Chronicles of the Artisan Nomad

Chapter 45: Silent Rivalry

Lulith fell to the floor like a ragdoll, and the medical staff rushed into the barrier to recover her; she was out of the battle. I was worried, but we had to focus; her body was different now, she could handle a lot more than I can. In that moment, Lysandra put a hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry, shrimp; let me take care of her. You just focus on sticking to the plan. React to what they are doing on the right side." With the momentary pause in the action, Eris gave us the signal to resume fighting. Quinn had somewhat recovered from the blow he received from the stones; he takes another lunge at the small boy. I walk a little closer, getting ready with a spell of my own; I have a prediction set in my mind.

I thought about it before the match, but there was one thing that comes to mind when I think of invisible energy. I had an idea here, but if it wasn't what I thought it was, we could all face severe consequences. Without thinking, I raced forward towards Yuna; in passing, I nodded to her, almost like I was telling her to get her sword ready. I wasn't close enough with her to synergize without thinking yet, but that should do the trick. Quinn raced forward, trying to claw Pilot, but as I had imagined, Pilot was ready; the claw from Quinn stopped short. After that, Pilot said softly, his eyes glowing with power, "Nebula Collapse." Quinn's wolf body fell to the ground; he was being crushed by immense pressure. I knew it; this was the play I had envisioned in my mind.

I raised my gauntlet; I used a spell I haven't tried in a while due to its volatile nature; this combo should do the trick. I yelled out, "Magivara! Bacura! Nullbreaker Eclipse!" In front of the boy at point-blank range, a purple shield formed next to the boy's hands. The spell on Quinn stopped crushing him; Pilot looked surprised for a moment. That was when Yuna took advantage of the opening I provided. She rushed past me towards Pilot, "Dead Swallow's Song." Time seemed to freeze in place for a moment as the boy looked like he tried to counterattack. The blade stuck across the boy's chest, mercilessly cutting him directly, creating a shockwave in front of us. There didn't seem to be any tricks this time; it was just a super-fast cut and sheathe.

The cut would have cut the boy in two, but it would seem that Yuna had held back a majority of her power. There was no time to bathe in the afterglow, though, as the boy with the white hair called out his attack, "Stone Surge!" Wind began knocking stones towards both Yuna and me, but it seemed Quinn was ready. He leapt into the air, returning to his human form, turning his body again into rubber like before; the stones gathered in one spot on his half-rubber body. In a cartoonish way, he flung the stones right back at the boy; he stated, "Here, I think these are your stones." The boy looked on in horror as the stones were flung back at him; he was shot full of holes and quickly succumbed to his injuries.

The girl with the big hat and green hair used this as her chance to counterattack; she yelled out, "Mermaid's Revenge!" Wind mixed with water and formed a giant wave that traveled towards Quinn, knocking him out of the air and onto the ground. In the meantime, I felt something hot in the air next to me as Lysandra had just conjured up her new spell. I looked over as she combined the elements of fire and plasma to create this solar energy. Her face lit up as she aimed her hands towards both Professor Makov and the girl with the green hair. She smiled, "Sirius Photometric Cannon!" A beam of solar energy shot out, and everyone had to look away as the beam seemed to surge forward.

I was shocked at first because I worried for the other team, but I realized that she had aimed it at the barrier of mercury in front of her. Once the light had faded away, I saw the green-haired girl collapsed on the ground, still alive but passed out. The ball of mercury was no more, as Professor Makov was holding her side. She frowned, "No, this wasn't in the data. Nobody in your group should be at this level. Dammit, that was Altaria's attack. When did you learn it? I can still fight... I can..." She made a hand gesture. Yuna appeared behind her, and with a swift strike of the handle of her blade, the Professor fell. Our team had done it—not a clean sweep, but we had beaten Team Phantasm with the new spell that Lysandra picked up.

I raced over to her, patting her on the back, "That was amazing! We did it. I had no idea that Altaria had you learn her spell!" Lysandra laughed, "Well, to tell you the truth, I stayed up late last night learning some solar spells. I told you earlier to leave it to me." Quinn hobbled over, still hurt, "I am equally impressed with your quick thinking, Lucius. How did you know what to do earlier?" I smiled, "Well, I figured it out. I am not sure how, but when I thought about invisible energy that could only be a number of things. One that stuck out to me was gravity, and once he slammed you down, that confirmed it for me. I remembered the wind that Princeton used in their battle and remembered how it slammed downwards. Once I figured out that, the rest was simple. I just needed to catch him off guard and counter."

I looked at Yuna, "Which I figured Yuna would follow up with me." Yuna looked annoyed, "I can't exactly refuse orders. Plus, I need you in order to get back to the covenant. Simple, good job not getting in my way, I guess." She was still venom-filled, which makes sense, I guess, since we were enemies, but she could stand to be a bit more personable. Once we were done with the battle, Eris cried out, "What a crazy match! Grin Reapers pulled off an amazing move at the end! Solar magic—something I never thought we would see from anyone but the professors. Grin Reapers are the team to beat this year as they advance to the semifinals! Hold onto your popcorn though because we still have a match to play out before then." The losers bracket would get another match again before the semifinals would officially start. 

Our team made our way over to the medical room; a nurse greeted us as we walked in, guiding us over to a bed. Several other students were getting treatment with both life magic and light magic. I guess it was true that anything short of fatal this staff could handle with relative ease. Lulith was already sitting up when she saw us; she seemed to look down, "So... what is the verdict?" I gave her a thumbs up, "We won, and it was all thanks to you again!" Lulith frowned, "Don't sugar coat it. I know I held us back this time." I shook my head, "Not true; you forced Professor Makov to use her mercury magic, and Lysandra finished her off with her new solar magic. I consider that fight as us all performing as a unit perfectly. Anything short of that, and we would have lost."

Lulith smiled a little, "That merchant tongue of yours always knows how to sell bullshit." She rose to her feet, looking a lot better than before; her injuries seemed much improved. Perhaps due to her new power, vitality was also something she had in spades. Seeing me examining her, she mentioned, "That mercury was toxic. Should any of you have been hit by that same attack, it wouldn't have mattered about the staff here. It would have been a sure-kill attack. However, due to my new blood and form, I can shift toxins out of my blood. If nothing else, that Professor Makov does her homework; she knew I would be the best target for a nonlethal attack."

I nodded, "Yeah, and that boy with the gravity magic. I really have to wonder how he could use concentrated magic like that." Altaria almost on cue, like she was listening in, entered the room, "Pilot is a special boy. His parents abused him a lot, and due to neglect, he lost his sight. His body is unlike your body or my body; he is naturally gifted. His lineage as an elf and a birth defect make him unlike any mage in this city. You see, in his body, his magic naturally concentrates before he fires it out. That boy Pilot has a very rare magic in him known as celestial. Magic scholars are still unsure of its full potential, but he also has gifted earth magic in his veins. When those two types combine, they form his powerful gravity magic. That boy has dominion over one of the most devastating combos in the world of magic. He also uses it to sense others, so he can still move and fight properly."

I noticed a small boy still lying down on a bed; it was the boy Pilot from before. He rose up once he heard his name. Using his cane, he slowly stepped forward, carefully guiding himself with invisible magic. Once he got to me, he tilted his head up, "That spell. What was it?" Altaria gasped, "Pilot, you're talking?" I smiled, "Anti-magic. I used it to block your spell at point-blank range." The boy gave a small frown, "Cheater." He used his cane to inch forward again, making his way out of the room before he left. He muttered, "Finals. Don't lose." I think he was issuing a challenge to me of sorts.

Altaria, looking surprised, stated, "He very rarely talks to others; he only occasionally mutters small things to me and the staff here. I haven't heard his voice that loud since he started this school." I nodded; it would appear I had just got another rival. Quinn frowned, "Let's hope we don't see him in the finals. I have a funny feeling he was holding back at the start. I think he had been underestimating us until the end." As Pilot left the room, his cryptic words lingered in the air. The path to the finals had just become more intriguing.