.

Mark followed up, “Let the duel between Lynn of Frost Rim and Diane of Murtkon…”

“BEGIN!!”

~~~

Lynn stared across the arena at Diane who had already drawn both her blades.

Lynn placed her hammer on the ground and smiled politely, “Before we fight, I just want to say good luck. It’s an honor to be your opponent.”

Diane channeled orange mana into her muscles, turning her veins grey with agility magic. She took a battle stance and spoke in a steely voice, “Luck? I have come this far on my own, I didn’t need anyone’s luck then and I certainly don’t need it now.”

“That must have been really hard. I’m impressed.”

Diane clicked her tongue, “I came here to win and only to win, not to wish my enemies compliments. I suggest you do the same.”

Lynn nodded with a half-smile, “I’m afraid you and I have different reasons for why we’re here.” She picked up her hammer and formed an elemental frost shield over her other forearm, “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up.”

The orc warrior needed no other words, she sprinted across the stadium with enhanced speed. Lynn pulled water from one of the four nearby pools and froze the torrent into a cascade of ice shards. With a simple flick of the wrist, the shards flew straight at Diane in several volleys.

The crowd cheered at the spectacle of elemental magic. Diane said nothing, her face was as cold and impassive as the ice shards coming toward her. Diane jumped to the sides in quick dashes, dodging the shards and slashing away the ones she couldn’t. With every volley of ice, Diane slowly advanced forward, closer and closer to the frost giant.

Lynn didn’t move or back away. Her focus was entirely on creating more ice shards from the pool and launching them at her opponent. As Diane grew close, her arms grew slower, tired from the constant blocking. Suddenly, Diane’s stance shifted and she dashed with an unexpected burst of speed.

Finally! Lynn held back a grin as the orc drew close.

Frost abruptly arose from the ground and wrapped around Diane’s feet. She gasped and tried to pull her legs away to no avail. In the blink of an eye, the frost had spread and entrapped her legs in ice.

I don’t need outside water to create ice! Lynn rushed forward, hammer in hand, brown vigor magic surging into her muscles. “Concede!”

Diane gritted her teeth and released her agility spell. She aimed her closed palms at her legs and released a burst of flames. The fire flared bright and exploded all around her. Lynn flinched, raised her ice shield, and retreated back.

As the smoke cleared, Lynn’s blue eyes widened in shock at the sight of Diane. The ice had melted away, but the lower parts of her pants had been burned away and her skin was already beginning to blister.

“W-why?” Lynn asked hesitantly. “You’d rather risk burning yourself to a crisp than concede?”

Diane chuckled darkly and shook her head, “You really don’t get it, do you? I didn’t get this far by shying away from pain. Someone like you would never understand.”

“Someone like me?” Lynn frowned in confusion.

“Someone born with talent,” she sneered. “Just look at you, twice my size, and thrice my strength. An elemental-chromatic hybrid with both types of magic. You have the best of both worlds and you don’t even realize it, do you?”

“Best of both worlds, huh…?” Lynn muttered.

Diane laughed bitterly and pointed at the frost giant’s bronze-vigor arms, “Your elemental magic comes so naturally, juggling a chromatic and elemental spell at the same time must be easy for you, huh? You’ve never understood what true commitment means because it was never necessary for you.” She stretched her legs with a small painful expression, “I’ve dedicated every waking moment to reach the place where you all so casually stand. I’ve learned to put everything on the line, I’ve had to, and that’s why I will win.”

“...Fine, have it your way,” Lynn threw her arms apart. Water formed and twirled around her in a swirl of slivers of ice and vines of water.

Diane didn’t hesitate, she darted forward. Cascades of ice slivers fell over her in a barrage of spells. Diane did not turn nor jump away, she raised her blades and brandished them in an endless pattern of steel, slashing apart the ice with renewed speed.

Frost emerged from the ground beneath Diane’s feet, but with every step she took she generated a small blast of fire around her, melting away any ice that tried to form. In mere seconds Diane closed the gap and looked up at the giant hybrid with a determined gaze.

Ice wrapped Lynn’s body in dozens of plates held together by flowing water. She yelled a war cry and swung her hammer down, her vigor magic enhancing her already naturally imposing strength. Diane rolled to the side, evading the hammer that pummeled the ground into a small crater.

Lynn quickly pulled back her arms and swiped the hammer in a wide arc. Diane’s blades shimmered in the sunlight, the swords slashed into the hammer and drove its trajectory into the ground.

Lynn backed away in surprise, but Diane pressed her attack. Her blades moved in a flurry of steel, swiping past Lynn’s hammer, and chipping at her frost armor. Diane thrust one of her swords at the giant’s leg, the blade suddenly flashed with enchanted sigils and pierced through the ice. The steel bit into the flesh and bone with agonizing ease. Lynn screamed in pain and flung her hammer at Diane. The orc jumped away from the haphazard attack and retreated a dozen paces.

Lynn fell to one knee and grimaced with a weak cry. Blood seeped into the ice and dyed her leg’s frost armor bright red. Diane circled around her, the tip of her blades dragging on the dirt as she eyed her prey.

“Do you feel it, Lynn?” Diane asked icily. “The limits of your talent.”

“Talent…?” Lynn huffed weakly.

“People like you have been blessed with power from birth. You’ve always taken it for granted, unable to understand how lucky you truly are, how unfair the world really is.” Diane raised her bloodied blade and pointed it at her enemy, “I’ll show you how far your power truly gets you.”

Lynn chuckled softly to herself, “Unfair? …Yeah, I guess the world really is unfair… I really am one of the lucky few…”

“Lynn, what are you doing!?” A voice screamed from one of the front row seats of the coliseum.

Lynn slowly looked up with a faint smile.

Kalliste’s usual pale face was an angry scarlet red and her hands wrapped around the guardrails with a white-knuckle grip. “Why are you letting her mock you like that?! Don’t just give up, Lynn! Get up, damn you!”

Lynn couldn’t help but grin wryly. Kalliste’s angry expression just seemed so… sad.