Chương 74: Chapter 11

Shaya kept back while she cast the spell, but Una advanced towards her while casting, her gladiatorial esper looking appropriate for their surroundings. Shaya kept an eye on her and tensed when Una gestured towards her, the scarred spirit behind her roaring. A slight shift to the ground told her Una had cast her spell faster, and Shaya darted backwards, barely dodging the overgrown grass that tried to ensnare her legs.

Another hop took her away from more animated grass and she finished tracing the last of her circuit two long seconds later, channelling her aether into the spell to form a translucent barrier around her. With another gesture, Una's animated grass entwined into two taut ropes and lashed towards her. They smacked off the ward, draining some of the aether from the spell. Beyond the spiteful plant, Shaya heard Una invoking another spell but missed the particulars.

Shaya started her next spell as well, impressed at Una's casting speed and wondering if this was the difference between her and someone who focused on only a single colour's magic. She took a risk by dropping the invocation, not wanting to reveal her play as the distance between them closed, but worried about how little time she had before Una engaged her.

Shaya's keen eyes let her see the Jade light leave Una's eyes as she rushed towards her, but the lack of overt effects made her suspect it was an enhance strength spell. Despite the likely enhancement, Una came in cautiously with tentative thrusts of her poleaxe timed alongside vine swipes that bounced off her ward, leaving minor fractures as they wore it down.

That's why I made it invisible, Shaya thought, parrying thrust after thrust with her shield, wouldn't want her to know if she's close to breaking it or not, would we? The force of each impact was enormous, even when parried. Shaya was happy to fight defensively, tracing her spell in the meantime, since she was pretty sure one of Una's blows would make the massive gators she fought last week seem like mosquitos.

Fortunately, Una seems too busy multi-tasking the control of her vines with her attacks, so she's not coming at me with enough skill to break through my defence. She blocked a few more thrusts, these ones aimed at her head, then prepared to unleash her next spell. That's when Una skidded backwards after her last thrust, spinning to build momentum. Shaya realized the Jade light had left Una's eyes again. She was making me block my own vision!

Una's poleaxe extended with explosive force, the weapon howling as it flew towards Shaya with more than enough power to cut her in half. Her mind raced with options: block it and hope it didn't shatter her arm; dodge back and hope Una couldn't extend the weapon fast enough to correct it; dive to the ground and hope Una couldn't recover from her massive swing fast enough to punish her for it… Hope, hope, hope…

Shaya lunged towards Una, closing some of the distance between them, then braced her shield against the incoming blow. Rather than block with it, however, she chopped the sharp end of the shield into the incoming haft. The wooden haft was strong, but it was never intended to absorb as much force as Una delivered then. Wood exploded as it slammed into Shaya's shield, splintering around it and launching four feet of weapon towards the crowd.

A few of the younger students cried out in alarm, but the weapon exploded against an invisible barrier at the duelling ring's edge and its remains rained to the ground. The shock of the impact blew through Shaya, wrenching her shoulder and leaving her shield arm numb. Pain shot through the right side of her neck and face, shrapnel peppering her exposed flesh but—through the ring's magic—simply conveying the pain it would have caused her.

She had aimed to keep advancing after the block, but even with her firm stance she stumbled sideways and lost her momentum—and her concentration on the spell she had been casting. Una followed through with her swing, the grass whooshing as she stopped her weapon in mid-air forcefully. Shaya's manoeuvre left her dazed and confused, trying to register what just happened, which gave her opponent precious seconds to recover and move in again.

Spell lost, Shaya rushed in and hoped she could chop Una down, drawing in more Amber and tracing the same spell again. Una didn't oblige, shifting the grip on her newly "crafted" staff and whirling it in close quarters. With her enhanced strength, she swiped away Shaya's incoming chop and used the opposite end of her staff to attack. Her spell seemed to give her control over the wood's length in general, and it shrunk down to adjust to the close-in fighting Shaya was forcing, limiting her advantage.

"And they call me crazy!" Una gasped, deflecting another chop from Shaya and giving ground to open some space between them.

"Do you always literally rush into danger like a dumbass?" Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Did you invite me here to chat?" Shaya shot back.

"Or did you maybe want to focus on the fight you're losing?" Una's eyes narrowed as anger flashed through them, her movements growing more aggressive. Good, Shaya thought, bring the fight to me. Shaya wasn't sure if she believed that she was actually winning, but the Amber flowed into her without issue, so she supposed she must. The gap between their martial skills was growing more apparent, Una relying on giving ground to keep Shaya from overwhelming her.

The "vines" had stopped attacking as well, Una unable to focus on keeping Shaya away and directing them at the same time. The next time the smaller woman stepped back, she immediately went on the offensive as Shaya lunged after her. The giant woman was surprised as a spear thrust towards her face, Una's woodshaping resharpening the splintered point. The point skidded across her jaw as she barely juked her head out of the way, pain blossoming on her face from the blow.

It offered enough time for Una to break off their close engagement, circling around Shaya as she continued to thrust repeatedly. Shaya's arm went numb again, and she was forced to block the first few thrusts rather than deflect them, but at least thankful she switched her shield arm to better mirror the side Una thrust from. She recovered her wits and pressured Una again, rushing towards the smaller woman after deflecting another attack.

Una was running out of options, back to giving ground as Shaya got inside her reach. Before she could shift her stance, Shaya unveiled one of her tricks: with a flick of Jade, the spines on her cloak erupted and she whipped it into Una's face. Una wasn't expecting the extra reach from the cloak and cursed as the barbs raked her flesh. Due to the Five Rings' magic, the barbs didn't hook into her or tear further flesh, and Shaya wondered if the Rings' magic was smart enough to convey that blinding pain.

The smaller woman recovered faster than Shaya wanted, body moving on reflex to shift her stance and parry a follow-up axe strike. She went to give ground again, but Shaya unleashed her spell. Phaedra's wings snapped open as a wall of light sprang up behind Una in a semi-circle, stopping her backward movement. With all of her magical training under Auric, Shaya was able to maintain both the complex barrier spell and her ward against Jade magic.

Una's eyes widened in shock as Shaya bore down on her, grunting in pain as she deflected an axe blow from her head into her shoulder. Rather than slow her movements, being caged seemed to invigorate her and Una flew into a frenzy of attacks. At close range, she didn't have space to build up much momentum, but her enhanced strength meant that even small smacks from her staff would have left welts through Shaya's armour. The ferocity was enough to push Shaya back and let Una slip out of her trap.

Shaya wheeled in time to see Una pointing a spear tip at her, a wicked grin on her face as the spear extended explosively. Before Shaya could think about it, she whipped her axe at Una and raised her shield to block the spear. The spear hit her shield with the force of a cannon ball, hurling her through the air. Pain lanced through Shaya's arm and threatened to knock her unconscious. But not before she saw the shocked expression on Una's face a moment before an axe slammed into it.

Shaya blinked up at the cloudy sky, wondering if she had actually passed out. The pain was still there in full force, but she made herself roll onto her good arm and then pushed herself up to stand. Wobbling, she turned to see Una lying on her back, limbs out like a starfish. Her chest was rising and falling as she breathed, but she otherwise appeared to be unconscious.

"Shaya Heirosoth is the winner by kill shot!" Avaim announced. Shaya's friends cheered, as did much of the crowd. She spotted some of Azreon's loyalists in the crowd, who pointedly did not cheer for her, but even they looked impressed… or horrified, she couldn't tell from this distance. Una's companions looked crestfallen at their leader's defeat. Una stirred. Shaya shambled over to her, looking down as her opponent's eyes flicked open. Una immediately glared up at her, tensing up as if ready for more violence.

"It's over," Shaya said, offering her a hand. Una eyed the offered hand like it was a viper, but finally accepted the help up.

"You're more slippery than I expected for someone your size," Una admitted.

"You're more bullish than I expected for someone your size," Shaya retorted.

"Damn right," Una grinned.

"Given that your other arm is limp, I'm guessing I got you."

"Heh," Shaya chuckled, "that you did. I had no idea your spell could be used offensively like that."

"It's not efficient in terms of aether," she admitted, "but I needed to end the encounter then and there."

"You came close." Shaya grinned down at the short woman.

"Not too close, mind you, but you did alright."

"Uh-huh." Una's eyes narrowed.

"I'll definitely get you next time."

"I look forward to it," Shaya said, wincing from the pain, "in the distant future. To give you time to grow, you understand." Una chuckled.

"You're not half bad, I guess. Full stupid, but tolerable."

"Thanks," Shaya replied, eyes half-lidded with sarcasm.

"You're all bad, but I can respect that."

"Thanks," Una grinned.

"I do what I can."

"Yeah, I can tell," Shaya said, massaging her shoulder. A number of the full-fledged knights in the crowd looked on at their interaction, nodding with approval. Shaya wondered if they would be nodding if they could hear what they were saying to each other, and the thought brought another smile to her face.