EA Chapter 27 - The Ironclad Prince

When the time came for Syri’s bout, it fast became clear that she would win without much issue. Having seen Luna and Kiharu in action earlier, here was much to be said for how people saw the Red Hawks now. Her opponent was nervous, shaky, and only managed a few glancing blows before Syri knocked him out in a flurry of swift attacks.

Thus the Hawks finished their first day with four points, a strong start to the tournament. It grated Luna, more than she cared to admit, to not have an even five. But they were doing better than some squads.

Come the morning they managed to keep that momentum up when Romula won her second match, albeit with more difficulty than her first. Her foe, Ward Tassium, had been near-equal to Romula in terms of skill and power. But the bull-horned beastkin had been uncannily durable, withstanding bolts of power cast by Romula and simply refusing to fall.

In the end, with great effort, Romula had gotten Ward into an armlock and forced a surrender from her, netting two points for the Hawks.

But the team suffered another blow when Rema lost her second bout. Her foe, a sleek and skinny boy from the Sapphire Crabs, had come at her with an onslaught of arrows, all fired with impressive speed and accuracy.

The other twin had put up a good fight, landed some good hits, but it was clear that her foe had not wanted to give her even a second of breathing room. She’d been knocked from the arena, left dazed and bloodied but in far better shape than Kiharu had been in.

And then the time came for Luna’s bout.

“Are you... sure about this?” Syri asked, giving Luna a hesitant look as she took the shorter girl’s weights from her. “I’m aware you’re confident, not unjustifiably, but the Drakes are something special. Especially the prince.”

“They’re not invincible, Syri,” Luna said, rolling her eyes. “Kiharu very nearly won her bout, after all. And besides, I’m not the sort to run from a challenge.”

“That’s not always a good thing, Luna,” Syri said evenly.

Kiharu snorted. “Ah let the runt go for it. Either she clobbers a rich ponce, or she’s left sucking down her own blood an’ teeth. Win win.” Kiharu’s bruises had not fully faded, but she looked better now than she had yesterday.

“You really are a cad,” Syri said flatly. She sighed. “Fine. I’ll head to the infirmary, check on the twins, but I’m hoping I’ll be back for the rest of the match.”

Luna smiled cryptically at her two allies. “It may be a long fight.” Particularly when she planned to make the prince say uncle before the entire academy.

She strode confidently to the arena, where the braying of the crowd was fast reaching fever pitch. Her body, without the weights, felt lighter than air, and her heartbeat was calm and tranquil. She would not fear some royal brat. She could tell, at a glance, that he’d be at his peak. Her little poisoning ploy wouldn’t work on someone who doubtless had other people open and close every door for him.

Said royal brat was already standing at his side of the platform, his aura rising around him like pale streams of mist. “You actually showed up, Hick.” He smirked. “Guess I’ll make you regret that.”

“My name,” she said bluntly. “is Luna. And I’ll make sure you remember that.”

The crowd fell silent as the referee lifted a hand, all eyes fixated on the two Arcanists. Nobody wanted to so much as blink.

The referee swung his hand down like the blade of a guillotine. “Begin!”

Aryn jumped high with a great explosion of force, his skin gleaming with a texture like stainless steel. He threw his arms her way, unleashing a hail of metal spears toward the shorter girl. Luna watched them come, impassively, ten zoomed to one side to avoid the sharpened tips. They punctured the tiles of the platform where she had once stood, burying over a meter deep into the ground.

She sensed the metal tremble and shift at her side, the spears breaking apart into a shower of needles that raced her way. Luna raised her hand, eyes aglow with power, unleashing a great wave of plasma that obliterated the metal into molten sludge before it could reach her. The jolting shock of her own power ran up her arm.

Luna had grown far stronger in a short period of time. Academy training and her weighted gear made for a potent combination. And while she was still far from her peak, she could certainly use fancier tricks without fear of knocking herself out cold.

Aryn came crashing toward her like a comet, his fists warping and shaping into a pair of sledgehammers. The initial strike missed her, shattering a swathe of the platform, but his second swing met Luna’s arm as she tried to block it. The blow rocked her from head to heel and sent her skidding back.

Strong little bastard, she noted. Her rune soaked up the worst of it it, but she couldn’t afford to take too many direct hits. He was grinning at her, wild and manic. Still, she told herself, this would be a good way to see how strong the royals of this world were.

Luna aimed at him, and the sudden crush of gravity fell upon Aryn like a tide. He gasped, knees threatening to buckle, his ironclad flesh quivering under the pressure. Luna added more power behind her attack, forcing Aryn to raise his own qi to compensate. The arena cracked and splintered around his feet.

That’s it, you little shit. Burn through more and more of your power.

Her foe thrust his hand forward, unleashing more sprays of needles at Luna. She dodged, a few of them grazing her side and producing red hot flashes against her barrier when they made contact. It gave him enough of an opening to break free from Luna’s gravity, and he advanced on her again.

The arena rumbled beneath Luna’s feet, heralding great spikes of steel to burst up from under the tiles. The metal twisted and weaved toward Luna, like a horde of great metal serpents, trying to snare and coil around her. Luna jumped high, unleashing another corona of plasma with a wave of her palm. Other metal tendrils were shredded apart by unseen magic, summoned by her mind, and others were thrown off target by lunging at spectral afterimages summoned from Luna’s body.

She had fought wizards in the past who specialised in bending earth and metal to their whims. A potent power, but not without its weaknesses. Already she could sense Aryn leaping her way through the freshly blossoming smoke, a counter already forming in her mind.

A bolt of lightning shot from her fingertips, slamming into the ironclad figure. He howled as the intense voltage washed over him, and he dropped writhing to the arena floor. Luna floated above him, slowly lowering herself downward.

“How’s that, prince?” Luna sneered. Her pupils shifted from purple to a molten hue of orange, summoning forth twin streams of blazing heat that slammed into Aryn from above. The ground splintered and cracked around him, keeping the prince pinned and unable to rise. All the while se funnelled another wave of gravity from her hand to add to the pressure. She could sense the shock and awe in the crowd, and could not help but relish in it.

Ah, how she had missed the eyebeams. Such a potent tool for disposing of unwanted rabble from afar. Slicing through flesh and bone with precise strikes, or scouring crowds of foes into ash with a glance. But, admittedly, she had to dial the heat back significantly. Tempting as it was to kill the little prick, that would have to wait until she had a stronger foothold in Elthreme’s power structure.

A severed stump of metal twitched and stirred at her side, then suddenly lunged her way in a great eruption of growth. The steel slammed into Luna and sent her twirling through the air, the blaze in her eyes sputtering out.

Aryn stood among the smoke, puffing for breath, portions of his steely skin glowing red hot. “Hah... good effort, Hick,” he growled. “But it’s not enough!” His qi was still potent, she knew, but he had to summon a lot of it to withstand the fury of Luna’s attack.

Luna narrowed her eyes, unleashing another bolt of lightning from her fingertips. Suddenly a slew of metal spheres sprouted from Aryn’s body, hovering around him like a fleet of barrage balloons. One sphere surged forward, drawing the electricity away. It glowed white hot under the great rush of power, then exploded into a rain of metal slag.

“Oooh, clever,” Luna said. “A nice little trick to keep any lightning from striking your body. Little orbiting conductors.” Her smirk broadened, her aura flaring around her as a great amethyst inferno. “But I think you’ll find my tricks far outnumber yours.”