The Storm Apprentice

Chapter 12

This time, there were six contestants. They brought their Starrynts with them, ready to step onto the field when it was their turn.

"Why is Jay doing Confined Area?" Narira inquired while they waited for the first pair to be announced. "It seems like he was pretty good without electricity!"

"He can't do No Magic... he would do horribly without being able to boost himself with magic, but he is fine without lightning. I suppose he just thinks it's fun."

"Ah."

"It's probably what you'll do as well - assuming you aren't doing No Weapon, and I can't imagine why you would do that."

Narira shrugged, but she continued to wonder. Would I be any good at No Weapon anyway? she thought. I've had so much dueling experience, it would be a shame to waste it. But still, she wanted to try.

When the next round began, Narira leapt to the edge of the cutout to look down at the first duel. This time, there was less circling and waiting. The contestants began slowly, much the way Narira had in her assessment, then gradually sped up. Narira marveled at the fluency they had with their weapons as they danced around each other. She had been interested to see how this would work, as they weren't supposed to block nor use magic to aid their dodging. From how they moved, it looked as if they were using magic anyway. The contestants seemed emerged in a dance, twirling around each other to the music of ringing copper.

At last, a final blow was taken and the announcer told the next pair to take the field. Narira watched again with interest, fascinated by the new way of dueling even without magical power.

No electricity went much the same, only blindingly faster. The competitors flew around each other, making it look like the ground was really just an arbitrary thing that they could chose not to stand on. Narira felt a pulse of excitement as she watched, vowing to practice using her magic until she could move that way. They fought across the entire field, jumping back and forth across the dirt and using every bit of space.

As it went, Narira kept thinking about the hand-to-hand combat. It had been impressive to say the least, the way the contestants had made up for their lack of range with surprise and speed. I'm going to do what they did, she decided suddenly. But I'm going to learn to do it better.

"Now it's time for Confined Area. This one's going to be most like Free Duel," Ceylis told Narira when No Electricity was finished. "It's basically just any dueling, magic or no, as long as you stay in the ring." As he said this, assistants carried a thin wooden ring onto the field. It was about twenty feet in diameter. "The goal is either to incapacitate your enemy-"

"Incapacitate?" Narira said fearfully.

"Or to push them out of the ring." He peered over the stone rail of the cutout. "Looks like Jay has some actual competition this time."

Narira saw that Jay was partnered with Ravasinio. "Real competition... is he that good?"

"Jay? Yeah."

"He wasn't that hard for me to keep up with!"

"He's learning to keep pace with an opponent more, rather than flat-out annihilating them."

"Oh, right. Have you seen the noble guy fight?"

"Ravasinio? He's good! Grew up training indoors when it was too cold, so he's used to Confined Area. Jay has been trained to use all available resources, including space, so its harder for him, but he's still an amazing duelist."

"They're going last?"

"No. They're in the back of the line because they're going first. Part of the challenge is to barge through the other apprentices to get to the field."

"Ha ha," Narira said, her face completely blank.

By the time it was Jay's turn, Narira was practically jittering. She wasn't particularly concerned for Jay's event, but she had never been one for sitting still. When it was time at last, he took the side of the ring furthest from where Narira and Ceylis peered down, his face turning up for a second to see them. Narira could almost see his nervous smile.

When the round began, Jay leapt straight at his opponent without pause. Ravasinio was ready and spun to the side, electricity cracking toward Jay in a graceful arc. Jay was ready, however, and had already begun his midair twist to avoid the blast. His feet barely touched the ground before he had lunged to the side, then spun and jumped straight up, anticipating Ravisinio's swing.

"He's just dodging now," Narira observed confusedly. "I thought he was going on the offensive, from the way he started."

"You'll receive his training as well. He's been trained in several different styles; we might even see some Ilatran moves. He's also been trained to switch suddenly between styles, allowing him to confuse his opponent. He'll do any number of different starts, then get faster suddenly. Sometimes he'll even drop speed for a second to trick-"

"Okay. Cool," Narira interrupted. "Can we watch now?"

"Sure," Ceylis replied immediately, then turned to watch the duel.

Are you incapable of admitting you talk too much? Narira wondered, but the thought slipped from her mind as she immersed herself once more in the duel.

Jay moved to the offensive again, his blade whirling in blurred arcs. He swung sharply down, and Ravasinio twisted to the side, then slashed across Jay's stomach. Narira heared his cry of pain, but he kept moving. He raised his open hand and sent a series of blasts at his opponent, causing him to stagger back, then lunges forward with a jab. Again, Ravasinio moved to the side, but Jay reversed the direction of his swing and caught Ravasinio in the shoulder. Ravasinio turned around in a defensive stance, and Jay charged at him again. He moved his Starrynt in a laughably complex maneuver, completely failing to hit anything, but Ravasinio panicked for a second and exploded with an electric burst. Jay rolled across the ground beneath Ravasinio's guard, then exploded with electricity of his own before his opponent could recover. Ravasinio yelped as he was blasted up, barely managing to land in the ring. Then Jay leapt forward and kicked, and Ravasinio tumbled to the edge of the boundary.

Finally, Jay blasted Ravasinio in the shoulder, and Narira could hear his cry of pain. He stayed down.

"Bluejay is the winner," the announcer said, his voice still lacking even a hint of interest. "Next up is Stage Four, Free Duel."

Ceylis turned toward Narira. "In case you were wondering, next up is Stage Four, Free Duel."

Suddenly, a flash tore across the field. Narira looked up in time to see Jay get hit square in the back of the head with a powerful blast of lightning. Ravasinio had used his remaining energy to hit Jay while he wasn't looking.