Cremona studied her opponent. Arlothe had spoiled her fun by making it a formal duel. She had looked forward to testing both this newcomer and herself. She had little experience fighting someone physically, especially another mage. It would have been interesting. And while the spells that gave him his physical enhancements were still in place, they would be of little help against her now that they were confined within the circles. She considered her first spell. Her poisonous fog spells would just make it too easy, filling the circle with poison. He'd pass out eventually, but she'd lose points for such an attack and it was boring.

Horde of Vipers might be fun. She'd get to see him fight the spectral minions, but she decided to soften him up a bit first. The Vipers had a weak poison effect and he had ignored the Poisonous Cloud cast on him before in the earlier round. Venom Bolt would hit him for light damage with an ongoing damage effect and lower his resistance, then maybe send in the snakes.

She looked over at Tallsqueak. He seemed focused, or was that fear. "I expect a good fight from you Tallsqueak. Please don't hold back. Hit me with your best spell. My husband Arlothe and I duel constantly and give no quarter."

Her opponent just nodded at her, not speaking.

"I cast Cremona's Venom Bolt." In a real fight, she'd have simply pointed a finger, but the silly duels almost demanded that you shout out your spells or lose points. Before she could finish casting her spell, an exploding skull went off at her feet, ruining her concentration and knocking her to the ground.

The crowd exploded as all the students began shouting. Arlothe motioned them to silence. "Be quiet and observe. If Tallsqueak had cheated, D'Camembert's Duel would have immediately told me. You may all draw your own conclusions. Tallsqueak, it is your turn to cast a spell."

Tallsqueak waited while Cremona brushed herself off and regained her feet. Her face was as blank as a master poker player. Counter Spells were not unheard of, but a true Counter Attack ability was very rare for anyone in the lower Tiers. Her own ability, Shield of Mana was something she used constantly against Arlothe to block his Storm Arc. She wondered again what school Tallsqueak had attended.

And then all musings left her as he cast his first spell. Magic surged from Tallsqueak as he empowered the runes of a bone harpoon. They glowed bright enough that she got a glimpse of them, even at this distance. Cremona used runic magic in composing her own spells. In a pinch she had even devised new spells on the fly. But she'd never seen these runes before! They were something different. More primal. She prepared Shield of Mana just in time, as the Harpoon of the Winds shrieked across the short distance towards her, too quick to avoid.

Magic Harpoon hit Magic Shield and both were destroyed. Cremona was drained of over 300 mana and was knocked backwards by the force of the blow. She got to her feet and was congratulating herself on stopping the spell as the second Harpoon of the Winds hit her in the shoulder, showering the area with blood and putting her on the ground again.

She rose slowly, pulled the weapon from her shoulder and snapped it in half. That had been a potentialy lethal spell if it hit her in the head. Tallsqueak certainly wasn't holding back.

"Playing with Big boy spells and Fast Casting, are we? Good. I like a challenge!"

"Toxic Razor Quills of Doom!"

Tallsqueak saw a horde of razor-sharp projectiles streaking towards him. Each one glowed an unhealthy green. He dodged as best he could within the confined space, leaping upwards and rolling into a tight ball to present his back. Acrobat, Uncanny Dodge, and Danger Sense gave him a superior chance to dodge the attack. The Ring of the Scout Master gave him both a boost to Danger Sense and to his chance at dodging. Only one of the dozen quills actually hit him.

You have been struck by a Poisonous Razor Quill. This Strong Poison does 20 points of damage, greatly reduced by your Strong Poison Resistance. Your blood has cleansed ongoing poison effects.

Milo landed on both feet, danger sense screaming, but he wasn't able to dodge again quick enough. He hadn't even begun to turn around when the second spell hit him!

You have been struck by 12 Poisonous Razor Quills. This Strong Poison attack does 240 points of damage, which is greatly reduced by your Strong Poison Resistance. Your blood is struggling to cleanse ongoing poison effects.

The crowd saw Tallsqueak execute an amazing dodge to avoid the first spell, and saw Cremona repeat the spell immediately, catching Tallsqueak as he landed. They saw him slowly turn, obviously in pain. He took a deep breath and steadied himself.

Arlothe waited for Tallsqueak to collapse and the duel to end. That didn't happen, and instead Tallsqueak calmly brought out two more harpoons, glared at Cremona and cast Harpoon of the Winds. Unable to manifest her Shield of Mana after using Fast Casting, she was reduced to diving to the ground for the third time as the Harpoon screamed over her head, nearly hitting her and cutting off several locks of hair.

This had to end! Not even her husband made her eat dirt this many times, and never in front of the entire school! She didn't care about losing points. "Blighted Sphere of Blinding Malignant Contagion!!" Using a good part of her remaining mana, Cremona threw a glowing ball of Death Magic at Tallsqueak. The noxious cloud of toxins would make it impossible for him to see her to cast a spell, and should drop him to the ground quickly.

Milo had no idea what the spell was, but it sounded bad! While Cremona was still shouting, he stepped to the back of his circle, and sprinted forward. At the front edge of his circle, he leaped high in the air, the spell passing under him, and landed on his hands before springing upwards using his arms and tail to flip himself into Cremona's circle. Time to end this!

"I cast Claws of Alta-Viator"

Both claw attacks slashed across the surprised Death Mage, slicing deep into her body. Blood went everywhere and with a loud chime, the duel ended. The circles disappearing as they were converted to healing magic that wrapped itself around the unconscious Cremona. Tallsqueak picked her up gently and carried her towards the tower, being met halfway by an entire squad of medics. He handed her off and tiredly turned to Arlothe. "Are we done?" He hoped they were done, but he was worried that eviscerating the Storm Mage's wife right in front of him was going to cause him trouble. He was tired, annoyed, and didn't care anymore. If he wanted another duel, Milo was walking away.

Arlothe called out in a loud cheerful voice, "Victory to Tallsqueak by both a knock out and through points."

Several people that had bet on the underdog squealed in joy. Gaining 17 times the amount bet would keep them in snacks, favors, and spending money for the rest of the season. The students from House Emerald Wyrm were furious. "He cheated! He left his circle."

Arlothe shook his head. "A review of the rules will show that he in fact, did not cheat. Tallsqueak didn't 'step out' of the circles. Hands and tail are NOT feet. But I can see that a rewording and review of the current rules is certainly needed at this point. Please pay all debts, Moray, and I look forward to seeing you deliver 85 wheels of cheddar, or their equivalent, from your clan's vault. You should coordinate with Master Bleusnout. That is too much cheese to have loose in the Hollow.

Arlothe turned to Tallsqueak, his stern expression vanishing and a kindly smile appeared on his face. "Oh, you and she are hardly done. She loved that dress and will want a rematch someday. But not today,certainly. It's going to take her time to recover from her injuries. I warned her about the problems of fighting someone who had integrated spells with tail fighting."

"And now, why don't you and I have dinner? I promise a quiet evening with no stress or fighting. The cook has quite a nice meal laid out, and Cremona won't be up in time to enjoy it, so there's more for the two of us. I really want to talk to you about what your plans are for the machine, and I have a few experiments I'd love to share with you, and get your input on."

Milo was tired, and Arlothe seemed sincere. Dinner sounded good.