Since we were given some time before the duel begins, I contacted everyone to inform of this development. They all came to the academy looking all pretty and curious.
"How did it happen? You just left to inform professor of this event. How can you become mixed in this duel thing?" (Aura)
"I don't know. It just happened."
Aura is slightly annoyed. She was probably napping and I woke her up. I know, she gets really upset when someone interrupts her naps:
Samantha is just snickering. Gwen is looking around like she is enjoying the view.
Hazel has gone totally silent. She can't take take place. It makes her really sad for reason.
It's almost time to start the duel. I can see students everywhere. The gallery is full.
I ask Aera to strengthen the barrier. There is a barrier protecting the spectators. It probably isn't strong enough so Aera just strengthened it. No need to make a new barrier when one exists.
Hazel and the others have gone and taken their seats in the gallery. Even the singularity bunch are out.
I stand on the ground and wait for the challenger to appear.
I have the mana of an ordinary person. Well, Fay's initial mana is my baseline. I won't go up or replenish my mana. I have to do this strategically.
The challenger, Earnest Billings, arrives with a referee. I assume this is heavily one sided match. The referee is obviously his. I am backing myself into a corner.
"The rules are simple. If one of you is unable to continue, the duel stops. No killing allowed. Hand to hand combat and weapons are allowed. You may use your inherent magical element as you see fit. No time limits."
The referee told everyone the rules. So far, nothing wrong with this. I have made my body normal as well. I am a bona fide human.
He looks at me and gives an arrogant smirk. Like he will wipe the floor with me. I probably made a whatever face because he is irked.
We are both 10 meters apart. The ground is just hard clay. There is no concrete stage. The audience is booing me. Maybe I am not popular enough.
I see some teachers as well in the special seats. They are appraising me.
"Start."
The duel begins. I didn't make the first move. Let me take a good look at him.
He charges at me. I see. He used silent chant. He is using wind magic to push himself faster than usual. His reaction time isn't bad either. He closed the distance in about 1.5 seconds.
Pretty fast. Upon reaching me, he blasted my midsection with a ball of wind. I was watching him conjure up that ball. It was fast, took him one second to make it and use it on me.
I made a small barrier in front of my midsection to negate the force. Although I was pushed about 3 meters back.
From what I saw, his reaction time good. He has quick judgment and he can silently chant. He is still chanting but it's silent and pretty short.
I look at him. Why isn't he pressing forward? He made an opening for himself. I gave him another opening but he didn't take it. He is giving me an astonished look. But he shakes it off.
He charges at me again. This time, it's slow. He is only 4 meters away from me but it took him 1 second to cover this distance. He didn't use wind to attack me.
He strengthened his body and started punching. His punches are different from boxing punches. They feel more like karate punches.
Not only is he quick on his feet, he has variations as well. I dodge his punches at the very last moment because I can see them coming.
He is trying to get me off my leg as well. Not just that, there are a lot of feints mixed in. About a minute has passed and he is out of air.
He stopped his punches and jumped back to create a separation.
The hand to hand combat isn't so bad. He must have trained well. I was kinda underestimating this world but I guess, medieval times force you to develop combat techniques.
The crowd has gone silent. I look at everyone. Eyes of disbelief, that's all I see. Even professor Sierra is in disbelief.
"Are you done yet?"
I ask. He takes a breath and gets even angrier than before.
"I was planning on taking it easy on you. However you have forced me." (Earnest)
He puts his right palm forward and starts chanting loudly.
I don't pay any attention to the chant and watch. It's gathering a lot of air. The air flow has changed. It's flowing towards him.
Then he puts his left palm forward and starts a different chant. He can chant simultaneously.
I think it's concurrent activation. On his right palm, there's a lot of air. On his right palm, I see a ball of fire.
He then proceeds to put his palms together. He is fusing two different elements into a single spell.
Complex spell or so I should call it. If air meets fire, it becomes a wildfire. Oxidation is a good thing.
He then spreads his palms and shows a big ball of swirling fire. It's huge.
"Complex spell, Firestorm." (Earnest)
The big swirling ball of fire comes towards me. Our distance is about 5 meters. It's fast. I should not take any chances and do something about it.
From my point of view, it's slow. It will arrive in a second so let's just kill the ball.
I channel my mana through the ground and make a box of soil to trap the ball inside.
The spell would not work if it doesn't have oxygen. I check the inside. No fire left. I release the box and boom, no fire was there. The ground scorched. It was hot. Hot enough to burn the ground.
He falls down on his butt. Mana depletion. He is out of mana and out of strength.
"Referee, check on him."
I ask the referee. He goes to check on him and declares the match.
"Winner, Clive Belmont."
He was very reluctant to declare it but the result is as clear as day. And I held back very much. I am pretty proud of myself.
But the crowd didn't looks too excited. Maybe they will spread rumors of me cheating and stuff. But for now, I will take this win. This did serve as an example of what I should expect as well.
They aren't bad. Just a bit more knowledge of physics and chemistry and they will become better. I have to be careful. Otherwise I might just destroy this world with my knowledge.