The glow of the circles around Zane grew stronger, a sign that they would soon activate and work their destructive spells. Forming three spells at the same time spoke for the talent of the user, but it also clearly depended on the complexity of the individual spells.
Diruptio was an arcane explosion spell which, depending on the amount of energy supplied, could cause enormous explosions. Area, however, was an arcane spell with which the magician could move his own spells in space, but it only had a short-range. The problem was the Duplicare spell. It duplicated the spell previously cast, but it also duplicated its use of magic. This is why either the magic consumption was increased or the activation time was delayed just like Kouji did so that the magic energy could be absorbed from the environment.
Kouji had taken advantage of Zane's confusion and combined the spells to surround Zane with the Diruptio spells. The spells would increase their mutual explosive power and cause an explosion that would defeat Zane with one blow. It was a risky spell because if Zane could break free from the encirclement, the spell would fail and Kouji would have wasted the energy. But he had insurance in case Zane tried to escape, as he could cast the spells one at a time, which Zane knew too.
"Don't you want to give up? Don't complain if you are missing an arm or a leg afterward", he laughed.
The glow of the compasses became even brighter. Now or never... Zane thought to himself, starting to collect magic while cursing himself for his inattention.
A huge bang rang through the arena and a 20-meter fireball took Zane's place as the Diruptio spells activated.
The blast and heat of the explosion rushed through the arena. Kouji's blue hair waved in the wind of the explosion as his grin gave way to an incredulous look. Zane shot out of the fireball. A pillar of ice under his feet catapulted him from the explosion into the air. As soon as he was outside the explosion area, Zane pushed away from the ice pillar, which had already crumbled from the explosion and heat.
The explosion made a transparent sphere visible around Zane's body, it was a magical shield. The shield protected the wizard from both magical and material attacks, such as bullets or swords. This universal utility ensured that it became the standard repertoire of magicians.
Maintaining the shield after it was created was using a small amount of magic, but if it was exhausted it used more magic.
Zane had molded the shield in the short time before the explosion, while also molding the elemental magic for the ice pillar. However, he had focused on the shield, since according to the rules, if the shield went out, the fight would be lost. The result was the frail ice pillar that had thrown him out of harm's way.
"There is Zane! He escaped the explosion! What an action!” The commentator was amazed and there was also a murmur from the audience.
"Yay Zane did it!" Asagi said happily, clapping her hands together.
"Not bad. He used his spell to catapult himself out of the explosion area. His shield must have been damaged”, analyzed Zero.
"I guess your one punch didn’t work, huh Kouji?" Laughed Zane who flew several meters above the arena floor. "Now it's my turn!" While still in the air, Zane stretched his left arm towards Kouji, and a bluish-white circle formed in front of his hand. The next moment, small ice stakes shot up from the circle and flew towards Kouji.
"Zane goes for a counterattack!"
"Damn it!" Kouji cursed as he dodged the stakes with a roller and sprinted to dodge the following. The ice stakes were about 50 centimeters long and shaped like knitting needles. They could cause a lot of damage, but they were not strong enough to pierce armor or the like and shattered when hitting harder materials such as the arena floor.
Crap, the ice spells use up too much energy! Zane thought as he lost the pillar's acceleration and began to fall. The heat from the explosions made it difficult for Zane to form ice because of the temperature difference.
"Diruptio!" Rang out from the floor of the arena, Kouji had interrupted his sprint after Zane's attack and was now standing to his right, both hands in the air. A glowing Diruptio spell had appeared in the air to Zane's right. It was three times the size of the previous ones and already shone strongly.
Zane’s gaze fell on the circle as the glow became even more intense and the spell activated. "Shit!" Zane crossed his arms and was able to build a thin layer of ice in front of him at the last moment. The ice was immediately shattered by the explosion and Zane flew uncontrollably at high speed in the direction of the occupied area.
"What an explosion!"
“That's it then!” Said Kouji, confident of victory. Should Zane leave the arena and hit the arena floor now, Kouji would have won the fight.
"Then I have to use that". Zane turned towards the ground and with an outward movement, as if he was conducting a concert, Zane stretched out his arms, and a greenish shimmering rune formed in front of his palms. As if directed by his arms, the currents of air that had developed in the arena began to obey his command.
Wind magic? You’re taking any chance, don't you Zane? Nathan thought when he saw the greenish rune on the screen that Zane had formed. Zane was not trained in wind magic, much less than in water magic, from which his ice magic was derived. But the heat and ice of the attacks had set the air in the room in motion, making it easier for Zane to "feel" the wind.
"What is he doing now? Zane shows us wind magic in addition to his ice magic! "
A few meters above the ground, the wind caught Zane and lifted him back into the air above the arena. While still in flight, he rolled over and looked at Kouji. In the meantime, the two had swapped their starting positions and Zane was already launching his next attack while Kouji followed his flight.
As if from nowhere, a huge ice pillar about 50 centimeters in diameter raced towards Kouji. Kouji jumped to the side and dodged as the next pillar came towards him. Kouji avoided that too when a third pillar headed towards him.
This time, however, Kouji was too slow and the pillar brushed against his shield and he was thrown away several meters by the force of the impact. The shield was comparable to a hard shell and just as the balls were hit with the cue in billiards, Kouji's shield was now hit by the ice pillar. The impact, even if it was only a grazing hit, was so strong that Kouji's shield began to crack.
Zane's flight over the arena was nearing its end when he reached the other side. He flew out of the arena again, but as he headed for the wall of the spectator stand, another ice pillar shot out of the wall of the spectator stand from which he pushed his legs off and flew back towards the arena. He hadn't touched the ground and so it was within the rules.
Kouji had recovered in the meantime. I don't have much energy left, that wretched... Kouji fired a ball of concentrated magic at Zane. The name of the spell was Acul, one of the simpler arcane spells that only fired undirected, concentrated magic.
The Acul spell flew right towards Zane, who was still on the flight back to the arena. Zane created another ice pillar beneath him that catapulted him up out of the line of fire just before the Acul spell hit the ice pillar and it splintered into a thousand pieces. Some of the splinters hit Zane's shield when he heard Kouji's voice.
"Now I got you!" Shouted Kouji with an annoyed expression on his face. He had pulled his pistol from its holder and was aiming at the flying Zane, who had been thrown off balance by the evasive action.
The moment he pulled the trigger, Zane had formed a sheet of ice in the air, which he pushed with all his might with his left hand. The plate defied gravity for only a brief moment, but long enough for Zane to escape the ball's trajectory. However, Zane was not faster than the approaching ball and so it brushed against his magical shield.
Kouji must have used up a lot of his magic since he’s reaching for the pistol, Zane thought as the bullet brushed past him.
The shells flew out of the pistol one by one while Kouji continued to fire at Zane, who seemed to be walking through the air.
I have to go faster, Zane thought as he began to create sheets of ice as before, which he immediately pushed off. Shit, I have to end this soon. I used too much energy. The ice pillars used huge amounts of energy and so far he had produced six of them. He would no longer be able to produce many, which is why he resorted to the thin ice sheets to repel himself. Besides, the wind magic had also used up large amounts of his supply and the damage to the shield was slowly becoming a problem.
However, Kouji had used up the ammunition on his pistol in no time without landing a hit. When he realized that it was empty, he threw it angrily to the ground. The moment Kouji checked the ammunition on his pistol, Zane fired two ice pillars towards him. The long pillars stretched out from Zane towards Kouji.
When Kouji saw the pillars rushing towards him, he created two small Diruptio spells and pushed them against the approaching pillars. Immediately the pillars shattered into a thousand pieces and thick water vapor developed. He saw Zane charging towards him. He wasn't walking on the ground, but on the pillars, he had made.
As the pillars broke beneath him, Zane jumped up and created a slightly thicker sheet of ice to catapult himself toward Kouji.
"Don't get cocky!" Kouji shouted at Zane, while he formed two Diruptio circles in front of his palms and ran towards him.
“Zane is flying towards Kouji! Is the fight already nearing its end?"
Both seem to have used a lot of magic, Zane for his flight insert and Kouji for his triple spell. Zane also consumes more energy as he has to fight the heat of the explosion. This is probably the last action of the two, Nathan analyzed the battle.
Zane formed the greenish circles again and held them in flight under the soles of his feet like a frog that was about to jump off. Zane's wind magic accelerated him again and he raced towards Kouji, his speed significantly increased. At the same moment, as Zane brought his arms forward again, he formed another magical circle in his left hand, while he held out his right hand protectively in front of him.
"Diruptio!" Kouji brought both of his palms forward, which he had just pulled behind him. But before the spells found their target, Kouji's shield broke. At first, it was only a gap that had opened up on the right side of the shield. Kouji had barely noticed that Zane had already passed him. However, in a split second, cracks formed that spread across the entire sphere and the shield shattered like glass.
Zane had rushed past Kouji and destroyed his shield with the blade of ice that had formed around his hand and part of his forearm.
"Ice blade"
Shocked by the feedback from the shield caused by the destruction, Kouji sank to one side and finally fell to the ground with a thud.
"Zane wins!" The referee raised his arm in Zane's direction and ended the fight.
“Zane won! What a fight”, announced the moderator and the crowd cheered.
"Yes!" Zane said happily, clenching his fists in front of him. Everywhere on the signs between the arena and the spectator stands, boxes with Zane's name and face appeared to officially announce his victory.
"Yay! Zane won”, Asagi said happily while Zero put his arms behind his head again.
“His hard training paid off. But it was a tight match".
Angrily lying on the floor, Kouji smashed his hand against the ground. How could I lose against someone like HIM?! Amidst the chatter of the audience, he heard footsteps approaching him.
When he turned around he saw Zane in front of him. "Hey, good fight!" Zane reached out to him as a sign of fairness and to help him to his feet.
"What a sporty gesture!" The commentator drew the attention of the agitated crowd back to Zane and Kouji.
"Tsch!" Kouji’s knocked Zane's hand away and ran away while Zane looked after him incomprehensibly.
Very few in the stands had paid attention since they were absorbed in their own conversations, as the obligatory handshake was nothing special. The commentator, however, paused briefly and decided not to comment on Kouji's unsportsmanlike behavior. Zero and Asagi noticed it too:
"That's not very fair to Zane...", Asagi said.
"Well there’s nothing we can do...", replied Zero.
A few boos accompanied Kouji as he left the arena and disappeared into the corridors.
You will soon lose your laughter!
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